psych review quiz #1

The advantage of an experiment is that it allows a researcher to A) infer cause and affect B) test a large number of people C) see how people behave in their natural environment D) gain an in-depth knowledge of a person or small group of people E) find the relationship between two variables

A) infer cause and affect

Deception can be used in research when A) it is appropriate for what is being studied B) participants are debriefed before the experiment C) the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approves it D) it is more expensive to use other methods E) the subjects in the experiment are college students

A) it is appropriate for what is being studied

Which of the following is true of the American Psychological Association? A) It addresses a number of ethical guidelines for the practice of psychology. B) It determines whether studies that are going to be conducted at an institution are ethical. C) It regulates animal welfare in research. D) It regulates laws about psychological issues. E) It is home to one of the largest medical research centers.

A) It addresses a number of ethical guidelines for the practice of psychology.

Helena did not recognize her English teacher when she unexpectedly saw him while traveling in Paris, even though she knew him well back in the classroom. The fact that Helena can recognize her teacher back home more easily than in Paris best demonstrates what concept? A) Perceptual set B) Change blindness C) Synesthesia D) Functional fixedness E) Extrasensory perception

A) Perceptual set

Which of the following anatomical structures is involved in the vestibular sense? A) Semicircular canals B) Olfactory bulb C) Nociceptors D) Taste buds E) Retinas

A) Semicircular canals

Marlene had an infection that led to deafness in her left ear. Which of the following will be the most likely impact of losing her hearing in her left ear? A) She will have trouble locating the source of sounds. B) She will not be able to hear high pitches. C) She will show less activity in her left temporal lobe. D) She will not be able to detect harmony in music. E) Her hearing overall will improve.

A) She will have trouble locating the source of sounds.

Denise has damaged her auditory nerve and now has difficulty understanding what people are saying. Which of the following descriptions explains how that damage impairs her hearing? A) Sound messages fail to be transmitted directly to the brain. B) The hair cells fail to vibrate sufficiently to transmit the message. C) The ear components fail to amplify the sound to render it sufficiently detectable. D) The brain receives the sound message, but it is unable to process the sound. E) Sound vibrations are not strong enough to stimulate middle-ear activity.

A) Sound messages fail to be transmitted directly to the brain.

What is the primary advantage of conducting a survey rather than using other types of research methods? A) Surveys can gather information from a diverse representation of and a large number of people. B) Surveys can demonstrate cause and effect. C) Surveys can provide an in-depth analysis of a unique individual or group. D) Surveys collect more descriptive data than other research methods do. E) Surveys allow the researcher to control the variables in a study.

A) Surveys can gather information from a diverse representation of and a large number of people.

Which of the following is the best definition for absolute threshold? A) The lowest strength of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time B) The highest strength of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time C) The smallest change between two stimuli that a person can detect D) The largest change between two stimuli that a person can detect E) The difference between two stimuli that can be detected 50% of the time

A) The lowest strength of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time

A researcher wants to study the human sense of taste over a life span. The researcher has a group of participants taste foods that are salty, bitter, sweet, sour, and umami. Which study would best allow the researcher to test the sensation of taste as people age, and what is the likely outcome? A) The researcher follows the same group of people over the course of 40 years. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds throughout the 40 years. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste diminishes and their number of taste buds decreases. B) The researcher follows the same group of people over the course of 40 years. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds throughout the 40 years. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste remains the same because as their number of taste buds decreases, each taste bud becomes more sensitive. C) The researcher tests a group of 50 ten to twenty-five year olds, 50 twenty-six to fifty year olds, and 50 fifty-one to seventy-five year olds at the same time. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds for each group. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste diminishes and their number of taste buds decreases. D) The researcher tests a group of 50 ten to twenty-five year olds, 50 twenty-six to fifty year olds, and 50 fifty-one to seventy-five year olds. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds for each group. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste remains the same because as their number of taste buds decreases, each taste bud becomes more sensitive. E) The researcher tests a group of 50 ten to twenty-five year olds, 50 twenty-six to fifty year olds, and 50 fifty-one to seventy-five year olds. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds for each group. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste remains the same because as their number of taste buds increases, each taste bud becomes less sensitive.

A) The researcher follows the same group of people over the course of 40 years. The researcher also measures the number of the people's taste buds throughout the 40 years. The researcher finds that as people grow older, their sense of taste diminishes and their number of taste buds decreases.

Audra is working on a puzzle book and comes across the following figure. The Gestalt law that would affect Audra's perception of the picture above is influenced by the law of A) closure B) similarity C) proximity D) continuity E) transference

A) closure

7, 5, 10, 4, 4 What is the median of the numbers above? A) 4 B) 5 C) 6 D) 7 E) 10

B) 5

Dr. Ramen recruited 100 adults to participate in her study. The taste buds of each participant were measured, and the participants tasted a number of foods. She found there was a relationship between the size of a participant's taste buds and the number of foods that a participant could taste. What research method did Dr. Ramen use, and what was she most likely studying? A) Correlational; sensitivity to the taste of umami B) Correlational; the sensitivity of supertasters C) Correlational; sensitivity to the taste of salt D) Experimental; sensitivity to the taste of umami E) Experimental; the sensitivity of supertasters

B) Correlational; the sensitivity of supertasters

Which of the following is the correct order of the eye-to-brain pathway of vision? A) Retina, thalamus, optic nerve, occipital lobe B) Retina, optic nerve, thalamus, occipital lobe C) Optic nerve, retina, thalamus, occipital lobe D) Occipital lobe, retina, optic nerve, thalamus E) Optic nerve, thalamus, occipital lobe, retina

B) Retina, optic nerve, thalamus, occipital lobe

Which of the following is the process of detecting environmental stimuli and converting them into signals that can be detected by the nervous system? A) Perception B) Sensation C) Top-down processing D) Difference threshold E) False alarm

B) Sensation

Dr. Wilson, who teaches engineering classes, is interested in learning about how lack of sleep affects performance. What would be the best way to ensure that her findings are generalizable to all the students at her university? A) Randomly assigning half the students in one of her classes she teaches at into a condition where they are told to sleep four hours a night and other half a condition in which they are told to sleep eight hours a night. B) Surveying every tenth student listed in the university directory about their sleep habits C) Surveying all students in the classes she teaches. D) Studying 40 students over time, from their freshman year through their senior year, to see differences as the students mature. E) Asking friends who teach at other universities to collect and share data on their students.

B) Surveying every tenth student listed in the university directory about their sleep habits

Tracey was in pain from an ear infection, which her doctor said was in her inner ear. Which of the following is the most likely location of the infection? A) The pinna B) The cochlea C) The eardrum D) The anvil E) The hammer

B) The cochlea

A researcher was interested in studying the effects of a new medication on depression. One group received the new medication and another group received a standard medication for depression. The researcher asked participants to answer a series of questions rating their mood levels before and after six weeks of taking the medications. Which of the following is the control condition in this study? A) The group receiving the new medication B) The group receiving the standard medication C) The rating of the participant's mood levels D) The series of questions E) The participants

B) The group receiving the standard medication

Which of the following examples best illustrates the concept of interposition? A) Because the tree was higher than the bush in Jane's field of vision, she perceived the tree as being farther away than the bush. B) Because Miranda stared at the burger restaurant sign as she drove by it, the restaurant behind the sign looked like it was moving backward. C) Because the chair partially obscured his view of the sofa, Brendan perceived the chair as being closer than the sofa. D) Because the train tracks had a large angle of convergence, Miko perceived them to go quite far into the distance. E) Because all of the zucchini she had seen in the past were green, Candice continued to perceive a zucchini held under a black light as green.

C) Because the chair partially obscured his view of the sofa, Brendan perceived the chair as being closer than the sofa.

Which of the following best illustrates the most predictable effect of schemas on perception? A) Roberto sees trees that are higher up in a painting as being farther away than lower trees. B) Lindsey recognizes that her shirt's color has not changed in the dim light, even though the color is less brilliant. C) Grant has more difficulty recognizing a penguin as a bird than he does a blue jay. D) Doris sees a shape as a five-pointed star, even though one of the points is blocked from her vision. E) Erick has more difficulty understanding a speech made by someone with a British accent than by someone with an American accent.

C) Grant has more difficulty recognizing a penguin as a bird than he does a blue jay.

Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the opponent-process theory of color vision? A) Manuel sees the color yellow when the EE note is played. B) Conrad can identify specific features in his environment, such as color. C) Kayla sees afterimages of opposing colors when she stares at a poster for a long time. D) Randy is able to process many aspects of a visual scene simultaneously. E) Russell is able to differentiate between dark green and light green.

C) Kayla sees afterimages of opposing colors when she stares at a poster for a long time.

According to the gate control theory of pain, which of the following contains a neurological gate that controls the transmission of pain messages to the brain? A) Nerve cells B) Skin tissues C) The spinal cord D) Nociceptors E) Muscles and organs

C) The spinal cord

Samantha experienced a traumatic brain injury and afterward began to exhibit bizarre symptoms that no one had ever documented before. The best research method to study Samantha would be A) an experiment B) a correlational study C) a case study D) a survey E) naturalistic observation

C) a case study

Kara works as a dog trainer. She reads a new book that describes some unusual training methods, and she wants to test them out on the dogs she works with. She assigns each dog to one of two groups by picking a number out of a hat. Half the dogs are assigned to one group, and half the dogs are assigned to the other group. For a month, she trains one group using her old methods and the other group using the unusual methods. At the end of the month, Kara records that the dogs that were trained with her old methods obey her 80 percent of the time and those that were trained with the unique methods obey her 90 percent of the time. Kara concludes that the unique methods work better. Kara can best improve her experimental design by A) using random assignment B) using random selection C) having someone else test the dogs D) using a computer program to pick the dogs' numbers E) trying a third training method as well

C) having someone else test the dogs

Dr. Sampson follows the structuralist school of thought. Her techniques would most likely include A) presenting a participant with an ambiguous stimuli, such as a picture of an older woman looking over the shoulder of a younger woman, and then asking the participant to make up a story about what is going on in the picture B) asking a participant to describe whatever thoughts come to mind, without censorship C) presenting a participant with an object, such as a can of soda, and having the subject report his or her perceptions or experience of the can D) encouraging a client to reevaluate distorted or unhelpful thoughts and work on coping strategies E) rewarding a student with a sticker for every day that the student does not talk in class and with an extra ten minutes of recess after the student accumulates ten stickers

C) presenting a participant with an object, such as a can of soda, and having the subject report his or her perceptions or experience of the can

Which of the following scenarios is the best example of synesthesia? A) Susie sees afterimages of opposing colors when she stares at a poster for a long time because light that stimulates one half of an organized pair of cones inhibits the other half. B) Kara sees afterimages of opposing colors when she stares at a poster for a long time because the optic nerve sends impulses to the occipital lobe. C) Manuel sees swirls of color when he hears music because his retina contains three types of color receptors. D) Anastasia sees swirls of color when she hears music because stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to the experience of another sensation. E) Rufus sees swirls of color when he hears music because only his cones are stimulated.

D) Anastasia sees swirls of color when she hears music because stimulation of one sensory pathway leads to the experience of another sensation.

Kimmie stood on the sidewalk rather than crossing the street because she saw that the approaching car was quite close to her. Which of the following concepts is best illustrated in this example? A) Gestalt B) Figure-ground relationship C) Closure D) Depth perception E) Color constancy

D) Depth perception

In a study on taste, what would researchers need to do to test participants' ability to distinguish umami from similar sensations? A) Blindfold the participants and ask them to distinguish between the smell of pork and the smell of a lemon. B) Blindfold the participants and ask them to distinguish between the smell of a rose and the smell of a honeysuckle. C) Blindfold the participants and ask them to distinguish between the taste of pork broth and the taste of beef broth. D) Place disks soaked in MSG on the participants' tongues. Then replace those disks with disks that have been soaked in water. Compare the participants' reactions. E) Place disks soaked in lemon juice on the participants' tongues. Then replace those disks with disks that have been soaked in water. Compare the participants' reactions.

D) Place disks soaked in MSG on the participants' tongues. Then replace those disks with disks that have been soaked in water. Compare the participants' reactions.

Orville is talking with his friends at a cafeteria table when suddenly he is distracted by hearing his name at a neighboring table. Orville's shift of attention most clearly illustrates which psychological concept? A) Inattentional blindness B) Gestalt psychology C) The phi phenomenon D) The cocktail party phenomenon E) Stimulus desensitization

D) The cocktail party phenomenon

Bryan perceived a duck instead of other animals when viewing an ambiguous image because he watched a documentary about ducks the previous night. Which of the following best explains why Bryan perceived a duck? A) Bottom-up processing, because he constructed the image of the duck piece by piece, starting with his sensory receptors. B) Bottom-up processing, because his perception of the duck was influenced by past experience. C) Top-down processing, because he constructed the image of the duck piece by piece, starting with his sensory receptors. D) Top-down processing, because his perception of the duck was influenced by past experience. E) Color constancy, because his perception of the duck was not affected by different illuminations.

D) Top-down processing, because his perception of the duck was influenced by past experience.

When seeking approval to conduct an experiment using participants from her college psychology course, a student researcher should A) ask her professor B) request permission from the dean of the department C) get consent from students' parents D) apply to the institutional review board at the university E) apply to the IACUC at the university

D) apply to the institutional review board at the university

The benefit of using inferential statistics is that it allows a researcher to A) describe the data B) find the measures of central tendency C) find the spread of the data D) make generalizations about a population E) visualize the raw data

D) make generalizations about a population

2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16 What is the range of the numbers above? A) 2 B) 4.98 C) 7.73 D) 8 E) 14

E) 14

Mr. Gregg wants to help his second-grade students improve their reading skills. He tests the students with 20 reading comprehension questions at the beginning of the year. Every week throughout the year he gives the students 30 minutes of reading comprehension tips. He tests the students at the end of the year with 20 reading comprehension questions that are similar in difficulty to those on the original test. He finds that the students' reading comprehension has increased and concludes that his tips worked. Which of the following describes the most significant problem with Mr. Gregg's study? A) Mr. Gregg should have had someone else test the children in case he was showing experimenter bias. B) Mr. Gregg should have tested his students every month so he could more accurately track their progress. C) It was unethical of Mr. Gregg to test the children without their parents' consent. D) Mr. Gregg should have used the same test to ensure reliability. E) Mr. Gregg failed to account for changes in the students' maturity.

E) Mr. Gregg failed to account for changes in the students' maturity.

Human tactile sense is actually a mix of which of the following distinct skin senses? A) Pressure, warmth, tickle, pain B) Warmth, cold, wet, dry C) Pressure, pain, wet, dry D) Pressure, pain, tickle, wet E) Pressure, warmth, cold, pain

E) Pressure, warmth, cold, pain

Julie is interested in developing a test to measure achievement levels of middle school students. Which of the following domains of psychology is most applicable to Julie's interest? A) Personality B) Counseling C) Biological D) Industrial-organizational E) Psychometric

E) Psychometric

Which of the following concepts refers to the diminished sensitivity to a stimulus that occurs due to constant exposure to that stimulus? A) Perceptual set B) Difference threshold C) Absolute threshold D) Transduction E) Sensory adaptation

E) Sensory adaptation

Dr. Rodriguez is interested in finding out if stress levels throughout the year have a relationship with students' grades. The research method she most likely used is A) a case study B) a cross-sectional study C) naturalistic observation D) an experiment E) a correlational study

E) a correlational study

Ms. Li, a principal, is interested in the differences in student behavior between two of the third-grade classrooms at her school. She asks the teachers, Mr. Williams, whose class meets at 9:00, and Ms. Walsh, whose class meets at 1:00, to record over a week the number of times students in their classrooms act out. Mr. Williams' class has 31 students, and Ms. Walsh's class has 32 students. "Acting out" is defined as students speaking without raising their hand or getting out of their seats without being given permission. At the end of the week, Mr. Williams reports that on average, his students acted out 73 times a day, and Ms. Walsh reports that, on average, her students acted out 27 times a day. Ms. Li decides that the students in Ms. Walsh's classroom act out more often than those in Mr. William's class. The results of this study are inconclusive because A) the sample size is too small to draw valid conclusions B) the number of students in the classrooms is unequal C) Ms. Li did not use random assignment D) Ms. Li did not use random selection E) the time of day was a confounding variable

E) the time of day was a confounding variable