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Psy 2020 Practice Test One



Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 

1. 

Freud concluded that psychological disturbances are largely caused by
a.
unrealistic demands from family and friends
b.
personal conflicts existing at an unconscious level
c.
genetic predispositions to behave in a particular way
d.
conflicts between conscious desires and environmental constraints
 

2. 

Which of the following psychologists would have been most likely to assert that "free will is an illusion"?
a.
Abraham Maslow
b.
B. F. Skinner
c.
Wilhelm Wundt
d.
Carl Rogers
 

3. 

Which of the following "schools" of psychology takes the most optimistic view of human nature?
a.
behaviorism
b.
functionalism
c.
humanism
d.
psychoanalysis
 

4. 

Which type of psychologist would be least likely to generalize from studies of animal subjects to human behavior?
a.
a psychoanalyst
b.
a behaviorist
c.
a humanist
d.
a cognitive psychologist
 

5. 

Which of the following psychologists demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the brain could evoke emotional responses such as pleasure and rage in animals?
a.
James Olds
b.
Roger Sperry
c.
B. F. Skinner
d.
Abraham Maslow
 

6. 

The fact that your performance in this course will be affected by both personal and situational factors best supports which of the following?
a.
a multifactorial causation of behavior approach
b.
the single-cause explanation of behavior
c.
the dual-cause explanation of behavior
d.
a psychoanalytic approach to explaining behavior
 

7. 

Which of the following best characterizes people's understanding of reality?
a.
highly objective
b.
highly subjective
c.
genetically determined
d.
a passive process
 

8. 

Which of the following conclusions is supported by research comparing "successful" to "unsuccessful" students?
a.
Successful students and unsuccessful students attended class equally often.
b.
Paradoxically, successful students attended class less often than unsuccessful students.
c.
Successful students attended class more often than unsuccessful students.
d.
Successful students used an instructor's office hours more than students.
 

9. 

Within the field of psychology, Freud's ideas encountered resistance because he emphasized
a.
human consciousness
b.
human behavior
c.
introspection
d.
the unconscious
 

10. 

Dr. Dieringer wants to study attachment patterns in single-parent families. She plans to define the strength of attachment as the time it takes for the parent to respond when the infant starts to cry. Defining attachment in this way would
a.
be an example of a hypothesis
b.
violate ethical guidelines for psychological research
c.
represent an operational definition
d.
require a double-blind research design
 

11. 

A psychologist monitors changes in the subject's heart rate as the subject watches a violent movie. The data collection technique being used is
a.
direct observation
b.
psychological testing
c.
physiological recording
d.
archival records
 

12. 

Researchers studying the effects of sleep deprivation tested the physical coordination skills of 25-year-old males who had been sleep deprived for either 24, 36, or 48 hours. In this study the dependent variable would be
a.
the age of the research participants
b.
the physical coordination skills of the men in the study
c.
the length of time the participants had been sleep deprived
d.
the type of physical coordination task the researchers use
 

13. 

The experimental group
a.
consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment with regard to the independent variable
b.
consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment with regard to the dependent variable
c.
consists of the subjects who do not receive the special treatment
d.
must be chosen so as to be as different from the control group as possible
 

14. 

Dr. Kalmagura plans on introducing a new exam review procedure in his chemistry classes. To check the effectiveness of the new procedure he is going to have half his students try the new technique for one semester, while the remaining students review in the way they have always done in the past. He asks each student to decide which of the techniques they would like to use, the new technique or the standard technique. In this example, Dr. Kalmagura's procedure illustrates
a.
the use of non-random assignment
b.
a correlational research design
c.
a double-blind research design
d.
what is meant by informed consent in research
 

15. 

You are sitting on a park bench in a major metropolitan area from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and you note the number of people who walk by, whether or not they litter, and their gender. You are engaging in
a.
casual observation
b.
naturalistic observation
c.
case study research
d.
experimental research
 

16. 

Broadening the scope of phenomena that psychologists are able to study is associated with
a.
descriptive research methods
b.
introspective research methods
c.
hypothetical deductive research methods
d.
functional research methods
 

17. 

The median is
a.
the score that falls exactly in the center of a distribution
b.
the arithmetic average of the scores in a distribution
c.
the score that occurs most frequently in a distribution
d.
the difference between the largest and the smallest scores in a distribution
 

18. 

Of the following correlation coefficients, the one that would yield the least accurate predictions of one variable based on the other variable would be
a.
0.00
b.
+0.99
c.
+0.17
d.
-0.49
 

19. 

Dr. Zelke surveys 50 university students to discover the relationship between textbook price and ratings of readability. Dr. Zelke finds that for these two variables the correlation coefficient is -0.70. This indicates that
a.
more expensive books tend to receive higher readability ratings than less expensive books
b.
there is no relationship between textbook price and ratings of readability
c.
increasing a textbooks price will cause a decrease in its readability rating
d.
more expensive books tend to receive lower readability ratings than less expensive books
 

20. 

Malinda is filling out a survey for a marketing agency in order to be eligible for a grand prize drawing. She doesn't actually read many of the questions, and simply answers "yes" to everything. Malinda's answers to the survey reflect
a.
a social desirability bias
b.
the placebo effect
c.
a positive response set
d.
an interaction effect
 

21. 

The fact that many times researchers unintentionally influence the outcome of their studies implies the existence of
a.
experimenter bias
b.
a placebo effect
c.
sampling bias
d.
social desirability
 

22. 

Zigfried Rosenblat, Jr. took part in a study on sexual deviance last year. He was somewhat dismayed when he read an article in a weekly journal discussing sexual deviance in which one patient was referred to as ZRJ. Although the article claimed all names had been disguised to protect personal identities, Zigfried is convinced he is the individual described in the article. In this case, it is possible that the researchers who conducted the study violated the ethical principle of
a.
informed consent
b.
right to privacy
c.
full disclosure
d.
adequate debriefing
 

23. 

The minimum length of time between action potentials is determined by
a.
transduction capacity
b.
transduction incapacity
c.
the absolute refractory period
d.
the relative threshold period
 

24. 

An agonist
a.
blocks the action of neurotransmitters
b.
prevents reuptake of neurotransmitters
c.
mimics the action of a neurotransmitter
d.
extends the absolute refractory period of neural transmission
 

25. 

Abnormalities at norepinephrine and serotonin synapses appear to play a role in which of the following?
a.
hyperactivity
b.
depression
c.
high anxiety
d.
increased appetite
 

26. 

Which of the following is responsible for the human ability to engage in higher mental activity such as thinking and philosophizing?
a.
the corpus callosum
b.
the cerebrum
c.
the cerebellum
d.
the hypothalamus
 

27. 

The primary processing for auditory sensations is in the __________ lobe of the cerebrum.
a.
parietal
b.
temporal
c.
frontal
d.
occipital
 

28. 

When this lobe of the brain is electrically stimulated people report physical sensations, as if they had been touched, for example, on the arm.
a.
frontal
b.
parietal
c.
temporal
d.
occipital
 

29. 

A split-brain person has a severed
a.
cerebral cortex
b.
cerebellum
c.
medulla
d.
corpus callosum
 

30. 

If you sent the word "banana" to a split-brain patient's left hemisphere and the word "cucumber" to his right hemisphere, which of the following would he be able to name verbally?
a.
both of the items
b.
neither of the items
c.
only the banana
d.
only the cucumber
 

31. 

The genetic relatedness of fraternal twins is equal to
a.
25%
b.
50%
c.
75%
d.
100%
 

32. 

Which of the following statements about hemispheric control is true?
a.
The right hemisphere controls analytical and logic skills, while the left hemisphere controls spatial and musical skills.
b.
Left-handed persons' behavior is controlled almost exclusively by the left hemisphere, while right-handed persons' behavior is controlled almost exclusively by the right hemisphere.
c.
Conclusions about hemispheric dominance and control often lead to overgeneralizations concerning which hemisphere controls what activities.
d.
One can increase one's IQ by engaging in activities designed to "build up" the nondominant hemisphere.
 

33. 

Which of the following does not belong with the others?
a.
a neuromodulator
b.
an EEG
c.
a CT scan
d.
a stereotaxic instrument
 

34. 

Which of the following statements is true?
a.
Although subliminal perception was once dismissed by scientists as preposterous, recent data have made the notion less implausible.
b.
Scientists have conclusively demonstrated that perception simply cannot take place without conscious awareness.
c.
Recent research suggests that subliminal messages can be quite persuasive, convincing us to buy products we don't want, promoting satanic rituals, and facilitating weight loss.
d.
Subliminal perception is only possible if sensory adaptation has taken place.
 

35. 

The blind spot in the eye is
a.
where photoreceptor cells do not "bleach"
b.
the point at which ganglion cells synapse with bipolar cells
c.
where the optic nerve exits the back of the eye
d.
what leads to color blindness
 

36. 

Our visual acuity will be best when a ganglion cell
a.
transmits its neural signal directly to the visual cortex
b.
has a small receptive field
c.
has a large receptive field
d.
transmits its neural signal to the cerebellum, instead of the visual cortex
 

37. 

If you project a red, a green, and a blue light into space, the point at which the three lights cross will lead to the perception of
a.
black light
b.
ultraviolet light
c.
white light
d.
infrared light
 

38. 

The volley principle suggests that
a.
spreading effects from one semicircular canal to another interact to produce pitch perception for frequencies higher than 5,000 Hz
b.
ossicles of the middle ear "echo" or "volley" auditory transmission back and forth to stimulate hair cells
c.
sound localization is an interpretation of time discrepancies between the time when the same sound reaches each ear
d.
groups of auditory neurons are able fire neural impulses in rapid succession, sending signals that exceed the firing rate of any single neuron
 

39. 

Food generally tastes bland when you have a severe head cold because
a.
you cold will cause the sweet receptors in your mouth to become inactivated
b.
your high temperature will cause your brain to block signals from the taste buds in the mouth
c.
because your naturally produced antibodies interfere with chemical molecules stimulated by your taste buds
d.
flavor is influenced by smell as well as taste, and with a reduced sense of smell your sense of taste will be diminished
 

40. 

The kinesthetic system relates to
a.
maintaining the relative position of body parts
b.
the location of the body in space
c.
the sense of forward acceleration
d.
sensing body movement, as in a car
 

41. 

Which of the following parts of the ear has a role in maintaining balance?
a.
the cochlea
b.
the basilar membrane
c.
the semicircular canals
d.
the ossicles
 

42. 

Psychoanalytic theory stresses all of the following except
a.
conscious thought patterns
b.
childhood experiences
c.
internal conflicts
d.
handling of sexual impulses
 

43. 

Primary process thinking is associated with the __________ and secondary process thinking is associated with the __________.
a.
ego; superego
b.
superego; id
c.
ego; id
d.
id; ego
 

44. 

Candice has just joined a sorority as a means of bolstering her self-esteem. Her behavior reflects the use of __________ as a defense mechanism.
a.
identification
b.
immersion
c.
regression
d.
projection
 

45. 

Social learning theory has demonstrated that we are most likely to imitate the behavior of
a.
those whom we like or respect
b.
those whom we perceive as being similar to ourselves
c.
those whom we consider to be attractive or powerful
d.
any of these people
 

46. 

According to Carl Rogers, if your self-concept is reasonably accurate, it is said to be
a.
congruent with reality
b.
self-actualized
c.
extraverted
d.
valid
 

47. 

According to Han Eysenck, __________ involves being egocentric, impulsive, cold, and antisocial.
a.
neuroticism
b.
psychoticism
c.
extraversion
d.
introversion
 

48. 

Which of the following theorists is most closely associated with the evolutionary approach to personality?
a.
Albert Bandura
b.
David Buss
c.
Abraham Maslow
d.
Robert Plomin
 

49. 

Which of the following researchers is credited for first describing the notion of sensation seeking?
a.
Han Eysenck
b.
Carl Rogers
c.
Sigmund Freud
d.
Marvin Zuckerman
 

50. 

The personality inventory developed by Raymond Cattell that describes an individual in terms of a limited number of personality source traits is the
a.
Thematic Apperception Test
b.
16 Personality Factor Questionnaire
c.
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
d.
California Psychological Inventory
 



 
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