Psych Exam 1

Psychologists disagree about how to define the word ______ because of differences in _________.

"persons"; values

Which of the following correlation coefficients would be weakest.

+.90

Which of the following is NOT an example of psychology as an applied science.

a biological psychologist examines reactions of occipital cortex cell to red and green stimuli in order to better understand visual functioning.

The all-or-none law applies to:

action potentials

In part, amphetamine produces its effects by:

blocking reuptake

Cells can be conceptualized as biological tool factories that produce _____.

carbohydrates

The two major divisions of the nervous system are the ______ and _____.

central; peripheral nervous systems

______ has its roots in religious practice.

mediation

An individual's consistent pattern of thought and behavior is known as a(n) ______.

personality

Empiricism is a fundamental commitment of each of the following disciplines except for:

philosophy

Rosemary had a stroke about a year a god and now she cannot understand what people are saying to her. This embarrassing for her, so she responds using vague language and tries to make it appear as though she understands. Which area of Rosemary's brain was likely damaged by the stroke?

prefrontal cortex

What is a limitation that affects the generalizability of research results?

small sample size

The _____ is a sensory relay station where all sensory information, except for smell, goes before being sent to other areas of the brain for further processing.

Amygdala

Behaviorism focuses on making psychology an objective science by _____.

Studying overt behavior and deemphasizing the importance of unobservable mental processes

Information withing a neuron is a ___________. event

electrical

The body's biological clock is located in the ____.

hypothalamus

Using existing records to try to answer a research question is known as _____.

Archival research

A neurotransmitter is released when a(n) ______ potential reaches a _______.

action; dendrite

An almost exclusive focus on physiopersonal variables is dominant in the discipline of:

anthropology

A(n) _________ facilitates or mimics the activity of a given neurotransmitter system.

axon

A(n) _____ is a variable that affects both variables of interest and may falsely give the impression of a cause-and-effect relationship

confounding variable

Directionality and third variable problems apply to:

correctional studies

The one research procedure that best identifies cause and effect relationships is the ______.

experiment

When Brady is hot he sweats. When Brady is cold, he gets goose bumps on his skin so he will warm up more quickly. This is an example of how the body tries to achieve ____.

homeostasis

The sleep debt is the result of _____.

insufficient sleep on a chronic basis

______ assesses the consistency of observations by different observers.

inter-rater reliability

A student applying for a job says, "The most important thing you need to understand is that I am a very conscientious person." In this statement, conscientiousness refers to a(n) ___________ variable.

interpersonal

A psychologist believe that persons are caused by nature, not nurture. This psychologist, therefore emphasizes _______ variables.

metapersonal

A(n) ______ is a sudden, permanent change in a sequence of DNA

mutation

Which of the following is NOT part of the cognitive triad used by Aaron T. Beck to explain the pessimistic explanatory style of depressed persons.

needs

Harrison et al. are conducting a study assessing the ability of depressed versus non-depressed participants to remember negative emotions in a short story about a family whose car breaks down. They plan to ask participants to read the story and then make a list of the emotions expressed in the story. Before beginning the study, they make a list of negative emotions (e.g, sadness and anger) that they will record from the participants' responses. In this example, negative emotions are the _____.

operational definition

Morphine is considered a(n) _____ drug because it decreases pain

opioid

______ is the belief that all true knowledge comes through the use of logic and reason alone.

rationalism

Stan and Jenny are in a psychology course that requires them to repeat an experiment that researches have conducted in the past, in order to determine whether they produce the same results. This is called _____.

replication

_______ theory suggests that when people are hypnotized they have voluntarily divided their conscious; one half aware of reality and the other half tuned in to the hypnotist.

social-cognitive

The DNA of a neuron is located in the _____.

soma

_____ is another word for sleepwalking.

somnambulism

Sleep spindles and K=complexes are most often associated with ____ sleep.

stage 2

The major limitation of case studies is _____.

The inability to generalize the findings from this approach to the larger population

Introspection refers to a process by which someone examines ______ as objectively as possible.

Her own conscious experience

_______ is to animal research as ______ is to human research

IACUC; IRB

Which of the following conclusions can be drawn from from the case study of Phineas Gage's accident, which led to brain injury?

Injury to the brain causes changes in behavior, and specific brain areas are linked to particular behavior

One would need at least a(n) _____ degree to serve as a school psychologist.

Master's

The ______ is the difference in charge between the intracellular and extracellular space of a neuron.

Membrane potential

For a scientific explanation to be testable, it must also be ____.

Perceivable and measurable

The _______ secretes hormones that regulate the body's fluid levels.

Pituary

The operant conditioning chamber (aka __________ box) is a device used to study the principles of operant conditioning.

Skinner

Char heard from her friends that marijuana use can cure glaucoma so it should be legal in all 50 states. Char knows that she is biased in favor of marijuana legalization, so she decides to exercise some skepticism about this claim. She researches where her friend got their information, how reliable it is, and what other sources say about legalizing marijuana. Char is ____.

Thinking critically.

Which statement best illustrates a negative correlation between the number of hours spent watching TV the week before an exam and the grade on that exam?

Watching too much television leads to poor exam performance.

Rogers believed that providing genuineness, empathy, and ____ in the therapeutic environment for his clients was critical to their being able to deal with their problems.

unconditional positive regard