PSY MIDTERM EXAM TCC UPDATED ACTUAL
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. How might adolescents' tendency to engage in such risky behaviors as street racing and
experimental drug use reflect brain development phenomena?
Answer:
The prefrontal cortex matures slowly, slowing adolescents' ability to weigh potential consequences.
Question:
2. When Candace ordered a hot fudge sundae and a diet soda, she told herself that the calories from the
ice cream really were not a big deal because the diet soda sort of balanced it all out. Which of Freud's
defense mechanisms is motivating Candace?
Answer:
rationalization
Question:
3. Jeremy has been having an affair with another woman. One afternoon his wife came home later than
usual and Jeremy became angry - accusing her of infidelity. Which defense mechanism is behind
Jeremy's accusation?
Answer:
projection
Question:
4. Carl Rogers emphasized accepting people for what they are, not for what you would like them to be.
This acceptance is termed:
Answer:
unconditional positive regard
Question:
5. What theories are less concerned with the explanation for personality development and changing
personality than they are with describing personality?
Answer:
trait theories
Question:
6. Mahmoud was just told that his father has cancer. Mahmoud's first response is that there must be a
mistake and he demands that the doctor repeat his tests. Which defense mechanism is at work here?
Answer:
denial
Question:
7. According to Freud, a boy goes through a period of feeling attraction toward his mother, along with
resentment directed toward his father. Freud called this the:
Answer:
Oedipus complex
, Question:
8. A man who smokes, drinks, and talks a lot may be fixated at the _______ stage of psychosexual
development.
Answer:
oral
Question:
9. Humanistic psychologists suggest that people are consciously motivated to reach their maximum
potential; that is, people have a fundamental drive toward
Answer:
self actualization
Question:
10. The unique and relatively stable ways in which each individual thinks, acts, and feels is called:
Answer:
personality
Question:
11. Fifteen year old Autumn has gone through many phases in the past two years. She has started and
dropped many different hobbies and extracurricular activities and has considered many different
careers for her future. In Erikson's terms, Autumn is engaged in an adolescent search for:
Answer:
identity
Question:
12. In Piaget's theory, the process of fitting new experiences into existing schemas is called
_________. The process of restructuring ideas to make room for new information is called
___________.
Answer:
assimilation; accommodation
Question:
13. Loren asks her 8 year old son, Colin, if he wants his sandwich in one piece, or cut into two pieces.
Colin asks her to keep in in one piece, because he isn't hungry enough to eat two pieces. In the context
of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Colin's answer suggests that he
Answer:
does not yet understand conservation
Question:
14. ___________ are environmental agents that can damage a zygote, embryo, or fetus.
Answer:
teratogens
Question:
15. Fluid intelligence ____________ with age, and crystallized intelligence ___________ with age.
Answer:
decreases; increases
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT ANSWERS
Question:
1. How might adolescents' tendency to engage in such risky behaviors as street racing and
experimental drug use reflect brain development phenomena?
Answer:
The prefrontal cortex matures slowly, slowing adolescents' ability to weigh potential consequences.
Question:
2. When Candace ordered a hot fudge sundae and a diet soda, she told herself that the calories from the
ice cream really were not a big deal because the diet soda sort of balanced it all out. Which of Freud's
defense mechanisms is motivating Candace?
Answer:
rationalization
Question:
3. Jeremy has been having an affair with another woman. One afternoon his wife came home later than
usual and Jeremy became angry - accusing her of infidelity. Which defense mechanism is behind
Jeremy's accusation?
Answer:
projection
Question:
4. Carl Rogers emphasized accepting people for what they are, not for what you would like them to be.
This acceptance is termed:
Answer:
unconditional positive regard
Question:
5. What theories are less concerned with the explanation for personality development and changing
personality than they are with describing personality?
Answer:
trait theories
Question:
6. Mahmoud was just told that his father has cancer. Mahmoud's first response is that there must be a
mistake and he demands that the doctor repeat his tests. Which defense mechanism is at work here?
Answer:
denial
Question:
7. According to Freud, a boy goes through a period of feeling attraction toward his mother, along with
resentment directed toward his father. Freud called this the:
Answer:
Oedipus complex
, Question:
8. A man who smokes, drinks, and talks a lot may be fixated at the _______ stage of psychosexual
development.
Answer:
oral
Question:
9. Humanistic psychologists suggest that people are consciously motivated to reach their maximum
potential; that is, people have a fundamental drive toward
Answer:
self actualization
Question:
10. The unique and relatively stable ways in which each individual thinks, acts, and feels is called:
Answer:
personality
Question:
11. Fifteen year old Autumn has gone through many phases in the past two years. She has started and
dropped many different hobbies and extracurricular activities and has considered many different
careers for her future. In Erikson's terms, Autumn is engaged in an adolescent search for:
Answer:
identity
Question:
12. In Piaget's theory, the process of fitting new experiences into existing schemas is called
_________. The process of restructuring ideas to make room for new information is called
___________.
Answer:
assimilation; accommodation
Question:
13. Loren asks her 8 year old son, Colin, if he wants his sandwich in one piece, or cut into two pieces.
Colin asks her to keep in in one piece, because he isn't hungry enough to eat two pieces. In the context
of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, Colin's answer suggests that he
Answer:
does not yet understand conservation
Question:
14. ___________ are environmental agents that can damage a zygote, embryo, or fetus.
Answer:
teratogens
Question:
15. Fluid intelligence ____________ with age, and crystallized intelligence ___________ with age.
Answer:
decreases; increases
