AP PSYCH SEMESTER EXAM
THe purpose of random assignment is to
Reduce potential confounding variables.
Students from a journalism class ask only their friends to participate in a school newspaper survey about conformity and neglect to ask the rest of the student body. The journalism students' data may not be generalizable due to which of the following?
Sampling bias
Which of the following is used only in correlation studies?
Scatterplot
Ms. Harrison asks students in her psychology class to record how many hours of sleep they get every night and what they eat for breakfast. When the class looks at the data, they find that the fewer hours of sleep they get, the more they eat for breakfast. Which of the following is a limitation of self-report research?
Self-report data is subject to the social desirability bias
Which neurotransmitters are most likely in undersupply in someone who is depressed?
Serotonin and norepinephrine
A survey shows that children who have encyclopedias in their home environment earn better grades in school than children whose homes lack encyclopedias. The researcher concludes that having encyclopedias in the home environment improves grades. Which of the following explains why the researcher has reached an erroneous conclusion?
She inferred causation from correlation.
Psychodynamic therapy has its roots in the theories of
Sigmund Freud
The biggest influence on personality is a person's friend group.
Social-cultural
A researcher is planning an experiment to study aspects of forgetting. Which of the following most accurately describes what a dependent variable is for an experiment?
Some aspect of a participant's response that is measured in an experiment
Dr. Wilson, who teaches engineering classes, is interested in learning about how lack of sleep affects performance. What would be the best way to ensure that her findings are generalizable to all the students at her university?
Surveying every tenth student listed in the university directory about their sleep habits
Which of the following is sometimes referred to as the brain's sensory switchboard, because it directs incoming sensory messages (with the exception of smell) to their proper places in the brain?
Thalamus
What is the operational definition of neural activity in the rats?
The color presented in the MRI images.
Much of the research regarding the function of brain areas has been gathered from case studies of individuals with brain injury or disease. Which of the following identifies a reason for this?
The independent variable in an experiment would inflict brain injury, which is unethical.
A group of researchers are investigating how different studying strategies impact how much participants remember on a test. They recruit 50 participants and have half of the participants study by just reading a passage over and over for 10 minutes. The other half of the participants spend five minutes reading the passage one time and then answering a series of multiple-choice questions on the material for another five minutes. Finally, the participants write down as many facts from the reading passage as they can in three minutes. Which of the following is the dependent variable of the study?
The number of facts the participants remember during the test phase
If this study were to run as an experiment, which of the following would be necessary?
The participants must be randomly assigned to a control or experimental condition
Researchers conducted a correlational study during the winter season, which has shorter days and longer nights. The researcher asked about people's experiences with depression-like symptoms, including feelings of tiredness and reduction in energy output. The researcher found that there was a positive correlation between the amount of daylight and depression-like symptoms.
The relationship between daylight and depressive symptoms may also be linked to a third variable.
Why is an operational definition necessary when reporting research findings?
An operational definition allows others to replicate the procedure
A researcher discovered a chemical compound that seems to slow down the heart rate of monkeys by targeting an area of the medulla. The researcher believes that the compound could help reduce the symptoms associated with panic disorder. Which of the following is the appropriate next step for the researcher to take after developing the compound into a new drug?
Apply to an institutional review board (IRB) to begin animal trials for the drug.
Dr. Handler conducted research to explore the extent to which hearing acuity changes with age. She tested the absolute threshold for hearing in 10 subjects of various ages. The results are presented in the table. Which of the following is an appropriate conclusion based on the data presented in the table?
As age increases, the ability to detect higher pitched sounds tends to decrease.
Researchers are interested in whether a nutritionally poor diet during pregnancy increases the likelihood of birth defects. Which of the following most accurately explains why a correlational research design is the best option for investigating this question?
Because of ethical concerns, participants could not be randomly assigned to groups
According to one theory of psychology, many people have mental illnesses because their maladaptive behaviors have proven rewarding for them in the past and thus have been continued. This belief is consistent with which of the following models?
Behavioral
Teachers will often get some students to study more by offering extra credit.
Behavioral
When parents use punishment to change their child's behavior, they are using a technique from this perspective.
Behavioral
When looking at why a person chooses to behave a particular way, I will examine the brain chemistry and hormonal issues of the person.
Biological
A researcher wants to explore whether a new treatment for muscular sclerosis is effective. What is the best way to ensure that results of a study are generalizable to a population?
By using a random selection of people in that population
Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has been estimated to occur in only a few people in a million. Because of its rarity, researchers are likely to choose which research method to study it?
Case study
Which of the following is most important when conducting survey research?
Choosing a representative sample
There is a strong positive correlation between the number of libraries in a city and higher performance on aptitude tests for students. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for this correlation?
Cities with high revenue is related to both the presence of libraries and higher aptitude test scores for students.
A student plays the role of "class clown" in one class and the role of "brain" in another class. This approach explains it by eamining a student's interpretations of how well the student assesses his/her own abilities in each subject.
Cognitive
Researchers repeatedly presented a picture of a goat along with other animals and asked participants to rank how closely the picture of the goat matched their prototype of a "mammal." Participants used a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning "not at all like my prototype of a mammal" to 5 meaning "exactly like my prototype of a mammal." The graph depicts the rankings of each participant based on the number of exposures. What type of research has been conducted?
Correlational Study
Dr. Felder is studying whether the color of a drink impacts how a person experiences the taste of the drink. She has an orange-flavored liquid that she dyes either orange, purple, or blue, and gives it to participants to drink. She then asks them to describe the taste. Which of the following would best help her evaluate the impact of vision on taste?
Create an additional control condition in which participants wear blindfolds while they taste the drink.
A researcher is studying the accuracy of people's memories when they use mnemonic devices. After studying the first 10 people, the data showed that memories using mnemonic devices were more accurate than the average's person's memories. Which of the following explains why the researcher should not draw any conclusions about the accuracy of memories using mnemonic devices yet?
The researcher should expect that the more data she collects, the more likely the results will regress to the mean.
A high school instructor wanted to see if implementing encoding strategies would help students master concepts in AP Psychology. They conduct a double-blind study in which students are randomly assigned to either the encoding strategy group or the group that continued to study as they had before. The data for each group is presented in the table above. Which of the following best represents the results of this investigation?
The variation of scores for the encoding strategies group was smaller.
What effect do neurotransmitters from one neuron have on the next neuron?
They may excite or inhibit neighboring neurons.
Petra, a graduate student, studies creativity, and she is frustrated that several studies in her field do not have precise operational definitions for creativity or divergent thinking. It is important for researchers to use precise operational definitions for which of the following reasons?
They want to be able to replicate the experiment
If the electrical charge of the neuron changes to about -55 millivolts, the neuron will reach its _______ for firing.
Threshold
A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. What is the independent variable in this study?
Type of television program viewed
A person displays behaviors of a psychological disorder that psychologists in the United States have not seen before. The best strategy to investigate the nature of those behaviors is to conduct which of the following?
a case study
A brief electrical charge that travels down an axon is called a(n)
action potential.
John B. Watson is best known as the founder of
behaviorism
Which of the following is the correct sequence of parts of a neuron firing?
dendrites, soma, axon, vesicles, neurotransmitters
One major objection to the early Skinnerian approach to psychology is that it
did not take into account internal thoughts and feelings
Researchers studying conformity conduct an experiment where they compare how two different groups respond to a task, and they determine that the difference between the groups is significant. In experimental psychology, a significant difference refers to a Responses
difference not likely due to chance
Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that Responses
each person in the town has the same probability of being chosen for the study
A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. This research method is best characterized as
experimental
PET scans, EEGs, and lesioning studies provide what type of information?
functionall
Dr. Fredericks is interested in studying how quickly people forget what they learn in class. He teaches a class on biological psychology on a Monday. On Tuesday, he gives the class a quiz asking the students about details from the previous class. Which of the following procedures should Dr. Fredericks have followed to avoid the confounding variable of experimenter bias?
Double-blind
The peripheral nervous system
is the part of the nervous system that does not include the brain and the spinal cord
Survey research has shown that people with high levels of empathy (that is, an ability to imagine and feel what others are experiencing) tend to indicate lower ratings of enjoyment of violent humor than people with lower levels of empathy. Based on these results, one can conclude that
level of empathy correlates negatively with enjoyment of violent humor
Dr. Ivey is researching using stimulants to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To minimize experimenter bias, Dr. Ivey should use which of the following research designs?
Double-blind procedure
Dr. Adele is trying to measure the capacity of her students' short-term memories. She shows them a long series of numbers on a display for several seconds, and then has them write down as many numbers as they can remember in order. Dr. Adele has the students complete a survey in which she asks them "On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being highly effective, how well did you remember the numbers?" She concludes that her students have exceptionally good memories, as most of her students rated themselves as "highly effective." Which of the following best explains Dr. Adele's inaccurate conclusion?
Dr. Adele's survey led to self-report bias.
Which of the following statements best describes the placebo effect?
Dr. Kennedy observed that if people expected a treatment to work, it would, even if the patient received a fake treatment.
Which of the following statements can be made about a normal distribution without knowing specific information about the data set?
Eighty-four percent of the population will score at or below a +1 standard
Morphine elevates mood and eases pain, and is most similar to which of the following?
Endorphins
Aggression is influenced by genetic predisposition. It was an advantageous trait that helped our ancestors acquire food and mates.
Evolutionary
In a research study, participants were randomly assigned to two conditions. One group of participants received a drug once per day for four weeks. The drug increases the speed of communication between neurons. Other participants did not receive the drug. Researchers found that those who took the drug demonstrated an increased memory recall. What type of research design was conducted in this scenario?
Experiment
Researchers measured changes in neural firing in the frontal lobes for ten rats that were exposed to stimulants. The researchers used an MRI that indicates brain activity with colors. Normal brain activity is indicated by greens and yellows. High brain activity is indicated by reds and oranges. Low brain activity is indicated by grays and blues. All the rat's brains showed normal activity prior to being exposed to the stimulant. What type of study was being conducted by the researcher?
Experiment
Which of the following research approaches would be best for testing the hypothesis that the presence of certain odors causes people to gamble more?
Experimental
Dr. Guarini is interested in conducting research that examines how much information people can hold in their working memory. She is unsure whether she needs to conduct an experiment or correlational research. Experimental research differs from correlational research in that experimental research can do which of the following?
may reveal a casual relation
Jane Goodall lived among wild chimpanzees intermittently for decades, studying their social and family systems while keeping her interaction with the chimpanzees to a minimum. Her research method can most accurately be described as
naturalistic observation
The basic building block of the nervous system is the
neuron
What type of correlation do you expect exists between playing football and concussions?
positive correlation
When there is a negative charge inside an axon and a positive charge outside of it, the neuron is
said to have a resting potential
Dr. Wundt gave his students an exam on the functions of different parts of the brain, and the average score was an 85. However, when Dr. Wundt calculated the standard deviation, it was a value of 35.2. This concerns Dr. Wundt because he knows that standard deviation is a measure of how much
scores in a group differ from the mean of that group
To walk across a street, a person would rely most directly on her
somatic nervous system
The purpose of the myelin sheath is to:
speed the transmission of information within a neuron.
CT scans provide what type of information?
structural
MRI: fMRI
structure: function
Researchers find that there is a significant, positive correlation between the number of hours students sleep and their grades. The researchers would be justified in concluding that
students who earn good grades tend to sleep more than those who do not
An evolutionary psychologist would explain that humans desire social interaction, social acceptance, and social affiliation due to a need for which of the following? Responses
survival
Cognitive psychologists are most likely to study which of the following?
the acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving
A survey shows that children who have encyclopedias in their homes earn better grades in school than children whose homes lack encyclopedias. The researcher concludes that having encyclopedias at home improves grades. This conclusion is flawed because
the researcher has incorrectly inferred causation from correlation
In an experiment, a researcher showed children a video of a person interacting with a doll. Half of the children watched a video of a person behaving violently toward a doll, and the other half saw a video of a person playing nicely with a doll. The researcher also looked at whether the gender and age of the child made a difference in how they interacted with the doll. In this study, the dependent variable was
the way children interact with a doll
A group of researchers conduct a study where they tell the participants that they will be doing a memory study, but the researchers were actually measuring levels of anxiety about doing well on a task. The group of researchers should be sure to do which of the following at the conclusion of this study? Responses
Explain the true purpose of a study immediately after the study is complete.
Which neurotransmitter inhibits central nervous system activity in order to calm a person down during stressful situations?
GABA
Which of the following does the endocrine system rely on to communicate?
Hormones
As children, we need nurturing, an unconditional positive regard (acceptance without anything in return) in order to grow up and become healthy, self-actualized adults.
Humanistic
Which of the following perspectives argues that every person has the potential to become self-actualized?
Humanistic
A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. What is the dependent variable in this study?
Incidence of aggressive behavior
According to John Watson, introspection was:
unscientific
A research group involved with advertising is conducting a study to investigate whether shoppers are more likely to engage in impulse buying at the checkout than at any other place in the store. For the results of the study to be generalizable, the researchers should
use a representative sample
END OF UNITS 1 & 2
yay!
In a normal distribution of scores on assessments like those for intelligence, which of the following statements is true about the area that falls between one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the mean?
It contains the middle 68% of the distribution.
A researcher is interested in studying how likely people are to break laws when they are in large crowds. They believe using a naturalistic observation would be the best approach to studying this behavior. Which of the following is a strength of naturalistic observation?
It minimizes artificiality, which can be a problem in laboratory studies.
Which of the following would indicate the strongest correlation between the variables of gratitude and narcissistic personality disorder?
-.90
-3, 3, 0, 3, -3 Researchers collect data from five participants about their explanatory style. The data are presented in the number set. What is the standard deviation of the numbers in the set?
3
A teacher gives an exam in her AP Psychology course on the function of the parts of the brain. If the exam scores were normally distributed, what would be the percentage of scores that fall at or below the mean score?
50
3 4 5 5 7 7 7 8 8 10 Ten participants in a treatment group were asked to rate their feelings of self worth on a scale of one to ten, with a value of ten indicating a very positive feeling of self-worth. The data for the participants are above. What is the mean for these data? Responses
6.4
Mathematics achievement scores from a group of tenth graders are shown above. The distribution is normal with a standard deviation of 10. Approximately what percentage of students scored between 50 and 80?
82%
A group of 25 American college students who were taking introductory psychology during the spring semester participated in a study about cognition. Participants were first asked to read a story about a Russian battle from the 19th century. Later, participants were asked to write down as many details as they could remember from the story. Twenty-two out of 25 of the students changed some of the details of the story, such as referring to a "house" instead of using the Russian word "dacha" that was used in the story. Which of the following best describes the type of sample used in this study?
It was a study that involved convenience sampling.
"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select—doctor, lawyer, artist, merciant-chief..."
John Watson
Which of the following psychologists would have been likely to say, "I do not care about the unconscious or hidden motives—I want to study behavior directly"?
John Watson
A researcher evaluated over 300 studies where algorithms were used to predict the future of the stock market. This study determined that Algorithms accurately predicted the stock market within three percentage points on average. These findings were later provided to individuals who follow the market to inform them about when to sell or buy stocks. Which of the following research techniques best represents the research described?
Meta-analysis
Of the following topics, which would a cognitive psychologist be most likely to study?
Problem-solving strategies in chess
Depression is the result of early childhood trauma and unresolved, unconscious conflicts
Psychodynamic
The notion that human behavior is greatly influenced by unconscious thoughts and desires is most consistent with which of the following psychological approaches?
Psychodynamic
If I survey students and ask them whether or not they got at least 6 hours of sleep last night (a yes/no question), is this quantitative data or qualitative?
Quantitative. Yes/no questions can be encoded as 0 for no and 1 for yes.
Dr. Nance studies the effects of psychoactive drugs on memory and decision-making. When conducting research in this area, Dr. Nance must be sure that people's previous experiences with psychoactive drugs are taken into account. Which of the following procedures is intended to control for preexisting differences between the groups of participants in an experiment? Responses
Random assignment
Researchers randomly assigned 50 elementary school children to place a plug on their nose to limit their sense of smell. The children were then presented with a series of different foods and asked to rate the taste, texture, and intensity on a scale from 1 to 5. Another 50 children were randomly placed in a group with no nose plug and asked to rate the same food using the same scale.
Random assignment to groups would allow researchers to understand if the differences between groups was due to the independent variable (the nose plug).
