Psychology Quizzes 1-4
Twins who don't share 100% of genes are
dizygotic
Which statement best describes a valid gene-environment interaction on behavior?
Identical twins adopted by different families often display behaviors typical of their adoptive families.
Which confounding variable is teased out when psychologists study the traits of identical twins?
Similar environments shared by relatives
Which statement reflects a reasonable attitude for a good student of pyschology to have toward any claim about human nature?
Skepticism is advisable until an idea is proven right.
Which of the following approaches to psychology did Edward Tithener advocate in the late 1800s?
Structuralism
A psychologist working at a university is interested in designing an experiment to explore the impact of stress on women's sleep cycles. She will use university students as subjects. In this situation, the students at her university represent a _________, which is part of the _______
Study population; theoretical population
An important principle to remember when studying psychology is that
The act of learning changes the physical structure of the brain
Cases of spurious correlations are typically explained in terms of _________ variables that are ________ two correlated variables
confounding; affecting
Endorphins have the most significant impact on
pain
A psychological test designed to measure creativity is considered a reliable tool based on whether...
the same subject would score consistently over time
Which is a measure of central tendency?
Median
All of the following statements are true of large data sets with negatively skewed distributions EXCEPT:
Mode is less than the median
What is a mainstream psychologist most likely to think about Sigmund Freud?
Freudian theory is untestable and not grounded in science.
Which perspective argues that human behavior develops in certain ways because it serves a useful purpose?
Functionalism
How is natural selection related to psychology?
Humans behave as they do in part because that behavior promotes survival
Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest correlation between two variables? a. -0.85 b. -0.10 c. +0.25 d.+0.70
-0.85
Which value represents a realistic measurement of a neuron's resting potential?
-60 mV
Which factor is most costly associated with the eventual onset of schizophrenia?
Growing up in a big city
Parents how agree with John Locke's notion of tabula rasa would most likely
Expose their children to a rich variety of sensory experiences
To which pair of siblings would "dizygotic" apply?
A brother and sister born at the same time
In cases where only one of two identical twins develops schizophrenia, all of the following facts may be responsible except: - birth weight, birth order, nurture, or nutrition
Birth Order
Which part of the brain relays information between the spinal cord and the cerebellum?
Brainstem
The hallmarks of psychology as a science are:
Careful experimentation and the application of critical thinking
Which part of the brain plays the greatest role in controlling higher mental functions?
Cerebrum
Which term refers to branchlike extensions of the neuron that receive signals from other neurons?
Dendrites
Contemporary standards of informed consent require a psychologist using human subjects in an experiments to disclose ________ before the experiment commerces
Details of any risk the subject face
Schizophrenia most often presents itself at what age?
Early adulthood, when people begin to face the world on their own.
___________ is best suited to monitoring the activation of synapses
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Which of the following factors would most severely reduce the usefulness of a placebo in a controlled experiment?
It is relatively easy for subjects to distinguish the placebo from a potentially effective treatment
What do studies of maternal nurturing behavior in rats suggest about humans?
Maternal neglect early in life may have lasting impacts on a person's ability to cope with life's challenges.
The study of the nervous system
Neuroscience
Which is true of twins who are discordant for a certain trait?
One of them has the trait and the other does not
Which situation is most consistent with the results of twin studies of schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is more likely to materialize in a twin who experiences extreme stress.
Which factor was identical for all of the Genuine quadruplets?
The genetic makeup that contributed to the onset of schizophrenia
Twin studies of the heritability of schizophrenia generally shows that
The heritability of schizophrenia is about 50%
A researcher is designing an experiment intended to study the effects of physical environment on reading comprehension. Which of the following would be best characterized as an independent variable in this experiment?
The level of lighting in settings where test subjects are asked to read.
Psychology is best defined as the study of:
The mind and behavior
The estimated heritability of 48% for neuroticism in the population supports the claim that...
The variability in neuritis is due partly to genetic variability in the population
A _________ is a set of consistent _________ that have undergoing successful testing
Theory; hypothesis
A good scientific hypothesis is:
Tied to observable phenomena
Which technology can be used most effectively to temporarily disrupt the function of specific brain regions
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
Plato's allegory of the cave indicates that
Truths about reality aren't always obvious
According to the social brain hypothesis, each of us can deal effectively with social interaction with roughly 150 people. This implies that
We are capable of maintaining social networks of up to 150 people throughout our lives.
The year 1879 might be though of as the beginning of psychology's a science because
Wilhelm Wundt developed and opened the first psychology laboratory
Neurotransmitters are packaged inside ___________ , in microscopic spheres called _________
axon terminals; vesicles
A neuron's ________ meet another neuron's dendrite at a ___________
axon; synapse
Wins two share a certain physical or chemical behavior trait are ___________ for that trait
concordant
What is cognitive psychology?
focuses on how people think, remember, store and use information.
The principle of Occam's razor compares _________ in terms of the _______
hypotheses; assumptions they make
Hyper polarizing a neuron _______ its polarity, making it _______ likely to fire
increases; less
When a researcher asks the participant to fully describe their internal experiences
introspection
When administered to subjects in an experiment, a placebo is a treatment that
is believed to be free of medical effects
Which does not represent a descriptive method of scientific inquiry?
laboratory experimentation
The hippocampus plays the most significant role in
memory
Because neurons are full of proteins that tend to be _________ charged, they tend to attract _______ charged ions
negatively; positively
In a typical controlled experiment designed to test the effects of a new drug ________ will be administered to the __________ group.
only the placebo; control
poistron emission tomography (PET) uses __________ to show how the brain works
radioactive markers
The _______ is part of the ________
sympathetic nervous system; autonomic nervous system
The process of reuptake removes neurotransmitter molecules from
synaptic clefts
Heritability tells us...
the degree to which variations in population can be attributed to genetics