Psychology Final

_______ are complex behaviors that are fixed, unlearned, and consistent within a species

Instincts

Children all over the world seem to learn language in a fixed sequence. This provides evidence in support of Noam Chomsky's theory that human have a _____ that provides an innate mechanism for learning langugae

Language acquisition device

Ricardo's grandfather suffers from Alzheimer's disease. Ricardo wonders if he will experience a similar future because of his biological connection to his grandfather. What Ricardo is contemplating is similar to which of the following debates in development psychology?

Nature and nurture

Dissociative identity disorder involves two or more distinct _____ within an individual

Personalities

_____ refers to the unique, core set of characteristics that influence how we think, act, and feel

Personality

Infants can recognize and distinguish among all _______ from all languages until about 10 months of age. This is why it is so much more difficult for older children and adults to learn to speak a foreign language without an accent.

Phonemes

The polygraph is used to determine if someone is lying by measuring:

Physiological arousal

Following a stroke, the neurons in the brain exhibit greater excitability, rewiring occurs, and there is increased efficiency of synaptic connections, all indicating _____ of the brain

Plasticity

Humanistic therapy emphasizes the positive nature of humans with a focus on

Present

One symptom that most major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder share is:

Problems associated with sleep

The student in your study group are extremely worried about tomorrow's final exam. One student has been seeing a counselor all semester because of her anxiety. When she walks into class tomorrow, she will use what she has learned about ____ to help reduce tension in her body.

Progressive muscle relaxation

The idea that personality traits influence perception is part of the logic underlying _____, which attempt to explore characteristics that might not be accessible through interview or observation

Projective personality tests

Free association and interpretation are used by ______ in their treatment of patients

Psychoanalyst

A professor doing research on personality development insists personality develops early in life and that we are greatly influenced by conflicts and urges of which we are unaware. This professor appears to be proposing which of the following perspectives?

Psychoanalytic

According to Freud, all children progress through ______ as they mature into adulthood, although sometimes their progress is not smooth and they may suffer from a ______

Psychosexual stages, fixation

A man with schizophrenia has hallucinations and delusions, and seems to be out of touch with reality. A psychologist explains to his mother that her son is experiencing:

Psychosis

_____ is the scientific study of how medication alters perceptions, moods, behaviors, and other aspects of psychological functioning

Pyschopharmacology

_______ can be determined when someone takes the same personality assessment more than once and the results do not change

Reliability

According to Vygotsky, _____ is an approach that helps children learn, providing support when necessary but allowing them to problem solve as much as possible on their own.

Scaffolding

Which of the following claims about group therapy is true?

Seeing others improve offers hope and inspiration

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a technique that essentially causes ____ in the brain

Seizures

________ refer(s) to the drive to achieve one's full potential

Self-actualization

A person high in ______ strongly believes she will succeed in a particular situation even if she has experienced failure in similar circumstances.

Self-efficacy

Humans have different optimal levels of need for arousal. These individual differences indicate the some people are _____: they appear to seek out activities that increase arousal

Sensation seekers

Which of the following plays a role in the etiology of major depressive disorder?

Serotonin

_____ refers to a sexual act or the classification of male or female. ______ refers to masculinity and femininity based on social, cultural, and psychological characteristics

Sex, gender

A psychologist refers to biological characteristics when discussing a client's _____, but when talking about sexual attitudes and behaviors, a psychologists is referring to _____

Sex, sexuality

A friend of yours shies away from some of the more daring sexual escapades her husband suggests. For example, yesterday he asked her to engage in a "threesome." She unknowingly has learned ____ from her culture, telling her such sexual behavior is not appropriate

Sexual scripts

A man with a diagnosis of ____ exhibits a distinct fear or anxiety related to social situations, particularly the idea of being scrutinized by others

Social anxiety disorder

One of the important tasks of adolescence is to search for identity, that is, to find a sense of self based on values, beliefs, and goals. This task falls under which of the following categories of development?

Socioemotional

Cattell proposed that there are 16 personality dimensions that can be considered primary _______, and these are the product of both nature and nurture

Source traits

Stress is the response to perceived threats resulting from stimuli that can cause physiological, psychological, and emotional reactions. In this context, these stimuli are known as:

Stressors

Your friend is worried he will lose his job, so he goes home and drinks too much alcohol. His reaction may be explained by the self-medication hypothesis, and his behavior is an example of how:

Stressors are related to health problems

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system plays an important role in stress reactions. This system helps to maintain balance in the body by overseeing the neuroendocrine and _____ while monitoring the immune system

Sympathetic nervous system

When faced with a threat, portions of the brain, including the hypothalamus, activate the _____, which leads to the secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine

Sympathetic nervous system

Family therapy focuses on all of the following except:

Symptoms of particular disorder

Human development is influenced by the interaction of many factors. Brain development, for example is influenced by biological maturation and experiences in the environment. This is evidence in _____, which occurs when unused synaptic connections are eliminated.

Synaptic prunning

One of the telltale signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is abnormal accumulation of ______, a protein also implicated in Alzheimer's disease

Tau

The key advantage of behavior therapy is that it:

Tends to work quickly

_______ are agents that can damage a growing embryo or fetus

Teratogens

Evidence for the biological basis of the five-factor model of personality includes:

The stability of personality characteristics over time

According to Eysenck, we can describe personalities based on

Three dimensions of traits

A family friend confides that he has always had the feeling he was born in the body of a female and that he has started cross-sex hormone treatment. Your friend would be considered _____ by the American Psychiatric Association

Transsexual

Erikson proposed that human development is characterized by eight psychosocial stages, each marked by a developmental task or emotional crisis. In the first stage, the infant must resolve the ____ conflict. Caregivers who are not responsive might lead the infant to always expect the worst in people.

Trust vs mistrust

When the _____ is stimulated electrically it sends a hormone signal to decrease appetite. IF this region of the brain is destroyed, an animal will drastically overeat.

Ventromedial hypothalamus

Stressors can lead to health problems, because as the body mobilizes its resources for fight or flight, ______ is less powerful, and the work of its lymphocytes is reduced

immune system

Rhonda routinely eats large amounts of food that most people could not eat in similar situations or in a similar amount of time. Rhonda often feels an inability to control her eating and frequently eats alone because she is embarrassed by how much she eats. It is likely that Rhonda has a diagnosis of:

Binge eating disorder

To help explain the causes of psychological disorders researchers often use the ______ perspective which examines the complex interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

Biopsychosocial

A woman in your neighborhood develops a reputation for being emotionally unstable, intense, and extremely needy. She also doesn't seem to have a sense of herself and complains of feeling empty. She struggles with intimacy and her relationships are unstable. If these are long-standing traits, which of the following might she be evaluated for?

Borderline personality disorder

_____ is a mental activity associated with obtaining, converting, and using knowledge, and _______ refers to coming to a decision, reaching a solution, or forming a belief

Cognition, thinking

Biological needs and homeostasis motivates us to meet our needs. If a need is not fulfilled, this creates a state of tension that pushes us to meet it. This describes the ____ theory of motivation

Drive-reduction

Which of the 3Ds used to distinguish abnormal behavior indicates the degree to which a behavior interferes with daily life and relationship?

Dysfunction

Physical exercise is a powerful way to reduce the impact of stress, by increasing blood flow, activating the autonomic nervous system, and initiating release of _______, the body's natural painkilling neurotransmitters

Endorphins

Your psychology instructor often discusses the factors in the environment that can influence how gene are expressed. This topic is a part of the field studying:

Epigenetics

Some men experience problems getting or maintaining an erection, which is referred to as:

Erectile disorder

Last year, when Christy dropped off her oldest daughter at college, she felt happy, proud, and somewhat worried. This kind of "good" stressor leads to a stress response known as:

Eustress

The American Psychological Association highlights the importance of clinical expertise and knowledge of a patient's culture, value, and preferences; in other words, using _____ when making decisions about which treatment is best for a client

Evidence based practice

According to Masters and Johnson, sexual arousal begins in the ____ phase, when physical changes begin to take place

Excitement

According to the general adaptation syndrome, if a threat remains constant, the body's resources become depleted during the ______, resulting in a vulnerability to illness, physical exhaustion and even death

Exhaustion stage

The entire week before final exams, the resident advisor (RA) in your dorm provides delicious cookies for students who come to group study sessions in the common room. The RA seems to be using ____ to encourage students to study together

Extrinsic motivation

According to Mihaly C..., one prerequisite for happiness is the experience of _____, which occurs when you feel completely absorbed and engaged in a challenging task that is intrinsically rewarding

Flow

Adolescents begin thinking more logically and systematically, and start to use deductive reasoning to draw conclusions. They have entered what Piaget would refer to as the:

Formal operational stage

DNA molecules include sections corresponding to _____, which encode proteins that determine the texture of hair, color of eye, and some aspects of personality

Genes

Although there is a consistent gap between how Black Americans and White Americans score on IQ tests, research suggests there is NO evidence to support a(n) _____ across races

Genetic hypothesis

Which of the following statements would not be among Beck's collection of cognitive errors?

Getting fired once does not mean my career is over

Systematic desensitization uses ____ that represent(s) a gradual increase in a client's anxiety

Hierarchies

The _____ provide(s) specific instructions on whether a zygote will develop into a male or female, that is, the genetic sex of the individual

23rd pair of chromosomes

A woman is extremely anxious when she is unaccompanied in public. She no longer uses public transportation, refuses to go to the mall, and does not like being away from home. Perhaps she should get evaluated to see if she has which of the following diagnoses?

Agoraphobia

You are at a dinner with a friend and you are struggling to determine the tip you should leave. Your friend suggests you do what she does to calculate a 20% tip: Move the decimal to the left one space and multiply by 2. This is an example of using ______ of the brain

Algorithm

A neighbor describes a newspaper article she read last night about a man in his twenties who has been known to lie and con others, be aggressive and impulsive, and show little empathy or remorse. These are long-standing traits of his, so it is possible that he has

Antisocial personality disorder

Factors such as the frequency and vividness of an event make us more likely to predict such an event will occur in the future. This is known as using the:

Availability heuristic

A college you are applying to provides two essay prompts: an essay about a childhood friend or an essay about a favorite relative. These two options sound equally boring to you. You are faced with an:

Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Evidence from research on emotions suggests that when looking at faces, women seem to:

Be better able to identify what emotion is being felt than men

The _____ perspective of personality suggests that personality is shaped by interactions with the environment, specifically through learning

Behavioral

Emotion is a psychological state that includes a subjective experience, a physiological component a(n):

Behavioral expression

The _____ suggests that emotion is a very personal reaction to and interpretation of the environment, and that emotion does not result from cognitive label of physiological arousal

Cognitive-appraisal approach

Self-determination theory suggests that humans are born with three universal, fundamental needs that are always driving us in the direction of optimal functioning. These three needs are:

Competence, relatedness, autonomy

_____ are the mental representations of categories of objects, situations, and ideas that belong together based on their central features or characteristics.

Concepts

Sometimes we do not gather important information when making decisions because we are only looking for evidence that upholds our belief. This is known as the:

Confirmation bias

Which of the following represents the correct order of the universal sequence of the language development?

Coo, babble, first words

____ refers to the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional abilities used to manage a challenging or difficult situation

Coping

In a fear-provoking situation, initial processing can be unconscious. Information from the thalamus can take two paths: It may go to the ______ for processing, or directly to the _______, which sets the stage by preparing the body for response to a threat.

Cortex, amygldala

To study the universal nature of emotions, Paul Ekman traveled to New Guinea to explore indigenous peoples' detection of facial expressions. Although unfamiliar with Western facial behaviors, the participants in this study:

Could identify the facial expressions common across the world

One factor a therapist needs to consider is how _____ may interact with the therapy process: for example, whether a client is from a group of collectivist or one that values individualism

Culture

A women learns that her death is imminent. According to Kubler-Ross, her initial reaction to this news will likely be shock and disbelief, which are common in the ____ stage

Denial

Which of the following is a weakness of Freud's theory

Difficult to test through experimentation

The wording of a question can influence the outcome of a decision. People are more likely to prefer ground beef in it is described as 80% lean as opposed to 20% fat. This is an example of:

Framing effect

When general beliefs, in American culture, that men are assertive and logical, and women are caring and emotional represent:

Gender roles

Last week, you met an exchange student who began to tell you about her life back home. She described times when she had to deal with hunger, war, and living in an orphanage. Yet, she seems so optimistic and resilient. Psychologists would likely suggest her personality includes a characteristic known as:

Hardiness

People who know their partners have had (or having) sexual activity with others will:

Have a lower risk of acquiring an STI than those who don't know of this activity

The neo-Freudians agree with Freud on many issues, but tend to disagree with which of the following?

His intense emphasis on sex and aggression

The sensitivity of a fetus to _____ produced during its early development can play a role in the development of intersexuality

Hormones

______ is spread through the transfer of body fluids, such as blood, semen, and breast milk, and it eventually progresses to _____

Human immunodeficiency virus; acquired immune deficiency syndrome

If a mother wants her son to practice his math facts, she could allow him to play his favorite game on her tablet when he is done studying. Playing the game eventually will represent _____ for him to study his math facts.

Incentive

Rogers believed that problems can develop when a person's self-concept is _____ with his experiences in the world

Incongruent

______ is one's innate ability to solve problems, adapt to the environment, and learn from experience

Intelligence

Which of the following is a symptom of a maniac episode?

Irritability

A researcher using the Social Readjustment Rating Scale predicts that the more _____ people have, the greater the potential for increased stress and negative health outcomes

Life changing events

Overall, psychotherapy is cost-effective and helps to decrease disability, hospitalization, and problems at work. Which of the following factors seems to reduce its effectiveness?

Limitations on choice of therapist as mandated by a health insurance policy

The _____ suggests that language can affect thinking and perception

Linguistic relativity hypothesis

A researcher is interested in studying changes across the life span with regard to memory, problem solving, and language. She chooses a large sample of college seniors and decides to follow them for the next 30 years. This is an example of:

Longitudinal research

A researcher studying psychological disorders from a biological standpoint, focusing on genes, neurochemical imbalances, and problems in the brain, is using an approach known as:

Medical model

Research regarding the sexual response cycle indicates:

Men and women experience a similar pattern or cycle

During middle adulthood, one major physical change for women is _____, which is often preceded by a decrease in estrogen production and reduction in the size of the uterus

Menopause

Freud's topographical model suggests our personalities and behaviors result from:

Mental processes that occur at three levels of consciousness

Phillippe Pinel was horrified by what he observed in the asylums of Paris. He worked to improve the living conditions of people with psychological disorders, removing inmates' chains and showing them respect and care. This _____ eventually spread throughout Europe and America

Moral treatment

The word "unexcitable" can be broken into three parts. Remove one of these and the meaning of the word changes. These three parts represent _____, the fundamental unit that brings meaning to a language

Morphemes

Having older brother in a family seems to be associated with homosexuality in men. One explanation for this is the maternal immune hypothesis, which suggests that:

Mothers develop an anti-male antibody while pregnant

The boundaries of _____ are imprecise and hard to define, because they do not have rigid rules for identification. For example, not everyone agrees with what qualities make a mother

Natural concepts

The acquisition of gender roles can occur through ______, as explained by social-cognitive theory. That is, we are shaped by models in our environment.

Observational learning

Melissa experienced recurrent, all-consuming thoughts of disaster and death. These _____ were accompanied by her _____, which included repeating certain behaviors, such as locking her car and entering a room, an even number of times

Obsessions, compulsions

While walking to class one day, you notice a woman who is short of breath, clutches her chest, and appears lightheaded. You are concerned she may be experiencing a heart attack. She tells you she knows it is not her heart, but that she suffers from ________ which involves sudden, extreme bouts of fear that escalate quickly.

Panic attacks

Once an emergency has ended, the _______ reverses the processes set in motion through the fight-or-flight reaction. Heart rate and blood pressure start to decrease and respiration returns to normal

Parasympathetic nervous sytem

A friend told you about his therapist, who is non-directive, uses active listening, and shows empathy and unconditional positive regard. It sounds as if your friend's therapist is conducting:

Person-centered therapy

The schachter-singer theory suggests that the experience of emotion is the result of

Physiological arousal and cognitive labeling

______ refers to uncommon sexual acts that might involve nonhuman objects, and sometimes result sin the suffering or humiliation of those involved

Praphilia

_____ further develop during adolescence. These changes are associated with reproductive organs, such as the maturation of ovaries, uterus, penis, and testes

Primary sex characteristics

Someone who is competitive, aggressive, and hostile would likely have a _____, which indicates he is more inclined to develop cardiovascular disease than someone who is more relaxed, patient, and nonaggressive

Type A personality

To determine the _____ of an intelligence test, you could give the assessment to a sample of participants and then compare the results with another assessment of intelligence to make sure the test is measuring what it intends to measure

Validity

Which of the following form the basis for Freud's structural model of the mind?

id, ego, superego