48 question (multiple choice) Psychology
1. Which of the following is NOT characteristic of REM sleep?
a. Slow, delta waves in the electroencephalogram (EEG)
b. The eyes move rapidly
c. It begins about once every 90 minutes during the night
d. Dreams are likely to occur
2. The corpus callosum
a. is the part of the brain most important for thought and language
b. is densely packed with cell bodies of neurons
c. connects the left and right hemispheres of the cerebral cortex
d. is the part of the brain most important for coordinating skilled voluntary movements
3. After damage to the corpus callosum, a person has difficulty naming
a. objects that were unfamiliar before the time of the damage
b. objects felt with the right hand
c. objects seen in the right visual field
d. objects seen in the left visual field
4. The right hemisphere of the cerebral cortex is specialized for controlling
a. rapid or athletic movements
b. hunger, thirst, and other biological motivations
c. complex visual and spatial tasks
d. language production
5. In the human brain, most of the axons from the optic nerve go to the
a. hypothalamus
b. thalamus
c. corpus callosum
d. cerebellum
6. Which of the following is NOT a common effect of alcohol?
a. depression of the brain areas that ordinarily inhibit aggressive, sexual, or playful behavior
b. increased anxiety and tension
c. impairment of judgment and memory
d. social lubrication
7. Alcohol and many tranquilizers exert many of their behavioral effects by facilitating
a. acetylcholine
b. dopamine
c. norepinephrine
d. GABA
8. Many psychologists believe that the brain has a special module devoted specifically to face recognition because
a. there is a map of the face on the cortex
b. each face that we have ever seen in stored in the brain
c. brain damage can impair the recognition of faces even though recognition of other objects is unimpaired
d. only humans are capable of recognizing faces
9. The hippocampus
a. is the part of the brain most important for thought and language
b. is densely packed with cell bodies of neurons and glia for control of metabolic activities
c. is part of the limbic system involved in consolidation of new long-term episodic memories
d. is the part of the brain most important for coordinating skilled voluntary movements
10. After someone takes a drug repeatedly, the drug’s effects often grow weaker and weaker. This is called:
a. withdrawal
b. tolerance
c. addiction
d. analgesia
11. When excitatory neurotransmitter is released from synaptic vesicles from a pre-synaptic neuron’s axon ending, what happens?
a. an IPSP occurs in the pre-synaptic neuron
b. an IPSP occurs in the post-synaptic neuron
c. an EPSP occurs in the post-synaptic neuron
d. an EPSP occurs in the pre-synaptic neuron
12. In an experiment on classical conditioning, a tone is followed by a puff of air to the eyes. After several repetitions, subjects blink their eyes when they hear the tone. In this experiment the tone is the ____ and blinking to the tone is the ___
a.conditioned stimulus; unconditioned stimulus
b.conditioned stimulus; conditioned response
c. unconditioned stimulus; unconditioned response
d. conditioned response; unconditioned response
13. An action potential:
a. is also known as the nerve impulse
b. is an all-or-none depolarization
c. is produced by a “massive” influx of sodium ions into the neuron
d.is produced at the axon hillock when the “trigger threshold” of approximately -55 millivolts is reached
e.all of the above
14. Suppose someone with brain damage suffers loss of interest in sex, disturbances in eating behavior, and has difficulty regulating body temperature. What part of the brain is likely damaged?
a. medulla
b. thalamus
c. hypothalaumus
d. pons
15. A nursing mother puts her baby to her breast every time she hears it cry. After a few days, her milk starts to flow as soon as she hears the baby cry. In terms of classical conditioning, what is the conditioned stimulus?
a. the baby’s cry
b. the baby sucking at the breast
c. the mother
d. the flow of milk in response to sucking
16. Wernicke’s area is located in the ___________ lobe and is involved in:
a. frontal lobe; vision
b. frontal lobe; movement
c. temporal lobe; language expression
d. temporal lobe; language comprehension
17. In Pavlov’s experiments he paired the presentation of food with a buzzer and measured salivation to each. In this experiment the food was the
a. unconditioned stimulus
b. unconditioned response
c. conditioned stimulus
d. conditioned response
18. After neurotransmitter attaches to post-synaptic receptor sites, what happens as a result?
a. the post-synatic receptors get destroyed
b. ions channels in the post-synaptic neuron’s cell membrane open to specific ions
c. the absolute refractory period
d. the resting potential
19. In a typical neuron, during the resting potential the inside of the axon has an electrical charge of approximately
a. +100mV
b. +50mV
c. OmV
d. -70mV
20. The advantage of using an operational definition is that it
a. provides a compromise between competing viewpoints
b. enables investigators to measure a phenomenon
c. explains what the term means to the average person
21. What is the procedure for producing extinction in operant conditioning?
a. present the unconditioned stimulus without the conditioned stimulus
b. present the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus
c. give no reinforcement after the response
d. punish undesirable responses
22. Shaping (in the context of operant conditioning) means
a. positive reinforcement
b. reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behavior
c. physically forcing a response
d. withholding reinforcement until an undesirable behavior ceases
23. If you have one gene for brown eyes and one gene for blue eyes, your genes for eye color are said to be
a. heterozygous
b. homozygous
c. sex-linked
d. sex-limited
24. In a double-blind study
a. subjects are assigned randomly to both the control group and the experimental group
b. the experimenter manipulates neither the independent variable nor the dependent variable
c. both the experimental group and the control group receives placebos
d. neither the observer nor the subjects know which group is the experimental group and which is the control group
25. The nerves that carry information from the sense organs to the spinal cord and brain, and from the spinal cord and brain to the glands and muscles, are collectively known as the
a. parasympathetic nervous system
b. sympathetic nervous system
c. central nervous system
d. peripheral nervous system
26. If the correlation between variable A and variable B is -0.75, then
a. we can use measurements of variable A to make moderately accurate predictions of variable B
b. there is no consistent relationship between variables A and B
c. there is a relationship between variables A and B, but it has been growing weaker over time
d. the mean value of B is less than the mean value of A
27. Under what circumstances can we use a correlation to infer that one variable causes another variable?
a. under no circumstances
b. the correlation coefficient is -1
c. the correlation coefficient is 0
d. the correlation coefficient is +1
28. Which phrase best describes Darwin’s concept of natural selection?
a. inheritance of acquired characteristics
b. dominant traits are expressed over recessive traits
c. humans evolved from chimpanzees
d. reproduction of the fittest
29. An independent variable is one that
a. is irrelevant to what happens in the experiemnt
b. the experimenter cannot control or measure
c. the experimenter manipulates (as a hypothesized cause of something)
d. the experimenter measures after the treatment
30. Dr. Ratrunner deprives several rats of food for different lengths of time and then places them at the start of a maze. He records how long each rat takes to reach the food at the end of the maze. The running speed of the rats is the
a. dependent variable
b. normal distribution
c. inferential statistic
d. independent variable
31. Brain surgery is sometimes conducted under local anesthesia while the patient remains awake. During such surgery, suppose the surgeon lightly stimulates a few neurons in the patient’s left parietal cortex (in the post-central gyrus). What will the patient probably experience?
a. touch sensation somewhere in the right half of the body
b. visual sensation somewhere in the left visual field
c. auditory sensation coming from the right side of the world
d. movements of the left side of the body
32. An experiment was conducted to test the effect of rewards on learning. One group of subjects was paid 10 cents for every word they memorized and the other group was not paid. Number of words memorized was measured. Which of the following is true?
a. number of words memorized is the dependent variable
b. payment or not is the dependent variable
c. random assignment should ensure that the groups differ in the beginning
d. number of words memorized is the independent variable
33. In one study, the experimental group is subjected to loud, unpredictable noises to see whether or not those noises will affect performance on a memory task. What will the control group do?
a. nothing at all
b. perform the memory task without noises
c. listen to the noises but perform no task
d. control the noises that the experimental group has to listen to
34.The standard deviation is a statistic that measures
a. the average score
b. the difference between two groups
c. mistakes made by the experimenter
d. the variability of scores
35. What does it mean to say that “p<.05”?
a. the correlation between two variables is very low, almost random
b. the probability that the experiment was done correctly is less than 5%
c. fewer than 5% of all scientists agree with the theory
d. the probability of getting such a pattern of results by chance alone is less than 5%
36. In a group of people it is found that most short people have small shoe sizes, whereas most tall people have large shoe sizes. This type of correlation is:
a. zero or no correlation
b. a positive correlation
c. a negative correlation
d. a causal relationship
37. A dog salivates to a low tone and a high tone even though it has only ever experienced the association of the low tone and food. This is an example of:
a. stimulus control
b. preparedness
c. stimulus generalization
d. the partial reinforcement effect
38. Newborns spend what percent of total sleep time in REM sleep?
a. about 0 percent
b. about 20-40 percent
c. about 50-80 percent
d. about 100 percent
39. Which of the following is not a stimulant?
a. nicotine
b. cocaine
c. Ritalin
d. alcohol
40. Which school of psychology argued for the existence of free will and the innate human potential for growth and development?
a. humanistic
b. gestalt
c. behaviorist
d. psychoanalytic
41. The ___________________ are the visual receptors and their function is to _____________ into neuron potentials that go along the optic nerve to the ____________.
a. hair cells; convert light; pons
b. rods and cones; convert light; frontal lobe
c. rods and cones; convert light; thalamus
d. retinal ganglion cells; convert light; superior colliculus
42. If the optic nerves from the eyes were somehow connected to the taste cortex, you would:
a. taste sounds
b. taste light
c. see tastes
d. feel light
43. The auditory receptors are the ___________ and are located in the _____________.
a. hair cells; cochlea
b. hair cells; auditory cortex
c. auditory nerve; brainstem
d. auditory nerve; temporal lobe of the cortex
44. When psychologists study how much of a behavior is due to genetics and how much is due to the environment, they are working with which important question?
a. the nature-nurture issue
b. the mind-body problem
c. the question of determinism
d. the problem of dualism vs. monism
45. The amygdala is involved in:
a. fear and aggression
b. perception of color
c. perception of the body
d. language
e. b and c above
46. The part of the brain involved in regulation of states of consciousness (alert, drowsy, etc.) and sleep and waking is the:
a. reticular formation
b. occipital lobe
c. limbic system
d. corpus callosum
47. What we experience psychologically as different colors corresponds to what physical properties of the external world?
a. the actual colors of objects that are in the world
b. different wavelengths of light
c. different intensities of light
d. none of the above
48. The primary visual cortex is located in the:
a. hippocampus
b. occipital lobe
c. frontal lobe
d. thalamus
