Ap psych

Damage to which of the following brain structures may cause the inability to detect the emotional significance of facial expressions, especially those demonstrating fear?

Amygdala

Keria's doctor prescribes her a medication designed to help her with her eating disorder. The medication works on the hypothalamus to help regulate her hunger. Which of the following most accurately characterizes the role of the hypothalamus in the regulation of hunger?

It acts with hormones to control hunger and satiety.

Which of the following best describes a major role of the thalamus?

It relays most sensory signals to the cortex.

Mahir is experiencing life-threatening seizures. A neurosurgeon is planning to remove a section of his brain to stop the seizures. Mahir is most likely to have the fewest long-term problems if

he is under the age of six

A neuron receives an excitatory neurotransmitter and fires an action potential. Which of the following is the correct term for the time shortly after a neuron fires and before it fires again?

the refractory period

Which of the following is the best evidence that environment plays a role in intelligence?

Identical twins reared together are more similar than identical twins reared apart.

According to evolutionary theorists, which of the following explains the tendency to quickly organize individuals into in-group and out-group categorizations?

The need to categorize and react to unfamiliar individuals

MacKeller looks at the blooming cherry trees on a visit to Washington, DC's National Cherry Blossom Festival. Which of the following refers to the transformation of the visual image of the cherry trees into neural impulses that are perceived by the brain?

Transduction

A person will most likely develop aphasia as a result of damage to which of the following parts of the brain?

Wernicke's area

Reuptake of a neurotransmitter refers to

absorption of the neurotransmitter into the terminal buttons of the sending neuron

Activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system results in

an increase in respiratory rate

Based on its effects on the central nervous system, alcohol can be classified as which of the following concepts?

depressant

Of the following, an evolutionary psychologist will most likely investigate the

reason why many people have an innate fear of the dark

A researcher at a local university is studying the effects of low light in visual processing in the occipital lobe. The results of this correlational study involving student volunteers in a psychology laboratory might not apply to the general population because of which of the following?

the sample is not randomly chosen and therefore may not be a representative sample

Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has been estimated to occur in only a few people in a million. Because of its rarity, researchers are likely to choose which research method to study it?

Case study

Difficulty in typing smoothly on a keyboard would most likely result from damage to which of the following?

Cerebellum

Bob is concerned because his children have been eating too much of an expensive breakfast cereal, so he brings home a less expensive version that looks and tastes exactly the same to him. His children immediately notice that the new cereal is less sweet. Which of the following concepts best explains the conflicting perceptions of Bob and his children?

Difference threshold

Which of the following psychological approaches suggests that jealousy might serve an adaptive function in protecting a sexual relationship from threats?

Evolutionary

Researchers measured changes in neural firing in the frontal lobes for ten rats that were exposed to stimulants. The researchers used an MRI that indicates brain activity with colors. Normal brain activity is indicated by greens and yellows. High brain activity is indicated by reds and oranges. Low brain activity is indicated by grays and blues. All the rat's brains showed normal activity prior to being exposed to the stimulant. What type of study was being conducted by the researcher?

Experiment

Researchers measured changes in neural firing in the frontal lobes for ten rats that were exposed to stimulants. The researchers used an MRI that indicates brain activity with colors. Normal brain activity is indicated by greens and yellows. High brain activity is indicated by reds and oranges. Low brain activity is indicated by grays and blues. All the rat's brains showed normal activity prior to being exposed to the stimulant. Which of the following is a prediction that could be made about the activity of the rats' brains when exposed to the stimulant?

The MRI should show more oranges and reds when exposed to the stimulant.

A psychological study to determine the harmful effects of sleep disruption asked a company to start an overnight shift without notice. Many of the employees began to have accidents while on the job. The researchers conclude that a sudden change in circadian rhythm causes an effect on job performance. What ethical concern may be present in this study?

The employees did not provide informed consent and were not given the option to withdraw from the study.

Much of the research regarding the function of brain areas has been gathered from case studies of individuals with brain injury or disease. Which of the following identifies a reason for this?

The independent variable in an experiment would inflict brain injury, which is unethical.

Researchers conducted a correlational study during the winter season, which has shorter days and longer nights. The researcher asked about people's experiences with depression-like symptoms, including feelings of tiredness and reduction in energy output. The researcher found that there was a positive correlation between the amount of daylight and depression-like symptoms. Which of the following statements best reflects how to interpret this correlational finding?

The relationship between daylight and depressive symptoms may also be linked to a third variable.

Researchers investigated the extent to which 30 pairs of identical and fraternal female twins shared with their twin a diagnosis for the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Identical twins are genetically identical and share the same DNA pattern. Fraternal twins are only as genetically similar as any other sibling pair. Researchers found that 9 out of 16 pairs of the identical twins were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, while 1 out of 14 pairs of the fraternal twins were diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Which of the following explains why researchers could not implement an experimental design in this study?

The twins could not be randomly assigned to groups.

Neema is training to be a research assistant at a nature preserve. Part of the training involves identifying the color of migrating butterflies' wings. However, Neema has recently sustained damage to her fovea. Which of the following would predict that she will likely struggle with the training?

Trichromatic theory

Dr. Schmidt was interested in the relationship between sensation of a stimulus and the sensation of change in a stimulus. She tested this using sensation of weight. Participants were blindfolded and given two equal weights to hold one in each hand. With each trial, she added a slightly heavier weight to one hand than the other. The participant was asked to notify her if or when one felt heavier. She found that it was more difficult for the participants to determine the difference in the weights when the equal weights from the first trial were heavy. What type of research study did Dr. Schmidt conduct?

experiment

Which of the following scenarios most clearly describes the effects of a strong kinesthetic sense?

Being able to tell exact bodily position without looking at the body

After surgery, Arjun experienced changes that were noticed during special testing in a laboratory setting by a researcher. In the laboratory, psychologists flashed different images or words to his left and right visual fields. Arjun could easily speak the names of items that were flashed to his right visual field. He could not easily speak the names of items that were flashed to this left visual field. Arjun was studied by a researcher for many years, and his experiences went unchanged. The researcher published the research with Arjun where he shared Arjun's experience and his first and last name. Which of the following parts of the brain allowed Arjun to speak the names of the items flashed to his right visual field?

Brocas area

Dr. Felder is studying whether the color of a drink impacts how a person experiences the taste of the drink. She has an orange-flavored liquid that she dyes either orange, purple, or blue, and gives it to participants to drink. She then asks them to describe the taste. Which of the following would best help her evaluate the impact of vision on taste?

Create an additional control condition in which participants wear blindfolds while they taste the drink.

Which of the following statements best describes the placebo effect?

Dr. Kennedy observed that if people expected a treatment to work, it would, even if the patient received a fake treatment.

Rudy has chronic trouble staying awake in class. What part of the brain is most likely responsible for Rudy's drowsiness?

Reticular formation

Ms. Harrison asks students in her psychology class to record how many hours of sleep they get every night and what they eat for breakfast. When the class looks at the data, they find that the fewer hours of sleep they get, the more they eat for breakfast. Which of the following is a limitation of self-report research?

Self-report data is subject to the social desirability bias

During the night, Alicia stops breathing repeatedly, frequently gasps for air, and snores loudly at regular intervals. Alicia is most likely suffering from which of the following conditions?

Sleep apnea