Psychology Midterm

Which of the following describes the electrical impulse that provides the basis for the conduction of a neural impulse along an axon of a neuron?

An action potential.

In the context of behavioral genetics, identify the correct statement.

Heredity is apparently involved in psychological disorders ranging from anxiety and depression to personality disorders.

_______ is the founder of Behaviorism.

John B. Watson

Behavior that is rewarded by partial reinforcement is ________ resistant to extinction.

More

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

about 12 seconds

According to Sigmund Freud, hypnotized adults

permit themselves to return to childish modes of responding

Essay tests are examples of _________.

recall

Which of the following statements is true of applied research?

It is designed to find solutions to specific personal or social problems.

Which of the following completed all of the academic requirements for a Ph.D. at Harvard but was never awarded it?

Mary Whiton Calkins

________ are defined as stimuli that increase the frequency of behavior

Reinforcers

Sarah was required to learn a list of 20 numbers in order. Initially, she took 15 repetitions to learn the list. After five days, she had forgotten the list of numbers and had to re-learn it. This time, she only took eight tries to re-learn the numbers. The difference between the number of repetitions she originally took to learn the numbers and the number of repetitions she took to re-learn the numbers is known as _________.

Savings

Which of the following is a difference between sleep terrors and nightmares?

Sleep terrors usually occur during the first two sleep cycles of the night, whereas nightmares are more likely to occur toward morning.

Which of the following statements is true of amphetamines?

They provide a euphoric rush when consumed in high doses.

Ben was a cocaine addict and began therapy to stop his addiction. However, after a few days without the drug, he had intense urges to use it. He also started sweating excessively and experiencing shakiness due to anxiety. In this scenario, Ben was experiencing _______.

a craving

In the context of the effects of media violence, most organizations of health professionals agree that

media violence contributes to aggression among people

Which of the following statements is true of depth perception?

Distant objects stimulate smaller areas on the retina than nearby ones

As Stephen was filling out a credit card application, he couldn't remember his previous address even though he had lived there for 10 years. Stephen's memory of his current address was interfering with his memory of his old address, which is an example of ____________.

Retroactive interference

If a student studies the course material twice a week, the difference between the amount of time originally required to learn the information and the amount of time required to relearn the material after a certain amount of time has elapsed is known as __________.

Saving

Operant conditioning is essentially learning __________.

The consequences that follow a behavior

Which of the following structures contains the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which stimulates the pineal gland to decrease the output of melatonin in the human body?

The hypothalamus.

As discussed in your text, the Literary Digest incorrectly predicted Alf Landon to win the 1936 presidential election over Franklin D. Roosevelt. What is believed to be the primary source of their error?

The sample.

Which of the following statements is true of stimulants

They increase the activity of the nervous system.

Structuralists tended to ask, "What are the pieces that make up thinking and experience?" In contrast, __________ tended to ask, "How do behavior and mental processes help people adapt to the requirements of their lives?

Functionalists

__________ psychologists are particularly concerned with issues related to the design of self-driving vehicles.

Human factors

Ned is feeling stressed because of his workload at the office. He is also experiencing insomnia with rapid weight loss. Ned's condition is an example of a __________ correlation.

Negative

__________ is produced largely by neurons in the brain stem and acts both as a neurotransmitter and as a hormone.

Norepinephrine

Vibrations in the fluids within the chambers of the inner ear press against the__________.

basilar membrane

The electroencephalograph is a method of:

detecting brain waves by means of measuring the current between electrodes placed on the scalp.

According to the biological perspective of psychology, __________ interact with inherited factors to determine specific behavior and mental processes.

environmental factors

Erica is part of a research group that is studying a group of software executives. She is trying to determine the relationship between workplace stress and cancer. As part of the same study, she also advises her subjects on ways to counter workplace stress. Erica is most likely a _________.

health psychologist

Shana is a young girl who was in a bus accident a few years ago. Since her accident, Shana is only able to remember people she had met before the accident and instances from her childhood. However, she is unable to remember people she met recently or events that are currently happening in her life. She reads the same newspaper for several days without realizing that she has read it before. The accident has made Shana unable permanently store new information because she sustained an injury to her _______.

hippocampus

Explicit memory is

information that can be clearly stated.

When Kendall picked up her puppy, she did not realize that he'd gained a pound since the last time she picked him up. This small increase in weight is not big enough to be a

just noticeable difference.

Classical conditioning is essentially _________.

learning associations

The __________ is a group of structures involved in memory, motivation, and emotion that forms a fringe along the inner edge of the cerebrum.

limbic system

A source of bias that may occur in research findings when participants are allowed to choose for themselves a certain treatment in a scientific study is called a _______.

selection factor

The fluid-filled gap between two neurons through which neurotransmitters carry neural impulses is known as the ________.

synaptic cleft

Every morning, Jaclyn's parents watch for the school bus to arrive. They repeatedly are looking out the window to see if the bus has arrived. This schedule is a __________

variable-interval schedule

Michaela works as waitress and she knows that the more tables that she waits on the better the likelihood of more tips. This schedule is a__________.

variable-ratio schedule

Functionalism was influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution which:

believed adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained

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

serial-position effect

Which of the following statements is true of classical conditioning?

It is involuntary, automatic learning.

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

Emily suffers from insomnia. When she went to see a doctor, she was told that her sleeplessness was caused by the deficiency of a particular hormone. The doctor then gave her sleeping pills containing the deficient hormone. Emily has _______ deficiency.

Melatonin

Dana learned to cook by watching her mother cook rather than by means of direct experience. In the context of observational learning, Dana's mother was a _________ for her.

Model

Julie's research work requires her to interview a sample of 200 people within two months. She needs to gather data about the sample group's attitude toward certain situations through a questionnaire, but she has limited time to gather the information. Which of the following methods should Julie use to gather the required information?

The survey method.

Which of the following statements is true of clinical psychologists?

They evaluate problems such as anxiety and depression through interviews and psychological tests.

The axon bundle that transmits neural impulses from the organ of Corti to the brain is known as the__________.

auditory nerve

Walda's father is a gardener. She has been watching her father work for many years. She now has her own garden. Though she has never been taught the art of gardening, she is very good at it. In this scenario, Walda acquired gardening skills by the process of ________.

observational learning

The series of eye fixations that we perceive as visual sensations seem continuous, or stream like, because of __________.

sensory memory

Causes of __________ include anatomical deformities that clog the air passageways, such as a thick palate, and problems in the breathing centers in the brain

sleep apnea

How do pigments gain their colors?

By absorbing light from certain segments of the spectrum and reflecting the rest

A person has trouble adjusting with the new students in his classroom. He does not have any serious psychological disorders but has trouble making new friends. A(n) _______ would most likely be consulted to help the person.

Counseling psychologist

Jakob is always too warm and perspires frequently. Which of the following structures is most responsible for him being too warm?

Hypothalamus

Which of the following statements is true of the absolute threshold?

It is determined by exposing individuals to progressively stronger stimuli until the minimum stimuli the person can detect is found.

__________ is the concept that holds that adaptive genetic variations among members of a species enable individuals with those variations to survive and reproduce.

Natural selection

_____ is a monocular cue for depth based on the coming together of parallel lines as they recede into the distance.

Perspective

A neuron sends _______ to relay its message to another neuron.

Neurotransmitters

One of the advantages of __________ is that by distributing questionnaires and analyzing answers with a computer, psychologists can study many thousands of people at a time.

Surveys

A(n) __________ is a mental representation of a visual stimulus that is held briefly in sensory memory.

icon

The flow of visual information seems smooth and continuous because of __________ memory, which can hold visual stimuli for up to a second.

iconic

__________ is the activation of specific associations in memory, often as a result of repetition and without making a conscious effort to access the memory.

Priming

Which of the following statements is true about secondary reinforcers?

They acquire their value through association with established reinforcers.

The capacity of short-term memory is approximately:

about 7 items at one time.

Which of the following statements about punishment is TRUE?

Punishment is not another term for negative reinforcement.

Every time a neuron fires, it transmits an impulse of the same strength. This occurrence is known as the __________.

all-or-none principle

The colors across from one another on the color wheel are labeled__________.

complementary colors

__________ are nonsense syllables presented in pairs in experiments that measure recall.

Paired associates

Which of the following is a secondary reinforcer ?

Money

__________ of stored information means locating it and returning it to consciousness.

Retrieval

Which of the following causes Down syndrome?

The presence of an extra chromosome on the 21st pair.

__________refers to the tendency to perceive a broken figure as being complete or whole.

The principle of closure

identify a true statement about taste aversions.

They motivate organisms to avoid harmful foods

__________ is the simplified form of meditation brought to the United States by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and is used as a method for coping with stress.

Transcendental meditation

Which of the following is a new basic taste that was recently added to the primary taste qualities?

Umami

Joe is a web content writer. He gets paid $100 for every five articles he publishes. In this scenario, Joe's payment is based on the __________ of reinforcement.

fixed-ratio schedule

In order to form new memories, you must have a fully functioning _________.

hippocampus

Jonah is reading a book in a crowded bus. Some boys sitting near him are talking and laughing loudly. Jonah focuses on reading his book and ignores the noise around him. This scenario illustrates an aspect of consciousness called __________.

selective attention

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

Which of the following refers to a time when a neuron does not allow sodium to pass through the neuronal membrane and as a result, is insensitive to messages from other neurons and does not fire?

A refractory period.

Frank was temporarily blinded by the flash from the camera. The perception of being "blind" is best explained by a(n) __________.

Afterimage

The brain and the spinal cord make up the _______, which controls and commands bodily functions.

Central nervous system

A(n) __________ is a stimulus or group of stimuli that are perceived as a discrete piece of information.

Chunk

Esteban finds that he is often very anxious and not at ease. Which of the following neurotransmitters might help him the most?

Gamma-aminobutyric acid

Some lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) users have __________, which are distorted perceptions or hallucinations that mimic the LSD "trip" but occur days, weeks, or longer after usage.

Flashbacks

Which of the following statements is true of nicotine?

It stimulates the release of neurotransmitters.

Which of the following is true of the humanistic-existential perspective?

It views people as free to choose and as being responsible for choosing their own behavior.

Which of the following techniques relies on subtle shifts in blood flow to create a brain scan?

Magnetic resonance imaging

According to the American Psychological Association's Handbooks of Ethics in Psychology, which of the following criteria must be met for psychologists to use deception in their experiments?

The participants are debriefed afterward

Which of the following is a function of the middle ear?

To increase the pressure of the air entering the ear.

People with frequent nightmares:

are more likely than others to have anxiety and depression.

A person's ability to recall a historic event, like the American Civil War of 1861-65, would be an example of _________.

semantic memory

Exposure to very loud sounds can lead to damage of the auditory nerve or hair cells, resulting in__________.

sensorineural deafness

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

90 minutes.

Which of the following best describes association areas?

Areas of the cerebral cortex that are not primarily involved in sensation or motor activity.

__________are addictive depressants used to relieve anxiety or induce sleep.

Barbiturates

Which of the following is not necessarily a part of the scientific method?

Calculating correlations.

As Donna is answering this very question, she is aware of her environment. This awareness is referred to as

Consciousness

__________ are different from clinical psychologists in that their clients typically have adjustment problems, such as trouble making academic or vocational decisions or making friends in college, but not serious psychological disorders.

Counseling psychologists