AP Psych cumulative test
Bipolar disorders are most effectively treated with a combination of tricyclic antidepressants and
lithium carbonate
A stereotype is defined as which of the following?
A generalization about a social group
In a research study, informed consent is a concern of
ethics
Which of the following studies has had the most profound impact on ethical issues in psychological research?
Stanley Milgram's study of obedience
According to Carl Rogers, the role of the therapist in person-centered psychotherapy is to
accept the client unconditionally so that the client's own desire for mental health and positive growth will flourish
In operant conditioning, the concept of contingency is exemplified by an "if A, then B" relationship in which A and B, respectively, represent
response, reinforcement
Learned helplessness is most likely to result when
responses have no effect on the environment
Travis is obsessed with his weight, but he often cannot stop himself from eating an entire carton of ice cream or two pizzas in one sitting. Afterward, he makes himself throw up or takes laxatives to rid himself of the food. Travis' behavior is indicative of what psychological disorder?
bulimia nervosa
Although Paul seems bright and capable to his parents and friends, he has been failing in school. Paul agrees to speak with a psychologist, who suggests that his problems stem from internal processes such as unrealistic expectations and negative thinking. The psychologist's view is typical of which of the following models of behavior?
cognitive
"It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured." This belief is best explained by
cognitive dissonance theory
The failure of bystanders to give victims of automobile accidents needed assistance is sometimes explained as an instance of
diffusion of responsibility
The more people present at a scene, the less likely it is that anyone will help a person in need. This phenomenon is a manifestation of
diffusion of responsibility
Which of the following is most characteristic of individuals with chronic schizophrenia?
disordered thinking
Multiple personality is a type of
dissociative disorder
Dorothea Dix was known for
documenting the poor conditions of mental asylums, which eventually led to their reform
One suspected cause of schizophrenia is the abnormal increase of which of the following neurotransmitters in the brain?
dopamine
Contemporary definitions of abnormal behavior typically characterize such behavior as all of the following EXCEPT
due to inappropriate child-rearing practices
A study can be regarded as scientific only if
its conclusions can be verified or refuted by subsequent studies
Individuals who believe that an unpleasant experience is unavoidable and therefore do nothing to change the course of events are exhibiting
learned helplessness
Distrust of others is symptomatic of
paranoia
Ivan Pavlov was most well known for which of the following?
Conditioning dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell
Which of the following is the term associated with psychologists not sharing their clients' personal information with others?
Confidentiality
Which of the following is the best interpretation of Solomon Asch's findings, pictured above, concerning conformity in perceptual judgments?
Conformity increases as group size increases to about four persons.
Which of the following is a term for a variable that researchers do not control and that can affect the results of a study?
Confounding variable
Responses extinguish fastest when they are learned through which type of reinforcement schedule?
Continuous
Which dog is demonstrating stimulus discrimination in the following scenarios?
Cookie cowers when she hears the pop of fireworks, but not when she hears the pop of lightning.
Which of the following would an industrial-organizational psychologist be LEAST likely to study?
Corporate profitability
The goal of rational-emotive therapy is to help clients
Correct self-defeating thoughts about their lives
Jimmy, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, sees images of cats everywhere even when no cats are present. What symptom is Jimmy most clearly demonstrating?
Hallucinations, because Jimmy's perception is incorrect.
Introspection, a research tool used by early psychologists, is a technique which involves
self-examination of mental processes
A child who learns that spoons are tableware and then correctly calls forks and knives tableware is demonstrating
stimulus generalization
Which therapist best illustrates the humanistic orientation to therapy?
Gil's therapist, who engages in active listening during their sessions
Which of the following scenarios is the best example of the mere-exposure effect?
Hal begins to like a certain sports car after seeing it frequently on the road, even though he did not like the car at first.
In order to yield information that is generalizable to the population from which it was drawn, a sample must be
representative of the population
In Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments, subject were LEAST likely to deliver maximum levels of shock when the
subject observed other subjects who refused to obey the experimenter's orders
12, 3, 3, 4, 8 What is the mean of the set of numbers above?
6
−3, 3, 0, 3, −3 What is the standard deviation of the numbers above?
3
In an experiment designed to determine whether watching violent scenes on television increases the frequency of aggressive behavior in children, one group of subjects saw a nonviolent cartoon and another group saw a violent cartoon. In the play period that followed the viewing of the cartoons, researchers observed the two groups of children together and counted instances of aggressive behavior. The control group in the experiment is the group that
watched the nonviolent cartoon
2, 11, 2, 3, 3, 4, 2, 5 What is the mode of the number set above?
2
Which of the following responses was most likely acquired through classical conditioning?
A child's fear of dogs after the child has been bitten by a dog
A supervisor who doubts the competence of a new employee unwittingly criticizes everything the new employee does. If the new employee consequently performs poorly, which of the following will most likely have occurred?
A self-fulfilling prophecy
Which of the following accurately describes a major change in perspective in the field of developmental psychology over the past twenty-five years?
A shift from an emphasis on childhood and adolescence to an interest in development over the life span
Ever since she was a child, Henrietta has had an intense fear of clowns, even though she has never been hurt by one. She runs screaming whenever she sees one. Henrietta most likely has what psychological disorder?
A specific phobia
Which of the following studies is from an evolutionary perspective?
A study to see if women were more attracted to men who liked children than men who did not like children
Which of the following is the best example of shaping?
A teacher rewards a student for sitting quietly for ten minutes on Monday, fifteen minutes on Tuesday, twenty minutes on Wednesday, and thirty minutes on Thursday.
Morris is exhibiting symptoms most consistent with illness anxiety disorder. Which of the following is most likely occurring?
After not eating breakfast, Morris' stomach growls and he feels a slight cramp. He panics and is convinced that he has stomach cancer.
Which of the following best illustrates group polarization?
After the pep rally, the students in the school had even more school spirit.
Which of the following is a characteristic common to all individuals with a narcissistic personality disorder?
An unwarranted sense of self-importance
Dr. Xi conducted an experiment on the effectiveness of an antidepressant medication. Given her research design, if she finds that the drug is effective, which of the following will she be able to conclude?
Antidepressants decrease the severity of depression, and the experiment demonstrates cause-and-effect because she used random assignment.
A double-blind control is essential for which of the following?
Assessment of a treatment designed to reduce schizophrenic symptoms
Which of the following best illustrates the mere-exposure effect?
Because she saw her every day during class, Tracy began to like Angela and developed a friendship with her.
Which of the following therapeutic approaches is most likely to be criticized because it does not treat the underlying cause of the disorder?
Behavioral
Which of the following scenarios best represents conformity?
Beth becomes a vegetarian when she starts college because all of her new friends are vegetarian.
Xander can no longer stomach the taste of sushi after he vomited from eating a spoiled serving of it. However, the appearance of sushi does not make him sick. Which of the following best accounts for why Xander becomes sick upon tasting sushi but not seeing sushi?
Biological predisposition, because this example illustrates taste aversion.
Which of the following examples best represents altruism?
Booker stops to help someone even though it puts him in danger.
Brett is exhibiting signs of dissociative amnesia. Which of the following scenarios would most likely depict Brett's situation?
Brett was at work in Seattle when a police officer asked if he was John Simons from Miami. Brett said no, but the officer showed him a picture of himself with a family he had no memory of. Brett did not remember how he got to Seattle and did not remember ever being named John.
What is the best way to ensure that results of a study are generalizable to a population?
By using a random selection of people in that population
An example of proximity affecting interpersonal attraction is when
Candace is fond of Jerome because she lives next door to him.
Timothy, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, remains motionless for hours, no matter how awkward the position his body is in. What symptom is Timothy most clearly exhibiting?
Catatonia, because catatonia is a condition in which a person's body remains in a rigid state.
Dr. Patel is conducting a study to test a hair-growth shampoo she is developing. She instructs fifty participants to use the hair-growth shampoo once daily for a month and another fifty to use a regular shampoo once a day for a month. Dr. Patel measures the participants' hair length at the beginning and the end of the thirty days. Which of the following is the dependent variable?
Change in hair length
A clinical psychologist believes that Caroline's problems stem from the lack of consistency between her self-concept and reality. According to the psychologist, this discrepancy makes Caroline feel anxious and threatened. Caroline's psychologist most likely adheres to which of the following orientations?
Client-centered
How would a clinical psychology researcher know whether client-centered therapy is effective in treating anxiety?
Clients randomly assigned to be spoken to with unconditional positive regard have lower cortisol levels than those in a control group.
In treating a patient for depression, Dr. Pratt focuses on changing the ways in which the patient interprets events. Which type of therapy is Dr. Pratt using?
Cognitive
Dr. Marcia assigned students a paper in which they had to support the side of a controversial topic they did not agree with. Before asking the students to write the paper, she gave them a survey to determine how strongly they disagreed with the topic. After the students wrote their papers, Dr. Marcia gave them another survey to rate their disagreement with the topic. She observed that the students' feelings about the topic became more strongly in agreement with the topic. Which of the following is the best conclusion?
Cognitive dissonance was likely a contributing factor to the students' change in feelings.
Which of the following situations best describes consummate love?
Craig and Niveah share many intimate details about their lives, are very attracted to each other, and celebrate with a commitment ceremony.
Which of the following scattergrams represents the data above?
D (positive linear correlation)
Which scenario best illustrates the concept of modeling aggression?
Dane, who is three years old, watched a video of a child who was repeatedly throwing a toy truck at the wall. The next time Dane played with his toy truck, he threw it at the wall.
Because studies of learning show that events occurring close together in time are easier to associate than those occurring at widely different times, parents should probably avoid which of the following?
Delay of punishment
In an experiment, which of the following variables refers to the outcome that is measured by the experimenter?
Dependent
Which of the following is true of the frequency distributions shown in the graphs above?
Distribution B has more variation than distributions A or C.
Dr. Antonio conducted a study on a patient who was experiencing extreme depression and was suicidal. Dr. Antonio recorded the patient's thoughts and actions in an attempt to determine what thoughts most likely led to the suicidal ideation. What type of study is Dr. Antonio conducting, and what conclusion can he make?
Dr. Antonio is conducting a case study, and he can conclude that for this patient certain thoughts are related to suicidal ideation.
Which of the following scenarios is regulated by federal law?
Dr. Mast, a psychologist, has a client, Tim, who threatens to seriously harm his brother, Carl. Tim has a history of serious violence and the means to carry out the threat; therefore, Dr. Mast must inform Carl.
Which of the following has been most effective in the treatment of schizophrenia?
Drug therapy that blocks neurotransmitter sites
According to the graph above, the greatest degree of attitude change is likely to be produced by which of the following forms of advertising?
Easy messages on television and difficult messages in newspaper
The operant conditioning concept of negative reinforcement is illustrated in which of the following scenarios?
Ervin always buckles his seat belt to stop the beeping sound his car makes when the seat belt is unbuckled.
Which of the following scenarios best demonstrates a behavioral approach to therapy?
Finn has been acting out at school, so his therapist employs a token economy to reward Finn when he behaves well.
Charlene is experiencing problems that are most consistent with bipolar disorder. Which of the following scenarios most likely represents Charlene's situation?
For the last two weeks, Charlene has been unable to go to work because she has no energy or interest in anything, and she feels that life may not be worth living. Three weeks ago, however, she was optimistic and wildly euphoric and working 18 hours a day voluntarily.
Dr. Whitlock is conducting an experimental study on the effectiveness of antipsychotic medication. Which of the following will most likely be her dependent variable?
Frequency of auditory hallucinations, because this is the variable she is measuring.
Anthony thinks he will fail his math test because he believes he is terrible at math, even though he has passed his previous math tests. Which of the following explanations would the cognitive approach use to explain Anthony's behavior?
His irrational thoughts are causing him to doubt his abilities, even though he has evidence to show otherwise.
Mindy's colleagues were embarrassed when she arrived at the professional meeting dressed more appropriately for a nightclub. In addition, she continually drew attention to herself by talking loudly and dramatically, as though she was onstage. Mindy's behavior is most consistent with which of the following psychological disorders?
Histrionic personality disorder, because Mindy is exhibiting exaggerated and self-centered emoting.
There is a strong positive correlation between ice cream sales and instances of snakebites. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for this correlation?
Hot weather is related to both ice cream sales and snake activity.
The precipitous decline of the inpatient populations of state and county mental hospitals since the 1950's can be attributed to which of the following? I. Declining incidence of severe mental illness II. A policy of deinstitutionalization III. New drug therapies
II and III only
Which of the following was true of Solomon Asch's experiments on conformity?
If the confederates' judgments were not unanimous, the degree of conformity by experimental subjects decreased.
Leadership, job satisfaction, and employee motivation are all studied in which of the following psychological disciplines?
Industrial-organizational psychology
Which of the following statements is true of behaviorism?
It holds that development is largely a product of learning.
According to the ethical guidelines set by the American Psychological Association (APA), which of the following is true of psychological research in which animals are used as subjects?
It should conform to all APA ethical guidelines for animal research.
Emiko's cat often meows for food. Emiko decides to eliminate the behavior by feeding the cat only when it does not meow. Over the next few weeks, she sometimes ignores the cat when it meows. Other times, she feeds the cat when it meows. Which of the following is the most reasonable prediction to make about the cat's meowing for food?
It will increase due to a variable schedule of reinforcement.
Which of the following is the best example of the learning principle of reinforcement?
James drank coffee before he took and passed a difficult test with a high grade, so now he drinks coffee before every test he takes because he believes doing so will help him score well on the tests.
Jasmine is worried about an upcoming exam. Which scenario best illustrates emotion-focused coping?
Jasmine reaches out to her friends for comfort to reduce her stress.
Which of the following scenarios best represents the frustration-aggression principle?
Jeremy punches the steering wheel of his car because he is stuck in traffic.
The scenario that best describes out-group homogeneity bias is
Kara, who plays soccer, notices the uniqueness of her soccer teammates, but she thinks all basketball players are the same.
Which scenario below best depicts insight learning?
Laramie suddenly realized that he could put some of his groceries in a cabinet after repeatedly failing to fit them into a pantry.
Which of the following research methods is being used if the same subjects are tested at two, four, and six years of age?
Longitudinal
Ethnocentrism is described in which scenario?
Martin distrusts a certain religion because it is uncommon in the country where he lives.
Of the following students, who is most clearly demonstrating an internal attribution?
Martin, who says he earned a spot on the football team through his hard work.
Which of the following depictions is most consistent with signs of borderline disorder?
Merle was getting along fine with his roommate Carl until Carl left the milk out of the refrigerator. Merle then dumped all of the food in the refrigerator onto the kitchen floor and changed the locks when Carl was away.
Taking a painkiller to relieve a toothache is behavior learned through which of the following processes?
Negative reinforcement
Which of the following best describes the graph above?
Negatively skewed distribution
Kent continually finds himself growing anxious about germs gathering on his skin. He can only decrease his anxiety by washing his hands. Soon, however, the anxiety returns, and he washes his hands again. He repeats this cycle dozens of times each day. Kent most likely is experiencing which psychological disorder?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Madeline wants her son to be well-behaved when they go to church. For every five minutes he sits still, she gives him a piece of candy. What type of learning is Madeline employing?
Operant conditioning
In Stanley Milgram's' classic study, a participant was placed in one room and a confederate was placed in another room where the participant could not see the confederate. Participants were told to shock the confederate when the confederate answered a question incorrectly. What was a major ethical violation of Milgram's study?
Participants must be allowed to leave the experiment at any time, and in Milgram's study when the participants asked to leave, the experimenter said they must continue.
The phenomenon of transference is a recognized component of which of the following therapeutic treatments?
Psychoanalysis
Using psychological techniques such as free association to explore a client's early relationships is characteristic of what type of treatment?
Psychoanalysis
Which of the following best explains how humors were thought to affect psychopathology?
Psychological disorders are caused by an imbalance between black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm.
In which of the following scenarios is someone showing evidence of extinction in classical conditioning?
Randy was always worried about his exams in high school and felt anxiety when in the building. However, now that he is a teacher at the same high school the anxiety has gone away.
Behavior therapists emphasize which of the following in their treatment of clients?
Responses that have been reinforced in the past
Which of the following is the best example of scapegoating?
Ryan, who is a member of one racial group, does not get into the college he wants to attend. Even though his application was weak, he blames members of another racial group for his rejection.
Jack believes that aliens are using electrical fields to steal thoughts from his head. It is most likely that Jack will be diagnosed with which of the following types of disorders?
Schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic
While pregnant, Marley was exposed to the flu virus. Based on current research, which psychological disorder is Marley's child most likely to develop?
Schizophrenia, because flu virus exposure is positively correlated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia.
Which of the following is typically cited as a characteristic of autistic children?
Severely impaired interpersonal communication
Regina is experiencing symptoms most consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder. Which of the following scenarios is most likely to describe Regina's situation?
Since she has returned from war, Regina has been having nightmares and is startled by every sound, believing she is in imminent danger.
The terms "modeling" and "imitation" are most closely associated with which of the following?
Social learning theory
Dalton developed a phobia of dogs after watching his older cousin act fearfully when he interacted with dogs in their neighborhood. Which of the following best explains why Dalton developed his phobia of dogs?
Social learning theory, because Dalton learned from observing his cousin's behavior toward dogs.
Which of the following findings would support an interpretation of aggression as catharsis?
Societies that value aggressive sports are generally less aggressive than societies that do not value aggressive sports
Which of the following most accurately describes a dependent variable?
Some aspect of a participant's response that is measured in an experiment
Training in the construction of an anxiety hierarchy and in relaxation techniques is likely to be part of the treatment for which of the following?
Specific phobia
Which of the following scenarios is an example of a therapist using rational-emotive behavior therapy?
Stanley thinks he is never going to get a job, so his therapist says that would be the worst thing that could ever happen to Stanley.
Which of the following regularities in behavior can most likely be accounted for by the existence of a group norm?
Students tend to use less profanity with adults than they do with their peers.
Which of the following behaviors is most closely associated with the foot-in-the-door phenomenon?
Sutan asks his father for $5, and when he agrees, Sutan asks him for $15 more.
Which of the following behavior-therapy techniques is typically used to reduce fear of heights?
Systematic desensitization
For extinction to occur, which of the following must be true of the conditioned response (CR), the conditioned stimulus (CS), and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) ?
The CS is repeatedly presented in the absence of the UCS, and the CR loses strength.
Which of the following examples describes groupthink?
The employees of a company did not want to disagree with one another by sharing their true opinions on paint colors, so the office was painted an ugly beige color.
A researcher has a hypothesis that men are more likely to be influenced by the central route to persuasion when buying a car than women are. The researcher randomly selects thirty men and thirty women to observe while they buy a car, and the researcher finds that women pay attention to information about the reliability of the car, whereas men pay attention to available colors that the car comes in. Which conclusion can the researcher draw?
The hypothesis is not supported, because the results indicate that women are influenced more by the central route to persuasion than men are.
Janice cleaned out the office refrigerator without being asked. The operant conditioning concept of positive reinforcement is illustrated in which scenario?
The next day, her boss gave her a gift certificate to a local coffee shop. As a result, Janice now regularly cleans out the office refrigerator.
Leonard's therapist suggests that Leonard's anxiety may be the result of an unconscious fear of his father's disapproval. What might a critic say about the therapist's suggestion in terms of treating Leonard's anxiety?
The psychodynamic approach is difficult to support because unconscious drives are untestable.
Which of the following is the independent variable in Philip Zimbardo's classic Stanford Prison Experiment?
The role of prisoner or guard
An instructor conducted an experiment to determine the effects of two different methods of study on the amount students learned in introductory physics. The results showed that the average amount learned by the group using one method was greater than the average amount learned by the group using the other. However, the difference was not statistically significant. Which of the following is the most appropriate conclusion to be drawn?
There is a possibility that the difference between the two groups occurred by chance.
Which of the following best describes the response of members of the American Psychological Association to ethical issues in research?
They have developed codes of ethics for research with both human participants and animal subjects.
Which of the following best characterizes individuals diagnosed as having personality disorders?
They may function reasonably well in society.
Dr. Obetz is conducting an experimental study on the effectiveness of antianxiety medication. Which of the following will most likely be her independent variable?
Type of medication, because she will randomly divide participants into groups and give the groups different types of medication.
Marjorie's little brother tends to bother her when he is bored. Marjorie wants to figure out which toy will keep her brother occupied the longest so he will not bother her. She conducts a study where each day at 6P.M. for a week she gives her brother a different toy and on one of the days she gives him no toys to play with. She measures the amount of time he spends playing with each toy before he comes to bother her. Which of the following is the independent variable in this example?
Type of toy
Rational-emotive behavior therapy assumes that abnormal functioning results from which of the following?
Unreasonable beliefs or assumptions
Which method should be used by a researcher to test conformity? Assume in all groups that the researcher recruits participants and asks them to observe line X and line Y, where line X is clearly shorter than line Y.
Use nine confederates and one participant. The nine confederates go first and incorrectly say that line X is longer.
Which of the following is a partial reinforcement schedule that is most resistant to extinction?
Variable ratio
When is it permissible for a psychologist to share a client's test scores with another person?
When the client provides written permission to share results
Which of the following operant conditioning concepts is an example of positive punishment?
While driving through the state of Mississippi, Lance was stopped for speeding and had to pay an expensive speeding ticket. As a result, he no longer goes over the speed limit when driving in Mississippi.
Which of the following statements best illustrates a social-cognitive explanation for the development of depression?
Yolanda ruminates about her failures, so she is more likely to develop depression.
An individual diagnosed as having a somatoform disorder would be most likely to show
a biologically unfounded loss of bodily functioning
Vic has unpredictable and repeated attacks of overwhelming anxiety that frequently leave him dizzy, nauseous, short of breath, and in tears. A psychologist is likely to view Vic's behavior as indicative of
a panic disorder
In an experiment designed to determine whether watching violent scenes on television increases the frequency of aggressive behavior in children, one group of subjects saw a nonviolent cartoon and another group saw a violent cartoon. In the play period that followed the viewing of the cartoons, researchers observed the two groups of children together and counted instances of aggressive behavior. The dependent variable in the experiment is the
amount of aggressive behavior exhibited by the children
A research design involves two randomly assigned groups of participants. One group receives a one-time treatment, and the other does not. Later, the two groups are compared to see whether the treatment had an effect. Psychologists call this kind of research
an experiment
Dr. Larson was interested in whether classical music helps students perform better on a test. Dr. Larson randomly assigned half of the study's participants to a group that listened to classical music while taking a test. The other half of the participants did not listen to music while taking a test. The research design Dr. Larson used is
an experiment
To determine whether a cause-effect relationship exists between two variables, a researcher must use
an experimental approach
Which of the following personality disorders is characterized by behavior that includes dishonesty, repeated trouble with authority figures, and an absence of remorse for these types of conduct?
antisocial
Phobic and panic disturbances are examples of which of the following kinds of disorder?
anxiety
Albert Ellis' view of psychological problems was that they
are due to irrational thinking
Which of the following is most useful in under-standing an employer's interpretation of an employee's poor performance?
attribution theory
In Ivan Pavlov's experiments in classical conditioning, the dog's salivation was
both an unconditioned and a conditioned response
According to one theory of psychology, many people have mental illnesses because their maladaptive behaviors have proven rewarding for them in the past and thus have been continued. This belief is consistent with which of the following models?
behavioral
Staff members at a mental health hospital do not respond to patients who use threats, but praise patients who are courteous. Which of the following psychotherapeutic approaches is being used?
behavioral therapy
John B. Watson is best known as the founder of
behaviorism
Which of the following approaches to psychology emphasizes observable responses over inner experiences when accounting for behavior?
behaviorist
A technique that enables a person to control physiological responses that are normally involuntary, such as level of blood pressure, is known as
biofeedback
A psychotherapist who believes that deviant behavior can be traced either to genetic anomalies or to problems in the physical structure of the brain most likely subscribes to which of the following views of abnormality?
biomedical
Lithium carbonate has been useful in some instances in the treatment of
bipolar disorder
Behaviorally oriented therapists seek to modify a client's behavior by
changing the contingencies of reinforcement for the client
Electroconvulsive therapy has been most successful in the treatment of
clinical depression
Robert Rescorla's contingency model of classical conditioning states that
conditioning occurs only when one event reliably predicts another
A researcher would test the elaboration likelihood model by
conducting an experiment in which the researcher showed a class two commercials to determine their persuasive power. One commercial explained that a certain brand of seltzer water has no preservatives or sugar, which makes it healthier than other beverages. The other commercial showed a celebrity drinking the seltzer water and saying that she drinks it all the time.
In rational-emotive therapy, the therapist helps clients by
confronting clients with their faulty logic
The debate over whether development occurs gradually, without discernible shifts, or through a series of distinct stages is termed
continuity vs. discontinuity
A man who experiences sudden blindness on witnessing the death of his wife is probably suffering from a
conversion disorder
Which of the following concepts was advanced by social psychologists to help explain why people who are part of a crowd sometimes commit aggressive, antisocial acts that they would not commit if they were alone?
deindividuation
The release of those with mental disorders from mental hospitals for the purpose of treating them in their home communities is called
deinstitutionalization
Community psychologists intervene at the primary level when they
design prevention programs for potential problems before the problems actually occur
Vance is a popular honors student who, unlike his reference group, writes his best papers sitting on his motorcycle in the basement of his college dormitory. His behavior can be considered abnormal only if abnormality is defined as
deviation from cultural norms
Which contemporary approach asserts that psychological disorders occur when environmental factors negatively influence individuals who have genetic vulnerabilities to developing psychological disorders?
diathesis-stress
One major objection to the early Skinnerian approach to psychology is that it
did not take into account internal thoughts and feelings
In experimental psychology, a significant difference refers to a
difference not likely due to chance
Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that
each person in the town has the same probability of being chosen for the study
An advantage of group therapy over individual therapy is that group therapy
enables clients to realize that their problems are not unique
A researcher uses debriefing when he
explains the true purpose of a study immediately after the study is complete
An individual's fear of dogs that is lost as the individual is exposed to dogs in nonthreatening situations is referred to by behaviorists as a fear that has been
extinguished
Aaron T. Beck would most likely
focus on a client's catastrophic thinking patterns
Cognitive theorists emphasize the
formation and modification of schemas
An important difference between humanistic and psychoanalytic approaches is that humanistic psychologists believe in the importance of
free will
Andrene is having difficulties with her roommate. A problem-focused coping strategy for Andrene would be
going directly to her roommate to see if they can work things out
A basic assumption underlying the definition of groupthink is that
group members desire peace and harmony within the group
After discussing a topic, a group makes a decision that is more extreme than the average position of all of the group members prior to discussion. The group's action is an example of
group polarization
Psychotic disorders frequently involve perceptions of nonexistent sensory stimulation, such as voices. Symptoms such as these are called
hallucinations
The most important reason to use operational definitions in psychological research is it
helps everyone involved with the research understand and collect data in the same manner.
According to attribution theory, Pablo is most likely to attribute his high score on a difficult exam to
his intelligence
A survey shows that children who have encyclopedias in their homes earn better grades in school than children whose homes lack encyclopedias. The researcher concludes that having encyclopedias at home improves grades. This conclusion is erroneous primarily because the researcher has incorrectly
inferred causation from correlation
A somatoform disorder is best described as an illness that
is physical in nature and caused by psychological factors
The mean will be higher than the median in any distribution that
is positively skewed
In which of the following types of research are the same children tested periodically at different points in their development?
longitudinal
The cognitive theory of depression states that depression results from
maladaptive interpretations of life events
In their discussions of the process of development, the advocates of nature in the nature-nurture controversy emphasize which of the following?
maturation
Jane Goodall lived among wild chimpanzees intermittently for decades, studying their social and family systems while keeping her interaction with the chimpanzees to a minimum. Her research method can most accurately be described as
naturalistic observation
Persistent repetitive thoughts that cannot be controlled are known as
obsessions
In psychology, Gestalt principles are used to explain
perceptual organization
A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder is best described as an individual who experiences
persistent anxiety-provoking thoughts
In studying the behavior of five year olds in freeplay situations, a cognitive psychologist would be most interested in the children's
problem-solving strategies
The factors chiefly responsible for interpersonal attraction include
proximity and similarity
The first area of psychology to be studied as a science is known as
psychophysics
Punishment is most effective in eliminating undesired behavior when the
punishment is delivered soon after the behavior
Carlos wants to lose weight but is having a hard time motivating himself to go to the gym after work because he enjoys watching movies after work instead. To increase his likelihood of going to the gym, Carlos should
reward himself immediately after going to the gym
The correlation between two measures obtained on a group of individuals is graphically represented as a
scatterplot
Intense artificial light is most successfully used as therapy for
seasonal affective disorder
The most distinctive characteristic of the experimental method is that it
seeks to establish cause-effect relationships
A teacher who is mistakenly informed that a student is learning disabled begins to treat that student differently from others. The teacher does not call on the student in class or help her with challenging material. The student's graded gradually decline. This result is an example of which of the following?
self-fulfilling prophecy
When his team wins a basketball game, Joe says it is because his team is so good; however, when his team loses, he says it is because the referees made a lot of unfair calls. Joe is most clearly demonstrating
self-serving bias, because he sees his team as being better than it is
The technique of strengthening behavior by reinforcing successive approximations is called
shaping
Leila saw a man treat a passerby rudely. Shortly after that, she saw him slip and fall to the ground. She immediately thought, "What a clumsy man," without acknowledging that he had walked onto a patch of ice. Leila is demonstrating the fundamental attribution error because
she blamed his fall on his being clumsy
Studies of learning have shown that animals develop an aversion for tastes associated with
sickness
Research findings in the area of interpersonal attraction indicate that individuals are most likely to be attracted to others who are
similar to them in attitudes and values
According to research on attraction, people are most likely to be attracted to others who are
similar to themselves in many ways
The tendency to believe that another person's behavior is caused by dispositional factors rather than by environmental factors is called
the fundamental attribution error
The tendency to develop a positive attitude toward a product that has been advertised repeatedly in the media is referred to as
the mere-exposure effect
The generalizability of a study increases when
the sample is more representative of the population
After several trials during which a dog is given a certain kind of food at the same time that a specific tone is sounded, there is evidence of conditioning if the dog salivates when
the tone only is presented
Professor Ahad has forty-three students in section one of the psychology classes she teaches and fifty-two students in section two. Section one meets at eight a.m. and, section two meets at one p.m. Professor Ahad gives all of her students the same final exam, and those in section two score significantly higher than those in section one. Professor Ahad concludes that her section one students are academically inferior to students in section two. The biggest problem with Professor Ahad's conclusion is that
time of day is a confounding variable in this scenario.