Multiple Choice Problems M1 Key
____ 1. The field of Psychology is defined as the
a. scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
b. methodological analysis of behavior.
c. observational record of behaviors.
d. study of all mental activities.
____ 2. The ethical principle of __________ states that research subjects must be told
ahead of time about any aspects of the study that might influence their willingness to
cooperate.
a. minimal risk
b. informed consent
c. confidentiality
d. reasonable doubt
____ 3. The analysis of information processing systems is of special interest to
__________ psychology.
a. biological
b. psychoanalytic
c. cognitive
d. behavioral
____ 4. L-dopa is often given to people suffering from Parkinson's disease. After a time,
however, some patients begin to experience hallucinations. What is the best explanation
for this schizophrenic-like side effect?
a. The disease causes the patient so much stress that a break from reality is inevitable.
b. The patient is getting too much dopamine stimulation from the L-dopa.
c. L-dopa depletes an important vitamin necessary for preventing hallucinations.
d. The patient needs larger quantities of the dopamine in L-dopa to keep the hallucinations
away.
____ 5. A psychologist thinks that children will be more likely to play aggressively after
watching violent programs on TV. Children are randomly assigned to either a group that
watches a violent program or one that watches a non-violent program. The number of
aggressive acts recorded in the play session that follows is the
a. independent variable.
b. dependent variable.
c. operational definition.
d. controlled variable.
____ 6. To determine if male or female substitute teachers are regarded more favorably in
a high school classroom, you design an experiment in which the same class of seniors is
exposed to two substitutes on succeeding days, one male and one female, and is then
asked to rate each teacher on an evaluation scale. The independent variable would be the
a. gender of the teacher.
b. ratings on the evaluation scale.
c. fact that it's a senior class, not a junior class.
d. day the class met.
____ 7. Which statement is most consistent with the psychoanalytic perspective?
a. Behaviors are the product of neurobiological events.
b. There is a substantial random element in behavior.
c. All behaviors are conscious, even though we aren't always aware of them.
d. Behaviors may be caused by unconscious processes.
____ 8. The __________ is the basic unit of the nervous system.
a. neuron
b. brain
c. synapse
d. spinal cord
____ 9. In its resting state, the inside of a neuron carries a __________ charge with
respect to the outside.
a. negative
b. positive
c. depolarized
d. inactive
____ 10. Which of the following statements best summarizes the relationship between
the two cerebral hemispheres?
a. In some ways the two hemispheres are different in both structure and function, yet they
work together as an integrated system.
b. The two hemispheres are identical in both structure and function.
c. The two hemispheres are identical in function, but differ in their structure.
d. The two hemispheres are identical in structure, but differ in function.
____ 11. The debate about human psychology that suggests human capacities are either
inborn or acquired is called the
a. the nature-nurture debate.
b. the associationist analysis of psychology.
c. the cognitive versus analytic debate.
d. the information processing analysis of psychology.
____ 12. Dr. Sweet is interested in understanding the individual characteristics which
distinguish athletes with the mental toughness to overcome adverse situations from
those who tend to crumble under the pressure. Dr. Sweet is most likely a __________
psychologist.
a. biological
b. personality
c. clinical
d. social
____ 13. According to the video watched in discussion, if a split-brain patient is shown
an Archimbaldo painting to his/her left hemisphere, what will the patient report seeing?
a. Face
b. Nothing, split-brain patients can’t see
c. First details and then a face
d. Details (Fruit or meat)
____ 14. Dopamine is an important neurotransmitter involved in _____; thus depletion of
dopamine is implicated in _____.
a. initiating movement; Parkinson’s disease
b. sleep; insomnia
c. memory; Alzheimer’s disease
d. mood; Schizophrenia
____ 15. The axons of some neurons are surrounded by a fatty substance called myelin.
These myelinated axons
a. can transmit information, but cannot receive it.
b. transmit information more quickly than do unmyelinated axons.
c. can send a neural impulse in both directions within one neuron.
d. function no differently than unmyelinated axons.
____ 16. Kelly's father gives her an allowance each week when she helps with chores
around the house. Kelly's father is using a __________ approach.
a. cognitive
b. behavioral
c. developmental
d. psychoanalytic
____ 17. Behaviorists primary criticism of introspection would be that it
a. ignores important unconscious processes.
b. does not provide information about the inner workings of the brain.
c. does not produce data that are objectively observable and measurable.
d. cannot account for the mind's ability to actively process information.
____ 18. The research report you are reading states that the results are "statistically
significant." What does this mean?
a. The results have some theoretical significance.
b. The results have some practical significance.
c. The results are meaningful.
d. The results are probably not due to chance factors.
____ 19. Individuals with damage to the hippocampus are seriously impaired in
a. remembering new information.
b. controlling their emotions.
c. fine muscle coordination.
d. regulating their food intake.
____ 20. A synapse can best be described as a
a. receiving section of a dendrite.
b. chemical messenger which travels across the synaptic gap between two neurons.
c. space across which neurons communicate with one another.
d. nervous impulse.
____ 21. The electrochemical impulse that travels down the axon is called a(n)
a. myelination.
b. action potential.
c. ion potential.
d. receptor potential.
____ 22. The size of the somatosensory or motor cortex map of a particular part of the
body appears to be
a. unrelated to the sensitivity and use of that part of the body.
b. related to the sensitivity and use of that part of the body.
c. related to the size of that part of the body.
d. related to the phylogenetic status of the species.
____ 23. Drugs that block the reuptake of serotonin are used to treat
a. Alzheimer's.
b. apathy.
c. depression.
d. schizophrenia.
____ 24. As the intensity of the brightness of a light is increased, the sizes of the action
potentials of the neurons involved
a. first increase and then decrease.
b. remains the same.
c. decrease.
d. increase.
____ 25. If there is a perfect positive correlation between two variables, x and y, then
a. x predicts y, but y causes x.
b. as x increases, y increases.
c. there is a strong likelihood that x causes y.
d. as x increases, y decreases.
____ 26. According to the all-or-none principle of neural action,
a. all the nerve cells in a nerve bundle will produce a nerve impulse at the same time or
none will produce an impulse.
b. if the first neuron in a nerve cell pathway produces an action potential, either all the
other nerve cells in the pathway will produce potentials simultaneously or none of the
other cells will produce action potentials.
c. if the speed of a nerve impulse slows to less than maximum, the impulse will completely
stop.
d. when a neuron produces an impulse it produces its maximum potential impulse or no
impulse.
____ 27. The effect of injury to the left side of the brain may result in
a. motor dysfunction of the right side of the body.
b. motor dysfunction of the left side of the body.
c. motor dysfunction equally on both sides of the body.
d. none of the above.
____ 28. Considering what you know about the function of the myelin sheath, what would
you expect the effect to be of a disease that destroys it?
a. slowed reaction times
b. faster reaction times
c. anxiety disorders
d. schizophrenia
____ 29. A __________ psychologist is most likely to be involved in research on the
importance of a strong network of friends for emotional support during times of stress.
a. social
b. personality
c. biological
d. clinical
____ 30. Although neurons may have a great number of __________ receiving messages
from surrounding neurons, each neuron usually has only one __________ sending
messages to surrounding neurons.
a. axons; dendrite
b. synaptic terminals; dendrite
c. synaptic terminals; axon
d. dendrites; axon
____ 31. While Kelly is walking across campus, a large dog rushes out of the bushes and
starts barking. Her heart races, she starts breathing hard. What aspect of the nervous
system is mediating this arousal?
a. parasympathetic nervous system
b. sympathetic nervous system
c. somatic
d. central nervous system
____ 32. If you received split-brain surgery and the name of an object is projected only to
the right hemisphere of your brain, you will probably be able to
a. pick out the object with the left hand.
b. describe the use of the object.
c. say the word.
d. write the word.
____ 33. Which approach attempts to relate a person's actions to events taking place
inside the brain and nervous system?
a. psychoanalytic
b. humanistic
c. biological
d. behavioral
____ 34. Which of the following neuropsychological methods would be used to examine
the function of the brain?
a. CT scan
b. X-ray
c. EEG (electroencepholagraphy)
d. None of the above
____ 35. __________ is the process by which enzymes in the receiving neuron break up a
neurotransmitter and make it inactive; __________ is the process by which the
neurotransmitter is reabsorbed by the synaptic terminals.
a. Depolarization; repolarization
b. Molecular transmogrification; lock and key action
c. Repolarization; depolarization
d. Degradation; reuptake
____ 36. Select the sequence indicating the normal route of a signal through a neuron:
a. cell body, dendrites, synaptic terminals, axon
b. synaptic vesicles, dendrites, cell body, axon
c. dendrites, collaterals, axon, synaptic terminals
d. dendrites, cell body, axon, synaptic terminals
____ 37. Several weeks ago, your friend Bill fell from his bicycle and struck the rear of his
head. Bill was always graceful and athletic; now his movements are jerky and
uncoordinated. You suspect that the fall caused damage to Bill's
a. hypothalamus.
b. cerebellum.
c. parietal lobes.
d. spinal cord.
____ 38. The fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) technique detects neural
activity by
a. measuring the magnetic fields created by neural firing.
b. using magnetic stimulation to “turn off” a portion of the brain
c. direct measurement of electrical activity in the brain
d. measuring blood oxygenation levels in different parts of the brain.
____ 39. Imagine that you show a split-brain subject's right visual field the word "rat" and
ask what the word is. What will they be most likely to answer?
a. "rat"
b. "mouse"
c. They will be able to read and understand the word, but not able to say the word.
d. "fat"
____ 40. In the experimental method, only the __________ variable is manipulated, while
the __________ variable is observed by the experimenter.
a. independent; dependent
b. qualitative; quantitative
c. quantitative; qualitative
d. dependent; independent
____ 41. A psychologist who wanted data on conscious experience asked subjects to
describe their experience of a flash of light. This is called
a. focused attention.
b. introspection.
c. methodological behaviorism.
d. laboratory psychoanalysis.
____ 42. The correlational method focuses on
a. controlling dependent and independent variables.
b. the nature of the relationship between two variables.
c. determining cause and effect.
d. statistically significant differences between group means.
____ 43. Which of the following correlations represents the greatest degree of
relationship between two variables?
a. r = -.02
b. r = +.47
c. r = +.04
d. r = -.76
____ 44. Psychology is a science primarily because
a. it utilizes the scientific method to study mental and behavioral processes.
b. its research findings are understood only by intelligent people.
c. it attempts to understand mental and behavioral processes.
d. its intellectual roots are in philosophy.
____ 45. The brain can recover from damage and is able to change from experience. This
concept is known as
a. regeneraion
b. plasticity
c. learning
d. Hebbian learning