Deck 17: Mid-Term Exam

Question 1

Which division of the nervous system allows the brain and the spinal cord to communicate with the sensory systems of the eyes, ears, skin, and mouth and allows the brain and spinal cord to control the muscles and glands of the body?

A) peripheral nervous system.
B) central nervous system.
C) endocrine system.
D) secondary nervous system.

Answer 1

peripheral nervous system.

Question 2

Sandra has completed an online survey about recycling habits and minimized how often she throws empty cans and bottles into the garbage. Her responses reflect what type of bias?

A) Malingering
B) Base rate fallacy
C) Hindsight bias
D) Response set

Answer 2

Response set

Question 3

Which of the following is a lasting contribution by the school of thought known as structuralism?

A) It defined psychology as the study of behaviour.
B) It emphasized the need for systematic observation.
C) It established the map of consciousness that we still use today.
D) It focused on the purpose of behaviour.

Answer 3

It emphasized the need for systematic observation.

Question 4

Statistics Canada recently released a statement that 50% of Canadian households earn less than $70 366 per year, and 50% of households earn more. Which measure of central tendency is used in this example?

A) Range
B) Mean
C) Mode
D) Median

Question 5

The __________ is a fatty coating that insulates the axons of some neurons.

A) glial cell
B) myelin sheath
C) nodes of Ranvier
D) dendritic spine

Question 6

A trainer at the gym notices that his clients are more likely to work out regularly and not skip days at the gym, compared to people who don't use a personal trainer. He has also noticed that people who have a trainer are less likely to get injured. The trainer believes that he helps people to stay motivated and accountable, and that's why they go to the gym more regularly. What is the confounding variable in this example?

A) injuries
B) the trainer
C) time at the gym
D) motivation

Question 7

Which component of the neuron receives signals from other neurons?

A) neurons.
B) dendrites.
C) Glial cells.
D) terminal button.

Question 8

A professor wants to determine whether her students perform better on mid-term examinations if they write their exam alone or in a group. To experimentally investigate this possibility, she randomly assigns half of her students to write their mid-term in the regular class setting (as a group) and randomly assigns the other half of her students to write their mid-term individually in private cubicles in the university's testing centre. Which of these conditions is the experimental group?

A) The group of students writing in the classroom
B) The group of students writing individually in the testing centre
C) Both groups of students as they are a part of the professor's experiment
D) Neither of the groups of students as they did not consent to this study

Question 9

What neurotransmitter is important for movement and the experience of reward?

A) Glutamate
B) Dopamine
C) Anandamide
D) Serotonin

Question 10

One person interprets eye contact as friendly, and another person interprets it as threatening. Which of the following fields is most interested in this difference of interpretation?

A) psychoanalysis.
B) cognitivism.
C) structuralism.
D) behaviourism.

Question 11

Which level of analysis in psychology would focus on your relationships with friends and family?

A) biological
B) social-cultural
C) psychological
D) neurological

Question 12

The part of the brain dedicated to emotion is

A) the lymphatic system.
B) the reticular activating system.
C) the limbic system.
D) the endocrine system.

Question 13

The set of observable traits an individual has is called their __________, which is based on their genetic makeup or __________.

A) genotype; phenotype
B) phenotype; genotype
C) chromosomes; genes
D) genes; chromosomes

Question 14

When a psychologist mentions the term scientific theory, he or she is referring to something that

A) explains a single event.
B) is no better an explanation than another person's opinion.
C) refers to an educated guess.
D) explains a wide range of observations.

Question 15

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the strongest positive relationship between two variables?

A) -.64
B) -.32
C) +.46
D) +.27

Question 16

Which theoretical framework proposed that our lives are full of symbols, or things that represent other things?

A) Cognitivism
B) Behaviourism
C) Functionalism
D) Psychoanalysis

Question 17

If a neuron receives graded potentials that bring it close to threshold (but doesn't quite reach threshold) then which of the following will happen?

A) There will be a smaller, graded, action potential.
B) Only a subset of neurotransmitters will be released.
C) The cell will experience long-term potentiation.
D) The cell will not fire at all.

Question 18

Assuming a claim is correct because many people believe it is called the

A) bandwagon fallacy.
B) either-or fallacy.
C) not me fallacy.
D) emotional reasoning fallacy.

Question 19

When psychologists use the term heuristic, they are referring to

A) biased information processing strategies.
B) mental techniques to improve memory recall.
C) mental techniques to increase deliberation in our decision making.
D) mental decision-making strategies.

Question 20

Suppose a researcher wants to see if those students who highlight their textbook as they read will perform better on the psychology mid-term compared to those students who do not highlight. What is the dependent variable?

A) Psychology mid-term score
B) Highlighting of text
C) No highlighting of text
D) Grade-point average

Question 21

The point at which a person can detect a stimulus 50 percent of the time it is presented is called the

A) absolute threshold.
B) range threshold.
C) difference threshold.
D) noticeable threshold.

Question 22

Which of the following drugs is a depressant?

A) Alcohol
B) Marijuana
C) LSD
D) Tobacco

Question 23

Body position is to __________ as equilibrium and balance are to __________.

A) the vestibular sense; proprioception
B) proprioception; the somatosensory system
C) the kinesthetic sense; proprioception
D) proprioception; the vestibular sense

Question 24

During what stage of sleep are we most likely to experience a vivid dream?

A) Non-REM sleep
B) Stage 2 sleep
C) REM sleep
D) Stage 4 sleep

Question 25

Sounds that we hear are converted into electrical signals in neurons through a process called

A) sensory adaptation.
B) psychophysics.
C) transduction.
D) signal detection.

Question 26

One of the effects of alcohol is to slow the heart rate. People who are addicted to alcohol may have an increase in heart rate when they smell or see alcohol. What is the term for this learned reaction?

A) habituation response
B) conditioned compensatory response
C) aversive conditioning response
D) operant response

Question 27

Which theory of hypnosis argues that hypnosis is a normal variation of consciousness rather than a state that is altered, or unique?

A) Dissociation theory
B) Sociocognitive theory
C) Psychodynamic theory
D) Activation-synthesis theory

Question 28

Which cells on the retina are most important for night vision?

A) bipolar cells.
B) ganglion cells.
C) rods.
D) cones.

Question 29

Which schedule of reinforcement is associated with slot machines and other forms of casino gambling?

A) Fixed interval
B) Fixed ratio
C) Variable interval
D) Variable ratio

Question 30

The quality or complexity of a sound is referred to as the

A) frequency.
B) timbre.
C) amplitude.
D) pitch.

Question 31

Operant conditioning would be the best choice to modify which of the following responses?

A) heart rate
B) drug cravings
C) disgust reactions
D) doing homework

Question 32

Pavlov placed meat powder in the mouths of dogs, and they began to salivate. In this example, what is the food?

A) unconditioned response
B) unconditioned stimulus
C) conditioned response
D) conditioned stimulus

Question 33

What is the term for a biological cycle, or rhythm, that is approximately 24 hours long?

A) circannual
B) circadian
C) diurnal
D) ultradian

Question 34

You are learning a list of items for a test by relating the items to each other and to information that you already have stored in memory. Which type of rehearsal are you using?

A) Condensed
B) Permanent
C) Maintenance
D) Elaborative

Question 35

In a photo, you can see that the house is farther away than the car because part of the house is blocked from view by the car. Which monocular cue is illustrated in this example?

A) relative size
B) interposition
C) light and shadow
D) linear perspective

Question 36

Leslie just started a new job, and got a new company email address. When people ask for his email address, he often responds with his old one by accident. Which one of the following sources of interference is most likely in this example?

A) Retroactive interference
B) Proactive interference
C) Associative interference
D) Decay interference

Question 37

Janet used to pout in order to get her own way, but her parents started ignoring that behaviour. Now she rarely pouts to get her own way. Which process has occured?

A) Extinction
B) Spontaneous recovery
C) Stimulus discrimination
D) Negative reinforcement

Question 38

According to Freud, if you dream about giraffes, and the giraffes represent your lifelong goals, then your lifelong goals are the

A) deep content.
B) latent content.
C) manifest content.
D) subliminal content.

Question 39

Trevor is trying to study in the library and is distracted by students who are talking at nearby tables. After a while, he does not notice them and is able to concentrate on his studying. What form of learning has Trevor experienced?

A) Sensitization
B) Habituation
C) Adaptation
D) Conditioning

Question 40

In operant conditioning, which of the following is an example of negative reinforcement?

A) A student turns in neater homework when the teacher praises neatness
B) A student who completes all homework is allowed to skip a quiz.
C) A student loses privileges for playing with lab equipment
D) A student is sent to detention for fighting

Question 41

You make a list of groceries you need to get but realize you have forgotten the list when you get to the store. These are the items on your list: sugar, salt, flour, vanilla, bread, silver balloons, and milk. According to the von Restorff effect, if you are trying to remember this list of grocery items, what item are you most likely to remember?

A) Sugar
B) Milk
C) Bread
D) Silver balloons

Question 42

Tasks that you perform regularly, such as driving, typing, or riding a bike, rely on what type of memory?

A) Declarative
B) Implicit
C) Episodic
D) Semantic

Question 43

Beth has a dog named Checkers. When she sees new dogs, she also calls them Checkers. Which common error does this represent?

A) overextension
B) underextension
C) onomatopoeia
D) extralinguistic

Question 44

Jeff can remember all sorts of details from his early life, and has a lot of knowledge about the world. Ever since his accident, he can't create any new memories. Which type of amnesia is this?

A) Proactive amnesia
B) Anterograde amnesia
C) Retrograde amnesia
D) Retroactive amnesia

Question 45

Charles is a mechanic, and he thinks through a series of procedures he must complete in order to change the radiator on his client's car. This step-by-step thinking allows him to complete the task without missing anything. This method of thinking reflects

A) mental set.
B) surface salience.
C) an algorithm.
D) functional fixedness.

Question 46

Your friend sends you a text message on your cellphone that says, "This is just horrible!" In order to interpret what your friend is meaning, you often need __________ to help you understand what is going on.

A) morphemes
B) syntax
C) extralinguistic information
D) dialect

Question 47

Judith is a third-year undergraduate student who lists her interests as computer gaming, and online communities. Based on this description, you might assume that Judith is more likely to be a computer science major than a psychology major because you think those interests are more common among computer science majors. On your campus, there are very few computer science majors, and a lot of psychology majors. Your judgment is likely based on the __________ heuristic but might be wrong due to the __________.

A) availability; base rate fallacy
B) representative; overconfidence bias
C) availability; overconfidence bias
D) representative; base rate fallacy

Question 48

According to famed linguist Noam Chomsky, what is contained within the Language Acquisition Device that he proposed is in our brains?

A) specialized circuits in auditory cortex
B) an innate vocabulary
C) all of the rules for learning a language
D) reflexive recognition of morphological markers

Question 49

Which of the following is necessary in order for mnemonics to help you retain information?

A) having an auditory learning style
B) having skill with eidetic memory
C) habituation and priming
D) having existing knowledge to connect to the new information

Question 50

Lottery ads tend to emphasize the odds of winning, to encourage people to buy tickets. Treatments for gambling addictions tend to emphasize the odds of losing, in order to make gambling seem less appealing. What differs between these two approaches?

A) mental set
B) heuristics
C) framing
D) algorithms