Psychology Semester 1 Exam Prep Set

Sharon is 60 and has experienced slowness of thought over the last year. She goes to her doctor to discuss why this is. Her doctor is most likely to tell her that slowed mental processes are a result of

shrinking frontal lobes.

The type of psychologist who studies how people are affected by the presence of others is called a ________ psychologist.

social

Changes in terms of how we understand ourselves, interact with others, and experience and regulate emotions are part of the ________ domain.

socio-emotional

Naveed is an avid hiker who enjoys spending time outdoors exploring nature trails in the forests and mountains near his home. On which part of the nervous system does Naveed rely to hike through all the different types of terrains?

somatic

Your child wakes up during the first hour or two after going to bed and walks around his room with a glassy-eyed look. Based on this information, your child most likely has a sleep disorder called

somnambulism.

At what sleep stage does your breathing become more regular and your awareness of external stimulation decrease?

stage 2

The school of psychology known as ________ used introspection to study the basic elements of mental experiences.

structuralism

Critical thinking is best defined as thinking that

systematically evaluates information.

Which of the following is NOT associated with an altered state of consciousness?

talking on the phone while taking a walk

Auditory information is processed in the ________ lobes of the cerebral cortex.

temporal

When his sister becomes pregnant, Graham gives her a mini-lesson in prenatal care based on what he learned in his introductory psychology class. He should tell her all of the following EXCEPT that

teratogens work on recessive genes to affect prenatal child development.

In front of Chris, Tasha pours the same amount of water into both a short, fat glass and a tall, thin glass. She then asks Chris which glass has more water. If Chris is 10 years old, he is most likely to answer

that they have the same amount of water.

Ernst is jealous that several of his friends are going through puberty but he has not started yet. He eagerly keeps checking for signs that his body is changing. Ernst knows he should eventually experience all of the following EXCEPT

the development of a more rounded jaw.

Elaine travels around the world observing how children learn language. Elaine has written a book to relate her findings in which she discusses the fact that

the first words are used to identify objects or are simple action words.

Which of the following has been a topic of discussion and curiosity since the ancient Greeks?

the nature/nurture debate.

A set of interconnected ideas that psychologists use to explain prior research findings and to make predictions about the future is called (a)n

theory

Gretchen is excited when her son Brian demonstrates that he has developed theory of mind and will now be able to

understand that his mom has intentions that guide her actions.

Four psychologists, each from a different psychological perspective, are eating dinner. They notice their waitress is crying. When the waitress leaves, they each provide an explanation for why she is crying. What did the humanistic psychologist most likely say?

"She thinks her job is harming her personal growth and preventing her from realizing her full potential."

Brian has three children with very different personality traits. Even with such different personality traits, Brian sees strong maturation effects. Which of the following has Brian most likely observed?

All three children learned to walk at about 12 months of age.

Dr. Woolston is interested in studying teenagers' social lives and the challenges they face. Dr. Woolston should consult with his colleague ________, who would argue that the main difficulty teenagers face is forming a sense of ________.

Erikson; identity

Which of the following statements about hypnosis is true?

Hypnosis can change a person's pattern of brain activity.

Which of the following best summarizes the main function(s) of your nervous system?

It allows you to receive sensory information, process that information, and then respond to it.

Four early psychologists suddenly appear in your psychology department. Who would be most discouraged to hear that modern psychology places a lot of emphasis on the study of mental processes?

John Watson

Angela works at a nursing home and notices some distinct differences among her patients. Which of her patients is LEAST likely to have Alzheimer's?

John, who has no genetic predisposition and goes dancing with his friends twice a week

Meghan is under the influence of a drug. She feels energized and is also experiencing altered visual perception. Meghan most likely took the drug

MDMA.

After Mark has gone through one full sleep cycle, his heart beats faster, his breathing becomes fast and irregular, and his closed eyes begin to move back and forth. Mark is most likely experiencing

REM sleep.

Lila is not an alcoholic and never drinks to excess. However, she does have wine with dinner every evening. When Lila is two weeks pregnant, she asks you whether this can injure her baby. What correct response can you give her?

She should stop drinking wine completely until after the baby is born.

Drs. Gazzaniga and Sperry conducted a series of studies testing the abilities of epilepsy patients who had undergone a split-brain procedure, where the left hemisphere was disconnected from the right. How were the brains of epilepsy patients modified during the split-brain procedure?

Their corpus callosums had been severed.

Which of the following is always true regarding dizygotic twins?

They have different genotypes.

Which of the following developmental researchers believed that some of our mental functions can be shaped by our social and cultural contexts?

Vygotsky

When Kate's grandma leans over the crib with a toy in her hand, eight-month-old Kate grasps it and pulls on it. When Kate's mom hangs a set of animals across the crib, Kate reaches up, grabs them, and pulls them down. Kate seems to be working on ________ for grasping and pulling.

a schema

Your nervous system allows you to do all of the following EXCEPT

alter genetic codes.

As you work outside in the yard, you work up a pretty good sweat. Your sweating is largely due to the functioning of your ________ system.

autonomic nervous

Helen keeps her new baby boy well fed and clean. However, she does not want to spoil him, so she does not hold him or touch him too much. After reading about Harry Harlow's research, Helen now knows that

babies need to be touched and held to develop normally.

Your best friend had a baby two weeks ago. She is excited because the baby smiled at birth, and she believes that the smiling indicated attachment. You know the truth is that

babies typically do not show social smiles until four to six weeks of age.

In a research study, participants were shown images with houses superimposed on faces and asked whether they saw a house or a face. When researchers looked at the participants' brain responses during this task, they found that

brain activity changed depending on whether participants said they saw a house or a face.

The brain and the spinal cord make up the ________ nervous system.

central

Methamphetamine increases the concentration of dopamine in the synapse, just like another stimulant, called

cocaine

The ________ domain relates to how we think, reason, and communicate.

cognitive

When trying to explain Piaget's theory of development to his roommate, Martin correctly states that development

consists of a series of qualitatively different stages of cognitive ability.

The more time Annie devoted to studying, the better her scores on exams. This fact illustrates a(n)

correlation.

You are having a difficult time deciding whether to switch career paths. To help cope with this challenge in your professional life, you should seek help from a ________ psychologist.

counseling

During the reception phase of neural communication, the ________ will accept signals from presynaptic neurons.

dendrites

Claudia has been feeling ill for a couple weeks and finds out she is two weeks pregnant. Up to this point, her baby has been in the ________ period of development, and the ________ has begun to form.

germinal; placenta

The spinal cord is composed of two distinct types of tissue. One type of tissue is composed of the cell bodies of neurons, which do not have myelin on their axons. This tissue in the spinal cord is called

gray matter.

When she received an emergency call from work, Arlene had to bring her nine-month-old son, Danvas, to their next-door neighbor Mrs. Adjei's house. Although Danvas knew Mrs. Adjei, he had never been left in her care, and he began crying as Arlene was leaving. According to attachment researchers, Danvas was crying because

his mother was not around.

Miranda is working in a laboratory and comes across a rat that is grossly overweight and seems unable to stop eating. The researcher tells Miranda that the rat has a brain lesion. Which part of the forebrain most likely has the lesion?

hypothalamus

The action of neurotransmitters is ________ by agonists and is ________ by antagonists.

increased; decreased

As you sleep through the night, REM sleep

increases relative to the other stages.

A myelin sheath is a fatty layer that protects the axon, so it is most like the

insulation around a wire.

Growth hormones have all of the following effects EXCEPT for increasing

intelligence

In a person with a normally functioning brain, the part of the brain that typically controls speech is the

left hemisphere.

The part of the brain that functions as the interpreter is in the ________ hemisphere where it process information to ________.

left; construct a world that makes sense

Jenny, a patient with a heart condition, has been practicing transcendental meditation for four months. She will improve on all of the following health measures EXCEPT

lowering her levels of fatty acid and cholesterol.

The area of the brain that allows one to initiate voluntary motor activity is the

midbrain

Recently, Toafik has started to squint to see clearly and has noticed that his body does not process alcohol or junk food very well. What period of adulthood is Toafik most likely experiencing?

middle adulthood

Informed consent means that

participants must be told about a research study and allowed to choose whether they would like to participate.

REM sleep is called paradoxical sleep because the

person's body is asleep, but the person's brain is active.

Janice is learning about the alphabet and how to read, but she is struggling to make the s and z sounds. Janice is having difficulty with

phonemes.

Which of the following is NOT a modern method for accurately measuring brain activity?

phrenology

Which of the following domains of development relates to changes in levels of hormones and growth of the body, including the brain?

physical domain

Penelope has been drinking coffee for the past 10 years. She says she needs the caffeine just to get through the day. Today, she has not had any coffee and has a severe headache, fatigue, and shakiness. Penelope is most likely ________ dependent on caffeine.

physically

René Descartes's idea of dualism, that the mind and body are separate, was based largely on ________ beliefs of his time.

religious

When inactive, the electrical charge inside a neuron is slightly more negative than the electrical charge outside the neuron. This difference in the electrical charge inside and outside the neuron is the

resting state.

Which of the following is most likely an example of a controlled process?

roller-skating for the first time

Given what Naomi knows about physical development across the life span, which of the following people does she suspect will be the LEAST healthy at age 70?

Carson, who squints at his computer and listens to loud music on his iPod

Structuralism is a school of psychology introduced by

Edward Titchener.

The cognitive revolution was launched by

George Miller.

Why do scientists avoid the term fact?

New evidence can change how claims are interpreted.

Your aunt, who has several bad habits, recently found out she is pregnant. What is the best advice you can give her?

Quit drinking and smoking immediately.

Dr. Ethridge is interested in finding out how likely people are to discriminate against a member of an ethnic minority. She designs her experiment so that it seems like it is about fashion but it is actually measuring differences in treatment based on race. Which of the following is true regarding the ethical requirements Dr. Ethridge must follow?

She can deceive her participants as long as she reveals the true nature of the study at its conclusion.

In the scientific method, a specific, testable prediction about a theory is called

a hypothesis.

If a researcher wants to be able to generalize about a population using data pulled from a sample, it is best to use

a random sample.

The first cell of new life, which is created from the union of the sperm and the egg, is known as

a zygote.

Paul is babysitting Pamela for the first time. When Pamela's mom leaves, Pamela cries. When her mom returns, Pamela reaches for her but then pushes away from her. Paul assumes Pamela has a(n) ________ attachment.

ambivalent

Mario is highly afraid of spiders. Which part of the brain would be activated if he were to enter a room that had a lot of spiders?

amygdala

Drugs that increase the effects of the neurotransmitter GABA

are used to treat anxiety.

After Mark has gone through one full sleep cycle, his heart beats faster, his breathing becomes fast and irregular, and his closed eyes begin to move back and forth. A researcher who is monitoring Mark's EEG activity will most likely see ________ waves.

beta

Your little brother has blue eyes. His eye color is the result of

both his genotype and his environment.

The part of the neuron that collects information from other neurons and integrates it is the

cell body

To be considered a depressant, a drug must ________ mental activity and ________ physical activity.

decrease; decrease

Lisa has problems sleeping, so she goes to a sleep clinic. At the clinic the researchers measure her brain's electrical activity as she sleeps by using the technique of

electroencephalographs (EEGs).

If an athlete were using illegal growth hormones to increase his or her muscle growth, he or she would be trying to make changes to his or her

endocrine system.

Taylor was in a car accident when she was six months pregnant. Her doctors are worried that the accident may have caused problems with prenatal development because she is in the ________ period.

fetal

Rachel is about to retire from her successful job as a high school teacher, has several grandchildren now in college, and is excited about picking up some hobbies with her newfound free time. Erikson would argue that Rachel is most likely experiencing

generativity.

Emily has been in a coma for longer than three months. Emily's doctors are most likely to diagnose her as

having unresponsive wakefulness syndrome.

Juan is trying to find the exact code he needs to advance to the next level of his video game. He says to his friend, "Hey! Finding this code to open the next level to the game is a lot like

how the unique structure of a neurotransmitter must fit a certain receptor site."

The somatic nervous system allows

movement of the muscles and joints.

The basic building blocks of the nervous system are the

neurons.

The human body's nervous system is built from billions of nerve cells, which are called

neurons.

Nadia knows that a substance's quantity does not change, even when its form does. Based on this, Nadia is most likely ________ years old.

nine

Jonas has experienced a relatively severe right hemisphere stroke. As a result, he has been diagnosed with hemineglect, meaning he is unable to notice any touch on the left side of his body. The location of the stroke is most likely within the ________ lobes.

parietal

The brain area that releases melatonin is the

pineal gland.

The idea that the brain is extremely malleable and is continuously changing as a result of injury, experiences, or substances is known as

plasticity.

The unconscious mind influences human behavior, according to

psychoanalytic theory.

Mr. Baidy was talking to his neighbor in the retirement community where they live. While they were discussing plans for the community's annual summer party, Mr. Baidy felt like he was forgetting one of the tasks they needed to complete. Which of the following is the best term that describes Mr. Baidy's forgetfulness?

senior moment

The thalamus receives nearly all sensory information before relaying it to the cortex. What is the one sensation that is the exception to this rule?

smell

Psychologists work in many settings. Which are the two main areas?

universities and health care settings

If a researcher created two groups by assigning the first 30 people to the experimental group and the last 30 people to the control group, this process would

violate the principle of random assignment.

Byron drinks five cups of coffee each day during the work week. Whenever he sleeps late on Saturdays, he wakes up with a headache that only goes away when he has a cup of coffee. Based on this you know that Byron is most likely experiencing

withdrawal.