General Psychology Midterm Practice

Salivation in response to food is an example of . . . A. Latent learning B. A learned response C. A reflex D. Insight learning

A reflex

You are listening to a lecture. Then the bell rings in the hallway. In order to hear this stimulus, ________ nerves must carry electrochemical messages from your ears to your brain. A. Afferent B. Olfactory C. Efferent D. Pyramidal

Afferent

Learning that occurs when an organism makes a connection between two events is called . . . A. Latent learning B. Observational learning C. Associative learning D. Rote learning

Associative learning

States of consciousness that require little attention and do not interfere with other ongoing activities are called . . . A. Controlled processes B. Automatic processes C. Subconscious processes D. Executive processes

Automatic processes

The function of the ____ is to take messages to and from the body's internal organs, monitoring such processes as breathing, heart rate, and digestion. A. Central nervous system B. Autonomic nervous system C. Somatic nervous system D. Voluntary nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

Which of the following components are essential to the definition of consciousness? A. Awareness and responsiveness B. Awareness and arousal C. Tolerance and arousal D. Alertness and tolerance

Awareness and arousal

_________ is a state of being conscious of what is going on, whereas _______ is a physiological state of being engaged with the environment. A. Arousal; awareness B. Awareness; arousal C. Arousal; alertness D. Alertness; arousal

Awareness; arousal

Creative people engage in . . . A. Divergent thinking but not in convergent thinking B. Deductive thinking C. Both convergent thinking and divergent thinking D. Function fixedness

Both convergent thinking and divergent thinking

Melanie is learning how to read Spanish by speaking aloud one letter at a time. Melanie is engaging in ______ A. Top-down processing B. Bottom-up processing C. Sensory adaptation D. Subliminal perception

Bottom-up processing

The term "plasticity" refers to the A. flexibility of the endocrine system. B. lack of ability to adapt to new surroundings. C. Ability to connect electrical impulses and chemical messengers. D. Brain's special capacity for modification and change.

Brain's special capacity for modification and change.

The brain and spinal cord make up the . . . A. Peripheral nervous system. B. Central nervous system C. Autonomic nervous system. D. Somatic nervous system

Central nervous system

The biological cycle that regulates people's pattern of sleep is called a . . . A. Circadian rhythm B. Myoclonic event C. non-REM sequence D. Dormant rhythm

Circadian rhythm

_______ is a learning process in which a neutral process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an innately meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response. A. Operant conditioning B. Classical conditioning C. Latent learning D. Observational learning

Classical conditioning

Approaches that sought to explain observable behavior by investigating mental processes and structures that cannot be directly observed by individuals fall were labeled __________ psychology. A. Forensic B. Behavioral C. Cognitive D. Biological

Cognitive

Basketball, football, baseball, and soccer all fit into the _____ of sports. A. Heuristic B. Morpheme C. Concept D. Algorithm

Concept

_______ are mental categories that are used to group objects, events, and characteristics. A. Algorithms B. Concepts C. Semantics D. Matrices

Concepts

________ is an individual's awareness of external events and internal sensations under a condition of arousal. A. Consciousness B. Imagination C. Somnolence D. Laterality

Consciousness

________ are the most alert states of human consciousness, during which individuals actively focus their efforts toward a goal. A. Automatic processes B. Controlled processes C. Altered processes D. Subconscious processes

Controlled processes

Which of the following attitudes are central to the scientific approaches to psychology? A. Critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and objectivity. B. Critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and subjectivity. C. Critical thinking, curiosity, political correctness, and objectivity. D. Critical thinking, curiosity, political correctness, and subjectivity.

Critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and objectivity.

Elsa is studying for her psychology exam with the TV on in the background. Research on the effects of divided attention suggests that watching TV while studying will ______ Elsa's exam performance. A. Slightly increase B. Strongly increase C. Decrease D. Have no effect on

Decrease

Lionel is the CEO of a company that is going through a financial crisis. He asks his employees to brainstorm and create a list of all possible solutions to revive the company's business. In this scenario, Lionel is asking his employees to engage in . . . A. Convergent thinking B. Divergent thinking C. Heuristic thinking D. Functional fixedness

Divergent thinking

Multitasking is an example of . . . A. Mental imagery B. Divided attention C. Priming D. Rehearsal

Divided attention

Which of the following is true of divided attention in the context of memory encoding? A. Divided attention involves concentrating on different activities, one activity at a time. B. Divided attention is the ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time. C. Divided attention is not likely to impede an individual's ability to pay attention to a specific aspect of an experience. D. Divided attention can be especially detrimental to the process of encoding information

Divided attention can be especially detrimental to the process of encoding information

Martin is riding his motorcycle to his office. When he hears the honking of a truck trying to overtake him, he gives way to the truck. In the context of the pathways in the nervous system, in this scenario, which type of nerves communicated information from Martin's brain to his muscles and made him move his motorcycle? A. Efferent B. Pyramidal C. Afferent D. Olfactory

Efferent

________ carry information out of the brain and spinal cord to other areas of the body. A. Afferent nerves B. Auditory nerves C. Efferent nerves D. Sensory nerves

Efferent nerves

______ refers to the process by which information gets into memory storage. A. Transmission B. Retrieval C. Decay D. Encoding

Encoding

In the context of sensory receptors, the intensity of the stimulus is communicated to the brain by varying the __________ of action potentials sent to the brain. A. Strength B. Frequency C. Depth D. Lucidity

Frequency

Which of the following characteristics of the brain refers to the brain's ability to pull information together? A. Integration B. Complexity C. Adaptability D. Plasticity

Integration

_______ refers to the retention of information or experience over time. A. Learning B. Memory C. Priming D. Amnesia

Memory

__________ are the thoughts, feelings and motives that each of us experiences privately but that cannot be observed directly. A. Mental processes B. Behaviors C. Fetal processes D. Mannerisms

Mental Processes

The cultivation of two mental habits is essential to critical thinking; these habits are A. Mindfulness and open-mindedness B. Fixedness and divergent thinking C. Heuristics and creativity D. Inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning

Mindfulness and open-mindedness

Emma, a chemistry teacher for eighth grade, plays a video in class to demonstrate the process of conducting a basic experiment in chemistry. Her students are required to watch the video attentively, remember all the steps and safety instructions, and reproduce the same experiment independently. Which of the following is best illustrated when the students reproduce the experiment? A. Operant conditioning B. Classical conditioning C. Observational learning D. Latent learning

Observational learning

Organisms learn the association between a behavior and a consequence in A. Classical conditioning B. Operant conditioning C. Latent learning D. Discovery learning

Operant conditioning

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? A. Photoreception B. Perception C. Incubation D. Transduction

Perception

________ is the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense. A. Consciousness B. Perception C. Sensation D. Reception

Perception

J.B. Watson and B.F. Skinner believed that . . . A. consciousness should always be investigated through the process of individual introspection. B. Psychology should focus on an organism's visible interactions with the environment that is behaviors. C. Psychology should study both outwardly observed behaviors and inborn mental motivations. D. Psychological methods could be developed to study the process of human cognition.

Psychology should focus on an organism's visible interactions with the environment that is, behaviors.

If an intelligence test produces the same score over multiple repetitions but it doesn't accurately measure intelligence, then the test is ______ but not ________. A. Reliable ; valid B. Valid ; reliable C. Inductive ; deductive D. Divergent ; convergent

Reliable ; valid

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. A. Sensation B. Selective attention C. Sensory adaptation D. Cognition

Sensation

While walking barefoot on a beach, the physical pain that one experiences when stepping on a jellyfish most accurately exemplifies ______ A. Sensation B. Perception C. Incubation D. Photoreception

Sensation

______ is the process of receiving stimulus energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into neural energy. A. Consciousness B. Perception C. Sensation D. Reception

Sensation

In classical conditioning, organisms learn the association between two . . . A. Organizations B. Stimuli C. Motives D. Considerations

Stimuli

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. A. River of dreams B. Circadian rhythm C. Stream of consciousness D. Level of awareness

Stream of consciousness

Wilhelm Wundt's approach to discovering the basic elements of mental processes is called. A. Functionalism B. Structuralism C. Humanism D. Behaviorism

Structuralism

_______ is the ability to maintain attention to a selected stimulus for a prolonged period of time. A. Divided attention B. Elaboration C. Multitasking D. Sustained attention

Sustained attention

______ states that memory storage involves three separate systems: sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory A. The dual-code hypothesis B. The Atkinson-Shiffrin theory C. Ebbinghaus's curve of forgetting D. Parallel distributed processing (PDP)

The Atkinson-Shiffrin theory

Dan, who often travels in airplanes, experiences sudden fear of flying after he hears the news about an airplane crash. In this case, Dan's experiences demonstrates . . . A. Confirmation bias B. The availability heuristic C. Hindsight bias D. Timing bias

The availability of heuristic

Hillary meets her brother's friend Drake who is a tall and lanky man. She concludes that Drake might be a basketball player for his college team. According to the biases and heuristics in decision making, it can be concluded that Hillary mirrors _____ in this scenario. A. The representativeness heuristic B. The availability heuristic C. Confirmation bias D. Hindsight bias

The representativeness heuristic

Which of the following refers to the fact that robots that represent very close facsimiles of humans rae likely to evoke revulsion in people? A. Morphology B. The representativeness heuristic C. The uncanny valley D. The Flynn effect

The uncanny valley

Which of the following statements is true of the practitioners of the psychodynamic approach? A. They believe that personality is shaped entirely by genetic factors. B. They believe that sexual and aggressive impulses buried deep within the unconscious mind influence the way people think. C. They emphasize that psychology should be about what people do and should not concern itself with things that cannot be seen, such as thoughts, feelings, and goals. D. They use evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors.

They believe that sexual and aggressive impulses buried deep within the unconscious mind influence the way people think.

Which of the following is an example of behavior? A. Thinking of a family vacation B. Two people holding hands in a park C. A student's memory of a motorcycle trip. D. A baby's feeling when his or her mother leaves the room.

Two people holding hands in a park.

In Pavlov's experiment, the dog automatically salivated to food because food is a(n) A. Unconditioned stimulus (US) B. Conditioned stimulus (CS) C. Unconditioned response (UR) D. Conditioned response (CR)

Unconditioned stimulus (US)

Which of the following theorists primarily used the structuralism approach to studying human behavior? A. William James B. Wilhelm Wundt C. Charles Darwin D. Sigmund Freud

Wilhelm Wundt