Psych. Final Study

A mother believes that her nine-month-old, is still in Piaget's sensori-motor stage of cognitive development. To test this belief, which of the following could she try? Correct!

hide his favorite toy underneath a couch cushion and see whether he looks for it

The brain structure that is associated with the formation of memories is the

hippocampus

A psychology professor wants to use the strange-situation test in her research. She is most likely interested in seeing

how infants respond to separation and reunion with their caregivers.

The variable that a researcher varies or changes in an experiment is called the:

independent variable

A child gets a sticker each time he completes his homework. This encourages him to complete his homework. This type of learning is best explained by

operant conditioning

Learning in which voluntary responses are controlled by their consequences is called _____.

operant conditioning

One person is a real risk taker. She loves to skydive, and she can party all night. Another dislikes risk taking and prefers quieter activities, such as reading and yoga. These contrasting preferences in the rate of physiological activation they experience suggest that they differ in their

optimal levels of arousal

__________ is the memory to perform an act in the future, as at a certain time or when a certain event occurs.

prospective memory

Adam, a sleep researcher, noticed that his sleeping patient had a high level of neurological arousal. The patient is most likely in _______ sleep.

rapid eye movement

A little boy thinks that playing peek-a-boo is hilarious! He does not know where his mom goes during the game, but it excites him when he sees her face again. He is most likely in Piaget's ________ stage of development.

sensori-motor

The __________ is the tendency to recall more accurately the first and last items in a series.

seriel-position effect

When someone reinforces a series of successive approximations of the desired response, they are engaged in _____ a behavior.

shaping

This set of symbols +++++///// would typically be perceived as two separate groups of characters. The Gestalt principle that explains this perception is

similarity

A sleep disorder in which the person repeatedly stops breathing during sleep is called _______.

sleep apnea

Which of the following characteristics is NOT a basic quality of taste?

spicy

Although a student had practiced her presentation several times before class, she struggled in the middle part of the speech when she gave it in class. This pattern of forgetting illustrates __________.

the serial-position effect

Psychologists and psychiatrists believe that classifying and grouping the symptoms of clients will enable them to make an accurate diagnosis. What is the name of the classification system that is widely used?

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, now in the 5th edition

The average amount of time it takes to complete each cycle through the stages of NREM sleep and REM sleep lasts about:

90 minutes

Physicians frequently prescribe stimulants in an effort to help hyperactive children control their behavior.

True

In an elementary school, the children whose parents read to them everyday score higher on reading tests. This illustrates

a positive correlation

In the context of memory and forgetting, the view that one may forget stored material because other learning overlaps with it is known as __________.

interference theory

Studies with twins, as discussed in the book, found that __________ were more similar than fraternal twins in spatial memory, ability to categorize things, and word comprehension.

monozygotic twins

__________ is the first stage of the memory process.

encoding

The________ is a thin inner surface at the back of the eyeball and it contains the sensory receptors rods and cones.

retina

A man is sitting outside, looking at his beautiful garden. As the sun goes down, the colors become dull and finally the colors become shades of gray. This change happens because the

rods are raking over for the cones

The strong tendency to view one's successes as stemming from internal factors and one's failures as stemming from external factors is called the __________.

self-serving bias

A student knows a lot of facts about the earth. He knows that the circumference of Earth is 40,030 km even though he did not personally measure the circumference of the Earth. This knowledge is referred to as __________.

semantic memory

Asch's study using line judgments was able to demonstrate __________.

the effects of social conformity

__________is an unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

Altruism

Which of the following statements is true of prelinguistic vocalizations?

Babies' babbling combines consonants and vowels.

__________ generally act by slowing the activity of the central nervous system.

Depressant drugs

There are many perspectives, or schools of thought, in psychology. Which of the following questions do behaviorists attempt to answer?

How do consequences of behavior influence the occurrence of the behavior?

In class we looked at and discussed some optical (also called visual) illusions . Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding these illusions?

Illusions help reveal normal perceptual processes.

Before researchers can begin a research project at their school or medical center, they must receive approval from the:

Institutional Review Board

Which of the following statements is true of telegraphic speech?

It is brief but grammatically correct.

What is the name of the concept that infants are born with the innate ability to learn language?

Language Acquisition Device

Which of the following statements is true of sleep?

People need more sleep when they are under stress

A student is reading her psychology textbook. The light reflects off the words on the page and falls on the sensory receptors in her retina, which results in ________. Then her brain interprets the stimuli as particular words, which is called ________.

Sensation; perception

The person who is most closely associated with the study of the unconscious is:

Sigmund Freud

A professor would like to find out whether her study guide helps students perform better on exams. She randomly assigns students to one of two groups: Group 1 receives her study guide and Group 2 receives no study guide. Then, after three weeks, the performance of each student is measured on an exam. What is the dependent variable in this study?

Student's grade on the exam

In the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) theory of stress, the initial response to a stressor occurs in the _____ phase

alarm reaction

The capacity of short-term memory is approximately:

about 7 items at one time.

A father knows that teratogens are environmental factors that can harm a child in many different ways and that the time to avoid them begins when?

about two weeks after conception.

Episodic memory can also be referred to as ________.

autobiographical memory

Bandura's observational learning studies focused on how ____.

children learn aggressive behaviors by observing aggressive models

Health psychologists investigate how genetics, behaviors, and social support impact health. This approach of focusing on multiple areas to understand health and well-being is central to the ________ model.

biopsychosocial

The spinal cord is part of the ________ nervous system.

central

The brain structure that connects the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex is called the

corpus callosum

_________ is defined by the ability to cope with novel situations and generate many possible solutions to problems.

creative intelligence

People withdrawing from chronic alcohol use may experience __________ with heavy sweating, restlessness, disorientation, and frightening hallucinations.

delirium tremens

Kendra loves spicy curry, but her husband prefers a mild curry. Starting with a mild curry, Kendra increases the spiciness every time she cooks. One day her husband complains that the curry is too spicy. After that, Kendra always makes the curry as spicy as the last time before her husband complained. With this exercise, Kendra assessed her husband's

difference threshold

A woman is hiking around a lake to photograph it from a variety of angles, but she forgot to bring water with her. Soon, she cannot concentrate and goes back to her car to satisfy her thirst. Which of the following factors is most likely influencing her behavior in this situation?

drive reduction

A man is nearing the end of his life. He reflects on his past, focusing on how he spent his whole life working long hours at his job. As a result, he is struggling with whether his life has been well lived. Joe is most likely experiencing the ________ stage of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development.

ego integrity versus despair

A woman has problems sleeping, so she goes to a sleep clinic. At the clinic the researchers measure her brain's electrical activity as she sleeps by using the technique of

electroencephalograph (EEG)

A conditioned emotional response, such as Little Albert's fear, is an emotion that is _____.

elicited by a previously neutral stimulus

Which of the following statements is true of groupthink?

external threats heightens the cohesiveness of the group

What part of the face is likely to give the best cues as to someone's emotions?

eyes

Asch's research was focused on studying obedience.

false

A woman is at her regular prenatal checkup. The doctor tells her, "The organs are highly developed and now we mainly want the baby to grow and gain weight." Based on this, the baby is currently in the ________ stage of development.

fetal

A child is skilled at problem solving and possesses broad reasoning abilities. According to Charles Spearman, his abilities are indicative of _________.

general intelligence

As far as we know now, which part of the brain is very important for memory, and is positively impacted by exercise?

hippocampus

Continuous reinforcement is "better" when it comes to _____; partial reinforcement is "better" when it comes to _____.

initial learning of a behavior; resistance to extinction

A myelin sheath is a fatty layer that protects the axon, so it is most like the

insulation around a pipe

The sense that allows you to determine the location of your body and limbs in space is called

kinesthetic

Which of the following is an example of a negative punishment?

losing telephone privileges for breaking curfew

Jane Goodall is very famous for her studies on chimpanzees. She systematically watched and recorded the behavior of the chimpanzees in their natural environment. She was conducting ____

observational studies

Intrinsic motivation comes from _____.

personal enjoyment

A three-year-old typically says things like, "I seed it" and "Mommy sitted down." These examples illustrate ____________.

overregularization

After cautiously walking home and arriving safely from her late-night class, a student notices that both her heart rate and breathing slow down. This automatic return to a normal state is due to the activity of her ________ nervous system.

parasympathetic

A student wants to be physically fit. As he cannot workout effectively at his home, he goes to a gym with his friends. At the gym, he works out better when his friends work out along with him. In the context of group behavior, this is the result of _________.

social facilitation

The site where communication occurs between neurons is called the

synapse

The minimum intensity of sensory stimulation required before a se

the absolute threshold

Which of the following is the best definition of psychology?

the study of behavior and mental processes

How long can information be stored in short-term memory without being rehearsed?

30 seconds

At what age, on average, do young children begin to walk un-assisted

12 months

A 10-year-old girl has a mental age (MA) of 12. Her intelligence quotient (IQ) calculated using the formula is __________.

120

Which of the following is true about anterograde amnesia?

It is the failure to remember the events that occurred after a physical trauma.

Which of the following best defines the term preconscious?

It refers to material that is not in awareness but can be brought into awareness by focusing one's attention.

In the context of language development, which of the following statements is true of learning theory?

Learning theorists, such as B.F. Skinner, see language as developing according to laws of learning

In a study by Elizabeth Loftus, subjects watched a film of an automobile accident, then answered a series of questions, including one asking them to estimate the speed of the cars. What factor affected the subjects' estimate of how fast the cars in the film were traveling?

Whether the words used in the question suggested greater speeds (e.g. contacted vs. smashed) .

It seems like every day you experience a decrease in your mental alertness around 2 or 3 o'clock each afternoon. This daily occurrence in your mental alertness is an example of:

a circadian rhythm

Lisa does not like going to her sister piano recitals, but she finds that if she forces herself to smile during the recital, she will ________, as predicted by the ________.

begin to feel happy; facial-feedback hypothesis

Studies have shown a difference in the risk of cardio-vascular problems in people with Type A and Type B behavior pattern. The Type B behavior pattern describes a person who is

enjoying and accommodating

In the nature/nurture debate, the term nurture refers to the questions of how __________________ factors affect the mind, brain and behavior.

environmental

According to ________ we perceive a car as a whole unit rather than perceiving it as a group of distinct entities (such as metal, tires, glass, door handles, hubcaps, and fenders).

gestalt psychology

Immediately after birth a full term baby displays the rooting reflex. Which of the following behaviors is the baby engaged in?

when the side of his cheek is stroked, he turns towards it