_ 1.

In psychology, data regarding behavior are ______, and data regarding the mind are ______.

A)

always based on observations of behavior; always based on observations of the mind

B)

always based on observations of behavior; sometimes based on observations of the mind and sometimes based on observations of behavior

C)

sometimes based on observations of behavior and sometimes based on observations of the mind; always based on observations of the mind

D)

always based on observations of behavior; always based on observations of behavior

2.

In his view of dualism, Descartes believed that any behavior common to both human beings and nonhuman animals must be produced by the ______ and not the _____.

A)

muscles; sense organs

B)

body; soul

C)

sense organs; muscles

D)

soul; body

3.

The view that elementary ideas are innate to the human mind and are not gained through experience is known as:

A)

empiricism.

B)

dualism.

C)

nativism.

D)

functionalism.

4.

Darwin's concept of natural selection is most important for which of the following general perspectives in psychology?

A)

functionalism

B)

structuralism

C)

reflexology

D)

psychoanalysis

5.

The key insight that led Wundt into his specific line of experimental research in psychology was that:

A)

specific parts of the brain serve specific psychological functions.

B)

any mental process takes some amount of time.

C)

behavioral processes have come about through evolution by natural selection.

D)

through careful training in introspection, people can objectively evaluate their own psychological experiences.

6.

Which of the following best describes the major limitation of Titchener's introspection technique?

A)

Introspection is a private technique, and its results cannot be independently verified by another person.

B)

Introspection does not produce consistent responses within an individual, and therefore cannot be expected to produce consistent responses from one individual to the next.

C)

Although individuals can accurately detect and describe their own mental processes through introspection, it is difficult for people to translate those experiences into a common form of data that can then be analyzed statistically.

D)

Introspection is useful for identifying elementary sensory processes, but research shows that the technique is not useful for studying complex mental processes.

7.

William James's major criticism of structuralism was that:

A)

its reliance on introspection casts doubt on the whole approach.

B)

its focus on elementary mental processes reveals nothing about how the mind fulfills its purposes.

C)

its method of measuring reaction time is subject to error.

D)

its assumption that elementary mental components are constant fails to consider the role of evolution.

8.

According to Gestalt psychologists, the phi phenomenon (in which two lights blinking alternately look like one light in motion) suggests that:

A)

the mind as a whole can be understood only in terms of its elementary parts.

B)

conscious experience is an illusion.

C)

a sensory experience cannot be fully understood simply in terms of its components.

D)

visual phenomena are subject to misinterpretation.

9.

Professor Smithson says he believes the following: the proper subject of psychology is limited to the observable actions of people and other animals, the appropriate goal of psychology is to identify environmental conditions that cause behavior, and references to unobservable mental events must be avoided. Based on these beliefs, the professor is clearly a:

A)

functionalist.

B)

structuralist.

C)

Gestaltist.

D)

behaviorist.

10.

John B. Watson is typically called an S-R psychologist. Why does this label not fit B. F. Skinner as well as it does Watson?

A)

Skinner postulated the existence of an intervening variable, O (for the characteristics of the organism), between the stimulus, S, and the response, R.

B)

Skinner was less interested in reflexive responses to stimuli than in the relationship between responses and their consequences.

C)

Skinner rejected the notion that human behavior is fundamentally similar to animal behavior.

D)

Skinner focused on the mechanics of behavior.

11.

By the 1960s, the theory that learning is subject to biologically based constraints was supported by experimental evidence as well as naturalistic observation. This development resulted in:

A)

a blurring of the distinction between behavioral and physiological psychology.

B)

increased cooperation between behaviorism and ethology.

C)

decreased acceptance of Gestalt psychology.

D)

a widening of the rift between behavioral and cognitive psychology.

12.

Which of the following statements most accurately reflects Freud's thinking?

A)

Any conflict between the conscious and unconscious mind indicates a serious mental disorder.

B)

Unconscious thoughts and wishes are often unacceptable to the conscious mind.

C)

The unconscious mind is a blank slate on which the conscious mind leaves a powerful imprint.

D)

Psychoanalysis is an objective means of drawing inferences about the mind from observations of behavior.

13.

How did Piaget's ideas influence the rise of modern cognitive psychology?

A)

Many North American psychologists adopted Piaget's general approach of trying to explain behavior in terms of internal mental constructs.

B)

Many North American psychologists adopted Piaget's argument that language must be understood in terms of both mental rules and innate mental capacities.

C)

Piaget's concept of schemes led many North American psychologists to adopt the computer analogy for describing the human brain.

D)

Piaget's description of mental metamorphoses led many North American psychologists to adopt the position that an understanding of mental processes must take into account cultural influences on how people structure and solve problems.

14.

The story of Clever Hans illustrates why scientists should use:

A)

inferential as well as descriptive statistics.

B)

caution in generalizing from a sample to a larger population.

C)

skepticism, controlled experimentation, and methods to avoid observer-expectancy effects.

D)

caution when interfering in a subject's natural environment.

15.

A researcher has two groups of subjects, one that has been taught a memory aid and one that has not. Both groups are asked to learn a list of 20 nouns in two minutes, and both are then given a recall test. What is the independent variable?

A)

the number of words

B)

the subjects' scores on the recall test

C)

whether or not the subjects have been taught the memory aid

D)

the amount of time subjects took to complete the recall test

16.

A psychologist hypothesizes that people are more likely to help a young man in trouble than an old man in trouble. He conducts a study in which a collaborator falls down, pretending to have a heart attack. The incident is staged repeatedly, with a young collaborator half the time and an old collaborator the other half. Each time, the psychologist counts the number of people who come to the aid of the "victim." In design this study is ______, and the data collection procedure used is ______.

A)

an experiment; observation

B)

an experiment; self-report

C)

correlational; observation

D)

correlational; self-report

17.

A researcher has two groups of subjects, one that has been taught a problem-solving technique and one that has not. Both groups are given a set of ten problems to solve in twenty minutes. What is the dependent variable?

A)

the set of problems that subjects are given

B)

the number of correct solutions given by the subjects

C)

whether or not the subjects have been taught the problem-solving technique

D)

there is no dependent variable in this study

18.

Dr. Reese conducts an experiment to examine the effects of different antidepressants on individuals with depression. She has each individual take the drug Prozac for three months, Zoloft for three months, and no antidepressant for three months. She measures the participants' feelings of sadness daily and calculates their average for each 3-month period. Dr. Reese's experiment is a(n) _____ experiment.

A)

correlational

B)

within-subject

C)

naturalistic

D)

between-groups

19.

Laura wants to report on how many people have certain mental disorders in the largest cities in Wisconsin. She is planning to carry out _____ research.

A)

experimental

B)

correlational

C)

descriptive

D)

inferential

20.

The major advantage of a laboratory study over a field study is that the laboratory:

A)

provides an artificial environment.

B)

provides a controlled environment.

C)

provides a secure environment.

D)

can duplicate the subject's natural environment.

21.

Which of the following is an example of naturalistic observation?

A)

watching workers on an assembly line in a factory to see how they adjust to stressful situations

B)

varying the tempo of music played in a bar and observing whether more alcohol is consumed when the tempo is faster

C)

determining the relationship between high school S.A.T. scores and college grade-point averages

D)

depriving rats of water for six hours and measuring their general level of activity during this period

22.

If Karen wanted to use one number to represent the typical scene in her set of data, she should use one of the types of statistics known as:

A)

measures of central tendency.

B)

correlation coefficients.

C)

measures of variability.

D)

inferential statistics.

23.

Central tendency is to variability as______is to ______.

A)

mean; median

B)

median; standard deviation

C)

standard deviation; correlation coefficient

D)

experiment; naturalistic observation

24.

Which of the following is true of descriptive statistics?

A)

They include all the numerical methods for summarizing a set of data.

B)

They are used to help decide how confident one can be in drawing specific conclusions from the data.

C)

They are used in correlational studies but not in experiments.

D)

both a. and b.

25.

A shorter person usually (but not always) weighs less than a taller person. Which of the following correlation coefficients between height and weight might possibly describe this relationship?

A)

-1.00

B)

-0.80

C)

+0.80

D)

+1.00

26.

Judy conducts a correlational study to investigate the relationship between listening to pop music and committing violence among teenagers. She finds that the more hours that teenagers listen to pop music, the more times they are arrested for violent behavior. What can Judy conclude from her data about the relationship between listening to pop music and violence?

A)

Having violent inclinations causes teenagers to listen to pop music.

B)

Listening to pop music causes teenagers to be violent.

C)

Being a teenager causes people to be violent and to listen to pop music.

D)

Judy cannot draw conclusions about causation from this study.

27.

Stanford University researchers conducted a study to test the hypothesis that naps adversely affect nighttime sleeping. They found that subjects who avoided naps fell asleep faster than subjects who took naps. Results were _____, meaning that there was less than a 5% probability that the data could have come out as they did purely as a result of random variability.

A)

biased

B)

representative

C)

naturalistic

D)

statistically significant

28.

All other things being equal, the results of a study are more likely to be statistically significant when there is:

A)

greater variability in the data.

B)

a smaller number of subjects.

C)

a smaller number of groups.

D)

a greater difference between group means.

29.

Nonrandom effects caused by some factor outside of the research hypothesis can be a serious problem for researchers. Such effects are referred to as:

A)

error.

B)

statistical significance.

C)

validity.

D)

bias.

30.

Suppose, to determine whether college men or women are faster sprinters, you located 15 women at the sports complex and 15 men at the library and asked them all to run a 100-yard dash. Suppose the women ran faster than the men, and the results were statistically significant. The most justified criticism of this study is that the:

A)

number of subjects was too small.

B)

samples were biased.

C)

race was too short.

D)

measure was not reliable.

31.

Low reliability of a measurement procedure is a source of:

A)

bias.

B)

error.

C)

validity.

D)

both a. and b.

32.

Lack of validity in a measurement procedure is a source of concern mostly because it can lead to:

A)

error.

B)

placebo effects.

C)

variability.

D)

bias.

33.

Jeremy has a hypothesis that students on campus are friendlier than business people working downtown. In order to test his hypothesis, he spends one day on campus and one day on the streets of the downtown area recording how many people speak to him as they pass by. How might observer-expectancy effects play a role in the way he is testing his hypothesis?

A)

Jeremy may smile more at the students on campus than the business people downtown.

B)

The students on campus may go out of their way to be friendly to Jeremy.

C)

The business people downtown may avoid Jeremy because he looks out of place.

D)

Neither the students nor the business people may know what Jeremy is investigating.

34.

A researcher studies the relationship between weather and people's moods. On several rainy days, she distributes a questionnaire about mood to her subjects, but does not tell them about her research interest because she fears that calling attention to the rain will bias subjects' opinions about their mood. Keeping subjects uninformed about the hypothesis of the study is also known as keeping them:

A)

independent.

B)

biased.

C)

reliable.

D)

blind.

35.

Discuss the case of Clever Hans. What does it teach us about how to approach a claim scientifically? What are the benefits of such a scientific approach?

36.

Compare the experimental and correlational research designs. Clearly state what is involved in each approach and when each approach would be appropriate.

37.

In what ways can human expectation distort the results of scientific research? By what means can the research process be protected from such distortion?

38.

Which of the following statements regarding genetic effects on behavior is true?

A)

Some genes affect anatomy, others affect physiology, and still others affect behavior.

B)

Genes that affect behavior do so directly, not through anatomical or physiological mediation.

C)

Genes affect behavior only insofar as they control the development of the body that gives rise to behavior.

D)

Genes do not affect behavior either directly or indirectly.

39.

Which of the following is not an example of an environmental influence?

A)

the experiences a person has

B)

the foods a person eats

C)

the person's body chemistry

D)

All of the above are environmental influences.

40.

What is the value of crossing over in meiosis?

A)

It ensures the production of genetically diverse egg and sperm cells.

B)

It weeds out defective egg and sperm cells.

C)

It allows for the creation of a zygote that contains genes from both the zygote's parents.

D)

It differentiates the cells from which the different organs of the body grow.

41.

An allele is said to be dominant when it produces its observable effects:

A)

only in the heterozygous condition.

B)

only in the homozygous condition.

C)

in both the heterozygous and homozygous conditions.

D)

in neither the heterozygous nor homozygous condition.

42.

Suppose we carry out a Mendelian study, beginning with two purebred strains of the same species of plant. One strain produces red flowers, the other yellow. We cross the strains and find that all of the resulting plants have red flowers. What should this tell us about the genes for red and yellow flowers?

A)

Both are recessive.

B)

Neither is recessive.

C)

Red is recessive.

D)

Yellow is recessive.

43.

If you and your spouse are both heterozygous for a PKU-producing allele, what is the probability that any given one of your children would have PKU?

A)

100 percent

B)

50 percent

C)

25 percent

D)

0 percent

44.

If we observe that a given characteristic varies in a continuous fashion, we can presume that the trait is affected by:

A)

environment and not genes.

B)

a dominant gene.

C)

an unmatched pair of alleles.

D)

many genes.

45.

How did Tryon address the potential criticism that the behavior of "maze bright" and "maze dull" rats might be due to learning rather than to genes?

A)

He tested the rats in the maze at an early age, before they had acquired learned behaviors.

B)

He raised all the rats together, so that the two strains intermingled.

C)

He demonstrated that the rats in each group were all genetically identical to one another.

D)

He raised some of the offspring from each strain with mothers from the other strain.

46.

Which of the following statements concerning mutations is false?

A)

Mutations are errors that arise in the course of DNA replication.

B)

Mutations are invariably harmful.

C)

Mutations are the ultimate source of all genetic variation.

D)

Harmful mutations can be removed from the gene pool through natural selection.

47.

In what sense can it be said that a particular behavior is the product of evolution by natural selection?

A)

When the ability and tendency to respond to stimuli in a particular way result in reproductive advantage, the genes responsible are more likely to be passed on from generation to generation.

B)

Some behaviors, such as reflexes, are a direct result of genetic influences, and it is only these behaviors that may be said to have evolved. Complex behaviors are not the result of evolution.

C)

Natural selection works to produce organisms that are superior (bigger, stronger, faster, smarter, etc.) to those of the preceding generation. Any behaviors that are the result of this selection process may be said to have evolved.

D)

both a. and b.

48.

A scientist who explains the survival and reproductive value of the hawk's innate fear of snakes is offering a(n):

A)

sociobiological explanation.

B)

vestigial explanation.

C)

proximate explanation.

D)

ultimate explanation.

49.

Suppose one population of a species has a somewhat different gene pool than another because the original members of one group brought with them to a new location some unusual genes. The genetic differences between the groups would be attributable to:

A)

biological preparedness.

B)

genetic drift.

C)

a vestigial characteristic.

D)

natural selection.

50.

A reliable, hereditary pattern of response to a specific stimulus performed by different members of a species is a(n):

A)

vestigial characteristic.

B)

analogy.

C)

fixed action pattern.

D)

homology.

51.

Deprivation experiments are conducted with animals in order to discover:

A)

the evolutionary pathway by which a particular instinct came about.

B)

what environmental experiences, if any, are critical to the full development of a particular behavior.

C)

what genes are critical to the full development of a particular behavior.

D)

the role of nutrition in both physical and behavioral development.

52.

Wolves, killer whales, and army ants all live and hunt in packs. This is an example of a(n):

A)

homology.

B)

analogy.

C)

vestigial trait.

D)

fixed action pattern.

53.

To infer the evolutionary pathway of honeybees' hive-building behavior, Darwin used:

A)

homologies.

B)

analogies.

C)

sociobiology.

D)

deprivation experiments.

54.

Van Hooff believed that the human smile of greeting is homologous to a facial display that in chimpanzees is shown most often:

A)

by the more submissive of two chimpanzees in a tense situation.

B)

by the more dominant of two chimpanzees in a tense situation.

C)

about equally by the more submissive and the more dominant of two chimpanzees upon meeting.

D)

by chimpanzees who are relaxed and friendly during play time.

55.

Premature human infants exhibit a strong grasping reflex with both fingers and toes. This reflex is an example of a(n):

A)

vestigial characteristic.

B)

homologous characteristic.

C)

fixed action pattern.

D)

analogous behavior.

56.

According to Robert Trivers, in a species in which females make the greater parental investment:

A)

females will compete with one another for purposes of mating with males.

B)

males will exert greater discrimination than females in choosing mates.

C)

males will compete with one another for access to females.

D)

males will tend to form an exclusive mating bond with one female.

57.

What conditions promote the evolution of polyandry?

A)

High female and low male parental investment.

B)

High male and low female parental investment.

C)

High parental investment for both males and females.

D)

Low parental investment for both males and females.

58.

Why are sex differences in size and aggressiveness minimal or absent in monogamous species?

A)

The sexual fidelity between the pairing male and female is thus guaranteed.

B)

Because there is an intense bond between the mating pair and the larger social group of which they are a part.

C)

Neither sex is much more likely than the other to fight over mates.

D)

Females invest more in offspring and, therefore, must be as large and aggressive as males.

59.

According to kin selection theory, animals that engage in altruistic acts, such as warning others of an approaching predator, are:

A)

actually benefiting themselves as individuals.

B)

not actually reducing their own chances of survival and reproduction.

C)

helping to ensure the survival of the genes they have in common with close relatives.

D)

expecting other animals to return the favor at some future time.

60.

What fallacies must we be careful to avoid in applying sociobiological thinking to humans?

61.

Define natural selection. How can natural selection affect behavior? What role does the environment play in influencing natural selection and thus behavior?

62.

Discuss the mistaken belief that evolution involves foresight.

63.

Are all characteristics of a species potentially explainable in adaptational terms? Why or why not?

1.

D

2.

B

3.

C

4.

A

5.

B

6.

A

7.

B

8.

C

9.

D

10.

B

11.

B

12.

B

13.

A

14.

C

15.

C

16.

A

17.

B

18.

B

19.

C

20.

B

21.

A

22.

A

23.

B

24.

A

25.

C

26.

D

27.

D

28.

D

29.

D

30.

B

31.

B

32.

D

33.

A

34.

D

35.

36.

37.

38.

C

39.

D

40.

A

41.

C

42.

D

43.

C

44.

D

45.

D

46.

B

47.

A

48.

D

49.

B

50.

C

51.

B

52.

B

53.

A

54.

C

55.

A

56.

C

57.

B

58.

C

59.

C

60.

61.

62.

63.