AP Psych Midterm

Akira believes that her son has become a good student because she always praises his learning efforts. Her belief best illustrates a _ perspective.

Behavioral

The American Psychological Association and British Psychological Society have developed ethical principles urging investigators to

explain the research to the participants after the study has been completed.

Hypotheses are best described as

predictions.

Deaf people who use sign language typically

process language in their left cerebral hemisphere.

As you are reading this question, the cells in your eyes are firing in response to the light coming from this paper. Which type of neuron is carrying this message to the brain?

sensory

For you to experience the pain of a sprained ankle, _ must first relay messages from your ankle to your central nervous system.

sensory neurons

Dr. Kozak has concluded that the unusually low incidence of alcohol dependence among citizens of a small African country can be attributed to strong fundamentalist religious influences in that region. This belief best illustrates a _ perspective.

social-cultural

Dr. Wilson attributes the delinquent behaviors of many teens to the pressures associated with being members of street gangs. Her account best illustrates a _ perspective.

social-cultural

When the observed difference between the means of an experimental group and control group are not likely due to chance, researchers conclude that this difference is

statistically significant.

Sir Charles Sherrington observed that impulses took more time to travel a neural pathway than he might have anticipated. His observation provided evidence for the existence of

synaptic gaps.

Which brain structure receives information from all the senses except smell?

thalamus

The minimum level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse is called the

threshold.

In the hypothesis "Students who study a list of terms in the morning, just after waking up, will recall more terms than students who study the list just before falling asleep," what is the independent variable?

time of day

The sensory cortex is most critical for our sense of

touch.

Heritability refers to the extent to which

trait differences among individuals are attributable to genetic variations.

To estimate trait heritability, researchers are most likely to make use of

twin studies.

Fraternal twins originate from the fertilization of

two egg cells by to sperm cells.

The distinctive feature of the psychodynamic perspective is its emphasis on

unconscious conflicts.

According to the text, the SQ3R study method is effective because it

utilizes active processing of the text info.

Your friend is taking her first psychology class. She comes to you saying, "I don't understand why we are studying the brain; I thought this was a psychology class." Because of your background in psychology, your best response should be

"Everything psychological is simultaneously biological."

Which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the weakest degree of relationship between two variables?

-0.12

Mr. and Mrs. Berry have five children aged 2, 3, 7, 9, and 9. The median age of the Berry children is

7.

Which philosopher was the first to conclude that knowledge results from our memories of our experiences?

Aristotle

In a class lecture, Professor Hampton emphasized the extent to which abnormal blood chemistry can contribute to psychological disorders. The professor's lecture highlighted a _ perspective on psychological disorders.

Biological

Mr. Lopez believes that severe depression results primarily from an imbalanced diet and abnormal brain chemistry. Mr. Lopez favors a _ perspective on depression.

Biological

Who highlighted the reproductive advantages of environmentally adaptive traits?

Charles Darwin

Dr. Preston is a specialist who goes to areas that have been hit by natural disasters and works with teams there to manage the resulting crisis among the members of the public who have been affected. Dr. Preston is most likely a _ psychologist.

Community

In an experiment designed to study the effectiveness of a new drug, research participants who receive a placebo are participating in the _ condition.

Control

A theoretical perspective in psychology can be like a two-dimensional view of a three-dimensional object because each perspective is

limited in its scope.

Mr. Kay is interested in whether individual differences affect learning. Mr. Kay is most likely an _ psychologist.

Educational

Who used the method of introspection to scientifically identify basic elements of mind?

Edward Titchener

In the 1960s, humanistic psychologists considered the approach advanced by behaviorists to be excessively

limited.

Which perspective would suggest that the facial expressions associated with the emotions of lust and rage are inherited?

Evolutionary

The psychologist who would be least likely to participate in devising ways to improve teaching and learning in a classroom would be an _ psychologist.

Experimental

What is the primary limitation of the case study research method?

Individual cases can be misleading and result in false generalizations.

Which of the following psychologists most clearly rejected the value of introspection?

John B. Watson

Which philosopher is most well known for theorizing that the mind at birth is tabula rasa or a "blank state"?

John Locke

In a distribution of test scores, which measure of central tendency would likely be the most affected by a couple of extremely high scores?

Mean

Which measure of central tendency would a baseball manager be most likely to rely on in picking a pinch hitter in a tie game?

Mean

Dr. Wilcox conducts basic research on the behavioral differences between shy and outgoing people. Dr. Wilcox is most likely a _ psychologist.

Personality

Which technique involves repeating the essence of an earlier research study with different participants and in different circumstances?

Replication

Why would the median, rather than the mean, be the appropriate measure of central tendency in determining housing values in a particular community?

The median is minimally affected by extreme scores.

Charles Darwin believed that behaviors, such as the emotional expressions associated with human rage, could be explained by natural selection. Which early psychologist would be most likely to agree with Darwin's assessment?

William James

Janna has low self-esteem because she is often teased for being overweight. Appreciating the complexity of Janna's difficulties requires

a biopsychosocial approach.

The information carried in a gene is expressed as

a protein.

Identical twins originate from the fertilization of

a single egg cell by two sperm cells.

Researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to distinguish between

causes and effects.

Which neural center in the limbic system plays a central role in emotions such as aggression and fear?

amygdala

When you question whether anecdotal evidence can be generalized to all people, you are applying

critical thinking.

Margaret has difficulty speaking in front of her classmates and explains to a friend, "Everybody in my family is shy, so it must be genetic." Using the biopsychosocial approach to understanding her behavior, Margaret should

examine additional psychological and social-cultural influences on shyness.

Neurotransmitters are released from vesicles located on knoblike terminals at the end of the

axon.

Nerves are neural cables containing many

axons.

When people discuss the "nature vs. nurture" controversy, Nature refers to _ and Nurture refers to _.

biology; environment

Descartes' theory of how our brain controlled our reflexes involved which of the following?

brain fluid and "animal spirits"

In explaining human behavior , psychoanalysts are likely to focus on _, whereas humanistic psychologists concentrate on _.

childhood experiences and unconscious thought processes; current environmental influences on potential

The threadlike structures that contain genes are called

chromosomes.

Split-brain patients have had their _ surgically cut.

corpus callosum

Chromosomes are composed of

deoxyribonucleic acid.

In an experiment, researchers manipulate one factor to see its effect on a target factor. What is this target factor called?

dependent variable

A brain lesion refers to _ of brain tissue.

destruction

As a health psychologist, Dr. Rowell would be most likely involved in

determining the effectiveness of a new campaign to reduce teen smoking.

The method of introspection was used by Titchener to identify

elements of sensory experience .

Put the following terms in order, from smallest to largest.

genes, DNA, chromosomes

Twin studies suggest that a strong influence on emotional instability comes from

genetic predispositions.

Mr. Brown uses his knowledge of a person's cognitive processes to design computer programs that are easier to use. Mr. Brown is most likely a _ psychologist.

human factors

Which of the following are located exclusively within the brain and spinal cord?

inter neurons

In Wilhelm Wundt's experiments, participants were asked to press a key as soon as they were consciously aware of perceiving a sound. By asking participants to examine and report their conscious experiences, Wundt was making use of which of the following?

introspection

Which of the following innovations differentiated Wilhelm Wundt's research the most from any psychologist before him?

laboratory research

Surgical destruction of brain tissue is called a

lesion.

The neural system located at the border between the brainstem and the cerebral hemispheres is known as the

limbic system.

The biggest danger of relying case-study evidence is that it

may be unrepresentative of what is generally true.

Professional psychological associations require researchers to

minimize infection, illness, and pain in animal subjects.

An area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements is called the

motor cortex.

The biopsychosocial approach provides an understanding of social-cultural influences integrated within the larger framework of

multiple levels of analysis.

When the release of ACh is blocked, the result is

muscular paralysis.

Evolutionary psychology studies the evolution of behavior and the mind using principles of

natural selection.

The body's speedy, electrochemical information system is called the

nervous system.

Physical exercise and exposure to stimulating environments are most likely to promote

neurogenesis.

The chemical messengers released into the spatial junctions between neurons are called

neurotransmitters.

Which region of the brain it will a fMRI show as active when a person is looking at a photo?

occipital lobes

The process of replication is most likely to be facilitated by

operational definitions.

Which of the following structures in the brainstem helps coordinate movements and lies above the medulla?

pons

Natural selection acts on

populations.

Megan was certain that she would never live far away from her family. However, in order to further her career, she decided to move. Megan's experience best illustrates

overconfidence.

When provided with the unscrambled solution to anagrams, people underestimate the difficulty of solving the anagrams by themselves. This best illustrates

overconfidence.

The nineteenth-century theory that bumps on the skull reveal a person's abilities and traits is called

phrenology.

Which procedure helps to ensure that the participants in a survey are representative of a larger population?

random sampling

To assess reactions to a proposed tuition hike at her college, Ariana sent a questionnaire to every fifteenth person in the college registrar's alphabetical listing of all currently enrolled students. Ariana employed the technique of

random sampling.

Which brain structure might be most active when answering the question "What do the following words have in common: plane, butter, insect?"

right hemisphere

Wilhelm Wundt's early experiments were attempts to investigate which area of psychology?

the simplest mental processes

Epigenetics refers to

the study of how the environment triggers genetic expression.