Psychology 1000 Final Exam Practice

Identify a true statement about sociology.

It is interested in human social behavior on the group level.

_____ is the type of learning that occurs when an organism makes a connection between two events.

Associative learning

_____ is the process of focusing awareness on a narrow aspect of the environment.

Attention

Who among the following is most likely experiencing a low-arousal negative emotion?

Castalia, who is irritated that she is alone at home

Who among the following is intrinsically motivated to pursue his or her goals?

Cherly, who writes poems for self-improvement and shares it with her family and friends

Which of the following is true of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine?

It is involved in muscle action, learning, and memory.

Which of the following is true of the neurotransmitter serotonin?

It is involved in the regulation of mood and attention.

Which of the following best exemplifies a reflex?

A man salivates while watching a chef fry sausages.

What is an example of a behavior?

A woman drives to work.

Which of the following occurs when a human being experiences chronic stress?

Adrenaline and norepinephrine are constantly circulated in the body.

Identify a true statement about an individual's phenotype.

An individual's phenotype represents his or her observable and measurable characteristics.

_____ refers to the retention of information about the where, when, and what of life's happenings.

Episodic memory

Who among the following is most likely to be diagnosed with persistent depressive disorder?

Felicia, who has been experiencing a less extreme depressive mood for over two months

Harry has been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Which of the following statements is applicable to him?

He lacks empathy for others, is egocentric, and is willing to use others for his own personal gain.

_____ refers to visual memory, which is retained only for about a quarter of a second.

Iconic memory

_____ helps individuals to resist persuasion.

Inoculation

Which of the following statements is true of ethnocentrism?

It encourages people to think in terms of ingroup and outgroup.

Which of the following is true of long-term memory?

It has a storage capacity that is virtually unlimited.

Which of the following is a characteristic feature of the deepest level of processing in memory?

It involves thinking about the meaning of a stimulus.

Which of the following statements is true of introspection as a method of study?

It relies entirely on a person's conscious reflection.

The moment Jenna walks into the classroom, Ryan realizes that his heart is beating faster than usual. He wonders whether he is infatuated with her. This reaction is best explained by the

James-Lange theory.

Which of the following scenarios correctly illustrates the effect of damage to Broca's area in the brain?

Janine is unable to produce any words.

In the context of structures of personality described by Freud, who among the following is most likely acting according to the demands of the id?

John, a two-year-old, who snatches a toy from another child

Which of the following experiments demonstrated the profound effect of obedience?

Milgram's experiment

Which of the following statements is true of the kinesthetic sense in humans?

No specific organ contains the kinesthetic senses.

Identify a true statement about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

PTSD can occur in those who witness a traumatic event and also in those who only hear about it.

According to Erikson, who among the following people is expressing identity confusion?

Peter tried to learn playing the guitar and realized that he is not good at it, so he is now planning to learn playing the piano.

_____ can be considered a special case of motivated forgetting.

Repression

The _____ is an example of a projective test.

Rorschach inkblot test

_____ refers to the weight maintained when the individual makes no effort to gain or lose weight.

Set point

Margaret fell down the basement stairs and severely injured her head. The doctor said that the limbic system in her brain was badly damaged, specifically the amygdala. Keeping this information in mind, which of the following memory difficulties is Margaret most likely to experience?

She will find it difficult to process emotional memories.

Professor Jacobs believes that sleep deprivation is related to conflicts between roommates. He collects data on the number of hours of sleep and the number of conflicts for a group of college students over the course of a month. He obtains a correlation coefficient of -0.75. In the context of correlational research, which of the following is the most likely conclusion from the results of his study?

Sleeping too little is associated with more conflicts.

Experimental data state that the painkiller Tafta takes at least 30 minutes to start having an effect on pain symptoms. However, most people report that their headaches begin to fade within just 10 minutes of taking Tafta. Which of the following is the best explanation for this finding?

Subjects are experiencing placebo effects.

Which of the following statements is an example of an individual's long-term goal?

Suresh wants to be a counseling psychologist.

Which of the following is true of Ivan Pavlov's experiment on classical conditioning?

The bell was a neutral stimulus before it was paired with the meat powder.

Which of the following statements is true of the biopsychosocial model?

The biopsychosocial model states that biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors are all equally significant ingredients in producing both normal and abnormal behavior.

Which of the following statements is true of teratogens?

The effects of chemical teratogens depend on the timing of exposure.

In the context of prenatal development, which of the following is true of the germinal period.

The germinal period begins with conception.

Which of the following statements is true of REM sleep?

The longer the period of REM sleep, the more likely the person will report dreaming.

Which of the following statements is true of the adolescent brain?

The prefrontal cortex continues to mature into early adulthood.

Which of the following statements is true of tranquilizers?

They are used to calm anxious individuals.

Which of the following statements is true of psychiatrists?

They can prescribe medication.

Which of the following statements is true of mental processes?

They cannot be observed directly.

Which of the following statements is true of amphetamines?

They increase the release of dopamine.

In classical conditioning, in order for the pairing between the unconditioned stimulus (US) and the conditioned stimulus (CS) to work, the

US and the CS must be presented very close together in time.

Which of the following statements best defines conformity?

a change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard

Who is most likely to state that one has the ability to control one's lives and to achieve what one desires?

a humanistic psychologist

Chuck is a highly ambitious graduate student who does not intend to let anything get in the way of excelling in each of his classes and graduating at the top of his class. When he learns that the professor for one of his course modules is an attractive young woman, he opts for a different module. He believes that attractive women cannot be good educators. Chuck's attitude toward attractive women best illustrates

a stereotype.

Anna and Diane are psychologists. Anna follows a psychodynamic perspective, while Diane embraces a humanistic perspective. Although they disagree in a number of ways, their approaches are similar in that both

acknowledge the importance of internal mental processes.

Jones is a successful businessman. Despite his work demands, he makes time for and prioritizes his family. He almost always attends his daughter's school performances and plans regular family vacations. According to Murray's personological approach, Jones's attitude toward his family demonstrates a high need for

affiliation.

Jared has consumed excessive alcohol at a party. Therefore, he is exhibiting

an altered state of consciousness.

Amber wants to reduce her weight. She is already below the normal weight level for her age group. She goes on a strict diet to reduce her weight and refuses to eat anything for fear of gaining weight. Amber is most likely suffering from

anorexia nervosa.

Which of the following terms refer to the physiological state of being engaged with the environment?

arousal

Whenever Jane has a backache, she uses a different mattress to relieve the pain. Her backache usually goes away after the change. Today, Jane has serious pain in her knee. She believes that by using the mattress she uses for her backache, she will be able to alleviate her knee pain. In the context of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Jane is using the _____ process in developing her schemas.

assimilation

Denice wants to join a dance class. Her parents insist that she should focus on her studies rather than her dancing. She makes repeated requests, but her parents threaten to ground her if she fails to act as they say. They even verbally abuse and terrorize her to stay indoors. Denice's parents are most likely adopting an _____ parenting style.

authoritarian

According to Freud, the ego acts as a mediator because it

balances the demands of the id, superego, and the real world.

Which of the following is a criteria that is used to distinguish normal from abnormal behavior?

behavior that is deviant

Mary requests her neighbor to turn down the volume of his television so that Mary does not hear it. The volume at which Mary cannot hear the television most of the time is

below her absolute threshold.

Jake, a researcher, measures the levels of testosterone in adult males when they perform aggressive acts. He is of the opinion that hormone levels are the single-most prominent cause of male aggression. In this scenario, Jake is most likely using the _____ approach in his study.

biological

The _____ states that the function of positive emotions is to extend the scope of attention and foster the construction of resources.

broaden-and-build model

Kumar is interested in observing changes in the intelligence levels of teenagers in his neighborhood. He wants to assess their verbal and reasoning skills as they progress through their teenage years. In this case, Kumar is interested in exploring the _____ processes involved in developmental psychology.

cognitive

Kylie knows that excessive drinking can adversely affect her health. Every time she engages in binge drinking, she tells herself that all her friends who binge drink seem healthy. In this scenario, Kylie is attempting to reduce

cognitive dissonance.

According to Jung, the deepest, impersonal layer of the unconscious mind that is shared by all humans is called the

collective unconscious.

According to self-determination theory, which of the following constitutes the three basic organismic needs of human beings?

competence, autonomy, and relatedness

In cases of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), _____ frequently accompany obsessions and appear to serve the function of reducing the anxiety created by disturbing thoughts.

compulsions

When psychological researchers use the correlational method to study variables, the degree of relation between two variables is expressed as a numerical value known as

correlational coefficient.

Circadian rhythm refers to the

daily behavioral or physiological cycles.

Michael, a psychologist, is studying how biological and environmental factors contribute to a person's growth from birth to death. Michael's topic of study fits best into the area of specialization known as _____ psychology.

developmental

The sociocultural standards that determine when, where, and how emotions should be expressed are called

display rules.

Tanya, a 14-year-old, thinks that she is unique and assumes that others at school notice everything about her. She is very confident and takes extra care of her looks. In this scenario, Tanya is exhibiting adolescent

egocentrism.

In the context of social behavior, _____ is a person's feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another.

empathy

Using the _____ means gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning.

empirical method

Albert is listening intently to his principal's lecture on the advancement of scientific research. In this scenario, Albert is most likely

encoding information into his memory.

Professor McDonald believes that most women prefer tall and physically strong partners because this preference has been known to enhance the survival of their species. This opinion best illustrates the _____ approach to psychology.

evolutionary

Chris is a bass guitarist in a popular band and enjoys performing on stage. He has a lot of friends and loves to socialize when he is not performing. His home is where all the parties take place, and he loves being the center of attention. According to the five-factor model of personality, Chris's specific traits are most reflective of

extraversion.

Operant conditioning is a form of learning that

focuses on the association between behaviors and the stimuli that follow them.

Raj is 12 years old. He recently developed a theory on his own about the irregular weather patterns in New York. He uses statistical analysis and certain scientific principles to predict the course of weather in New York. In the context of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Raj is most likely in the _____ stage of development.

formal operational

William James, a prominent American psychologist and philosopher, focused on human interactions with the outside world and the purpose of thoughts. His view is known as

functionalism.

Joseph, a three-year-old boy, is afraid of the doctor who gave him a shot and made him cry. Consequently, whenever Joseph sees a person in a white laboratory coat, he starts crying. In this scenario, Joseph's behavior best exemplifies

generalization in classical conditioning.

Karen has been suffering from a disorder that is characterized by exaggerated and irrational worry that tends to interfere with her daily functioning. She can't sleep properly and often complains of stomach aches. In spite of being constantly nervous and restless, Karen, however, cannot seem to find the specific cause of her worry. These symptoms have lasted for almost six months now. Which of the following disorders is Karen most likely to be diagnosed with?

generalized anxiety disorder

According to Carl Rogers, which of the following is an essential ingredient of healthy human relations?

genuineness

A researcher predicted that talking to plants enhances their growth. She gave 24 plants the same amount of water and sunlight. She talked to 12 of the 24 plants daily for 6 weeks and then measured their growth. In this experiment, which of the following is the dependent variable?

growth of the plants

In the auditory system, which of the following is the ear's sensory receptor?

hair cells

Negative reinforcement in operant conditioning

has nothing to do with "good" and "bad" behavior.

Joseph does exceptionally well in his math exam. Which of the following represents an internal attribution as an explanation for Joseph's good performance?

his hard work

In the context of disorders related to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), individuals who find it difficult to throw things away and are troubled by the feeling that they might need those things at a later time are most likely to be diagnosed with

hoarding disorder

Veronica dives into a swimming pool on a chilly winter day. Initially, she feels very cold and begins to shiver. However, after a while, Veronica stops shivering as her body begins to use energy to maintain its normal temperature. This phenomenon can be best explained as

homeostasis.

Which of the following health complications is related to binge eating disorder (BED)?

hypertension

Ciara believes that working women are happier than women who do not work. She predicts that women who work for at least 10 years are more likely to have good mental health after the age of 50 years than women who do not. She decides to test this prediction. In the context of psychology's scientific method, Ciara's prediction is the _____ for the study she is going to conduct.

hypothesis

According to Freud's psychosexual stages of development, the latency period occurs

immediately after the phallic stage.

Before agreeing to participate in a psychological research study, all participants must know what their participation will involve and what risks might develop. According to the American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines, which of the following addresses this issue?

informed consent

Loggerhead turtles lay their eggs underground, in sandy beaches. As soon as the eggs hatch, the infant turtles crawl out of their nests and move toward the sea. Which of following best describes this pattern of behavior?

instinct

Which of the following is most closely related to blood sugar control?

insulin

The cognitive theory of dreaming proposes that dreaming

involves information processing and memory.

Vincent observes the eating behavior of five-year-olds in a school. He then analyzes the eating behavior of the same group of children when they are at 12 years of age. He continues to analyze the changes in their eating behavior when they are in their early 20s. Which of the following types of research design is Vincent using in his research?

longitudinal

One way to tell that an explanation is pseudoscientific rather than scientific is to

look at how readily proponents of the explanation will accept evidence to the contrary.

Chunking improves short-term memory by

making large amounts of information more manageable.

In the context of sensation, which of the following receptors is most activated when a person is tickled?

mechanoreceptors

Marilyn is suffering from bipolar disorder. Dr. Henderson tells Marilyn that her condition is typically characterized by a chemical imbalance in the brain. It can be inferred that Dr. Henderson's view on the factors affecting Marilyn's psychological disorder supports the _____ model of psychological disorders.

medical

Nolan and Bella were standing in the middle of the kitchen discussing vacation plans when Nolan suddenly crashed to the floor in a deep REM sleep. Nolan's behavior indicates that he is suffering from

narcolepsy.

The body's electrochemical communication circuitry is known as the _____ system.

nervous

Jude is constantly worried. He avoids meeting new people and avoids new situations. He gets anxious if his routine is disturbed and indulges in self-pity. According to the five-factor model of personality, Jude is most likely to rate high on

neuroticism.

Keith, a 12-year-old, listens to his mother curse every time she is frustrated. Keith starts using the same curse words in school. Which of the following aspects of Bandura's social cognitive theory is best exemplified in this scenario?

observational learning

Alfred is a middle-aged man. Even though his eyes can physically see a car driving up to him, his brain is unable to interpret the information and move away in time. In this scenario, the area of Alfred's brain that is most likely damaged is the

occipital lobe.

In a recent softball game, Cindy misplayed a ground ball, which was scored as an error, causing her team to lose the game. According to the self-serving bias, Cindy is likely to reason that she misplayed because

of a bad bounce.

Dr. Gordon conducts an experiment on one of her clients, Johnny, who displays symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She postulates that Johnny's hyperactivity will be measured by the number of times he moves about while in the middle of a conversation. In this scenario, Dr. Gordon's postulation is the

operational definition.

Lola often experiences abrupt, brief episodes of overwhelming fear. She does not know what triggers them, but she has these attacks in the grocery store, in busy restaurants, and even while driving. During these attacks, Lola's heart pounds and she has difficulty breathing. She fears that she may go crazy or have a heart attack. In the context of psychological disorders, it can be inferred that Lola may have

panic disorder.

In the context of the chemical senses, taste buds are bunched together in the

papillae.

When shopping for their brother, Jack and James are presented with a red shirt by the sales person. While Jack likes the shirt, James dislikes the shirt. In this scenario, even though the color of the shirt is the same, Jack and James disagree because of differences in their _____ of the shirt.

perception

Molly's natural hair color is brown but she dyes it blonde. In the context of genes and the environment, Molly has changed her

phenotype.

Brendon has been using Xanax for a period of over six months. Alex, his friend, asks him to stop using the drug as it adversely affects the body. Brendon listens to Alex and discontinues taking the drug. However, upon withdrawal, he experiences immense physical pain accompanied by increased craving for the drug. This is most likely due to

physical dependence.

In the context of the endocrine system, the _____ gland regulates all the other glands.

pituitary

The nativist approach proposes that children as young as 3 months old

possess expectancies about objects and events in the world that are less dependent on experiences.

Every time someone in the class completes an assignment on time, the teacher rewards the student with chocolates. Rudolph believes that if he does not complete his assignment, he will not be rewarded. Regardless of whether his assignment is right or wrong, Rudolph wants to complete his assignment on time. Rudolph is most likely at the _____ stage of moral development.

preconventional

Dan arranges two rows of pennies so they are equal in length. A child views the rows and states that they have the same amount of pennies. He spreads out the pennies in the bottom row so that it is longer than the top one. The child now states that the bottom row has more pennies. This child is in Piaget's _____ stage of development.

preoperational

Ingrid works in the information technology department of a big company. Whenever the company hires someone new, she has to set up a new computer for them. In this scenario, Ingrid will easily be able to set up a computer because the information on how to set up the computer is stored in her

procedural memory.

Dissociative disorders are

psychological disorders that involve a sudden loss of memory or change in identity due to the separation of an individual's conscious awareness from previous memories.

Dendrites differ from axons in that dendrites

receive information, whereas axons send information.

Gary was in a rush to get to his school. While on the way to school, he remembered that he had left his homework at home. In this scenario, Gary recalled that he had left his homework at home using his

retrospective memory.

In the visual system, _____ are the receptors in the retina of the eye that are sensitive to light but are not very useful for color vision.

rods

The _____ of close relationships asserts that the partners in a relationship keep a mental balance sheet, tallying the pluses and minuses associated with each other.

social exchange theory

When psychologists conduct a study, the group of participants chosen for the study is referred to as the

sample.

Emilia is a 6-year-old who uses her grandmother as a base to explore her environment. Whenever her grandmother leaves her to do her daily chores, she shows visible signs of distress. When her grandmother returns, Emilia expresses her joy and feels happy to see her again. This is an example of _____ attachment.

secure

Manuela is 70 years old. She wants to jog 5 miles every day but knows that her body cannot cope with the stress of a long-distance run. She wants to stay fit but knows that her bones are nimble. She instead contents herself by walking slowly on a treadmill every day. She also does yoga to keep herself healthy. Manuela's changes in goal are best explained by the process of

selective optimization with compensation.

According to Abraham Maslow, _____ is the motivation to develop to one's full potential as a human being.

self-actualization

Sally is very intelligent and has a great personality. However, she has always seen herself as unattractive and, as a result, is often depressed. Sally's depression is most likely facilitated by feelings of

self-objectification.

Hallucinations are

sensory experiences that occur in the absence of real stimuli

In the context of bipolar disorder, a person experiencing a manic episode may

sleep very little, feel energetic, and feel euphoric.

Controlled processes differ from automatic processes in that controlled processes are

slower than automatic processes.

The tendency of each person in a group to exert less effort in the group because of reduced accountability is known as

social loafing.

Marcia and John were married for eleven years before John passed away. Following his death, Marcia left her home and city because everything reminded her of John. Many years later, Marcia happened to meet a man, her new colleague, who smelled of the cologne that John always wore. Even after so many years, Marcia was drawn to this man because he reminded her of John. In this scenario, Marcia's reawakened feelings are an example of _____ in classical conditioning.

spontaneous recovery

While attending a lecture, Lea starts yawning and fights hard to stay awake. She reclines in her chair and within minutes she falls asleep with her head jerking upward at short intervals. Lea is in

stage N1 sleep.

One way to improve effectiveness of random assignment is to

start with a relatively large pool of people.

Mila, a school principal, wants to know her students' opinions about the food served in the school's cafeteria. To obtain her students' opinions, she devises a set of questions that she asks all her students to answer. In this case, Mila is using a _____ to obtain the opinions of her students.

survey

Catherine is confronted by a man with a gun as she walks home from work one night. In this scenario, Catherine's _____ will prepare her body to run from the situation by increasing blood flow to her extremities.

sympathetic nervous system

Julie hears the news about a bus accident on television. She believes her son was on the same bus and is overcome by anxiety which is primarily caused by her _____ nervous system. When her son phones and informs her that he was not on the bus, Julie is relieved and begins to relax. This response is primarily caused by her _____ nervous system.

sympathetic; parasympathetic

Hannah works as a flight attendant. Her job requires her to work night shift at a local grocery store every other day. She has trouble sleeping, which is most likely due to

the fact that her circadian rhythms do not follow a fixed 24-hour cycle.

Encoding failure occurs when

the information never entered long-term memory.

In the context of the organization of the brain, one of the important functions of the hypothalamus is

the maintenance of body temperature.

Manny has been unable to sleep for the past one week. His wife gives him a vitamin pill and tells him that it will help him sleep at night. The next morning, Manny is thrilled because he has slept better than ever before. In this scenario, Manny's response to the vitamin can be attributed to

the placebo effect.

In the context of memory retrieval, which of the following refers to better recall for items at the beginning of a list?

the primacy effect

Psychology is formally defined as

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

For Sigmund Freud, which of the following was the most important motivator in human life?

the sexual drive

Unlike personality psychologists, social psychologists typically focus on

the situational factors that lead to behavior.

Derek is diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Derek's counselor, Mary, believes that Derek's poor relationship with his alcoholic stepfather is a factor that contributed to Derek's psychological disorder. Which of the following theoretical approaches to psychological disorders conforms to Mary's beliefs in this scenario?

the sociocultural approach

Face validity of a personality assessment technique refers to whether or not

the test items appear to fit the particular trait it is measuring.

Three-year-old Missy and her four-year-old brother Bob are watching a movie. In the movie, a "monster" sneaks into the closet while a little boy is sleeping. While Missy says nothing, Bob begins to shout at the screen telling the little boy not to open the closet door. Their different reactions reflect

the theory of mind.

In the auditory system, _____ is the tone saturation, or the perceptual quality, of a sound.

timbre

The _____ theory of color vision states that color perception is produced by three types of cone receptors in the retina that are particularly sensitive to different, but overlapping, ranges of wavelengths.

trichromatic

Hitch-hikers are unable to predict when they will get a ride and when they will not. They are most likely functioning on a _____ schedule of reinforcement in operant conditioning.

variable-ratio

The cognitive approach to psychology differs from the behavioral approach to psychology in that the cognitive approach

views the mind as an active and aware problem-solving system, whereas the behavioral approach portrays behavior as governed by external forces.