15 Jan Question 20 Luther is a graduate

C04V Introduction to Psychology

LESSON 1 EXAM

Question 1As Cecilia is getting ready for the orchestra performance in which she is about to participate, she takes time to tune her violin. She listens carefully to the pitch of each string, which is indicated by the __________ of the sound wave it produces, to determine if she needs to make an adjustment in the instrument.

Question options:

wavelength

frequency

timbre

amplitude

Question 2What is the main reason why many people do not believe that psychology is a science?

Question options:

Because much of what psychologists study may be personally experienced.

Because much of what psychologists study are abstract concepts that have no bearing on the real world.

Because psychology does not use the rigorous research methodologies of the “hard sciences” like physics and chemistry.

Because the uniqueness and individuality of every human being makes it truly impossible to generate any scientifically based theories that apply to larger groups of people.

Question 3__________ refers to the way we select, organize, and interpret sensory information.

Question options:

Sensation

Gustation

Olfaction

Perception

Question 4What did John Locke mean when he stated that the human mind is a tabula rasa?

Question options:

Human beings are naturally evil.

Human beings are like sponges that can only hold a specific amount of information.

Human beings are born with no innate knowledge.

Human beings are nothing more than the sum of our chromosomes, and we can never exceed the restrictions of genetics.

Question 5It is a commonly known fact that dogs have a much keener sense of smell than do human beings. What is not commonly known, however, is why. Because you have studied psychophysics, you know the answer to this question. What is it?

Question options:

Dogs have a better sense of smell because their sense of smell compensates for the fact that their sense of taste is so poorly developed.

Dogs have a better sense of smell because their noses are proportionally larger than the noses of human beings.

Dogs have a better sense of smell because they have far more scent receptors than do human beings.

Dogs have a better sense of smell because their olfactory processing centers are larger than the same part of the brain in human beings.

Question 6Once you have established a problem that can be studied empirically, the next step is to identify the variables that will be investigated. How many variables that can change throughout an experiment should a researcher investigate?

Question options:

Only one variable can change throughout an experiment.

Exactly three variables can change throughout an experiment.

The number of variables that can change throughout an experiment may differ based on the particular research question.

It is impossible to limit the number of variables that can change throughout an experiment.

Question 7An area of reduced sound around the ear farther away from where a sound originates is referred to as a sound __________.

Question options:

umbra

muting

depression

shadow

Question 8Lizette is having a conversation with her sister Drew, who happens to be a psychology researcher. “You know, I really don’t understand how you can claim that psychology is a science,” Lizette says. “You just ask questions and guess as to what the right answer is!” Drew smiles at Lizette and says, “Well, I don’t think that you understand much about psychology, sis! We believe in empiricism, which means that __________.”

Question options:

the use of logic is an adequate means with which to draw conclusions to problems

new knowledge comes from our experiences

there really is no right or wrong, but rather just individual perspectives

as long as you cannot disprove a researcher’s findings, that research is valid

Question 9Ben and Marcie are having a very deep conversation while Ben is cooking dinner for them to enjoy. He gets so distracted by their chat that he fails to realize he is about to place his hand on a scalding hot pan. Just as he is about to get burned, he yanks his hand away with a shout. “Whew,” Ben says. “It’s a good thing my __________ were working, or I might not have realized that pan was so hot until it was too late!”

Question options:

heat-sensitive neurons

burn-aware neurons

efferent neurons

sensory neurons

Question 10What happens to an action potential when it comes to one of the nodes of Ranvier?

Question options:

The action potential jumps from node to node, which is how it moves down the axon with great speed.

The action potential gets rebounded back to the soma, where it has to be reestablished.

The action potential dissipates and fails to make it to the next neuron, which is why illnesses that cause the nodes of Ranvier are so devastating.

The action potential causes neurotransmitters to be released from the node.

Question 11When you drive down the street listening to your car’s radio, you may not think about the fact that the music is received by the radio’s antenna. Which part of the human neuron serves the same purpose as an antenna – that is, receiving information?

Question options:

somas

dendrites

synaptic knobs

axon termini

Question 12The __________ is responsible for survival-oriented functions such as breathing, cardiac function, and basic arousal.

Question options:

brainstem

limbic system

somatic nervous system

heart

Question 13Which of the following is found in the definition of the term psychology?

Question options

scientific study

cognition

relationships

experimental methods

Question 14Dr. Esterson is studying the effect of caffeine on laboratory rats. He has decided that he will give the rats 100 mg of caffeine three times a day and then run them through mazes at various points to see if there is any change in the time it takes to complete the maze. Based on his review of existing research addressing this topic, Dr. Esterson believes that the rats will complete the maze the fastest immediately after they ingest the caffeine. Dr. Esterson’s belief about the results he will find is called a __________.

Question options

covariate

construct

theory

hypothesis

Question 15Forming a hypothesis is the third step in a scientific investigation. This step is derived from which goal of psychology?

Question options:

describing

explaining

predicting

controlling

Question 16Because you are bored one afternoon, you decide to try a little experiment. You open your eye very wide, extend your thumb, and then poke yourself in the eye. Aside from being very foolish and in a lot of pain, you may learn something about your eye when you engage in this masochistic behavior. The very first thing your thumb would touch as it made contact with your eye would be the __________.

Question options:

cornea

retina

lens

iris

Question 17A good friend of yours tells you that he has a new job at a bakery. “Oh man, you are so lucky,” you tell him. “You get to smell that fresh bread and the donuts all day long. I’d LOVE to work there.” Your buddy shakes his head and says, “You know, that’s what I thought, but after I’m there for a few minutes I don’t even smell the baked goods that much anymore.” Because you’ve studied psychology, you know that his loss of responsiveness to the great scents is explained by sensory __________.

Question options:

adaptation

minimization

transformation

declination

Question 18 You come to an intersection where the traffic lights are all malfunctioning. In order to make sure that everyone gets where they are going, a police officer is directing traffic so that as cars come into the intersection they are sent to their correct destination safely. This is very similar to what the __________ does, as it directs sensory information to the correct part of the cerebral cortex.

Question options:

thalamus

hippocampus

amygdala

reticular formation

Question 19 People who have relationship difficulties clearly have unresolved unconscious issues that remain from difficult experiences during childhood,” a researcher hypothesizes. What is the basic error of this hypothetical statement?

Question options:

It is too subjective and may be based on the researcher’s own personal issues.

It is not based on any specific, clearly stated problem.

It cannot be proven or disproven and thus is not open to scientific inquiry.

It has been presented before any empirical data was collected to verify it.

Question 20 Luther is a graduate student in clinical psychology, and his thesis research centers on uncovering the precursors of generalized anxiety disorder in college undergraduates. The main question he is asking is, “Why do college undergraduate students seem more susceptible to the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder than non-students of the same age?” Which goal of psychology is Luther’s research exploring?

Question options:

description

explanation

prediction

control