Research Methods
Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the strongest relationship between variables?
A. Positive .05.
B. Negative .25.
C. Positive .75.
D. Negative .95.
D. Negative .95
Which of the following is NOT one of psychology’s three main levels of analysis?
A. developmental
B. social-cultural
C. biological
D. psychological
A. developmental
What disease is related to degeneration of the neuron’s myelin sheath?
A. parkinson’s disease.
B. Multiple sclerosis.
C. Alzheimer’s disease.
D. schizophrenia.
B. Multiple sclerosis.
Antidepressants such as Prozac target which neurotransmitter?
A. serotonin.
B. glutamate.
C. GABA.
D. acetylcholine.
A. serotonin.
Which of the following is NOT classified as a stimulant?
A. heroin
B. ecstasy
C. cocaine
D. methamphetamine
A. information processing
Naturalistic observations are conducted in order to:
A. describe behavior.
B. explain behavior.
C. predict behavior.
D. control behavior.
A. describe behavior.
Which philosopher agreed with Socrates and Plato’s assertion that the mind is able survive the death of the body?
A. Francis Bacon
B. Aristotle
C. John Locke
D. René Descartes
D. René Descartes
Jack accidentally touches a hot stove. Such a strong stimulus:
A. increases the intensity of a neuron’s action potential.
B. affects the speed that a neuron fires.
C. triggers more neurons to fire.
D. does not affect how often a neuron fires.
C. triggers more neurons to fire.
If Dr. Barnes wanted to cause a cat to take on an attack posture, which of the cat’s brain structures should he electrically stimulate?
A. amygdala
B. hypothalamus
C. hippocampus
D. cerebellum
D. cerebellum
Carrie’s EEG shows sleep spindles. Which stage of sleep is she in?
A. stage 1
B. stage 2
C. stage 3
D. REM
B. stage 2
In a normal curve, about ___% of scores fall within one standard deviation of the mean.
A. 50%.
B. 68%.
C. 95%.
D. 99%.
B. 68%.
Dr. Frye conducts research investigations on memory, with the intent of contributing to what is known about human memory processes. Dr. Frye conducts:
A. professional service.
B. applied research.
C. basic research.
D. psychiatry.
C. basic research
A split-brain patient’s right hemisphere is presented with a key. How is he most likely to respond?
A. say the word “key”
B. select a key from a group of objects presented to his left hand
C. select a key from a group of objects presented to his right hand
D. he will not be able to say “key” or to pick out a key from a group of objects with either hand
B. select a key from a group of objects presented to his left hand
As Allison reaches for a box in her garage, out jumps a big spider. Her heart immediately begins to race as she withdraws her hand, but soon she realizes that the spider is harmless, and she begins to calm down. Which part of her nervous system is responsible for bringing her back to a normal state of arousal?
A. sympathetic nervous system
B. somatic nervous system
C. parasympathetic nervous system
D. skeletal nervous system
C. parasympathetic nervous system
Your friend insists that she rarely has dreams. What is the most likely explanation for this situation?
A. She probably has dreams every night, but only rarely remembers her dreams.
B. She probably uses barbiturates to help her sleep every night.
C. This is normal; most people never dream.
D. She stays up too late at night and gets up too early in the morning.
A. She probably has dreams every night, but only rarely remembers her dreams.
After watching their favorite team lose a game, Emma and her friends commented to each other about how they had always known the loss was inevitable. Psychologists call this:
A. overconfidence
B. The false consensus effect
C. The hindsight bias
D. An illusory correlation
C. The hindsight bias
John B. Watson is most likely to say:
A. “A person needs unconditional love and acceptance in order to reach her true potential.”
B. “A person’s behavior reflects unconscious conflicts and emotions that result from early childhood experiences.”
C. “Emotional responses reflect biological processes such as hormones and brain chemistry.
D. “Science must be rooted in observation of behavior, rather than introspective processes.”
D. “Science must be rooted in observation of behavior, rather than introspective processes.”
Due to an automobile accident, Jenny suffered damage to Broca's area. Jenny is most likely to experience:
A. auditory hallucinations.
B. a disruption in speaking.
C. memory loss.
D. paralysis of her left limbs.
B. a disruption in speaking.
You are a neurologist in a large hospital. The wife of a construction worker visits you and describes that her husband has experienced a serious injury to his frontal lobe. She is perplexed by his behavior. Which of the following would you tell her is NOT “normal behavior” for a person with frontal lobe damage?
A. Not much decline in memory or intelligence
B. Poor judgment
C. Irritability and other personality changes
D. Loss of vision
D. Loss of vision
Alex complains of chronic insomnia. He has had a medical check-up and is healthy, yet he has difficulty falling asleep. What is the best advice you can give in this situation?
A. Have a glass of wine right before bedtime.
B. Go to the doctor and get a prescription for sleeping pills.
C. Go to bed at the same time every evening and wake up at the same time in the morning.
D. Do some strenuous exercise right before going to bed.
C. Go to bed at the same time every evening and wake up at the same time in the morning.
After conducting an experiment, Dr. Fitzpatrick concluded that there was a statistically significant difference between the scores of the experimental and control groups. In other words,
A. the difference is highly meaningful and important to scientists.
B. the results are replicable.
C. the scores differed by five points or more.
D. that is unlikely that the difference occurred by chance.
D. that is unlikely that the difference occurred by chance.
The president of a technological company is interested in making the work environment more appealing to her employees. She wants to consult a psychologist to see what types of changes she can make to increase productivity and employee morale. It will be most helpful for her to seek the input of a(n)
A. developmental psychologist
B. health psychologist
C. industrial-organizational psychologist
D. forensic psychologist
C. industrial-organizational psychologist
The similarity between the intelligence test scores of biological siblings reared together is:
A. greater than that between identical twins reared apart.
B. equal to that between fraternal twins reared together.
C. greater than that between unrelated adoptive siblings reared together.
D. less than that between children and their biological parents.
C. greater than that between unrelated adoptive siblings reared together.
A new superhero emerges on the scene. This superhero is able to stay awake and vigilant for extended amounts of time. He helps the intelligence community by being able to stay in surveillance for extended amounts of time without losing concentration and can always be paying attention to what is happening. A study of this superhero’s brain might show that the ____________ is more advanced and developed than a non-superhero’s.
A. frontal lobe
B. amygdala
C. reticular formation
D. occipital lobe
C. reticular formation
After Scott builds up a sleep debt from being interrupted while he was dreaming, you would expect him to:
A. have increased insomnia.
B. experience less REM sleep for several nights.
C. show the paradoxical effect of being more alert during his waking hours.
D. get more REM sleep for several nights.
D. get more REM sleep for several nights.