Review Session Review Test #3

Review Session Review Test #3

History, Approaches, Methods, Biological

Influences, Sensation & Perception,States of Consciousness

AP Psychology Forest Lake High School

History & Approaches Question #1

Research in the area of evolutionary psychology might rely heavily on research from which of the following psychological schools of thought?

A.PsychoanalyticB.HumanisticC.BehavioralD.GestaltE.Biological

E– Evolutionary Psychology necessarily involves discussions of genetics and how genes are passed from one generation to another. Biological psychologists are also involved in this area of research.

History & Approaches-Question #2

Modern psychologists might criticize Freud’s original psychoanalytic theory for which of the following?

A. Freud focused on mild to moderate mental illnesses and avoided patients with potentially serious problems.

B. Psychoanalytic theory did not progress quickly because he experimental data needed to support the theories relied on slower research methods, such as longitudinal studies.

C. The issues psychoanalysts focused on were intellectually interesting to philosophers and theorists but did not have practical applications for real world problems.

D. Psychoanalytic theories and hypotheses were not falsifiable based on experimental data.

E. Freud based the theory on extensive biological evidence, which was difficult for most psychologists to understand.

D. Some of Freud’s ideas about the connection between personality and human behavior (such as the id, ego, and superego) were difficult to establish or falsify with empirical data.

History & ApproachesQuestion #3Most experimental psychology research in

the 1940s through 1960s was based on which psychological perspective?A.StructuralismB.BehaviorismC.Cognitive NeuroscienceD.DevelopmentalE.PsychoanalysisB. Although Freudian psychoanalysis was still relatively common in the psychological community, it was never commonly used by experimental psychologists (primarily because Freudian psychoanalysis was never well-suited to experimental validation). Behaviorist studies, such as operant conditioning studies involving rats or pigeons performing behaviors for positive reinforcement, dominated experimental psychology during this time period.

History & ApproachesQuestion #4

What was the major difference between Wilhelm Wundt’s ideas about thinking and behavior and the thinking of earlier philosophers?A.Wundt wrote and published his theories in his role as a professor at a recognized University.B.Earlier philosophers were almost exclusively concerned with human behavior, rather than thinking.C.Wundt’s philosophical technique involved thought experiments and hypotheses, which contrasted with earlier thinkers.D.Philosophers before Wundt’s time focused on questions of morality rather than explanations of thought processes.E.Wundt gathered empirical data in a laboratory using experimental methods, and based conclusions on this empirical data.E. The primary difference between Wundt and the earlier thinkers who investigated human thought and behavior was that Wundt tried to establish his theories with empirical evidence gathered in a laboratory setting.

Methods- Question #5Dr. Shiffrin theorizes that stress in children can be caused by excessive levels of homework. If she were to test this idea, what would be her dependent variable?

A. The age of the students.B. The teachers the students have.C. The amount of homework assigned.D. The schools the students attend.E. The children’s stress levels.

E – According to the hypothesis, the amount of stress children experience depends upon how much homework they are assigned; hence, stress is the dependent variable. The amount of homework assigned is the independent variable. The age, teachers, and schools of the students are all extraneous variables that would ideally be controlled for in an experiment.

Methods- Question #6If you were interested in getting an inside look at

how teenagers behave when they go to the mall, what would be the best type of study to use?

A. Lab experimentB. Naturalistic observationC. Field experimentD.Correlational studentE. Content analysis• B – In naturalistic observation, the researcher watches

behavior unobtrusively so as not to influence it thus yielding a picture of the behavior that is ideally untainted by participant biases. Experiments, whether they take place in the lab or the field, have many advantages as do surveys but are typically unable to provide as honest a reflection of behavior. Content analysis is not used to study behavior.

Methods- Question #7In Milgram’s obedience study, the dependent variable was operationally defined byA. Whether the participant was assigned the role of teacher or learnerB. How many times the participant went along with the incorrect answers of the group C. The highest level of shock the participant deliveredD. The participant’s initial level of hostility toward the experimental confederateE. The number of times the participant questioned the experimenter’s directions.

•C – The dependent variable in Milgram’s obedience study was obedience, and it was measured by looking at how far the participant was willing to go in terms of shocking (remember, there really were no shocks) a person he/she had never met before just because he was asked to by the experimenter.

Methods- Question #8Dimitri invents a new way to assess personality

that involves describing the images one sees in a carefully selected set of photographs of clouds. Which type of psychologist is most likely to find such an assessment useful?

A. HumanisticB. CognitiveC. BehavioralD.TraitE. PsychoanalyticE – Dimitri’s cloud test is an example of a projective test.

Similar to the TAT and Rorshach tests, it is likely based on the idea that what people project onto ambiguous stimuli provide insight into their personalities.

Methods- Question #9Correlations are typically graphed using a(n)A.Scatter PlotB.HistogramC.Box and Whiskers plotD.Frequency DistributionE.Line graphA – Correlations are typically graphed using a scatter plot, where one variable is plotted on each axis.

Methods- Question #10Arshia and Alain are assigned to observe group of nursery school students to see how they negotiate sharing at the block table. Each independently codes the behavior of each student and then they compare their findings to make sure they agree. This process most directly shows a concern for

A.External validityB.GeneralizabilityC.AccuracyD.ReliablityE.Internal validity

D – The reason to have the raters compare their ratings is to get a measure of the extent to which they agree or their inter-rater reliability. Even if the raters do agree, it is possible that their coding reflects a low level of validity or accuracy – in other words, they may agree but in fact be measuring something other than sharing.

Methods- Question #11Which study would pose the greatest challenge to the ethical guideline that participation in research be voluntary?A. A study in which high school participants were offered candy in return for filling out a survey about cafeteria food.B. An experiment in which sick, economically disadvantaged residents of federal housing projects were offered free medication in return for enrolling in an experimental drug trial.C. A laboratory experiment in which parents of preschool age children were asked to play with their children in a controlled environment while researchers videotaped the interaction.D. A case study of how a small group of mildly anxious people responded to cognitive-behavioral therapy.E. A survey of adults entering a large supermarket about their drug and alcohol use.

•B – Given that sick people need medication and that medication can be very expensive, the use of free medication as a carrot to tempt people into a drug trial may be unethical. People who need the medication may not feel free to refuse enrolling in the drug trial, and being in that drug trial could put them at risk of harm. Typically, small incentives (like candy) are not considered to pose a threat to informed consent.

Methods- Question #12Arvind compared the speed of two groups of rats running through a maze using a t test. Which p value would allow Arvind to conclude with the greatest degree of certainty that the groups of rats performed differently?A. .01B. .05C. .10D. .50E. .99A – P stands for the probability that a result occurred by chance; thus, the lower the p value, the greater degree of certainty about one’s results. While .05 is the accepted cutoff for statistically significant results (a.k.a. results that are unlikely to have occurred due to chance), a p value of .01 allows even greater certainty that the results reveal an actual difference between groups.

Methods- Question #13Cynthia has a group of students take a creativity test. What statistical measure would be most useful to her if she wants to describe how the scores in the distribution compare to one another?

A. MeanB. ModeC. RangeD. Standard DeviationE. Median

D - The standard deviation is essentially a measure of the average distance of all the scores in a distribution from the mean. The range is also a measure of the variability of scores, but a very rough measure that merely gives the difference between the highest and lowest value with no attention given to the other scores in the distribution. The mean, mode, and median are all measures of central tendency whose values only yield information about how best to categorize the midpoint of a distribution and no information about how the scores in the distribution vary from one another.

Biological Bases of Behavior- Question #14

A teratogen is most likely to influence the development of which of the following?

A. Broca’s aphasiaB. Down syndromeC. Alzheimer’s diseaseD. Fetal alcohol syndromeE. Split-brain patients

D- Fetal alcohol syndrome is the only outcome listed that is likely to be influenced by a chemical that passes from the mother to a developing fetus and impacts development (in this case, alcohol).


A group of researchers selectively breed a group of rats for aggression. Which area of the rat’s brains might the researchers likely focus on when examining the relationship between aggressive behavior and brain anatomy?

A. Brain stemB. AmygdalaC. ThalamusD. MedullaE. Hippocampus

B – The amygdala controls basic, primal emotions like aggression, so it is a likely structure for researchers to target for this kind of research.


Which sentence most accurately describes the process of neural transmission?

A. Neural messages jump the synaptic gap using a series of electrical impulses.

B. Electricity is generated within the cell, triggering neurotransmitters to be released into the spaces between cells.

C. Neurons work in combination with hormones to transmit chemical signals to the nuclei of neighboring neural cells.

D. Chemical levels build up within the cell, triggering electrical transfer between adjacent neurons.

E. Groups of neurons fire in sequence, creating neurotransmitters that are sent through the spinal cord to communicate with the rest of the body.

B - Neural transmission is an electro-chemical process, involving an electrical charge that travels within a neuron and chemicals that pass between neurons across synaptic gaps.


Which type of scan would provide a psychiatrist with the most information about whether a stroke damaged communication between the left and right hemisphere?

A. PETB. MRIC. CATD. EEGE. fMRIE - In order to investigate communication in the brain, the psychiatrist would need to use a scan that provides detailed information about which specific brain areas are active during specific tasks. The fMRI scan is most able to provide this kind of data.


Antipsychotic drugs most directly impact which of the following biological systems?A. Hormonal system via the glandsB. Emotional system via the amygdalaC. Cognitive system via the thalamusD. Neural system via neurotransmittersE. Cerebral system via axonsD – Antipsychotic drugs most directly impact emotions, thinking, and behavior through changing neurotransmitter levels or neurons’ abilities to absorb and use neurotransmitters.


Wolfgang quickly grabbed his cell phone as it fell towards the floor. Which part of his nervous system most directly allowed him to perform this behavior?

A. SomaticB. LimbicC. ParasympatheticD. AutonomicE. Sympathetic

A - The somatic nervous system controls our voluntary, skeletal muscles, and is most responsible for this kind of voluntary muscle reaction. The other systems involved may also be activated during this situation, but it is the somatic nervous system that most directly controls this grabbing behavior.


A person who suffers a stroke and can no longer see objects in their left field of vision might have suffered damage to which part of their brain?A. Left frontal lobeB. Central fissureC. Right frontal lobeD. Right occipital lobeE. Left occipital lobeD – Objects in our field of vision are normally detected on the right halves of our retinas. This visual information is carried via the optic nerve to our right occipital lobes, so damage in this area might leave us “blind” to objects in our left field of vision.


Which of the following sentences accurately describes a difference between the left and right hemispheres? A. The right hemisphere silences the left hemisphere during creative tasks and the left hemisphere silences the right hemisphere during logical tasks.B. The left hemisphere contains the thalamus and the right hemisphere contains the hypothalamus.C. The left hemisphere is responsible for spoken language in most people.D. The right hemisphere is responsible for dream states in most people.E. The right hemisphere develops early in gestation before the left hemisphere develops during the third trimester.

C - Few generalizations can be accurately made about differences between the hemispheres because both hemispheres are normally active during almost all cognitive tasks. One of the well established differences between the hemispheres is that the left hemisphere is primarily responsible for spoken language.


A drug that acts as an antagonist for acetylcholine would most likely have what effect?

A. An increase in insomnia and daytime fatigue.B. Pupil dilation and arousal of the autonomic nervous system.C. Interference with muscle controlD. Neurotransmitter release.E. Auditory hallucinations.--------------------------------------------------------------C. One of the primary functions of acetylcholine is

muscle movement, so a drug acts as an antagonist for this neurotransmitter could dramatically impact muscle control.

Sensation & Perception- Question #23

Which structure in the eye is most responsible for the process of transduction? A. CorneaB. PupilC. RetinaD. IrisE. Lens

C. Transduction is the process of transforming sensations into neural signals. In the eye, this process takes place in the retina, where specialized neurons (rods and cones) changes light waves into neural impulses.


Reaching down and scratching your kneecap in a dark theater probably relies most on which of the following senses?

A. VisionB. Vestibular senseC. Kinesthetic senseD.TouchE. Olfactory sense

C - The kinesthetic sense enables us to perceive where different parts of our bodies are located without looking at them. Reaching for our kneecap in a dark theater would depend most on this sense.


Our senses of vision and hearing are similar in a significant way, and different than our senses of taste and smell. What is this significant difference? A.Vision and hearing are dominant senses, and taste and smell are recessive senses.B.Taste and smell rely on our senses absorbing chemicals, and vision and hearing rely on energy sensation.C.Vision and hearing sensations are processed in the frontal lobes, and taste and smell are processed in the limbic system.D.Taste and smell are processed pre-conscious awareness, while vision and hearing are post-conscious senses.E.Vision and hearing sensations are prioritized by the brain, so are processed before taste and smell sensations.

B. Vision and hearing are sometimes called “energy” senses, because they involve our senses “absorbing” energy (light or soundwaves) and converting them to neural impulses. Taste and smell are sometimes called “chemical” senses, because they involve these senses absorbing chemicals and converting them to neural signals.

Sensation & Perception Question #26

Polly injures her right eye playing basketball and has to wear an eye patch for a month. While she’s wearing the patch over her right eye, which of the following depth cues will Polly NOT be able to use to judge distance? A.shadingB.interpositionC.Linear perspectiveD.convergenceE.Texture gradient

D. Some depth cues rely on binocular (two eye) vision (“binocular depth cues”). Convergence is one of these kinds of depth cues: we know an object is close to our face when both our eyes try to move together (converge) on an object very close to us. Since one of Polly’s eyes is injured, she would not be able to rely on this binocular depth cue to judge depth.


Deterioration of the stapes (stirrup) bone is likely to cause which of the following? A. Color BlindnessB. Conduction DeafnessC. Bottom-Up ProcessingD. Blind SpotE. Sensory Habituation

B. Conduction deafness refers to an inability to hear because sound is not “conducted” from the outside world to the cochlea and auditory cortex (where sound waves are changed into interpretable neural signals). The stapes is an integral part of the conduction process.


Which of the following phenomena are best explained by the opponent-process theory?A. color blindnessB. visual captureC. subliminal perception D. perceptual constancyE. texture gradient

A. The opponent-process theory best explains color blindness. The most common kind of color blindness involve “opposite” colors such as red-green and yellow-blue, which fits with the opponent process theory of how color is perceived in the eye by cones.

Sensation & PerceptionQuestion #29

Which of the following perceptual principles is most applicable to the following situation: art students learning to draw objects from different angles.

A. Vestibular senseB. Weber’s LawC. Shape ConstancyD.Sensory AdaptationE. Feature Detectors

C. Shape constancy refers to the ability of our visual perception system to keep “constant” the shape we know an object to be even when we view that object from different angles. Drawing objects from different perspectives would use this ability often and extensively.

States of ConsciousnessQuestion #30

Why might the REM stage be called “paradoxical sleep”?

A.Brain waves are as or more intense than in our waking state

B.It occurs in infants and gradually fades as we mature

C.Brain regions associated with paradoxical questions are most active during REM

D.High levels of REM are associated with low probabilities of dream recall

E.REM states frequently wake participants in sleep studies

A. During REM, we experience high amplitude and frequency brain waves, sometimes as or more intense than waking brain waves, which is paradoxical because it is a stage of sleep.

States of Consciousness Question #31

Within the context of States of Consciousness research, what does the term tolerance refer to?

A.Feelings and Attitudes toward individuals who have atypical belief systemsB.The need for an increased dose of a psychoactive drug to produce the same effectC.The actions of the group toward individuals who choose to express unpopular opinionsD.Changes in dopamine levels during sleep studiesE.Resistance to the bystander effect attributed to previously help opinions.

B. Tolerance within the context of states of consciousness refers to the increased need for a drug in order to produce the samephysiological effect.


Researchers find that people with rich fantasy lives tend to be more hypnotizable. This research finding most supports which theory of hypnosis?A. State TheoryB. Dissociation TheoryC. Role TheoryD. Opponent-Process TheoryE. Cognitive Theory

C. Role theory states that hypnotized individuals are acting out the role of a hypnotized person, and people with rich fantasy lives may be more prone to acting these roles in convincing ways.


Changes in our sleep patterns (the amount of time we spend in each stage of sleep during the night) are most commonly caused by which of the following?

A. GeneticsB. Weather patterns related to daylight exposureC. Personality changesD. MaturationE. Ultradian and Infradian Rhythms

D. As we age, we spend less time in REM sleep and more time in the other stages of sleep

Review Session Review Test #3

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