Deck 9: Biological Foundations of Personality

Question 1

According to Kagan, highly reactive children are likely to be

A) inhibited.
B) uninhibited.
C) impulsive.
D) No outcome can be predicted.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The person known for distinguishing between inhibited and uninhibited children is

A) Freud.
B) Buss.
C) Plomin.
D) Kagan.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Kagan's research suggests that

A) temperament is fixed in childhood.
B) parenting can make a difference in temperament.
C) peers are important in the development of temperament.
D) unshared environments are important in temperament development.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Kagan found evidence of

A) longitudinal consistency of temperament.
B) biological bases for differences in temperament.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 5

The research of Buss and Plomin showed evidence of

A) continuity of temperament over time.
B) the heritability of temperament.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 6

Thomas and Chess as well as Buss and Plomin used _______ in their research.

A) laboratory test data
B) ratings
C) behavioral genetics
D) blood types

Question 7

The person associated with phrenology is

A) Galen.
B) Gall.
C) Sheldon.
D) Darwin.

Question 8

Early work on longitudinal studies of temperament was conducted by

A) Thomas and Chess.
B) Kagan.
C) Piaget.
D) Rothbart and Ahadi.

Question 9

Which of the following is not a figure in the history of temperament theory?

A) Galen.
B) Gall.
C) Kretschmer.
D) All of the above

Question 10

Sheldon's work on the relation of body type to temperament

A) is the basis of all contemporary research on the topic.
B) yielded strong, convincing results.
C) a and b.
D) yielded results that are now recognized as weak, and are not important to the contemporary field.

Question 11

The person who attempted to classify psychiatric disorders and believed them to be largely hereditary was

A) Kraepelin.
B) Sheldon.
C) Gall.
D) Freud.

Question 12

The text describes Gall as

A) a quack.
B) a knave.
C) a serious anatomist.
D) a brilliant theoretician.

Question 13

The forerunner of Sheldon's work was

A) Freud.
B) Kretschmer.
C) Kraepelin.
D) Gall.

Question 14

Work by Schmidt and Fox indicates that which of the following brain regions is involved in inhibitedness

A) frontal cortex.
B) amygdale.
C) a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 15

Thomas and Chess found that

A) there was no relation between early temperament and later development.
B) loving and firm parenting was best for all children.
C) different parental environments were best for different children.
D) none of the above.

Question 16

Individual differences in temperament are believed to be largely

A) inherited.
B) biologically based.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 17

Kretschmer believed that psychiatric disorder was related to

A) intelligence.
B) brain physiology.
C) body type.
D) blood type.

Question 18

The case of Phineas Gage illustrates the importance of

A) the brain for specific personality characteristics.
B) the brain for the ability to walk and speak.
C) the brain for cognitive functioning.
D) all of the above.

Question 19

The concept of temperament refers to individual differences in

A) impulsivity.
B) excitability.
C) quality of emotional response.
D) none of the above.

Question 20

Kagan improved on early temperament research in his use of

A) factor analysis.
B) objective measures.
C) parental ratings.
D) longitudinal research.

Question 21

The basis for a link between trait theory and biology comes from

A) physiological studies.
B) genetic research.
C) evolutionary theory.
D) all of the above.

Question 22

Proximate causes refer to explanations associated with

A) genes.
B) evolution.
C) life history.
D) neuroscience.

Question 23

Research in evolutionary psychology by Cosmides on the question of cheating detection is concerned with the evolutionarily significant problem of

A) dating.
B) parenting.
C) social exchange.
D) playing games.

Question 24

According to evolutionary psychology, women show greater parental investment in children than men because

A) they can be the biological parent of fewer children.
B) of a maternal instinct.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 25

Research by Sugiyama, Tooby, and Cosmides finds that the result of research on cheating detection can be replicated

A) in nonliterate cultures
B) only in literature cultures
C) only in capitalist societies
D) only among college students

Question 26

The concept of evolved psychological mechanisms suggests that

A) psychological mechanisms have endured because of their adaptive value.
B) psychological mechanisms have evolved to fit the challenge of modern society.
C) both (a) and (b).
D) neither (a) nor (b).

Question 27

According to Buss, evolved psychological mechanisms

A) are always adaptive.
B) may not fit current living conditions.
C) are the same for all genders.
D) all of the above.

Question 28

The best interpretation of Kagan's data is that

A) temperament sets constraints on personality development.
B) temperament can be completely altered by the environment.
C) temperament is fixed in childhood.
D) environment sets constraints on temperament development.

Question 29

Evolved adaptive mechanisms are viewed as

A) broad, context-free.
B) identical in both genders.
C) task specific.
D) the same in all species.

Question 30

In the Buss research on jealousy, physiological data

A) matched self-report data.
B) diverged from self-report data.
C) were inconclusive.
D) did not support the hypothesis.

Question 31

According to Buss's hypotheses,

A) males should prefer young, attractive women.
B) females should prefer strong, ambitious men.
C) males should be more concerned than females about sexual infidelity.
D) all of the above.

Question 32

Work by Eagly and Wood on men's and women's mate preferences in different nations finds that

A) preferences are the same in all countries, as evolutionary psychologists would have predicted.
B) preferences are the same in all countries, contrary to the predictions of evolutionary psychologists.
C) sex differences are smaller in countries in which men and women have similar social roles.
D) sex differences are larger in countries in which men and women have similar social roles.

Question 33

Ultimate causes refer to explanations associated with

A) genes.
B) evolution.
C) life history.
D) neuroscience.

Question 34

The text suggests that

A) evidence of inheritance does not mean environment is unimportant.
B) evidence of inheritance does not mean temperament is fixed.
C) evidence of inheritance does not mean early experience is unimportant.
D) all of the above.

Question 35

The finding that male-female trait differences are greater in developed, egalitarian cultures than in less developed, less egalitarian cultures would be supportive of a(n) ________________ interpretation

A) social role
B) evolutionary
C) psychoanalytic
D) cognitive

Question 36

According to Kagan,

A) temperament is fixed by heredity.
B) temperament can be completely altered by the environment.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 37

Which of the following would be suggested by trait theorists as important for group survival?

A) agreeableness.
B) openness.
C) extraversion.
D) all of the above.

Question 38

Criticism of evolutionary psychology include

A) they underestimate the role of social influences.
B) they are inconsistent with basic research in neuroscience.
C) evolutionary psychology fails to explain individual differences in the interpretation of ambiguous social situations.
D) all of the above.

Question 39

Parenthood probability theory leads

A) females to be more concerned about rivals than males.
B) males to be more concerned about rivals than females.
C) males and females to be equally concerned about rivals.
D) to genetic counseling procedures.

Question 40

Evolutionary factors have been suggested as important in

A) sex differences in mate preferences.
B) sex differences in causes of jealousy.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 41

In a simplified form, research on twins suggest that

A) differences between MZ twins are due to the environment.
B) differences between DZ twins are genetic differences.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 42

According to the research to date, for most personality characteristics one would expect

A) biological siblings to be more similar than adopted siblings.
B) adopted children to be more similar to adopted parents than biological parents.
C) males to be more similar to one another than females.
D) none of the above.

Question 43

Research suggests that

A) adopted children growing up in the same family have similar weights.
B) biological siblings growing up in different families have similar weights.
C) shared environmental influences account for about 20 percent of the variance in personality.
D) none of the above.

Question 44

Nonshared environments include

A) parts of sibling family environments.
B) aspects of sibling non-familial environments.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 45

Recent behavior-genetic research suggests evidence for

A) peer-peer rating agreement.
B) self-peer rating agreement.
C) support for genetic influences on the Big Five.
D) all of the above.

Question 46

The concept of heritability estimate refers to

A) the proportion of individual differences due to genes.
B) the proportion of a characteristic in an individual due to genes.
C) the proportion of group differences due to genes.
D) none of the above.

Question 47

Which of the following is accurate?

A) if shared environments are important, adopted siblings reared together will be more similar than biological siblings.
B) if shared environments are important, biological siblings reared together will resemble their parents more than such siblings reared apart.
C) if shared environments are important, nonshared environments are unimportant.
D) none of the above.

Question 48

The body of evidence to date suggests that

A) the family environment is unimportant for personality.
B) genes are more important than environment for overall personality.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 49

Data from behavior genetics research indicates the importance of

A) genes.
B) shared environments.
C) unshared environments.
D) all of the above.

Question 50

Recent research suggests that children from the same family are so different because of

A) different genes.
B) nonshared environmental influences.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 51

One would expect the role of heredity in personality to decline in the following order

A) IQ, extraversion, political views.
B) IQ, religiosity, neuroticism.
C) extraversion, political views, neuroticism.
D) neuroticism, extraversion, IQ.

Question 52

Which of the following is not a method used to establish genetic-behavior relationships?

A) selective breeding.
B) twin studies.
C) adoption studies.
D) DNS studies.

Question 53

Adoption studies offer the opportunity to gain greater insight into

A) genetic influences.
B) environmental influences.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 54

It can be suggested that

A) if two individuals are identical genetically, differences between them must be due to the environment.
B) if two individuals are different genetically, differences between them must be due to these genetic differences.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 55

Heritability estimates might differ if

A) different populations were studied.
B) different measures of h² were used.
C) different aspects of the same trait were studied.
D) all of the above.

Question 56

The text suggests that

A) a high heritability estimate suggests differences between the two populations studied.
B) a high heritability estimate suggests the relevant trait is fairly fixed.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 57

According to research,

A) shared family influences are more important than nonshared family influences.
B) nonshared family influences are more important than shared family influences.
C) shared and nonshared family influences are of equal importance.
D) nonshared influences outside the family are more important than those inside the family.

Question 58

Biological sibling differences can be due to

A) genes.
B) family environment differences.
C) nonshared environmental influences.
D) all of the above.

Question 59

In the study of maze-bright and maze-dull rats, it was found that

A) an enriched environment helped dull rats but not bright rats.
B) an impoverished environment hurt bright rats but not dull rats.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 60

Two traits show similar heritability estimates, therefore

A) their phenotypes are to the same extent genetically determined.
B) subgroups within each population will show the same average scores on the trait.
C) two individuals randomly selected from the two groups will be alike on the trait.
D) none of the above.

Question 61

Greater right hemispheric activity is associated with

A) greater negative affect.
B) greater separation distress in children.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 62

Research indicates that depressed individuals have

A) increased left hemispheric activity.
B) decreased left hemispheric activity.
C) increased right hemispheric activity.
D) decreased right hemispheric activity.

Question 63

Kagan suggests that the inhibited child has

A) low threshold of amygdala excitability.
B) left hemispheric dominance.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 64

In terms of nonshared environment effects, research suggests that

A) much of parenting differences reflect genetic differences among children.
B) much of parenting differences reflect birth order differences.
C) parents treat their children pretty much the same way.
D) daughters and sons are treated pretty much the same way.

Question 65

The genetic component is least strong for

A) temperament.
B) intelligence.
C) values.
D) dominance.

Question 66

Evidence to date suggests that

A) criminals are made, not born.
B) criminals are born, not made.
C) introversion is strongly associated with criminality.
D) none of the above.

Question 67

Genetic research on personality suggests that

A) children from the same family share genes in common.
B) children from the same family experience different environments.
C) the importance of genes varies somewhat from trait to trait.
D) all of the above.

Question 68

The text suggests that

A) genes are more important than environment.
B) environment is more important than genes.
C) genes and environment are in constant interplay.
D) the issue is to be decided in the future.

Question 69

Which of the following is associated with the stress response?

A) serotonin.
B) testosterone.
C) cortisol.
D) dopamine.

Question 70

Genes influence environments via

A) selection of environments.
B) eliciting environmental responses.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 71

Evidence of the importance of nonshared environments suggests that

A) family experiences are unimportant.
B) early experience is unimportant.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 72

_____________ activity is associated both with schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease.

A) Serotonin.
B) Testosterone.
C) Cortisol.
D) Dopamine.

Question 73

Research by Caspi et al indicates that ________ is (are) a main cause of antisocial behavior.

A) genetic influences
B) maltreatment in childhood
C) an interaction of a and b
D) neither a nor b

Question 74

Which of the following is not true?

A) Genetic factors account for the majority of personality.
B) Nongenetic factors are mainly responsible for environmental differences.
C) Family experiences are important.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 75

Evidence in support of a genetic contribution to personality would be if personality characteristics of identical twins reared apart were similar to

A) identical twins reared together.
B) fraternal twins reared together.
C) fraternal twins reared apart.
D) siblings reared apart.

Question 76

According to Davidson,

A) individual differences in lateralization begin in adulthood.
B) are important for individual differences in mood.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 77

Genes influence

A) personality.
B) environment.
C) both a and b.
D) neither a nor b.

Question 78

Research to date supports which of the following statements?

A) Inheritance plays a strong role in personality.
B) Environment plays a strong role in personality.
C) Genes and environment play a role in all traits.
D) All of the above.

Question 79

Behavior geneticists suggest that after heredity, the greatest influence on personality is

A) shared environment.
B) parents.
C) early experience.
D) nonshared environment.

Question 80

The part of the brain implicated in emotion and motivation is the

A) amygdala.
B) hippocampus.
C) prefrontal cortex.
D) Broca's area.