AP PSYCHOLOGY
Study Guide
Final – Spring 2014
1. / Employee engagement is most likely to be facilitated by:A) / halo errors.
B) / set points.
C) / unstructured interviews.
D) / transformational leadership.
2. / According to Freud, the part of personality that represents our sense of right and wrong and our ideal standards is the:
A) / id.
B) / superego.
C) / ego.
D) / collective unconscious.
3. / Two classmates ask you to spend a couple of hours helping them prepare for a chemistry test. According to social exchange theory, you would be most likely to help them if:
A) / you know you would feel terribly guilty for refusing their request.
B) / your classmates cannot afford to pay for a private tutor.
C) / your parents helped you study for tests when you were younger.
D) / you know that someone else helped them prepare for an earlier test.
4. / Mrs. Sunstedt believes that parents should accept and try to understand their children's feelings and should honestly disclose their own inner feelings to their children. Her approach to parentchild interaction was most explicitly recommended by:
A) / Jung.
B) / Rogers.
C) / Bandura.
D) / Allport.
5. / Which of the following represents the correct order of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development?
A) / sensorimotor, preoperational, formal operational, concrete operational
B) / sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
C) / preoperational, sensorimotor, concrete operational, formal operational
D) / preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational, sensorimotor
6. / The emotion of rage is characterized by negative valence and ______arousal.
A) / positive
B) / low
C) / negative
D) / high
7. / Who suggested that “we feel sorry because we cry . . . afraid because we tremble”?
A) / William James
B) / Walter Cannon
C) / Richard Lazarus
D) / Stanley Schachter
8. / Freud suggested that orally fixated adults are especially likely to exhibit:
A) / the self-reference phenomenon.
B) / an Electra complex.
C) / passive dependence.
D) / an inferiority complex.
9. / Which theory has been most severely criticized for offering after-the-fact explanations without advancing testable predictions?
A) / psychoanalytic theory
B) / social-cognitive theory
C) / trait theory
D) / humanistic theory
10. / Although it has been two years since his girlfriend left him, Joaquin still suffers from depression. His therapist believes that Joaquin remains depressed because the girlfriend reminded him of his mother, who died when he was a child. The therapist's interpretation most clearly reflects the ______perspective.
A) / learning
B) / psychoanalytic
C) / biological
D) / social-cognitive
11. / Research participants were most likely to react violently to criticism of their written essays if they experienced ______self-esteem.
A) / moderately low
B) / moderately high
C) / unrealistically high
D) / unrealistically low
12. / Luke suffers from acrophobia, a fear of high places. Luke's therapist suggests that his reaction to heights is a generalization of the fear triggered by a childhood playground accident in which he fell off a sliding board. The therapist's suggestion reflects a ______perspective.
A) / psychoanalytic
B) / humanistic
C) / biological
D) / learning
13. / Whenever people face famine, obesity is a signal of:
A) / high social status.
B) / emotion-focused coping.
C) / a pessimistic explanatory style.
D) / psychophysiological illness.
14. / According to Maslow, our need for ______must be met before we are preoccupied with satisfying our need for ______.
A) / political freedom; economic security
B) / love; food
C) / adequate clothing; self-esteem
D) / self-actualization; friendship
15. / Solomon Asch reported that individuals conformed to a group's judgment of the lengths of lines:
A) / only when members of the group were friends prior to the experiment.
B) / only when the group was composed of at least six members.
C) / even when the group judgment was clearly incorrect.
D) / even when the group seemed uncertain and repeatedly altered its judgment.
16. / One study of migraine headache patients found that the majority of those who received “sham acupuncture” enjoyed relief. The patients' pain relief is most likely attributable to:
A) / the placebo effect.
B) / problem-focused coping.
C) / a decrease in lymphocyte production.
D) / an increase in heart rate and blood pressure.
17. / Rosaria is upset with her husband for not putting his dirty clothes in the laundry basket. Anger experts would most likely recommend that she deal with her frustration by saying to him:
A) / “It annoys me that you leave your dirty clothes for me to pick up.”
B) / “I refuse to make dinner until you do the laundry.”
C) / “From now on I'm going to leave my dirty clothes around for you to pick up.”
D) / “I'm not your mother. Take some responsibility.”
18. / In a study of 3000 midlife adults, most postmenopausal women recalled feelings of ______with the onset of menopause.
A) / panic
B) / relief
C) / pain
D) / regret
19. / Psychoanalysts are most likely to view patient transference as:
A) / a helpful aid to the process of therapy.
B) / a symptom of depression.
C) / evidence that no further therapy is needed.
D) / a sign of healthy personality development.
20. / Research on the effects of playing violent video games most clearly provides evidence that disconfirms the:
A) / catharsis hypothesis.
B) / just-world phenomenon.
C) / frustration-aggression principle.
D) / mere exposure effect.
21. / When the participants in Milgram's study were later surveyed about taking part in the research, most reported that they:
A) / did not regret taking part in the experiment.
B) / did not believe the study should be repeated.
C) / had actually enjoyed shocking the “learner.”
D) / did not believe they were actually delivering shock to the “learner.”
22. / One cluster of personality disorders marked by noticeably odd or eccentric behavior is exemplified by the ______personality disorder.
A) / narcissistic
B) / schizoid
C) / histrionic
D) / avoidant
23. / The value of light exposure therapy appears to result from its influence on people's:
A) / self-blaming explanations.
B) / social relationships.
C) / visual acuity.
D) / circadian rhythm.
24. / On mental rotation tasks, homosexual men perform:
A) / better than heterosexual men and better than heterosexual women.
B) / better than heterosexual men and worse than heterosexual women.
C) / worse than heterosexual men and worse than heterosexual women.
D) / worse than heterosexual men and better than heterosexual women.
25. / Blacks have been found to score lower on tests of verbal aptitude when tested by Whites than when tested by Blacks. This best illustrates the impact of:
A) / stereotype threat.
B) / standardization.
C) / the Flynn effect.
D) / emotional intelligence.
26. / Identical twins typically begin walking on nearly the same day. This best illustrates the importance of ______to motor skills.
A) / maturation
B) / accommodation
C) / habituation
D) / responsive parenting
27. / Putting babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of crib death has been associated with a slight delay in children's::
A) / stranger anxiety.
B) / bladder control.
C) / walking.
D) / crawling.
28. / Hasina was an abused child; as an adult, she is homeless and squanders any money she can find on alcohol. Alfred Adler would have suggested that Hasina suffers from:
A) / the Barnum effect.
B) / an Electra complex.
C) / the spotlight effect.
D) / feelings of inferiority.
29. / Research on obesity and weight control indicates that:
A) / fat cells are lost when sustained dieting is combined with exercise.
B) / once we become fat, we require less food to maintain our weight than we did to attain it.
C) / it is easier for people to lose weight on the second or third attempt at dieting than on the first try.
D) / one pound is always lost for every 3500-calorie reduction in diet.
30. / It would be reasonable to suggest that the Flynn effect is due in part to:
A) / increasingly improved childhood health and nutrition.
B) / the failure to restandardize existing intelligence tests.
C) / the deteriorating quality of parental involvement in children's education.
D) / the decreasing reliance on a single test score as an index of mental aptitudes.
31. / Reinforcing desired behaviors and withholding reinforcement for undesired behaviors is most central to the process of:
A) / light exposure therapy.
B) / behavior modification.
C) / progressive relaxation.
D) / classical conditioning.
32. / Spearman's g factor refers to:
A) / the ability to understand and regulate emotions.
B) / a highly developed skill or talent possessed by an otherwise retarded person.
C) / the genetic contribution to intelligence.
D) / a general intelligence that underlies successful performance on a wide variety of tasks.
33. / Generating the single correct answer to an intelligence test question illustrates:
A) / standardization.
B) / factor analysis.
C) / convergent thinking.
D) / reliability.
34. / Over the last few years, Mr. Helmus has been obsessed with bizarre thoughts and has become increasingly agitated and socially withdrawn. Which personality inventory would be most helpful for assessing the nature and severity of his symptoms?
A) / TAT
B) / Rorschach inkblot test
C) / MMPI
D) / Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
35. / Psychologists are least likely to suggest that ______contribute(s) to the development of schizophrenia.
A) / shrinkage of cerebral tissue
B) / neglectful child-rearing practices
C) / prenatal viral infections
D) / impaired glutamate activity
36. / When Mrs. Van Dyke first acquired a new luxury car, she was ecstatic. After several months, however, she took the car for granted and it gave her little sense of emotional excitement. This change in her feelings can best be explained in terms of the:
A) / catharsis hypothesis.
B) / adaptation-level phenomenon.
C) / spillover effect.
D) / relative deprivation principle.
37. / Epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol:
A) / accelerate the buildup of plaques on artery walls.
B) / decrease heart rate and blood pressure.
C) / divert blood flow from muscle tissue to the body's internal organs.
D) / are released by the thymus and lymph glands.
38. / Rudy has been on a strict diet of 1000 calories per day for the last six weeks. He lost considerably more weight in the first three weeks of his diet than in the last three because:
A) / his set point has increased.
B) / his fat cells have decreased in number.
C) / his metabolic rate has decreased.
D) / lean tissue is maintained by fewer calories than is fat tissue.
39. / On the basis of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, one would be least likely to predict that a:
A) / prisoner might choose to die rather than betray his country.
B) / successful business executive might show greater concern for his family relationships than for becoming president of his corporation.
C) / starving person might sell his child to obtain food.
D) / teacher with high self-esteem might seek a career change to use his abilities more fully.
40. / Maslow's hierarchy of needs suggests that people are unlikely to be motivated to obtain ______if they are deprived of ______.
A) / food and shelter; political freedom
B) / friendship and love; religious fulfillment
C) / good grades in school; love and safety
D) / sexual gratification; self-esteem
41. / Mr. Wilson often misinterprets his normal feelings of hunger as indicative of stomach cancer. Mr. Wilson's experience is most indicative of:
A) / hypochondriasis.
B) / a psychophysiological illness.
C) / emotion-focused coping.
D) / the general adaptation syndrome.
42. / What would be most helpful for encouraging mentally retarded adults to make their beds every morning?
A) / systematic desensitization
B) / a token economy
C) / cognitive therapy
D) / aversive conditioning
43. / Following 9/11, some outraged people lashed out at innocent Arab-Americans. This venting of hostility can best be explained in terms of:
A) / scapegoat theory.
B) / the mere exposure effect.
C) / the just-world phenomenon.
D) / the bystander effect.
44. / According to Piaget, children acquire the mental operations needed to comprehend such things as mathematical transformations and conservation during the ______stage.
A) / sensorimotor
B) / formal operational
C) / preoperational
D) / concrete operational
45. / A therapist who takes an eclectic approach is one who:
A) / uses a variety of psychological theories and therapeutic approaches.
B) / prescribes the use of drugs as part of psychotherapy.
C) / emphasizes that active listening is the major technique in all effective therapies.
D) / prefers to engage in therapy in a group setting.
46. / Low self-esteem is most likely to be associated with:
A) / mania.
B) / antisocial personality disorder.
C) / dysthymic disorder.
D) / ADHD.
47. / Laura's husband died three years ago, but she is still depressed. Her therapist suggests that she is really angry at her husband for abandoning her. The therapist's interpretation reflects the ______perspective.
A) / biological
B) / learning
C) / social-cognitive
D) / psychoanalytic
48. / Evidence that obesity is influenced by factors in addition to genetics includes the fact that:
A) / obesity is more common today than it was a century ago.
B) / mice injected with daily doses of leptin become less active and gain weight.
C) / people lose a pound of weight for every reduction of 3500 calories in their diet.
D) / weights of adopted people are highly correlated with weights of their adoptive parents.
49. / Compared to gay men, lesbian women are ______likely to engage in promiscuous sex and ______likely to enter into a committed long-term love relationship.
A) / equally; equally
B) / more; less
C) / less; more
D) / less; equally
50. / Dr. Volz is a researcher who wants to distinguish between the direct effects of a new antianxiety medication and effects arising from expectations of the drug's effectiveness. Dr. Volz is most likely to use a procedure known as:
A) / EMDR.
B) / the double-blind technique.
C) / virtual reality exposure therapy.
D) / meta-analysis.
51. / The ill-fated decision of President John F. Kennedy and his advisors to invade Cuba best illustrates the dangers of:
A) / the bystander effect.
B) / the mere exposure effect.
C) / groupthink.
D) / deindividuation.
52. / According to Milgram, the most fundamental lesson to be learned from his study of obedience is that:
A) / people value their freedom and react negatively when they feel they are being coerced to do something.
B) / people are naturally predisposed to be hostile and aggressive.
C) / even ordinary people, who are not usually hostile, can become agents of destruction.
D) / the desire to be accepted by others is one of the strongest human motives.
53. / Which of the following is a common symptom of nicotine withdrawal?
A) / drowsiness
B) / insensitivity to pain
C) / anxiety
D) / diminished appetite
54. / Therapists' perceptions of the effectiveness of psychotherapy are likely to be misleading because:
A) / therapists typically overestimate their clients' potential levels of adjustment.
B) / therapists typically minimize the seriousness of their clients' symptoms when therapy begins.
C) / clients typically emphasize their problems at the start of therapy and their well-being at the end of therapy.
D) / clients tend to focus on their observable behavioral problems rather than on their mental and emotional abilities.
55. / An incentive is a(n):
A) / positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.
B) / state of arousal triggered by deprivation.
C) / state of deprivation that triggers arousal.
D) / rigidly patterned behavior characteristic of an entire species.
56. / Which division of the nervous system arouses the body and mobilizes its energy in emotionally stressful situations?
A) / parasympathetic
B) / somatic
C) / sympathetic
D) / central
57. / Compared to others their own age, children who form a positive self-concept are more likely to be:
A) / egocentric.
B) / habituated.
C) / obedient.
D) / sociable.
58. / Sadie is so fearful of being overwhelmed by anxiety that she rarely steps outside her apartment. The thought of going shopping and getting lost in a crowd terrifies her, so she has her groceries delivered. Because of her fear, she earns her living as a freelance writer, working at home. Sadie's behavior is most characteristic of:
A) / generalized anxiety disorder.
B) / an obsessivecompulsive disorder.
C) / agoraphobia.
D) / an antisocial personality disorder.
59. / Psychologists use ______to assess individuals' mental aptitudes and compare them with those of others.
A) / the g factor
B) / neural plasticity
C) / reliability coefficients
D) / intelligence tests
60. / Research on the determinants of intelligence indicates that:
A) / both genes and environment have some influence on intelligence scores.
B) / there is no relationship between people's position on the nature-nurture issue and their social or political attitudes.
C) / concern over the nature-nurture issue has declined significantly during the past 10 years.
D) / there are no scientific methods for answering the nature-nurture question for a particular range of individuals or situations.
61. / Electrical stimulation of the ______has been observed to trigger smiling and laughter in depressed patients.
A) / nucleus accumbens
B) / cerebellum
C) / amygdala
D) / hippocampus
62. / Compared to those with an external locus of control, people who perceive an internal locus of control are:
A) / extremely introverted personalities.
B) / likely to be academically successful.
C) / not easily able to delay gratification of their personal desires.
D) / likely to experience low selfesteem.
63. / Which of the following best describes adolescent self-esteem?
A) / It falls through the early teen years and rises during the late teen years.
B) / It falls through the early teen years and falls during the late teen years.
C) / It rises through the early teen years and falls during the late teen years.
D) / It rises through the early teen years and rises during the late teen years.
64. / Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas is called:
A) / imprinting.
B) / accommodation.
C) / assimilation.
D) / egocentrism.
65. / The speed with which people retrieve information from memory has been found to be a predictor of their ______intelligence.
A) / practical
B) / spatial
C) / verbal
D) / emotional
66. / Evidence that visual input is routed from the thalamus directly to the amygdala has been used to support the claim that:
A) / emotion tends to distort our perceptions of the world.
B) / a visual stimulus always triggers a stronger emotional response than does an auditory stimulus.
C) / some emotional reactions may occur without conscious thinking.
D) / the cortex sends more neural projections to the amygdala than it receives back.
67. / When Brandon was told that he correctly answered 80 percent of the items on a mathematical achievement test, he asked how his performance compared with that of the average test taker. Brandon's concern was directly related to the issue of:
A) / content validity.
B) / standardization.
C) / predictive validity.
D) / reliability.
68. / The National Institute of Mental Health has indicated that the development of ADHD is a consequence of:
A) / low-quality schools.
B) / genetic influences.
C) / a stressful family environment.
D) / a high-sugar diet.
69. / Gender differences in erotic plasticity are best illustrated by the fact that:
A) / women become aware of their sexual orientation much earlier in life than do men.
B) / women are less likely than men to be equally aroused by male and female erotic stimuli.
C) / women experience lengthier refractory periods than do men.
D) / women's sexual orientation tends to be more changeable than men's.
70. / Nikolaus, a high school junior, is on both the track and golf teams. A high level of physiological arousal is likely to ______his running the 100-meter dash and ______his accuracy in making long putts in a golf game.
A) / interfere with; enhance
B) / have no effect on; interfere with
C) / enhance; enhance
D) / enhance; interfere with
AP Psych – Study Guide – Final 2014 Page 1