Experiment
Debbie is interested in determining if music helps people study. To do this, she uses the help of 40 students in her psychology class. She randomly assigns half the people to study with music in the background for an hour, and the other half study with no music for an hour. The students then take a test on that material. In this example, what is the independent variable?
a. Music versus no music
b. Group that studies with no music
c. Group that studies with music
d. Scores on the exam
e. Students in the class
a.
The independent variable is the variable manipulated in a study. It is called independent as it is independent of the subject’s behavior. In this case, the “condition” applied is listening to music or NOT listening to music. The dependent variable in this study is the students’ performance on the test.
If you ask most Americans where they were when they learned about the 9/11 attack, you will likely hear a vivid, detailed recollection. This is an example of a controversial phenomenon called:
b.
Some psychologists have hypothesized that the details of flashbulb memories are the result of a different brain system for emotional events, but others argue that many of the details are inaccurate and the ability to easily recall these events is more a result of retelling the story with some level of consistency over time (rehearsal) instead.
According to the two-factor theory, the two basic components of emotions are __________ and ____________.
a.
The Schachter-Singer theory, or two-factor theory of emotion, describes emotion as a combination of 2 factors. According to the theory, emotion begins with a physical arousal before the arousal is cognitively labeled.
Memory for automatic activities, such as bike riding and handwriting, is known as:
Procedural memory is a part of the long-term memory that is responsible for developing motor skills and knowing how to perform actions. Procedural memory stores information on how to perform certain procedures, such as walking, talking, and riding a bike, without the need for explicit storage or recall.
A squirrel fails to react with fear to a signal of impending shock if they have suffered damage to the:
The amygdala is a pair of almond-shaped tissues located deep in the brain’s medial temporal lobe. It plays a key role in the processing of emotions, including fear; damage to the amygdala results in difficulties with decision-making, memory, and emotional response in particular fear and aggression.
Patrick wants to talk to his mother about his weekly allowance. It is currently $1, and he would like it to be increased. He gathers data from several of his friends: $2, $4, $4, $5, $7, $30. To make the best argument to his mother, Patrick would be well-advised to use which measure of central tendency?
a. Mean
b. Median
c. Mode
d. Standard deviation
e. Variance
a.
Patrick would be well-advised to use the mean. It always goes in the direction of the skew, and the $30 allowance that he found skews the distribution nicely
In attempting to find and purchase high-quality makeup products, Carla believes that the most expensive brands are the best quality. Carla’s belief illustrates the use of:
c. A heuristic is a mental shortcut that can help us make decisions and judgments quickly and efficiently. However, the efficiency of a heuristic comes at a cost as they are also prone to errors.
What is said to be a gauge of how we feel about ourselves as well as how socially accepted we feel?
d.
Self-esteem is determined by a number of factors, the largest of which is social acceptance. It is a person’s evaluation of self-worth.
Which one of the following rehearsal strategies would be most effective in remembering the name of someone you just met?
Elaborative rehearsal
Because of its effectiveness in transferring newly acquired information into long-term memory. Elaborative rehearsal connects newly acquired information with information already stored in long term memory. The connections formed enable easier access to the newly stored information.
As the result of a cerebral hemorrhage, a patient lost the ability to breathe and died. An autopsy will show damage to what part of the brain?
The medulla, located in the hindbrain, controls vital and autonomic life-sustaining functions including heartbeat, circulation and respiration.
Dr. Daugherty studies how the thickness of the beaks of one species of birds has undergone adaptive changes in response to drought and other environmental factors over a very long period of time. Which psychological approach does Dr. Daugherty take?
a. Behavioral
b. Biological
c. Evolutionary
d. Humanistic
e. Sociocultural
c.
Recognizing the key factor that this is over “a very long period of time,” the only choice that works here is evolutionary.
After suffering a brain injury in a car accident, Russell cannot form new memories. He can, however, remember his life experiences before the accident. Russell’s memory problem most clearly illustrates?
e.
A disruption in brain processes that is marked by the inability to learn new information is called anterograde amnesia.
The universally understandable aspect of human emotion consists of:
b.
While body posture, hand gestures, music and dance, and tone of voice vary across different cultures and countries, facial expressions are universally understood in their expression of emotion.
The process by which a stimulus is attended to, identified, studied, and incorporated into memory is known as:
Encoding is the first stage of memory and entails the translation of a stimulus (visual, acoustic, or semantic) into a memory.
As Jill walked toward the stage to give her speech that is a large part of her course grade, her heartbeat accelerated, her blood pressure rose, and she began to sweat. Jill’s state of arousal was activated by what part of the autonomic nervous system?
The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is part of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The SNS activates what is often termed the “fight or flight” response, which is described in the above example. The PNS brings the body back to the normal state and can be thought of as the “rest and digest” system (parasympathetic = parachute).
In research terms, what qualifies an assessment as “valid?”
a. If the assessment accurately measures what it claims to be measuring
b. If the study shows the independent variable is effective
c. If the study disproves the hypothesis
d. If the study has a large number of participants
a.
The concept of validity states that a test is valid if it measures what it claims to measure.
In order to determine if someone has just said “bark” or “park,” you have to discriminate the initial sound, or:
b.
A phoneme is the smallest structural unit of speech. This means that it is the smallest unit of speech that affects what word you hear. Phonemes may not possess meaning on their own, unlike morphemes, which represent the smallest unit of meaningful sound. Furthermore, phonemes are the smallest unit of sound.
Jack has just eaten a huge meal but gets the urge to eat when he sees the person next to him with a large container of popcorn. Psychologists would most likely consider Jack to be
a.
An external eater is one who becomes motivated to eat after being exposed to the sight or smell of food.
“French toast, pancakes, and eggs are all common breakfast foods” is an example of what type of memory?
Semantic memory is memory encoded based on meaning. Semantic memory is the encoding of general knowledge, in this case common breakfast foods.
What part of the brain has been surgically cut in “split-brain” patients?
“Split-brain” patients are those who have had their corpus callosum severed as a means of treating epilepsy that does not respond to medication. The corpus callosum is the thick bundle of nerves that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain.
Chip believes that human behavior is primarily generated in our unconscious minds and is the result of unresolved conflicts and desires, especially rooted in childhood experience. To which psychological perspective is Chip most likely to prescribe?
a. Sociocultural
b. Cognitive
c. Humanistic
d. Psychoanalytic
d.
The Psychoanalytic perspective suggests that behavior is the result of unconscious dynamics (inner forces), and that childhood experiences play a crucial role in the development of adult behavior, and that behavioral traits can be linked to earlier traumatic experiences.
Which of the following is considered to be a possible cause of the misinformation effect?
d.
If an individual cannot distinguish whether a piece of information came from the original event or from later discussion, they are experiencing source amnesia. This can result in an inaccurate recollection of the original event.
During an emergency, increased levels of emotional arousal are likely to be accompanied by which of the following physiological symptoms?
e.
When the sympathetic nervous system activates, commonly called the ‘fight-or-flight response,’ it is accompanied by a number of physiological manifestations, including the slowing of digestive processes, designed to help the organism survive the emergency.
When Gwendolyn told her roommate about the chemistry exam she had just completed, she knowingly exaggerated its difficulty. Subsequently, Gwendolyn’s memory of the exam was that it was as difficult as she had reported it to be. This best illustrates:
The misinformation effect holds the reporting of episodic memories becomes less accurate as a result of information acquired after the event itself. In this case, Gwendolyn’s perception of the difficulty of the exam after taking it leads her to believe that the exam was more difficult than it actually was.
Which of the following neurological disorders is associated with a deficiency of acetylcholine?
Alzheimer’s disease is associated with a deficiency of acetylcholine.