Scientific Foundations of Psychology
Which of the following is a positive correlation?
a. As study time increases, students achieve lower grades
b. As levels of self-esteem decline, levels of depression increase
c. People who exercise regularly are more likely to be overweight
d. Gas mileage decreases as vehicle weight increases
e. Repeatedly shooting free throws in basketball is associated with a smaller percentage of missed free throws
C. People who exercise regularly are more likely to be overweight
Which of the following brain areas is responsible for regulating hunger and thirst?
a. Reticular activating system
b. Amygdala
c. Hypothalamus
d. Hippocampus
e. Brainstem
What is c. hypothalamus?
Meghan's friends seek her out for help with their problems because she can "see the future" and know what the outcome of an event will be before it happens. Her friends think that Meghan has the power of __________.
What is precognition?
Which of the following best describes negative reinforcement?
a. John stops shooting bad free-throws because his coach benches him when he does
b. Brain studies hard because it earns him "A" grades in math.
c. Lillian used to walk to school but does not do so anymore because she was attacked by a dog last month
d. Charles smokes because his anxiety is reduced when he does so.
e. Osel wears his seat belt because his driving teacher cited accident statistics in class.
What is d. Charles smokes because his anxiety is reduced when he does so?
In history class, James is effortfully connecting the new material to what he learned in the past. This making of connections in the moment best describes James' ____________ memory.
What is working memory?
A testable prediction that drives research is known as a(n) ________.
What is a hypothesis?
Multiple sclerosis is a result of degeneration in the ____________.
What is the myelin sheath?
Which of the following structures helps you most in detecting the color of your friends shirt?
a. Rods
b. Cones
c. Fovea
d. Lens
e. Cornea
What are b. cones?
In classical conditioning, the conditioned stimulus ______.
What is initially neutral, and then comes to trigger a response?
What are the cerebellum and basal ganglia?
The study of our human potential for personal growth has been a focus of which psychological perspective?
What is humanistic?
What are interneurons?
Which of the following best represents an absolute threshold?
a. A guitar player knows that his D string has just gone out of tune.
b. A photographer can tell that the natural light available for a photograph has just faded slightly.
c. Your friend amazes you by correctly identifying unlabeled glasses of Coke and Pepsi
d. A cook can just barely taste the small amount of salt she has added to her soup
e. Your mom throws out the milk because she says the taste is "off"
What is b. A photographer can tell that the natural light available for a photograph has just faded slightly?
The reappearance, after a rest period, of an extinguished response is called __________.
What is spontaneous recovery?
John has noticed that he does better on his chemistry exams when he takes them in the same seat that he sits in during class than when he sits in a different seat for exams. If he is properly prepared for each exam, then __________ may explain his difference in scores.
What are context effects?
What is one potential problem with case studies?
The information learned may not apply to the wider population
What is plasticity?
What is an example of perceptual constancy?
a top-down process that perceives objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal image change
The perception that we control our own fate is also called what?
What is internal locus of control?
Caitlin, a fifth grader, is asked to remember her second-grade teacher's name. What measure of retention will Caitlin use to answer this question?
What is recall?
Which psychological perspective is most likely to focus on how our interpretation of a situation affects how we react to it?
What is psychodynamic?
Heritability refers to the percentage of what?
What is the proportion of variation among individuals in a group that we can attribute to genes?
This means that genes are responsible for x% of variation between individuals, NOT that that percentage is genetic within an individual.
This sense is most closely associated with hair-like receptors in the semicircular canals.
What is hearing?
An employee at a shoe store is paid $10 for each pair that he sells. If he does not sell any shoes, he does not get paid. His paycheck is based on what type of reinforcement schedule?
What is fixed-ratio?
What is an example of the serial position effect?
accounts for our tendency to recall best the last items and the first items in a list.