1. Questions for Psychology for AP

2. Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the strongest relationship between variables? A. Positive .05. B. Negative .25. C. Positive .75. D. Negative .95.

3. Which of the following represents the average score in a distribution? A. The mode B. The mean C. The median D. The standard deviation

4. After watching their favorite team lose a game, Emma and her friends commented to each other about how they had always known the loss was inevitable. Psychologists call this: A. overconfidence B. The false consensus effect C. The hindsight bias D. An illusory correlation

5. Dr. Anderson conducts an experiment to see whether exposure to helpful models leads to helping behavior in young children. Of the forty girls and boys in his study, half are exposed to helpful models while the other half watch the same models not engaged in helping behavior. In this experiment, the dependent variable is: A. the gender of the children B. Helpful or non-helpful models C. the age of children D. helping behavior

6. A significant disadvantage of the correlational approach is that it: A. does not provide evidence of cause and effect. B. cannot be used to examine relationships between variables that exist naturally C. does not aid in the process of prediction. D. does not provide information about how two variables are related.

7. After conducting an experiment, Dr. Fitzpatrick concluded that there was a statistically significant difference between the scores of the experimental and control groups. In other words, A. the difference is highly meaningful and important to scientists B. the results are replicable C. the scores differed by five points or more D. it is unlikely that the difference occurred by chance.

8. The peripheral nervous system consists of: A. association areas. B. the spina chord. C. the reticular formation. D. sensory and motor neurons.

9. What disease is related to degeneration of the neuron’s myelin sheath? A. parkinson’s disease. B. Multiple sclerosis. C. Alzheimer’s disease. D. schizophrenia.

10. Antidepressants such as Prozac target which neurotransmitter? A. serotonin. B. glutamate. C. GABA. D. acetylcholine.

11. After suffering an accidental brain injury, Kira has difficulty walking in a smooth and coordinated manner. It is most probable that she has suffered damage to her: A. amygdala. B. angular gyrus. C. cerebellum. D. corpus callosum.

12. Which region of the brain appears to have the oldest evolutionary history? A. frontal lobes B. limbic system C. brainstem D. corpus callosum

13. Following massive damage to his frontal lobes, Phineas Gage was most strikingly debilitated by: A. irritability B. memory loss C. auditory hallucinations D. a reward deficiency syndrome

14. A visit to a phrenologist would have resulted in an analysis of the person’s: A. heart beats. B. skull bumps. C. neurotransmitter function. D. endocrine system.

15. A new superhero emerges on the scene. This superhero is able to stay awake and vigilant for extended amounts of time. He helps the intelligence community by being able to stay in surveillance for extended amounts of time without losing concentration and can always be paying attention to what is happening. A study of this superhero’s brain might show that the ____________ is more advanced and developed than a non-superhero’s. A. frontal lobe B. amygdala C. reticular formation D. occipital lobe

16. While working on a word problem, Jenae has an “aha!” moment of sudden insight about how to solve the problem. If you were mapping her brain activity on an EEG at that moment, you would expect to observe a burst of activity in her: A. left frontal lobe. B. right frontal lobe. C. left temporal lobe. D. right temporal lobe.

17. Which technique is most useful for seeing which regions of the brain are most active while a person reads a poem? A. EEG B. fMRI C. EKG D. PET

18. You are a neurologist in a large hospital. The wife of a construction worker visits you and describes that her husband has experienced a serious injury to his frontal lobe. She is perplexed by his behavior. Which of the following would you tell her is “normal behavior” for a person with frontal lobe damage? • A. not much decline in memory or intelligence • B. poor judgment • C. irritability and other personality changes • D. ALL of these are commonly seen in frontal lobe damage

19. Which of the following activities is NOT primarily a function of the left hemisphere? • A. listening to a piano concerto • B. reading your psychology book • C. reading junk mail • D. listening to a poetry reading

20. If Dr. Barnes wanted to cause a cat to take on an attack posture, which of the cat’s brain structures should he electrically stimulate? • A. amygdala • B. hypothalamus • C. hippocampus • D. cerebellum

21. A split-brain patient’s right hemisphere is presented with a key. How is he most likely to respond? • A. say the word “key” • B. select a key from a group of objects presented to his left hand • C. select a key from a group of objects presented to his right hand • D. he will not be able to say “key” or to pick out a key from a group of objects with either hand

22. While out for a bike ride, you can think about what you’ll make for dinner rather than concentrate on how to operate the bicycle. This illustrates: • A. parallel processing. • B. Sigmund Freud’s concept of the unconscious. • C. the function of delta waves. • D. somnambulism.

23. Adoptive parents are least likely to influence the ________ of their adopted children. • A. personality traits • B. religious beliefs • C. political attitudes • D. moral values

24. You and the President share __________ of your DNA. • A. very little • B. one fourth • C. half • D. nearly all

25. Little Bethany loves new faces and stimuli, and laughs easily. People respond to her with playful smiles and tickles, which makes her giggle and ask for more. This represents ___________ between genetic predispositions and environments. • A. an interaction • B. natural selection • C. heritability • D. gender typing

26. The similarity between the intelligence test scores of nontwin siblings reared together is: • A. greater than that between identical twins reared apart. • B. equal to that between fraternal twins reared together. • C. greater than that between unrelated adoptive siblings reared together. • D. less than that between children and their biological parents.

27. Researchers found somewhat higher levels of homosexuality among males who have: • A. older brothers. • B. more than one sister. • C. no siblings. • D. been raised by only their mother.

28. Premature babies are especially likely to gain weight if stimulated by: A. sound and music. B. light and colors. C. touch and massage. D. movement and acceleration.

29. Concepts of maleness and femaleness that influence our perceptions are called gender: • A. norms. • B. schemas. • C. roles. • D. complexes.

30. The expectations that men initiate dates and that women select wedding gifts best illustrate aspects of: • A. sexual orientation. • B. gender identity. • C. behavior genetics. • D. gender roles.

31. Because he believes that worrying is a feminine trait, 14-year-old George has difficulty perceiving his own fears. His experience best illustrates dynamics highlighted by: • A. social learning theory. • B. behavior genetics. • C. gender schema theory. • D. evolutionary psychology.

32. Racial and ethnic stereotypes can sometimes bias our perceptions of others' behaviors. This best illustrates the impact of: • A. retinal disparity. • B. interposition. • C. top-down processing. • D. perceptual adaptation.

33. The fact that perceptions involve more than the sum of our sensations best illustrates the importance of: • A. top-down processing. • B. interposition. • C. retinal disparity. • D. visual capture.

34. Which of the following is TRUE? • A. Humans cannot sense stimuli below the absolute threshold. • B. Humans cannot be affected by stimuli below the absolute threshold at all. • C. Stimuli presented below the absolute threshold can have a subtle, brief effect on behavior. • D. Stimuli presented below the absolute threshold exert a strong, powerful effect on behavior.

35. If you move your watchband up your wrist an inch or so, you will feel it for only a few moments. This best illustrates: • A. parallel processing. • B. accommodation. • C. sensory adaptation. • D. Weber's law.

36. As we look at a flower, the intensity of the color we see is related to the light wave’s: • A. amplitude. • B. hue. • C. length. • D. placement on the spectrum.

37. The eye’s “blind spot” is related to: • A. light rays focusing too far in front of the retina. • B. light rays focusing too far behind the retina. • C. a cluster of cells around the fovea which contains cones, but no rods. • D. an area without receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves the eye.

38. Rather than saying a person is “colorblind,” it would be more accurate to say that the person: • A. has a blind spot. • B. lacks red- or green-sensitive cones. • C. is experiencing an overstimulation of the red- and green-sensitive cones. • D. has an excess of blue-sensitive cones.

39. The hammer, anvil, and stirrup are found in the: • A. middle ear. • B. inner ear. • C. cochlea. • D. outer ear.

40. What is umami? • A. a taste sensation for which researchers recently discovered receptors on the tongue • B. receptors on the tongue that respond only to bitter tastes • C. receptors on the tongue that allow us to taste nutrients in food, such as proteins and vitamins • D. a condition in which there is a loss of the sensation of taste

41. As you talk with a friend at a party, her voice is distinct from all the other voices you hear. This illustrates the perceptual principle of: • A. grouping. • B. proximity. • C. closure. • D. figure-ground.

42. The way in which you quickly group the individual letters in this test item into separate words best illustrates the principle of: • A. closure. • B. proximity. • C. continuity. • D. convergence.

43. Makers of 3-D movies rely most heavily on: • A. the visual cliff. • B. the Müller-Lyer illusion. • C. retinal disparity. • D. shape constancy.

44. After hearing that Bryce had served a prison sentence, Janet began to perceive his friendly behavior as insincere and manipulative. This best illustrates the impact of: • A. perceptual sets. • B. visual capture. • C. bottom-up processing. • D. sensory adaptation.

45. Which is easier to recognize? • A. an actual picture of a face • B. the caricature of the face • C. the anticaricature of the face • D. an upside-down picture of the face

46. If a person were able to sense that his friend’s dog was lost and needed help, this person would be said to have: • A. psychokinesis. • B. telepathy. • C. precognition. • D. clairvoyance.

47. Staying up especially late on weekends is most likely to have an influence on: • A. narcolepsy. • B. sleep apnea. • C. the circadian rhythm. • D. seasonal affective disorder.

48. Carrie’s EEG shows sleep spindles. Which stage of sleep is she in? • A. stage 1 • B. stage 2 • C. stage 3 • D. REM

49. Those who complain of insomnia typically _______ how long it actually takes them to fall asleep and ________ how long they actually slept. • A. underestimate; overestimate • B. overestimate; underestimate • C. underestimate; underestimate • D. overestimate; overestimate

50. The experience of insomnia following discontinued use of a psychoactive drug best illustrates: • A. narcolepsy. • B. withdrawal. • C. REM rebound. • D. dissociation.