Review Session
Review Test #3
History, Approaches, Methods,
Biological Influences,
Sensation & Perception,
States of Consciousness
AP Psychology
Forest Lake High School
History & Approaches
Question #1
Research in the area of evolutionary psychology might rely heavily on
research from which of the following psychological schools of thought?
A.Psychoanalytic
B.Humanistic
C.Behavioral
D.Gestalt
E.Biological
E– Evolutionary Psychology necessarily involves discussions of
genetics and how genes are passed from one generation to another.
Biological psychologists are also involved in this area of research.
History & ApproachesQuestion #2
Modern psychologists might criticize Freud’s original
psychoanalytic theory for which of the following?
A. Freud focused on mild to moderate mental illnesses and avoided patients
with potentially serious problems.
B. Psychoanalytic theory did not progress quickly because he experimental
data needed to support the theories relied on slower research methods,
such as longitudinal studies.
C. The issues psychoanalysts focused on were intellectually interesting to
philosophers and theorists but did not have practical applications for real
world problems.
D. Psychoanalytic theories and hypotheses were not falsifiable based on
experimental data.
E. Freud based the theory on extensive biological evidence, which was difficult
for most psychologists to understand.
D. Some of Freud’s ideas about the connection between personality
and human behavior (such as the id, ego, and superego) were
difficult to establish or falsify with empirical data.
History & Approaches
Question #3
Most experimental psychology research in the
1940s through 1960s was based on which
psychological perspective?
A.Structuralism
B.Behaviorism
C.Cognitive Neuroscience
D.Developmental
E.Psychoanalysis
B. Although Freudian psychoanalysis was still relatively common in the
psychological community, it was never commonly used by experimental
psychologists (primarily because Freudian psychoanalysis was never
well-suited to experimental validation). Behaviorist studies, such as
operant conditioning studies involving rats or pigeons performing
behaviors for positive reinforcement, dominated experimental
psychology during this time period.
History & Approaches
Question #4
What was the major difference between Wilhelm
Wundt’s ideas about thinking and behavior and the
thinking of earlier philosophers?
A.Wundt wrote and published his theories in his role as a professor
at a recognized University.
B.Earlier philosophers were almost exclusively concerned with
human behavior, rather than thinking.
C.Wundt’s philosophical technique involved thought experiments
and hypotheses, which contrasted with earlier thinkers.
D.Philosophers before Wundt’s time focused on questions of
morality rather than explanations of thought processes.
E.Wundt gathered empirical data in a laboratory using experimental
methods, and based conclusions on this empirical data.
E. The primary difference between Wundt and the earlier thinkers who
investigated human thought and behavior was that Wundt tried to
establish his theories with empirical evidence gathered in a laboratory
setting.
Methods- Question #5
Dr. Shiffrin theorizes that stress in children can be
caused by excessive levels of homework. If she were to
test this idea, what would be her dependent variable?
A. The age of the students.
B. The teachers the students have.
C. The amount of homework assigned.
D. The schools the students attend.
E. The children’s stress levels.
E – According to the hypothesis, the amount of stress children
experience depends upon how much homework they are assigned;
hence, stress is the dependent variable. The amount of homework
assigned is the independent variable. The age, teachers, and schools
of the students are all extraneous variables that would ideally be
controlled for in an experiment.
Methods- Question #6
If you were interested in getting an inside look at how
teenagers behave when they go to the mall, what would
be the best type of study to use?
A. Lab experiment
B. Naturalistic observation
C. Field experiment
D. Correlational student
E. Content analysis
B – In naturalistic observation, the researcher watches behavior
unobtrusively so as not to influence it thus yielding a picture of the
behavior that is ideally untainted by participant biases. Experiments,
whether they take place in the lab or the field, have many advantages
as do surveys but are typically unable to provide as honest a reflection
of behavior. Content analysis is not used to study behavior.
Methods- Question #7
In Milgram’s obedience study, the dependent
variable was operationally defined by
A. Whether the participant was assigned the role of teacher or learner
B. How many times the participant went along with the incorrect
answers of the group
C. The highest level of shock the participant delivered
D. The participant’s initial level of hostility toward the experimental
confederate
E. The number of times the participant questioned the experimenter’s
directions.
C – The dependent variable in Milgram’s obedience study was
obedience, and it was measured by looking at how far the participant
was willing to go in terms of shocking (remember, there really were no
shocks) a person he/she had never met before just because he was
asked to by the experimenter.
Methods- Question #8
Dimitri invents a new way to assess personality that
involves describing the images one sees in a
carefully selected set of photographs of clouds.
Which type of psychologist is most likely to find such
an assessment useful?
A. Humanistic
B. Cognitive
C. Behavioral
D. Trait
E. Psychoanalytic
E – Dimitri’s cloud test is an example of a projective test. Similar to the
TAT and Rorshach tests, it is likely based on the idea that what
people project onto ambiguous stimuli provide insight into their
personalities.
Methods- Question #9
Correlations are typically graphed using a(n)
A.Scatter Plot
B.Histogram
C.Box and Whiskers plot
D.Frequency Distribution
E.Line graph
A – Correlations are typically graphed using
a scatter plot, where one variable is plotted
on each axis.
Methods- Question #10
Arshia and Alain are assigned to observe a group of nursery school
students to see how they negotiate sharing at the block table. Each
independently codes the behavior of each student and then they compare
their findings to make sure they agree. This process most directly shows a
concern for
A.External validity
B.Generalizability
C.Accuracy
D.Reliablity
E.Internal validity
D – The reason to have the raters compare their ratings is to get a measure
of the extent to which they agree or their inter-rater reliability. Even if the
raters do agree, it is possible that their coding reflects a low level of validity
or accuracy – in other words, they may agree but in fact be measuring
something other than sharing.
Methods- Question #11
Which study would pose the greatest challenge to the ethical
guideline that participation in research be voluntary?
A. A study in which high school participants were offered candy in return for
filling out a survey about cafeteria food.
B. An experiment in which sick, economically disadvantaged residents of
federal housing projects were offered free medication in return for enrolling in
an experimental drug trial.
C. A laboratory experiment in which parents of preschool age children were
asked to play with their children in a controlled environment while researchers
videotaped the interaction.
D. A case study of how a small group of mildly anxious people responded to
cognitive-behavioral therapy.
E. A survey of adults entering a large supermarket about their drug and alcohol
use.
B – Given that sick people need medication and that medication can be very
expensive, the use of free medication as a carrot to tempt people into a drug trial
may be unethical. People who need the medication may not feel free to refuse
enrolling in the drug trial, and being in that drug trial could put them at risk of harm.
Typically, small incentives (like candy) are not considered to pose a threat to
informed consent.
Methods- Question #12
Arvind compared the speed of two groups of rats running through a
maze using a t test. Which p value would allow Arvind to conclude with
the greatest degree of certainty that the groups of rats performed
differently?
A. .01
B. .05
C. .10
D. .50
E. .99
A – p stands for the probability that a result occurred by chance; thus,
the lower the p value, the greater degree of certainty about one’s
results. While .05 is the accepted cutoff for statistically significant
results (a.k.a. results that are unlikely to have occurred due to chance),
a p value of .01 allows even greater certainty that the results reveal an
actual difference between groups.
Methods- Question #13
Cynthia has a group of students take a creativity test. What statistical
measure would be most useful to her if she wants to describe how the
scores in the distribution compare to one another?
A. Mean
B. Mode
C. Range
D. Standard Deviation
E. Median
D - The standard deviation is essentially a measure of the average
distance of all the scores in a distribution from the mean. The range is
also a measure of the variability of scores, but a very rough measure
that merely gives the difference between the highest and lowest value
with no attention given to the other scores in the distribution. The mean,
mode, and median are all measures of central tendency whose values
only yield information about how best to categorize the midpoint of a
distribution and no information about how the scores in the distribution
vary from one another.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #14
A teratogen is most likely to influence the development of which
of the following?
A. Broca’s aphasia
B. Down syndrome
C. Alzheimer’s disease
D. Fetal alcohol syndrome
E. Split-brain patients
D- Fetal alcohol syndrome is the only outcome listed that is likely
to be influenced by a chemical that passes from the mother to a
developing fetus and impacts development (in this case,
alcohol).
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #15
A group of researchers selectively breed a group of rats for
aggression. Which area of the rat’s brains might the researchers
likely focus on when examining the relationship between
aggressive behavior and brain anatomy?
A. Brain stem
B. Amygdala
C. Thalamus
D. Medulla
E. Hippocampus
B – The amygdala controls basic, primal emotions like
aggression, so it is a likely structure for researchers to target for
this kind of research.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #16
Which sentence most accurately describes the process of neural
transmission?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Neural messages jump the synaptic gap using a series of
electrical impulses.
Electricity is generated within the cell, triggering neurotransmitters
to be released into the spaces between cells.
Neurons work in combination with hormones to transmit chemical
signals to the nuclei of neighboring neural cells.
Chemical levels build up within the cell, triggering electrical
transfer between adjacent neurons.
Groups of neurons fire in sequence, creating neurotransmitters
that are sent through the spinal cord to communicate with the rest
of the body.
B - Neural transmission is an electro-chemical process, involving an
electrical charge that travels within a neuron and chemicals that
pass between neurons across synaptic gaps.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #17
Which type of scan would provide a psychiatrist with the
most information about whether a stroke damaged
communication between the left and right hemisphere?
A. PET
B. MRI
C. CAT
D. EEG
E. fMRI
E - In order to investigate communication in the brain, the psychiatrist would
need to use a scan that provides detailed information about which specific brain
areas are active during specific tasks. The fMRI scan is most able to provide this
kind of data.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #18
Antipsychotic drugs most directly impact which of the
following biological systems?
A. Hormonal system via the glands
B. Emotional system via the amygdala
C. Cognitive system via the thalamus
D. Neural system via neurotransmitters
E. Cerebral system via axons
D – Antipsychotic drugs most directly impact emotions, thinking, and
behavior through changing neurotransmitter levels or neurons’ abilities
to absorb and use neurotransmitters.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #19
Wolfgang quickly grabbed his cell phone as it fell
towards the floor. Which part of his nervous system most
directly allowed him to perform this behavior?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Somatic
Limbic
Parasympathetic
Autonomic
Sympathetic
A - The somatic nervous system controls our voluntary, skeletal muscles, and is most
responsible for this kind of voluntary muscle reaction. The other systems involved
may also be activated during this situation, but it is the somatic nervous system that
most directly controls this grabbing behavior.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #20
A person who suffers a stroke and can no longer see objects in
their left field of vision might have suffered damage to which part
of their brain?
A. Left frontal lobe
B. Central fissure
C. Right frontal lobe
D. Right occipital lobe
E. Left occipital lobe
D – Objects in our field of vision are normally detected on the right halves of
our retinas. This visual information is carried via the optic nerve to our right
occipital lobes, so damage in this area might leave us “blind” to objects in our
left field of vision.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #21
Which of the following sentences accurately describes a difference between the
left and right hemispheres?
A. The right hemisphere silences the left hemisphere during creative tasks and
the left hemisphere silences the right hemisphere during logical tasks.
B. The left hemisphere contains the thalamus and the right hemisphere
contains the hypothalamus.
C. The left hemisphere is responsible for spoken language in most people.
D. The right hemisphere is responsible for dream states in most people.
E. The right hemisphere develops early in gestation before the left hemisphere
develops during the third trimester.
C - Few generalizations can be accurately made about differences between the
hemispheres because both hemispheres are normally active during almost all
cognitive tasks. One of the well established differences between the
hemispheres is that the left hemisphere is primarily responsible for spoken
language.
Biological Bases of BehaviorQuestion #22
A drug that acts as an antagonist for acetylcholine would
most likely have what effect?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
An increase in insomnia and daytime fatigue.
Pupil dilation and arousal of the autonomic nervous system.
Interference with muscle control
Neurotransmitter release.
Auditory hallucinations.
C. One of the primary functions of acetylcholine is muscle
movement, so a drug acts as an antagonist for this
neurotransmitter could dramatically impact muscle
control.
Sensation & PerceptionQuestion #23
Which structure in the eye is most responsible
for the process of transduction?
A. Cornea
B. Pupil
C. Retina
D. Iris
E. Lens
C. Transduction is the process of transforming sensations into
neural signals. In the eye, this process takes place in the
retina, where specialized neurons (rods and cones) changes
light waves into neural impulses.
Sensation & PerceptionQuestion #24
Reaching down and scratching your kneecap in a
dark theater probably relies most on which of the
following senses?
A. Vision
B. Vestibular sense
C. Kinesthetic sense
D. Touch
E. Olfactory sense
C - The kinesthetic sense enables us to perceive where
different parts of our bodies are located without looking
at them. Reaching for our kneecap in a dark theater
would depend most on this sense.
Sensation & PerceptionQuestion #25
Our senses of vision and hearing are similar in a
significant way, and different than our senses of taste
and smell. What is this significant difference?
A.Vision and hearing are dominant senses, and taste and smell are recessive
senses.
B.Taste and smell rely on our senses absorbing chemicals, and vision and hearing
rely on energy sensation.
C.Vision and hearing sensations are processed in the frontal lobes, and taste and
smell are processed in the limbic system.
D.Taste and smell are processed pre-conscious awareness, while vision and
hearing are post-conscious senses.
E.Vision and hearing sensations are prioritized by the brain, so are processed
before taste and smell sensations.
B. Vision and hearing are sometimes called “energy” senses, because they involve our
senses “absorbing” energy (light or soundwaves) and converting them to neural
impulses. Taste and smell are sometimes called “chemical” senses, because they
involve these senses absorbing chemicals and converting them to neural signals.
Sensation & Perception
Question #26
Polly injures her right eye playing basketball and has to wear an
eye patch for a month. While she’s wearing the patch over her
right eye, which of the following depth cues will Polly NOT be
able to use to judge distance?
A.shading
B.interposition
C.Linear perspective
D.convergence
E.Texture gradient
D. Some depth cues rely on binocular (two eye) vision (“binocular depth
cues”). Convergence is one of these kinds of depth cues: we know an object
is close to our face when both our eyes try to move together (converge) on an
object very close to us. Since one of Polly’s eyes is injured, she would not be
able to rely on this binocular depth cue to judge depth.
Sensation & Perception
Question #27
Deterioration of the stapes (stirrup) bone is
likely to cause which of the following?
A. Color Blindness
B. Conduction Deafness
C. Bottom-Up Processing
D. Blind Spot
E. Sensory Habituation
B. Conduction deafness refers to an inability to hear because sound is
not “conducted” from the outside world to the cochlea and auditory
cortex (where sound waves are changed into interpretable neural
signals). The stapes is an integral part of the conduction process.
Sensation & Perception
Question #28
Which of the following phenomena are best
explained by the opponent-process theory?
A. color blindness
B. visual capture
C. subliminal perception
D. perceptual constancy
E. texture gradient
A. The opponent-process theory best explains color blindness.
The most common kind of color blindness involve “opposite” colors such
as red-green and yellow-blue, which fits with the opponent process theory
of how color is perceived in the eye by cones.
Sensation & Perception
Question #29
Which of the following perceptual principles is most
applicable to the following situation:
art students learning to draw objects from different
angles.
A. Vestibular sense
B. Weber’s Law
C. Shape Constancy
D. Sensory Adaptation
E. Feature Detectors
C. Shape constancy refers to the ability of our visual perception system to
keep “constant” the shape we know an object to be even when we
view that object from different angles. Drawing objects from different
perspectives would use this ability often and extensively.
States of Consciousness
Question #30
Why might the REM stage be called
“paradoxical sleep”?
A. Brain waves are as or more intense than in our waking
state
B. It occurs in infants and gradually fades as we mature
C.Brain regions associated with paradoxical questions are
most active during REM
D.High levels of REM are associated with low probabilities
of dream recall
E. REM states frequently wake participants in sleep studies
A. During REM, we experience high amplitude and frequency brain waves,
sometimes as or more intense than waking brain waves, which is
paradoxical because it is a stage of sleep.
States of Consciousness
Question #31
Within the context of States of Consciousness
research, what does the term tolerance refer to?
A.Feelings and Attitudes toward individuals who have atypical belief
systems
B.The need for an increased dose of a psychoactive drug to
produce the same effect
C.The actions of the group toward individuals who choose to
express unpopular opinions
D.Changes in dopamine levels during sleep studies
E.Resistance to the bystander effect attributed to previously help
opinions.
B. Tolerance within the context of states of consciousness refers to the
increased need for a drug in order to produce the same
physiological effect
.
States of Consciousness
Question #32
Researchers find that people with rich fantasy lives
tend to be more hypnotizable. This research finding
most supports which theory of hypnosis?
A. State Theory
B. Dissociation Theory
C. Role Theory
D. Opponent-Process Theory
E. Cognitive Theory
C. Role theory states that hypnotized individuals are acting out the role of
a hypnotized person, and people with rich fantasy lives may be more
prone to acting these roles in convincing ways.
States of Consciousness
Question #33
Changes in our sleep patterns (the amount of time we
spend in each stage of sleep during the night) are most
commonly caused by which of the following?
A. Genetics
B. Weather patterns related to daylight exposure
C. Personality changes
D. Maturation
E. Ultradian and Infradian Rhythms
D. As we age, we spend less time in REM sleep and more time in the
other stages of sleep