PSY105 Test
Which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the weakest degree of relationship between two variables?
-.12
The brain waves associated with REM sleep are most similar to those of
NREM 1 sleep
Genital arousal is most likely to be associated with
REM sleep
Professor Delano suggests that because people are especially attracted to those who are good-looking, handsome men will be more successful than average-looking men in getting a job. The professor's prediction regarding employment success is an example of
a hypothesis
A drug that mimics the effects of a particular neurotransmitter is called a(n)
agonist
Jordanna has decided to go to bed early. Although her eyes are closed and she's very relaxed, she has not yet fallen asleep. An EEG is most likely to indicate the presence of
alpha waves
To demonstrate that brain stimulation can make a rat violently aggressive, a neuroscientist should electrically stimulate the rat's
amygdala
An extensive survey revealed that children with relatively high self-esteem tend to picture God as kind and loving, whereas those with lower self-esteem tend to perceive God as angry. The researchers concluded that the children's self-esteem had apparently influenced their views of God. This conclusion best illustrates the danger of
assuming that association implies causation
For several months following a sudden and unexpected divorce, Henry was excessively preoccupied with thoughts of his ex-wife. His reaction resulted from the disruption of
attachment
A focus on the links between brain activity and behavior is most characteristic of psychologists who work from a ________ perspective.
biological
Janna has low self-esteem because she is often teased for being overweight. Appreciating the complexity of Janna's difficulties requires
biopsychosocial
Janna has low self-esteem because she is often teased for being overweight. Appreciating the complexity of Janna's difficulties requires
biopsychosocial approach
Prenatal testosterone secretions exert one of their earliest influences on
brain organization
During REM sleep, your skeletal muscles are relaxed because messages from the motor cortex are blocked by the
brainstem
The reticular formation is located in the
brainstem
The sequence of brain regions from the evolutionarily oldest to newest is
brainstem, limbic system, cerebral cortex
Researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to isolate
causes from effects
Your conscious awareness of your own name and self-identity depends primarily on the normal functioning of your
cerebral cortex
The benefits of brain plasticity are most clearly demonstrated in
children who have had a cerebral hemisphere surgically removed
With the approach of night, our body temperatures begin to drop. This best illustrates the dynamics of the
circadian rhythm
One of the three major concerns of developmental psychology involves a focus on
continuity and stages
To study the potential effects of social interaction on problem solving, some research participants were instructed to solve problems by working together; other participants were told to solve problems by working alone. Those who worked alone were assigned to the ________ group.
control
Juanita suffers from a painful back condition. Smoking marijuana would reduce her pain, but she thinks it would be wrong because it is prohibited by the laws of her state. Juanita is demonstrating Kohlberg's ________ level of morality.
conventional
Which of the following is a statistical measure of both the direction and the strength of a relationship between two variables?
correlation coefficient
To discover the extent to which economic status can be used to predict political preferences, researchers are most likely to use
correlational measures
In agricultural societies, children typically socialize into more distinct gender roles than do children in nomadic societies. This best illustrates that gender-role differences between social groups result from
cultural influence
After an experiment, research participants are told its purpose and about any deception they may have experienced. This is called
debriefing
Among employed women, the task of raising children is especially likely to be associated with ________ marital satisfaction. The departure of mature children from the home is typically associated with ________ marital satisfaction.
decreasing; increasing
The simplified reality of laboratory experiments is most helpful in enabling psychologists to
develop general principles to help explain behavior
Lilianne is beginning to develop a fear of strangers and will reach for her mother when she sees someone who is unfamiliar. It is likely that Lilianne has also just
developed a sense of object permeance
The social roles assigned to women and men
differ widely across cultures
Sleep deprivation has been shown to
diminish immunity to disease
Three hours after going to sleep, Shoshanna's heart rate increases, her breathing becomes more rapid, and her eyes move rapidly under her closed lids. Research suggests that Shoshanna is
dreaming
Which of the following is an example of imprinting?
duckling and bouncing ball
A statistically significant difference between two sample groups is NOT likely to be
due to chance variation within and between the sample groups
The ovaries in females and the testes in males are part of the
endocrine system
Every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us, is an aspect of our
environment
Infant rats deprived of their mothers' normal licking had more ________ that block access to the "on" switch for developing the brain's stress hormone receptors.
epigenetic molecules
Professor Assad suggested that a cautious attitude toward sexual encounters has proven to be more reproductively advantageous to women than to men because the birth process is more time-consuming for women than for men. This suggestion best illustrates the logic of a(n) ________ theory of sexual behavior.
evolutionary
The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to
exaggerate their ability to have foreseen an outcome
A critical period is a phase during which
exposure to certain experiences is needed for proper development.
Bats need a lot of sleep because their high waking metabolism produces ________ that are toxic to neurons.
free radicals
People's moral judgments are most likely to seem unrestrained by normal emotions if they have suffered damage to their
frontal cortex
Gender differences in verbal fluency are consistent with evidence that part of the
frontal lobes thicker in women
During adolescence, maturation of the ________ lags behind maturation of the ________.
frontal lobes; limbic system
The belief that boys are more independent than girls is a
gender schema
A boy who consistently exhibits traditionally masculine interests and behavior patterns demonstrates
gender typing
Migdalia insists on wearing very feminine-looking outfits because she wants to be treated like a woman. This best illustrates the impact of
gender typing
A statistically significant difference between two sample groups is NOT likely to be
CorrectA. due to chance variation within and between the sample groups.
Cross-cultural research on human development indicates that
CorrectA. person-to-person differences within cultural groups are larger than differences between groups.
Nightmares are to ________ as night terrors are to ________.
CorrectB. REM sleep; NREM-3 sleep
A negative correlation between degree of wealth and likelihood of suffering from a psychological disorder would indicate that
CorrectB. people who are poor are more likely to have a psychological disorder than are wealthy people.
The hypothalamus influences the ________ to send messages to the ________.
CorrectB. pituitary; endocrine glands
The circadian rhythm is influenced by light-sensitive retinal proteins that trigger signals to the
CorrectB. suprachiasmatic nucleus.
If warmly supportive parents are especially likely to have children with high self-esteem, this would most clearly indicate that
CorrectB. warmly supportive parenting and children's self-esteem are correlated.
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior and personality traits is known as
CorrectC. behavior genetics.
The first major issue that emerges in debates over experimenting on animals centers around the
CorrectC. ethics of placing the well-being of humans above that of animals.
Research on sleep patterns indicates that
CorrectC. sleep patterns may be genetically influenced.
Curare is a paralyzing poison that functions as a(n)
CorrectD. ACh antagonist.
Brain plasticity may contribute to the effectiveness of
CorrectD. constraint-induced therapy.
Carol is distressed because post-childbirth complications prevented her from being in close physical contact with her child during its first few hours of life. Carol should be told that
CorrectD. human infants do not have well-defined critical periods for the formation of a mother-infant attachment.
As people progress through adulthood, women become
CorrectD. more assertive and men become more empathic.
A synapse is a(n)
junction between a sending neuron and a receiving neuron
Severing a cat's reticular formation from higher brain regions causes the cat to
lapse into a coma
The best time for athletes to engage in heavy exercise workouts is
late afternoon or early evening
The amygdala consists of emotion-linked neural clusters in the
limbic system
Psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen has proposed that autism is indicative of an inborn
male systemizing tendency
The biggest danger of relying on case-study evidence is that it
may be unrepresentative of what is generally true
When Mr. Adams calculated his students' algebra test scores, he noticed that two students had extremely low scores. Which measure of central tendency is affected most by the scores of these two students?
mean
The activation of light-sensitive retinal proteins in our eyes signals our brains to decrease production of
melatonin
According to Piaget, imagining an action and mentally reversing it would be an example of a
mental operation
In comparison to parental influence, peer influence is
more likely to effect a childs language accent
People expect men to be ________ hungry for political power than women. When men and women are both perceived to be politically power hungry, men are ________ likely than women to suffer voter backlash.
more, less
Gay men report ________ interest in uncommitted sex and ________ interest in their partner's physical attractiveness than do lesbian women.
more;more
Information is carried from the central nervous system to the body's tissues by
motor neurons
Degeneration of the myelin sheath results in
multiple sclerosis
The process of forming new neurons within the brain is called
neurogenesis
A limbic system reward center located in front of the hypothalamus is called the
nucleus accumbens
Social learning theorists emphasize that
observation and imitation
Replication of a research study is most likely to be facilitated by
operational definitions
Which of the following is most likely to inhibit critical thinking?
overconfidence
Migraines are most closely linked with an
oversupply of glutamate
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
In a study of the effects of drinking alcohol, some participants drank a nonalcoholic beverage that actually smelled and tasted like alcohol. This nonalcoholic drink was a
placebo
The part of the brainstem that helps to coordinate movements is called the
pons
If psychologists discovered that more intelligent parents have smarter children than less intelligent parents, this would demonstrate that
positively correlated
Critics have noted that Kohlberg's ________ level of moral reasoning is culturally limited, appearing mostly among people who prize individualism.
postconventional
Regis thinks it's wrong to drive over the speed limit simply because he might get punished for doing so. He is demonstrating Kohlberg's ________ stage of morality.
preconventional
According to Piaget, egocentrism is to conservation as the ________ stage is to the ________ stage.
preoperational; concrete operational
Remembering to take your prescribed medications at a specific time of day best illustrates
prospective memory
To accurately isolate cause and effect, experimenters should use
random assignment
The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution is the
range
Premature infants who are regularly touched and massaged are more likely than their unstimulated counterparts to show signs of
rapid weight gain
Which region of your brainstem plays a role in arousing you to a state of alertness when someone nearby mentions your name?
reticular formation
Drivers are slower to detect traffic signals if they are talking on a cell phone. This best illustrates the impact of
selective attention
Dmitry Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut successfully domesticated wild foxes by means of
selective mating
According to Vygotsky, parents who say "No, no!" when pulling a child's hand away from a cake are giving the child a tool for
self control
A brain tumor caused extensive damage to Mr. Thorndike's hypothalamus. It is most likely that he may suffer a loss of
sexual motivation
A periodic, natural, reversible loss of consciousness that involves distinct stages is known as
sleep
The rhythmic bursts of brain activity that occur during NREM-2 sleep are called
sleep spindles
Neural activity that reenacts and promotes recall of prior novel experiences is most closely associated with
slow wave sleep
Production of the human growth hormone necessary for muscle development is most strongly associated with
slow-wave sleep
Compared with others their own age, children who form a positive self-concept are more likely to be
sociable
Compared with their counterparts in more collectivist countries, 17-year-olds in North America are more likely to experience
social identity
Mr. Eskenazi frowns when his son cries but hugs his daughter when she cries. Mr. Eskenazi's contribution to the gender typing of his children would most likely be highlighted by
social learning theorists
The male answer syndrome suggests that men are less likely than women to demonstrate
social modesty
Compared with when they were only 20 years old, 60-year-olds
spend less time in deep sleep
The knee-jerk reflex is controlled by interneurons in the
spinal cord
Questions about whether anxious children will grow up to be either fearful or relaxed adults most directly highlight the issue of
stability and change
The fact that many happy and well-adjusted adults were once rebellious and unhappy as adolescents is most relevant to the issue of
stability and change
When researcher Karen Wynn showed 14-month-old infants a numerically impossible outcome, the infants
stared longer at the outcome
To decide whether observed differences between samples reflect actual differences between populations, you should determine the ________ of the observed differences.
statistical significance
Evidence that easy, relaxed infants develop secure attachments more readily than difficult, emotionally intense babies would illustrate the importance of
temperament
Nature is to nurture as ________ is to ________.
temperament; responsive parenting
Auditory stimulation is first processed in the ________ lobes.
temporal
Information from higher brain regions is transmitted to the medulla through the
thalamus
Which brain structure receives information from all the senses except smell?
thalamus
Dr. Wolski conducts research on the potential relationship between neurotransmitter deficiencies and mood states. Dr. Wolski's research focus is most characteristic of
the biological perspective
The central nervous system consists of
the brain and spinal cord
Our inability to fall asleep early, as we had planned, is most likely a reflection of
the circadian rhythm
Which of the following is true for those assigned to a control group?
the experimental treatment is absent
Four-year-old Karen can't remember anything of the first few months of her life. This is best explained by the fact that
the hippocampus and frontal lobes are immature during early infancy
Psychologists who view the developmental process as a sequence of distinct stages generally believe that ________ is(are) the same for everyone.
the order but not the timing of the stages
A normal curve would approximate the distribution of
the physical heights of all American women
In which type of research is a representative, random sample of people asked to answer questions about their behaviors or attitudes?
the survey
Just after birth, the cries of newborns bear the intonation of
their mother's language
French toddlers preferred playing with chamomile-scented toys if
their mothers had once used a skin balm with a chamomile scent.
Hormones, the chemical messengers of the endocrine system, travel through the bloodstream to affect other
tissues
To estimate trait heritability, researchers are most likely to make use of
twin studies
Median is to range as central tendency is to ________.
variation
People often fail to make accurate generalizations because they are unduly influenced by ________ cases.
vivid
Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has described our moral intuitions as
gut feelings
Sensory experiences that occur without an external sensory stimulus are called
hallucinations
Professor Smith told one class that drinking alcohol has been found to increase sexual desire. He informed another class that drinking alcohol has been found to reduce sexual appetite. The fact that neither class was surprised by the information they received best illustrates the power of
hindisght bias
The scientific attitude of humility is most likely to be undermined by
hindsight bias
James Olds and Peter Milner located reward centers in the brain structure known as the
hypothalamus
Environmental influences on personality traits are most clearly highlighted by comparing
identical twins raised together with identical twins raised apart
Critics of evolutionary psychology are most likely to suggest that it underestimates the
impact of cultural expectations on human sexual behavior
Most children who experience parental neglect or abuse manage to have socially meaningful and productive lives. This best illustrates
infantile amnesia
Two-year-old Anna perceives her parents as cold and rejecting. This is most indicative of
insecure attachment
According to Erikson, adolescence is to identity as late adulthood is to
integrity
The vast majority of neurons in the body's nervous system are
interneurons
Erikson suggested that the adolescent search for identity is followed by a developing capacity for
intimacy
Laboratory games reveal that people's desire to punish wrongdoings is driven mostly by automatic emotional reactions rather than by deliberate conscious calculations that punishment will deter crime. This most clearly supports the ________ perspective on morality.
intuitionist