Psychology
the SCIENTIFIC study of behavior and mental processes
Psychology is based on
EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE
Dr. Littman-Smith is conducting research in Kenya to learn about the ways that mothers and their toddlers interact throughout the day without interfering with the behavior. It is most likely that she is engaged in:
naturalistic observation.
Which of the following correlation coefficient values indicates the weakest relationship between two variables?
0.0
A correlational study determined that the higher a male monkey's level of testosterone, the less aggressive it is likely to be. This means that:
testosterone and aggression are negatively correlated.
A research hypothesis proposes that consuming low carbohydrate food results in increased weight-loss. Which of the following is the independent variable here?
the amount of carbohydrates in each meal
How are experiments different from other research methods?
They help in determining cause-and-effect relationships.
Which of the following best describes the relationship between genes and traits?
Both physical and psychological traits are usually determined by multiple genes.
Shaking or tremors in people with Parkinson's disease results, in part, from a loss of brain cells that produce:
dopamine
Which of the following carry along the messages that have been received from as many as 10,000 other cells to the terminal buttons at the end of the neuron?
Axons
_________can help explain why identical twins and cloned, genetically identical animals living in exactly the same environment may differ considerably in appearance and behavior.
Epigenetics
The principle of natural selection was first formulated in general terms by the British naturalist _______________.
Charles Darwin
s Molly is walking across campus, a car swerves toward her. Her heart races and sweat breaks out as she jumps out of harm's way. Once she catches her breath and time passes, she is able to calm down and return to normal state. This return to normal is due
Parathetic nervous system
The higher forms of thinking take place in a cauliflower-like structure in the brain called the:
cerebrum
If the human brain didn't have so many deep crevices and wrinkles in the cortex, then the:
billions of neurons in the brain would require us to have the heads of giants.
Psychology is defined as the discipline concerned with:
behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment.
The ability to make judgments on the basis of well-supported reasons rather than emotion or anecdote is called:
critical thinking.
Real psychology differs from popular psychology and its pseudoscientific relatives in that it is based on:
empirical evidence.
______________ founded structuralism and is known as the father of psychology due to establishing the first psychology laboratory.
Wilhelm Wundt
Dr. Janet is a behaviorist who is doing a study on employees who work for more than 72 hours a week. She is likely to consider whether:
there is a reward for employees who work for more than 72 hours a week.
Dr. Braun has been treating a child with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. She decides to write a prescription for Ritalin. Given this information, it is most likely that Dr. Braun is a:
psychiatrist
When she goes into the office, Amelia doesn't know how she is going to make it through the whole morning due to an annoying buzz from an overhead light. But when a coworker complains about the noise an hour later, Amelia realizes that she hadn't been awar
Sensory Adaptation
As she watches her granddaughter's dance recital, Patty perceives two separate groups of dancers. Her granddaughter's group wore bright turquoise costumes with gold accents and the other group wore bright gold costumes with turquoise accents. Patty percep
similarity
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Sensation is the detection of sensory stimuli and perception is the interpretation of sensory information.
Watson and Rayner's study on a placid 11-month-old boy named Albert involved developing a fear of rats. Each time the rat was presented to the boy it was accompanied by a loud noise. In this experiment, the loud noise is the ________.
unconditioned stimulus
________ is a relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavior potential) that occurs due to experience.
learning
Alex cleans his room so his mother will stop nagging him. His mother used _______________ to get him to clean the room.
negative reinforcement
Blaming the victim often results when a person strongly believes in the:
just-world hypothesis
The ________ refers to the tendency of explaining other person's behavior by overestimating the personality traits and underestimating situational factors.
fundamental attribution error
In Albert Bandura's Bobo Doll study, what made the difference in whether the children actually demonstrated the violent behavior they learned?
The consequences they observed the model receive for the violent behavior
In the Stanford prison study, which of the following factors caused the guards to treat the prisoners harshly according to Phil Zimbardo?
the social context
How many of the subjects obeyed to the fullest extent in the obedience study?
about two-thirds
If a person had an acute appendicitis instance in a public place, she would be more likely to be helped if:
one person was in the area
The tendency, in explaining one's own behavior, to take credit for one's good actions and rationalize one's mistakes is known as:
self-serving bias
Juan believes that all Anglos are uptight and cold, and he wouldn't listen to any evidence that contradicts his belief. This example illustrates a case of:
prejudice
The turning inward of the eyes, which occurs when they focus on a nearby object, is called _______________.
convergence
The difference between a reinforcer and a punisher is that ________.
reinforcers strengthen behavior and punishers weaken behavior
After watching her father slide through pictures on his smartphone using his index finger, Laura, a 5-year- old, learns to use her finger to slide the screen on his smartphone. Laura acquired this behavior through ________.
observational or social learning
As Shane stands between the railroad tracks, the rails appear to converge in the distance. This cue to inferring depth and distance is called _______________.
linear perspective
You believe that you can remember where you were and what you were doing when a specific emotionally charged event occurred. This memory is called _____________.
flashbulb memory
Under most circumstances, when you are intentionally trying to remember an item of information, ________ is an easier task than ________.
recognition, recall
Shannon is currently a college professor. Which memory from Shannon's fourth grade experience would be an episodic memory?
For the last two months of school she shared her NFL mechanical pencil with Nick.
The process by which a long-term memory becomes durable and stable is called:
consolidation
Which aspect of attachment was demonstrated by Margaret and Harry Harlow using rhesus monkeys?
contact comfort
Mary Ainsworth observed that securely attached infants:
cry or protest if the mother leaves the room and welcome her back when she returns.
In Piaget's theory, the process of modifying existing cognitive structures in response to experience and new information is called:
accomidation
According to Piaget, ________ represents the understanding, which develops throughout the first year that an object continues to exist even when you cannot see it or touch it.
object permanence
Lev Vygotsky emphasized the:
sociocultural influences on children's cognitive development.
A baby learns that when he is hungry, food is provided, and when he is in pain, he is cuddled and comforted. Erikson suggested that this baby would be developing a sense of _______________.
trust
A _______________ is a habitual way of behaving, thinking, and feeling.
trait
In psychoanalysis, the part of the personality that represents reason, good sense, and rational self-control is called:
the ego
Vito is angry when the school bus driver blames Vito for misbehaving when it actually was the child behind him who had been acting up. As he gets off the bus, he kicks the bus tire. Freud would say that Vito is unconsciously using the defense mechanism of
displacement
Reciprocal determinism is defined as:
the two-way interaction between aspects of the environment and aspects of the individual in the shaping of personality traits.
In Ana's culture, group harmony takes precedence over the wishes of the individual. It is most likely that Ana defines her "self":
in the context of her relationships
_______________ is defined as the love or support given to another person with no conditions attached.
unconditional positive regard
A major advantage of the DSM is that:
the reliability of diagnosis is greatly improved when the manual is used correctly.
Which of the following statements is true of schizophrenia with regard to adolescence?
the first full-blown episode of schizophrenia occurs during adolescence or early adulthood.
Ramona has lost her interest in gardening, which brought her joy in the past. She's lost her appetite and life seems hopeless. Which disorder would Ramona be most likely to have?
major depression
Four-year-old Lindsey squeezes between her Mommy and Daddy as they sit together on the couch. She cuddles her Daddy but refuses to kiss her Mommy. Which Freudian concept does this scenario illustrate?
Oedipus complex