MISUNDERSTOOD Q'S

Which of the following is most likely to be a false memory?

A young child's memory of a day at the beach

The best example of a biological predisposition to learning is which of the following?

After Ted got sick from eating sushi from the deli, he became nauseous whenever he thought of eating sushi.

Professor Gustafson is developing a new intelligence test and wants to ensure the test has good inter-rater reliability. Which of the following strategies will most directly help him achieve this goal?

Allowing only trained researchers to grade the test, as they will have a good understanding of the proper way to score certain things and will be more likely to agree

An example of a failure of source monitoring is

Amir telling Jorge the same story Jorge told him earlier in the week, because Amir forgot Jorge already told him the story

Which of the following scenarios is the best example of synesthesia?

Anastasia sees swirls of color when she hears music because stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to the experience of another sensation.

After surveying 100 parents, researchers concluded that 90 percent of babies can walk by the age of 10 months. Why is this an inappropriate conclusion?

At 10 months, ninety percent of toddlers have not reached the developmental milestones to walk.

A neuron sends a signal along its

Axon

Which of the following examples best illustrates the concept of interposition?

Because the chair partially obscured his view of the sofa, Brendan perceived the chair as being closer than the sofa.

In a study mimicking Roger Sperry's work, Dr. Kornhauser compared the responses of split-brain patients against a control group of neurotypical participants. In his study, participants focused on a dot in the center of a computer screen and objects are presented in either the left or right visual field. After seeing the object, the participants named the object. The results of the experiment are presented below. What is the most appropriate conclusion Dr. Kornhauser can draw from the results?

Because the connection between the right visual cortex and language center has been severed, split-brain patients are not able to retrieve the name of objects seen in the left visual field.

The medulla oblongata is a part of the

Brain stem

Dr. Kovacs is conducting a study of how the brain responds to reading. He records subjects' brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG) while they read sentences. He is looking for the N400 signal, a negative EEG spike that occurs 400 milliseconds after someone processes something semantically surprising. There are two conditions in the study. The two figures below show average EEG activity for the subjects in the two conditions (Condition A on the left; Condition B on the right). The x-axis indicates time in milliseconds; time 0 indicates when the subjects first read the last word in each sentence. Which of the following pairs of conditions would produce results such as the ones Dr. Kovacs found?

Condition A included sentences such as "Strawberries are sweet," and Condition B included sentences such as "Strawberries are nervous."

Studies have shown that identical twins raised together are more similar in relation to when they meet normative physical milestones than identical twins raised apart. Studies have also shown that identical twins are more similar in relation to when they meet normative physical milestones than ordinary siblings. What research method and explanation best fit the studies and their results?

Correlational research, because both heredity and environment are important in development.

Dr. Ramen recruited 100 adults to participate in her study. The taste buds of each participant were measured, and the participants tasted a number of foods. She found there was a relationship between the size of a participant's taste buds and the number of foods that a participant could taste. What research method did Dr. Ramen use, and what was she most likely studying?

Correlational; the sensitivity of supertasters

Which hormone is released when a person is under stress?

Cortisol

Arthur is helping his friend set up her new phone. Arthur has never used this type of phone, but he uses his knowledge of setting up his own phone to help figure out how to use the new phone. According to Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence, Arthur is using which type of intelligence?

Creative intelligence

Crystal has three children she loves and cares for very much. Denise has two children that she neglects. Crystal's children are very friendly and talk to people more often than Denise's children. Which of the following is the likely result of the children's attachment to their mothers?

Crystal's children will have better socialization skills.

Kimmie stood on the sidewalk rather than crossing the street because she saw that the approaching car was quite close to her. Which of the following concepts is best illustrated in this example?

Depth perception

The hormone most associated with the fight or flight response is

Epinephrine

A person whose body is not producing enough testosterone is most likely to exhibit

Fatigue

A drug that is used to treat seizures functions by preventing inhibitory neurotransmitters from returning to the presynaptic neuron. This slows the rate of neurons firing by increasing the amount of the inhibitory neurotransmitter in the synapse. The drug is most likely to be classified as a

GABA reuptake inhibitor (GRI)

Which of the following examples is most consistent with the theory that executive functioning provides the basis for general intelligence?

Geoff is able to easily remember a long list of instructions after hearing them only once and also scores higher than average on intelligence tests.

Which of the following best illustrates the most predictable effect of schemas on perception?

Grant has more difficulty recognizing a penguin as a bird than he does a blue jay.

Which of the following psychologists is best associated with studying the function of memory?

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Johnny often hits his brother even though his brother does not do anything to antagonize him. Johnny's aggression is most likely due to a combination of

His genetic makeup, the environment he grew up in, and the fact that aggression can be evolutionarily adaptive

Which of the following statements is true regarding the application of operant conditioning to learning?

Immediately reinforcing correct responses hurts students' ability to learn new material, because they learn new material better when their correct responses are reinforced later.

Which of the following is true of the American Psychological Association?

It addresses a number of ethical guidelines for the practice of psychology.

Which of the following best describes a major role of the thalamus?

It relays most sensory signals to the cortex.

Molly is potty training her daughter, Mia. Every time Mia begins to urinate in her diaper, Molly says the word "bathroom" in the hope that Mia will begin to urinate when she hears this word while sitting on the toilet. Molly's efforts most resemble the studies of

Ivan Pavlov, who studied classical conditioning

Madeline has previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. She has an identical twin sister, Josephine, and a nonidentical sister, Abigail. Neither of Madeline's sisters have previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Which of the following statements is true of Madeline's sisters?

Josephine is more likely to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder than Abigail in response to a stressful or traumatic event.

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the opponent-process theory of color vision?

Kayla sees afterimages of opposing colors when she stares at a poster for a long time.

Ruth and Debbie are identical twins who were raised by the same family. Vince and Frankie are identical twins who were separated at birth and raised by different families. According to research on the heritability of personality traits, Ruth's and Debbie's personalities are statistically

Likely to be as similar and dissimilar to one another as are Vince's and Frankie's personalities

Keisha performs well in her geometry course in school, and her classmates often ask her for help with understanding word problems and writing formal proofs. Her friends describe her as very rational and analytical. According to Howard Gardner, which type of intelligence is Keisha most likely to possess?

Logical-mathematical

In which scenario does sunblock serve as a conditioned stimulus?

Lowell feels relaxed when he smells sunblock because it reminds him of his vacations at the beach.

Lynda stayed out past her curfew. As a result, her parents revoked her driving privileges. Which of the following statements is true of Lynda's parents?

Lynda's parents are using negative punishment to decrease her behavior of staying out past curfew.

Which of the following scenarios demonstrates stimulus generalization?

Markus was stung by a wasp, and now he is scared of not only wasps but also bees.

Which of the following describes the concept of schema?

Marsha thinks the waiter asked her whether she wanted water even though he did not, because she thinks waiters ask patrons whether they want water.

Mr. Gregg wants to help his second-grade students improve their reading skills. He tests the students with 20 reading comprehension questions at the beginning of the year. Every week throughout the year he gives the students 30 minutes of reading comprehension tips. He tests the students at the end of the year with 20 reading comprehension questions that are similar in difficulty to those on the original test. He finds that the students' reading comprehension has increased and concludes that his tips worked. Which of the following describes the most significant problem with Mr. Gregg's study?

Mr. Gregg failed to account for changes in the students' maturity.

The fatty casing that helps speed up the neural transmissions of a neuron is called the

Myelin sheath

Helena did not recognize her English teacher when she unexpectedly saw him while traveling in Paris, even though she knew him well back in the classroom. The fact that Helena can recognize her teacher back home more easily than in Paris best demonstrates what concept?

Perceptual set

In a study on taste, what would researchers need to do to test participants' ability to distinguish umami from similar sensations?

Place disks soaked in MSG on the participants' tongues. Then replace those disks with disks that have been soaked in water. Compare the participants' reactions.

Human tactile sense is actually a mix of which of the following distinct skin senses?

Pressure, warmth, tickle, pain

Julie is interested in developing a test to measure achievement levels of middle school students. Which of the following domains of psychology is most applicable to Julie's interest?

Psychometric

Which of the following scenarios best demonstrates the acquisition of a fear of snakes?

Randolph's brother frequently startled Randolph whenever he approached a snake, which caused Randolph to develop an intense fear of them.

An example of divergent thinking is

Reagan brainstorming as many uses of a toothpick as possible in a two-minute period

Which of the following is the correct order of the eye-to-brain pathway of vision?

Retina, optic nerve, thalamus, occipital lobe

An example of using elaborative encoding to improve memory is

Sam remembering which tree is the ginkgo by using the phrase "stinko ginkgo" because the fruit of the ginkgo tree smells bad

David was studying some important historical dates for a test. He noticed that the day and month of one of the dates was the same as his own birthday, and he tried to use that fact to help him remember the date for his test. What is David using to enhance his memory?

Self-reference

Which of the following anatomical structures is involved in the vestibular sense?

Semicircular canals

Which of the following is the process of detecting environmental stimuli and converting them into signals that can be detected by the nervous system?

Sensation

Which of the following concepts refers to the diminished sensitivity to a stimulus that occurs due to constant exposure to that stimulus?

Sensory adaptation

Jeanette is curious to see how many numbers she can hold in her mind at once. She asks her friend to test her on lists of random digits to see how many she can remember. Based on what is known about the average limits of short-term memory capacity, what is the most likely number of digits Jeanette will be able to remember?

Seven

Rodrigo's three-year-old sister says the phrase "We goed to the store" instead of "We went to the store." According to Noam Chomsky, what is the best explanation for her behavior?

She is overregularizing her use of the past tense.

Marlene had an infection that led to deafness in her left ear. Which of the following will be the most likely impact of losing her hearing in her left ear?

She will have trouble locating the source of sounds.

The idea that there is a part of the mind that is not directly accessible to awareness but still drives a person's thinking and behavior is most directly attributable to

Sigmund Freud

Denise has damaged her auditory nerve and now has difficulty understanding what people are saying. Which of the following descriptions explains how that damage impairs her hearing?

Sound messages fail to be transmitted directly to the brain.

Which of the following scenarios most accurately describes biofeedback?

Stacy participated in an experiment in which she wore a heart-rate monitor, watched the readout of her heart rate, and received points based on how many beats per minute she reduced her heart rate.

What is the primary advantage of conducting a survey rather than using other types of research methods?

Surveys can gather information from a diverse representation of and a large number of people.

Which of the following is the best example of social learning?

Sydney starts using the same word choices and vocal inflections as members of the popular group at her school.

Rogelio has a number of health problems and would like to avoid medication as much as possible. He is considering biofeedback as an alternative form of treatment. Biofeedback would most benefit which of Rogelio's health problems?

Tension headaches, because Rogelio can use the cues from biofeedback to learn to relax

If Jess has a type of amnesia that affects the formation of explicit memories but not implicit ones, which of the following will she be most likely to remember?

The arm position to throw the ball

Tracey was in pain from an ear infection, which her doctor said was in her inner ear. Which of the following is the most likely location of the infection?

The cochlea

Which of the following scenarios is best explained by long-term potentiation?

The first time Colleen tries to remember Leo's name it takes her a long time, but over time she remembers it more quickly.

Which of the following is the best definition for absolute threshold?

The lowest strength of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time

Which of the following describes what happens when a neuron sends a signal?

The neuron goes from being negatively charged to briefly being positively charged, and finally returns to being negatively charged again. The magnitude of the negative charge is fixed regardless of the strength of the input signal it receives.

If a body does not have enough potassium, how might that affect neuronal firing?

The neurons will struggle to fire because there will not be enough positively charged ions to trigger the firing of the neuron.

A researcher wants to study the human sense of taste over a life span. The researcher has a group of participants taste foods that are salty, bitter, sweet, sour, and umami. Which study would best allow the researcher to test the sensation of taste as people age, and what is the likely outcome?

The researcher follows the same group of people over the course of 40 years. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds throughout the 40 years. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste diminishes and their number of taste buds decreases.

According to the gate control theory of pain, which of the following contains a neurological gate that controls the transmission of pain messages to the brain?

The spinal cord

At a synapse, neurotransmitters released by the sending neuron do which of the following?

They bind to receptors at the receiving neuron, which opens ion channels.

What effect do agonists have?

They decrease the likelihood that a postsynaptic neuron will fire.

An example of state-dependent memory is

Tommy finding it easier to remember the materials on an exam while taking it because he was sad while studying for the exam

Bryan perceived a duck instead of other animals when viewing an ambiguous image because he watched a documentary about ducks the previous night. Which of the following best explains why Bryan perceived a duck?

Top-down processing, because he constructed the image of the duck piece by piece, starting with his sensory receptors.

An adult with a healthy sleep cycle is most likely to enter REM sleep

after cycling through the NREM sleep stages

A logical, systematic procedure for solving a problem is known as

an algorithm

The fact that Lori finds herself thinking about dogs and other pets after seeing a cat is evidence that human memory is organized into

an association network

A mental set is

an established way of thinking about or perceiving something

When seeking approval to conduct an experiment using participants from her college psychology course, a student researcher should

apply to the institutional review board at the university

Vandana, a 12-month-old infant, is listening to her father talk to her and suddenly repeats a word that he just said. Her father praises her and gives her a cookie. After she gets the cookie, she repeats the word again. Vandana's behavior can be best explained by using the theory of

behaviorism

For a person planning to hold a party outside, an example of the predictable-world bias would be

believing that nice weather is due this year because it rained a lot the last three years

Antagonists function by

blocking receptors to prevent other neurotransmitters from binding to the neural receptors

Patrick believes his basketball coach doesn't like him and subsequently focuses on all the times the coach criticizes his playing and ignores all the times the coach praises his performance. Patrick's behavior is best explained by the concept of

confirmation bias

Explicit memories are

created in the hippocampus

The psychodynamic theory of dreaming would postulate that

dreams fulfill unconscious wishes

Kara works as a dog trainer. She reads a new book that describes some unusual training methods, and she wants to test them out on the dogs she works with. She assigns each dog to one of two groups by picking a number out of a hat. Half the dogs are assigned to one group, and half the dogs are assigned to the other group. For a month, she trains one group using her old methods and the other group using the unusual methods. At the end of the month, Kara records that the dogs that were trained with her old methods obey her 80 percent of the time and those that were trained with the unique methods obey her 90 percent of the time. Kara concludes that the unique methods work better. Kara can best improve her experimental design by

having someone else test the dogs

Carl Wernicke discovered the region of the brain that is responsible for

language comprehension

Consolidation can be described as the process of

long-term memories being formed from short-term memories

A teacher asks Yvonne to go to another classroom to get a student whom Yvonne has never met. As she walks, she repeats the student's name to herself over and over to help her remember. Yvonne is boosting her memory by using

maintenance rehearsal

Short-term memory is best described as

memory that can hold only a small amount of information

Sebastian wants to earn an "A" in his biology course but finds it difficult to stay motivated to study every night. His teacher recommends that he surround himself with peers who study regularly to increase his studying behavior. Sebastian's teacher made her recommendation based on the learning concept of

modeling

Researchers trained monkeys to perform two tasks: an object-matching task and a location task. In the object-matching task, the monkeys are given an object and must choose a matching object from two objects placed in front of them. In the location task, an object is placed near one of two locations, and the monkeys must reach toward the location the object is closest to. Separating the monkeys into two groups, researchers created a lesion in one area of the brains of the monkeys in one group and a lesion in a different area of the brains of the monkeys in the second group. The researchers then tested the monkeys' performance on the two tasks. The figures below show the monkeys' accuracy on the two tasks. The lesions were most likely performed in the

parietal lobe for Group 1 and the temporal lobe for Group 2

Dr. Sampson follows the structuralist school of thought. Her techniques would most likely include

presenting a participant with an object, such as a can of soda, and having the subject report his or her perceptions or experience of the can

The parietal lobe is most involved in

processing sensory information

Gayle's teacher wants to increase effective study habits in her students by using negative reinforcement. Gayle's teacher would most likely enforce this by

removing an unpleasant stimulus

Michael Gazzaniga is best known for

studying split-brain patients

A researcher wanted to test the psychometric properties of a new intelligence test for children. She administered the test twice, two months apart, to children in a fourth-grade classroom. On the second administration, she noticed that the children who performed well were not the same children who performed well on the first administration and that there appeared to be no relationship between student performance on the first and second administration of the test. Based on this scenario, the psychological construct missing from this intelligence test is

test-retest reliability, because the researcher is administering the same test twice

John went to the beach for vacation shortly after having watched a documentary film about shark attacks. Overestimating the possibility of encountering a shark in the water, he decided to spend the day sunbathing and reading instead of going for a swim. John's reasoning can be explained through

the availability heuristic

To remember a list of words, Jerry tries walking through his bedroom and making associations between words on the list and various areas he visits in his bedroom. Jerry is trying to improve his memory encoding by using

the method of loci

Sometimes people who speak different languages are in a community together and must develop a way of communicating. Similarly, their offspring must also find a way to communicate. The main difference between the speech of the first generation and the speech of the second generation is

the speech of the second generation tends to have more complex grammar rules

The phenomenon of declining physiological effects of taking a drug after sustained use is referred to as

tolerance

Mary has an IQ score within one standard deviation above the mean score. This indicates her score was

within the middle 68% of people who took the test

Several researchers from an introductory psychology course observed infants, toddlers, and young children at a day care for one week. Over the course of the week, the researchers observed the gross and fine motor skills of all the children. After reviewing the data, the researchers were able to conclude that

young children master gross motor skills more quickly than fine motor skills