Name: __________________________ Date: _____________
1. After the horror of 9/11, many people said the CIA and FBI should obviously have
foreseen the likelihood of this form of terrorism. This perception most clearly illustrates:
A) the false consensus effect.
B) the hindsight bias.
C) random sampling.
D) the placebo effect.
2. When Leanne heard about experimental evidence that orange juice consumption triggers
hyperactivity in children, she questioned whether the tested children had been randomly
assigned to experimental conditions. Leanne's reaction best illustrates:
A) illusory
correlation.
B) an illusion of control.
C) the hindsight bias.
D) critical
thinking.
E) overconfidence.
3. Stacey suggests that because children are more impulsive than adults, they will have
more difficulty controlling their anger. Stacey's prediction regarding anger management
exemplifies:
A) a hypothesis.
B) the hindsight bias.
C) illusory correlation.
D) the false consensus effect.
4. Which research technique is most directly useful for avoiding the thinking error known
as the false consensus effect?
A) operational definition
B) naturalistic
observation
C) random sampling
D) experimental control
E) case study
5. Professor Carter observes and records the behavior of grocery shoppers as they select
items to purchase. Which type of research is Professor Carter employing?
A) survey
research
B) case study
C) experimentation
D) naturalistic observation
6. A negative correlation between people's physical health and their marital happiness
would indicate that:
A) poor physical health has a negative impact on marital
happiness.
B) marital unhappiness promotes poor health.
C) higher levels of
marital happiness are associated with lower levels of physical health.
D) marital
happiness has no causal influence on physical health.
7. Mr. Brown has gathered evidence that the self-esteem of students is negatively
correlated with their typical levels of anxiety. Before he uses this evidence to conclude
that self-esteem reduces anxiety, Mr. Brown should first be reminded that:
A) events
often seem more probable in hindsight.
B) random sequences of events often don't
look random.
C) sampling extreme cases leads to false generalizations.
D) we
often exaggerate the extent to which others share our opinions.
E) correlation does
not prove causation.
8. Which method offers the most reliable way of assessing whether athletic performance is
boosted by caffeine consumption?
A) the survey
B) the case study
C) the
experiment
D) naturalistic observation
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9. In drug-treatment studies, double-blind procedures minimize outcome differences
between experimental and control conditions that could be attributed to:
A) replication.
B) random assignment.
C) operational definitions.
D) random sampling.
E) placebo effects.
10. In an experimental study of the extent to which mental alertness is inhibited by sleep
deprivation, alertness would be the:
A) control condition.
B) independent
variable.
C) experimental condition.
D) dependent variable.
11. In order to assess whether sense of humor is affected by sexual stimulation, researchers
exposed married couples to either sexually stimulating or to sexually nonstimulating
movie scenes prior to watching a comedy skit. In this research, the independent variable
consisted of:
A) reactions to the comedy skit.
B) level of sexual stimulation.
C) marital status.
D) sense of humor.
12. One person in a ten-person group is ten times older than any of the other members. With
respect to age, it is most likely that the majority of group members are younger than the
group's:
A) mode.
B) median.
C) mean.
D) standard deviation.
13. The ________ is a measure of ________.
A) standard deviation; central tendency
B) mean; variation
C) correlation coefficient; central tendency
D) mode;
variation
E) median; central tendency
14. Janet has five brothers who are 4, 6, 6, 9, and 15 years of age. The mean age of Janet's
brothers is:
A) 5.
B) 6.
C) 7.
D) 8.
E) 9
15. Random samples provide ________ estimates of population averages if the samples
have small ________.
A) good; means
B) good; standard deviations
C) poor; means
D) poor; standard deviations
16. Who would have been most likely to claim that a slight protrusion in a certain region of
someone's skull indicated that the individual had an optimistic personality?
A) Aristotle
B) Carl Wernicke
C) John Locke
D) Franz Gall
17. Natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control are called:
A) ACh
agonists.
B) dendrites.
C) morphene antagonists.
D) endorphins.
E) glial
cells.
18. Botox injections smooth facial wrinkles because botulin is a(n):
A) ACh antagonist.
B) dopamine antagonist.
C) ACh agonist.
D) dopamine agonist.
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19. Drugs that block the reuptake of serotonin will thereby increase the concentration of
serotonin molecules in the:
A) axon terminals.
B) synaptic gaps.
C) glial
cells.
D) endocrine glands.
20. In stressful situations, the sympathetic nervous system ________ blood sugar levels and
________ the pupils of the eyes.
A) lowers; dilates
B) raises; contracts
C) lowers; contracts
D) raises; dilates
21. While listening to operatic solos, musicians process the lyrics and the tunes in separate
brain areas. This most clearly illustrates the functioning of different:
A) neurotransmitters.
B) reticular formations.
C) neural networks.
D) limbic systems.
22. Which of the following chemical messengers is both a neurotransmitter and a hormone?
A) serotonin
B) acetylcholine
C) norepinephrine
D) dopamine
E) insulin
23. Which of the following would be most useful for detecting the brain areas that are most
active as a person performs mathematical calculations?
A) a brain lesion
B) an
interneuron
C) a PET scan
D) a hemispherectomy
24. Which region of the brain appears to have the oldest evolutionary history?
A) frontal lobes
B) limbic system
C) brainstem
D) corpus callosum
25. 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.
26. The limbic system structure that regulates hunger is called the:
B) amygdala.
C) hippocampus.
D) hypothalamus.
A) thalamus.
27. Which portion of the cerebral cortex is most directly involved in making plans and
formulating moral judgments?
A) occipital lobes
B) frontal lobes
C) temporal lobes
D) parietal lobes
28. The regions of the parietal lobes that are involved in mathematical and spatial reasoning
are known as:
A) the angular gyrus.
B) the corpus callosum.
C) Wernicke's
areas.
D) the reticular formation.
E) association areas.
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29. Due to an automobile accident, Jenny suffered damage to her cerebral cortex in Broca's
area. Jenny is most likely to experience:
A) auditory hallucinations.
B) memory
loss.
C) aphasia.
D) paralysis of her left limbs.
E) reward deficiency
syndrome.
30. The successful functioning of children who have experienced the surgical removal of an
entire cerebral hemisphere best illustrates the value of:
A) aphasia.
B) phrenology.
C) plasticity.
D) ACh antagonists.
31. An organism's complete set of genetic instructions is called the:
A) heritability
estimate.
B) gender schema.
C) double helix.
D) genome.
32. Compared to fraternal twins, identical twins are:
A) less similar in their risk of
developing Alzheimer's disease and less similar in risk of divorce.
B) more similar
in their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and more similar in risk of divorce.
C) equally similar in their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and more similar in
risk of divorce.
D) more similar in their risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and
equally similar in risk of divorce.
33. Adoptive parents are least likely to influence the ________ of their adopted children.
A) personality traits
B) religious beliefs
C) political attitudes
D) moral
values
34. Intense and reactive infants become unusually anxious and aroused when facing new or
strange situations. This best illustrates the importance of:
A) the X chromosome.
B) temperament.
C) personal space.
D) individualism.
35. Estimates of the heritability of personality traits are most directly associated with the
research efforts of:
A) social learning theorists.
B) behavior geneticists.
C) evolutionary psychologists.
D) gender schema theorists.
36. In emphasizing that heredity's effects on behavior depend on a person's home
environment, psychologists are highlighting the importance of:
A) the double helix.
B) gene complexes.
C) collectivism.
D) nature-nurture interactions.
37. Bacteria that resist a hospital's antibiotics rapidly multiply as other bacteria die off. This
best illustrates:
A) collectivism.
B) behavior genetics.
C) heritability.
D) natural selection.
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38. It has been suggested that men in all cultures tend to marry women younger than
themselves because men are genetically predisposed to seek female features associated
with youthful fertility. This suggestion best illustrates:
A) social learning theory.
B) behavior genetics.
C) Freudian psychology.
D) an evolutionary perspective.
39. 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.
40. At a social gathering, Latin Americans may behave in a manner that North Americans
consider intrusive and overly expressive. This best illustrates the importance of being
sensitive to differing:
A) norms.
B) gene complexes.
C) gender identities.
D) heritability estimates.
41. Displays of self-effacing humility are most characteristic of those who value:
A) individualism.
B) gender-typing.
C) collectivism.
D) gender-schemas.
E) reciprocal determinism.
42. Over the last century, Western parents have placed ________ priority on teaching
children to respect and obey parents and ________ priority on teaching them loyalty to
their country.
A) decreasing; increasing
B) increasing; decreasing
C) decreasing; decreasing
D) increasing; increasing
43. Adolescent females spend:
A) more time alone and more time praying than do
adolescent males.
B) less time alone and less time praying than do adolescent males.
C) more time alone and less time praying than do adolescent males.
D) less time
alone and more time praying than do adolescent males.
44. Jaquetta was exposed to excess testosterone during prenatal development. As a young
girl, Jaquetta is likely to:
A) prefer toy cars over dolls.
B) exhibit superior verbal
intelligence.
C) develop a male gender identity.
D) demonstrate a lack of gender
schemas.
45. Concepts of masculinity and femininity that influence our perceptions are called gender:
A) types.
B) schemas.
C) roles.
D) complexes.
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Answer Key
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
B
D
A
C
D
C
E
C
E
D
B
C
E
D
B
D
D
A
B
D
C
C
C
C
C
D
B
E
C
C
D
B
A
B
B
D
D
D
C
A
C
C
D
A
B
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