BS160 General Psychology

_______ proposes that one can understand dreaming by applying the same intellectual concepts used in studying the waking mind.

Cognitive theory of dreaming

_____ plays a very important role in helping the body respond to stress.

Cortisol

Which of the following statements is true according to activation-synthesis theory?

Dreams result from the brain's attempts to find logic in random brain activity that occurs during sleep.

________ refers to the formation of several different connections around a stimulus at any given level of memory encoding

Elaboration

_____ are natural opiates that mainly stimulate the firing of neurons.

Endorphins

________ is an altered state of consciousness or psychological state of altered attention and expectation in which the individual is unusually receptive to suggestions.

Hypnosis

________ has to do with remembering who, what, where, when, and why. ________ has to do with remembering how.

Implicit memory; Explicit memory XXXX

Which of the following statements is true of working memory?

It is a kind of mental workbench on which the brain manipulates and assembles information to guide understanding, decision making, and problem solving.

Which of the following is true of long-term memory?

Long-term memory has a storage capacity that is virtually unlimited.

________ involves attaining a peaceful state of mind in which thoughts are not occupied by worry.

Meditation

________ refers to the retention of information or experience over time.

Memory

________ are the thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly.

Mental processes

The _____ system is the body's electrochemical communication circuitry.

Nervous

_____ inhibits the firing of neurons in the central nervous system, but it excites the heart muscle, intestines, and urogenital tract.

Norepinephrine

_____ are chemical substances that are stored in very tiny sacs within the neuron's terminal buttons and are involved in transmitting information across a synaptic gap to the next neuron.

Nuerotransmitters

________ provide an objective description of how variables are going to be measured and observed in a particular study.

Operational definitions

_____ is a hormone and neurotransmitter that plays an important role in the experience of love and social bonding.

Oxytocin

Depression is associated with low levels of which neurotransmitter?

Serotonin

_____ decreases brain activity in the thalamus and the prefrontal cortex and leads to reduced complexity of brain activity.

Sleep deprivation

________ involves using introspection to investigate the components of the mind, whereas ________ involves the functions or purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment.

Structuralism; functionalism

________ is the ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time.

Sustained attention

Which of the following is a potential problem of using correlational studies in psychological research?

They fail to establish a clear causal relationship between variables.

Identify a true statement about controlled processes.

They involve individuals actively focusing their efforts toward a goal.

From an evolutionary perspective, which of the following is true of theories on the need for sleep?

They propose that sleep is a way to conserve energy.

________ refers to the soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment.

Validity

According to the science of psychology, a behavior is a(n) _______.

action that can be directly observed

Losing one's sense of self-consciousness and hallucinating specifically during the use of drugs exemplifies _______.

altered states of consciousness

Discrimination of objects that are necessary for survival (such as appropriate food) as well as emotional awareness and expression involves the _____.

amygdala

States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities are called _____.

automatic processes

The ________ approach emphasizes the scientific study of observable actions and/or responses and their environmental determinants.

behavioral

Neuroscience studies are based on the ________ approaches to psychology.

biological

Melanie is learning how to read Spanish by speaking aloud one letter at a time. Melanie is engaging in ________.

bottom-up processing

In the context of descriptive research methods in psychology, ________ are performed mainly by clinical psychologists when, for either practical or ethical reasons, the unique aspects of an individual's life cannot be duplicated and tested in other individuals.

case studies

The brain and the spinal cord make up the _____.

central nervous system

The _____ is part of the forebrain, the outer layer of the brain, and is responsible for the most complex mental functions, such as thinking and planning.

cerebral cortex

The ________ approach to psychology views the mind as an active and aware problem-solving system. This view contrasts with the ________ outlook, which portrays actions as controlled by external environmental forces.

cognitive; behavioral

According to ________, when we learn something new, a neurochemical memory trace forms, but over time this trace disintegrates

decay theory

Psychoactive drugs that slow down mental and physical activity are called _____.

depressants

The ability to listen to music while reading a magazine indicates _____.

divided attention

Problems regulating _____ are associated with schizophrenia, a sever psychological disorder.

dopamine

Attention, deep processing, elaboration, and the use of mental imagery are all part of ________ processes.

encoding

In the context of memory retrieval, the ________ states that information present at the time of encrypting or learning tends to be effective as a retrieval cue.

encoding specificity principle

Which of the following structures of memory is autobiographical?

episodic memory

The ________ approach to psychology relies on concepts such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors.

evolutionary

Dr. Grant conducts research on stress management. Group A receives progressive relaxation training prior to taking the test, while Group B receives no training. Group A is the ________, while Group B is the ________.

experimental group; control group

Brining awareness to one's inner life and attending to one's thoughts is an example of _____.

focused attention

Which of the following essential body functions are under the control of the autonomic nervous system?

functions of heart rate, breathing, and digestion

Which category of drugs modifies a person's perceptual experiences and produces visual images that are not real?

hallucinogens

Joe has suffered a massive stroke. Since then, he finds it difficult to remember names of new people whom he meets or even to recognize them. This is because he is unable to retain any new memories after the stroke. In the context of the organization of the brain, these symptoms are most likely due to a damaged _______.

hippocampus

The ________ approach emphasizes a person's positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and the freedom to choose one's destiny.

humanistic

Carrie suffered brain damage when she was injured in a car accident. Since then, she is unable to take pleasure in the things she used to do. She has also lost interest in sexual intimacy with her husband and does not enjoy the taste of her favorite foods. In this scenario, damage to which of the following areas of the brain is most likely causing her inability to experience pleasure?

hypothalamus

Allie has developed a theory concerning test grades of high school students. She believes that there is a strong causal relationship between students' frequency of study and their grades in school. In the context of psychology's scientific method, to test her theory, Allie would first have to state a ________.

hypothesis

Identify the element of sensory memory that would be most useful in quickly scanning a map of a country to learn the geographical location of its states.

iconic memory

In an experiment, the ________ is conceptualized as the "potential cause" and the ________ is conceptualized as the "resulting effect."

independent variable; dependent variable

According to Freud, ________ is a dream's hidden content—its unconscious and true meaning.

latent content

Retrieval is the memory process that _____.

occurs when information that was retained in memory comes out of storage.

After finishing a psychology test, you try to relax by engaging in some meditation techniques. Doing those exercises should increase the response of the _____ nervous system, which results in a slower heart and respiration rate and less muscular tension.

parasympathetic

While walking in the woods, Rachel feels a sudden pain in her neck. Due to the nature of the pain, she recognizes that she has been stung by a bee. In this scenario, which of the following processes has most likely helped her identify the source of her pain?

perception

An individual's autobiographical memory forms the core of the individual's______.

personal identity

The _____ gland is defined as a pea-sized gland just beneath the hypothalamus that controls growth and regulates other glands.

pituitary

Sonja believes that the pill prescribed to her by the doctor has cured her of anxiety disorder. However, the pill contains no active ingredients. Sonja's belief that she is better now is an example of the ________ effect.

placebo

The _____ functions as an executive control system and plays a role in monitoring and organizing thinking.

prefrontal cortex

Which approach to psychology emphasizes unconscious thought?

psychodynamic approach

Asking an eyewitness to describe a suspect's physical appearance to a sketch artist would be an example of a ________ task, whereas asking an eyewitness to identify a suspect on the basis of a lineup of five possible assailants is an example of a ________ task.

recall; recognition

Shannon is an excellent student. She rewrites her class notes after each class. Rewriting her notes is a form of _____.

rehearsal

In the context of long-term memory, which of the following refers to preexisting mental concepts or frameworks that help people to organize and interpret information?

schemas

A person's knowledge about the world is known as ________ memory.

semantic

According to Freud, ________ is the surface content of a dream, containing dream symbols that disguise the dream's true meaning.

sensation

As you walk barefoot in the park, your nose conveys to your brain the smell of the freshly cut grass; your skin sends information about the feel of the gentle breeze; and your ears transmit the sound of children laughing on the playground to your auditory cortex. This process of detecting stimuli in the environment is called _____.

sensation

After hearing a friend's telephone number for the first time, Harold was immediately able to recite all seven digits of the phone number in perfect order. Harold most likely used his ________ to recite these digits.

short-term memory

Dr. Badal, a psychologist, is studying achievement motivation among groups of African American, Latino, and Asian American people. In this scenario, Dr. Badal is most likely practicing the ________ approach to psychology.

sociocultural

Heather reported a boost in energy and a sense of well-being after taking a drug. Medical tests revealed increased activity of her central nervous system. The drug she took is most likely a _____

stimulant

Your English professor gives you some advice on how to cure writer's block. She tells you to sit at your computer for 15 minutes and write whatever comes into your head. You don't censor yourself or worry about spelling or grammar. Instead you merely translate your thoughts into words. This technique will allow your ________ to flow.

stream of consciousness

You are walking to school when you encounter a barking dog. You start sweating and contemplate whether you should run away. Which nervous system is primarily responsible for this "fight-or-flight" reaction?

sympathetic

The _____ serves as an essential relay station, functioning much like a server in a computer network.

thalamus

The term "plasticity" refers to _____.

the brain's special capacity for modification and change

According to ________, memory for pictures is better than memory for words.

the dual-code hypothesis

Dr. Steinguard wants to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between stress and memory. Which of the following research methods should he use?

the experimental method

A(n) ________ is a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations.

theory

Amelia has been working as a teataster for approximately 15 years. She visits tea gardens in the country of Bodonia to grade teas according to their quality and taste. While tasting, she uses her prior knowledge to grade the teas. In this scenario, Amelia is most likely engaged in ______.

top-down processing