PSY 301 Benchmarks
Lexie is called to testify under oath in a court of law. The judge notices that Taylor seems very calm. Based on the "Neurons and Neurotransmitters" lecture, is Taylor telling the truth?
It is impossible to tell because "looking calm" is not a reliable indicator of people's biological activity.
According to the "How to Sleep" TED Talk, if you want to sleep more similarly to your prehistoric ancestors, which of the following should you do?
Remove artificial lighting from your house
Jahan is afraid of travelling in cars due to a childhood trauma. What is the BEST example of Jahan using exposure therapy to tackle his fear?
Repeatedly travel by car until the fear of something catastrophic happening diminishes
Rupi loves to use dating apps, but is still figuring out if she likes men or women. Based on the "Emerging Adulthood" reading, this BEST illustrates which of the following features of the "emerging adulthood" life stage?
The age of identity exploration
Dr. Sedlacek tests models of mental processes by making predictions about what behaviors would occur if the mind were processing stimuli in different ways. According to the "History of Psychology" reading, this approach BEST reflects a ________ perspective
Cognitive
You want your roommate to start watering the plants by the window. You decide to use shaping. Based on the Conditioning lecture,which of the following would be a good way to start that process?
Compliment him on his appearance every time he happens to be near the window
Dr. Sridhar makes sure that her study results remain on a password-protected computer. According to the "Why Science?" reading, this step MOST reflects a concern with:
Confidentiality
If performed during a benchmark, all of the following would count as cheating EXCEPT:
Consulting your notes
According to the "Psychology of Learning" lecture, the study of clicking behavior indicated that:
Correlation does not mean causation. Although people with higher grades click more on the study materials, we cannot be absolutely certain that clicking itself causes better performance
Dr. Wille's research team is developing a theory about memory, but discovers that it had already been proposed in 1993. Based on the existing data on that theory, Dr. Wille's team refines their theory and makes new predictions. According to the "Why Science?" reading, this BEST illustrates which of the following essential elements of science?
Cumulative knowledge growth
Ronaldo comes from a society where men are associated strongly with positive characteristics. If Ronaldo has a strong pro-male bias, what word association pairing would we expect him to be able to pair the FASTEST, drawing on the logic of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) described in the lecture "Race and Ethnicity?"
Dave : sunrise
A psychiatrist asks Seo Ah about the duration and intensity of her depressive symptoms to figure out if she needs treatment. According to the Anxiety and Depression lecture, what model of diagnosis is the psychiatrist using?
Dimensional model 14-day model
A new song is out by the artist Post Malone. One music reviewer named Dipak writes about the singer's sense of loneliness and lack of connection with others. Based on feedback you received from Writing Assignment #2, it would make the MOST sense to conclude that:
Dipak's language indicates he identifies with Post Malone's loneliness Dipak has a high need for affiliation, which is apparent in the language he uses
Six-year-old Dipak's mom told him he could have ice cream later if he doesn't eat snacks before dinner. Based on the results of the marshmallow study from the Social Class and Money lecture, what is the BEST explanation for why Dipak decided to eat snacks anyway?
Dipak's mom is unreliable and doesn't always deliver on her promises
Rupa and Dipak are fraternal twins, who were separated at birth. If Rupa is highly optimistic, and if optimism is 86% heritable, who amongst the following are MOST likely to share the trait with her?
Dipak, because they share a similar genetic composition
According to Chris Beevers' "Who's in the Expert's Chair" segment in the lecture on Psychotherapy, who would be MOST effectively treated by all types of therapies?
Dipak, who has experienced a general sense of worry for over 6 months.
Based on what you learned in the Social Class and Money lecture, which of the following individuals is MOST likely to give away a chocolate that has just been given to them?
Dipak, who has just two chocolates of his own
According to the PITN segment on fear maturation, which of the following 7-month-old babies is likely to be the FIRST to develop a fear of falling?
Dipak, whose mom always holds his hands while walking, helping him balance
Based on the "Neurons" reading, which of the following is the BEST analogy for the way an electrical current is passed down an axon?
Dominos knocking each other over
According to Dr Pennebaker in the Expert's Chair segment of the Memory lecture, which of these is the BEST example of collective memory?
Dr. Chaudari finds that her colleagues who are also in their 50s share the same favorite artists as her
When working to complete a task with high levels of focus and low distraction, which of the following is the MOST accurate statement about the impact of phones on attention?
Even the presence of your phone, without notifications, will increase your distractibility.
According to Daniel Kahneman's TED talk on memory, which of these situations would give the most happiness to the EXPERIENCING self?
Extending an enjoyable vacation in Paris by a week
A series of TV advertisements show attractive people driving a new brand of car in the hopes you will associate the sense of attraction with the car. Later, when you see the cars in real life, but they are driven by ordinary people, you find the cars less interesting and appealing. In the language of classical conditioning, this latter stage is called:
Extinction
Teresa lives in New York City and has noticed that the people around her tend to be highly open to new experiences. Based on the Psychology In The News (PITN) segment with the psychological weather map, which of the following BEST explains this?
Founder effect because those in the founding population were willing to strike out into a new land
An aspiring politician is meticulously studying the actions of their political idols for hours per day to plan their campaign for an upcoming election. Based on the "Time and Culture" Reading, this person is STRONGEST in which of the six temporal time frames?
Future, because they are devising a plan to achieve an upcoming goal
We know from the Psychology in the News segment of the "Eating and Drinking" Lecture that habitually imagining that you're eating may cause you to eat less when actually presented food. Why is this the case?
Imaginary eating habituates us to the experience of the food
You hear about a town where most the wealth is owned by a very small proportion of the population. Based on what you learned in the Social Class abd Money lecture, where would you expect that town to be located?
In a state where the average agreeableness is low
According to the reading "Americans Want to Live in a Much More Equal Country" and the Social Class and Money lecture, under which conditions would equality be preferred the MOST?
You moved to a new country and you don't know yet where you fall on the social ladder
Rupa is a narcissist. According to PITN, what is MOST likely going to be your initial perception of Rupa when you first meet her?
You will think she is very kind
If Broadbent's filter model were completely true, which of the following statements would be the MOST accurate?
You would notice the font of a newspaper headline while focusing on a different article, but not what the headline was about
Which of the following statements, uttered by a wealthy person, is MOST consistent with the results of the rigged Monopoly game discussed in the lecture on Social Class and Money?
"I'm wealthy primarily thanks to my hard work and strategic choices."
Kaede's friends live in China and want him to come visit them for the summer. Kaede gets to his gate at the airport only to hear that the flight is delayed due to maintenance on the plane; suddenly he's very anxious about flying. According to the "Big Beliefs Linked to Anxiety" reading, which of the following thoughts would be MOST effective in reducing his anxiety?
"Is it more likely that the plane will take off when not fully repaired, or that the mechanics are competent enough to fix the problem?"
Josiah, who is white, is playing a game of "Guess Who?" with his friend Jahan, who is black. According to the Psych in the News from the "Race and Ethnicity" lecture, which of the following questions would Josiah MOST likely be reluctant to ask if he's worried about being perceived as racist by Jahan?
"Is the person black?"
In the "Brain and Hormones" lecture, you completed the ADHD survey and participated in the Stroop demonstration, where you were asked to label the colors of words that had inconsistent color names. In theory, what would be the correlation between scores on the ADHD survey and accuracy scores on the Stroop test?
A correlation of around -.25 since both measures tap the functioning of the frontal lobe. High ADHD people should be less inhibited and people who accurately named more colors would be better able to control their automatic behavior (reading)
In the "Brain and Hormones" lecture, you completed the ADHD survey and participated in the Stroop demonstration, where you were asked to label the colors of words that had inconsistent color names. In theory, what would be the correlation between scores on the ADHD survey and accuracy scores on the Stroop test?
A correlation of around -.35 since people with ADHD should be more impulsive and people who accurately named more colors would be less impulsive
Which of the following is the BEST example of a perceptual system adapting to the stimuli in the environment?
A greater number of rods active in the retina when navigating through a dark environment
Sarah tested whether eating three different types of CHOCOLATE at the end of a meal increased a feeling of sleepiness one hour later. One group of participants ate a white chocolate square, a second group ate a milk chocolate square, and a third group ate a dark chocolate square. According to the "Research Methods II: The Experimental Method" lecture, which additional group would be the BEST example of a control group?
A group that ate a square of similar texture but with no chocolate
Lexie found a significant negative correlation between time Texas State students spent in their apartment and likelihood of finding a job. According to the "Statistical Thinking" reading, which of the following is the LEAST ACCURATE evaluation of the study's outcomes?
A significant relationship in this study suggests that the results are valid and no further replications are necessary
Kaede fell asleep earlier in the night and is showing rapid eye movements. How long ago did he MOST likely fall asleep?
About 90 minutes ago
Jahan builds a robot with a single eye in the form of a video camera. One ways it determines the distance of an object is by how much it must adjust the camera lens zoom to bring the object into focus. This is equivalent to the visual depth cue in humans known as:
Accommodation
Assume that what cyberbullies crave most is the attention of the online communities where they make bullying comments. Based on the PITN and readings on conditioning, which of the following would be the best way for an online community to respond to a bully? Why?
According to instrumental conditioning, if the community stops responding to the bully entirely, the bully's behavior will be reduced
Based on the "Neurons" reading, if your neurons and surrounding extracellular fluid are severely lacking SODIUM (Na+), which of the following is MOST likely to occur?
Action potentials will no longer fire
For the past few months, Teresa has been arguing regularly with her partner and experiencing inadequate lubrication during sex. According to the "Human Sexual Anatomy and Physiology" reading, which of the following therapies would MOST effectively address Teresa's sexual dysfunction?
Advising Teresa to seek therapy for the issues she is having with her partner and prescribing her a lubricant
A group of collaborators are working to optimize efficiency on their tasks. According to the "Psychology of Groups" reading, how many times should they meet before reaching the stage with the highest efficiency?
After many meetings and reaching the performing stage, when all have learned how to complete their tasks
Based on the lecture on Social Class and Money, which of the following people would you expect to NOT exhibit a preference for equality over inequality?
All of these have been shown to exhibit preferences for equality
In Jahan's calculus class, the professor tells the students to bring the following items to their exam: a calculator, a pencil, a sharpener, an eraser, and a ruler. According to the Memory lecture, if Jahan is affected by SPREADING ACTIVATION, he is most likely to:
Also bring a pen to his exam
According to the Memory lecture, what is the best example of short-term memory?
Aminah holds three restaurant names in her head for a few seconds
If you are doing an experiment, random assignment is _____ because ________.
good; it controls for unknown variables that could cause people to pick different experimental conditions
According to the "Adolescent Development" lecture and "The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain" TED talk, changes in conscientiousness during adolescence are MOST closely related to changes in ________ because conscientiousness requires _______.
the prefrontal cortex; the ability to take other people's perspectives
Dipak scores fairly high on Conscientiousness in personality tests and is usually on time for appointments. Based on the Personality Traits reading and lecture, it is MOST likely that Dipak:
usually follows rules and works hard, but this can vary a lot from situation to situation
A pair of identical twins are separated at birth and brought up by different parents in very different cultures. Based on the "Nature, Nurture, & Evolution" lecture, the twins will be MOST similar in their sociability:
when they are adults, living on their own, because they have each chosen their own social environments that allow them to express their interest in other people.
Earlier in the course, you performed the Stroop task: calling out the color of a word that names a different color. Based on what you learned about conscientiousness in the "Adolescent Development" lecture, ________ would perform BEST on this task because ________.
women and men over about 24 and younger than 45; their frontal cortex has fully developed with very little loss of brain weight
Aminah has a secure attachment to her mother. According to the "Attachment Throughout the Life Course" reading, which behavior will she MOST likely exhibit when her mom drops her off for the first day of preschool?
Aminah will be unhappy when her mom leaves, but go to her for comfort when she comes back
Aminah's parents sent her to boarding school. They sent her money for food but were not there to give her affection. Rupa was homeschooled and got all of her mom's attention. According to the "Early Development" lecture, how would Aminah and Rupa MOST likely differ?
Aminah would have a harder time forming friendships with her peers.
Aminah grew up on a completely isolated island in the Pacific, but has recently moved to Fiji, where there is access to western media and television. According to the reading on Fiji from the "Eating & Drinking" lecture, which of the following is MOST likely?
Aminah's mental health and body image would begin to decline.
Lexie was investigating the effect of the amount of cheese she ate in a day on and the extent to which it changed her mood state and her cravings for vegetables. According to the "Research Designs" reading, in this test, what is the independent variable?
Amount of cheese eaten in a day
The idea of ready-made data and custom-made data was discussed in the "Beyond Big Data" video, arguing for a hybrid approach to research. Using this idea, which would be the BEST example of this in the education realm?
Analyzing their online clicking behavior of class materials, and also asking students in the same class to complete a questionnaire on their study habits
Anna wants to test whether taking benchmarks makes people happy. According to the "Research Designs" reading, which participant sorting method would BEST improve her research design?
Anna should sort people at random to a group where they take benchmarks, and a group where they do not take benchmarks
Based on the "Re-reading Is Inefficient" article, which of the following study strategies would be MOST effective for Juan preparing for his psychology exam?
Asking himself additional psychology questions pertaining to the exam topics
Based on the the "Emotion" lecture, which situation BEST represents a self-conscious emotion?
Aubree felt shame after not getting out of her seat for an elderly person to sit in on the bus
Aubree went skydiving before going to a new burger fast-food joint. Aubree concluded after eating her food that she has never had a better burger in her life. Based on the "Emotion" lecture, which of the following is MOST likely true?
Aubree misattributed her arousal from skydiving to burgers
Based on the "Emotion" lecture, which example BEST demonstrates evolutionary preparedness?
Aubree refuses to ever go camping because she once saw her mother chased by a bear
Aubree is a CEO at a major company and has been overwhelmed with deadlines and meetings for the past month along with never ending housework. According to the "Who's in the Expert's Chair" segment from the sex and gender lecture, which of the following actions performed by Aubree's partner will MOST likely increase their chances of having sex one day?
Aubree's partner should clean the house
Based on the PITN segment on moral development in the "Adolescent Development" lecture, which of the following people is a 6-year-old likely to judge as MOST moral?
Aubree, who didn't even consider the possibility of cheating on the exam
Based on what you learned on the "Early Development" lecture and readings, which of the following students is MOST likely to perceive a threat when an unknown substitute teacher comes into the room?
Aubree, who was placed in foster care at 2-months old
Sarah feels greater anxiety from stress than other people her age. According to the "Biochemistry of Love" reading, which hormonal factor is LEAST likely to have influenced epigenetics for this greater anxiety?
Average vasopressin levels as a child in response to common stressors
Aubree, who is white, is set up to go on a blind date, and finds out that her prospective dating partner is black. Aubree behaves stiffly and uneasily during the date despite good intentions, and worries that she is making her date feel bad. She decides not to see this person again. According to the reading "Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotyping," what is Aubree's behavior BEST described as?
Aversive Racism
At the end of semester, Nick adds up his points from his benchmarks, his RAS, and his writing assignments. He got 198 points so he will receive a(n):
B
Dr. Sedlacek scoffs at therapists who try to interpret the mental processes of their patients, preferring to look for patterns in the way they react to life events. According to the "History of Psychology" reading, this approach BEST reflects a ________ perspective
Behaviorist
Dr. Sridhar has been observing single people in a bar. She thinks the study is worthwhile because the findings may be valuable and there is little to no risk of harm for participants. According to the "Why Science?" reading, this belief MOST concerns the ethical issue of:
Benefits
The Eating and Drinking lecture discussed how ideal body image can change over time. How do the ideal body images for men and women today BEST compare to historical trends?
Body image ideals have become more extreme for both sexes, e.g. thinner ideal for women
You have just opened the first meat-flavored popsicle store in your medium-sized town. (Try the liver and peanut butter ice cream sandwich -- it's amazing!). According to social physics, which of the following would be most effective in bringing more people to your store?
Build the restaurant in a busy area, and have famous people and food critics use social media to praise the food. The more attractors associated with your business, the more people should be drawn to your store..
For students wishing to maximize test prep time, what is the BEST explanation why they should NOT increase their caffeine intake?
Caffeine will keep you awake, but reduces attention and focus
Aminah identifies as female, is attracted to males, and has XX chromosomes. According to the "Sex, Gender, and Sexuality" lecture, Aminah would MOST likely be described as which of the following?
Cisgender
When he was 5, Ronaldo's parents allowed him to pick out any costume he wanted for Halloween without interfering. Ronaldo selected a batman costume that he had seen other men wear, instead of a ball gown that he had noticed women wear. According to the Gender reading, which concept does this example best illustrate?
Gender schema theory
"One blind man touches a strange object and proclaims it is a snake; another, a fan; another, a tree-trunk. Individually, they miss the elephant in the room." According to the "History of Psychology" reading, this parable BEST reflects a ________ perspective
Gestalt
Aminah feels tired, but has trouble falling asleep once she's in her bed. According to the "ABCs of ZZZZ's" reading, which would MOST likely help her fall asleep?
Getting out of bed for a while and listening to some relaxing music
According to the Psychology in the News segment from the Anxiety & Depression lecture, recent research has shown new links between depression and sleep. If the same LOGIC applied to the links between depression and eating, which of the following treatments might be effective for treating depression?
Give patients therapy designed to help establish a healthy eating schedule
A teenage boy notices that his voice has gotten deeper. According to the "Adolescent Development" lecture, which of the following processes is MOST likely responsible for this change?
Gonadarche
Nick has recently been feeling more stressed at work and is starting to notice negative physical consequences. According to the "Stress and Disease" reading, which of the following is the MOST likely to be a physical outcome that Nick is experiencing?
He loses his sense of balance due to disruptions in the inner ear
Kaede's instagram is full of pictures of himself and his boyfriend. According to the psychology in the News segment of the "Sex & Gender" lecture, what can this tell us about Kaede?
He may be worried that he is not deserving of his partner's love
Dipak is writing at the library and doesn't notice a librarian who approached him. Based on the "Failures of Awareness: The Case of Inattentional Blindness" reading, what BEST explains why Dipak didn't notice the librarian?
He was focused so much on writing that he wasn't attending to his surroundings
Ronaldo participates in a psychological study where researchers give him different series of words to memorize and recite. According to the "States of Consciousness" reading, if the words are all related to cooking (e.g., "saute," "blend," "dice"), which is MOST LIKELY to happen?
He will be hungry and feel inclined to eat
Nick is part of a psychology class that has quizzes in every lecture. According to the Psychology in the News (PITN) segment of the "Psychology of Learning" Lecture, what benefits is Nick MOST likely to receive from this course compared to a traditional class?
He will perform better in his other classes in the following semester
Aubree is 19 and doesn't have any memories from when she was an infant. According to the Memory Lecture, which of the following is the MOST likely reason for her lack of memories as an infant?
Her hippocampus had not finished developing
Based on the "Adolescent Development" lecture and "The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain" TED talk, which is the BEST explanation of the change that occurs in Dipak's brain from adolescence to adulthood?
His prefrontal cortex is becoming fully developed
Josiah is a student at UT and strongly supports UT's football team. According to the reading on "Hormones and Behavior" how will their VICTORY affect his testosterone levels?
His testosterone levels will increase even though he was not directly involved in the game
Terri wants to examine the relationship between income and philanthropy. According to the "Research Methods I: Correlations" lecture, which of the following would be the BEST operational definition of philanthropy?
How many donations a participant made to charities in the last year
According to the "Culture and Emotion" reading, who of the following is MOST displaying an INTERdependent model of self when asked to describe who they are?
I am a mother, a sister, and a friend
You go to your therapist and are asked to describe your emotion using the DIMENSIONAL approach to emotion. According to the "Emotion" lecture, which is the BEST response?
I was feeling a little sad, and it lasted for several days
Rupa framed her law degree and put it in the wall facing her clients in her office. According to the Personality Lecture, this would BEST be considered an example of a(n):
Identity claim, because Rupa is advertising her expertise and background to her clients
A majority of employees think their boss is extremely rude, but no one says anything about it. What is the MOST likely reason for this, according to the video on 'language as a window into the human soul'?
If any one of the employees spoke up without knowing that the others felt the same way, the one employee could get in trouble
How might change blindness be explained by schemas and selective search in the gorilla video shown in class?
If people believe that the video is a test of the ability to track how actors exchange a basketball, they will not attend to the gorilla or other details that are not relevant to that schema.
Lexie is researching whether meditation leads to better sleep quality. According to the "Conducting Psychology Research in the Real World" reading, if her study has high INTERNAL validity, then which of the following statements is MOST likely true?
If sleep quality is predicted by meditation, the study will show this relationship between the two variables
Sarah is researching whether a high school nutrition course leads to reduced obesity rates at age 30. According to the "Conducting Psychology Research in Real World" reading, if this study has high INTERNAL validity, then which of the following is MOST likely true?
If the course does predict decreased obesity rates, then the effect will be shown in the study
Josiah has been sleeping only 3 hours per night for the past week, relying on caffeine to keep himself awake to study for finals. According to the expert in the chair from the "Sleep, Dreams, and Consciousness" lecture, which of the following is he MOST likely to experience?
Increased irritability
According to Expert in the Chair Chris Beevers, which types of treatment are effective for individuals with depression, and how effective is combining treatments
Interpersonal therapy, CBT, and medication are effective, and when combined can work better than one method alone
Based on the "Adolescent Development" reading, which BEST describes the "identity diffusion" status in identity formation?
Jahan, who doesn't know what he wants to eat and hasn't looked at any restaurants yet
Josiah's friends managed to throw him a surprise party for his birthday. Based on the "Emotion Experience and Well-Being" reading, which emotion during his surprise party will BEST help Josiah's subsequent well-being?
Josiah felt incredibly happy that his friends were kind enough to throw him a birthday party
Based on the Expert's Chair segment in the Personality Lecture, which of the following people are MOST likely to have a personality that is consistent with their genetic predisposition?
Josiah who moved to California in his 30s because he likes the tech culture there
Based on the "Language and Psychological State" lecture, in which of the following situations would Linguistic-Style Matching be the LOWEST?
Kaede and Aminah are talking to each other but Aminah is not very engaged in the conversation
Which of the following BEST describes the self as a social actor?
Kaede, who is friendly, talkative, and cheerful
Seo Ah is known by her peers for being highly disorganized and late to everything. Which of the following Big Five personality descriptions BEST describes Seo Ah?
LOW conscientiousness
Rupa's Broca's area in her brain is damaged. According to the Language and Psychological State Lecture, Rupa is MOST likely to:
List out objects and concepts while speaking without connecting them together
Over the past few months, Rupa has been unable to get out of bed every morning and has become increasingly isolated from her friends and family. During her free time, she finds herself thinking of easy ways to commit suicide. According to the "Mood Disorders" reading, which of the following disorders is Rupa MOST likely suffering from?
Major Depressive Disorder
According to parental investment theory, why are men likely to be relatively more jealous of sexual infidelity compared to women?
Males who did not ensure that their spouse was sexually loyal were less likely to pass on their own genes.
Rupa has to recite the famous 1877 Surrender speech by Chief Josephs at an awards ceremony tomorrow night and wants to make sure that she does not forget the words. According to the "Memory" reading, which of the following is MOST likely to enhance her memory ENCODING and STORAGE?
Mentally pairing the main points of her speech with memorable and relevant images while she practices
A history professor at another university is extremely liberal and biases his lectures in a pro-liberal way. According to social physics, if students can sit anywhere, the most conservative students will sit:
Near the exits, or in the back of the room, because the professor will be a powerful negative attractor
According to the lecture on Social Physics and readings from the class, what best explains the reason the social bomb has effects on groups?
Negative attractor
According to the "Neurons and Neurotransmitters" lecture, which function of the PERIPHERAL nervous system is MOST likely to happen if a chef touches a hot pan as it comes out of the oven?
Neurons in the chef's hand triggering a reflex to pull the hand away
You are a new teacher and before you enter your first class, you are given the first names of the students in your class. Here is the actual list: Nisha, Shriya, Taylor, Jahan, James, Stephanie, Samuel, Nakisha. Which of the following names would you be most likely to remember and why:
Nisha because of the primacy effect
Based on the readings and the "Leaving your Lamarck" podcast, all of the following would be examples of epigenetic inheritance EXCEPT?
One of the kittens of a litter was the only one of the group to be born with the genes that expressed the unique coat pattern of its father
According to the reading "Evolutionary Theories in Psychology," which of the following BEST describes how the visual descent illusion evolved?
Over time, people who were less likely to descend from a dangerous height tended to live longer and pass on their genes to their offspring.
Spike, a French bulldog, involuntarily begins to shake when he hears the bath water turn on. This is an example of:
Pavlovian Conditioning
According to the Eating & Drinking lecture, which of the following is MOST accurate regarding social norms surrounding college drinking?
People are more likely to engage in unhealthy drinking behavior if they perceive it as the norm in their peer group
In a hypothetical language, there are no words to distinguish between males and females. According to the reading "Language and Language Use," which of the following is MOST likely to be true?
People belonging to this culture might be slightly less sexist in their thinking than other cultures but any effects would likely be small
Jahan is looking at a tree but in his peripheral vision notices a dog run past. His sister asks what color the dog was but he can't say for sure. According to the lecture on "Sensation and Perception," this is because:
Peripheral vision is mainly composed of rods, which cannot detect color
Dr. Lim wants to know if a person uses their amygdala when they are relaxing after a long day at work. According to the reading "Brain and Nervous System," which of the following techniques will be MOST useful in this case?
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
While studying for PSY 301 at the PCL, Jamie is constantly distracted. According to the PITN (Psychology in the News) segment about meditation, exercise, and learning, which of the following would be MOST likely to alter his brain's electrical activity that induce better concentration?
Practice new meditation techniques and then swim laps at the Gregory Gymnasium Pool
Lexie wanted to hug her friend, who was leaving to college, but found that she was unable to make her arms hug her friend. According to the reading "Brain and Nervous System," a defect in which area of the brain is MOST likely to cause this situation?
Primary motor cortex
Dr. Lim has been working with her patient, Aminah, to help cure her depression. She has spent the majority of their time together listening to Aminah, interpreting what she tells her, and then trying to find the root causes of her depression (e.g., in childhood experiences). What therapeutic approach is Dr. Lim MOST likely using?
Psychoanalysis
Through many experiences with white men, Dipak (who is Asian) has learned to associate white men with being unfaithful; he does not have specific explicit beliefs about white men in this way but now subconsciously expects the white men he comes across to act unfaithfully. According to the lecture "Race and Ethnicity,' what is this an example of?
Racial cognitive bias
Anna wants to test the effects of gender on typing speed. According to the "Research Methods II: The Experimental Method" lecture, all of the following are true, EXCEPT:
Random assignment can be used to place participants into the experimental groups
According to the Eating and Drinking lecture, which of the following external factors are MOST likely to contribute to the development of disordered eating?
Regularly having to go without food for a long time
According to the conditioning lecture, a token economy is best represented by which action?
Rewarding students' performance with fake money that can be swapped for doughnuts
The lecture on Sex, Gender, and Sexualty, covered some studies of bonding in humans and in two species of prairie voles. Drawing on the logic of those studies, which of the following individuals would be MOST likely to form strong romantic bonds (love) with a partner?
Ronaldo, who has many oxytocin receptors in the pleasure centers of the brain
According to the Anxiety and Depression Lecture, what is the best example of ADAPTIVE anxiety?
Rupa has a burst of adrenaline when someone approaches her while she is walking alone in the evening
Sarah's relationship with her boss has been strained recently, and she isn't sure why. According to the expert in the "Psychology of Learning" lecture, which of the following would cause attributional ambiguity?
Sarah has always gotten along with her bosses in other jobs and she can't think of any reason the boss's behavior.
Nick wants to know about the relationship between risk taking and hair color, and wants to use a self-report for measuring risk taking. According to the "Research Methods I: Correlations" what is the MOST likely DISADVANTAGE of this measurement type that Nick needs to think about?
Self-report is affected by social desirability, so respondents may not be completely honest about their levels of risk taking
You want your roommate to start watering the plants by the window. You start by smiling at him every time he walks in the direction of the window. You are using:
Shaping
While taking part in experimental research, Aubree's cortisol production was blocked. Extrapolating from the "Hormones and Behavior" reading, which of the following is MOST likely to occur?
She becomes less sensitive to odors
Teresa is walking down the street and sees a sign. The sign has several missing letters, but she is still able to read it. According to the lecture "Sensation and Perception," this is because:
She is using top-down processing and relying on her knowledge of the world to make sense of the information she is seeing
Aubree was administered hormones that REDUCE function in her AMYGDALA. Extrapolating from the lecture and "Hormones and Behavior" reading, which of the following behaviors is she MOST likely to exhibit as a result of this hormone?
She spends a great deal of time playing with her friend's child
Rupa was having difficulty managing chronic stress, but found some relief through hypnosis. According to the "Sleep, Dreams, & Consciousness" lecture and reading, what is the BEST explanation for why this worked for her?
She was able to focus on one topic without distraction
Teresa is hit in the brainstem by a piece of shrapnel when her laboratory explodes. According to "The Brain and Hormones" lecture and readings, which of the following symptoms is Teresa MOST likely to display as a result?
She will lose all ability to digest the sandwich she had for lunch
Nisha studied the effect of positive reinforcement on encouraging preschool children to choose healthier foods. Her results revealed that compared to a control group, the participants who received positive reinforcement were more likely to choose healthier foods. According to the "Statistical Thinking" reading, which of the following is MOST likely true?
Since the sample doesn't represent all children, the results are NOT generalizable
Dr. Okafor has made groundbreaking discoveries in the field of positive psychology but consistently turns down invitations to give talks because of his intense fear of how people will perceive him in person. According to the "Anxiety and Related Disorders" reading, which of the following disorders is Dr. Okafor MOST likely suffering from?
Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
Rupa, who is hispanic, is shocked to find out that she did better on the last calculus exam than the exchange student from South Korea in her class. According to the "Race and Ethnicity" lecture and "Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotype" reading, Rupa's thinking about the student BEST represents:
Stereotype
Ronaldo has previously expressed anger by throwing breakable objects in his home, but now regularly goes ax throwing instead. This behavior BEST describes which category of ego defense?
Sublimation
Lexie wanted to know if daily hours of sunlight or amount of water administered to agave plants had a stronger relationship with its subsequent growth. She found a correlation coefficient of 0.25 between water administered and agave growth, and a correlation coefficient of 0.70 between hours of sunlight and agave growth. According to the "Khan Academy: Correlation Coefficient Intuition" video, which relationship is STRONGER?
Sunlight and agave growth
According to the PITN in the "Brain and Hormones" lecture, superagers have more robust cognitive abilities than most other people who are the same age. Which of the following would be the LEAST reasonable explanation for this?
Superagers have weaker connections between the left and right hemispheres of the brain, causing stronger localization of processing
Despite feeling okay in high school, Nick has begun feeling depressed since starting college. Based on the PITN (Psychology in the News) segment about meditation, exercise, and learning, which of the following would MOST improve these symptoms?
Take an opportunity to meditate before going on a bicycle ride
Teresa is having dinner with her new boyfriend, but she keeps accidentally calling him by her ex-boyfriend's name. Based on what we have learned about Freudian slips, what is MOST likely true?
Teresa unconsciously wishes she was having dinner with her ex-boyfriend.
In which of the following cases would multitasking work MOST effectively?
Teresa, who is 21 and is listening to music and playing cards simultaneously
In the "Introduction to Psychology" lecture, you were shown footage of students reacting to an attractive teacher to help you understand:
That behavioral observations are better for testing predictions than intuition
How would an ecological (or Gibson-based) approach to perception differ from traditional psychophysics in understanding how a person might perceive the loudness of a sound?
The ecological approach assumes that we use all of our senses to hear sounds (including vision, balance, etc) whereas the traditional approach only considers the features of the sounds themselves.
According to the "Research Methods II: The Experimental Method" lecture, FOUR of the following research questions could ONLY be addressed with a NATURAL EXPERIMENT. The only one that could be addressed by a TRUE experiment is:
The effects of happy or sad music on current mood state
Dipak has a very extraverted personality type. According to the Social Physics lecture, what house will Dipak MOST likely choose to buy?
The house with a large pool and backyard
Which of the following is most likely true according to the reading on Drive States?
The hypothalamus likely determines the set point in motivating an animal to seek food or to stop eating
Based on the "Neurons" reading, if your neurons and surrounding extracellular fluid are severely lacking POTASSIUM (K+), which of the following is MOST likely to occur?
The neurons will be stuck in their depolarized state
A study of female college students found that regularly attending yoga classes was positively correlated with scores on a happiness scale. In three subsequent samples of female college students, the researchers did NOT replicate this finding. According to the "Failure is Moving Science Forward" reading, which of the following is the BEST conclusion?
The original study has poor external validity because the results did not replicate
Voice-to-text programs, like Siri, take sound waves as inputs, transform them into electrical signals in the phone, and make computations based on these signals that lead to actions on the phone. Based on the "Sensation and Perception" reading, what components of human hearing are MOST like the microphone itself (before sound waves are converted to electrical signals in the phone)?
The pinna, ear canal, tympanic membrane, and ossicles
A college professor wants to help her students improve their writing grades, so she writes them each feedback telling them how she knows they can each improve. According to Cohen and Yeager in the "How to Motivate Students" article, why is this a GOOD example of encouraging a growth mindset?
The professor's comment reflects her desire to help her students work harder
Terri's bathroom scale CONSISTENTLY reports that Terri's weight is 160 lbs every time she uses it, even though Terri is actually 165 lbs. According to the "Research Methods I: Correlations" lecture, which BEST describes Terri's bathroom scale?
The scale is reliable but not valid
Aminah has assigned a specific song as the ringtone on her phone for her terrifying boss, so she always knows he's the one calling. Now every time she hears the song, even when it isn't her phone ringing, her heart starts beating fast. Based on the principles of classical conditioning, which of the following is the CONDITIONED STIMULUS in this scenario?
The song, AFTER Aminah assigned it to her boss' calls for a while
Imagine that a recent study conducted on identical twins who were raised separately found that the twins tend to prefer similar types of footwear. According to the lecture on "Nature, Nurture, and Evolution," which of the following is the MOST likely explanation for the genetic basis of this phenomenon?
The twins share sets of genes that code for several factors that may affect their choice of footwear, like foot shape, body size, etc.
Lexie ran an experiment testing the correlation between time spent outdoors per day and exam scores. She found a p-value of 0.22, which is ABOVE the significance threshold of p = 0.05. According to the "Statistical Thinking" reading, what can she conclude about the relationship between time outdoors and exam scores?
There is NOT a statistically significant correlation between time outdoors and exam scores
Anna tested the relationship between hours of sleep per night and extroversion. She found a p-value of 0.07, which is ABOVE the significance threshold of p = 0.05. According to the "Statistical Thinking" reading, what can Anna conclude about the relationship between hours of sleep and extroversion?
There is NOT a statistically significant relationship between hours of sleep per night and extroversion
Anna completely forgot to do her writing assignment. What should she do?
There is nothing she can do, and there are no make-ups or extensions for writing assignments
According to Angela Duckworth, an expert in the lecture on psychotherapy, which BEST describes the characteristics shared by individuals who would score highly in grit?
They are highly perseverant with high levels of life satisfaction
Rupa has a sign facing her on her office desk that says "A little progress each day leads to big results." According to the Personality Lecture, this would BEST be considered an example of a(n):
Thought and feeling regulator, because it is changing the space to make Rupa feel more motivated
Ronaldo's academic essays are very high on analytic thinking. Based on the Expert's Chair segment in the Language lecture, it is MOST likely that Ronaldo:
Uses high rates of articles and prepositions, which are most common in texts that are logical, formal, and theoretical
According to the "Sensation and Perception" lecture in PITN (Psychology in the News), we would expect novice bicyclists to pedal faster and for longer under which circumstances?
Using a stationary bike while listening to new music
According to the lecture on Sex, Gender, and Sexualty, which of the following contraceptive methods would be MOST effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies?
Using an IUD
According to the "Biochemistry of Love" reading, which peptide -- oxytocin or vasopressin -- would be MOST likely related to an increase in aggressive behavior towards sexual rivals or potential dangers to offspring?
Vasopressin, because it is connected with mating- and parenting-specific aggression
In general, people are drawn to eating sugary and fatty foods. According to the lecture on Eating & Drinking, what is the MOST likely explanation of this predisposition to these types of foods?
We evolved to pursue these types of foods since they were once scarce but are energy-dense, providing the most fuel for our bodies
Gabi recently lost her house after a hurricane and is using expressive writing to help cope with her loss. According to the "Expressive Writing in a Clinical Setting" reading, when would writing MOST likely help her feel better?
When she's too upset about her loss to focus at work
Based on the lecture on 'Attention,' in which situation would a cyclist be BEST able to avoid a collision as they ride?
When speaking to another cyclist riding in tandem
Extending the logic behind the poker players' "tell" described in the Psychology in the News segment in the "Emotion" lecture, how might you realize a person isn't comfortable meeting you?
When they move to shake your hand, their arm movement is hesitant and not smooth
Teresa, who is white, plans on stealing clothes from her favorite store and isn't scared to do so because she knows she won't be eyed with suspicion by the store employees, based on her race. Based on the "White Privilege" reading, what does this example BEST represent?
White privilege
According to the lecture "Race and Ethnicity," what BEST explains why the concept of reverse racism against white people is not comparable to racism against people of color?
Whites overall have more power and control in our society, and therefore the experience of discrimination due to being white is better explained by racial bias
According to the reading "The Healthy Life," which of the following would be the MOST helpful behavioral change for effective stress management?
Working through breathing exercises when you're stressed
Gabi recently moved away from home for college and is having a hard time getting settled. According to the "Expressive Writing in a Clinical Setting" reading, which of the following is MOST likely to aid in her adjustment to college life?
Writing about feeling overwhelmed
A news station airs a trigger warning before displaying images taken at a violent crime scene. According to the Psychology in the News Segment, will this warning be beneficial to a person who is sensitive to such material?
Yes, as it will give them an opportunity to stop watching the news
According to the expert in the "Early Development" lecture, would an adult from Vanuatu think it would be reasonable for American parents to allow their 9-year-old daughter use a deep fryer?
Yes, assuming her parents have often modeled correct usage of the fryer in the past
For benchmark queries, there is a "ONE WEEK" rule. What does this mean?
You MUST submit your query within a week of the question being asked
How might 16 year old Nick differ from 26 year old Nick in this situation: He just started dating a girl that he sees at a gym and notices another guy flirting with her from across the room. He feels an urge to charge across the room and punch the guy in the face. According to the "Adolescent Development" lecture, how will young Nick differ from older Nick? Why?
Younger Nick will be more likely to behave aggressively because punching a male competitor will earn him more respect from his other 16-year old friends.
At the age of 3, before she learns to read, Teresa learns that a car will stop whenever it comes to a red octagon sign. When she is 25, after having learned to drive in the US in her teens, she visits the island nation of Jrasoma (a small English-speaking country). When she first starts driving, she automatically stops at red octagon sign that reads, "Hello." Her mistake is a good example of:
a blocking effect
Earlier in the course, you performed the Stroop test: calling out the color of a word that names a different color. Based on what you learned about conscientiousness in the "Adolescent Development" lecture, if you randomly selected 1,000 people between the ages of 12 and 40 years old, the correlation between age and performance on the Stroop test (where a higher score indicates better performance) would MOST likely be ___ because ___________.
about +.25; conscientiousness improves as the prefrontal cortex matures
Based on the "Neurons" reading, an action potential can be described as "a firework that either goes off or doesn't" because:
an action potential must be completed if it is started
Seo Ah is 26 and hasn't had a serious relationship in many years. With her last partner, Seo Ah was snooping through their phone to see if they were lying, didn't feel like she could count on them in high-stress situations, and constantly felt pressure to take the next step in the relationship. According to the "Attachment Theory Through the Life Course" reading, which of the following attachment styles does Seo Ah MOST likely have?
avoidant
Based on the "Adolescent Development" lecture and "The Mysterious Workings of the Adolescent Brain" TED talk, the MOST likely reason for a difference in decision-making between 17-year-old Dipak and his 40-year-old aunt is due to his limbic system _____.
being particularly sensitive to reward
As discussed in the lecture, when under stress, levels of ______ become elevated which causes ______ to be suppressed, which results in lower levels of ____.
cortisol; immune activity; inflammation and swelling
According to the lectures and readings, which of the following is the BEST operational definition of stress in people who viewed a powerful horror movie:
drop in the weight of the adrenal glands (in milligrams) from before to the last part of the movie
Terri is POORLY calibrated about her performance in her english class. According to the "Psychology of Learning" Lecture, Terri is in the danger of:
either studying too little or studying too much
According to the lecture and the reading "The Healthy Life," expressive writing would BEST be described as a ___________ coping method because _______.
emotion-focused; it helps manage one's reactions to stressful events
If a person goes to a therapist practicing cognitive behavioral therapy, they may experience ______. In mindfulness therapy, they may instead experience ________.
exposure therapy to extinguish maladaptive behaviors; distress tolerance to work through negative thoughts
According to sexual strategies theory, WOMEN have a _____ level of investment in choosing a long term mate than men because of the _____ potential costs of mating decisions
higher; greater
"I think I'm the smartest person of anyone I know." According to the Language and Psychological State Lecture, a person who says this is MOST likely to be:
insecure because a high rate of I-words reflect self-focus, anxiety, and depression.
According to the lectures and readings, which of the following is the BEST operational definition of stress in people who viewed a powerful horror movie:
micrograms of cortisol released from the adrenal cortex during the climax of the movie compared to the beginning
Based on Piaget's stages of development from the "Cognitive Development in Childhood" reading, if a baby does not cry or try to search for a hidden toy, this is most indicative of a LACK of:
object permanence.
Based on "The Psychology of Groups" article, social facilitation will ____ while reading out loud in a group because it requires _______ responses.
occur; dominant
According to the reading "The Challenges of Growing Up In Poverty" and the lecture on social class and money, children who are growing up in poverty would be most likely to show reduced patience in the marshmallow task because:
poverty increases the number of environmental stressors and reduces reliability of resources.
