Psych test ch 1-3

John B. Watson believed that psychology should involve the study of ________.

Behavior

Steve is a fan of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. With little provocation, he will engage you in a debate about whether it is the greatest team in basketball. Steve may be demonstrating ________.

Bias

A negative correlation means that high values of one variable are associated with low values of the other.

True

Cell membranes are semipermeable.

True

Clinical psychology is the largest subfield of psychology.

True

One function of the nervous system is to send information to and receive information from all parts of the body.

True

Pavlov found that dogs would salivate to the sound of a bell before food was presented, demonstrating the process of conditioning.

True

The occipital lobes contain the visual cortex, where visual signals are processed.

True

A psychologist is interested in finding out why identical twins have different personalities. This psychologist is most interested in the goal of ________.

explanation

The question "Why is it happening?" refers to which of the following goals in psychology?

explanation

In addition to describing and explaining mental processes and behavior, psychology also attempts to ________ these phenomena.

predict and control

The question "When will it happen again?" refers to which of the following goals in psychology?

prediction

Dr. Braunz has been treating a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She decides to write a prescription for Ritalin. Given this information, it is most likely that Dr. Braunz is a ________.

psychiatrist

Marika needs to have a neuroimaging test that will track the activity of her brain, but wants to use a radioactive tracer that is more easily obtained than those used for PET. Which of the following offers the best alternative based on Marika's needs?

single photo emission computed tomography (SPECT)

Which of the following terms do NOT belong together?

structuralism; observable behavior

Hormones are chemicals that are secreted and go directly into ________.

the bloodstream

The section of the brain responsible for interpreting the visual information in the primary visual cortex is called the ________.

visual association cortex

Endocrine glands ________.

secretes hormones directly into the bloodstream

Dr. Mosher is a psychologist who tries to understand how people select their mates. She must be a(n) ________.

evolutionary psychologist

Al is trying to decide whether the shower is hot enough to step in. Hal is listening to his MP3 player. Sal is looking at a beautiful painting in an art museum. Which individual is using his parietal lobe?

AL

GABA functions as _________.

An inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain

Which is NOT a specific function of the right hemisphere of the brain?

Analysis of data

Which of the following statements about research with animals is incorrect?

Animals are no longer allowed to be used in research in which it would be clearly unethical to use humans.

Involuntary muscles are controlled by the ________ nervous system.

Autonomic

What is the term used to describe the bulbs located at the end of the axon?

Axon Terminals

A nerve is a group of ________ bundled together.

Axons

Bill was admitted to the hospital last week after he fell. When Bill's son visited, he found that his father was unable to get words out in a smooth, connected fashion. If Bill's difficulty speaking is due to brain damage, what is the likely location of the damage?

Broca's

The area of the frontal lobe that is devoted to the production of fluent speech is ________ area.

Broca's

The function of the neuron's axon is to ________.

Carry messages to other cells

The brain and spinal cord are two components of the ______.

Central nervous system

If your ________ was damaged, you might walk oddly and have trouble standing normally.

Cerebellum

The goals of psychology are to ________.

Describe, explain, predict, and control behavior

Because they have similar chemical structures, morphine and heroin are able to lock into receptor sites for ________.

Endorphine

A synapse is like a locked door that only certain neurotransmitter keys can unlock.

False

College student-athletes who were exposed to "high threat" stereotypes before testing were more likely to perform better than those exposed after testing.

False

During a resting potential, the neuron is positively charged inside and negatively charged outside.

False

Sigmund Freud was the father of psychology.

False

Surveys are procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values.

False

The axon receives messages from other neurons.

False

The pineal gland secrets a hormone called insulin.

False

If the body secretes too much insulin, the result is hyperglycemia.

False. Hypoglycemia

A researcher wants to obtain a "movie" of changes in the activity of the brain using images from different time periods. Which of these would be the best choice for this researcher?

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Which of the following neurotransmitters functions as a common inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain?

GABA

While on a visit to a large city, you observe several billboards in which a series of lights seems to move. Which perspective in psychology would most likely help you understand this phenomenon?

Gestalt

Eating, drinking, sexual behavior, sleeping, and temperature control are most strongly influenced by the ________.

Hypothalamus

Which of the following is CORRECT concerning random assignment?

In random assignment, each participant has an equal chance for each condition.

Neurons found in the center of the spinal cord that receive information from the sensory neurons and send commands to the muscles through the motor neurons are called ________.

Interneurons

Which of the following are responsible for acting as a facilitator of communication between neurons?

Interneurons

Which of the following is true about myelin?

It's made of a fatty substance.

The point at which the nerves from the left side of the body cross over into the right side of the brain, and vice versa, is the ________.

Medulla

The hormone released by the pineal gland that reduces body temperature and prepares you for sleep is ________.

Melatonin

________ are fired when an animal performs an action or when the animal observes that same action being performed. For example, an infant will mimic the facial expressions of adults.

Mirror neurons

Messages from the brain to the muscles and glands in the body begin their journey in the ________.

Motor cortex

Dr. Littman-Smith is conducting research in Kenya into the ways that mothers and their toddlers interact throughout the day. Given the purpose of her study, it is most likely that she is engaged in ________.

Naturalistic observation

Cognitive neuroscientists can examine the brain with ________.

PET and MRI

Alice is typing her term paper in the computer lab. Although a class is going on just a few feet away, she does not seem to notice. Which part of the brain allows Alice to focus on her typing and ignore the distractions that surround her?

Reticular Formation

Neurons that carry information from the senses to the spinal cord are called ________.

Sensory Neurons

Since Norma is a split-brain patient, we can infer that she likely has a history of ________.

Severe Epilepsy

Phineas Gage tragically had a tamping iron propelled through his head. Both left and right sides of the prefrontal cortex were severely damaged. As a result of the accident, Phineas Gage:

Suffered a change in personality

A researcher stops people at the mall and asks them questions about their attitudes toward gun control. Which research technique is being used?

Survey

The part of the autonomic nervous system that is responsible for reacting to stressful events and bodily arousal is called the ________ nervous system.

Sympathetic

The fluid-filled space between the synaptic knob of one cell and the dendrites of the next cell is called the ________.

Synapse

What part of the brain acts as a relay station for incoming sensory information?

Thalamus

A researcher is investigating the effects of exercise on weight. What are the independent and dependent variables in this experiment?

The dependent variable is weight; the independent variable is exercise.

In a laboratory, smokers are asked to "drive" using a computerized driving simulator equipped with a stick shift and a gas pedal. The object is to maximize the distance covered by driving as fast as possible on a winding road while avoiding rear-end collisions. Some of the participants smoke a real cigarette immediately before climbing into the driver's seat. Others smoke a fake cigarette without nicotine. You are interested in comparing how many collisions the two groups have. In this study, the dependent variable is ________.

The number of collisions

Mary suffered a head injury in a car accident last week. Since that time, she is able to speak fluently but uses the wrong words when expressing herself. Mary may be exhibiting ________ aphasia.

Wernicke's

The nervous system is defined as________.

a complex network of cells that carries information to and from all parts of the body

After being bitten by a black widow spider, Jean starts to convulse. This is a result of ________.

a flood of acetylcholine releasing into the body's muscle system

Professor Holden gives a psychology exam on the origins of intelligence. She gives a short answer question based on the IQ scores of a parent-child pair. In order to answer the question correctly, her students need to remember that ________.

a parent's high IQ does not necessarily cause a child to have a high IQ

At the close of the nineteenth century, Gerhard is excited to find that he has been accepted for training in the psychology laboratory of Wilhelm Wundt. It is likely that Gerhard will be trained to ________.

analyze how to break down his sensations into their most basic elements

The editors of Scientific American are able to obtain a representative sample of their readers in order to assess their attitudes toward preservation of the rainforests in Costa Rica. When interpreting the results of their survey, the editors will be able to ________.

apply the results to subscribers of Scientific American

Curare, a poison, works by ________.

blocking receptor sites and acting as an antagonist for acetylcholine

According to present research on psychologists, thirty-four percent are in the ________ subfield of psychology.

clinical

In the early part of the past century, psychologists who broke down thought processes into their basic elements and analyzed them were called structuralists. What term might we use to describe psychologists with similar interests today?

cognitive

In a laboratory, smokers are asked to "drive" using a computerized driving simulator equipped with a stick shift and a gas pedal. The object is to maximize the distance covered by driving as fast as possible on a winding road while avoiding rear-end collisions. Some of the participants smoke a real cigarette immediately before climbing into the driver's seat. Others smoke a fake cigarette without nicotine. You are interested in comparing how many collisions the two groups have. In this study, the participants who smoke a cigarette without nicotine comprise the ________.

control group

Surveys, as discussed in the text, are a form of:

descriptive research

Pain-controlling chemicals in the body are called ________.

endorphins

Sally proposes the idea that one's sexual history prior to marriage may be linked to whether one ends up getting divorced. This best represents which step of the scientific method?

forming a hypothesis

The general curiosity about why people think, feel, and behave the way they do:

has always probably been with us

The school of behaviorism attempted to explain behavior by studying:

how a specific stimulus evokes a specific response.

In the statement "Critical thinking requires reasoned judgments," the word reasoned means ________.

logical and well thought out

Rashad is in the hospital and is about to undergo a brain-imaging process that involves placing him inside a magnetic field so that a computer can create three-dimensional images of his brain. What procedure is he about to undergo?

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

The school of psychology called structuralism used a technique called ________, which involved reporting the contents of consciousness to study a person's experiences.

introspection

Which of the following is a group of several brain structures located in the inner margin of the upper brain and is involved in learning, emotion, memory, and motivation?

limbic system

Sandy Sue was participating in an experiment in which she was given a pill that was supposed to cause her to get drowsy. Five minutes after taking the pill, Sandy Sue reported that she felt drowsy and wanted to lie down. The pill was actually made of sugar and had no ingredients to cause drowsiness. How do you explain Sandy Sue's drowsy feeling?

placebo effect

Systematically collecting data in real-world environments is the essence of which descriptive research method?

naturalistic observation

When you watch dogs play in the park, or watch how your professors conduct their classes, you are engaging in a form of ________.

naturalistic observation

Observing behavior as it happens in real-life natural settings without imposing laboratory controls is known as the ________.

naturalistic observation method

As part of a psychology experiment, Brett decides to measure a person's "anxiety" by noting the number of blinks a person makes in a twenty minute social interaction with a stranger. Brett appears to have offered a(n) ________ of anxiety.

operation definition

The steps or procedures an experimenter must use to control or measure the variables in a study is called the ________.

operational definition

Each of the following is a common ethical guideline suggested by the American Psychological Association EXCEPT ________.

participants cannot be deceived or have information concealed from them at any time during an experiment

The first step in any scientific investigation is ________.

perceiving the question

Dendrite is to axon as _________ is to _________.

receiving; sending

Objective introspection requires:

reflection on the self

Researchers must report their results completely whether the hypothesis was supported or not. Complete reporting is necessary for the purpose of ________.

replication

A correlation coefficient shows that alcohol consumption and driving accidents are indeed related. As a result, a researcher could predict ________ if the direction of the relationship is known.

the number of driving accidents a person has will go up or down based on the number of alcoholic drinks consumed

Dr. Keller has individuals run on a treadmill for 0, 15, or 30 minutes and then measures their self-reported mood. In this hypothetical study, the independent variable is:

the number of minutes individuals run on the treadmill

Gestalt psychology attempted to discover:

the overall patterns of perceptions and thoughts.

Cameron touches a hot iron and immediately pulls his hand away. His quick response occurs because _______.

the pain message goes up the spinal column to the central area of the spinal cord instead of going all the way to the brain

________ is a system used for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data.

the scientific method