Psychology 101 Exam 4: Chapters 12-14
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PSYCH 100 Exam #4 - Chapters 12-14
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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1. If you cannot decide whether to submit to back surgery to alleviate your back pain, which you dread, or to
continue to live with the pain, which you sometimes find unbearable, you are caught in
a. an approach-avoidance conflict
b. an approach-approach conflict
c. a double approach-avoidance conflict
d. an avoidance-avoidance conflict
2. People with higher scores on the Social Readjustment Rating Scale have been found to
a. react more negatively to stressful events
b. be more vulnerable to physical illness and psychological problems
c. have a more external locus of control
d. cope more effectively with stress
3. Research has shown that the emotional responses to stress
a. may involve either positive or negative emotions
b. always involve negative emotions
c. typically alternate between positive and negative emotions
d. are more intense in women than in men
4. The first stage in the general adaptation syndrome is
a. resistance
b. alarm
c. exhaustion
d. coping
5. Learned helplessness involves
a. a release of emotional tension that often accompanies stress
b. passive behavior produced by exposure to unavoidable aversive events
c. protecting oneself from unpleasant situations by refusing to acknowledge them
d. atoning for unacceptable unconscious drives or impulses in socially acceptable ways
6. How do defense mechanisms accomplish their goal of diminishing stress?
a. by forcing the individual to express emotions
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b. through self-deception
c. by blocking the awareness of anxiety
d. through a reduction of impulse control
Relatively healthful efforts that people make to deal with stressful events are referred to as
a. adaptive coping
b. offensive coping
c. defensive coping
d. constructive coping
A person who is very competitive, impatient, and quick to anger and exhibit hostility is best described as
having a ____ personality.
a. Type A
b. Type B
c. Type X
d. Type Y
Research on cardiology patients shows that in the six hours prior to their heart attack they often
a. experienced episodes of anger
b. ingested moderate amounts of caffeine
c. experienced major life stressors
d. ate foods high in cholesterol and fat
Reduced levels of immune activity are associated with
a. decreases in cholesterol
b. increases in cholesterol
c. decreases in stress
d. increases in stress
Compared to optimists, individuals with a pessimistic explanatory style are more likely to attribute bad events
to
a. their own personal shortcomings
b. the actions of other people
c. situational factors that are beyond their control
d. bad luck or fate
When experiencing a stressful situation, expressing your emotions in writing or talking to others about your
difficulties
a. may have beneficial effects
b. may have beneficial effects for women but not men
c. may have beneficial effects for men but not women
d. may dramatically increase physiological arousal
A major idea behind Rational-Emotive Therapy is that stress is caused by
a. conflict
b. frustration
c. catastrophic thinking
d. pressure
The concept that abnormal behavior is the result of a disease goes with the
a. humanistic model
b. medical model
c. behavioral model
d. psychological model
According to the medical model of psychological disorders, prognosis refers to
a. a statement concerning the probable course of the disorder
b. taking a medical history of an individual
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c. deciding which disorder an individual is experiencing
d. describing the apparent cause of the disorder
Anxiety disorders are a class of psychological disorders characterized by
a. emotional disturbances of varied kinds that may spill over to disrupt physical, perceptual,
social, and thought processes
b. delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and deterioration of adaptive behavior
c. physical ailments that cannot be fully explained by organic conditions
d. feelings of excessive apprehension and worry
Conversion disorder is characterized by
a. excessive preoccupation with one's health and incessant worry about developing physical
illnesses
b. genuine physical ailments caused in part by psychological factors
c. a history of diverse physical complaints that appear to be psychological in origin
d. a significant loss of physical functioning which usually affects a single organ system of
the body
According to the sick role hypothesis, people who are prone to somatoform disorders are most likely to
a. downplay actual illnesses to gain sympathy and social support
b. find the attention from others as reinforcing
c. show high levels of excitability and emotional reactivity
d. selectively recall information that indicates illness
A "John Doe" walked into the police station and reported that he had an unusual problem. He could not
remember anything about himself, not where he lived or worked or even his name. The police took him to the
local hospital where he was evaluated and found to have no physical injuries. "John Doe's" symptoms are
most consistent with
a. schizophrenic disorder
b. dissociative identity disorder
c. dissociative amnesia
d. dissociative fugue
Cliff has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Currently, he is very optimistic about his life. Even though he
is only sleeping three hours a night, he is very energetic. He has turned his basement into a workshop where
he plans to mass produce his new "banana computer" that will revolutionize the computer market. Cliff is
experiencing
a. an unipolar episode
b. a bipolar episode
c. a manic episode
d. a depressive episode
The primary characteristic of paranoid schizophrenia is
a. the presence of an idiosyncratic mixture of schizophrenic symptoms
b. the presence of delusions of persecution and grandeur
c. severe deterioration of adaptive behavior
d. motor disturbances ranging from muscular rigidity to random motor activity
Individuals with ____ typically maintain a reasonably normal weight.
a. anorexia nervosa
b. bulimia nervosa
c. both anorexia and bulimia nervosa
d. neither anorexia or bulimia nervosa
Personality traits that have been associated with the development of anorexia nervosa include all of the
following except
a. perfectionism
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b. high self-esteem
c. rigid
d. obsessive
If many Americans were to believe that all Muslims are terrorists, it would be best described as
a. a stereotype
b. person perception
c. an attribution
d. a logical assumption
The fundamental attribution error refers to the tendency of
a. observers to favor external attributions in explaining the behavior of others
b. observers to favor internal attributions in explaining the behavior of others
c. actors to favor external attributions in explaining the behavior of others
d. actors to favor internal attributions in explaining the behavior of others
According to the self-serving bias, when people experience success, they tend to make ____ attributions and
when they experience failure, they tend to make ____ attributions.
a. external; external
b. internal; internal
c. external; internal
d. internal; external
Putting personal goals ahead of group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes is
referred to as
a. hedonism
b. dispositional attributional bias
c. egocentrism
d. individualism
According to the ____ we tend to date people who are similar to ourselves in physical attractiveness.
a. foot-in-the-door techniques
b. primacy effect
c. matching hypothesis
d. reciprocity
A romantic relationship characterized by high levels of commitment and intimacy is best described as
reflecting
a. mature love
b. passionate love
c. companionate love
d. both passionate and companionate love
Adults who experience love relationships that are volatile, marked by jealousy, and reflect expectations of
rejection exhibit
a. immature attachment
b. avoidant attachment
c. anxious-ambivalent attachment
d. secure attachment
In many cultures, a key element associated with physical attractiveness is
a. height
b. hair color
c. facial symmetry
d. body type
A positive or negative evaluation of an object of thought defines
a. an attitude
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b. an opinion
c. a schema
d. a preference
Expertise and trustworthiness are two factors that affect the ____ of a source of a persuasive communication.
a. credibility
b. message
c. likability
d. honesty
Edith is making a class presentation in which she is trying to convince the other students that a proposed
change in the requirements for an education degree will be beneficial in the long run. Based on the research
into factors which influence persuasion, Edith will be most persuasive if she
a. presents only the advantages associated with the proposed change
b. presents only the disadvantages associated with the proposed change
c. is able to arouse cognitive dissonance among her classmates
d. presents both the advantages and disadvantages associated with the proposed change
Cognitive dissonance
a. is a state of tension produced when related cognitions are inconsistent
b. is a feeling of discomfort experienced by receivers of persuasive communications
c. is a feeling of guilt produced by engaging in counterattitudinal behavior
d. occurs only when cognitions are unrelated to each other
In Festinger and Carlsmith's classic study of cognitive dissonance, which group of subjects experienced both a
high level of cognitive dissonance and exhibited more attitude change?
a. subjects who were offered $1 to "lie" and accepted the offer
b. subjects who were offered $1 to "lie" and refused the offer
c. subjects who were offered $20 to "lie" and accepted the offer
d. subjects who were offered $20 to "lie" and refused the offer
Research on the elaboration likelihood model of attitude change suggests that the ____ route leads to more
enduring attitude change and better predicts future behavior.
a. peripheral
b. central
c. objective
d. subjective
Asch conducted social psychology research on ____ and Milgram conducted research on ____.
a. the bystander effect; group polarization
b. obedience; conformity
c. conformity; obedience
d. group polarization; the bystander effect
The "typical" subject in Milgram's study experienced ____ psychological distress ____ to administer stronger
electric shocks.
a. considerable; but continued
b. considerable; and refused
c. little; and continued
d. little; and refused
In Zimbaro's (1973) study the participants
a. were ordered to deliver painful electric shocks to a stranger
b. were assigned to be guards or prisoners in a simulated prison
c. indicated which of three lines matched a "standard line" in length
d. were ordered to give consistently wrong answers to simple questions
Research on the bystander effect indicates that the probability of receiving needed help
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a. decreases as group size decreases
b. decreases as group size increases
c. increases as group size increases
d. is not related to group size
Diffusion of responsibility refers to the
a. tendency of others to assume that someone else will take responsibility in a crisis
b. basis for performing prosocial behavior
c. halo effect in aggression
d. loss of identity one experiences in mob violence/aggression
Which of the following is NOT characteristic of groupthink?
a. dividing the world into the ingroup and the outgroup
b. censoring dissent from group members
c. gathering all the relevant information before making a decision
d. censoring information that contradicts the group's views
Prejudicial attitudes are often acquired through ____ and strengthened or maintained through ____.
a. classical conditioning; operant conditioning
b. classical conditioning; observational learning
c. observational learning; operant conditioning
d. operant conditioning; observational learning
According to this viewpoint, men emphasize physical attractiveness in mate selection while women
emphasize the ability to acquire resources. Which theory does this describe?
a. evolutionary theory
b. cognitive dissonance theory
c. sexual propensity theory
d. attribution theory