Skills for Success
Malik rereads his notes the night before the exam, but when the professor asks him to explain concepts out loud, he struggles. Which study skill would help him most?
A. Highlighting the textbook more carefully
B. Passive review of his notes each night
C. Rewriting his notes from memory and then checking his answers
D. Only studying right before exams when the material is fresh
Which study strategy does this represent?
C. Rewriting his notes from memory and then checking his answers
Retrieval Practice
Researchers may study whether having a history of family members who encourage reasoning skills influence confirmation bias. Which level of analysis are these researchers targeting?
A. Biological
B. Individual
C. Social
D. Cultural
C. Social
A researcher notices that people who use social media late at night report lower happiness the next day. To test whether social media causes this drop, she designs an experiment. Which feature makes this study scientific/experimental rather than just correlational?
A. Measuring happiness with surveys
B. Testing the same people multiple times
C. Manipulating social media use
D. Using a large sample size
C. Manipulating social media use
Which label accurately describes neurons that detect information from the physical world and communicate that information along to the central nervous system?
motor neuron
sensory neuron
interneuron
glia
sensory neuron
During a soccer game, Maya takes a hard hit to the back of her head. Afterward, she has trouble seeing clearly even though her eyes are undamaged. Which lobe was most likely affected?
A. Frontal lobe
B. Parietal lobe
C. Temporal lobe
D. Occipital lobe
D. Occipital lobe
Priya studies for five hours straight the night before her exam. During the test, she feels exhausted and forgets key information. Which time-management skill would have prevented this?
A. Interleaving different subjects
B. Spacing study sessions over multiple days
C. Highlighting main ideas in her notes
D. Skipping practice tests to save energy
B. Spacing study sessions over multiple days
A researcher finds that students who listen to music while studying remember fewer words on a memory test. Which conclusion best fits the finding?
A. Listening to music causes poor memory.
B. Music interferes with attention, which lowers memory performance.
C. Students who like music tend to have worse memory.
D. Music directly improves stress, which explains the results.
B. Music interferes with attention, which lowers memory performance.
A study finds that people who eat more vegetables report greater happiness. The researchers conclude that eating vegetables causes happiness. What’s the problem with this conclusion?
A. It ignores a possible third variable
B. It shows low construct validity
C. It has too many participants
D. It uses random sampling incorrectly
A. It ignores a possible third variable
In a research experiment, rats were randomly assigned to be raised in either a bland or enriched living area. Which group of rats will have more brain plasticity? How will their synapses differ from the other group of rats?
Enriched living group
Bland living group
Enriched living group
They have more synapses, and they are stronger and have denser brains
For the following question, imagine you are designing a study to investigate whether deep breathing causes reductions in student stress levels. Because you are investigating a causal question, you will need to employ experimental research.
Which sampling method is strongest? Why?
Obtain an alphabetical list of all students enrolled at the college. Invite every fifth person on the list to participate in the study.
Post a note to your Facebook to recruit your friends and ask them to spread the word.
Post flyers around local gyms and yoga studios inviting people to participate in your study.
Obtain an alphabetical list of all students enrolled at the college. Invite every fifth person on the list to participate in the study.
Sofia makes a detailed study schedule but abandons it after missing one session, thinking "I've already ruined my plan." Which principle would help her succeed?
A. Starting over with a completely new schedule next semester
B. Recognizing that one missed session doesn't negate her other efforts
C. Studying twice as long the next day to make up for it
D. Accepting that planning doesn't work for her learning style
What mindset would that represent?
B. Recognizing that one missed session doesn't negate her other efforts
Growth
A friend insists that horoscopes are accurate because her sign description “always matches her personality.” You remind her that vague predictions seem true because people notice confirming examples and ignore the rest. What bias is this?
A. Confirmation bias
B. Hindsight bias
C. Self-serving bias
D. Anchoring bias
A. Confirmation bias
A researcher surveys students at the library during finals week about their stress levels. Which type of validity is most threatened?
A. Construct validity
B. Internal validity
C. External validity
D. Statistical validity
C. External validity
A new drug is developed that prevents neurotransmitters from binding to postsynaptic receptors. What effect will this have on neural communication?
A. Action potentials will fire more quickly.
B. The postsynaptic neuron will not be activated.
C. Myelin will degrade over time.
D. Neurotransmitters will move back into the axon terminal faster.
B. The postsynaptic neuron will not be activated.
A researcher develops a new "Creativity Test" that asks participants to list as many uses as they can for common objects (like a brick or paperclip) in 5 minutes. The researcher scores the test by counting the total number of uses generated. However, critics point out that the test might actually be measuring verbal fluency or processing speed rather than true creative thinking ability.
What type of validity are the critics questioning?
A. Internal validity
B. External validity
C. Construct validity
D. Content validity
C. Construct validity
David attends every lecture and takes detailed notes, but he puts them away until the night before the exam. He's surprised when he struggles to understand the material. Which principle of the learning cycle did David violate?
A. Learning requires continuous processing, not just capturing information
B. Lecture attendance is less important than reading the textbook
C. Note-taking should be avoided to focus on listening
D. All learning happens during the initial exposure to material
A. Learning requires continuous processing, not just capturing information
A researcher refuses to study thoughts or feelings, insisting that psychology should only examine observable behaviors and environmental factors that shape them. This researcher most aligns with:
A. Cognitive psychology
B. Humanistic psychology
C. Behaviorism
D. Structuralism
C. Behaviorism
A psychologist wants to test whether listening to classical music before bed improves sleep quality. She randomly assigns participants to either listen to Mozart or sit in silence before sleeping. What is the dependent variable?
A. Listening to Mozart
B. Type of music condition
C. Sleep quality
D. Random assignment
C. Sleep quality
A patient reports memory problems. An MRI shows demyelination (loss of myelin) in several brain regions. Why would this affect cognitive functioning?
A. Myelin is needed to create neurotransmitters.
B. Myelin insulates dendrites so they receive information.
C. Myelin speeds neural transmission along axons.
D. Myelin is responsible for storing long-term memories.
C. Myelin speeds neural transmission along axons.
A neuroscientist measures brain activity while participants view emotional faces. She finds increased activation in a small almond-shaped structure when people see fearful expressions. She is most likely observing activity in the:
A. Hippocampus
B. Hypothalamus
C. Amygdala
D. Corpus callosum
C. Amygdala
Lisa reads the assigned chapter before class, actively participates in lecture, reviews her notes within 24 hours, and tests herself weekly. Her roommate only attends lectures. Lisa will likely perform better because she:
A. Spends more total hours on the course
B. Engages with all stages of the learning cycle
C. Has better natural memory abilities
D. Avoids overloading her working memory
B. Engages with all stages of the learning cycle
Two early psychologists debate a flower. Dr. Adams wants to identify every component of the visual experience (red petals, green stem, soft texture). Dr. Baker wants to know why humans find flowers beautiful and how this helps survival. Who represents functionalism?
A. Dr. Adams, because she breaks experience into structures
B. Dr. Baker, because he focuses on the purpose and function
C. Both, because they study the same topic
D. Neither, because they should only study behavior
B. Dr. Baker, because he focuses on the purpose and function
A researcher wants to test whether a new study skills workshop improves exam performance. She advertises the workshop as optional, and 50 students volunteer to attend while 50 others do not. At the end of the semester, the researcher finds that students who attended the workshop scored an average of 12 points higher on their final exams than those who didn't attend. She concludes that the workshop caused the improvement in scores.
What is the primary threat to internal validity in this study?
A. The sample size is too small to detect real differences
B. Students who volunteered for the workshop may have already been more motivated or better students, making it unclear whether the workshop or pre-existing differences caused the higher scores
C. The results may not generalize to students at other universities
D. The researcher did not use a standardized test to measure performance
B. Students who volunteered for the workshop may have already been more motivated or better students, making it unclear whether the workshop or pre-existing differences caused the higher scores
A gymnast practices a new routine and gradually improves her balance and coordination. Which brain structure supports this motor learning?
A. Cerebellum
B. Basal ganglia
C. Frontal lobe
D. Thalamus
A. Cerebellum
Sarah has been learning guitar for two weeks and already believes she's ready to perform at open mic nights and teach others. Her friend Jake has been playing for five years and regularly practices complex pieces, but he often says he's "still just a beginner" and hesitates to perform publicly.
Which statement best explains this difference using psychological principles?
A. Sarah has higher self-esteem than Jake, leading to more confidence in all areas
B. Jake is experiencing learned helplessness from years of making mistakes
C. Sarah lacks the expertise to recognize her own limitations, while Jake's greater skill allows him to appreciate the complexity of guitar mastery
D. Sarah is using the confirmation bias to ignore feedback about her playing
What psychological bias is this demonstrating?
C. Sarah lacks the expertise to recognize her own limitations, while Jake's greater skill allows him to appreciate the complexity of guitar mastery
Dunning-Kruger