Unit 2 AP psychology questions

Michael Gazzaniga is best known for

Studying split-brain patients

Antagonists function by

blocking receptors to prevent other neurotransmitters from binding to the neural receptors

Which hormone is released when a person is under stress?

Cortisol Reason: Cortisol is released by the adrenal gland when people are stressed.

Carl Wernicke discovered the region of the brain that is responsible for

language comprehension

At a synapse, neurotransmitters released by the sending neuron do which of the following?

They bind to receptors at the receiving neuron, which opens ion channels

A neuron sends a signal along its

axon

The psychodynamic theory of dreaming would postulate that

dreams fulfill unconscious wishes

The fatty casing that helps speed up the neural transmissions of a neuron is called the

myelin sheath

What effect do agonists have?

They increase the likelihood that a postsynaptic neuron will fire.

An adult with a healthy sleep cycle is most likely to enter REM sleep

after cycling through the NREM sleep stages

The medulla oblongata is a part of the

brain stem

The hormone most associated with the fight or flight response is

epinephrine

Ruth and Debbie are identical twins who were raised by the same family. Vince and Frankie are identical twins who were separated at birth and raised by different families. According to research on the heritability of personality traits, Ruth's and Debbie's personalities are statistically

likely to be as similar and dissimilar to one another as are Vince's and Frankie's personalities. Reason: Identical twins raised apart have the capacity to be just as similar and dissimilar as twins raised together.

The parietal lobe is most involved in

processing sensory information

Waking up frequently, loud snoring, silent pauses in breathing, and sleepiness during the day are symptoms of

sleep apnea

Which of the following best describes a major role of the thalamus?

It relays most sensory signals to the cortex.

The idea that there is a part of the mind that is not directly accessible to awareness but still drives a person's thinking and behavior is most directly attributable to

Sigmund Freud

A drug that is used to treat seizures functions by preventing inhibitory neurotransmitters from returning to the presynaptic neuron. This slows the rate of neurons firing by increasing the amount of the inhibitory neurotransmitter in the synapse. The drug is most likely to be classified as a

GABA reuptake inhibitor (GRI) Reason: GRIs function by blocking the reuptake of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which means more GABA stays in the synapses and inhibits neurons from firing. This state is helpful in reducing seizures because seizures are caused by overactivity of neurons.

Madeline has previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. She has an identical twin sister, Josephine, and a nonidentical sister, Abigail. Neither of Madeline's sisters have previously been diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Which of the following statements is true of Madeline's sisters?

Josephine is more likely to be diagnosed with major depressive disorder than Abigail in response to a stressful or traumatic event. Reason: Josephine likely has a higher predisposition for major depressive disorder because she shares all her genes with Madeline, who has previously been diagnosed.

Which of the following describes what happens when a neuron sends a signal?

The neuron goes from being negatively charged to briefly being positively charged, and finally returns to being negatively charged again. The magnitude of the negative charge is fixed regardless of the strength of the input signal it receives.

If a body does not have enough potassium, how might that affect neuronal firing?

The neurons will struggle to fire because there will not be enough positively charged ions to trigger the firing of the neuron.

A person whose body is not producing enough testosterone is most likely to exhibit

fatigue.

Johnny often hits his brother even though his brother does not do anything to antagonize him. Johnny's aggression is most likely due to a combination of

his genetic makeup, the environment he grew up in, and the fact that aggression can be evolutionarily adaptive.

The phenomenon of declining physiological effects of taking a drug after sustained use is referred to as

tolerance