Psychology Questions and Answers

In the manic phase of bipolar disorder, a person may:

make huge contributions to charity.

Which of the following causes Down syndrome?

The presence of an extra chromosome on the 21st pair

Steve has just completed a personality assessment in which he was shown a series of cards one at a time and asked to make up stories about them. Which of the following tests is he most likely to have taken?

The Thematic Apperception Test

According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, decentration in the concreate operational stage refers to:

children being able to center on two dimensions of a problem at once.

When is the id first present in the mind?

At birth

Which of the following is true about primary reinforcers?

Primary reinforcers are effective because of an organism's biological makeup.

Which of the following is the function of the iris?

Regulating the amount of light that enters the eye

Which of the following is NOT one of Selye's three stages in the general adaptation syndrome?

Resilience phase

Amanda can't stand to be in a crowded room, get on an elevator, or sit in the middle of a row. It interferes with her job performance and prevents her from enjoying leisure activities. Which anxiety disorder does Amanda exhibit?

Agoraphobia

Richard is 67 years old. His family no longer allows him to go anywhere alone because he often forgets his name and address along with his way home. In addition, Richard is unable to follow instructions and do simple chores like he used to. Which disease does Richard most likely have?

Alzheimer's disease

Which of the following is most likely to occur if an individual did not have a sense of smell?

An onion and an apple might taste the same.

Which of the following is true in the context of children babbling?

Babbling is inborn and prelinguistic.

According to Erikson, which of the following is the goal of adolescence?

Ego identity

Which of the following is a key feature of mindfulness meditation?

Focusing on the present

Who among the following perceives the ability to attain reinforcements as being largely outside themselves?

Internals

Which of the following is true about maintenance rehearsal?

It involves mentally repeating a list or saying the information to oneself.

Which of the following statements is true about a schema?

It is a way of mentally representing the world that can influence perceptions.

Which of the following is true of Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

It states that humans are motivated by a desire for personal growth.

Which of the following is a function of oxytocin?

It stimulates labor in pregnant women.

Which one of the following is a criticism of Freud's psychoanalytic theory?

It was too vague to scientifically measure the psychic structures.

Which of the following terms refers to an altered state of consciousness?

Meditation

Which of the following sleep disorders is similar to experiencing nightmares?

Sleep terrors

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of psychological disorders?

Socially acceptable behavior

Which of the following is a consequence of regular usage of opiates?

The brain stops producing the pain-relieving endorphins.

Dana can only remember a few of the first and last items on her grocery list. Which of the following is this an example of?

The serial-position effect

Which of the following is a feature of the germinal stage of prenatal development?

The zygote divides repeatedly while moving to the uterus.

In the context of dreams, which of the following statements is true?

There is no evidence to suggest that dreams express impulses we censor during the day.

Which of the following is true of people with Type A behavior pattern?

They dominate group discussions.

Which of the following is a reason for overconfidence?

We work to bring about the events we believe in.

Conversion disorder is characterized by:

a major change in, or loss of, physical functioning, although there are no medical findings to explain the loss of functioning.

Parents can positively influence their children's IQs by:

being verbally responsive to children.

Jane has episodes where she can't remember what she did or where she was. She has found clothing in her closet that she does not wear and doesn't know how it got there. When she goes to see the doctor, she introduces herself as Suzy. Jane seems to be exhibiting:

dissociative identity disorder.

Abe and Rose, who have been married for 13 years, are discussing the events that led to their very first date. Rose distinctly remembers giving Abe her telephone number at a party, but Abe is certain that he got her number from her best friend, Linda. Abe and Rose have different _____ of the event.

episodic memories

Motives are:

inferred from behavior.

Cognitive theorists note that:

people represent their worlds mentally.

Carole seems to be incredibly healthy; she is able to resist illness despite being severely stressed. She fully involves herself in whatever she is doing. She believes that change is normal and that she has control over the course of her life. Psychologists would say that Carole is:

psychologically hardy.

Alina thinks that she is overweight even if she is not. She often indulges in binge eating and later vomits the food out forcefully. Which eating disorder is Alina most likely suffering from?

Bulimia nervosa

Erik Erikson is credited with developing the psychosexual stages of development.

False

People with panic attacks tend to:

misinterpret bodily cues and to view them as threats.

Phoebe recently suffered a major fall in which she sustained brain injuries. Since then, she has had immense difficulty in communicating with others. She appears to understand what is said to her, but her responses are slow and laborious. Her sentences are always incomplete with important grammatical words missing. Which of the following conditions best reflects Phoebe's case?

Broca's aphasia

Which of the following statements is true about the different types of psychologists?

Clinical psychologists help clients resolve problems and change self-defeating behavior.

Will was driving down a road one night. Suddenly, he noticed a man trying to cross the road just a little away from the car. Will felt an intense fear and immediately became alert and slammed the breaks down hard, missing the man by inches. Which hormone was responsible for this reaction?

Epinephrine

Operant conditioning is a simple form of learning in which organisms come to anticipate or associate events with one another.

False

Positive reinforcers increase the probability that a behavior will occur when the reinforcers are removed.

False

Which of the following is a feature of the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)?

It contains cards with drawings that are subject to various interpretations.

Which of the following statements is true of applied research?

It is designed to find solutions to particular problems.

Which of the following is true about the serial position effect?

It is the tendency to recall more accurately the first and last items on a list.

Despite being blind, Brian has never had a problem understanding how to use his limbs. He has been able to accurately judge the position and motion of his body parts, and thus, he is able perform activities such as walking and eating quite normally. Which of the following senses is illustrated in the scenario?

Kinesthesis

Which of the following brain imaging techniques relies on subtle shifts in blood flow?

Magnetic resonance imaging

As a little girl, Dana liked to watch her mother prepare dinner. As an adult, Dana now enjoys preparing gourmet meals for her family. Dana learned to cook by watching her mother cook rather than by means of direct experience. In the context of observational learning, Dana's mother was a__________for her.

Model

Which of the following terms refers to contemporary psychologists who follow theories derived from Freud?

Neoanalysts

In the context of pain, which of the following statements is true?

Pain is usually sharpest where nerve endings are densely packed.

Which of the following is consistent with Erikson's stage of ego integrity versus despair?

People focus on letting go and accepting their place in the sweep of history.

Julie's research work requires her to interview a sample of 200 people within two months. She needs a quick method of observation by which she can consolidate the data from her questionnaires without taking too much time. Which of the following methods should be recommended for Julie?

The survey method

Which of the following statements is true about heuristics?

They permit more rapid solutions than algorithms.

Which of the following statements is true about thinking?

Thinking means paying attention to information.

Which of the following senses is known to be dominant in human beings?

Vision

Somatoform disorders involve:

complaints of physical problems.

When following the scientific method, psychologists usually begin a study by:

formulating a research question.

The risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) can be reduced by:

lowering LDL serum cholesterol.

Kyle is possessed by the thought that he is an evil person who will murder somebody, even though he is not capable of the heinous act. He tries to put these disturbing thoughts out of his mind by washing his hands several times a day. Kyle demonstrates:

obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Individuals who have experienced severe trauma or victimization may experience debilitating anxiety reactions months and years after the actual traumatic experience. For example, disaster victims or war veterans often have their first symptoms many months after the actual events. These patients are diagnosed as suffering from:

posttraumatic stress disorder.

As a child, Peter was bitten by a big, white dog due to which he developed a fear of dogs. Over the years, his fear of dogs got gradually extinguished. Recently, on his way to work, he saw a similar big, white dog barking ferociously at a cat. Suddenly, he felt the fear of dogs again. This recurrence of Peter's fear of dogs is known as__________.

spontaneous Recovery

According to Piaget, children in the formal operational stage of cognitive development have:

the ability to hypothesize.

The difference between major depressive disorder and run-of-the-mill depression is that:

the feeling of lack of energy, low self-esteem, loss of interest in activities is more intense in people with major depressive disorder.