PART I –Multiple Choice
Directions: Read each question carefully and choose the best answer. GOOD LUCK!!!
1. The research methodology William Wundt used is called
a. introspection
b. structuralism
c. naturalistic observation
d. inferential
e. scientific
2. Which of the following psychologists wrote the first psychology textbook?
a. William James
b. William Wundt
c. B.F. Skinner
d. John Watson
e. Albert Bandura
3. Symbolic dream analysis might be an important research technique to a psychologist from which of the following perspectives?
a. behaviorist
b. biopsychologist
c. psychoanalytic
d. evolutionary
e. structuralist
4. A mother brings her daughter who has been diagnosed with autism to two different doctors. The first doctor tells her that autism is a genetic problem. The second doctor tells her it was caused by a vaccine the child received when she was younger. These two dissenting opinions reflect the
a. mind-brain problem
b. psychodynamic perspective
c. role of genetics
d. nature vs. nurture debate
e. behaviorist viewpoint
5. Behaviorists explain human thought and behavior as a result of
a. past conditioning
b. unconscious behavioral impulses
c. natural selections
d. biological processes
e. individual choice
6. In what ways might a behaviorist disagree with a cognitive psychologist about the cause of aggression?
a. A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by memories or ways we
think about aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might say aggression is caused by a past repressed experience.
b. A behaviorist might state that aggression is a behavior encouraged by our genetic code, while a cognitive psychologist might state that aggression is caused by memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior.
c. A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by past rewards for aggressive behavior while a cognitive psychologist might believe aggression is caused by an expressed desire to fulfill certain life needs.
d. A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by past rewards for aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might believe aggression is caused by memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior.
e. A behaviorist would not disagree with a cognitive psychologist about aggression because they both believe that aggressive behavior is caused by the way we cognitively process certain behaviors.
7. Which of the following statements would an evolutionary psychologist most likely make?
a. “Depression is a result of dysfunctional thought patterns”
b. “Depression is an adaptive mechanism telling our bodies to hibernate, escape, or change our environment”
c. “Depression is a result of internalized hostility”
d. “Depression is a result of pathological neurotransmitter imbalances”
e. “Depression is a result of reinforcement”
8. Psychologists generally prefer the experimental method to other research methods because
a. experiments are more likely to support psychologists’ hypothesis
b. experiments can show cause and effect relationships
c. it is easier to obtain a random sample for an experiment
d. experiments are more likely to result in statistically significant findings
9.Theoretically, random assignment should eliminate
a. sampling error
b. the need to use statistics
c. concerns over validity
d. many confounding variables
e. the need for a representative sample
10. What is the median of the following distribution: 6,2,9,7,3?
a. 4
b. 5
c. 5.5
d. 6
e. 6.5
11. Before study procedures can be initiated, a subject must be told what the study involves and sign a form saying they have agreed to participate. This procedure is referred to as
a. implied consent
b. informed consent
c. a permission agreement
d. debriefing
e. protocol review
12. Charlotte, a nursery school student, hypothesizes that boys don’t have fights with the finger paints more than girls do. She tests her hypothesis by casually watching the finger painting table for three days of nursery school. What method is she using?
a. field experiment
b. informal survey
c. case study
d. naturalistic observation
e. ethnography
13. Jen collects survey data that indicates that students who spend more time preparing for the AP test tend to do better than other students. Jen can now conclude that.
a studying improves exam grades.
b. a relationship exists between studying and exam grades
c. a significant correlation exist between studying and exam grades.
d. anyone who does not study will do poorly on the exam
e. better students tend to study more.
14. Brad hypothesizes that information presented in a funny way will be remembered better than information presented in a more straightforward, traditional manner. The independent variable in Brad’s research is
a. the information
b. the amount of information recalled
c. the funny presentation
d. the method of presentation
e. the people who present the information
15. An experiment performed by a researcher who is not aware of which participants are assigned to which condition is called (Note: assume the participants in the study are also ignorant about which group they are assigned to)
a. single blind
b. controlled
c. correlational
d. quasi-experimental
e. double blind
16. Standard deviation measures
a. variability
b. amplitude
c. frequency
d. significant difference
e. median
17. A teacher notices that whenever she brings chocolate chip cookies to her class, the test scores improve. She concludes that cookies increase students’ scores on this
test. This conclusion may be incorrect because
a. the independent variable was not manipulated
b. the dependent variable is not operationally defined
c. this is a correlational, not causational relationship
d. the test was not double blind
e. the sample is not representative of the population
18. If the results of a study are statistically significant
a. the results probably did not happen by chance
b. the methodology was probably not flawed
c. a perfect correlation exists between the variables
d. the research was done ethically
e. the study has bee replicated are least three times.
19. The term generalizability in a research study refers to
a. participants tendency to start reacting to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimuli
b. whether the findings of the study can apply to the general population from which the sample was taken
c. the broadening operational definitions of dependent variables as psychology becomes more sophisticated
d. how the findings in the study apply to fields outside psychology
e. the tendency of researchers to apply their findings beyond what the data will support.
20. A researcher tests a group of children when they are three, six and nine and 12 years of age. This researcher is involved in
a. cross-sectional research
b. cohort-sequential research
c. lifespan research
d. longitudinal research
e. observational research
21. The brain scans that is essentially a series of X rays is the
a. MRI scan
b. CAT scan
c. PET scan
d. EEG scan
e. EKG scan
22. Over which of the following functions does the right hemisphere of the brain have the most control?
a. language
b. logical reasoning
c. movement of the right side of the body
d. algebra
e. art and music appreciation
23. The part (s) of the body with the most sensory receptors is (are) the
a. lips
b. feet
c. thighs
d. neck
e. wrists
24. Blindness could result from damage to which cortex and lobe of the brain?
a. visual cortex in the frontal lobe
b. visual cortex in the temporal lobe
c. sensory cortex in the parietal lobe
d. visual cortex in the occipital lobe
e. cerebral cortex in the occipital lobe
25. According to the theory of evolution, why might we call some parts of the brain the old brain and some parts the new brain?
a. old brain parts are what exists in very young children, and the new brain develops later.
b. the old brain developed first according to evolution
c. the old brain becomes more active as we grow older.
d. the new brain deals with new information, while the old brain deals with information gathered when we were children
e. the old brain is most affected by age deterioration (dementias) while the new brain remains unaffected.
26. You eat some bad sushi and feel that you are slowly losing control of your muscles. The bacteria you ingested from the bad sushi most likely interferes with the use of
a. serotonin
b. dopamine
c. acetylcholine
d. thorazine
e. adrenaline
27. Which of the following is the almond shaped structure in the brain that plays a role in the processing of emotions?
a. hypothalamus
b. medulla
c. thalamus
d. amygdala
e. reticular formation
28. When brain researchers refer to brain plasticity, they are talking about
a. the brain’s ability to regrow damaged neurons
b. the surface texture and appearance cause by the layer know as the cerebral cortex.
c. the brain’s versatility caused by the millions of different neural connections.
d. our adaptability to different problems ranging from survival needs to abstract reasoning
e. new connections forming in the brain to take over for damaged sections.
29. After confronting an emergency situation, which part of the nervous system
returns the body to homeostasis?
a. somatic
b. central
c. sympathetic
d. parasympathetic
e. automatic
30. Parents who set and enforce strict rules for their children without allowing any questioning or discussion are following what parenting style?
a. democratic
b. authoritative
c. totalitarian
d. authoritarian
e. neglectful
31. Which of the following would not characterize a person in the concrete operational stage?
a. using operations
b. understanding reversibility
c. having stranger anxiety
d. appreciating conservation
e. solving class inclusion problems
32. The fatty tissue that speeds up neural transmission is known as
a. myelin
b. astrocytes
c. adipose
d. nodes of Ranvier
e. axolation
33. Which part of the brain is most instrumental in decision making?
a. hypothalamus
b. hippocampus
c. frontal lobe
d. cerebellum
e. pons
34. People with Broca’s aphasia
a. cannot understand language and stutter when they speak
b. can speak without difficulty, but have trouble with language comprehension
c. cannot speak or understand language
d. can understand language, heard or read, but have difficulty speaking
e. cannot speak fluently and can only understand action words
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35. The blind spot in our eye results from
a. the lack of receptors at the spot where the optic nerve connects to the retina
b. the shadow the pupil makes on the retina
c. competing processing between the visual cortices in the left and right hemisphere
d. floating debris in the space between the lens and the retina
e. retinal damage from bright light.
36. The cochlea is responsible for
a. protecting the surface of the eye
b. transmitting vibrations received by the eardrum to the hammer, anvil and stirrup
c. transforming vibrations into neural signals
d. coordinating impulses from the rods and cones in the retina
e. sending messages to the brain about orientation of the head and body
37. Weber’s Law determines
a. absolute threshold
b. focal length of the eye
c. level of subliminal messages
d. just noticeable difference
38. Gate control theory refers to
a. which sensory impulses are transmitted first from each sense
b. which pain messages are received
c. interfering sound waves, causing some waves to be undetected
d. the gate at the optic chiasm controlling the destination hemisphere for visual information from each eye.
e. how our minds choose to either use bottom-up or top-down processing
39. If you had sight in only one eye, which of the following depth cues could you NOT use?
a. texture gradient
b. convergence
c. linear perspective
d. interposition
e. shading
40. Color blindness and color afterimages are best explained by which theory of color vision?
a. trichromatic theory
b. visible hue theory
c. opponent process theory
d. dichromatic theory
e. binocular disparity theory
41. What behavior would be difficult without our vestibular sense?
a. integrating what we see and hear
b. repeating a list of digits
c. walking a straight line with our eyes closed
d. reporting to a researcher the exact position and orientation of our limbs
42. A measurement of how similar two frequencies could be before we no longer can differentiate between them is a measurement of which of the following attributes?
a. absolute threshold
b. dichotic listening
c. perfect pitch
d. auditic memory
e. difference threshold
43. The term transduction refers to
a. neural impulses moving from the spinal cord to the rest of the brain
b. the different effects of hormones in different parts of the body and brain
c. neural impulses traveling from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system
d. changing sensory stimuli from energy or chemical signals into neural impulses.
e. changing neurotransmitter signals into electric impulses.
44. What function does the retina serve?
a. the retina contains the visual receptor cells.
b. the retina focuses light coming in the eye through the lens.
c. the retina determines which rods and cones will be activated by incoming light.
d. the retina connects the two optic nerves and sends impulses to the left and right visual cortices
45. REM sleep is also known as
a. quiet sleep
b. deep sleep
c. paradoxical sleep
d. slow-wave sleep
e. beta sleep
46. Dreams occur
a. only during REM sleep
b. in any stage of sleep, but the greatest number and most vivid dreams occur during REM
c. mostly during stage 4 sleep and REM sleep, depending on the individual’s sleep cycle and environmental factors like diet and exercise.
d. more often at the beginning of your sleep cycle than at the end.
e. when we repress traumas during the day, according to cognitive psychologists.
47. The information-processing theory says that dreams
a. are meaningless by-products of how our brains process information during REM sleep
b. are symbolic representations of the information we encode during the day
c. are processed by one level of consciousness but other levels remain unaware of
the dreams
d. occur as the brain deals with daily stress and events during REM sleep
e. occur only after stressful events, explaining why some people never dream.
48. Which of the following describes the hidden meaning behind our dreams that must be interpreted from the content in them?
a. fulfillment matter
b. manifest content
c. unconscious desire
d. fulfillment content
e. latent content
49. You read in your philosophy textbook that humans are born “Tabula Rasa” or “blank slates”. As a student of psychology, which of the following responses would you have?
a. the statement is incorrect. Humans may be born without reflexes and instincts,
but we are born with the ability to learn them.
b. the statement is correct. Humans are born without instincts or other mechanisms that help them survive
c, The statement is correct. Humans are born with a certain number of neurons,
but most develop later as we learn.
d. The statement is incorrect. Humans are born with a set of reflexes that help us survive.
e. The statement is impossible to prove since we cannot infer what babies know or
do not know due to their lack of language.
d. touch
e. stranger anxiety
50. The capacity of our working memories is approximately ______items
a. three
b. five
c. seven
d. nine
e. unlimited
51. Just before something scary in a horror film, they often play scary sounding music. When I hear the music, I tense up in anticipation of the scary event. In this situation, the music serves as a
a. US
b. CS
c. UR
d. CR
e. NR
52. Try as you might, you are unable to teach your dog to do a somersault. He will roll around on the ground but he refuses to execute the gymnastic move you desire because of
a. equipotentiality
b. preparedness
c. biological predisposition
d. chaining
e. shaping
53. Which researcher studied observational learning?
a. Kohler
b. Bandura
c. Pavlov
d. Watson
e. Skinner
54. In teaching your cat to jump through a hoop, which reinforcement schedule would facilitate the most rapid learning?
a. continuous
b. fixed ratio
c. variable ratio
d. fixed interval
e. variable interval
55. When Tito was young, his parents decided to give him a quarter every day he made his bed. Tito started to make his sibling’s beds also and help with other chores. Behaviorists would day that Tito was experiencing
a. internal motivation
b. spontaneous recovery
c. acquisition
d. generalization
e. discrimination
56. Which of the following is an example of positive reinforcement?
a. Buying a child a video game after she throws a tantrum
b. Going inside to escape a thunderstorm
c. Assigning a student to detention for fighting
d Getting a cavity filled at the dentist to halt a toothache
e. Depriving a prison inmate of sleep
57. Lily keeps poking Jared in Mr. Clayton’s third grade class. Mr. Clayton tells Jared to ignore Lily. Mr. Clayton is hoping that ignoring Lily’s behavior will
a. punish her
b. extinguish the behavior
c. negatively reinforce the behavior
d. cause Lily to generalize
e. make the behavior latent
58. Tina likes to play with slugs, but she can only find then by the shed only after it rains. On what kind of reinforcement schedule is Tina’s slug hunting?
a. continuous
b. fixed interval
c. fixed ratio
d. variable interval
e. variable ratio
59. Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment is most closely associated with which of the following terms?
a. instincts
b. maturation
c. modeling
d. abstract learning
e. operant conditioning
60. Taking medicine to relieve a headache is an example of
a. positive reinforcement
b. classical conditioning
c. latent learning
d. punishment
e. negative reinforcement
61. Which of the following scenarios is most likely an example of classical conditioning?
a. a person’s fear of driving after being involved in an auto accident
b. a rat learning to run through a complex maze for food
c. a rat learning to run through a complex maze for food
d. a student learning to study more before a test
e. an adolescent learning to avoid being grounded by coming home before curfew.
62. When Tray walked out of his algebra final, he could remember only the first question and the last five questions. Tray’s recollection can be best explained by
a. anterograde amnesia
b. retrograde amnesia
c. the stress of the exam
d. the serial position effect
e. interference
63. An infant’s attempts at putting an object plaved near their mouths into their mouths is referred to as
a. rooting reflex
b. sucking reflex
c. grasping reflex
d. moro reflex
e. babinski reflex
64. The first step in the information processing theory of memory is
a. storage