Psychology Midterm Review

Learning that occurs when an organism makes a connection between two events is called

Associative learning

_____ is a theory of learning that focuses solely on observable actions and responses.

Behaviorism

Neuroscientists who surgically remove, destroy, or eliminate the brain tissue of laboratory animals are using which of the following techniques for studying the brain?

Brain lesioning

Dr. Meyer is known for his difficult pop quizzes. Immediately before he springs a pop quiz on his students, he typically goes to the classroom door and closes it. Students soon learn to anticipate a pop quiz whenever Dr. Meyer closes the classroom door. Closing the door has become a(n) _____.

CS

In the human cell, threadlike structures that come in 23 pairs, one member of each pair originating from each parent, and that contain DNA are called

Chromosomes

Lightning is associated with thunder and regularly precedes it. Thus, when we see lightning, we often anticipate that we will hear thunder soon afterward. This is an example of

Classical conditioning

_____ is a learning process in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response.

Classical conditioning

_____ produces the single best solution to a problem.

Convergent thinking

_____ is a complex molecule in the cell's chromosomes that carries genetic information.

DNA

_____ refers to the process of transforming information into a form that can be stored in memory.

Encoding

_____ are secreted by the adrenal glands.

Epinephrine and norepinephrine

Which of the following can be further subdivided into episodic and semantic memory?

Explicit memory

Which of the following is the brain's largest division?

Forebrain

A _____ is a person's genetic heritage, his or her actual genetic material.

Genotype

Classical conditioning helps to explain _____, which refers to the decreased responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated presentations.

Habituation

Cognitive psychologist Jonathan Schooler has suggested that the term recovered memories be replaced with the term discovered memories. Why?

Individuals with "discovered" memories experience them as real, whether or not the memories are accurate.

The tendency of animals to revert to intuitive behavior that interferes with learning is called

Instinctive drift

_____ refers to the degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable.

Internal validity

In which of the following ways does functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) detect the functioning of the brain?

It exploits changes in blood oxygen that occur in association with brain activity.

In the context of neurotransmitters, which of the following best describes the effect of norepinephrine stimulation?

It helps to control the level of alertness.

Which of the following is a true statement about an axon?

It is extremely thin and has many branches.

Which of the following is true of the neurotransmitter serotonin?

It is involved in the regulation of mood and attention.

Which of the following is true with regard to the association cortex?

It is the region of the cerebral cortex that is the site of the highest intellectual functions, such as thinking and problem solving.

In the context of the neural impulse, which of the following is true about the depolarization of neuron membranes?

It occurs when there is a decrease in the charge difference between the fluids inside and outside of the neuron.

Which of the following principles underlies the technique of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?

It rests on the principle that mental activity is associated with changes in the oxygenated blood levels in the brain.

Experience with unavoidable negative stimuli can lead to a particular deficit in avoidance learning called _____, in which the organism, exposed to uncontrollable aversive stimuli, learns that it has no control over negative outcomes.

Learned helplessness

_____ is a systematic, relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs through experience.

Learning

_____ provide ways by which correlational researchers may attempt to demonstrate causal relations among variables, even though the causal relationship may still be somewhat unclear.

Longitudinal designs

Which part of the nervous system regulates breathing and heart rate?

Medulla

_____ involves retaining information over time.

Memory

_____ involves the manipulation of genes using technology to determine their effect on behavior.

Molecular genetics

_____ is considered a secondary reinforcer.

Money

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

Norepinephrine

Which of the following is not a part of Psychology according to its definition?

Personal opinions about what causes people to do bad things.

Molly's natural hair color is brown but she has had it dyed blonde. Molly changed her

Phenotype

_____ is a term used to describe the influences of multiple genes on behavior.

Polygenic inheritance

_____ is the species-specific biological predisposition to learn in certain ways but not others.

Preparedness

Which of the following occurs when material that was learned earlier disrupts the recall of material learned later?

Proactive interference

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes is called ______________________.

Psychology

Tolman focused on cognitive mechanisms in studying the

Purposiveness of behavior

_____ refers to researchers' allocation of participants to groups by chance, to reduce the likelihood that an experiment's results will be due to preexisting differences between groups.

Random assignment

Psychology must include ________________ and ___________________.

Science and Either Behavior or Mental Processes

_____ is a genetic method in which organisms are chosen for reproduction based on how much of a particular trait they display.

Selective breeding

Cathy just got transferred to a new department, but she has long believed that her new supervisor is a cranky, disagreeable, critical person. According to the confirmation bias, what will Cathy most likely do on her first day in the new supervisor's department?

She will look for negative behaviors on the part of the supervisor.

Which of the following statements about B.F. Skinner is FALSE?

Skinner believed that the mechanisms of learning among humans are different than the mechanisms of learning among animals.

What is the primary disadvantage of using algorithms?

Solutions may take a long time.

Pretend that you want to determine the relationship between caffeine intake and performance on a midterm exam. As students sit down to take the exam, you ask them to write the number of cups of tea, soda, or coffee they ingested two hours prior to the exam. You also obtain their exam scores. You calculate the correlation coefficient between the two variables to be +0.82. What can you conclude?

The more caffeine students consumed, the better their scores.

Professor Izadi is interested in the association between sleep and cognitive performance. He surveyed his students about the number of hours they slept the night before the exam and then correlated these scores with their test grades. He found a +.81 correlation between these two variables. What does this result mean?

There is a high positive correlation between sleep and exam performance

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.

In aversive conditioning experiments to treat alcohol addiction, every time a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, he or she also consumes a mixture that induces nausea. In classical-conditioning terminology, the nausea-inducing agent is the

Unconditioned stimulus

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

Validity

Which of the following theorists primarily used the structuralism approach to studying human behavior?

Wilhelm Wundt

_____ is most often regarded the "founding father" of modern psychology.

Wilhelm Wundt

You go to a hypnotist to help you quit smoking. The hypnotist asks you to remember and describe things that you did differently before you started smoking. Which memory system will you use most to comply with this request?

Your episodic memory system

In the context of observational learning, retention is a process in which

a learner encodes the information to reproduce a model's actions.

Salivating at the presentation of food is an example of _____.

a reflex

Stand-up comedians who improvise constantly while on stage are demonstrating their ability to change according to the environment. Which of the following characteristics of the nervous system is most likely playing a predominant role in their adaptability?

adaptability

An _____ is a drug that mimics or increases a neurotransmitter's effects, whereas an _____ is a drug that blocks a neurotransmitter's effects.

agonist/antagonist

A(n) _____ is a strategy that guarantees a solution to a problem.

algorithm

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

amygdala

In the U.S., intelligence is defined as _____.

an all-purpose ability to do well on cognitive tasks, to solve problems, and to learn from experience

Katy was in a car accident and sustained serious brain damage. Since the accident Katy can speak only one word. This is an example of

aphasia

Marshall's cerebellum was damaged in a car accident. Marshal is likely to have problems with

balance and muscle coordination

Dr. Cardinale is interested in the effects of heredity and environment on intelligence. She compares the similarity of IQ scores of identical twins to the similarity of IQ scores of fraternal twins. In this case, Dr. Cardinale is studying heredity's influence on behavior using

behavior genetics.

Annette is an adolescent with extreme social anxiety. Dr. Benson's treatment plan for Annette focuses on rewarding her whenever she takes a step toward conquering her fears. In this scenario, Dr. Benson adheres most closely to the _____ approach to psychology.

behavioral

Open-mindedness involves _____.

being receptive to other ways of looking at things

Dr. Zimand is studying the association between the functioning of specific brain structures and depression. It is most likely that Dr. Zimand specializes in the _____ approach to psychology.

biological

Neuroscience studies are based on the _____ approaches to psychology.

biological

Clumps of cells in the _____ determine alertness and regulate basic survival functions such as breathing, heartbeat, and blood pressure.

brain stem

The brain and spinal cord make up the

central nervous system.

The cerebellum and _____ play an important role in implicit memory.

cerebral cortex

Taste aversion is an example of

classical conditioning

The _____ approach to psychology views the mind as an active and aware problem-solving system. This view contrasts with the _____ approach to psychology, which focuses on an organism's visible interactions with the environment.

cognitive/behavioral

A(n) _____ is a person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated.

confederate

Inmates at a correctional facility take part in an experiment on social development. Once the experiment is over, the correctional officer goes home and tells his roommates about the results of the study and about the inmates who did not perform well. In this scenario, which ethical guideline of psychological research has been violated by the correctional officer?

confidentiality

In correlations research, third variables are also called

confounds

The endocrine system

consists of glands that regulate the activities of certain organs by releasing hormones into the bloodstream.

Matt wants to train his dog, Buster, to sit on command. He gives Buster a biscuit each time Buster sits when commanded, but only for the first 10 trials. He then changes the rules. Buster now has to sit on command three times before he gets a biscuit. In this case, Matt used a _____ schedule first, and then a _____ schedule to train Buster.

continuous-reinforcement/fixed-ratio

Jessica has been searching for a new apartment. She has looked at several different possibilities and now must select which apartment best suits her needs. Choosing which apartment is best is an example of _____.

convergent thinking

Aaron wants to study the association between sleep deprivation and the number of hours spent on a computer every day. He is not keen to establish causation, but would like to determine whether and how the increase or decrease in one variable is related to the increase or decrease in the other variable. Which of the following research methods is likely to be most effective for Aaron's study?

correlational research

Which of the following attitudes are central to the scientific approach to psychology?

critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and objectivity

A key requirement for the process of testing hypotheses in the scientific method is

data analysis

Aaron wanted to study the level of altruism among adults. However, he realizes that letting research participants know about the true purpose of the study will significantly affect the validity of the results. In this case, in order to comply with the APA ethics guidelines and ensure validity at the same time, Aaron should

debrief participants after the study is complete.

Which of the following is one of the issues addressed by the ethics guidelines developed by the American Psychological Association?

debriefing

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

decay theory

Carlos believes that all of the people from another part of his town are snobs. He believes that the students from this area are rich and drive expensive sports cars to school. He is scheduled to perform with a few of these students in an all-county musical presentation. If he assumes that these particular students will also be rich and snobby, he is using _____.

deductive reasoning

The goal of _____ research is to determine the basic definitions and dimensions of the phenomenon under investigation.

descriptive

Your roommate argues that computers can perform several complex tasks better and more accurately than humans. You counter her argument with the mention of _____, a task that only humans can perform.

developing new learning goals

Lionel is a CEO of a company that is in financial crisis. He asks his employees to brainstorm and create a list of all possible solutions to keeping the company in business. Lionel is asking his employees to engage in _____.

divergent thinking

A(n) _____ allows researchers to distinguish the specific effects of the independent variable from the possible effects of the experimenter's and participants' expectations about it.

double-blind experiment

In a _____, neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated.

double-blind experiment

Electrical activity in the brain can be captured by placing multiple electrodes on the scalp and then measuring the underlying electrical activity. This method of studying the brain's activity is called a(n) _____.

electroencephalogram (EEG)

Harry has been diagnosed with epilepsy by his neurologist. Which of the following should the neurologist use to assess Harry's epilepsy by studying his brain-wave activity?

electroencephalograph

Recollections of John's first family vacation to Disneyland are part of John's _____.

episodic memory

Jillian was in a car accident and sustained a serious head trauma. Since the surgery, she has forgotten her name, career, and other vital information about herself. Yet, she is still able to talk, know what words mean, and have general knowledge about the world, such as what day it is or who currently is the president of the U.S. This behavior suggests that Jillian's _____ is impaired, but her _____ is still functioning.

episodic memory/semantic memory

The final step in the scientific method of psychology is

evaluating conclusions.

Dr. Grant is conducting research on stress management. Group A received progressive relaxation training prior to test taking, while Group B received no training. Group A is the _____, while Group B is the _____.

experimental group/control group

Which of the following research methods allow(s) researchers to determine causality?

experimental studies

Dr. Aoki used double-blind procedures in his experiments to reduce the potential for

experimenter bias and participant bias.

Dr. Amani is interested in investigating why women are more able to correctly interpret emotional expressions than men. In this case, he is most interested in the scientific goal of _____ behavior.

explaining

According to the textbook, _____ is the first step in the problem-solving process.

finding and framing the problem

In the context of the neural impulse, the membrane that encases the axon is called semipermeable because

fluids can sometimes flow into and out of it.

Which of the following is the second step in the scientific method?

formulating hypotheses and predictions

The ____ are involved in personality, intelligence, and the control of voluntary muscles.

frontal lobes

William James, a prominent American psychologist and philosopher, focused on human interactions with the outside world to understand the purpose of thoughts. His view is known as

functionalism

The medulla, cerebellum, and pons are parts of the _____.

hindbrain

According to evolutionary psychologists

human behavior is traceable to problems early humans faced in adapting to their environments.

Abe and Carl are psychologists who believe that people have free will and can make choices based on higher human values. Abe and Carl's views reflect the _____ approach to psychology.

humanistic

In the context of experimental research, the logic of random assignment is

if participants in an experiment are assigned to each group only by chance, the potential differences between the groups on other characteristics will cancel out over the long run.

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

independent variable/dependent variable

Bertha met two students from another school at a convention. She enjoyed their company a great deal and was very impressed with how nice they were. Bertha now believes that all of the students from that school must also be nice and is considering transferring there. Bertha is using _____.

inductive reasoning

An encoding failure occurs when _____.

information fails to be stored into long-term memory

The placebo effect can weaken the _____ of an experiment.

internal validity

The reticular formation is primarily responsible for _____.

involved in arousal and stereotyped patterns such as walking, sleeping, or turning to attend to a sudden noise

Which of the following best illustrates positive punishment in operant conditioning?

lecturing and reprimanding a child for being rude to his or her teachers

When you are asked to recall your first day of kindergarten, you rely on _____, whereas when you are asked to recall the name of a person you just met a few seconds ago, you rely on _____.

long-term memory/short-term or working memory

A person suffering from retrograde amnesia will _____.

lose past memories but be able to make new ones

Cognitive psychology is the study of _____.

mental processes

The _____ relays information between the brain and the eyes and ears.

midbrain

According to Hermann Ebbinghaus, _____.

most forgetting occurs soon after we originally learned something

A _____ is a layer of fat cells that insulates most axons and speeds up the transmission of nerve impulses.

myelin sheath

The removal of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior is called _____.

negative reinforcement

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

nervous

Behavior is _____; mental processes are _____.

observable/private

Which of the following is the first step in the scientific method?

observing some phenomenon

According to the all-or-nothing principle,

once the electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity, it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity.

After taking her English final, Natalie attempts to relax in her chair by meditating. She is attempting to reduce her heart and respiration rates, as well as her muscular tension. In this scenario, her physiological relaxation can be best attributed to the functioning of her _____ nervous system.

parasympathetic

The _____ connects the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body.

peripheral nervous system

The presentation of a stimulus following a given behavior in order to increase the frequency of that behavior is called

positive reinforcement

Hudson works in the product development department of a large toy company. His job is to take abstract theories of child development and implement them in functional ways so that they can be used to create a toy. According to Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence, Hudson would likely score high on a measure of _____ intelligence.

practical

The connectionist view of memory _____.

proposes that memories are organized only to the extent that neurons, the connections among them, and their activity are organized

In his practice, Dr. Wagner stresses the role of unconscious processes and unresolved childhood conflicts that influences individuals' behavior. Dr. Wagner's belief aligns with the _____ approach to psychology.

psychodynamic

Normally, when a neuron is not transmitting information and a slight negative charge is present on the inside of the cell membrane, it is said to be

resting.

Professor Stenson is examining the effects of color on patients' anxiety levels. She randomly assigns patients to either a room painted white or a room painted black, and then records their blood pressure. In this case, the independent variable is the

room color

A _____ is the subset of a population selected to participate in the study.

sample

Kenny has been diagnosed with Parkinson disease and has been prescribed medication to manage some of his symptoms. The medication elevates the levels of dopamine in his system. If the levels of dopamine in his system become excessive, Kenny is most likely to exhibit symptoms associated with

schizophrenia.

Psychology is the ________________ study of _________________ and mental processes.

scientific; behavior

Although _____ is rich and detailed, we lose the information in it quickly unless we use certain strategies that transfer it into other memory systems.

sensory memory

Depression is associated with low levels of which neurotransmitter?

serotonin

Dr. Badal is a psychologist who studies achievement motivation among groups of African American, Latino, and Asian American people. Dr. Badal likely practices the _____ approach to psychology.

sociocultural

Elixir Inc. has a recruitment policy that favors hiring people from minority groups. To ensure that its diverse workforce helps rather than hinders business development, Elixir is seeking the guidance of a psychologist. Keeping its needs in mind, Elixir will most likely hire a(n)

socioculturalist

The left hemisphere of the brain plays an important role in managing or regulating

speech and grammar

Resting potential is the

stable, negative charge of an inactive neuron.

In classical conditioning, organisms learn the association between two _____.

stimuli

What does the magnitude of a correlation coefficient indicate about the variables in a correlational study?

strength of the relationship between the variables

If you were a psychologist who adopted the structuralism approach, you would be interested in the _____ of the mind, using _____ as your primary research method.

structures/introspection

If a person needs to run away from a dangerous situation, the _____ nervous system sends blood to the person's extremities to prepare him or her for taking off.

sympathetic

Just before you went on a job interview your heart was pounding like crazy. You experienced a shortness of breath and felt sick to your stomach. These symptoms were most likely produced by your _____ nervous system.

sympathetic

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

Which of the following refer to tiny spaces between neurons?

synapses

Pavlov's dog salivated to the sound of a bell because _____.

the bell had become associated with food

In an experimental research study, which of the following groups is an experimental group?

the group that is subjected to the change that the independent variable represents

The axon is

the part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells.

Maya burns her fingers while cooking dinner. Which of the following divisions of the nervous system will be primarily responsible for the pain she feels?

the somatic nervous system

Flexibility, inner motivation, willingness to face risk, and objective evaluation of work are characteristics of people who _____.

think creatively

In experimental research, demand characteristics tend to

threaten the validity of a study

Melinda suffers from migraine headaches and seizures. In the context of neurotransmitter functioning, which of the following most likely plays a significant role in her symptoms?

too much glutamate

Latent learning is

unreinforced learning that is not immediately reflected in behavior.