Psychology Test 1

The majority of human beings have _____ chromosomes in each cell of their body.

23 pairs of

_____ describes a hypothetical account of how and why a phenomenon occurs.

A theory

Which famous psychologist created a stir when they claimed that free will is an illusion?

B. F. Skinner

John Watson's brand of psychology focused on the study of _____.

Behavior

extraordinary ability of the brain to modify its own chemistry, structure and function following changes within the body or in the external environment

Brain Plasticity

complex movements

Cerebellum

Contains: Frontal, Occipital, Parietal and Temporal Lobes

Cerebral Cortex

How does cognitive neuroscience differ from cognitive psychology?

Cognitive neuroscience attempts to link thinking to brain activity, while cognitive psychology focuses more on thinking

_____ is the scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning.

Cognitive psychology

_____ refers to the fact that each hemisphere in the brain controls the functions of the opposite side of the body.

Contralateral control

Receiving and sending information from one side of the body to the opposite side of the brain

Crossing over

"Depression is expressed differently across cultures and ethnic groups and that is therefore an important factor to consider during diagnosis and treatment!" Which school of thought would most likely agree with this statement?

Cultural Psychology

Higher mental processes, contains: Cerebral cortex, Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Limbic system

Forebrain

Controls Planning, decision making, memory, personality

Frontal Lobe

Emotions are complex in nature. Some philosophers have argued that emotions have evolved to help species adapt to their environment. This view of emotions is BEST illustrated by what approach?

Functionalism

Dr. Veet studied human perception through the use of visual illusions. It is MOST likely that Dr. Veet subscribed to which approach of psychology?

Gestalt Psychology

Jenny thinks she knows what Professor Black's study is about, so she responds in a way that she thinks will help him to support his hypothesis. How can Professor Black maximize the validity of his observations of Jenny's behavior?

He can keep Jenny and the person observing her behavior blind about the purpose of his study.

Life Support, Contains: Medulla and Pons, Reticular formation, Cerebellum

Hindbrain

Which area of psychology focuses on helping people to realize their full potential

Humanistic psychology

What is psychology?

It is the scientific study of the mind and behavior.

Controls: language and complex motor skills (sequential motor tasks)

Left Hemisphere

_____ was the first woman elected as APA president, who unfortunately faced significant sex discrimination that was common at the time.

Mary Calkins

Carlos, a graduate student in psychology, is recording the number of wrong turns that rats make in trying to navigate a maze. He observes five rats and finds that they make 2, 3, 3, 6, and 1 errors, respectively. Carlos calculates the mean, median, and mode for the number of errors. Which sequence below gives the correct mean, median, and mode for Carlos's data?

Mean = 3, Median = 3, Mode = 3

reflexes, heart rate, respiration, blood pressure

Medulla and Pons

Research has shown that, when certain groups of animals observe another engaging in a particular behavior, some of the same neurons also become active in the observer animal. This is due to the action of what type of neuron?

Mirror

Controls Vision

Occipital Lobe

In Freud's psychoanalytic theory, what is the MOST important influence on our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors?

Our unconscious

Processing sensations of touch, temperature, pain

Parietal Lobe

Auditory processing, speech, language comprehension

Temporal Lobe

_____ refers to the time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated.

Refractory period

A rat is being trained to learn its way through a complex maze. When the rat successfully makes its way through the maze, it receives water and food. What psychological principle does this example illustrate?

Reinforcement

sleep, arousal

Reticular formation

Controls: Spatial abilities (eg. recognizing rotated figures) and music perception

Right Hemisphere

Suzanne has been having difficulty falling asleep and waking up in the morning. She has also noticed that her appetite has changed and that she has become somewhat more aggressive. What neurotransmitter is MOST likely involved in Suzanne's symptoms?

Serotonin

James's grandmother was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. James wanted to do some research so that he could help his grandmother better understand this disease. Through his research, James found that Alzheimer's involves the deterioration of what neurotransmitter?

acetylcholine

What is referred to as an all-or-nothing event?

action potentials

L-Dopa is a drug given to individuals with Parkinson's disease. This drug helps with the symptoms of the disease because it is a(n) _____ for dopamine.

agonist

As part of the limbic system, the _____ attaches significance to previously neutral events that are associated with fear, punishment, or reward.

amygdala

Dr. Billings studies brain-wave patterns that occur when people are dreaming. He attaches a device to the outside of people's skulls to measure electrical activity in the brain. What type of device is he using?

an EEG

The majority of PhDs in psychology are awarded in _____ psychology.

clinical

Wilhelm Wundt's brand of psychology focused on the study of _____

consciousness

Jenny thinks she knows what Professor Black's study is about, so she responds in a way that she thinks will help him to support his hypothesis. It is likely that there are some _____ that are influencing Jenny's behavior.

demand characteristics

Which sequence is the CORRECT one for information traveling within a single neuron?

dendrites, cell body, axon

The famous case study of Phineas Gage helped us to understand the role that the _____ play(s) in controlling one's emotions and making decisions.

frontal lobes

How would you describe a correlation coefficient of r = − 1.10?

impossible

When an experiment is _____, we can draw accurate inferences about the causal relationship between an independent and dependent variable.

internally valid

Which is NOT a requirement of the ethical code governing psychological research?

monetary compensation

What concept does the statement, "Depression is defined as significant scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI)," BEST illustrate?

operational definition

The idea that all knowledge is attained through experience was referred to as _____ by the Greek philosopher Aristotle

philosophical empiricism

The brain is remarkably adaptive and the functions of areas that are damaged may be taken over by other areas of the brain. What is the term for this phenomenon?

plasticity

If we want to know how a group of 100 three-year-olds will perform on a computerized memory task and select 20 of the three-year-olds to actually do the task, then the group of 100 refers to our _____ and the group of 20 refers to our _____.

population; sample

In order for a neuron to respond to a particular neurotransmitter, it must possess a(n) _____ for that neurochemical.

receptor

Janell holds her hand close to a fire. Her _____ neurons allow her to feel the heat, while her _____ neurons allow her to move her hand away from the fire.

sensory; motor

In a study examining the effects of stress (stress group vs. no-stress group) on memory performance, _____ is the independent variable and _____ is the dependent variable.

stress vs. no stress; memory performance

You are driving down an unfamiliar road at night and an animal darts out in front of your car. You quickly slam on the brakes and avoid hitting the animal. Your ability to respond quickly to this situation was MOST likely promoted by your:

sympathetic nervous system.

Which components make up the major parts of the peripheral nervous system?

the autonomic and somatic nervous systems

What term can be used to describe the "no stress" group in a study examining the effects of stress (stress group vs. no-stress group) on memory performance?

the control group

Which major area of the brain deals with information coming in from and going out through the spinal cord?

the hindbrain

Which part of the brain will form FIRST in prenatal development?

the hindbrain

Diseases such as multiple sclerosis usually involve a deterioration of what part of a neuron?

the myelin sheath

When researchers find that increased viewing of television soap operas is associated with increased sexual behavior, they cannot conclude that the TV viewing caused the sexual activity because some other factor, such as lack of parental supervision, might be responsible for both behaviors. This problem is known as the _____ problem.

third-variable

If an observation is _____, then we can draw accurate inferences from it.

valid

A property whose value can change over individuals or over time is a:

variable.

The occipital lobe is to _____ as the parietal lobe is to _____.

vision; touch