Psych 101 Exam 2 Iowa State

dispositions

(traits) are relatively stable and enduring over time

The widespread improvement in intelligence test performance during the past century is called

The Flynn effect

Can damage to the brain lead to changes in the specific personality behaviors?

Yes

Anika resisted changing her answer to a test question after reminding herself that "it's always best to stick with your first answer." Anika's decision best illustrates the use of

a heuristic

A bell-shaped pattern that characterizes the distribution of a large sample of intelligence test scores is a graphic representation of

a normal curve

drop in metabolic rate is most likely the result from

a semistarvation diet

Caitlin concluded that her husband was late for dinner because he was caught in heavy traffic. Her conclusion best illustrates

a situational attribution

what are examples of a social psychological definition of a group

a sports team, family or small choir

Amanda is consistently optimistic, talkative, and impulsive. Each of these characteristics most clearly represents

a trait

conformity is best described as

adjusting one's behavior or thinking toward a group standard

A person who is helpful and trusting most clearly ranks high on the Big Five trait dimension known as

agreeableness

The first phase of the general adaptation syndrome is

alarm

a drive refers to

an aroused, motivated state that is often triggered by a physiological need

Dr. Chen believes that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of stimulation. When the level is too low, we try to increase it by seeking out stimulating experiences. When it is too high, we seek to reduce arousal in a less stimulating environment. Dr. Chen's views are most consistent with

arousal theory

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in particular ways to objects, people, and events are called

attitudes

social-cognitive perspective

behavior influenced by interaction between people's traits and their context

fixation

being stuck in a stage (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital)

Despite overwhelming and highly publicized evidence that Senator McEwan was guilty of serious political corruption and misconduct, many who had supported her in past elections remained convinced of her political integrity. Their reaction best illustrates

belief perseverance

An integrated understanding of sexual motivation in terms of sex hormones, sexual fantasies, and cultural values is most clearly provided by the

biopsychosocial result

Chandra is very athletic and is able to quickly master new and complex dance routines. Howard Gardner would be most likely to suggest that Chandra demonstrates a high level of

bodily-kinesthetic intelligence

Oedipus complex

boys develop sexual desires for their mothers and hate their fathers as a rival resolve by identifying with their fathers rather than seeing them as a rival

putting someone in a group

categorization

Personality is best defined as an individual's

characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

belief perseverance refers to

clinging to one's initial conceptions after the basis on which they were formed has been discredited

During a test, Abe impulsively copied several answers from a nearby student's paper. He felt very uncomfortable about having done this until he convinced himself that copying answers is not wrong if classmates are careless enough to expose their test sheets. Which theory best explains why Abe adopted this new attitude?

cognitive dissonance theory

superordinate goals

common goal for both groups helps make everyone equal

realistic conflict theory

competition for limited resources leads to conflict and prejudice comes from people in the same economic situations

using emotional, behavioral, or cognitive methods to alleviate stress is known as

coping

repression

deliberately forget something that is too painful to remember

major depressive disorder

depressed mood most of the day and/or diminished interest or pleasure in activities signs: insomnia, sleeping too much, disrupted sleep, lethargy, fatigue or loss of energy during the day

psychological disorders are

deviant, distressful or dysfunctional

In a study by David Rosenhan, researchers were admitted as patients into various mental hospitals after they falsely claimed to be "hearing voices." This study best illustrated the negative effects of

diagnostic labels

deviant

differing from the norm

how we behave towards a person

discrimination

scapegoating

displace anger and aggression into groups that one dislikes

Lillian will be taking an entrance exam for law school this afternoon. She is likely to ________ on the exam if her physiological arousal is ________.

do well; moderate

Personally distressing thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are considered to be symptoms of a psychological disorder if they are

dysfunctional

personality is developed through...

emphasis on interaction of personality and situation

mood disorders

extremely sad, low-evergy moods or swings between extremely high and low moods

As a member of the diplomatic corps, Alex was given special training in the customs, language, and religions of the nonindustrialized country where he would be living. However, Alex probably needed little training to correctly interpret his hosts' expressions of emotion as revealed by their

facial expressions

After watching a video of his winning game shot in a high school basketball tournament, Jordan was easily persuaded to baby-sit his little sister while his parents went out for dinner. This best illustrates the

feel-good, do-good phenomenon

extraversion

general tendency to seek out stimulation and company of others

what perpetuates a stereotype

generalize the cause of one persons behavior to an entire group ex: that girl is bad at math so all girls are bad at math

the superego is the part of personality that

generates feelings of guilt

Groups have a tendency to shift to a more extreme view after a group discussion. This leads groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of its members were. This phenomenon is called

group polarization

seeing one-eyed monsters would be a(n) ________. Believing that you are Christopher Columbus would be a ________.

hallucination; delusion

who has been criticized the most for offering concepts that are vague and subjective?

humanistic theorists

a psychotherapist is most likely to use the DSM-5 in order to ________ various psychological disorders

identify

A monetary bonus is obviously the best way to motivate someone to do a great job and take pride in their work." This statement best illustrates the concept of ________ in motivation

incentives

A sudden realization of the solution to a problem is called

insight

The sort of problem solving that demonstrates "school smarts" is what researchers have historically assessed in their tests of

intelligence

Id

irrational component, impulsive, ruled by "pleasure principle"

instinctive behavior is one that

is common to an entire species is unlearned is rigidly patterend

Aerobic exercise is an effective way to

lower the blood pressure reaction to stress

Feelings of worthlessness are most likely to be associated with

major depressive disorder

examples of mood disorders

major depressive disorder, mania, bipolar disorder

a concept is a

mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people

media portrayals

minorities are often shown in negative ways

superego

moralistic component, internalizing parental and societal rules, "morality principle"

Identical twins are somewhat ________ than fraternal twins to share a homosexual orientation; however, ________.

more likely; because sexual orientation differs in many twin pairs, other factors are also at work

In one study, polygraph experts interpreted the polygraph data of 100 people who had been suspects in crimes of theft. Had the polygraph experts been the judges of guilt or innocence

more than one-third of the truly innocent would have been declared guilty

Abraham Maslow referred to the need to live up to one's fullest and unique potential as the

need for self-actualization

are stereotypes positive or negative

negative

homosexual orientation is viewed by most psychologist to be

neither wistfully chosen or willfully changed

A highly anxious and insecure personality illustrates the Big Five trait dimension of

neuroticism

flaws in freuds scientific method

no way to prove or disprove his theories,

genuineness

open with feelings, transparent and self-disclosing

O.C.E.A.N.

openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism

Cognitive dissonance theory emphasizes that we seek to reduce the discomfort we feel when we become aware that

our attitudes and actions clash

how is understanding a person different than understanding an object

people have hidden, unobservable traits

reciprocal determinism

personalities are shaped by the interaction of our personal traits, environment and our behavior

Brenda has never cheated on a psychology test, but she often does so on chemistry tests. She recently stole some merchandise from a local store, but she also returned a lost billfold along with $28 to its rightful owner. This pattern of behavior should make psychologists more cautious about emphasizing the consistent impact of ________ on behavior

personality traits

attitudes

positive or negative feelings influenced by beliefs that predispose us to respond in a certain way to people, events or object A= Affective judgenment (prejudice) B= Behavior (discrimination) C= Cognitive generalization/Categorization (stereotypes)

aptitude tests are specifically designed to

predict ability to learn a new skill

how we feel about a person

prejudice

creativity is the ability to

produce novel and valuable ideas

Tests that present ambiguous stimuli designed to uncover hidden personality dynamics are called ________ tests

projective

ego

rational component, mediating, ruled by "reality principle"

Freud emphasized that the ego operates on the ________ principle

reality

According to Albert Bandura, the interacting influences of behavior, internal personal factors, and environment illustrate

reciprocal determinism

patterns

refers to finding a collection of symptoms that tend to go together, not just a single symptom

childrens prejudice

reflects parents prejudice

type B personality characteristics

relaxed, understanding social worker

tendency to group similar things together

schema formation

what is confirmation bias

seeing what we expect

how do we define ourselves

self-definition me vs not-me

group polarization

shift towards a more extreme view after a discussion

The presence of others improves performance on simple, easy tasks. This is called

social facilitation

Four students put less effort into a team project compared to how much they usually do when working alone. This is an example of

social loafing

Evidence that visual input is routed from the thalamus directly to the amygdala has been used to support the claim that

some emotional reactions may occur without conscious thinking

disorder

state of mental/behavioral ill health

blacks have been found to score lower on tests of verbal aptitude when tested by Whites than when tested by Blacks. This best illustrates the impact of

stereotype threat

generalized belief about a group of people

stereotyping

Estée's legs are paralyzed, but she is able to minimize the stress that the inability to walk might have caused by viewing this handicap as a challenge rather than a threat. This illustrates the importance of

stress appraisal

Physical and emotional responses to threatening and challenging events are referred to as

stress reactions

A sporting event that participating athletes perceive as highly challenging or threatening is best described as a

stressor

Feeling liked and encouraged by intimate friends and family has been found to promotes

stronger immune functioning

projective tests

structured, systematic exposure to a standardized set of ambiguous prompts, designed to reveal inner dynamics

A mental set is

tendency to approach a problem in a way that has been successful in the past

openness to experience

tendency to be imaginative and artistic

neuroticism

tendency to experience negative emotions

ingroup bias

tendency to favor our own group

Out-Group homogeneity effect

tendency to perceive more variability among in-groups than out groups

conscientiousness

tendency to plan, organize, carry out tasks

fundamental attribution error

tendency to underestimate the role of the situation and overestimate the role of personal factors in explaining other peoples behavior ex: when you yell you have an anger problem, when i yell, its because no one in this house listens to me unless i am firm and loud

Juan and Berta were millionaires who lost half their life savings due to a bad investment decision. Which of the following best explains why after three years Juan and Berta seem to have suffered no permanent loss of happiness?

the adaptation-level phenomenon

After learning that her two best friends had lost their jobs, Mariah began to grossly overestimate the national unemployment rate. Mariah's reaction best illustrates the consequences of

the availability heuristic

A mother's immune system may have a defensive response to substances produced by male fetuses. This is most likely to contribute to

the fraternal birth-order effect

Recognizing the powerful impact of social influence on others' behaviors is most likely to minimize

the fundamental attribution error

The tendency for observers to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal dispositions on another's behavior is called

the fundamental attribution error

Spearman referred to the general capacity that may underlie all of a person's specific mental abilities as

the g factor

in response to various stressors, ________ increases your heart rate and respiration

the sympathetic nervous system

In suggesting that the mind is mostly hidden, Freud was most clearly emphasizing the importance of

the unconscious

Marshall has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Because this disorder is included as a diagnosis in the DSM-5

therapist will be able to suggest appropriate treatment

Astrid was emotionally aroused by a TV horror movie. She became extremely angry when her younger brother momentarily blocked her view of the screen. When her movie viewing was interrupted by a phone call from her boyfriend, however, she experienced unusually intense romantic feelings. Astrid's different emotional reactions to her brother and her boyfriend are best explained by the

two-factor theory

in-group out-group

us= a group we belong to ex: your race them= a group we dont belong to

cross-race effect

we have difficulty recognizing faces from another race

social identity theory (Tajfel)

we want to be members of the best group in order to boost our confidence enhance our own group or derogate other groups or both

when does autonomic processing occur

when we encounter a member of a stereotyped group (without or intention or awareness)

According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion

you experience fear at the same time your heart begins pounding

Who proposed that we are motivated by a hierarchy of needs?

Abraham Maslow