Psychology Exam 2 Multiple Choice

According to Piaget's theory, the two processes that drive children's mental development are called a.) assimilation and accommodation b.) conservation and assimilation c.) association and constructivism d.) accommodation and association

A

Developing a sense of morality is one of the toughest challenges for adolescents because it a.) requires higher-order thought processes and conflicting information b.) happens just a child is preparing to leave home and become independent c.) is a major step in letting ho of the innocence of childhood d.) means going against many generally accepted behaviors

A

Ever since Ryan was bitten by a gray cat, he cries when he sees any gray cat. One day, he sees a gray squirrel scamper across his front yard and he begins crying. Ryan's behavior illustrates a.) stimulus generalization b.) extinction c.) stimulus discrimination d.) second-order conditioning

A

Imagine your professor asks you to conduct an experiment in which you have to increase the intensity of a light several times and determine the smallest change in the intensity of light that your friend can detect. You are measuring your friend's: a.) just noticeable difference (JND) b.) Gestalt perception c.) sensory code d.) absolute threshold

A

Information stored in the sensory buffer is retained a.) for a few seconds b.) for several minutes c.) for a number of hours d.) permanently

A

Research on memory consolidation and interference suggests that if you are studying for an exam, you should a.) get a good night sleep to facilitate consolidation. b.) study through the night so information is freshly consolidated. c.) engage in proactive interference to limit the intrusion of old memories. d.) study early in the day when you are feeling well rested.

A

Retrograde amnesia involves a loss of the ability to a.) retrieve old memories b.) form new long-term memories c.) form new short-term memories d.) perform procedural tasks

A

Sensory adaption is the a.) progressive loss of responsiveness in sensory cells exposed to a constant stimulus b.) progressive evolution of sensory systems throughout human history c.) heightening of sensory responses to unfamiliar stimuli d.) heightening of sensory responses to familiar stimuli

A

The difference between a zygote and an embryo is that an embryo is a.) more complex b.) unfertilized c.) more fragile d.) less developed

A

What can be concluded from the psychological study of attachment? a.) It is an emotional bond and is necessary for children and parents to remain engaged b.) It is the physical sensation of touching a caregiver, but it is important for development c.) It is a key indicator of whether or not a child with an easy temperament is adjusting to school d.) It is an indicator of how children and their peers are able to form social groups

A

Which scenario best captures the concept of context-dependent retrieval? a.) You perform better on a driving test when you are in the car in which you learned to drive. b.) You perform worse on an exam when you take it in the same room in which you learned the material. c.) You perform well in a trivia game because winning money motivates you. d.) You perform poorly on a writing assignment because you have been under a lot of stress.

A

An absolute threshold is the a.) ability to detect stimuli of all intensities b.) lowest intensity of a stimulus that a person can detect half the time c.) length of time it take to habituate a stimulus d.) lowest intensity of a stimulus that a person can detect 100% of the time

B

An infant's vision improves from about 20/120 to about 20/30 by approximately eight months of age because the a.) eyes grow in size and can detect more visual stimuli b.) neurons connecting the retinas and the brain mature c.) initial connections between the retinas and the brain are pruned d.) eyes are able to open wider as the infant's face develops

B

Imagine you are caring for a patient who in the past abused alcohol. You find that the patient's memory is heavily impaired. It is very likely that the patient has a.) proactive interference b.) Korsakoff's syndrome c.) context-dependent retrieval d.) spreading activiation

B

Preoperational children are often called "egocentric" because they a.) are not capable of experiencing empathy towards others b.) do not understand what others know and do not know c.) prefer not play alone rather than with adults or other children d.) cannot yet understand the notion of sharing

B

Todd's parents promise him a reward of his choice if his GPA is above 3.0 for three consecutive semesters. A _________ reinforcement schedule is being used by Todd's parents. a.) variable ratio b.) fixed ratio c.) variable interval d.) continuous

B

Which is a characteristic of the cones? a.) work well in low light conditions b.) provide color vision c.) have poorer acuity than rods d.) outnumber the rods by a 10 to 1 ratio

B

Which of the following examples best illustrates an application of the Gestalt rule of figure and ground? a.) In the movie theater, you perceive that an actor is moving rather than just appearing first in one place and then in another place on the screen. b.) It is difficult to see someone wearing green in a forest area c.) It is difficult not to think of your family members as a group d.) Though you know all of your friend's names, it is hard for you to remember exactly where they live

B

Which scenario represents the concept of rehearsal? a.) You take pages of detailed notes during psychology lectures to help you study. b.) You keep repeating a new friend's number while looking for your phone. c.) You create a list of things to accomplish before leaving for spring break. d.) You organize your room so it is easy to find your books when it is time to study.

B

Which statement about the capacity of long-term memory is most accurate? a.) Humans have a limit of about one million long-term memories. b.) Human memory has a nearly limitless capacity that is difficult to quantify. c.) Human memory capacity is severely limited, evidenced by our tendency to forget as we age. d.) Humans have an unlimited capacity for verbal information but not for visual information.

B

While you are sitting in a park, you see a tulip that is exposed to the sun. Shortly after you notice it, the tulip is exposed to the shade. According to the concept of color constancy, you perceive that color of tulip has a.) changed, based on your experience with objects b.) remained the same, but the lighting conditions have changed c.) remained the same, because you cannot trust your sensations in bright light d.) changed, because tulips normally change in color due to heat

B

Writing down the names of all the 20th century U.S. Presidents from memory requires you to engage in a.) cued recall b.) free recall c.) priming d.) spreading activation

B

Your cat comes running as soon as she hears you open a can of food. In this example, the ___________ is the conditioned stimulus. a.) can of food b.) sound of the can being opened c.) presence of you in the kitchen d.) running cat

B

A _________ is a primary reinforcer, whereas a ___________ is a secondary reinforcer. a.) lollipop; diploma b.) glass of water; sandwich c.) paycheck; hug d.) report card; hamburger

C

According to ________ theory, behavior is influenced by its consequences. a.) classical conditioning b.) observational learning c.) operant conditioning d.) cognitive learning

C

Adolescents are in the fifth stage of psychological development, and according to Erikson, are most concerned with developing a.) initiative b.) intimacy c.) an identity d.) a sense of purpose

C

Both the spinal cord and the brain develop from the fetal structure called the a.) placenta b.) inner cell mass c.) neural tube d.) teratogen

C

Chunking information facilitates encoding because it a.) increases the amount of information to be encoded b.) reduces the ability to tap into existing stores of information c.) reduces the absolute number of items to be encoded d.) increases the effort involved in coding

C

For the first few nights after you purchased a clock, you had trouble sleeping because the ticking of the second hand disturbed you. Now you do not notice the sound of the second hand at all. This is an example of a.) sensory adaptation b.) classical conditioning c.) habituation d.) muscle exhaustion

C

If Juan wanted to use the method of loci to help him remember a list of items to get at the grocery store, he should a.) associate each of the worlds with rhyming words b.) associate each word on the list with a work in his vocabulary c.) associate each item on the list with a physical location in his house d.) think of a word that can be spelled with the first letters of each item on the grocery list

C

Infants progressively show more complex motor behaviors, which is the primarily the result of a.) strengthening of muscles b.) fine tuning if sensory systems c.) maturation of the brain d.) modeling by adults

C

The ________ is the region of the occipital lobe where most visual information first arrives. a.) thalamus b.) iris c.) primary visual cortex d.) fovea

C

The main distinction between sensation and perception is that only perception involves a.) noticing that a different stimulus is present b.) detecting the absence of stimulus c.) interpreting what the stimulus is d.) deciding how to react to the stimulus

C

Which is an example of positive punishment? a.) A student loses a "good behavior" token for not following directions. b.) Two siblings squabble over a toy, so their father takes the toy away from both children. c.) A student is caught texting in class and the professor reprimands him in front of his classmates. d.) A teenager is grounder for a week for being rude to her mother.

C

Which situation describes proactive interference? a.) Robert forgot the PIN he uses to check his bank account balance. b.) LaToya went to the wrong classroom because she confused her Monday schedule with her Tuesday schedule. c.) Jill called her boyfriend by her old boyfriend's name. d.) Celia forgot that she had lived in a different part of the city before moving to her current apartment.

C

Which statement describes information likely stored in episodic memory? a.) Paul remembers that all sides of an equilateral triangle are the same length. b.) Brenda knows the colors of the rainbow can be remembered with "Roy G. Biv" c.) George recalls the first time he saw his girlfriend d.) Mimi remembers the time of day she was born.

C

Your baby cousin gazes at a new ball for several seconds, then turns her attention to other objects in the room. She is demonstrating a.) visual cliff b.) the rooting reflex c.) habituation d.) sensitization

C

A specialized sensory cell that detects stimuli is called a a.) sensory receptor organ b.) taste pore c.) tastant d.) sensory receptor cell

D

If someone shined a flashlight into your eye, your _________ would constrict. a.) eyelid b.) retina c.) cornea d.) pupil

D

In older people, a decline in cognitive functioning as a result of damage or disease, rather than aging, is called a.) myelination b.) Parkinson's disease c.) presbyopia d.) dementia

D

Short-term memory is now discussed by psychologists in terms of a system that keeps memories available during performance. This is also known as __________ memory. a.) sensory b.) iconic c.) echoic d.) working

D

The part of the brain that runs from the cerebellum to the temporal lobes and is very important for learning and memory is called the a.) thalamus b.) hypothalamus c.) basal ganglia d.) hippocampus

D

The susceptibility of our memories to include false details that fit in with real details of an event is called the a.) priming effect b.) interference effect c.) tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon d.) misinformation effect

D

Which of the following best demonstrated observational learning? a.) Holly hears a weather report calling for snow, so she begins to play a trip to a local ski slope. b.) After looking carefully at the kitchen drainpipes, Joe understands how to reassemble them. c.) Natasha figures out that if she does not give her boss a hard time, he is a lot nicer to be around. d.) Ben watched a skateboarder do a trick many times and now Ben can perform the trick, himself.

D

Which of the following conditions affects the appearance of the child's face and causes significant damage to the developing brain? a.) Autism b.) Asperger's c.) ADHD d.) Fetal alcohol syndrome

D