PSY2012 Final Exam

Which statement is FALSE about pheromones?

A person must be consciously aware of them for them to have an effect on behavior.

During a meet-and-greet for a student organization, you ask another attendee about their religious affiliation. Based on the characteristics of residents of the United States, you would expect this person's religious affiliation to be:

Christian

Andres has not had much luck in his past relationships, but he wants to be in a loving relationship. If Andres is trying to nurture a lasting romantic relationship with his current partner, what should he NOT do?

Clam up when he feels offended by something his partner says.

Which is NOT true about observational learning and violence?

Correlation studies reveal that video game violence causes aggression.

Which statement about exercise's impact on human brain function is FALSE?

Engaging in stretching results in the same benefits as aerobic exercise.

Alfredo is a talented artist. Even though Alfredo wants to start a new line of work, he feels obligated to continue what he is currently doing because there is a lot of demand for his work. Giovanni, on the other hand, is also a talented artist, but his work is not quite as popular. Nevertheless, Giovanni is passionate about his work and continues his line of work for the sheer enjoyment of it. Which statement would be MOST supported by research on self-determination theory?

Giovanni's autonomous motivation will result in higher levels of psychological wellness.

Two groups of participants are asked to estimate how much a piece of art is worth. Before giving their actual estimates, Group A is first asked if they think the art is worth more or less than $10, while Group B is asked if they think the art is worth more or less than $150. According to the anchoring heuristic, what would be the MOST likely result on average?

Group B estimates the art is worth more than what Group A estimates.

Which statement about cultural differences in reinforcement is TRUE?

People from individualistic cultures may find awards that single them out as more reinforcing than people from collectivistic cultures.

Which statement accurately describes how the processes of punishment and reinforcement differ?

Punishment decreases behavior and reinforcement increases a response.

Two students take a memory test where 15 words were projected sequentially onto a screen. Sal tried to think of rhymes for each word as it appeared on the screen, whereas Sima tried to think of ways each word could be used in a sentence. Based on research findings about levels of processing, you would predict that:

Sima will have better recall of the words because she used deep processing.

Which is NOT typical in figure-ground organization?

The figure is larger than the ground.

A store begins selling a T-shirt for young girls that reads, "I'm too pretty to do math." The store eventually stopped selling the shirt because of complaints from customers. Which reason BEST explains why the message of this T-shirt would be considered a microaggression?

The message reinforces a sexist stereotype.

Which statement about detecting temperature is TRUE?

There are separate receptors for hot and cold.

Angie did not score well on her first exam in Biology, and she started considering quitting school. Instead of quitting right away, though, she gives herself some time to consider all the pros and cons of being a student, what her parents would think, and what she could do instead of going to school. Angie is demonstrating:

Type 2 thinking.

Phyllis works with a group of people who constantly take advantage of her kindness. Phyllis always has to complete the tasks that no one else wants to do. She never complains, though, and feels helpless to change her circumstances. Phyllis MOST likely has _____ personality.

Type C

Which example BEST reflects reciprocal determinism?

a man who succeeds in a class because he is encouraged by classmates, puts in more effort, and starts believing in himself

Dr. Beese is a cognitive psychologist. The research question they would MOST likely focus on would be how the _____ declines with age.

ability to understand and process information

Olive moved from her small hometown to a very large city. After her move, Olive found that she dressed, spoke, and behaved very differently than people in her new city. Olive felt pressure from her friends in the new city to be more like them. When Olive visited her small hometown, her family and friends frequently told her that she was changing and acting differently than what they were used to. These experiences likely caused Olive to experience _____, which is a physical or psychological reaction to living between two cultures.

acculturative stress

When Maxwell was suddenly face-to-face with a bear on his hike, he was in the _____ stage of the general adaptation syndrome.

alarm

Chris is a white man who has had very limited experience with people of other races. One day he is on an elevator when two men of African descent enter the elevator along with a few other people. One of the African men asks his friend out loud to "hit the floor" at which point Chris becomes scared and literally drops to his knees with his hands in the air. Which part of the brain is MOST associated with Chris's response?

amygdala

Reginald asks his mother if he can go over to his friend's house for a few hours. His mother agrees and reminds Reginald to be home by 6 P.M. for dinner. Reginald later asks if he can stay until 7 P.M. because they will need the extra time to finish a school project. His mother lets him, but reminds him that 7 P.M. is the latest he can stay. This parenting style is BEST described as:

authoritarian

As you and your mom are thinking about checking out a new release at the theater, she asks, "Out of curiosity, how many times have you gone to the movies over the past 5 years?" You probably hadn't counted and kept track of the exact number of times but reply that you go maybe a handful of times a year. Your ability to provide at least an approximation is MOSTLY due to your _____ of the frequency of events.

automatic encoding

Jason has an eating disorder in which he overeats and then immediately takes steps to compensate for the overeating. Jason's weight is average for someone of his age and height. The disorder Jason MOST likely has is:

bulimia nervosa

there is a connection between stress and the functioning of our bodies.

confirmation bias

Jason has missed several homework assignments and even lost a letter grade on a research paper because he turned it in late. Jason tends to be disorganized and not much of a planner. He is laid-back about due dates and details of projects and assignments. Jason would MOST likely score low on which scale of the Big Five?

conscientiousness

You get up from your study room to get something from the kitchen. Once you get to the kitchen, you can't seem to remember what you were going to get. Frustrated, you give up and head back to study. As soon as you enter your study room, you suddenly remember what you were going to get from the kitchen! Which concept BEST explains what you just experienced?

context-dependent learning

Scott's friends wanted to steal candy from a gas station. Scott told them, "We have to follow the rules to keep our society civilized. Could you imagine what it would be like if everyone stole?" Scott is MOST likely in the _____ level of moral development.

conventional

In a game of trivia with your friends, you surprise yourself with how many questions you get correct. According to Cattell's model of intelligence, you have a higher amount of _____ than you had realized.

crystallized intelligence

Your letter carrier delivers mail to the mailbox where you live. Your mailbox functions in the same way as the _____ of the neuron.

dendrites

The figure is larger than the ground.

difficulty falling asleep

Six-year-old Tammy gets mad after being scolded by her mom. Instead of showing her anger toward her mom, Tammy takes it out on her younger sister. Tammy is exhibiting the defense mechanism of:

displacement

Devan recently met James for the first time. After meeting James, Devan had a vague feeling that he had met James before, even though he had not. Devan's experience is called:

déjà vu.

Jerimiah wanted to go away for college when he graduated high school, but decided to live at home for a few more years. He still relies on his parents for food, money, and guidance, yet he is making strides toward self-sufficiency. The developmental period that BEST describes Jerimiah would be:

emerging adulthood

Nigel is known as the school bully. Personality tests would likely show that Nigel scores low in _____ and high in _____.

empathy; impulsivity

Yuko is Japanese and Elizabeth is American. Statistically, Yuko is more likely than Elizabeth to:

express embarrassment when she is successful at a task.

Tomas works hard in his garden because he knows he can sell his homegrown produce at the local farmer's market. Ahmed spends a lot of time gardening because of his sheer passion for growing beautiful flowers and vegetables. Tomas is demonstrating _____, whereas Ahmed is demonstrating _____.

extrinsic motivation; intrinsic motivation

Walter recently began therapy but is not sure whether he wants to continue with this particular therapist. Walter feels that his new therapist completely understands what he is going through and thoroughly accepts him as a person, but he also feels that the therapist is a bit fake at times. According to Carl Rogers, the therapist is lacking the essential characteristic of:

genuineness

In a recent meeting at work, Claude was surprised that all members of his finance committee approved every line item proposed in the new budget. Even though Claude was uncomfortable with some of the proposals, he was more concerned with avoiding conflict with the members and therefore did not raise any points of disagreement. It is likely that Claude was influenced by:

groupthink

Martin has a small wound on his leg that he got while camping. Martin notices that it is taking a long time to heal and wonders why this is. You know that Martin has recently split from his longtime partner and just got laid off from his job. You tell him that it is possible that:

he is feeling stressed, and it is taking longer to heal than it would if he were not feeling stressed.

The Chens just had a baby, Hong. The Chens live in the United States but are originally from China. The Chens typically follow the mainstream cultural customs of their native China. Therefore, the Chens are most likely to support which sleeping arrangement for Hong? Hong would be sleeping:

in the same room as his parents until mid-childhood.

Burak is talking about a time when he was in a moment of self-actualization and experienced a peak experience. During this peak experience, it is MOST likely that he:

lost track of time and space.

Perceptual constancy allows your brain to _____ a perception despite _____ sensation.

maintain; changing

Thaïs spends a semester abroad in Japan immersing herself in the culture and taking intensive language classes. By the end of her trip, she is proud of her proficiency in Japanese and is eager to continue practicing her Japanese conversation skills. However, a few years after returning to the United States and not having been around anyone who speaks Japanese, Thaïs unfortunately can barely remember any of the Japanese she previously learned. Her experience MOST reflects the process psychologists refer to as:

memory decay

Donnie has been preparing for months to take a standardized test for college admissions. On the day of the test, she feels well-prepared but also quite nervous. According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, which level of arousal would be MOST beneficial for Donnie's test performance?

moderate

The Margaret Thatcher effect demonstrates:

modular perception

Nora is a 10-year-old Latina girl who is in the fifth grade. Recently, Nora's teacher referred her to be evaluated for her school's gifted program. As a part of that evaluation, Nora took an intelligence test. Compared to intelligence tests in the past, the modern test Nora took is likely:

more culturally fair

When reaching into your book bag, you accidentally jab yourself on the sharp point of a pencil. You immediately move your hand away from the source of pain. The ability to move away when this happens is communicated to your muscles from your brain through:

motor neurons

Lknarf Industries is a large, multinational corporation with hundreds of employees. The employees of Lknarf Industries use an internal messaging system which allows them to communicate quickly, easily, and efficiently with one another. The company's approach to communication operates MOST similarly to the:

nervous system

Rakesh is considering taking an opiate, which he knows is a psychoactive drug. Rakesh knows psychoactive drugs affect the body and so expects his _____ if he takes the opiate.

neurotransmitters will be affected

Kai is taking a personality test for a potential job. It is a pencil-and-paper test full of brief statements about Kai's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Kai is instructed to pick the answer that best describes her, and when she is done it will be scored by a computer. Kai is taking a(n) _____ personality test.

objective

Dr. Nainex is a psychologist who has been working with Nadia for over a year. When Nadia first came to therapy, she reported that she constantly thought about her house burning down. This caused Nadia so much anxiety that she had to unplug all of her electronic devices—even her refrigerator—every morning before going to work; sometimes she'd have to leave work to check that she'd gotten them all. Nadia was on probation at work because of often being late or leaving early to check. Nadia's symptoms align BEST with those of _____ disorder.

obsessive-compulsive

You just started working as a server at a local restaurant. As a part of your training, you are expected to shadow an experienced server in order to learn how to perform the job properly. This is MOST similar to which therapeutic technique?

participant modeling

Diana is in a psychology doctoral program and is focusing her research on the factors that influence people's traits such as extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience. Diana is MOST likely studying to become what type of psychologist?

personality

Dr. Tin works with psychiatric patients with severe disorders by studying brain scans and other biological conditions of the disorders. Dr. Tin is MOST likely what type of psychologist?

physiological

Generally speaking, applied psychologists _____, whereas basic research psychologists _____.

practice; run studies

Dr. Garcia is a psychologist who began studying culture in the 1960s. Today, Dr. Garcia's definition of culture is different from when she first began her work. In her early work, Dr. Garcia MOST likely defined culture as:

race/ethnicity

When you do not perform well on an exam, and then insist the instructor administered an unfair test, rather than admitting you did not study enough, your ego is using the defense mechanism of:

rationalization

Lilly and Emmanuel just had their first newlywed argument. Lilly has decided to go home to her parents' house and stay there for a few days. Psychologists would say that Lilly is MOST likely exhibiting the defense mechanism of:

regression

One evening while walking home from the bus stop, you saw a person behaving unusually. He appeared to be having a conversation with no one, and then he began cowering in terror although there seemed nothing around to be scared of. When you walked by him, he asked you if you were aware that aliens were coming that night to take over the government. Since you just took an abnormal psychology class, you suspect that this person may be experiencing the symptoms of:

schizophrenia

You have a huge exam on Friday, and that is also the day your 10-page research paper is due. Which is a problem-focused coping method to deal with this stress?

set up a schedule for studying and working on the paper

As Maria rides on the bus and looks out the window, her iconic memory takes in all the _____ as her echoic memory takes in all the _____.

sights; sounds

Jordan went to bed and fell asleep. Jordan is currently in the deepest stages of sleep. It would be difficult to wake Jordan during this time. If Jordan was awakened, Jordan would probably feel disoriented and confused. Jordan is currently in _____ sleep.

slow-wave

When using a partial schedule of reinforcement, acquisition of behavior happens _____ and extinction occurs _____.

slowly; slowly

The faculty in the Psychology department at your university rotate being department chair every three years. While the department chair is the voice of the department and represents them at meetings with the deans and the Provost, the department chair only voices decisions unanimously agreed upon by all of the faculty members of the department. Your university's Psychology department is an example of a culture with:

small power distance

Which is an example of the cocktail party effect?

starting to fall asleep during the movie but waking up when you hear your name, which happens to be the name of a character

Max has trouble going to sleep most nights. His doctor suggests that Max eliminate distractions at bedtime and to only use his bed for sleep. The doctor is recommending that Max engage in which practice?

stimulus control

Cade got really angry with Grant for calling him names. Cade's initial reaction was to punch Grant in the face, but Cade knew deep inside that it wasn't right to punch Grant. Cade decided to ignore Grant and walk away. Cade MOST likely listened to his:

superego

Dr. O'Connor discovered a new species of sea slug. In this species, the axon terminals and the dendrites of the neurons communicate via direct contact. Unlike humans, this species does not have _____ between its neurons.

synapses

Douglas spent a long time in school to get a law degree because he felt that being a lawyer would keep him happy and satisfied for the rest of his life. When he graduated and landed his first job at a firm, Douglas was extremely excited and felt fulfilled. A few years later, however, Douglas found that he was no longer excited about his job and considered going back to school for a business degree. Dylan's initial thought that he'd be happy forever after achieving success in law is an example of:

the durability bias

All of the following are true about why many girls are reaching puberty earlier than in the past EXCEPT:

the presence of their father at home.

Which is the BEST example of psychologists studying personality? A researcher studies:

the trait of patience in many different situations.

Your friend Jerimiah notices that he always gets sick during finals week. You tell Jerimiah:

there is a connection between stress and the functioning of our bodies.

Bailey has been in therapy with Dr. Robbins for several months. During the therapy process, Dr. Robbins has made connections between Bailey's unconscious material and her thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Over time, Bailey processed and accepted Dr. Robbins's interpretations, incorporating them into her views of herself and her disorder. Bailey's processing of Dr. Robbins's interpretations is called:

working through

Throughout most of his life, Bennie did not have a particularly strong memory. One day, though, he saw a YouTube video about the International Memory Championship and was intrigued by the amount of random information that people could memorize. Bennie signed up for an online course in memory enhancement techniques and began training. A year later, he entered a memory competition and won. Bennie's experience demonstrates that:

you can train yourself to excel in memory.

Billy is far better at multitasking than Bob. Based on memory research, which statement is MOST likely to be true?

Billy has greater working memory capacity than does Bob.

Which statement is FALSE about learning?

Learning is the "nature" part of the "nature-nurture" debate.

An example of extrinsic motivation is:

Mbeke, who serves as a tour guide because it pays really well.

The addition of using MRI scans to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease, while still diagnosing behavioral and social symptoms, is an approach that has moved toward a _____ treatment.

biopsychosocial

Gabrielle has always had trouble with her personal relationships. Gabrielle can make friends easily but her friendships usually don't last. When Gabrielle first makes friends with someone, she tends to idealize them and wants to be with them all the time. Inevitably, though, Gabrielle suddenly becomes disillusioned with her friend because she feels the person is neglecting or abandoning her. Gabrielle's thought and behavior patterns BEST align with _____ personality disorder.

borderline

Dr. Jones is a middle-aged white male who grew up in the United States. His client Vinay is a young college student who grew up in the Middle East. Dr. Jones recognizes that he and Vinay are from different cultural backgrounds but feels confident that he will be able to work sensitively and expertly with his client. Dr. Jones believes he possesses what is defined in the field of psychotherapy as cultural:

competence