A series of dots arranged in the shape of a face will be perceived as a face, not a series of dots. A psychologist studying this phenomenon is applying the principals of ________.
humanism
Gestalt psychology
psychoanalytic theory
structuralism
According to Sigmund Freud, all of the following represent ways to access the unconscious mind except through ________.
dream analysis
examination of the first words that come to someone's mind
the use of reinforcement and punishment
seemingly innocent slips of the tongue
According to the biopsychosocial model, what determines health?
interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors
applying biological principles to the psychology of a healthy social life
successful application of biopsychological principles to social life
primarily biology; individual psychology and social factors are sometimes relevant
Ashya wants to focus on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior. What area of psychology should she work in?
cognitive psychology
organizational psychology
clinical psychology
social psychology
Behaviorism focuses on making psychology an objective science by ________.
studying overt behavior and deemphasizing the importance of unobservable mental processes
studying the genetic basis for behavior and theorizing how instincts influence behavior
studying how emotional responses influence behavior while deemphasizing the importance of the subconscious
studying implicit motivations for behavior through the use of implicit association tests
Char heard from her friends that marijuana use can cure glaucoma so it should be legal in all 50 states. Char knows that she is biased in favor of marijuana legalization, so she decides to exercise some skepticism about this claim. She researches where her friends got their information, how reliable it is, and what other sources say about legalizing marijuana. Char is ________.
hypothesizing
theorizing
acting unconsciously
thinking critically
Cognitive psychology focuses on studying ________.
sensation and the effect of culture on perception
thoughts and their relationship to our experiences and our actions
genetics and the effect of genetics on behavior
the effect of gender, race, and class on behavior
Critical thinking is ________.
reviewing information on the Internet to develop a critical opinion on it
applying a set of skills to understand and evaluate information
applying a set of skills to find information about a controversial topic
applying information to understand and evaluate social phenomena
For a scientific explanation to be testable, it must also be ________.
conscious and unconscious
hypothesized and theoretical
perceivable and measurable
experimental and provable
I provide Ralph with the positive reinforcement of a candy bar when he does something I like. I punish him by squirting him with a squirt gun when he does something I don't like. I am applying the principles of ________ in an attempt to modify Ralph's behavior.
classical conditioning
functionalism
operant conditioning
If you show an adult a toy, and then hide it behind a curtain, the adult knows that the toy still exists. However, infants act as if a hidden object no longer exists. What does this exemplify?
object permanence
perpetuation
developmental theory
article blindness
In a study of mate preference differences between men and women that spanned 37 cultures, Buss (1989) found that men value youthful appearance more than women. Why?
Men need to display their mates as a trophy.
Youthful looks provide fertility clues.
Men are more sexually responsive with younger women.
Women are not as superficial as men.
In developmental psychology, there is an increasing interest in researching cognitive changes that occur later in life. Why?
The elderly are contracting more cognitive diseases.
People in developed nations revere the elderly.
Populations of developing nations are dying sooner.
Populations of developed nations are living longer.
In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the ________ include food, water, and shelter.
comfort objects
basic survival needs
wants
higher-level needs
Introspection refers to a process by which someone examines ________ as objectively as possible.
her own conscious experience
the social construction of consciousness
another person's consciousness
her own subconscious experience
Marta is pursuing a graduate degree in psychology. As part of her program she must write a long research paper based on the data she spent the last year gathering. What is the long research paper called?
PsyD
postdoctoral
dissertation
PhD
Oona wants to conduct research on personnel management, workplace environment, and what type of environment results in high levels of employee productivity and efficiency. Oona should conduct research in the area of ________ psychology.
a. industrial-organizational
b. biological
c. social
d. Gestalt
Penelope studies how the structure and function of the nervous system is related to behavior. She is a ________.
humanist
developmental psychologist
biopsychologist
social psychologist
Psychoanalytic theory focuses on ________ and early childhood experiences.
sexual identity
a person's consciousness
a person's unconscious
fetal development
Psychology is a social science discipline. Psychologists scientifically study ________.
a. only behavior
b. the soul, the mind, and behavior
c. only the mind
d. the mind and behavior
Susan wants to study prejudice, attraction, how we explain our own behavior versus how we explain the behavior of others, and how we resolve interpersonal conflicts. Susan should conduct research in the area of ________.
a. psychoanalysis
b. social psychology
c. personality
d. Gestalt psychology
What is a PsyD?
a. Doctor of Psychology
b. Doctor of Psychiatry
c. Doctor of Philosophy
d. Doctor of Psychoanalysis
What is Abraham Maslow best known for?
a. classical conditioning
b. proposing a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior
c. dream analysis
d. studying the influence of reinforcement and punishment on behavior
What was the primary conclusion of Stanley Milgram's obedience research?
a. Everyday behavior can be explained by instincts developed in our ancestral population.
b. Our mothers have an enormous impact on our personality.
c. Average people will harm others if told to do so by an authority figure.
d. What we sense and what we perceive vary according to culture, race, and gender.
Which aspect of the scientific method occurs first?
a. data collection
b. experiment
c. hypothesis
d. observation
Which kind of psychologist would be consulted in jury selection and witness preparation?
a. forensic
b. legal
c. cognitive
d. counseling
Which of the following defines hypothesis?
a. way of looking at the world
b. idea that proves a theory
c. means of explaining social phenomena
d. tentative explanation
Which of the following exemplifies the unconditional positive regard component of client-centered therapy?
a. Natasha is late for her therapy session and her therapist believes she did this because she unconsciously dislikes therapy.
b. Xavier receives a hug from the doctor when he arrives on time; he does not get a hug when he arrives late.
c. Boris tells his therapist that that he needs stronger medication and his therapist prescribes it.
d. Abby tells her therapist that she tripped a small child who got in her way, and her therapist accepts this information without judgment.
Which of the following psychologists was a behaviorist?
a. Wilhelm Wundt
b. Sigmund Freud
c. John Watson
d. William James
Which of the following refers to a broad explanation or group of explanations for some aspect of the natural world that is consistently supported by evidence over time?
a. pseudoscience
b. -ology
d. scientific theory
________ is a perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans.
a. behaviorism
b. gestalt
c. humanism
d. structuralism
A group of preschool-age children are enrolled in a study that plans to follow them over time in order to assess behaviors and other characteristics that may predict later development of schizophrenia. This is an example of a(n) ________ design.
a. cross sectional
b. longitudinal
c. survey
d. experimental
A major advantage of case studies is ________.
a. large sample size
b. quick data collection
c. generalizability
d. detailed information
An intelligence test yields the same results when administered on three separate occasions. However, the test's results are more strongly correlated with hours spent doing homework than they are with other standardized intelligence tests. This test has________ reliability and ________ validity.
a. high; low
b. low; low
c. high; high
d. low; high
An upper-level psychology class is conducting an experiment on racial prejudice that involves having participants rate the likeability of faces in a set of photos. However, they tell participants that the study is about the effects of aging on likeability. When participants are finished, they are thanked for their time and leave the experiment. In this example, the class forgot to ________ in order to resolve the ________ in the study.
a. debrief participants; deception
b. pay participants; deception
c. pay participants; use of personal photos
d. debrief participants; ageist attitudes
Devine et al. are interested in assessing whether active versus passive play causes a preference for sweet or salty foods in toddlers. They assign groups of children to either an active play, passive play, or no play group and record their food choices when presented with a variety of sweet and salty foods. In this study, ________ is the independent variable and ________ is the control group.
a. type of play; no play
b. active play; passive play
c. food choice; no play
d. no play; type of play
Drs. Goran and Lieberman are interested in assessing differences in pain threshold between men and women. They recruit male and female participants to a study that assesses tolerance for thermal pain. This is an example of a(n) ________ study.
a. experimental
b. correlational
c. quasi-experimental
d. case
Ethics need to be considered when ________ scientific research.
a. designing and reviewing
b. designing, conducting, and reviewing
c. reviewing and publishing
d. conducting and reviewing
Harrison et al. are conducting a study assessing the ability of depressed versus non-depressed participants to remember negative emotions in a short story about a family whose car breaks down. They plan to ask participants to read the story and then make a list of the emotions expressed in the story. Before beginning the study, they make a list of negative emotions (e.g., sadness and anger) that they will record from the participants' responses. In this example, negative emotions are the ________.
a. significant variable
b. operational definition
c. dependent variable
d. independent variable
Lesley, a sociology major, believes that money is the key to happiness. Her friend Stephen, a psychology major, believes that good health is the key to happiness. How might the two friends resolve their disagreement?
a. They could conduct a study with students on their campus to see which perspective has the most support.
b. They could research archives of newspapers, magazines, and other media to see if there are reports on the topic.
c. They could research peer-reviewed articles to see if either perspective is supported.
d. They could ask their friends and see which perspective has the most support.
One hundred introductory psychology students are surveyed about their intended majors. The results indicate that more women than men intend to pursue a psychology major, whereas more men than women intend to pursue a history major. What do these results indicate?
a. There is a relationship between gender and intended major.
b. More women than men attend college.
c. The research sample is invalid because men and women are not equally represented.
d. Despite advances in feminism, there are still gender inequalities in post-secondary studies.
Research shows that people who smoke cigarettes are more likely to get lung cancer than those who do not smoke. This research alone demonstrates that ________.
a. smoking contributes to lung cancer
b. there is a predisposition toward both smoking and lung cancer
c. smoking causes lung cancer
d. there is a relationship between smoking and lung cancer
Researchers are conducting a study where they have concerns that the participant's beliefs and/or the experimenter's beliefs may skew the results. Therefore, they chose to conduct a ________ study.
control
b. double-control
c. single-blind
d. double-blind
Simply expecting something to happen can make it happen. This describes ________.
a. observer bias
b. placebo effect
c. experimenter bias
d. participant bias
Stan and Jenny are in a psychology course that requires them to repeat an experiment that researchers have conducted in the past, in order to determine whether they produce the same results. This is called ________.
a. reliability
b. replication
c. inter-rater reliability
d. validity
The only way to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables is to conduct a(n) ________.
a. detailed literature search
c. study
d. survey
The possible range for a correlation coefficient is ________.
a. between –1 and 0
b. between –1 and +1
c. between 0 and +1
d. between 0 and +100
Which correlation coefficient best represents a moderate relationship showing fewer anxiety symptoms in people who report higher life satisfaction?
a. +0.4
b. –0.2
c. –0.5
d. +0.7
________ is the tendency to ignore evidence that disproves ideas or beliefs.
a. sampling bias
b. illusory correlation
d. confirmation bias
________ refers to the ability of an instrument or tool to accurately measure what it is supposed to measure.
a. generalizability
c. validity
d. reliability
A particular electrical signal being transmitted to a neuron is sufficient to generate an action potential. If the magnitude of the incoming electrical signal is doubled, the action potential will ________.
a. be twice as strong
b. last twice as long
c. undergo no changes in strength, speed, or duration
d. travel twice as fast down the axon
Psychotropic medications are drugs that treat psychiatric symptoms by restoring ________ balance.
a. GABA
b. emotional
c. serotonin
d. neurotransmitter
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are drugs commonly prescribed for ________.
a. Parkinson's disease
b. obsessive-compulsive disorder
c. schizophrenia
d. depression
Sensory and motor neurons of the ________ nervous system are associated with activities traditionally thought of as conscious or voluntary.
a. sympathetic
b. parasympathetic
c. somatic
d. autonomic
The brain contains ________ of interconnected neurons and glia.
a. millions
b. thousands
c. tens of thousands
d. billions
The endocrine system consists of a series of glands that produce chemical substances known as ________.
a. factors
b. neurotransmitters
c. proteins
d. hormones
The space between two neurons is called the ________.
a. soma
b. terminal button
c. synapse
d. vesicle
Twin boys both have a gene associated with aggressive tendencies. What is the most likely outcome to be observed in their behavior as they grow up?
a. The chances of significant aggressive tendencies are about 50:50, so one of the twins will likely show these behaviors.
b. The twins both have the gene, so they likely will be aggressive in some way.
c. It is not possible to determine the twins' behaviors based on having this single gene.
d. It is unlikely that either will show aggressive tendencies.
Which two neurotransmitters have roles in appetite suppression?
a. serotonin; GABA
b. dopamine; acetylcholine
c. serotonin; glutamate
d. dopamine; norepinephrine
________ is a neurotransmitter involved in mood, reward, addiction, and motor behavior.
a. glutamate
b. dopamine
d. acetylcholine