1. The Big Five model suggests that people can be rated along the dimensions of conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness, and extraversion. This theory is best associated with which of the following?
A. Trait theory
B. Psychodynamic theory
C. The cognitive approach
D. The humanistic approach
E. The biological approach
2. Warren has a bacterial infection that has affected the ability of the rods in his eyes to function correctly. This should have the greatest impact on which of the following?
A. Visual clarity
B. Peripheral vision
C. Color vision
D. Hearing high-frequency sounds
E. Hearing low-frequency sounds
3. Seeking out information that supports our previously held beliefs, while discounting information that questions those beliefs, is an obstacle to problem solving known as
A. functional fixedness.
B. a logical fallacy.
C. overconfidence.
D. mental set.
E. confirmation bias.
4. Joe is taking a new job on the night shift next week. His supervisors have informed him that initially he may have some problems with his level of alertness and his memory as he adjusts to his new schedule. Joe’s supervisors are sharing with Joe their knowledge of
A. circadian rhythms.
B. REM sleep.
C. sleep spindles.
D. the social clock.
E. NREM sleep.
5. A researcher who is trying to determine how social cultural changes might be correlated with the incidence of bipolar disorder would be most interested in which of the following?
A. The brain changes in a person with bipolar disorder as measured by a PET scan
B. Scientific measures of the heritability of the disorder
C. The correlation between rates of poverty and cases of the disorder
D. Neurotransmitter levels in patients diagnosed with the disorder
E. The number of close biological relatives who also suffer from mood disorders
6. Zeina cocked her head to the side immediately when she heard the fire truck’s siren. Turning her head enabled each ear to detect a slightly different intensity of sound, thus enabling her to determine the siren’s
A. timbre.
B. pitch.
C. frequency.
D. location.
E. tone.
7. A police officer who asks a witness to recall details about someone suspected of a crime would be asking the witness to
A. listen to recordings of several voices to determine if the suspect’s voice is detected.
B. select the suspect from a visual lineup of several similar people.
C. describe the suspect’s physical qualities to a police sketch artist.
D. determine if the suspect’s motive for the shooting seems believable
E. imagine a scenario in which the suspect could have acted in self-defense.
8. People diagnosed with OCD suffer from compulsions. Which of the following is a compulsion?
A. Renee persistently thinks about the possible death of her loved ones.
B. Eric frequently worries that there may be germs on his hands.
C. Brianna has an ongoing worry that she might have left the oven on at home.
D. Stefan often feels great anxiety if things are not in exact order in his room.
E. Tyrik flips the light switch on and off seven times each time he walks in the front door.
9. When a person performs a heroic act solely for public praise, she is on which developmental level according to Lawrence Kohlberg?
A. Preconventional
B. Postconventional
C. Conventional
D. Concrete operational
E. Formal operational
10. The bus driver was surprised when her first passenger asked her to turn the music down, because she thought the volume was fine. When the passenger said something, though, the driver realized the sound was too loud. The bus driver’s initial indifference to the volume can best be understood because
A. the volume was below her absolute threshold.
B. the driver had a decreased ability to determine the music’s pitch.
C. the just noticeable difference of the music was too great.
D. the driver had adapted to the volume of the music.
E. the driver was using bottom-up processing instead of top-down processing.
11. A rat jumps each time it sees a green light flash, because the green light has always appeared just before an electric shock. In classical conditioning, the initial learning of the connection between the light and the shock is referred to as
A. spontaneous recovery.
B. extinction.
C. generalization.
D. accommodation.
E. acquisition.
12. Which of the following examples is the best illustration of cognitive dissonance?
A. The cult member who admires the leader of his group and follows the leader without doubt.
B. The teacher who reprimands a student who she feels could do much better academically.
C. The soldier who receives orders from a superior that violate his personal moral beliefs.
D. The librarian who dreams of returning to graduate school to become a professor.
E. The student who gives up trying to master calculus because it seems too hard.
13. At their high school reunion, many attendees recalled exactly where they were 20 years before when they realized the school was on fire. Strong memories of an emotionally significant moment are referred to as
A. flashbulb memories.
B. state-dependent memories.
C. short-term memories.
D. sensory memories.
E. critical period memories.
14. Of the following, which pair are both used to reveal activity in a person’s brain?
A. CT scan and PET scan
B. X-ray and fMRI
C. fMRI and MRI
D. PET scan and fMRI
E. CT scan and MRI
15. A therapist who believes in giving patients positive reinforcements when they behave appropriately is most likely to use which of the following techniques?
A. Systematic desensitization
B. Token economy
C. Aversive conditioning
D. Transference
E. Exposure therapy
16. Phil complained to his doctor that the sleeping pill the doctor previously prescribed no longer was effective at the original dosage. To his doctor’s dismay, Phil confided that he had been taking more than the recommended amount of the drug to get the same effect. Phil’s increasing intake of the drug reflects the condition known as
A. withdrawal.
B. sensory overload.
C. tolerance.
D. addiction.
E. REM rebound.
17. Students who have recently learned “correlation does not equal causation” should be most cautious of the findings in which news headline below?
A. “Coffee drinkers live longer, surveys say.”
B. “101-year-old man still healthy and happy.”
C. “Flu shots lower the risk of infection by 87% in lab studies.”
D. “Skim milk consumption tied to decreased neuron growth in studies of mice.”
E. “Observers note men less likely than women to wash their hands in public restrooms.”
18. The symptoms of schizophrenia can be categorized as positive or negative. Which of the following symptoms can be considered positive?
A. Hallucinations
B. Flat affect.
C. Social withdrawal
D. Catatonia
E. Toneless vocal patterns
19. Mary Ainsworth designed the “strange situation” experiment in order to determine
A. how creative young children could be in novel environments.
B. whether children had developed a secure attachment to their mothers.
C. if children were more motivated by social anxiety than by peer pressure.
D. if the parenting style of mothers affected their children’s temperament.
E. if early signs of imprinting in young children could be reversed.
20. A principal wants to make this year’s Halloween night dance safer because of vandalism and inappropriate behavior in the gym last year. She decides to increase the lighting in the parking lots, ban students from wearing masks over their faces, and increase the number of video cameras near the gym. These ideas are most closely linked to the principle of
A. group polarization.
B. social facilitation.
C. superordinate goals.
D. deindividuation.
E. minority influence.
21. Longitudinal studies suggest that certain characteristics of children, such as conscientiousness and self-control, were very stable when those children became adults. Psychologists use what term to refer to these aspects of personality that appear early in life and which appear to be stable?
A. Schema
B. Reflex
C. Temperament
D. Fixation
E. Sensory adaptation
22. One way to determine if infants can perceive a certain stimulus is to measure how long they gaze at the item before looking away. Psychologists use what term to refer to the concept that infants tend to decrease their rate of responding when a stimulus is repeated and no longer novel?
A. Sensory adaptation
B. Infantile amnesia
C. Perceptual set
D. Perceptual constancy
E. Habituation
23. An injury that leads to the loss of binocular vision would have the greatest impact on
A. visual clarity
B. color perception.
C. peripheral vision.
D. depth perception.
E. selective attention.
24. The stage of sleep in which an EEG would detect the bursts of rhythmic activity known as sleep spindles is called
A. REM sleep.
B. NREM-1.
C. NREM-2.
D. NREM-3.
E. hypnagogic sleep.
25. Ulric’s doctor suggested that he consider moving to an area where there is greater sunlight or purchasing a light box that emits a bright light. Given these treatment options, Ulric’s doctor must have diagnosed Ulric with
A. attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
B. a seasonal pattern for depressive disorders or bipolar disorder.
C. posttraumatic stress disorder.
D. antisocial personality disorder.
E. agoraphobia.
26. Damage to which of the following brain areas would create the most difficulty in interpreting feelings of heat and cold?
A. Motor cortex
B. Sensory cortex
C. Frontal lobe
D. Temporal lobe
E. Occipital lobe
27. A substance that interrupts neural transmission by fitting into a receptor site but not activating it, or by preventing another neurotransmitter from accessing the receptor site, is known as
A. an agonist.
B. an antagonist.
C. an endorphin.
D. a hormone.
E. the synaptic cleft.
28. Which of the following coefficients reflects the strongest correlation between two variables?
A. 0.42
B. -0.31
C. 0.74
D. -0.88
E. 0.86
29. After Donnie realized the “intruder” in his home was just his mother returning unexpectedly, his breathing began to slow down, his heart rate decreased, and his digestion began again. These changes were coordinated by the
A. limbic system.
B. parasympathetic nervous system.
C. sympathetic nervous system.
D. afferent neurons.
E. efferent neurons.
30. The oldest theory about human motivation, which focuses on unlearned, complex patterns of behavior present throughout a species, is known as
A. arousal theory.
B. drive-reduction theory.
C. instinct theory.
D. extrinsic motivation.
E. the hierarchy of needs
31. Prefixes and suffixes are small groups of letters that when added to the beginning or ending of words alter the definition of those words. Prefixes and suffixes, then, are examples of
A. phonemes.
B. morphemes.
C. algorithms.
D. accommodation.
E. assimilation.
32. Which of the following most accurately describes a projective test?
A. A test designed to reveal a person’s inner ability to do a task he or she has not tried before.
B. A test that shows a person’s true preferences, based on responses to multiple-choice questions.
C. A test that indicates the level of indifference to pain that a person experiences.
D. A test created to see if one has an anxiety-inducing problem, but is instead claiming that others have that problem.
E. A test that prompts a person to reveal hidden conflicts by responding to ambiguous stimuli.
33. Mr. Winters is a trainer who encourages his clients to lose weight. Instead of simply rewarding them when their weight declines, he is rewarding them each time they behave in ways that would reduce weight: each time they exercise, decline high-calorie foods, or even take the stairs at work. Reinforcing each time one gets closer to a desired behavior is known as
A. conforming.
B. extinguishing.
C. social loafing.
D. shaping.
E. classical conditioning.
34. Often restaurants will require groups of eight or more to pay a tip of 18 percent. This based on the belief that in larger parties, individuals will often leave a smaller tip because “someone else will pay more.” These restaurant owners, then, are aware of the impact of
A. the fundamental attribution error.
B. the power of the situation.
C. hindsight bias.
D. confirmation bias.
E. diffusion of responsibility.
35. In a research study, Dr. Regalis has participants listen to different kinds of music while she uses a brain scan to determine their brain functioning. Dr. Regalis is most likely studying which part of the brain?
A. Temporal lobe
B. Occipital lobe
C. Broca’s area
D. Motor cortex
E. Corpus callosum
36. As a patient experiences an anxiety attack, he may experience a series of changes that are coordinated by the sympathetic nervous system. Which one of the following would the patient experience?
A. Decreased heart rate
B. Slower breathing
C. Decreased salivation
D. Constricted pupils
E. Increased rate of digestion
37. Joanna’s grandmother told her, “When we were little, we couldn’t afford new clothes, so our mother made us dresses out of potato sacks.” Joanna’s great-grandmother’s ability to envision how a potato sack could be used as material for a dress suggests that she was able to overcome
A. confirmation bias.
B. functional fixedness.
C. algorithms.
D. divergent thinking.
E. belief bias.
38. Research has found that individuals suffering from schizophrenia have an excess number of receptors for the neurotransmitter
A. acetylcholine.
B. norepinephrine.
C. GABA.
D. dopamine.
E. serotonin.
39. Modern psychodynamic counselors are likely to emphasize
A. the role of the id, ego, and superego.
B. the importance of early childhood experiences.
C. long, intensive therapy sessions over a period of many years.
D. fixations that may have stemmed from repressed sexual urges.
E. a patient’s responses to Rorschach inkblots.
40. Which of the following is an example of variable-ratio reinforcement?
A. College acceptance letters arrive around the date of April 1.
B. Percy gives his dog a cookie whenever his dog walks by strangers without barking.
C. Esmeralda disliked the substitute teacher, so she scowled every time she looked at him.
D. Judy discovered a shark’s tooth after several hours of searching for one on the beach.
E. When Stu had been working on his homework for one hour, his mother allowed him to go outside and play.
41. What perspective is sometimes referred to as the “third force,” since it offered a more optimistic alternative to Freud’s psychoanalysis and Skinner’s behaviorism?
A. Biological psychology
B. Humanistic psychology
C. Cognitive psychology
D. Evolutionary psychology
E. Social-cultural psychology
42. The type of therapy that is most likely to emphasize a social-cultural approach by focusing on the patient’s environment is
A. family therapy.
B. rational-emotive behavioral therapy.
C. cognitive therapy for depression.
D. psychopharmacological treatments.
E. aversive therapy.
43. Which part of the brain would be most involved in maintaining homeostasis in body temperature?
A. Prefrontal cortex
B. Temporal lobe
C. Thalamus
D. Hypothalamus
E. Amygdala
44. Unexplained physical symptoms, including headaches, pain, and digestive problems, which cannot be explained by physical or mental causes, may be diagnosed as
A. mood disorders.
B. personality disorders.
C. somatoform disorders.
D. dissociative disorders.
E. eating disorders.
45. A psychologist who uses aversive therapy to treat a child’s bedwetting problem is using which of the following approaches?
A. Cognitive
B. Biological
C. Behavioral
D. Evolutionary
E. Social-cultural
46. Psychologists David Wechsler has created tests for adults and children that are designed to reveal their
A. intelligence.
B. aptitude.
C. achievement.
D. personality characteristics.
E. symptoms of psychological disorders.
47. In order to follow the ethical principles for research as established by the APA, psychologists should
A. recruit participants for experiments by placing ads in college newspapers.
B. publish the full results, including participant information, of their research online.
C. keep their operational definitions secret so that they cannot be copied by other researchers.
D. debrief the participants after the conclusion of the research.
E. allow minors to choose to be participants if they wish to.
48. Which of the following statements is most typical of the approach of a cognitive therapist?
A. “Let’s go back to your statement about your happiness as a child.”
B. “When you say ‘No one likes me’ that’s illogical, because you do have close friends.”
C. “What I hear you saying is you are angry, and I can hear the frustration in your voice.”
D. “I’m going to start teaching you to relax, and then we’ll slowly deal with your phobia.”
E. “I think that prescribing you an SSRI will increase your positive mood over the next few weeks.”
49. Dr. Alscott has examined two sets of data from his research. In the first set, the standard deviation was very small, while in the second set there was a much larger standard deviation. Based on this information, what conclusion can be drawn from these two sets?
A. The median was greater than the mean in the second set.
B. The mean was greater than the median in the second set.
C. The standard deviation in both sets revealed a positive correlation between the data.
D. Most data points were closer to the mean in the first set than in the second.
E. Most data points were closer to the mean in the second set than in the first.
50. “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change. “This core idea in humanistic psychology is a quotation from
A. Sigmund Freud.
B. Carl Rogers.
C. Aaron Beck.
D. Carl Jung.
E. B.F. Skinner
51. Hans Selye argued that our bodies produce a similar reaction to all kinds of stress, and the longer this response continues, the more exhausted we become. He named this process
A. the opponent-process theory.
B. systematic desensitization.
C. general adaptation syndrome.
D. global assessment of functioning.
E. triarchic intelligence.
52. “Both the left and the right hemisphere may be conscious simultaneously in different, even in mutually conflicting mental experiences that run along in parallel.” This quotation by neuropsychologists Roger Sperry refers to his Nobel Prize winning research on the effects of severing which part of the brain?
A. Amygdala
B. Brainstem
C. Corpus Callosum
D. Thalamus
E. Pituitary gland
53. Martin Seligman developed the concept of learned helplessness, the tendency of organisms to give up in situations in which they feel their efforts make no difference. This concept is closely linked to which of the following psychological disorders?
A. Agoraphobia
B. Schizophrenia
C. Depression
D. Generalized anxiety disorder
E. Histrionic personality disorder
54. John Watson’s development of the concept of behaviorism was influenced most strongly by the work of
A. Wilhelm Wundt.
B. the Gestalt psychologists.