AP Psych - Review Questions

Assume that R represents a dominant gene in rats for normal running and that r represent a recessive gene in rats for an abnormal gait called waltzing. Mating a female Rr rat with a male RR rat will produce offspring that are

100% runners (because all have one dominant allele)

−3, 3, 0, 3, −3 What is the standard deviation of the numbers above?

3

All summer Thomas hears the sound of the icecream truck approaching before his brother Oscar hears it. Thomas most likely has which of the following?

A lower absolute threshold for hearing than Oscar

Reuptake of a neurotransmitter refers to

Absorption of the neurotransmitter into the terminal buttons of the sending neuron

Information is relayed to the spinal cord or the brain by

Afferent neurons

A certain drug reduces the activity of the central nervous system, including the hippocampus and cerebellum. It affects several neurotransmitters, most notably gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Which of the following is most like the drug in question?

Alcohol

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

What are phenotypic traits?

An obvious, observable, and measurable trait

Malia is 10 years of age, and her grandmother, Anna Rosa, is 60 years old. Which statement is likely to be true concerning their sleep patterns?

Anna Rosa sleeps fewer hours per day than Malia does.

Which of the following structures is part of the vestibular system?

B

Which of the following scenarios most clearly describes the effects of a strong kinesthetic sense?

Being able to tell exact bodily position without looking at the body

In the figure above, where do selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have their initial effect?

C

Clinical researchers are interested in gaining insight into the causes of abnormal behavior. One way that they do this is to delve deeply into the histories of patients with a common diagnosis, interviewing family, friends, teachers, therapists, physicians, babysitters, and others who can provide rich details about the patients' lives. Then, researchers try to see if there are any common themes in the information gathered. What research method does this strategy represent?

Case study

The coiled tube in the inner ear that contains the auditory receptors is called the

Cochlea

In the figure above, what letter corresponds to the light-sensitive surface of the eye that contains photoreceptors?

D

Which of the following scenarios is most likely to result in impairment of the kinesthetic sense?

Damage to the cerebellum

Which of the following is not an intended purpose of Psychology?

Demonstrate behavior

Cocaine blocks the reuptake of which neurotransmitter?

Dopamine

In the figure above, where does the neurotransmitter dopamine have its effect?

E

Domingo has just hit Play to begin listening to a new song he bought. Based on the structure of the ear, what will the sound waves contact first after moving through Domingo's auditory canal?

Eardrum

During a psychology experiment, a researcher uses a probe to lesion the ventromedial nucleus of a rat's hypothalamus. After the procedure the rat most likely will

Eat more and gain weight

Which hormone is most closely associated with activating the "fight or flight" response?

Epinephrine

A subliminal stimulus is a stimulus that

Falls below the threshold for conscious detection

Which of the following groups of characteristics best describes the REM sleep stage?

Fast breathing, relatively high heart rate, relatively high blood pressure

What has best visual acuity?

Fovea

Martin fell off his skateboard and badly bruised his elbow. He immediately began rubbing the area around the bruise until the pain subsided. This method of reducing pain can be explained by which of the following?

Gate control theory

Consistent with the concept of neural plasticity, neurons in mammals have been found to change the way they function as a result of repeated stimulation by doing which of the following?

Growing new dendritic spines

Damage to which of the following best explains conduction deafness?

Hammer, anvil, and stirrup

Which of the following structures is most closely associated with communication between the central nervous system and the endocrine system?

Hypothalamus

If a person is having issues related to the regulation of the endocrine system, then they most likely have an issue associated with which of the following brain structures?

Hypothalamus (bc the hypo controls the pituitary)

Which of the following statements concerning sleep is valid?

Individuals do not typically act out their dreams.

The mean will be higher than the median in any distribution that

Is positively skewed

Which of the following is true of how the human eye detects the color red?

It relies on only cones

Juana accidentally touched a hot iron. She immediately drew back her hand. Which of the following is true about the withdrawal of her hand?

It was initiated in the spinal cord.

REM sleep, generally an "active" state of sleep, is accompanied by which of the following paradoxical characteristics?

Lowered muscle tone

The fovea has the greatest visual acuity in bright light primarily because the fovea is

Made up of only cones

David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel's research on responses of the brain to visual stimuli showed that

Many cortical cells respond most strongly to specific visual information

When viewed from the window of a moving train, nearby objects seem to pass by more quickly than do more distant objects. This cue for depth perception is called

Motion parallax

Rafael has a sleep disorder for which he takes medically prescribed amphetamines. For which of the following sleep disorders is Rafael most likely being treated?

Narcolepsy

Feature detectors are neurons that are turned on or off by specific features of visual stimuli like edges and movement. Where in the visual system are these feature detectors located?

Occipital cortex

The area labeled A contains the

Ossicles

Abnormalities in calcium regulation are most likely to arise from problems with

Parathyroid

A disadvantage of longitudinal studies is that

Participants who drop out during the course of the study may be different in important ways from ones who do not drop out

Joseph has blue eyes and brown hair and is tall. These characteristics are best described as

Phenotypic traits

James was born with a condition that makes it impossible for him to metabolize certain proteins. Due to early screening and a special diet, he was able to avoid developing potentially serious symptoms. Which of the following disorders does James have?

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Which of the following is a genetic disorder that results in a deficiency of a liver enzyme which, if not treated soon after birth, may eventually lead to profound mental retardation?

Phenylketonuria (PKU)

Which of the following are involved in regulating circadian rhythms?

Photoreceptors, hypothalamus, pineal gland

It is well established that certain autonomic responses such as heart rate, perspiration, and respiration change under stress. In view of the fact that people generally have stronger autonomic responses when lying than when telling the truth, it follows that the polygraph would be a foolproof approach to lie detection. Which statement best explains why the polygraph is not more widely used in courtrooms and in testing of job applicants?

Physiological arousal is much the same for several emotions, so the polygraph cannot always reliably distinguish guilt from other reactions.

Which of the following is the correct sequence of the neural chain of events set in motion by an environmental stimulus?

Receptors, afferent neurons, interneurons, efferent neurons, effectors

All of the following are American Psychological Association ethical guidelines for researchers EXCEPT:

Research may not involve deception

In vision, transduction occurs within the

Retina

Which of the following is the correct path a neural impulse will follow through the different layers of the retina?

Rods and cones, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, optic nerve

In right-handed individuals, which of the following abilities is predominantly a function of the right hemisphere of the brain?

Spatial reasoning

Pupils dilating and digestion slowing is a response of the

Sympathetic nervous system

While at a crowded gathering, Zach realized that his attention was being drawn away from his conversation every time a person nearby said the word "exactly." Zach's response is an example of

The cocktail party effect

The general function of the bones in the middle ear is to

Transfer sound information from the tympanic membrane to the oval window

In the dark, an object is more clearly seen when viewed in peripheral vision than when viewed directly. This phenomenon occurs because the rods located in the retina are

more sensitive in the dark than cones and are not found in the fovea

People who live in environments with buildings with square corners and right angles are more susceptible to the Müller-Lyer illusion than are people who live in environments without such angles and corners. The difference in perception between the two groups of people reveals that

people develop perceptual hypotheses based on experiences in their lives

Which of the following is true of a neuron in the resting state?

The inside of the cell membrane is negative compared to the outside.

Ernest and Josephine Hilgard conducted experiments in which participants had one hand in painfully icy water and the other hand on a button to alert the experimenter of feelings of pain. After the participants were hypnotized to not feel pain, participants did not verbally report feeling pain even though they subconsciously pressed the button to indicate that they felt pain. How did the experimenters explain the contradiction in pain perception?

The participants are experiencing dissociation.

What are genotypic traits?

The raw information in an organism's DNA