Psych 1000 - unit 1

Amanda is fascinated by an eccentric neighbor, who is well-known for having taken in numerous stray animals. Amanda is also interested in studying how to get more people to adopt pets from the animal shelter. Which is the BEST approach for studying this type of altruistic behavior? a. Conduct an experiment, using the neighbor as the sole participant, in which he is the subject of PET and MRI scans to determine if there is a biological component to his altruism. b. Conduct a case study by interviewing the neighbor over the course of a year, but remember that anything learned about his altruistic behaviors might not be relevant to the rest of the population. c. Conduct an experiment on altruism using the neighbor as a subject. d. Conduct a correlational study, using the neighbor as the sole participant; administer several questionnaires on altruistic behavior.

b. Conduct a case study by interviewing the neighbor over the course of a year, but remember that anything learned about his altruistic behaviors might not be relevant to the rest of the population.

Your sister's fiance has an identical twin brother who has been divorced three times. What research information would be most applicable to her situation? a. Research has shown that divorce risks are about 50 percent attributable to genetic factors. b. There is no difference between identical and fraternal twins in terms of divorce. c. Research suggests that identical twins have shorter attention spans than do fraternal twins. d. There is no evidence that divorce has anything to do with genetic factors.

a. Research has shown that divorce risks are about 50 percent attributable to genetic factors.

If speed were of the essence, which of the following information processing systems would you choose to make simple decisions for you? a. a computer b. a chimpanzee brain c. a human brain d. a Skinner box

a. a computer

Participants in a new depression study will be assigned according to a randomization schedule that is unknown to the participants and the study site. The site will give participants drug kits in order of their trial participation start date. The first participant will receive the first kit, the second participant receives the second, and so on. The kits are numbered with 001, 002, etc., and these numbers correspond to an active drug or placebo on the randomization schedule. This random _____ ensures that each participant has an equal chance of getting study medication and that the study site is not biased. a. assignment b. condition c. order d. effect

a. assignment

A study of an individual may mislead researchers if the individual is _____. This is a limitation of the case study method of descriptive research. a. atypical b. typical c. brain damaged d. a child

a. atypical

The _____ is to sensory input as an old-fashioned switchboard was to telephone calls.

thalamus

In 1961, _____ were able to reduce seizure activity in epileptic patients by severing the corpus callosum.

vogel and bogen

An axon transmits messages _____ the cell body and a dendrite transmits messages _____ the cell body. a. away from; toward b. toward; away from c. toward; toward d. away from; away from

a. away from; toward

Marcus has been diagnosed with dissociative personality disorder (formally called multiple personality disorder). Dr. Romero is treating Marcus and decides to research Marcus's history, interview his friends, family, and examine his social, medical, and academic past. His hope is to eventually publish a paper on Marcus's situation and make a presentation to colleagues in the American Psychological Association. Dr. Romero hopes his research will shed light on the cause of this disorder. Which of the following research methods is Dr. Romero utilizing? a. case study b. experiment c. replication d. survey

a. case study

In addition to controlling other endocrine glands, the pituitary also has primary responsibility for regulating: a. growth. b. the level of calcium in the blood. c. the level of sugar in the blood. d. the "fight or flight" response.

a. growth

If a two-year-old boy's pituitary gland is not functioning correctly, what might be the consequences? A. His physical growth might be affected. B. His serotonin levels might drop. C. His neural networks might slow down. D. Neural transmission in his brain might slow down considerably.

a. his physical growth might be affected

Your boss tells you some news that disturbs you, but a phone call from your spouse distracts you. After you get off the phone, you have a lingering feeling that something is not quite right, but you cannot pinpoint what it is. It is likely you are reacting to the continued effect of: a. hormones. b. serotonin. c. neurotransmitters. d. action potentials.

a. hormones

Mayanna predicts that she will be able to correctly guess heads or tails at least 95 times out of 100 coin flips. Because this is a testable prediction, it is a(n): a. hypothesis. b. case study. c. survey. d. experiment.

a. hypothesis

Jane took a hard fall backwards and banged her head while walking in the dark next to her house. She would be most likely to have problems associated with bodily functions controlled by the _____ lobe of the cerebral cortex. a. occipital b. parietal c. temporal d. frontal

a. occipital

Psychological studies conducted in laboratory settings: a. reveal general principles that help explain many behaviors. b. attempt to re-create the behaviors of everyday life. c. are subject to inaccuracy compared to naturalistic studies. d. cannot generalize to what happens in everyday life.

a. reveal general principles that help explain many behaviors

Which is most strongly influenced by genetics? a. temperament b. parenting style c. religion d. culture

a. temperament

A pharmaceutical company has developed a new medication to treat depression. The company's studies indicate that the medication significantly reduces symptoms of depression in 90 percent of people diagnosed with depression. However, numerous well-constructed replications of these studies fail to obtain the same results; rather, the replication studies indicate that the new medication is no more effective than a placebo in reducing the symptoms of depression. Which statement is likely to reflect the thinking of psychiatrists who have read and understood all the studies and who believe in the scientific method? a. The company's studies and the replication studies cannot be compared because they use different operational definitions of depression. b. The company's studies should be rejected because their findings could not be replicated. c. If the new medication becomes available, I will prescribe it for my depressed patients because it might work for them. d. I would want to conduct a replication study myself, before deciding whether the new medication is likely to be effective.

a. the company's studies and the replication studies cannot be compared because they use different operational definitions of depression

A positron emission tomography (PET) scan depicts brain activity by: detecting electrical impulses. detecting where radioactive forms of glucose are located during a given task. detecting levels of serotonin in neural pathways. detecting levels of norepinephrine in neural pathways during a given task.

b

Milton has been having considerable trouble with his short-term memory. His family has noticed a number of mistakes Milton has been making, such as leaving doors unlocked, getting lost in the neighborhood, and forgetting family member's names. It appears that the _____-producing neurons are deteriorating. a. MSG b. ACh c. serotonin d. GABA

b. ACh

Titchener is to _____ as Freud is to psychoanalysis.

structuralism

A researcher who focuses on links between the brain and the mind is a _____ psychologist.

Biological

The importance of inherited behavioral traits was most clearly highlighted by:

Charles Darwin

To monitor the electrical activity in the brain that is triggered by hearing one's own name, researchers would make use of a(n) _____.

EEG

Which of the following is one area that generally does not do basic research?

Psychiatrists

Depressed mood states are linked to low levels of serotonin and _____ levels of norepinephrine.

low

A pharmaceutical company has developed a new medication to treat depression. The company's studies indicate that the medication significantly reduces symptoms of depression in 90 percent of people diagnosed with depression. However, numerous well-constructed replications of these studies fail to obtain the same results; rather, the replication studies indicate that the new medication is no more effective than a placebo in reducing the symptoms of depression. Which statement is likely to reflect the thinking of psychiatrists who have read and understood all the studies and who believe in the scientific method?

The company's studies should be rejected because their findings could not be replicated.

Researchers today can use technology such as fMRI scans to measure brain activity. Some researchers use the introspection technique with their subjects while obtaining the scans, which is similar to the methodology used by the early psychologist _____.

Titchener

Which of the following is NOT an example of basic research? Studying the relationship between emotions and specific areas of the brain. Research into how we explain the behavior of others. Experiments designed to measure how we perceive visual stimuli and store the information into memory. Use of the principles of classical conditioning to create effective behavioral therapy techniques for the treatment of phobias.

Use of the principles of classical conditioning to create effective behavioral therapy techniques for the treatment of phobias.

Which of the following statements is an important advantage of surveys? a. Surveys can be developed by people with no scientific training. b. Researchers are able to gather information about a very large group of people based on a representative sample of that group. c. The independent variable is more easily manipulated than in formal experiments. d. If there are more than 3000 participants, the results are likely to be valid no matter how the participants were chosen.

b. Researchers are able to gather information about a very large group of people based on a representative sample of that group.

In his research on the limbic system, Dr. Harrington electrically stimulates the _____ of cats and then measures their rage and fear reactions. a. thalamus b. amygdala c. reticular formation d. medulla

b. amygdala

The earliest technique for examining the living human brain involved the study of: a. glucose production. b. head injuries. c. electrical activity. d. soft tissue.

b. head injuries

To assess whether sense of humor is affected by sexual stimulation, researchers exposed married couples to either sexually stimulating or to sexually nonstimulating movie scenes prior to watching a comedy skit. In this research, the independent variable consisted of: a. reactions to the comedy skit. b. level of sexual stimulation. c. marital status. d. sense of humor.

b. level of sexual stimulation

Depressed mood states are linked to _____ levels of serotonin and _____ levels of norepinephrine. a. high; high b. low; high c. low; low d. high; low

b. low low

If a researcher electrically stimulates the _____ in an animal, the animal will immediately wake up and be alert. a. amygdala b. reticular formation c. hypothalamus d. hippocampus

b. reticular formation

Your wife wakes you from your peaceful slumber to tell you she heard a noise. As you slowly get up to investigate, your heart begins to race, your mouth is dry, and you begin to sweat. Clearly your _____ has been activated. a. adrenal system b. sympathetic nervous system c. parasympathetic nervous system d. central nervous system

b. sympathetic nervous system

In 1870, Gustav Fritsch and Eduard Hitzig discovered that applying a mild electrical current to a dog's cortex caused which of the following behavioral responses? a. The dog began salivating. b. The dog began moving. c. The dog fell into a deep coma. d. The dog flew into a rage.

b. the dog began moving

_____ is pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

basic research

Using the principles of natural selection, evolutionary psychology studies how _____ and the mind have evolved.

behavior

Dr. Sands studies how the relative influence of heredity and environment influence the age at which people learn to read. Her research belongs to the field of _____.

behavior genetics

You are visiting the research lab of Professor Sanchez who has been studying the effects of different levels of oxytocin on attachment behaviors in male and female rhesus monkeys. You assume that Professor Sanchez is most likely a _____ psychologist.

biological

Dr. Hauser is a neurosurgeon working with patients who have major epileptic seizures. What part of the brain might Dr. Hauser sever to help reduce his patients' seizures? a. reticular formation b. medulla c. corpus callosum d. angular gyrus

c. corpus callosum

After seeing case information and an autopsy report, physicians may claim that they could have used the case information alone to predict the accurate cause of death. This illustrates an error in thinking known as: a. overconfidence. b. critical thinking. c. hindsight bias. d. intuition.

c. hindsight bias

Marlee has just been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). As the disease progresses, communication to some of her muscles may slow down and she could lose some muscle control as a result of the degeneration of the: a. axonal sheath. b. neuronal sheath. c. myelin sheath. d. dendritic sheath.

c. myelin sheath

If ACh transmission is blocked, we are: a. aroused. b. depressed. c. paralyzed. d. confused.

c. paralyzed

After being startled awake in the middle of the night, it turns out that the noise a woman heard was the closet rod breaking from the weight of her winter coats. Knowing that, she begins to calm down and her heart stops racing. Clearly her _____ has now been activated. a. sympathetic nervous system b. adrenal system c. parasympathetic nervous system d. central nervous system

c. parasympathetic nervous system

Ethical principles developed by psychologists urge investigators to: a. avoid the use of animals in experimental research. b. minimize the use of the double-blind procedure with human research participants. c. treat information about individual research participants confidentially. d. avoid the use of financial incentives in any kind of research

c. treat information about individual research participants confidentially

Which of the following best illustrates the relationship between genes and experience? a. two opponents in a boxing match b. a referee and a player c. two people dancing together d. a teacher and a student

c. two people dancing together

Diego has been diagnosed with dissociative personality disorder (formally called multiple personality disorder). Dr. Sanchez is treating Diego and decides to research Diego's history, interview his friends, family, and examine his social, medical, and academic past. His hope is to eventually publish a paper on Diego's situation and make a presentation to colleagues in the American Psychological Association. Dr. Sanchez hopes his research will shed light on the cause of this disorder. Dr. Sanchez is using the _____ method.

case study

Noel suffers from depression. He most likely has _____ levels of serotonin and low levels of norepinephrine.

low

You are a clinical psychologist and you have a 14-year-old female client who you believe has bulimia nervosa (binging and purging food), but your client will not admit the problem and you have very little evidence to support your assumptions. You decide you need to collect information from family, friends, and teachers. You hope to interview these people about your client and to ask them to report any behavior that may reflect your diagnosis. You also want to record her eating habits and weight over the next two weeks. You hope the information you collect will help you become better with this type of diagnosis with future patients. This intensive investigation of your client is called a _____.

case study

One thinking error that is made by many people is to assume that a strong correlation proves _____. However, this is not true, regardless of how strong a relationship there is between two variables.

causation

During the local evening news program, viewers were asked to send text messages indicating whether they supported or opposed an increase in property taxes. Later in the broadcast, the results were posted: 48 percent of the messages opposed an increase. The news anchor then said, "Forty-eight percent of our viewers think a property tax increase is a bad idea." Quinn accepted this conclusion and did not wonder whether it was justified by the evidence. For example, he failed to think about the fact that 2000 text messages had been received, but the program probably had tens of thousands of viewers. Quinn was NOT demonstrating _____ thinking.

critical/smart

Which scenario illustrates hindsight bias? a. You meet someone and feel an instant attraction. Later, you tell a friend that this is the person you will marry. b. You predict you will watch 80 percent of the political debates on television, but you actually watch 40 percent. c. You believe that, on average, people with disabilities will report lower levels of personal happiness than people without disabilities, but after reading psychological studies of this question you understand that the two groups report about equal levels of happiness. d. Your high school's homecoming queen married the captain of the football team right after graduation, and you have just found out that they are splitting up. Thinking back to your high school days, you have the feeling that you would have predicted this, but you fail to remember that you actually said to your best friend at the time that you could not imagine the couple ever parting.

d. Your high school's homecoming queen married the captain of the football team right after graduation, and you have just found out that they are splitting up. Thinking back to your high school days, you have the feeling that you would have predicted this, but you fail to remember that you actually said to your best friend at the time that you could not imagine the couple ever parting.

Which method offers the most reliable way of assessing whether caffeine consumption causes increased athletic performance? a. a survey b. naturalistic observation c. a case study d. an experiment

d. an experiment

When two people grow up in very similar environments, _____ becomes more important when looking for the source of their differences. a. IQ b. adoption c. temperament d. heredity

d. heredity

Neurotransmitter is to _____ as neural receptor site is to _____. a. doorway; hall b. dog; cat c. telephone; telegraph d. key; lock

d. key; lock

Hemispheric specialization is known as: a. plasticity. b. neurogenesis. c. constraint induced therapy. d. lateralization.

d. lateralization

Ants that become less sensitive to the repellants that are sprayed on them and are able to multiply are an example of: a. heritability. b. collectivism. c. mutations. d. natural selection.

d. natural selection

Sandra's instructor has asked her to create a study to examine the behavior of coyotes in a nearby preserve. If she is only interested in observing and recording behavior, and does not care about exploring cause and effect, which method should she choose? a. the experimental method b. the correlational method c. the survey method d. naturalistic observation

d. naturalistic observation

At the beginning of the school year, groups of college students were asked to predict a variety of their own behaviors such as how often they would call their parents and whether they would vote in an election, and to say how accurate they thought their predictions would turn out to be. Their actual behaviors showed that their predictions were not as accurate as they had thought. This illustrates a phenomenon known as: a. the "I-knew-it-all-along" phenomenon. b. scientific inquiry. c. hindsight bias. d. overconfidence.

d. overconfidence

Jamie, a smart but lazy student in Dr. Biek's introductory psychology course, was sure she would get an A on the midterm, because Dr. Biek was known for asking questions that required only common sense to answer, not knowledge of specific facts. She was right about the questions, but they were trickier than she expected, and she only earned a C. This scenario illustrates the error in thinking known as: a.humility. b. hindsight bias. c. critical thinking. d. overconfidence.

d. overconfidence

A person who is having difficulty feeling touches and sensations most likely has a problem with his or her _____ lobes. a. occipital b. frontal c. temporal d. parietal

d. parietal

Identical twins who have separate placentas are somewhat less similar than identical twins who share a placenta. This best illustrates the influence of _____ on development. a. gender schemas b. natural selection c. genetic predispositions d. prenatal environments

d. prenatal enviornments

Which of the following BEST describes the complex relationship between nature and nurture in the influence of human behavior? a. synchronized swimming b. positive and negative c. night and day d. two hands clapping

d. two hands clapping

Although a man has no genital sensations, he is capable of an erection if his genitals are stimulated. The man's experience is most indicative of a damaged _____.

spinal cord

Sasha participated in a psychology research project that involved solving a number of difficult logic tasks. During the experiment, she was informed that her solutions were incorrect. After the experiment was completed, a research assistant explained the purpose of the experiment. He told Sasha that she had actually solved the logic tasks correctly, and then explained why the experiment required that she be told that her answers were wrong. This stage of the research represents the _____.

debriefing

Professor Bernstein conducts basic research on the progressive changes in infants' perceptual skills during the first year of life. Professor Bernstein is most likely a _____ psychologist.

developmental

Researchers today can use technology such as fMRI scans to measure brain activity. Some researchers ask their subjects to describe elements of their experiences (e.g., sensations, images, feelings) while undergoing the scans. This _____ technique is similar to the methodology of _____.

introspection; Titchener

Psychological studies conducted in _____ settings reveal general principles that help explain human behaviors in everyday life.

labratory

Patrice is left-handed. This means that she processes speech primarily in her _____ hemisphere.

left

The production and transmission of hormones in the _____ system is similar to typing a text message that your friend then shows to a third party who reacts to it.

endocrine

When comparing the endocrine system and the nervous system in terms of speed, it is clear that the _____ system is the tortoise and the nervous system is the hare.

endocrine

Understanding why a fear of darkness may have contributed to the survival of our human ancestors is most relevant to the _____ perspective

evolutionary

Your brother has an independent study proposal due next week, and he has asked you for help deciding on a topic. He is interested in studying what makes humans so similar to each other. The field of psychology you should suggest for him to study is _____ psychology.

evolutionary

Your professor suggests that the increasing problem of obesity in the United States might be attributable to our inherited predisposition to love the taste of sweets and fats. Although these foods were difficult for our ancestors to find, they helped them to survive famines. Now, these foods are easily available and Americans are eating too much of them. Your professor is most likely a(n) _____ psychologist.

evolutionary

In an experiment, participants are often assigned to one of two groups. The _____ condition refers to the group that receives the treatment.

experimental

Jeanette has lost her ability to speak after she was in a serious car accident eight months ago. She has suffered an injury to the _____ lobes of the cerebral cortex.

frontal

After being struck by a car, Nancy was in a coma. Her doctors predicted that she would never wake up, but 33 days after the accident, Nancy awakened and was on the road to recovery. Nancy's Uncle Arthur claimed, "I knew all along that she would make it." This illustrates an error in thinking called _____.

hindsight bias

Many people all over the world react similarly when they are reunited with loved ones. For example, if you watch people greeting each other at family reunions, they tend to have the same joyful expressions on their faces, no matter what country they come from. An evolutionary psychologist would attribute this similarity to our shared _____.

human genome

Watson is to behaviorism as Rogers is to _____ psychology.

humanistic

Renee believes she has extrasensory perception (ESP). She predicts that she will be able to correctly guess heads or tails at least 75 times out of 100 coin flips. This prediction is a(n) _____.

hypothesis

Edward Titchener used the research method known as _____.

introspection

Structuralists introduced a research method called _____ to identify basic elements of the human mind.

introspection

John was injured in a car accident and lost consciousness for 10 minutes. He sustained numerous lacerations, a right femoral contusion, and most importantly had a large open wound on his head. When he arrived at the emergency room, the attending physician immediately ordered a(n) _____ to rule out any soft tissue damage to the brain.

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

The peripheral nervous system consists of sensory and _____ neurons.

motor

Shelton was born with one kidney. This variation in an inherited trait is caused by a(n) _____.

mutation

Ants that become less sensitive to the repellants that are sprayed on them and are able to multiply are an example of _____.

natural selection

Delaney sat in her local fast food restaurant and recorded what people ordered. She used the _____ descriptive method.

naturalistic observation

Is sexual orientation biologically determined or culturally influenced? This question is most relevant to the issue of ____.

nature versus nurture

A neuropsychologist is interested in studying how the approximately 400 trillion synapses of an adult brain are organized into an information-processing system. His research will focus on _____.

neural networks

Alzheimer's disease leads to the deterioration and breakdown of the connections known as _____.

neural networks

Much like a battery, _____ generate electricity from chemical events.

neurons

Dr. Jenkins is interested in how stress affects the brain when one is trying to read facial expressions. She examines fMRI scans of individuals before and after stressful situations while looking at pictures of people displaying various facial expressions. Dr. Jenkins's approach is part of the _____ perspective.

neuroscience

Fabian is experiencing vision problems after getting hit very hard in the back of the head during a soccer game. He likely has an injury to the _____ lobes of his cerebral cortex.

occipital

A(n) _____ is a statement of the procedure used to define a research variable in a study.

operational definition

Dr. Regatta is conducting a study to see whether there is a relationship between birth order and shyness. To assess participants' shyness, Dr. Regatta uses a questionnaire. A score of 0-5 on the questionnaire indicates extreme shyness; 6-10, moderate shyness; 11-15, normal shyness; 16-20, moderate lack of shyness; and 21-25, extreme lack of shyness. This use of the questionnaire establishes a(n) _____ of shyness.

operational definition

Being more confident than correct in one's predictions illustrates an error in thinking known as _____.

overconfidence

Larissa, a smart but lazy student in Professor Mozart's introductory psychology course, did not study for the midterm. Professor Mozart was known for asking questions that required only common sense to answer, not knowledge of specific facts, so Larissa was not worried. However, she failed the exam because Larissa made the error in thinking known as _____.

overconfidence

The _____ lobes are located on the top and rear of the brain.

parietal

If a 2-year-old boy's _____ gland is not functioning correctly, his physical growth might be affected.

pituitary

In order to control for experimenter bias, researchers assign subjects to groups by _____ assignment.

random

A pharmaceutical company has developed a new medication to treat obsessive compulsive disorder. The company's studies indicate that the medication significantly reduces symptoms in 70 percent of people diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. However, _____ of these studies is required before these findings can be accepted.

replication

Curiosity, skepticism, and humility are essential in developing evidence for claims. Then it is important to examine any assumptions behind the claims, discern hidden values, and evaluate the evidence. This demonstrates how critical thinking relates to the _____ attitude.

scientific

In order to assess whether sexual stimulation affects sense of humor, researchers exposed married couples to either sexually stimulating or non-sexually stimulating movie scenes. The couples then watched a comedy skit and the researchers measured how much they laughed. In this research, the independent variable was _____.

sexual stimulation

A local school board is setting up a program to prepare children to become scientists. To carry out this program, teachers should encourage curiosity, _____, and humility in their students.

skepticism

As one of the three main components of the scientific attitude, _____ means doubting claims and subjecting them to empirical testing.

skepticism

A focus on the different marriage rituals practiced by members of different ethnic groups is most relevant to the _____ perspective.

soci-cultural

_____ might be considered an early representative of psychologists who today focus on the adaptive functions of behaviors and emotions (that is, those who study how behaviors and emotions appear to have helped our ancestors to survive).

william james