psyc exam #1 (ch.1, 2, 4)

In a myelinated axon, the action potential _____ the segments of myelin, going from one node of Ranvier to the next.

"skips" over

A neuron's resting potential is _____ mV.

-70

"Analyze" is one of the four main goals of psychology.

False

Hypnosis is unlikely to aid Drew with his fear of the dentist.

False

Many theorists agree that hypnosis is a distinct state of consciousness.

True

Low levels of _____ in the brain have been linked to Alzheimer's disease.

acetylcholine

The subfield of psychology concerned with understanding how the brain and other bodily systems influence human behavior is called:

biological psychology

Action potentials are _____ signals _____ neurons.

electrical; within

After an action potential, the neuron:

is restored to resting potential.

The axon of a neuron would be described as a:

long, tube-like structure extending from a neuron's cell body.

The role of _____ is to protect and insulate the axon and to speed up the neural message.

the myelin sheath

Codeine is chemically related to opium.

True

Non-REM sleep aids in learning and memory.

True

Action potentials travel from the:

axon hillock, down the axon to the terminal buds.

The majority of neurotransmitters migrate across the synaptic gap and latch onto receptor sites of the receiving neuron's:

dendrites.

The intricate pathways of myelinated axons in the brain can be seen using _____, which tracks the diffusion of water molecules in the brain.

diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI)

Dr. Lieu is the lead researcher on a project that uses a strong magnet to track blood-oxygen changes in participants' brains as they complete decision-making tasks. From the description, Dr. Lieu is using a technique called:

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

After Brandon was injured in Iraq, a brain scan determined that he had damage to the areas of his brain involved in speech and language. The fact that specific brain regions are responsible for certain functions is called:

localization of function.

_____ are branchlike fibers extending in from the neuron's cell body that receive signals from other neurons.

Dendrites

A personality questionnaire is most likely used in naturalistic observation research.

False

A research assistant does not know whether she is administering a placebo or an anti-anxiety pill to a given participant; she is therefore assisting in a single-blind study.

False

A strong correlation suggests that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables.

False

A value close to 0.00 of a correlation coefficient indicates a strong correlation between variables.

False

Alcohol is the most commonly used psychoactive drug in the United States.

False

Allie is asleep; she is therefore unconscious.

False

An extraneous variable is one type of confounding variable.

False

Because Nicola is having trouble sleeping, she should have a couple of alcoholic drinks before going to bed.

False

Birds are acting on a circadian rhythm when they fly south in the winter.

False

Case studies allow cause-and-effect conclusions.

False

Dreaming usually takes place in Stage N1 sleep.

False

Driving when exhausted is not as dangerous as is driving drunk.

False

Fewer than 1 in 10 adult Americans now smoke cigarettes.

False

In an experiment, the group that receives the treatment is the control group.

False

K-complexes are a physiological marker of dreaming.

False

Macy has 200 Facebook friends. Based on statistics presented in the text, about 30 of these people are probably struggling with alcohol dependence or some type of drinking problem.

False

Most "club drugs" or "designer drugs" are classified as stimulants.

False

Narcolepsy is a symptom of cataplexy.

False

Plato is to nurture as Aristotle is to nature.

False

Psychology's earliest two schools were structuralism and humanism.

False

REM episodes lengthen as the night progresses.

False

Replication is of little value to scientific progress.

False

Selective attention is impaired by anger.

False

Single-blind studies control for experimenter bias.

False

The cognitive revolution represented a reaction against the biological perspective.

False

There is little evidence that hypnosis induces changes in brain activity.

False

To control a variable means to measure it.

False

Tolerance is a sign of psychological dependence.

False

When Jaime tells his participants the purpose of the survey they have completed, he is providing informed consent.

False

When Jolene prepares a bar graph, she is probably displaying inferential statistics.

False

When Kurt drinks a cup of coffee and smokes a cigarette, he consumes two depressants.

False

Margaret Floy Washburn is seen by many as a "founding mother" of the sociocultural perspective in psychology.

Flase

_____ creates on and off switches for individual brain cells. Scientists can observe what happens when cells are manipulated.

Optogenetics

_____ was an early approach to explaining the functions of the brain by trying to link the physical structure of the skull with a variety of characteristics.

Phrenology

How might someone summarize our current understanding of neurotransmitters?

Researchers have identified approximately 100 neurotransmitters, with many more yet to be discovered.

"I swear I just heard my name": This experience exemplifies the cocktail party effect.

True

A sizeable minority of college students have experienced sleep paralysis.

True

According to the research "Lilienfeld, Lynn, Ruscio, & Beyerstein, 2010," people become happier as they grow older.

True

Astrology is a pseudopsychology.

True

Brandon is taken to the emergency room after a drug-fueled, all-night rave. He is experiencing blurred vision, dizziness, rapid heart rate, and dehydration. Of the hallucinogens discussed in the text, Ecstasy is the one that Brandon most likely consumed.

True

Caffeine and nicotine are in the same broad class of drugs as cocaine and methamphetamine.

True

Clive marks, "Strongly Agree" to an item on a questionnaire; he is probably a participant in survey research.

True

Describing the feel of bedsheets as "cool . . . smooth . . . very slightly granular" echoes Wundt's introspection.

True

Dreams sometimes occur in non-REM sleep.

True

Flawed or fraudulent research sometimes slips past the peer-review process.

True

In a double-blind experiment, the experimenter does not know which participants are receiving the treatment.

True

In a study of the link between prolonged confinement and stress, stress is a variable.

True

Naturalistic observation and the survey method both exemplify descriptive research.

True

No one can ever be forced to take part in a psychology experiment.

True

Psychology is the study of mental processes.

True

Research suggests that children viewing television programs like SpongeBob Squarepants may experience a brief dip in cognitive functions.

True

Scotty is demonstrating tolerance when he uses progressively larger doses of cocaine in an attempt to duplicate his first high.

True

Shandra is awake; an EEG of her brain would show beta waves.

True

The goal of "control" is addressed most directly by applied research.

True

The last step in the scientific process is publication.

True

The urge to use social media may be harder to resist than sex, spending money, or using alcohol or drugs.

True

Time talking on your cell phone is probably negatively correlated with remaining battery life.

True

We are designed to pay attention to abrupt, unexpected changes in the environment and to stimuli that are unfamiliar or especially strong.

True

William James was inspired by the work of Charles Darwin.

True

With respect to the scientific method, Willow is developing a question when she reviews theories to spot the research gap no one seems to have filled.

True

An advertisement for a new drug therapy is eye catching. The advertisement claims that the drug will counteract the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. The drug potentially works by acting as a(n):

acetylcholine agonist.

Action potentials are:

all-or-none; they either happen or they don't.

Alison has developed an interest in how the brain controls the body's voluntary actions. If she continues to pursue these interests, she might become a(n) _____ psychologist.

biological

Chloe is majoring in psychology. She is about to graduate and has applied to several PhD programs. Chloe's interested in understanding how the brain and other biological systems influence human behavior. It is likely that Chloe plans to specialize in:

biopsychology.

A growing number of attorneys are submitting _____ in court as legal evidence that demonstrates a psychological disturbance.

brain scans

The _____ is where the nucleus, which contains DNA, can be found in a typical neuron.

cell body

Biological psychologists are interested in studying living brains. Unfortunately, the subjects of interest in this particular study have metal in their bodies that prevents them from being placed in a magnetic field. The subjects also indicated on their consent form that they are uncomfortable being injected with any substance. Which of these imaging techniques could be used?

computerized axial tomography (CAT)

A technique called _____ records the brain's activity through scalp electrodes.

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Dr. Hernandez is attempting to diagnose a brain injury in a patient. In order to observe the function of her patient's brain using a(n) _____, Dr. Hernandez places electrodes on the patient's scalp to record electrical activity.

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Later in the course, students will learn about the different patterns of electrical activity in the brain that occur in the different stages of sleep and dreaming. Given that researchers studying sleep look at electrical activity in the brains of their subjects, what technique are they using?

electroencephalogram (EEG)

In _____, a computer analyzes the electromagnetic response of the brain, creating cross-sectional images similar to those produced by computerized axial topography (CAT), but with superior detail.

magnetic resonance imaging

As a researcher studying brain injuries in soldiers wounded in combat, Tiana is one of many team members. Some members of the research team are interested in studying the emotional stress experienced by returning soldiers, and others are interested in the effectiveness of various treatments. Tiana works in the field of _____ because her interests are in studying the brain and nervous system.

neuroscience

In order to study the function of a brain, behavioral neuroscientists sometimes use _____, which involves injecting a radioactive tracer into the bloodstream of a patient.

positron emission tomography (PET)

The junction between neurons where communication occurs is called the:

synapse.