ap psych midterm exam

according to freud, dreams are

a symbolic fulfillment of erotic wishes

georgie is exposed to a short wavelength with a tall amplitude. it is likely she is perceiving

a very loud piccolo

in order to focus near and far objects on the retina, the lens changes its shape through a process called

accommodation

A brief electrical charge that travels down the axon of a neuron is called the

action potential

the depolarization of a neural membrane can create an ____

action potential

epinephrine and norepinephrine are released by the

adrenal glands

what are the molecules that are similar enough to a neurotransmitter to bind to its receptor sites on a dendrite and mimic the neurotransmitter's effects called

agonists

Increasing excitatory signals above the threshold for neural activation will not affect the intensity of an action potential. This indicates that a neuron's reaction is

all-or-none response

Frequency is to amplitude as ______ is to _______.

amplitude, loudness

Botulin is a poison with a molecular structure so similar to acetylcholine (ACh) that it blocks the effects of ACh in synapses, making botulin which kind of molecule?

antagonist

In psychology, behavior is best defined as

any action we can observe and record

A psychologist who studies how worker productivity might be increased by changing office layout is engaged in _____ research.

applied

A person whose EEG shows a high proportion of alpha waves is most likely:

awake and relaxed

what is not one of the basic tastes

bland

the point at which the optic nerve leaves the eye, no receptor cells are located there

blind spot

Cortical areas that are not primarily concerned with sensory, motor, or language functions are:

called association areas

In transmitting sensory information to the brain, an electrical signal travels from the ________ of a single neuron.

cell body to the axons to the dendrites

our inability to fall asleep as early as we had planned is most likely a reflection of

circadian rhythym

The way we encode, process, store, and retrieve information is the primary concern of the _____ perspective.

cognitive

dr lennon investigates how a person's interpretation of a situation affects his or her reaction. dr lennon is working from the ___ persepctive

cognitive

Which subfield is most directly concerned with studying human behavior in the workplace?

industrial/organizational psychology

kinesthesis involves

information from the muscles, tendons, and joints.

the peripheral nervous system is to sensory neurons as the central nervous system is to

interneurons

which of the following are located exclusively within the brain and spinal cord

interneurons

a ring of muscle tissue that forms the colored portion of the eye around the pupil and controls the size of the pupil opening

iris

a synapse is an

junction between a sending neuron and a receiving neuron

According to the gate-control theory, a way to alleviate chronic pain would be to stimulate the _____ nerve fibers that _____ the spinal gate.

large, close

the transparent structure behind the pupil that changes shape to help focus images on the retina

lens

Cocking your head would be most useful for detecting the ______ of a sound.

location

Jill dreams that she trips and falls as she walks up the steps to the stage to receive her diploma. Her psychoanalyst suggests that the dream might symbolize her fear of moving on to the next stage of her life—a career. The analyst is evidently attempting to interpret the _____ content of Jill's dream.

manifest

Shane, a straight-A student, remembers dreaming that he failed an important chemistry test. According to Freud, Shane's account represents the ________ content of his dream.

manifest

when light strikes the retina, it signals the suprachiasmatic nucleus to alter ____ production by the pineal gland

melatonin

When the release of ACh is blocked, the result is

muscular paralysis

Professor Carter observes and records the behavior of grocery shoppers as they select items to purchase. Which type of research is Professor Carter using?

naturalistic observation

Dendrites are branching extensions of

neurons

The chemical messengers released into the spatial junctions between neurons are called

neurotransmitters

the visual cortex is located in the

occipital lobe

which of the following would play a role in quickly alerting you to a gas leak in your home

olfactory receptors

carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

optic nerve

Psychological Theories __

organize scientific observations, explain observed facts, generate hypotheses

the phantom limb sensation indicates that

pain involves the brain's interpretation of neural activity.

If shoe size and IQ are negatively correlated, which of the following is true?

people with small feet tend to have high IQs

which of the following is typically controlled by the right hemisphere

perceptual tasks

the nineteenth century theory that bumps on the skull reveal a person's abilities and traits is called

phrenology

At the age of 22, Mrs. LaBlanc was less than 4 feet tall. Her short stature was probably influenced by the lack of a growth hormone produced by the

pituitary gland

the best explanation for how we understand and process the high pitch of a violin, with frequency of more than 100 waves per second comes from

place theory

the greek philosopher who believed that intelligence was inherited was

plato

of the four distinct skin senses, the only one that has definable receptors is

pressure

which individual was also a physician

psychiatrist

adjustable opening in the center of the eye through which light enters

pupil

The sleep cycle is approximately ________ minutes.

90

How does pain differ from other senses?

It has no single stimulus,It is influenced by both physical and psychological phenomena,It has no special receptors.

circadian rhythms are the

regular body cycles that occur on a 24-hour schedule

Alpha waves are associated with

relaxed but awake state

The light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the rods and cones, is the

retina

receptor cells that detect black, white, and grey and are necessary for peripheral and night vision

rods

An experimenter flashes the word FLYTRAP onto a screen facing a split-brain patient so that FLY projects to her right hemisphere and TRAP to her left hemisphere. When asked what she saw, the patient will

say she saw TRAP

The axon of a resting neuron has gates that do not allow positive sodium ions to pass through the cell membrane. What is this characteristic called?

selective permeability

jared believes that psychologists should go back to using introspection as a research tool. this technique is based on __

self examination of mental processes

What enables you to feel yourself wiggling your toes even with your eyes closed?

sense of kinesthesis

The parietal lobes are to ________ as the occipital lobes are to ________.

sensing touch, seeing

a cochlear implant would be most helpful for those who suffer

sensorineural hearing loss

the principle that one sense may influence another is

sensory interaction

Sleep spindles predominate during which stage of sleep?

stage 2

sleeptalking may occur during

stage 3 sleep

When Mr. Valdez thought his 1-year-old daughter had fallen down the stairs, his heartbeat accelerated, his blood pressure rose, and he began to perspire heavily. Mr. Valdez's state of arousal was activated by his ________ nervous system.

sympathetic

wernicke's area is located in which lobe of the brain

temporal

REM sleep is referred to as paradoxical sleep because:

the body's muscles remain relaxed while the brain and eyes are active

According to the activation-synthesis theory, dreaming represents:

the brain's efforts to integrate unrelated bursts of activity in visual brain areas

The minimum level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse is called the

threshold

Dr. Johnson briefly flashed a picture of a key in the right visual field of a split-brain patient. The patient could probably:

verbally report that a key was seen

The ability to detect whether your body is in a horizontal or vertical position depends most directly on

vestibular senses

Damage to ________ will usually cause a person to lose the ability to comprehend language.

wernicke's area

which of the following is typically controlled by the left hemisphere

word recognition

The first psychological laboratory was established by

wundt

Who would be most likely to agree with the statement, "Psychology is the science of mental life?"

wundt

which of the following research methods doesnt belong

experiment

consciousness includes which of the following

focused attention, sleeping, hypnosis

central point in the retina, around which the eye's cones cluster

fovea

Your roommate is conducting a survey to learn how many hours the typical college student studies each day. She plans to pass out her questionnaire to the members of her sorority. You point out that her findings will be flawed because:

the sample will probably not be representative of the population of interest

The young-Helmholtz theory suggests that humans perceive color through

Cones on the retina that contain three different color receptors (red green blue)

At 3 in the morning John has already slept for 4 hours. As long as his sleep continues we can expect an increasing occurrence of

REM sleep

receptor cells that are concentrated near the center of the retina and detect fine detail and color

cones

Why are cones, rather than rods, better able to detect fine detail?

cones have a direct connection to bipolar cells, whereas rods share bipolar cells with other rods

protects the eye and bends light to provide focus

cornea

Research has found that the amount of representation in the motor cortex reflects the

degree of precise control required by each of the parts

An undersupply of serotonin is most closely linked to

depression

the biopsychosocial approach emphasizes the importance of

different levels of analysis in exploring behavior and mental processes

If Jared watches a nurse give him an injection, he experiences more pain than if he closes his eyes during the procedure and thinks about his favorite food. This illustrates the value of ________ for pain control.

distraction

Opiate drugs occupy the same receptor sites as

endorphins

Following a nail gun wound to his head, Jack became more uninhibited, irritable, dishonest, and profane. It is likely that his personality change was the result of injury to his:

frontal lobe

Raccoons have much more precise control of their paws than dogs. You would expect that raccoons have more cortical space dedicated to "paw control" in the ________ of their brains.

frontal lobes

Dylan has recovered from extensive injury to his left cerebral hemisphere and has continued his career. His occupation is most likely: A) Accountant B) English Teacher C) Journalist D) Lawyer E) Graphic Artist

graphic artist

which of the following relies heavily on kinesthetic and vestibular senses

gymnast

3- year old Marco suffered damage to the speech area of the brain's left hemisphere when he fell from a swing. Research suggests that

his right hemisphere may take over much of the language function

rogers and maslow are most closely associated with

humanistic psychology

a split-brain patient has a picture of a knife flashed to the left hemisphere and that of a fork to her right hemisphere. she will be able to

identify the fork using her left hand

in an experimental study of the effects of dieting on weight loss, dieting would be the ___

independent variable

Which method offers the most reliable way of assessing whether athletic performance is boosted by caffeine consumption?

the experiment

After the horror of 9/11, many people said the CIA and FBI should obviously have foreseen the likelihood of this form of terrorism. This perception most clearly illustrates

the hindsight bias