KSS Psychology 12 Open Book Final Practice exam

Name: __________________________ Date: _____________

1. Which of the following best describes the hindsight bias?A) Events seem more predictable before they have occurred.

B) Events seem more predictable after they have occurred.

C) A person's intuition is usually correct.

D) A person's intuition is usually not correct.

2. You decide to test your belief that men drink more soft drinks than women by finding out whether more soft drinks are consumed per day in the men's dorm than in the women's dorm. Your belief is a(n) ________, and your research prediction is a(n) ________.A) hypothesis; theory

B) theory; hypothesis

C) independent variable; dependent variable

D) dependent variable; independent variable

3. To ensure that other researchers can repeat their work, psychologists use:A) control groups.

B) random assignment.

C) double-blind procedures.

D) operational definitions.

4. Which of the following research methods does not belong with the others?A) case study

B) survey

C) naturalistic observation

D) experiment

5. Illusory correlation refers to:A) the perception that two negatively correlated variables are positively correlated.

B) the perception of a correlation where there is none.

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C) an insignificant correlation.

D) a correlation that equals –1.0.

6. Which of the following procedures is an example of the use of a placebo?A) In a test of the effects of a drug on memory, a participant is led to believe that a

harmless pill actually contains an active drug.B) A participant in an experiment is led to believe that a pill, which actually contains

an active drug, is harmless.C) Participants in an experiment are not told which treatment condition is in effect.

D) Neither the participants nor the experimenter knows which treatment condition is in effect.

7. In generalizing from a sample to the population, it is important that:A) the sample is representative of the population.

B) the sample is large.

C) the scores in the sample have low variability.

D) all of the above are observed.

8. The axons of certain neurons are covered by a layer of fatty tissue that helps speed neural transmission. This tissue is:A) the glia.

B) the myelin sheath.

C) acetylcholine.

D) an endorphin.

9. Which is the correct sequence in the transmission of a neural impulse?A) axon dendrite cell body synapse

B) dendrite axon cell body synapse

C) synapse axon dendrite cell body

D) dendrite cell body axon synapse

10. The neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) is most likely to be found:A) at the junction between sensory neurons and muscle fibers.

B) at the junction between motor neurons and muscle fibers.

C) at junctions between interneurons.

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D) in all of the above locations.

11. The effect of a drug that is an agonist is to:A) cause the brain to stop producing certain neurotransmitters.

B) mimic a particular neurotransmitter.

C) block a particular neurotransmitter.

D) disrupt a neuron's all-or-none firing pattern.

12. Heartbeat, digestion, and other self-regulating bodily functions are governed by the:A) voluntary nervous system.

B) autonomic nervous system.

C) sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system.

D) somatic nervous system.

13. Chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands are called:A) agonists.

B) neurotransmitters.

C) hormones.

D) enzymes.

14. The technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer images of structures within the brain is called:A) the EEG.

B) a lesion.

C) a PET scan.

D) MRI.

15. Following a head injury, a person has ongoing difficulties staying awake. Most likely, the damage occurred to the:A) thalamus.

B) corpus callosum.

C) reticular formation.

D) cerebellum.

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16. Jessica experienced difficulty keeping her balance after receiving a blow to the back of her head. It is likely that she injured her:A) medulla.

B) thalamus.

C) hypothalamus.

D) cerebellum.

17. Though there is no single “control center” for emotions, their regulation is primarily attributed to the brain region known as the:A) limbic system.

B) reticular formation.

C) brainstem.

D) cerebellum.

18. The visual cortex is located in the:A) occipital lobe.

B) temporal lobe.

C) frontal lobe.

D) parietal lobe.

19. Following a nail gun wound to his head, Jack became more uninhibited, irritable, dishonest, and profane. It is likely that his personality change was the result of injury to his:A) parietal lobe.

B) temporal lobe.

C) occipital lobe.

D) frontal lobe.

20. Damage to ________ will usually cause a person to lose the ability to comprehend language.A) the angular gyrus

B) Broca's area

C) Wernicke's area

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D) frontal lobe association areas

21. A split-brain patient has a picture of a knife flashed to her left hemisphere and that of a fork to her right hemisphere. She will be able to:A) identify the fork using her left hand.

B) identify a knife using her left hand.

C) identify a knife using either hand.

D) identify a fork using either hand.

22. Which of the following is typically controlled by the left hemisphere?A) spatial reasoning

B) word recognition

C) the left side of the body

D) perceptual skills

23. Sensation is to ________ as perception is to ________.A) recognizing a stimulus; interpreting a stimulus

B) detecting a stimulus; recognizing a stimulus

C) interpreting a stimulus; detecting a stimulus

D) seeing; hearing

24. Given normal sensory ability, a person standing atop a mountain on a dark, clear night can see a candle flame atop a mountain 30 miles away. This is a description of vision's:A) difference threshold.

B) jnd.

C) absolute threshold.

D) signal detection.

25. Weber's law states that:A) the absolute threshold for any stimulus is a constant.

B) the jnd for any stimulus is a constant.

C) the absolute threshold for any stimulus is a constant proportion.

D) the jnd for any stimulus is a constant proportion.

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26. The process by which sensory information is converted into neural energy is:A) sensory adaptation.

B) feature detection.

C) signal detection.

D) transduction.

27. The size of the pupil is controlled by the:A) lens.

B) retina.

C) cornea.

D) iris.

28. Which of the following is the correct order of the structures through which light passes after entering the eye?A) lens, pupil, cornea, retina

B) pupil, cornea, lens, retina

C) pupil, lens, cornea, retina

D) cornea, pupil, lens, retina

29. Nearsightedness is a condition in which the:A) lens has become inflexible.

B) lens is too thin.

C) image falls behind the retina.

D) image falls in front of the retina.

30. The receptor of the eye that functions best in dim light is the:A) fovea.

B) cone.

C) bipolar cell.

D) rod.

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31. Which of the following explains why a rose appears equally red in bright and dim light?A) the Young-Helmholtz theory

B) the opponent-process theory

C) feature detection

D) color constancy

32. While competing in the Olympic trials, marathoner Kirsten O'Brien suffered a stress fracture in her left leg. That she did not experience significant pain until the race was over is probably attributable to the fact that during the race:A) the pain gate in her spinal cord was closed by information coming from her brain.

B) her body's production of endorphins decreased.

C) an increase in the activity of small pain fibers closed the pain gate.

D) a decrease in the activity of large pain fibers closed the pain gate.

33. Which of the following is not one of the basic tastes?A) sweet

B) salty

C) umami

D) bland

34. The principle that one sense may influence another is:A) transduction.

B) sensory adaptation.

C) Weber's law.

D) sensory interaction.

35. The study of perception is primarily concerned with how we:A) detect sights, sounds, and other stimuli.

B) sense environmental stimuli.

C) develop sensitivity to illusions.

D) interpret sensory stimuli.

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36. The term gestalt means:A) grouping.

B) sensation.

C) perception.

D) whole.

37. Which of the following illustrates the principle of visual capture?A) We tend to form first impressions of other people on the basis of appearance.

B) Because visual processing is automatic, we can pay attention to a visual image and any other sensation at the same time.

C) We cannot simultaneously attend to a visual image and another sensation.

D) When there is a conflict between visual information and that from another sense, vision tends to dominate.

38. Studies of the visual cliff have provided evidence that much of depth perception is:A) innate.

B) learned.

C) innate in lower animals, learned in humans.

D) innate in humans, learned in lower animals.

39. When we stare at an object, each eye receives a slightly different image, providing a depth cue known as:A) convergence.

B) linear perspective.

C) relative motion.

D) retinal disparity.

40. Which of the following is not a monocular depth cue?A) texture gradient

B) relative height

C) retinal disparity

D) interposition

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41. If you slowly bring your finger toward your face until it eventually touches your nose, eye-muscle cues called ________ convey depth information to your brain.A) retinal disparity

B) interposition

C) continuity

D) convergence

42. The tendency to perceive hazy objects as being at a distance is known as ________. This is a ________ depth cue.A) linear perspective; binocular

B) linear perspective; monocular

C) relative clarity; binocular

D) relative clarity; monocular

43. Adults who are born blind but later have their vision restored:A) are almost immediately able to recognize familiar objects.

B) typically fail to recognize familiar objects.

C) are unable to follow moving objects with their eyes.

D) have excellent eye-hand coordination.

44. The predictions of leading psychics are:A) often ambiguous prophecies later interpreted to match actual events.

B) no more accurate than guesses made by others.

C) nearly always inaccurate.

D) all of the above.

45. The three steps in memory information processing are:A) input, processing, output.

B) input, storage, output.

C) input, storage, retrieval.

D) encoding, storage, retrieval.

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46. The spacing effect means that:A) distributed study yields better retention than cramming.

B) retention is improved when encoding and retrieval are separated by no more than 1 hour.

C) learning causes a reduction in the size of the synaptic gap between certain neurons.

D) delaying retrieval until memory has consolidated improves recall.

47. Craik and Tulving had research participants process words visually, acoustically, or semantically. In a subsequent recall test, which type of processing resulted in the greatest retention?A) visual

B) acoustic

C) semantic

D) Acoustic and semantic processing were equally beneficial

48. Memory techniques such as the method of loci, acronyms, and the peg-word system are called:A) consolidation devices.

B) imagery techniques.

C) encoding strategies.

D) mnemonic devices.

49. Brenda has trouble remembering her new five-digit zip plus four-digit address code. What is the most likely explanation for the difficulty Brenda is having?A) Nine digits are at or above the upper limit of most people's short-term memory

capacity.B) Nine digits are at or above the upper limit of most people's iconic memory capacity.

C) The extra four digits cannot be organized into easily remembered chunks.

D) Brenda evidently has an impaired implicit memory.

50. Walking through the halls of his high school 10 years after graduation, Tom experienced a flood of old memories. Tom's experience showed the role of:A) state-dependent memory.

B) context effects.

C) retroactive interference.

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D) echoic memory.

51. Being in a bad mood after a hard day of work, Susan could think of nothing positive in her life. This is best explained as an example of:A) priming.

B) memory construction.

C) mood-congruent memory.

D) retrieval failure.

52. After finding her old combination lock, Janice can't remember its combination because she keeps confusing it with the combination of her new lock. She is experiencing:A) proactive interference.

B) retroactive interference.

C) encoding failure.

D) storage failure.

53. The misinformation effect provides evidence that memory:A) is constructed during encoding.

B) is unchanging once established.

C) may be reconstructed during recall according to how questions are framed.

D) is highly resistant to misleading information.

54. The text defines cognition as:A) silent speech.

B) all mental activity.

C) mental activity associated with processing, understanding, and communicating information.

D) logical reasoning.

55. If you want to be absolutely certain that you will find the solution to a problem you know is solvable, you should use:A) a heuristic.

B) an algorithm.

C) insight.

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D) trial and error.

56. Experts in a field prefer heuristics to algorithms because heuristics:A) guarantee solutions to problems.

B) prevent mental sets.

C) often save time.

D) prevent fixation.

57. Mental set and functional fixedness are two types of:A) algorithms.

B) heuristics.

C) fixation.

D) insight.

58. Phonemes are the basic units of ________ in language.A) sound

B) meaning

C) grammar

D) semantics

59. Telegraphic speech is typical of the ________ stage.A) babbling

B) one-word

C) two-word

D) three-word

60. Most experts view intelligence as a person's:A) ability to perform well on intelligence tests.

B) innate mental capacity.

C) ability to learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations.

D) diverse skills acquired throughout life.

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61. Originally, IQ was defined as:A) mental age divided by chronological age and multiplied by 100.

B) chronological age divided by mental age and multiplied by 100.

C) mental age subtracted from chronological age and multiplied by 100.

D) chronological age subtracted from mental age and multiplied by 100.

62. Tests of ________ measure what an individual can do now, whereas tests of ________ predict what an individual will be able to do later.A) aptitude; achievement

B) achievement; aptitude

C) reliability; validity

D) validity; reliability

63. The bell-shaped distribution of intelligence scores in the general population is called a:A) g distribution.

B) standardization curve.

C) bimodal distribution.

D) normal distribution.

64. The Flynn effect refers to the fact that:A) white and black infants score equally well on measures of infant intelligence.

B) Asian students outperform North American students on math achievement tests.

C) The IQ scores of today's better fed and educated population exceed those of the 1930s population.

D) Individual differences within a race are much greater than between-race differences.

65. Behavior is classified as disordered when it is:A) deviant.

B) distressful.

C) dysfunctional.

D) all of the above.

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66. Which of the following is true of the medical model?A) In recent years, it has been in large part discredited.

B) It views psychological disorders as sicknesses that are diagnosable and treatable.

C) It emphasizes the role of psychological factors in disorders over that of physiological factors.

D) It focuses on cognitive factors.

67. Sharon is continually tense, jittery, and apprehensive for no specific reason. She would probably be diagnosed as suffering a(n):A) phobia.

B) major depressive disorder.

C) obsessive-compulsive disorder.

D) generalized anxiety disorder.

68. Which of the following is the most pervasive of the psychological disorders?A) depression

B) schizophrenia

C) bipolar disorder

D) generalized anxiety disorder

69. Which neurotransmitter is present in overabundant amounts during the manic phase of bipolar disorder?A) dopamine

B) serotonin

C) epinephrine

D) norepinephrine

70. Hearing voices would be a(n) ________; believing that you are Napoleon would be a(n) ________.A) obsession; compulsion

B) compulsion; obsession

C) delusion; hallucination

D) hallucination; delusion

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71. Bob has never been able to keep a job. He's been in and out of jail for charges such as theft, sexual assault, and spousal abuse. Bob would most likely be diagnosed as having:A) a dissociative identity disorder.

B) major depressive disorder.

C) schizophrenia.

D) an antisocial personality.

72. Of the following therapists, who would be most likely to interpret a person's psychological problems in terms of repressed impulses?A) a behavior therapist

B) a cognitive therapist

C) a humanistic therapist

D) a psychoanalyst

73. Carl Rogers was a ________ therapist who was the creator of ________.A) behavior; systematic desensitization

B) psychoanalytic; insight therapy

C) humanistic; client-centered therapy

D) cognitive; cognitive therapy for depression

74. In order to help him overcome his fear of flying, Duane's therapist has him construct a hierarchy of anxiety-triggering stimuli and then learn to associate each with a state of deep relaxation. Duane's therapist is using the technique called:A) systematic desensitization.

B) aversive conditioning.

C) shaping.

D) free association.

75. To help Sam quit smoking, his therapist blew a blast of smoke into Sam's face each time Sam inhaled. Which technique is the therapist using?A) exposure therapy

B) behavior modification

C) systematic desensitization

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D) aversive conditioning

76. Cognitive-behavior therapy aims to:A) alter the way people act.

B) make people more aware of their irrational negative thinking.

C) alter the way people think and act.

D) countercondition anxiety-provoking stimuli.

77. Electroconvulsive therapy is most useful in the treatment of:A) schizophrenia.

B) depression.

C) personality disorders.

D) anxiety disorders.

78. Professor Washington's students did very poorly on the last exam. The tendency to make the fundamental attribution error might lead her to conclude that the class did poorly because:A) the test was unfair.

B) not enough time was given for students to complete the test.

C) students were distracted by some social function on campus.

D) students were unmotivated.

79. Conformity increased under which of the following conditions in Asch's studies of conformity?A) The group had three or more people.

B) The group had high status.

C) Individuals were made to feel insecure.

D) All of the above increased conformity.

80. In his study of obedience, Stanley Milgram found that the majority of subjects:A) refused to shock the learner even once.

B) complied with the experiment until the “learner” first indicated pain.

C) complied with the experiment until the “learner” began screaming in agony.

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D) complied with all the demands of the experiment.

81. The phenomenon in which individuals lose their identity and relinquish normal restraints when they are part of a group is called:A) groupthink.

B) cognitive dissonance.

C) empathy.

D) deindividuation.

82. We tend to perceive the members of an ingroup as ________ and the members of an outgroup as ________.A) similar to one another; different from one another

B) different from one another; similar to one another

C) above average in ability; below average in ability

D) below average in ability; above average in ability

83. Most researchers agree that:A) media violence is a factor in aggressive behavior.

B) there is a negative correlation between media violence and aggressiveness.

C) paradoxically, watching excessive pornography ultimately diminishes an individual's aggressive tendencies.

D) media violence is too unreal to promote aggression in viewers.

84. Increasing the number of people who are present during an emergency tends to:A) increase the likelihood that people will cooperate in rendering assistance.

B) decrease the empathy that people feel for the victim.

C) increase the role that social norms governing helping will play.

D) decrease the likelihood that anyone will help.

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Answer Key

1. B2. B3. D4. D5. B6. A7. D8. B9. D

10. B11. B12. B13. C14. D15. C16. D17. A18. A19. D20. C21. A22. B23. B24. C25. D26. D27. D28. D29. D30. D31. D32. A33. D34. D35. D36. D37. D38. A39. D40. C41. D42. D43. B44. D

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45. D46. A47. C48. D49. A50. B51. C52. B53. C54. C55. B56. C57. C58. A59. C60. C61. A62. B63. D64. C65. D66. B67. D68. A69. D70. D71. D72. D73. C74. A75. D76. C77. B78. D79. D80. D81. D82. B83. A84. D

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