Psychology Exam

Start Studying!

Terms

undefined, object

copy deck

You overhear psychology students preparing for a test. They note that one of the research methods often "fails to generalize." Which method is the MOST likely topic of their discussion?: Case Study
Which research method involves watching behaviors as they occur, without intervening or altering the behaviors in any way?: Naturalistic Observation
Which correlation coefficient indicates the strongest relation between two variables?: -.89
Which of the following represents a positive correlation?: The higher your SAT score, the higher your GPA.
Which of the following examples represents a negative correlation?: The faster you drive, the lower your miles per gallon.
A negative correlation would most likely exist between: amount of practice and number of errors on a task
A researcher stops people at the mall and asks them questions about their attitudes toward gun control. Which research technique is being used?: survey
What do we call the variable an experimenter manipulates in order to determine its effects in an experiment?: independent variable
What is the change in behavior that researchers measure when they conduct an experiment?: dependent variable
Two groups of volunteers are involved in an experiment to test the effects of a new drug for treating insomnia. One group of participants is given the drug; the other is given a pill that contains no medication but looks exactly like the one that contain: control group
What is the independent variable in an experiment designed to investigate the effects of alcohol consumption on memory?: amount of alcohol
Ken is planning on studying the influence of intelligence on the ability to recall events from the 1960s. If Ken does not account for variables such as age that could also influence one's ability to recall these events, age could be considered an:: extraneous variable
A research psychologist reading phrases such as "respecting individuals' rights to privacy and confidentiality" and "participants must be protected from physical and psychological harm" is reading about ___ guidelines in conducting re: ethical
In order to shed light on some of the factors that might have influenced the Holocaust, Stanley Milgram asked participants to administer electrical shock to others as part of what was described as research on learning. Today this research would violate w: protection from harm
Research participants are entitled to know and agree to the nature of research and the requirements of participation according to the concept of...: informed consent
According to the ethical guidelines for conducting research, what is an experimenter who uses deception required to do?: Debrief participants immediately after the experiment.
What was the major contribution of Wilhelm Wundt to the discipline of psychology?: He founded the first psychological laboratory.
Participants in reearch early in psychology's history might have been asked to view a chair and describe its color, shape, texture, and other aspects of their conscious experience. These individuals would have been using a method called:: introspection
Who was an early proponent of funcionalism with a special interest in the stream of consciousness?: William James
Which type of early psychology believed that "the whole is more than the sum of its parts"?: Gestalt
John B. Watson believed that psychology should involve the study of: behavior
What advice might John B. Watson have offered to psychologists of his time?: "Focus on observable behavior"
What did Sigmund Freud consider as the key to understanding behavior?: unconscious mind
Which treatment approach did Sigmund Freud develop for treating his patients?: psychoanalytic therapy
You attend a lecture by a psychologist who suggest that people have many choices, which cannot be understood by studying either animals or maladjusted persons. Which psychological perspective is most consistent with the points the psychologist presented?: humanistic
Which psychological perspective focuses on creative potential and psychological health?: psychodynamic
You are in the campus center and overhear a conversation between two members of the psychology department. During the conversation they used the words neurons and neurotransmitters. Which psychological perspective are these two individuals likely to be d: physiological
You overhear several students studying for an exam in psychology and hear the term natural selection. If they are reviewing various perspectives, which one do you believe is the focus of their review at the moment?: evolutionary
Virginia believes that the trouble she has remembering and organizing information is affecting her work. Which psychological perspective is most likely to address the processes that are influencing her job performance?: cognitive
Where does the processing(making sense) of most stimuli typically occur?: the brain
What are the two major components of the nervous system?: central and peripheral
The brain and spinal cord are the two components of the: central nervous system
Which component of the nervous system makes contact with the environent?: somatic
While walking down the street you step on something, which turns out to be a wallet. What sequence of components of the nervous system was involved as you realized ta ht you stepped on something and then picked it up?: afferent nerves, brain, efferent nerves
While you were driving down a busy street, a child ran in front of your car. You slammed on the brakes and managed to avoid hitting him. Now your heart is racing, you are perspiring, and your stomach is doing "flip-flops". Which component of th: sympathetic
You are studying alone in your room late at night when you hear a loud noise downstairs. Your heart beat has increased significantly and your breathing is deepr. You wonder if a burglar has entered the house so you decide to investigate. WHen you cautiou: parasympathetic
Homostasis refers to: a balanced state of functioning
Besides the nervous system, what system also plays a major role in shaping and controlling behavior and mental processes?: endocrine
The endocrine system consists of glands that secrete chemicals called: hormones
The ovaries produce ____ and the testes produce ____: estrogens, androgens
What term is used for the basic cells of the nervous system?: neurons
Which part of a cell is involved in metabolic regulation?: soma
Which part of a neuron transmits signals to other neurons and to muscles and glands?: axon
What is the function of the myelin sheath?: to speed neural transmission
What are small knob-like structures that are involved in transmitting a signal from one neuron to another?: terminal buttons
What are the short, branchlike structures of a neuron that receive signals from receptors or other neurons?: dendrites
What are the regularly spaced gaps along the myelin sheath?: Nodes of Ranvier
What term is used to describe the space between two neurons?: synapse
What is the actual space between a presynaptic neuron and postsynaptic neuron?: synapse
Activation of the receptors by stimuli is called: sensation
After receptor cells are stimulated, information is transmitted to the brain, which interprets the information. This process of interpretation is called: perception
What is the process in which receptors become less sensitive to repeated presentations of the same stimulus?: adaptation
Which sense responds to the energy caused by movement of air molecules?: hearing
What is the just noticable diffrence?: smallest detectable difference between two stimuli
You decide to test the value offered as the absolute threshold for the light of a candle flame on a dark, clear night. YOur friend starts walking away from you with a candle. How far will he have to walk to reach the absolute threshold?: 30 miles
What is the absolute threshold?: smallest amount of stimulus energy that is detectable
What is the smallest amount of stimulation that needs to be added to or subtracted from a stimulus to detect a difference 50 percent of the time?: differential threshold
When light waves enter the eye, they first pass through the: cornea
What is the pupil of the eye?: small opening in the center of the eye
Which part of the eye changes shape in order to regulate how much light enters?: iris
The adjustments that are called focusing result from changes in the: lens
Which component of the eye contains the visual receptors?: retina
The location where the optic nerves leave the eye is the: blind spot
What are the sensory receptors for light?: cones and rods
Rob is color blind as a result of a problem in the eye itself. Which structure is most likely to be responsible for his color blindness?: cones
Vibrating objects cause: sound waves
What is the basic function of the outer ear?: to gather and guide sound waves to the eardrum
What are hamme, anvil, and stirrup: tiny bones located in the middle ear
Conduction deafness refers to hearing problems that originate in the: outer and middle ear
Sensorineural deafness refers to hearing problems that originate in the: inner ear
Central deafness refers to hearing problems that originate in the: auditory pathways and brain
What are the four primary tastes?: bitter, salty, sour, sweet
WHich sense provides information about the body's orientation and movement?: vestibular
You walk into class and find the following words on the board: mechanoreceptors, thermoreceptors, and nocioreceptors. Based on these words, what will you conclude was the topic of the lecture?: cutaneous senses
A dinner plate looks ciruclar when viewed from directly above. Viewed from an angle, the same plate looks elliptical. We know that the plate remains circular thanks to: shape constancy
What kind of cues do we use to perceive depth?: binocular and monocular
Which Gestalt principle states that we perceive flowing lines more easily than choppy, broken lines?: good continuation
Which perceptual principle suggests that we are likely to perceive [] as a square?: closure
What term to psychologists use to designate our personal awareness of feelings, sensations, and thoughts?: consciousness
What do we call biological changes that occur on a daily schedule?: circadian rhythm
REM sleep refers to: sleep periods in which a person's eyes move rapidly
WHat term do sleep researchers use to designate stages 1 to 4 of sleep: NREM sleep
If you have been waking up too early for several weeks, you are probably suffering from: insomnia
What is hypersomnia?: excessive daytime sleepiness
Your friend has experienced excessive daytime sleepiness. He is laughing with you and suddenly falls to the ground. Your friend is probably suffering from: nocolepsy
Jim is 56 years old, slightly overweight, with elevated blood pressure. His wife reports that he snores loudly. What sleep disorder seems to fit Jim's symptoms?: sleep apnea
What is enuresis?: bedwetting
What do we call an intensely frightening experience that occurs during Stage 4 sleep?: sleep terror
Suppose a newly developed diagnostic test yields information about the ability of acetylcholine to bind to neurons in the medulla. THis information might be used to identify individuals who are at elevated risk for which sleep disorder?: sudden infant death syndrome
Hypnotism was originally known as: mesmerism
Hypnosis comes from the Greek word for: sleep
Chemicals that can alter consciousness, perception, mood, and behavior are called: psychoactive substances
What is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States?: marijuana
Your friend misses work and has serious family difficulties because he uses drugs. HOwever, he is not addicted to drugs. His disorder would be categorized as: substance abuse
Which of the following is classified as a depressant?: alcohol
Your friend regularly consumes five or more alcoholic drinks at a time. He or she would be considered a: binge drinker
The police found C. Gram Seven along the highway last night. They transported him to the hospital where it was determined that his blood alcohol concentration was .60. The police report probably described Mr. Seven as: dead
Alcohol's effect on which organ usually leads to uncharacteristic behavior: brain
Delirium tremens is a form of withdrawel from: alcohol
What is the largest single preventable cause of premature death in the United States?: cigarette smoking
Which term describes a relatively permanent change in behavior or the potential to make a response that occurs as a result of experience?: learning
Who is most closely associated with classical conditioning?: Ivan Pavlov
Elizabeth received a painful shock while typing at her computer and now she reacts with fear whenever she sees a computer. What is the computer in this example?: conditioned stimulus
Beth received a painful shock while typing at her computer and now reacts with fear whenever she sees a computer. What is the unconditioned stimulus in this example?: the shock
Repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus(CS) without the unconditioned stimulus(UCS) leads to: extinction
A dog is conditioned to salivate to the sound of a bell. Then the bell is presented alone until the dog no longer salivates to it. A few days later, the dog again salivates to the bell. The underlined sentence represents: spontaneous recovery
Mary was bitten by a dog. Now she fears the dog that bit her as well as other dogs. What aspect of classical conditioning is illustrated in what happened to Mary?: generalization
Your dog jumps on you every time you get a dish out of the kitchen cabinet to feed him. You train your dog to eat only out of a square dish so that he quits jumping on you when you get out other dishes. YOur dog's new behavior illustrates: discrimination
Which two learning processes seem to be opposites?: discrimination and generalization
A grandmother gives her grandchild a cookie because the child cleaned up her room. What is the cookie in this example?: positive reinforcer
What is an event or stimulus that makes the behavior it follows more likely to occur in the future?: reinforcer
Under what circumstances will a reinforcer make the target response more likely to occur again?: regardless of whether it is a positive or negative reinforcer
Elizabeth was given a $1000 raise after her last performance evaluation. The raise is a: secondary reinforcer
What schedule of reinforcement is used if Sally's parents give her $10 every time she accumluates six A's on her tests?: intermittent reinforcement
Which schedules of reinforcement depend on the number of responses the organism makes?: ratio
Al must build 25 radios before he receives $20. What schedule of reinforcement is being used?: fixed-ratio 25
Sam wants to borrow his father's car to use on a date. Because his dad becomes absorbed in reading the newspaper,Sam must repeat his request several times before he gets his dad's attention. From week to week he does not know how many requests he will ha: variable ratio
Which schedules of reinforcement are dependent on responses after the passage of time?: interval
You have a class in which you have a quiz every Friday. Your studying for quizzes in reinforced on what type of schedule?: fixed interval
You have a class in which you have pop quizzes so that you never know when a quiz will be given. Your studying for the quizzes is reinforced on what type of schedule?: variable interval
Which reinforcement pattern leads to the easiest and quickest extinction?: continuous
What is the partial reinforcement effect?: extinction after partial reinforcement is more difficult
What has occured when there is a decrease in the likelihood or rate of a target response?: punishment
Which of the following is an example of punishment?: giving a child a spanking for telling a lie
The increase in the incidents of gun violence in high schools has led to efforts to understand why it happens and to prevent it. Although the talk shows are filled with experts, one of them seems to make sense to you. A former member of the military poin: modeling
If a rat previously learned to press a bar for food, what motivational factor is most likely to cause bar pressing to occur in the future?: number of hours without food
What do we call unlearned, species-specific behaviors that are more complex than an eye blink and are part of an organism's repertoire from birth?: instincts
What is an internal motivational state created by a physiological need?: a drive
Which motivational theory views motivated behavior as being performed in order to reduce a physiological imbalance and return the organism to a more balanced state?: drive-reduction
Drives serve to activate responses that are aimed at reducing the drive, thereby returning the body to a more normal state called: homeostasis
Andy has heard over and over that smoking causes diseases including cancer and heart disease. This information is disturbing because he has been smoking 2 packs a day for over 20 years. Which theory of motivation is most relevant to understanding how And: cognitive-consistency
What term describes a situation in which a person is confronted with two inconsistent or incompatible thoughts or motives?: cognitive dissonance
Which level of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy is epitomized by the U.S. Army's slogan "Be all that you can be?": self-actualization
What are you confronted with in an approach-approach conflict?: two desirable goals
In an avoidance-avoidance situation, you must choose between: two unpleasant alternatives
In an approach-avoidance situation, you are faced with: one goal that has good and bad aspects
One way researchers define obesity is by a particular percentage of weight above supposed "ideal" weights. What percentage above ideal weight is most often used to define obesity?: 20 percent
Which factor seems to be the most important in accounting for obesity?: heredity
What do we call a weight level the body seems to defend by adjusting its rate of energy use?: set point
People who are attempting to become extremely thin by refusing to eat suffer from: anorexia nervosa
A cycle of binge eating followed by purgine is called: bulimia nervosa
Which of these is the correct sequence of the phases that occur during sexual behavior?: excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution
What type of behaviors are concerned with manipulating the environment according to rules and standards to attain a desired goal?: achievement
Paul is upset when he realizes he left his car windows open. Weeks later he is still troubled by the rain damage to the car interior. What term would psychologists use to describe Paul's feelings?: mood
Which theory states that a stimulus triggers physiological changes that produce emotion?: James-Lange theory
Which theory of emotion emphasizes the role of the thalamus?: Cannon-Bard theory
Which brain structure has been strongly linked to emotion?: amygdala
How do women and men compare in their abilities to detect emotions from nonverbal cues?: Women are generally better able to detect someone's emotional state from nonverbal cues than men.
"It's not what you say, it's how you say it." THis quote describes the aspect of emotional expression called: paralanguage
What aspect of communication is involved when you vary the tone of your voice but not hte specific words you speak: body language
Ted did not score high on the company's test for employment, but he had other impressive qualities. FOr example, he seemed able to control his impulses, and to keep distress from overwhelming him. Psychologists would note that Ted seems to be high in: emotional intelligence
Which of these is an example of an adaptor?: playing with your hair
What is the system or process by which the products or results of learning are stored for future use?: memory
A psychology teacher asks students to find the major parts of a neuron from a list of 20 terms. What measure of memory is she using?: recognition
You originally needed 24 trials to learn a list of words and two weeks later took 18 trials to relearn the list. A psychologist analyzed the evidence for memory and reports it. Which of the following terms would you hear when she gives this report?: savings score
In which information-processing state is information transformed into neural impulses that can be processed further or stored for later use?: encoding
What are the components of the information processing model in order?: encoding, storage, retrieval
You looked up a friend's address for a letter you wrote. Suddenly the phone rings-wrong number. Even though you were interrupted for only a few seconds, you've forgotten the address. Which memory system failed you?: short-term memory
According to George Miller, how many items can we hold in short-term memory at any one time?: secen plus or minus two
Your street address, telephone number, and social security number are stored in: long-term memory
How to start a lawn mover engine and how to change the oil in a car are both examples of memories stored in: procedural memory
You read a fill-in-the-blank question on an exam and you are sure you know the answer. However, when you start to write the answer you find you cannot recall it. You feel you are just about to recall it abnd become frustrated, almost like you are about t: tip-of-the-tongue
Most tip-of-the-tongue experiences involve: semantic memory
Steve was recalling his first day in college, including walking into the wrong class, dropping his books as he left, and the long line at the registrar's office he encountered when he had to switch classes. These memories are examples of: episodic memory
Memories of the events of 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing, or the disintegration of the Challenger are all likely to be examples of what type of memory?: flashbulb memory
A group of amnesiacs are brought into a room and asked to make a list of all the objects in the room. Later, they are asked to recall the list, but cannot do so. STill later, they are asked to memorize a list of words made up of the names of those first: implicit
Material learned under a particular physiological state is recalled best under the same physiological state is a definition of the principle called: state-dependent learning
Which technique is widely used by therapists to help clients recover lost childhood memories?: hypnosis
What is one factor that Maggie Bruck and Stephen Ceci believe is involved in memory illusions?: interviewer bias
Your tutor has "one last word" for you before she ends today's session. She tells you to study material in the middle of your study session a little harder. WHat concept from meory research is the basis of her advice?: serial position effect
Which of these are specific examples of coding techniques?: acronyms and acrostics
Ann used the follwing to remember five of the neurotransmitters: "Sand appears near great dunes". What type of memory aid is Ann using?: acrostics
Which problem solving strategies don't guarantee solutions but make efficient use of time?: heuristics
Rod needs to decide what to wear on his date tonight. Although he doesn't care if he makes the perfect choice, he doesnt' want to be subject to the "fashion police" either. He is running late, so he has to make the selection quickly, and there: heuristics
What term to we use for the tendency to rely too heavily on past experience in solving problems?: rigidity
What problem-solving roadblock have you overcome if you use your shoe to hammer a nail into the wall?: functional fixedness
Committing to one hypothesis without adequately testing other possiblities is called: confirmation bias
We determine whether an event, object, or person resembles a prototype of a particular category or class when we use the: representativeness heuristic
The ability to produce work that is both novel and appropriate is called: creativity
What doe we call the hypothesis that language influences what we think?: linguistic relativity hypothesis
What are the basic units of meaning in a language?: morphemes
How many morphemes are here in the sentence "I predicted it"?: five
A young child says "Mommy go" signifying that her mother is going to the store. What does this example illustrate about language development?: telegraphic speech
Young Agnes was recently diagnosed as having a severe form of deafness. What is the most likely approach that will be used to teach Agnes?: American Sign Language
The ability to excel in a number of tasks, especially those related to success in schoolwork, is a common American definition of: intelligence
The Binet and Simon intelligence test measured children on what new concep?: mental age
What score indicates how one individual compares to others on an intelligence test?: intelligence quotient
Psychological tests that yield relatively consistent results are said to be: reliable
A psychological test that measures what we intend it to measure is said to be: valid
In class today, Robert of Poseyville turned to Slim of New harmony and said "What did you get?" To which of the elements of psychological testing is this question relevant?: norms
Which of these is an element of the formal definition of mental retardation?: IQ below 70
A psychologist tested Brian an found his overal IQ was 45. Yet Brian can add, subtract, and multiply, and divide large numbers with lightning speed and consistent accuracy. What term is used for Brian's exceptional ability?: savant syndrome
Which of these is one of Howard Gardner's multiple intelligences?: naturalistic
Women do the heavy work of packing/unpacking tents and digging dithces in one nomadic culture. In another culture, men spend a great deal of their time adorning themselves with paints and jewelry. They also care for all children above three years old. Th: gender
Most dentists in teh U.S. are men, whereas in Russia and Sweden they are women. What significant influence on our behavior do these facts seem to support?: cultural expectations
A person whose body contains both ovarian and testicular tissue is a: hermaphrodite
A pediatrician discovered that an infant had two gonads of the same kind. Further analysis revealed the infant had the appropriate chromosomal make-up for the gonads, but the external genitalia were contrary to the chromosomal make up. When the pediatric: pseudohermaphrodite
Which reinforcement pattern leads to the easiest and quickest extinction?: ratio
partial
interval
continuous

Start Studying!

Deck Info

Number of cards 198