Psych/Soc Missed Questions
Which of the following serves as a reasonable explanation for the data in Figure 2? Question 2 Answer Choices A. The concrete operational nature of science activities allows students to demonstrate observable effort more easily than the more formal operational problem solving required by math word problems. B. The concrete operational nature of abstract math problems allows students to demonstrate effort more easily than the more formal operational nature of science activities. C. The concrete operational nature of science activities makes it easier for students to earn higher grades than to demonstrate actual effort. D. Math requires less sensorimotor intelligence than physics.
A. A knowledge of Piaget's stages of cognitive development is required for this question, and it must be integrated with the data presented in Figure 2. Piaget posited four stages of development, including the sensorimotor stage in which infants learn to manipulate the physical environment; the preoperational stage in which toddlers learn to symbolize the world using language; the concrete operational stage in which grade-school age children learn to engage in complex problem solving about physically observable things; and the formal operational stage in which adolescents begin to learn how to solve problems in a purely abstract manner. The data in Figure 2 indicate that high RC classrooms predict higher self-efficacy in science but not math, and the correct answer must reflect that finding. Science activities entail concrete problem solving, which lends itself to the demonstration of observable effort that characterizes the mastery approach to learning. Math word problems, however, are less concrete as they draw more heavily on formal operational thinking (choice B is wrong), and so it is more difficult to demonstrate observable effort. Accordingly, this distinction would be a reasonable explanation for the results in Figure 2 (choice A is correct). Earning higher grades rather than demonstrating effort is inconsistent with the mastery approach of RC programs and therefore would not be a reasonable explanation for increased self efficacy (choice C is wrong). As noted above, sensorimotor intelligence is a capacity developed in infancy; it is irrelevant to distinctions between middle school academic subjects and has no bearing on the study of physics (choice D is wrong).
Based on the information provided in the passage and presented in Figure 1, what might the researchers most logically conclude and what might be the biggest methodological criticism of this conclusion? Question 1 Answer Choices A. The presence of the lemon trigger scent while sleeping may be associated with a reduced fear response in the experimental group during Phase 2; however, critics of this study might be skeptical of this conclusion given that the lemon scent was introduced at three different time points for the experimental group, thus it would not be possible to determine that the researcher's hypothesis is correct. B. The presence of the lemon trigger scent during Phase 1 and Phase 2 may be associated with an increased fear response in the experimental group due to the close association between the amygdala and the olfactory bulb; however, study skeptics might disregard this conclusion because the images that were associated with the shock during Phase 1 were also presented on a different colored background, so it is not possible to determine if the colored background or the presence of a scent is responsible for the fear response in the experimental group. C. The control participants had an overall greater fear response during Phase 2 because they were not subject to the odor treatment, thus the lemon scent itself is responsible for the reduced fear response in the experimental group; however, it could be argued that since the subjects were not tested for innate fear responses before being placed into the experimental and control groups, it is possible that the experimental group had a much higher fear response tolerance thus invalidating the study results. D. The researchers would most likely conclude that their hypothesis was correct, and that "odor treatment" would be an effective cure for more systematic fear responses, such as phobias and PTSD; however, critics would argue that reduction or extinction of a simple fear response, such as that generated by a mild electric shock, is not generalizable to more extreme and complex fear responses.
A. Based on the information presented in the passage and the data in Figure 1, the researchers might most logically conclude that odor manipulation (the presence of the lemon trigger scent) may be associated with a reduced fear response between phases 1 and 2 in the experimental group. However, the fact that the lemon scent was introduced at three time points (during Phase 1 while the experimental participants were receiving shocks, overnight with the lemon-scented air freshener, and then again during Phase 2, when the images were presented without shocks) makes it perhaps more challenging to determine that the lemon scent is responsible for the reduced fear response. Therefore critics of this study might be skeptical of this conclusion given that the lemon scent was present during Phase 2 (choice A is correct; choice B is wrong). Testing the subject for innate fear response is not a viable criticism because the researchers were applying slightly painful electric shocks, which will produce some degree of fear response in everyone (choice C is wrong). Based on the results of this study alone, it would be quite premature for researchers to conclude that PTSD can easily be treated by classical conditioning. Although conditioning is frequently used in PTSD treatments such as exposure therapy, shock therapy is not currently an evidence-based treatment for PTSD, and is used very rarely to treat other disorders when other treatments have failed (choice D is wrong).
Part of Skinner's experimental method was to starve the pigeons until they reached less than 90% of their healthy weight. Which theory best explains why the starved pigeons would be very motivated to engage in behavior that might lead to the presentation of food? Question 1 Answer Choices A. Drive-reduction theory B. Conflict theory C. James-Lange theory D. Cannon-Bard theory
A. Drive reduction theory states that individuals are motivated by primary physiological needs such as hunger, thirst, and sex. The individual will then attempt to reach a state of homeostasis in which the need is not present (choice A is correct). In Sociology, conflict theory investigates how different power structures in a society contribute to tensions in which high power groups exploit groups with less power. This theory does not deal with drive or motivation, but social structures (choice B is wrong). The James-Lange theory and Cannon-Bard theory are both theories of emotion. The former stipulates that emotion originates in the presence of a stimulus and the latter focuses on how neural pathways and physiological changes govern emotion (choice C and choice D are wrong).
Had the participants known that they would be asked to recall the story one week after their initial visit, they could have used which of the following rehearsal processes to keep the information in their long-term memory? Question 6 Answer Choices A. Elaboration B. Maintenance C. Repetition D. Spreading activation
A. Elaboration, the process of organizing information and associating it with information already in one's long-term memory, best allows new information to enter one's long-term memory (choice A is correct). Maintenance and repetition, both processes of simply repeating information to oneself, allows one to keep the information in short-term memory but often does not cause the information to enter the long-term memory (choices B and C are wrong). Spreading activation is a model that suggests that thinking about ideas allows for the priming of other related ideas and information and is not a process for instilling information in one's long-term memory (choice D is wrong).
Jim, Sue, and Steve, clients at the clinic, all self-medicate their intense phobic anxiety with alcohol. Steve's anxiety always diminishes when he drinks, Sue's anxiety diminishes roughly half the time when she drinks, and only on rare occasions does Jim's anxiety diminish when he drinks. According to basic Skinnerian principles: Question 2 Answer Choices A. Jim's drinking behavior will be harder to eliminate than Steve's. B. Steve's drinking behavior will be harder to eliminate than Sue's. C. Sue's drinking behavior will be harder to eliminate than Jim's. D. Steve's drinking behavior will be harder to eliminate than Jim's.
A. Jim's drinking behavior is negatively reinforced on a variable ratio schedule; drinking alcohol reduces unpleasant anxiety after a variable number of responses. This schedule is the most resistant to extinction (i.e., the hardest to eliminate) because the person (or organism) never knows how many responses will be required to obtain reinforcement (choice A is correct and choices C and D can be eliminated). Steve's drinking behavior is negatively reinforced on a continuous schedule; drinking alcohol always reduces unpleasant anxiety. This schedule is the least resistant to extinction (i.e., the easiest to eliminate) because the person or organism "catches on" quickly that the behavior in question no longer produces the desired reinforcement (choice B is wrong).
Which of the following memory tasks is usually more challenging for people in late adulthood? Question 1 Answer Choices A. remembering to do important things in the future. B. remembering meaningful things from the distant past. C. remembering trivial things from the immediate recent past. D. remembering people and places from anywhere in the past.
A. Prospective memory, or remembering to do things (which are often important) in the future, is a recall task and thus typically more challenging for people in late adulthood, as recall declines with age (choice A is correct). Memory for the distant past depends on the strength of the networks of nodes and associations, which are often quite strong and complex with meaningful things (choice B is wrong). While the network of nodes and associations for trivial things from the immediate recent past may not be as complex or strong, remembering trivial things that happened quite recently can be quite variable for people in late adulthood depending on their activity level and cues around them (choice C is wrong). Memory for people and places from anywhere in the past would also be variable depending on whether it was a recognition or recall task—recall would be more challenging than recognition—or how distant in the past or how strong the memory (choice D is wrong).
In the experimental groups' trials, participants were exposed to a lemon scent to manipulate their emotional memories of the electric shocks. Researchers had to be careful in applying the scent, making sure that it was not an overwhelming odor, but strong enough that participants would notice it. What is the term used to describe the point when something becomes noticeable to the senses? Question 4 Answer Choices A. Absolute threshold B. Difference threshold C. Just-noticeable difference D. Threshold potential
A. The absolute threshold is defined as the point at which something becomes noticeable to the senses, e.g. the softest sound a person could hear, the slightest touch a person could feel, or the minimal amount of scent a person can smell (choice A is correct). The difference threshold is defined as the amount of change needed for an individual to recognize that a change has occurred; since the question stem is asking for the minimum amount of scent that becomes barely noticeable to the senses, the difference threshold does not apply (choice B is wrong). Similarly, the just-noticeable difference is defined as the measurable amount of the change itself, which occurs within the difference threshold; for example, if humans can only detect a difference between a 10 lb. weight and a 12 lb. weight, then 2 lbs. is the just-noticeable difference (choice C is wrong). The threshold potential refers to the critical level to which a membrane potential must be depolarized in order to initiate an action potential (choice D is wrong).
Disregarding the differential effects of the feedback, if the three trials included problems or tasks that were identical or very similar, then all of the children's performances would be expected to improve to some degree over time, because of the: Question 4 Answer Choices A. practice effect. B. serial position effect. C. recency effect. D. selection bias.
A. The practice effect refers to the improvements made in performance on any task with repetition or repeated practice; this effect would suggest that if the children were give identical or very similar tasks for each trial, their performance should improve to some degree just because of repeated exposure to the problems (choice A is correct). The serial position effect applies to the recall of items and suggests that, when people are asked to recall a list of items, they tend to remember the items at the end of list, which they have most recently seen/heard (also known and the recency effect) and also tend to remember items at the beginning of the list, which they saw/heard first (also known as the primacy effect). Since there is no indication in the passage or the question stem that the children were engaging in any sort of recall, both the serial position effect and the recency effect do not explain why children's performance would improve over time (choices B and C are wrong). Selection bias generally refers to the potential biasing effects of intentionally selecting group participants in an experiment, rather than using random selection, which can influence aspects of group membership; this also does not explain why children's performance would improve over time in all of the groups (choice D is wrong).
If the investigators of this study wanted to further research cognitive slowing, based on their results in this study, they would most probably choose to examine the link between cognitive processing speed decline and: Question 5 Answer Choices A. internal clock slowing. B. memory recall. C. memory recognition. D. slowed reaction times.
A. The researchers appear to be most interested in investigating the links between cognitive processing speed decline and internal clock slowing, as evidenced by spontaneous tapping tests compared to the memory and processing tests. Therefore, it would be logical to try to further understand the mechanisms behind both declines in speed (choice A is correct). This research focuses mostly on the internal clock slowing as it relates to the age-related decline in cognitive processing speed, so linking it to an investigation of memory recall would be an unlikely direction for future study for these researchers (choice B is wrong). For similar reasons, it is unlikely the researchers would be interested in studying links between a decline in cognitive processing speed and memory recognition, especially since recognition does not normally decline with age (choice C is wrong). Slowed reaction times are symptomatic of declines in cognitive processing speed so these researchers would not be likely to want to further explore the links between them based on the results of this research (choice D is wrong).
Which of the following individuals is most likely to be accurately diagnosed with dissociative amnesia? Question 3 Answer Choices A. Amy, a 30-year-old woman who was physically assaulted on the street two weeks prior; she remains emotionally distraught, has frequent nightmares and flashbacks, and cannot recall many details of the attack. B. Bill, a 50-year-old man who suffered severe abuse as a child; he cannot remember anything before age 12, which causes him great distress. C. Carla, a 40-year-old woman who was found wandering alone in a different state from where she was last seen; she identifies herself by a male name, claims she is much younger than she is, and describes a life very different from her own. D. Dan, a 20-year-old soldier who survived an explosion on the battlefield; he cannot retain any information given to him since his injury and only remembers portions of his past .
B. Amy's distress, nightmares, and flashbacks stemming from an attack that occurred two weeks prior suggest that she is suffering from acute stress disorder (the diagnostic precursor of posttraumatic stress disorder). As stated in Paragraph 2, the diagnosis of dissociative amnesia should not be given when the symptoms can be explained by this alternative diagnosis (choice A is wrong). Bill was abused during his childhood and cannot remember the first twelve years of his life, which causes him significant distress. He is a good candidate for a dissociative amnesia diagnosis (choice B is correct). Carla was found in a fugue-like state of wandering, but she is showing signs of dissociative identity disorder. While the existence of DID is highly controversial, DID symptoms preclude a dissociative amnesia diagnosis (choice C is wrong). Dan is suffering from total anterograde amnesia and partial retrograde amnesia; dissociative amnesia involves autobiographical retrograde amnesia (choice D is wrong).
The Older and Very Old groups in this study would be predicted to have reached which of Erikson's psychosocial stages? Question 4 Answer Choices A. Identity vs. role confusion B. Generativity vs. stagnation C. Integrity vs. despair D. Intimacy vs. isolation
B. Integrity vs. despair is the final of eight stages in Erikson's model of psychosocial development and it represents the final life crisis, which is whether or not an individual can look back over they lives and feel as though they have accomplished what they wanted to, or if they feel a sense of hopelessness and despair about their lives (choice C is correct). Identity vs. role confusion is the stage that occurs during adolescent when individuals are clarifying who they are through social interactions and trying on new identities (choice A is wrong). Generativity vs. stagnation is the stage right before the final stage of integrity vs. despair when an individual in middle adulthood either feels a sense of accomplishment regarding their lives, or feels as though they are not contributing to society in a meaningful way (choice B is wrong). Intimacy vs. isolation is the stage that occurs during early adulthood when individuals are first engaging in intimate relationships and trying to figure out to develop healthy relationships (choice D is wrong).
Assume that the clinic director concludes that Treatment 1 is more effective in treating specific phobias than Treatment 2 is based on the data described in paragraph 2. Which of the following is NOT a methodological problem with the study that casts doubt upon the director's conclusion? Question 4 Answer Choices A. Clients who underwent Treatment 1 may have differed significantly from clients who underwent Treatment 2. B. The study lacked a control group that received no treatment. C. The positive effects of one treatment method might last longer than those of the other. D. Too few data were collected to generalize the findings or draw broad conclusions.
B. Note that this is a "NOT" question; write "A B C D" on your noteboard and evaluate each answer choice, writing "Y" if the answer is a methodological problem that would cast doubt on the director's conclusion, or "N" if it is not. The fact that this was not an experiment with random assignment of subjects casts a great deal of doubt on the director's conclusion. Clients chose which treatment they wanted to undergo and these choices may have been the result of significant differences in phobic symptoms, severity, etc. For example, a client willing to undergo an extreme and possibly traumatic intervention such as flooding might be suffering from a more severe and debilitating phobia. Accordingly, the Treatment 2 group might have worse results for this reason, and not necessarily because Treatment 1 is more effective (write "Y" next to "A" on the noteboard). The lack of a "no treatment" control group would NOT cast doubt upon the conclusion that systematic desensitization is more effective than flooding. The data simply compare the results of those two therapies; there's no need for a control group (write "N" next to "B" on the noteboard). The possibility that the positive effects of one therapy might last longer than those of the other therapy definitely casts doubt on the director's conclusion that systematic desensitization is more effective. The clients were surveyed one week after treatment ended; no long-term effects were assessed (write "Y" next to "C" on the noteboard). The fact that only 13 clients were studied also casts considerable doubt upon the director's conclusion. These data are insufficient to draw any generalizations about clinical efficacy (write "Y" next to "D" on the noteboard). Since choice B stands out with an "N" instead of "Y" it is the correct answer choice.
Consider if this experiment were repeated with the two following changes: the two groups are both comprised of female participants, and one of the two groups would receive a weekly class on media literacy skills and body image awareness (deemed the "media group"). The class reinforced principles of health as a measure of well being rather than appearance through a combination of educational videos and self-reflective writing exercises that identified negative thoughts similar to those in popular media. During Phase 2, BEA scores remained the same or increased for all variables in the media group only. Which approach to attitudinal change most closely accounts for these results? Question 3 Answer Choices A. Social cognitive theory B. Cognitive-behavioral therapy C. Classical conditioning D. Operant conditioning
B. The focus of cognitive-behavioral therapy is identifying dysfunctional or maladaptive thoughts and changing them through re-education and goal-oriented behavioral changes. The media group attends a class that employs this dynamic of education and self-analysis, so cognitive-behavioral therapy principles best explain these results (choice B is correct). Social cognitive theory stipulates that behavior and thoughts are learned or modified through observation and modeling, but does not account for the self-analysis in the study described in the question stem (choice A is wrong). The study described in the question stem does not pair conditioned and unconditioned stimuli in order to elicit automatic conditioned responses as in classical conditioning; the goal of the education and self-analysis is to reveal unconscious conditioning (choice C is wrong). Similarly, operant conditioning involves the reinforcement or punishment of a desired behavior; the subjects in the study are informed participants in the process of attitudinal change (choice D is wrong).
From the results in Table 1, the researchers conclude that interactions between gender and gender norms are a significant variable in predicting the likelihood of low body esteem. They explain that the lower incidence of decreased BEA in boys is related to the fact that the primary focus of media images is on female appearance, and therefore, young girls are more likely to internalize ideals of female appearance than are males to internalize male ideals. With which theory of adolescent development is this explanation most aligned? Question 1 Answer Choices A. Latency stage (Freud) B. Gender socialization theory C. Imaginary audience (Piaget) D. Physiological revolution (Erikson)
B. The key assumption underlying the conclusion of the study is that socially constructed norms shape gender expression, which is the central tenet of gender socialization theory (choice B is correct). Freud's latency stage describes the moment when a child begins to identify with and emulate the parent of the same sex, but it does not address appearance (choice A is wrong). While Piaget argued that adolescents imagine they are being watched and evaluated, his theory of imaginary audience does not address appearance and gender expression specifically (choice C is wrong). Erikson's physiological revolution refers only to a period of significant physical change in adolescence that prompts a search for stable identity formation; it does not address interactions with social norms (choice D is wrong).
According to the researcher's model: Question 1 Answer Choices A. low self-efficacy causes unwarranted anxiety. Your Answer B. particular appraisals of physiological stress lead to less persistence in math and science. C. deficits in the superego undermine self-efficacy. D. environment has little impact on children's learning.
B. The second paragraph of the passage refers to the researchers' assertion that "students interpret their anxiety about math and science as evidence of their inability to succeed." This derives from Bandura's principle that people misinterpret anxiety as evidence of their lack of ability, or inefficacy. Part of the definition of self-efficacy is a belief in one's capacity to succeed in spite of challenges. Thus, a misappraisal of anxiety would undermine a student's self-efficacy, leading to less persistence in subjects that cause the anxiety (choice B is correct). Although a logical argument could be made that lower self-efficacy is correlated with anxiety, this was not mentioned as a basis for the researchers' study, and causation cannot be assumed from the experimental results (choice A is wrong). The superego refers to Sigmund Freud's structural theory in which he describes the superego as that aspect of one's psyche that embodies ideal moral principles and expectations. The superego is considered to be in conflict with the id, which embodies a person's animalistic drives and ambitions. The passage does not discuss any relevance of this concept to self-efficacy (choice C is wrong). The notion that the environment has little impact on learning is fundamentally contrary to Bandura's social learning theory and therefore cannot be compatible with the researchers' approach (choice D is wrong).
To physiologically induce stress, experimenters could administer: Question 3 Answer Choices A. a rigorous math task. B. an injection of cortisol. C. an injection of oxytocin. D. the Trier Social Stress Test.
B. To physiologically induce stress means to use some physical means of creating strain on the body. Cortisol, the "stress hormone," induces activity through a number of pathways in the body to manually create stress to allow laboratory study of the phenomenon (choice B is correct). A rigorous math task would psychologically induce stress and could impact natural cortisol levels but would not be considered a physiological induction (choice A is wrong). Similarly, the Trier Social Stress Test used in this experiment is a psychosocial stressor, not a physiological one (choice D is wrong). Injecting oxytocin would likely calm an individual, not induce stress (choice C is wrong).
Which of the following statements is true based on the information in the passage? Question 1 Answer Choices A. Treatment 2 therapists attempted to extinguish phobic behavior by presenting the conditioned stimulus but preventing the conditioned response. B. Treatment 1 therapists attempted to undo classical conditioning while Treatment 2 therapists attempted to undo operant conditioning. C. Phobic objects and situations initially induce fear through negative reinforcement. D. Phobic behavior is reinforced through classical conditioning.
B. Treatment 1 consisted of systematic desensitization: the conditioned stimulus (phobic object or situation) was presented to the client, but fear (the conditioned response) was prevented by having the client continually relax. This is essentially an attempt to undo the classical conditioning process by which the phobia was acquired (choice B is correct and choice A is wrong). Treatment 2 consisted of flooding: the client was bombarded with the phobic object/situation but was prevented from avoiding it. This is essentially an attempt to undo the operant conditioning process through which the phobia was maintained (choice B is correct). As explained in Paragraph 1, the two-process model of phobias asserts that they are acquired through classical conditioning, but maintained through operant conditioning; reduction of fear serves as negative reinforcement by removing something unpleasant (choices C and D are wrong).
Suppose a veteran emergency room doctor sees a patient with a rare condition that he has never seen before. The doctor vaguely recalls dealing with something similar when she was a medical school resident years ago, and is able to recall enough information about the condition to adequately treat the patient. According to Baddeley's model of working memory, what aspect of working memory allows the ER physician to do this? Question 22 Answer Choices A. Echoic memory B. The visuospatial sketchpad C. The episodic buffer D. The phonological loop
C. According to Baddeley's model, working memory consists of four components: a phonological loop, a visuospatial sketchpad, an episodic buffer, and a central executive. Echoic memory, which is not a component of Baddeley's model, is a component of sensory memory that is specific to retaining auditory information (choice A can be eliminated). The episodic buffer is where information in the working memory can interact with information in long-term memory. For example, if a doctor sees a rare condition much like the one she saw in residency years ago, she is able to make this connection through the interaction between her memory of residency and her current visual experience in the episodic buffer. The visuospatial sketchpad serves a similar purpose for visuospatial information through the use of mental images (choice B is wrong). The phonological loop allows us to repeat verbal information to help us remember it (choice D is wrong).
Suppose Jane is given a supplement intended to help her enhance her weak memorization skills. In this case, the researchers give her the supplement before providing her with a list of words she has never seen and ask her to memorize the corresponding definitions. They later record how many of the new definitions she is able to remember. In such an experiment: Question 3 Answer Choices A. the supplement would be the dependent variable, and her ability to memorize the new definitions would be the independent variable. B. the supplement would be the confounding variable and her ability to memorize the new definitions would be the dependent variable. C. the supplement would be the independent variable, and her ability to memorize the new definitions would be the dependent variable. D. the supplement would be the independent variable, and her ability to memorize the new words would be the confounding variable.
C. An independent variable is the element being manipulated in an experiment; it has a direct effect on the dependent variable. In the experiment proposed in the question stem, the supplement is introduced as an intervention that might affect Jane's performance when it comes to memorizing new definitions. Accordingly, the supplement is the independent variable, and her ability to memorize new definitions it the dependent variable (choice A is wrong; choice C is correct). A confounding variable is a third element that can impact the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. For instance, gender or age might influence the results. However, no confounding variable is mentioned in the context of the question stem (choices B and D are wrong).
Which of the following, as discussed in the passage, is an unconditioned response? Question 5 Answer Choices A. The fear experienced by the clients when confronted with the phobic object/situation in Treatment 1 B. The immediate reduction in fear experienced by phobic individuals when they avoid the phobic object/situation C. The fear induced by a car crash D. The reduction in avoidance behavior that the Treatment 2 clients exhibited after therapy ended
C. As discussed in Paragraph 1, the fear produced by a car crash is innate and requires no conditioning (choice C is correct). The fear experienced by clients when confronted with the phobic object/situation while undergoing systematic desensitization (Treatment 1) is simply the conditioned response (choice A is wrong). The immediate reduction in fear experienced by phobic individuals when they avoid the phobic object/situation is negative reinforcement; this is a concept associated with operant conditioning, not classical conditioning (choice B is wrong). The ultimate reduction in phobic avoidance behavior exhibited by the clients who had undergone flooding (Treatment 2) is simply extinction of the phobic conditioned response that was no longer being maintained though operant conditioning (choice D is wrong).
How would the superstitious behavior of turning in a circle described in the second paragraph become extinguished? Question 2 Answer Choices A. If a shock was administered every time the target behavior occurred B. If a timed reinforcement of an alternate behavior (like sitting still) was applied C. Food dispersal ceased until the pigeon stopped exhibiting the target behavior D. The environment was shifted and the length of time between reinforcements was increased
C. Behavior is extinguished—or becomes extinct—when the reinforcement for that behavior stops occurring, which therefore reduces the target behavior. So ceasing food dispersal should extinguish the superstitious behavior of the pigeon turning in circles, after enough time (choice C is correct). A shock punishment may reduce the behavior but extinction, by definition, must occur because of an absence of reinforcement or punishment (choice A is wrong). Timed reinforcement of an alternate behavior also does not fit the criterion of extinction (choice B is wrong). Shift of environment and removal of discriminative stimulus alone would not be sufficient for extinction to occur. The definition of extinction can only be met when there is an absence of reinforcement of the target behavior (choice D is wrong).
Joan and Mark survive a plane crash. Joan hits her head on impact and has no idea who she is or what is happening for 15 minutes, after which she can remember everything except for the crash and that subsequent fifteen-minute period. Mark sustains no significant physical injury, but is found wandering in an adjacent town two days later not knowing his own name. Which of the following is most likely to be true at the time Mark is found? Question 5 Answer Choices A. Joan's normal autobiographical memory-processing is blocked by an imbalance of cortisol in her amygdala. B. Mark is experiencing a severe disruption in short-term memory. C. Joan will never remember what happened immediately after the crash. D. Mark is suffering from transient global amnesia.
C. Joan appears to have suffered posttraumatic amnesia immediately following the crash and Mark appears to still be suffering from dissociative amnesia (choice D is wrong). Dissociative amnesia involves autobiographical memory loss, not problems with short-term memory (which last only seconds, choice B is wrong). Dissociative amnesia, the blocking of normal autobiographical memory, may be associated with an imbalance of stress hormones (e.g., glucocorticoids such as cortisol) in the part of the limbic system associated with memory (the amygdala), as noted in Paragraph 2; however, this would apply to Mark, not Joan (choice A is wrong). Individuals with posttraumatic anterograde amnesia do not remember the amnesiac period following their injury, as noted in Paragraph 1, because the memories cannot be stored properly (choice C is correct).
A prodigy in an ability-grouping program works in a group with normally developing children. She becomes frustrated that despite her higher ability, more outspoken and charismatic members of the group do most of the talking. This student's inability to exert herself within the group would most impact her: A. self-esteem. B. self-concept. C. locus of control. D. groupthink.
C. Locus of control is the extent to which individuals feel they can exert control over events around them. The prodigy's inability to exert control over her surroundings would most impact her sense of locus of control (choice C is correct). Self-esteem is a person's overall value of his or her self-worth. This is not as specific in capturing the student's problem exerting control on her environment (choice A is wrong). Self-concept is a collection of beliefs about oneself, it is not as specific as locus of control (choice B is wrong). Groupthink is a phenomenon in which groups make irrational or dysfunctional decisions as a result of the interactions among its members (choice D is wrong).
A common trick for remembering a list of items is to envision those items on different parts of your body. For example, to memorize a grocery list of milk, apples, celery, carrots, etc., you could envision a gallon of milk balanced on your head, an apple in your mouth, celery and carrots coming out of each ear, and so on. This memory trick is known as: I. the dual-encoding hypothesis. II. the method of loci. III. chunking.
C. Since both Items I and II appear in exactly two answer choices, and Item II is shorter, start evaluating it. Item II is true: the method of loci involves imagining something (like your body) and leaving a visual representation of a word to be remembered at different parts of your body (choices A and D can be eliminated). Since neither of the remaining choices includes Item III, it must be false and you can focus on Item I. Item I is true: the dual coding hypothesis suggests that it is easier to remember words with associated images than either words or images alone. Thus, by encoding both a visual mental representation of an associated word, there are more connections made to the memory and an opportunity to process the information at a deeper level (choice B can be eliminated and choice C is correct). Note that Item III is false: chunking involves organizing the items to be remembered into chunks or groups, which is not being described here.
According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, how might the results of this study change if the children watched others perform the task and receive feedback, rather than do so themselves? Question 5 Answer Choices A. Based on the principle of classical conditioning, observed reinforcement is not likely to impact the children's attitudes. B. Based on the principle of the bystander effect, the witnessed praise is likely to have the opposite impact on the observer. C. Based on the principle of vicarious reinforcement, the witnessed praise is likely to have the same impact regardless of whether the child experiences it or witnesses it. D. Based on the principle of operant conditioning, the witnessed praise is likely to provoke the same reaction on the observing child as on the children who received it.
C. The principle of vicarious reinforcement, part of Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory, states that children learn from observing as much as from experiencing. Therefore, if the children were to merely witness others being praised for intelligence, they are more likely to form performance-based goals than if they had witnessed others being praised for effort (choice C is correct). The principle of classical conditioning comes from Pavlov's experiments, in which a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus in order to condition the reaction to the unconditioned stimulus to the formerly neutral, now conditioned, stimulus (choice A is wrong). The bystander effect is a social psychology phenomenon that explains the passivity of bystanders in times of crisis, and would not apply in this case (choice B is wrong). Operant conditioning comes from BF Skinner's theory in which behavior is shaped by regular, direct reinforcement of a desired behavior, which would not apply, as the children in the hypothetical scenario would not be directly reinforced, but vicariously reinforced (choice D is wrong).
Which of the following is the best example of insight learning? Question 14 Answer Choices A. A grade school student receives a sticker for each homework assignment she completes. B. A teenager always takes the bus to his mom's workplace after school. When he gets his license, he drives for the first time to her workplace, and even though he never explicitly paid attention to the bus route, is easily able to navigate. C. A toy falls behind a bookshelf. A child tries to reach for it but can't get to it. He gets a stick and tries to pull the toy toward him without success. Frustrated he stops for a while, and then suddenly realizes that if he pushes the toy to the other side of the bookshelf, he can easily reach it from that side. He is then successful at obtaining the toy. D. A young girl has never poured her own milk and cereal but has watched her mom do it countless times. One morning her mom is still upstairs and she pours her own cereal and milk.
C. This is the best example of insight learning. Insight learning involves the abrupt realization of a problem's solution, which requires the ability to visualize the problem and the solution internally, before initiating a behavioral response. In the example with the boy and his toy behind a bookshelf, he has a flash of insight that helps him to figure out how to fetch the toy, which is the best example of insight learning. Receiving a sticker for completed homework assignments demonstrates positive reinforcement, an operant conditioning principle (choice A is wrong). A teenager who knows how to navigate a familiar route that he has never actually paid attention to is demonstrating latent learning (choice B is wrong). The girl who pours her own milk and cereal is modeling behavior she has seen her mom perform, so this is best described as vicarious learning (choice D is wrong).
Suppose the clinic director wanted to conduct a controlled laboratory experiment on different clients of the clinic in order to compare the effectiveness of Treatments 1 and 2 as phobia therapies. Which of the following would likely be the most significant problem with using a within-subjects design? Question 6 Answer Choices A. Demand characteristics B. Obvious confounding variables C. Low external validity D. Carryover effects
D. A within-subjects design would require subjecting all participants to both therapeutic interventions. The obvious problem with giving clients both systematic desensitization and flooding therapy to treat the same phobia would be carryover effects: the first therapy conducted would likely affect the phobic symptoms in such a way as to make it impossible to measure the efficacy of the second therapy (choice D is correct). Demand characteristics are subtle cues given to subjects (usually inadvertently) about how they are expected to act. Demand characteristics would not be any more problematic in a within-subjects design than in a between-subjects design (a design in which clients are separated into groups that receive different treatments; choice A is wrong). Similarly, a within-subjects design would be no more vulnerable to confounding variables (variables other than the type of therapy conducted that might affect phobic symptoms and confuse the results) than would a between-subjects design (choice B is wrong). Low external validity would mean that the results of the therapies conducted couldn't be generalized beyond the experiment itself. This hypothetical experiment would actually have high external validity because the behavioral therapies for phobias could be conducted under controlled experimental conditions in much the same way that they would in real-life clinical settings. More importantly, the therapies would be no less realistic in a within-subjects design (choice C is wrong).
Which of the following is an example of group polarization? Question 2 Answer Choices A. An unusually bright student in a weekend program does not fit in because of exceptional ability and feels ostracized. B. A group leader antagonizes a team member who he perceives as having more natural ability. C. Students working in a group are unable to answer questions that some of the students could do more efficiently alone. D. After meeting together, counselors and parents arrive at the conclusion that a student must be moved to a new school, although each did not think this was necessary separately.
D. Group polarization is the tendency of groups to make decisions more extreme than the tendencies of individual members of that same group. Parents and counselors who met together and, for the first time, came to the conclusion that a child would not be a good fit in a school would be an example of this phenomenon (choice D is correct). None of the other answer choices involves coming to a more extreme decision as a result of being part of a group (choice A, choice B, and choice C are wrong).
Students of unusual ability are often called weird or nerdy by other students in a normal school setting. If this type of teasing occurs, unusual ability could be considered: Question 5 Answer Choices A. deindividuation. B. deviance. C. assimilation. D. a social stigma.
D. Social stigma is disapproval with an individual or group of individuals because of certain characteristics. In this case, the characteristic being stigmatized is the unusual ability of the student (choice D is correct). Deindividuation is the process of losing self-awareness in a group, which is not described in the question stem (choice A is wrong). Deviance is an act that deviates from social norms. The question stem does not specify a social norm that is being broken or deviated from. Furthermore, the question is asking what, as a result of teasing, unusual ability could be considered; deviant behavior is considered deviant in relation to social norms, not in relation to teasing or retaliation (choice B is wrong). Assimilation is the process by which one's cultural norms or characteristics begin to resemble those of another culture; this is also not being described in the question stem (choice C is wrong).
According to Kohlberg's theory of moral development, which of the following demonstrated at an extremely young age would best represent a child with prodigy abilities in moral reasoning? Question 1 Answer Choices A. Post-conventional reasoning using obedience and punishment B. Conventional reasoning of universal ethical principles C. Conventional reasoning of interpersonal accord D. Post-conventional reasoning of social contract orientation
D. The passage states that a child prodigy is someone who demonstrates unusual intelligence or capacity at an early age. Therefore, the correct answer will be the highest level of moral development that is correctly matched with its corresponding category. Social contract orientation is the highest phase of moral reasoning that is correctly paired (choice D is correct). The universal ethical principles phase is the highest stage in Kohler's stages of moral reasoning, but it is a post-conventional, not conventional phase, making this an inappropriate pairing (choice B is wrong). Interpersonal accord and abuse and punishment are both lower phases of moral development and would not represent the best example of prodigy capacity in moral reasoning (choice C is wrong).