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General Psychology Exam 1, Exams of Psychology

General Psychology Exam 1 General Psychology Exam 1

Typology: Exams

2024/2025

Available from 10/26/2024

CarlyBlair
CarlyBlair 🇺🇸

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1.7K documents

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Download General Psychology Exam 1 and more Exams Psychology in PDF only on Docsity! General Psychology Exam: 1 According to the textbook, psychology is the scientific study of __________. - mind, brain, and behavior According to the textbook, we are MOST motivated to think critically when what we are evaluating - contradicts what we believe. Which of the following is NOT a question that a person engaged in critical thinking would ask? - What are the political repercussions of holding this belief? When Claire reads an article on the Internet that suggests that exercise can improve memory, she does not automatically accept the article's conclusions. If she is using her critical thinking skills, which of the following questions would she ask herself FIRST? - "What am I being asked to accept?" George is watching a television commercial for a "miracle cure" for baldness. "Our independent research shows that this new ointment will grow hair in as little as 30 minutes," the announcer brags. Since George has learned to be skeptical of unusual claims and to think critically about them, which question would he most likely ask about this product? - "What evidence exists to support the claim?" Manuel is sure that all dogs are vicious and will bite him if given the opportunity. When out walking with his wife, he is always sure to point out the dogs that seem angry or aggressive. But his wife notices that he conveniently "misses" the dogs who seem calm and friendly. This tendency of Manuel's reflects which of the following? - confirmation bias When parents hear about child abductions they overestimate how common child abductions are, and become overly concerned that their child might be abducted. They may even become less concerned with much more common safety risks for children. This is an example of __________. - using mental heuristics 1 | P a g e Gemma just heard on the nightly news that falling asleep while watching television can lead to obesity. Gemma is very interested in this news report, and open to the possibility that it is true. But she is wary of this finding, because the news report failed to provide evidence and sound reasoning as to why she should believe falling asleep while watching TV can cause obesity. Gemma's attitude is an example of __________. - amiable skepticism Kara is a terrible piano player, but she believes she is quite good. The textbook argues that Kara - may be unable to tell the difference between a good piano player and a bad one. Sandy is pregnant, and every evening she plays classical music loud enough for her unborn baby to hear. She hopes that putting her baby in a stimulating environment will help it develop strong cognitive skills. Her husband thinks that playing the music is a waste of time, since the baby's intelligence will probably just be based on how smart he and Sandy are. What age-old issue are Sandy and her husband discussing? - nature versus nurture Which of the following would be difficult for behaviorism to explain? - The woodpecker finch can use twigs or spines instinctively to forage for food. Natural selection is - the process by which changes that facilitate survival and reproduction are passed to offspring. What is evolutionary theory's primary contribution to psychology? - mental processes, such as memory, attention, and language, result from adaptation Which psychological school of thought arose from Freud's attempts to understand connections between psychological and physical problems? - psychoanalytic theory What conclusion did Freud reach when attempting to understand the connection between psychological and physical problems? - Behavior is largely directed by mental processes that operate on an unconscious level. 2 | P a g e In order to understand whether a speed bump is needed on a local street, the county sets up a camera to determine the number of drivers who speed in that neighborhood between 9 am and 9 pm each day. The result of its research shows that a speed bump is needed. Counting the number of speeders would satisfy which goal of the science of psychology? - description A theory is - an explanation or model of how something works. "Good" scientific theories - produce a variety of testable hypotheses. According to the text, Freud's theory of dreams is __________ scientific than Jean Piaget's theory of child development __________. - less; because Freud's theory cannot be falsified What is a literature review? - a summary of the scientific literature related to a theory Which of the following is an example of a naturalistic observation? - Watching a group of drivers over time and measuring how often they text while driving or talk on a cell phone while driving. When researchers repeat a study done by another scientist and find the same results, they are ____________________________. - engaging in replication Which one of the following replication studies would be LEAST affected by contextual factors? - An attempt to replicate a study involving the perception of color in students with normal color vision that was originally conducted in the 1970s. Antony conducts a correlational study and finds that students who work more hours in part-time jobs have higher grades. What Antony hasn't considered is that both of these phenomena are caused by students' motivation levels. This is an example of _____________. - 5 | P a g e the third variable problem In order to test whether caffeine intake affects the number of hours a person sleeps, Sophie recruited 120 subjects and randomly assigned them into one of three groups: (1) no caffeine intake, (2) 30 mg of caffeine per day, and (3) 50 mg of caffeine per day. She then asked the subjects to report how many hours they slept each night. Sophie's independent variable is ______________, and her dependent variable is ______________. - the amount of caffeine intake; hours of sleep Your mother dislikes the fact that you spend your free time on video games. She cites a newspaper article that says violence is correlated with playing video games. Which of the following is a scientifically effective counterargument to your mother's point? - Correlations do not imply causation, so the correlation described in the article does not serve as evidence that playing video games will make you more violent. For his thesis, Alex surveyed college students and found a correlation between self-confidence and grade point average. Why did his adviser correct Alex when he attempted to conclude that good grades raise self-confidence levels? - Alex's data show an association but they do not determine a causal relationship between confidence levels and grade point average. Peter is conducting a survey asking how often students use the Internet and the average number of hours they sleep per night. He finds a negative correlation between the two. According to the text, Peter can conclude that going online frequently - is related to students sleeping less. You see a newspaper headline that claims eating pizza is deadly. However, when you read the original scientific article cited in the news, you notice that investigators only found a correlation between pizza consumption and death over a 10-year period. Given what you know about correlation, how would you explain this relationship? - Pizza consumption and death are related somehow, but a correlational study cannot reveal any kind of causal relationship. Judith is conducting an experiment on mood and problem solving. She plans to have study participants read either a funny story or a sad story before taking a math test. What is the dependent variable in Judith's study? - the number of math problems participants correctly solve 6 | P a g e When people are aware that they are being observed, they might change their behavior. This phenomenon is known as ______________. - reactivity Elaine conducts a psychology honors project to test the hypothesis that having greater social support is associated with greater academic success. She asks everyone living in her dormitory to fill out a questionnaire. Elaine should be aware that her data may not be representative of all college students because her research was based on ______________. - a convenience sample Dr. Shin is researching the hypothesis that when people with schizophrenia stop taking a particular medication, they experience more disturbed thoughts. Dr. Shin tests her hypothesis by placing each schizophrenic patient in one of two groups. The patients who are instructed to stop taking the drug are in the ______________ group, and the patients who continue taking the drug are in the ______________ group. - experimental; control Which of the following studies would be unethical to conduct? - Randomly assigning some people to a safe sex condition and others to a risky sex condition in order to assess subsequent differences in aggression and addiction. Eugenia wants to conduct an experiment, but before she can begin, she needs to get approval from the guardians of ethical guidelines at her university - the ______________. - Institutional Review Board For her honors thesis, Kim wants to investigate whether font color affects how readers remember written descriptions of objects and places. Because the participants' behavior could be influenced if they know the study's goals, Kim decides to mislead them about the study. How can she deceive the participants and still conduct her research in an ethical manner? - Kim must inform the participants of the study's true goals after the study is completed. She must also explain why deception was necessary. Which of the following statements about ethical research is FALSE? - It is unethical to observe people in public without their knowledge. 7 | P a g e Zhenghan notices a strong correlation between whether a person is a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior in college and the number of credit hours that he or she has registered for. As their years in college increase, students tend to register for fewer credit hours. Based on this information, the correlation coefficient between years in college and number of credit hours is closest to _______. - -.70 In the cycle of the scientific method, descriptive statistics help you - summarize the basic pattern of the data you collected. The text describes studies the "hot hand," an athlete's winning streak-be it with free throws, spikes in volleyball, or otherwise. The "hot hand" is also referred to as "being in the zone" or "on a roll" for numerous consecutive games. According to the textbook, however, "a meta-analysis of 22 published articles on this phenomenon found no evidence that the hot hand exists." What does this quotation from your text mean? - A researcher ran an analysis 22 peer-reviewed studies on the hot hand and concluded that there is no scientific evidence that the hot hand exists. Which of the following are the two most basic divisions of the human nervous system? - central; peripheral A bee stung Franco on the wrist while he was gardening, resulting in a sharp pain. In order to cause him to experience the pain in his wrist, Franco's neurons had to ______________, ______________, and ______________ information. - receive; integrate; and transmit Which of the following is true about the functions of dendrites and axons? - Dendrites detect information from neighboring neurons, whereas axons transmit information. Deterioration of which type of cell is primarily responsible for multiple sclerosis? - glia When the student pushed over the first domino the others fell down one at a time, with each domino falling with the same force as the preceding domino had fallen. What property of action potentials does the dominoes falling in this way demonstrate? - the all-or-none principle 10 | P a g e Neuron A communicates with neuron B. The _____ of neuron A form(s) a synapse or synapses with the _____ of neuron B. - terminal buttons; dendrites Which of the following is most likely the effect of acetylcholine antagonists? - memory deficits Which of the following statements accurately describes the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine? - A lack of dopamine leads to disturbances in motor functioning. After suffering trauma to his brain, Jack experienced profound alterations in his personality. Prior to his accident he was a prudent, responsible employee. Afterward, he was childlike in mental capacity, impulsive, and unable to control his emotions. Jack's injuries were most likely located in which area of the brain? - prefrontal cortex Language production largely takes place in the left frontal cortex in which of the following regions of the brain? - Broca's area After her car accident, Sheila had to be placed on a respirator because she could no longer breathe on her own. Sheila's injuries were most likely located in the part of the brain known as the - brain stem. Sarah is conducting research on the function of part of the brain. For each participant she first injects participants with a relatively harmless radioactive substance to get a map of the brain's metabolic activity using a(n) __________ scan. Based on the image, she locates the area she is interested in, and then she applies a strong magnet to the outside of a person's skull to temporarily interrupt brain activity in a specific area by using __________. - PET; TMS Zhara has suffered damage to her forebrain and now has great difficulty forming new memories. Which subcortical structure of the forebrain has most likely been damaged? - hippocampus 11 | P a g e The right side of the brain controls muscles on the _______ of the body - left side If a person suffers a stroke on the left side of his or her brain, what will be the likely result? He or she will have a hard time controlling the - muscles on the right side of his or her body Sammy is conducting research that involves placing objects in the visual fields of visually impaired elderly men. He wants to discover the specific neurons that fire in response to the features of the various objects. The study requires electrodes to be implanted over the occipital lobes of the men's brains. In order to effectively conduct this study, Sammy should place the electrodes over the men's ______________ lobes. - occipital Sharnisse jumps into a swimming pool on a hot, 102°F day. The pool is at its normal temperature of 82°F, but the water feels much colder to Sharnisse than it usually does because of how hot it is outside. Which part of Sharnisse's brain is responsible for perceiving these tactile sensations of temperature? - parietal lobe Wilhelm is listening intently to his professor lecture on the history of Spain and Portugal, knowing that he will be asked about this information in an upcoming exam. Which lobe of Wilhelm's brain is most responsible for both hearing the information as it is presented as well as helping to encode, store, and later retrieve the memory of this lecture? - temporal lobe When Debbie twisted her ankle while running, which nervous system transmitted information from specialized receptors in her ankle joint to her brain? - somatic On the first day of class, the professor had the students go around the room introducing themselves. When it was Jason's turn to speak, he began to perspire, his heart raced, his hands were cold and clammy, and his respiration was rapid and shallow. Which of the following divisions of Jason's autonomic nervous system was activated by this experience? - sympathetic 12 | P a g e An amputee who has lost her right arm may perceive a touch on her __________, as a touch on her missing hand, because the brain areas that once represented her hand are close to those associated with the touch on this part of her body. - right cheek Genes are - segments of DNA within a chromosome. The Human Genome Project showed that humans have fewer genes than which one of the following? - an ear of corn In Gregor Mendel's experiment with pea plants. Mendel found that the gene that produced white flowers is recessive. This means that white flowers will occur when - both of the parent flowers pass on genes for white flowers. Sherri has 23 chromosome pairs. How common is this in terms of human genotype? - typical Which one of the following is true? - The gene for sickle cell disease increases resistance to malaria. Which one of the following pairs share the most DNA, on average? - monozygotic twins Which of the following statements would support the notion that genes influence intelligence? - The finding that IQs are more similar among monozygotic (identical) twins than among dizygotic (fraternal) twins. If aggression is inherited, we should expect __________ to be more similar in aggression, than __________, on average. - monozygotic twins who were raised in the same family; dizygotic twins who were raised in the same family 15 | P a g e Caspi's research shows that __________ has the biggest impact on being convicted of a violent offense. - a combination of being abused as a child and having a gene that lowers MAO activity Which one of the following statements is true? - A heritability estimate of .80 for height means that 80% of the variation in height is due to genetic influences. An amputee who has lost her right arm may perceive a touch on her __________, as a touch on her missing hand, because the brain areas that once represented her hand are close to those associated with the touch on this part of her body. - 16 | P a g e