AMSCO Questions AP Psychology Review Revision 2024

Which of the following thinkers believed that people were born as blank slates and experiences formed their personality? - ANSWERSLocke Samantha believes all behavior originates from unconscious forces developed primarily in childhood and focused primarily on sex and aggression. With which approach to psychology is Samantha most likely to agree? - ANSWERSPsychoanalytic With which of the following statements would a behaviorist most likely to agree? - ANSWERSPsychology can only study what we observe, because this is all that can be empirically tested Katelyn is struggling in school and fighting frequently with her parents. She is not sure about her future and what she wants to study in college. With which of the following statements about Katelyn would a humanistic psychologist most likely agree? - ANSWERSKatelyn will work to the best of her ability to get her life back on track How does the humanistic approach to psychology differ from the psychoanalytic approach? - ANSWERSThe humanistic approach focuses on striving to be one's best, while the psychoanalytic approach examines unconscious forces and the importance of sex and aggression Edward Titchener followed the structuralist approach to examine human consciousness. With which of the following would he agree? - ANSWERSWe can use the process of introspections by asking people about their conscious experience to specific stimuli "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select...regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors" To whom would this be attributed? - ANSWERSJohn Watson Benjamin helps design cars that are easy to drive and intuitive to use. It is most likely that Benjamin is engaged in which of the following fields of psychology? - ANSWERSHuman Factors Denise just transferred from another school. She is having trouble adjusting to her new environment because she is very shy and is finding it difficult to make new friends. Which of the following types of psychologist might best help Denise? - ANSWERSCounseling Which of the following best describes how psychiatrists most often treat patients? - ANSWERSthrough medication management A researcher wants to determine if studying for a half hour each night for a week for an exam is better than studying for three and a half hours on sunday evening for an exam on monday. Researchers will randomly select participants into either massed or distributed study groups. They will also measure the outcome of each unit exam. What is the dependent variable? - ANSWERSThe score on each exam An experimenter wants to determine the impact of caffeine on attention span. Which of the following best represents random assignment experiments? - ANSWERSPlacing participants into either the caffeine or non-caffeine group without any set pattern. A researcher wants to investigate a unique brain tumor in a twelve-year old child to see how the tumor affects the child's behavior. The researcher will conduct a battery of cognitive and physical tests with the child over the course of six months to account for potential changes in the tumor's size and impact. Which of the following would be the best research method to study this situation? - ANSWERSIndividual Case Study A researcher determined that the less practice teenagers had driving, the more moving violations they received during the first year after receiving their driver's license. This finding is an example of which of the following? - ANSWERSA negative correlation A graduate wants to conduct a study to investigate people's opinions regarding the death penalty. Because he has not yet taken his research methods course, he does not know which technique would be best to gather data on this issue. Based on what you have read about research techniques, which of the following would work best? - ANSWERSSurvey A researcher who has a role in designing a new medication for headaches wants to promote it. She unconsciously suggests to those who took her medication that they are feeling better than those who had an alternative medication. This demonstrates which of the following phenomenons? - ANSWERSExperimenter Bias What is the best way for a researcher to avoid unconsciously signaling any point of view to the participants in a study? - ANSWERSDouble-Blind Study Which of the following is the best example of random selection? - ANSWERSArbitrarily selecting names from everyone in the population to determine who will be in the study Mary is an undergraduate student who has volunteered for a study her professor is running. During the study Mary picks up on cues from her professor about the expectations he has regarding the outcome of the study. The professor does not realize he is giving these cues, and she does not realize that she is picking them up, yet she behaves as he expects. Which of the following phenomenon have occurred? - ANSWERSMary has displayed demand characteristics A researcher has found that the more time athletes spend training in track and field, the lower their times in the 100-meter run. She determines that this result means that training causes drops in times. Which of the following is true about this study? - ANSWERSThe researcher has falsely determined that correlation proves causation Paul has run a correlation study and found that as people age, their ability to hear high pitched sounds decreases. While you do not have a written copy of Paul's study in front of you, which of the following scores likely describes the findings in Paul's study? - ANSWERS-0.48 Each semester, high schools across the country compute student's grade point averages. Which of the following is a measure of central tendency that best represents a student's cumulative grade point average? - ANSWERSMean Tanya is helping the school's track and field coach recruit athletes for the upcoming season. She is timing her classmates as they run the 100-yard dash. She has tested 20 students so far and wants to show her coach the results. Which of the following would be the most appropriate way to display the data? - ANSWERSA histogram Which of the following is true about a negatively skewed distribution? - ANSWERSThe mean will be lower than the median Which of the following statements can be made about a normal distribution without knowing specific info about a data set? - ANSWERSEighty-four percent of the population will score at or below a +1 standard deviation Alice has just found that the study she has been conducting over the last two years has yielded statistically significant results. She wants to tell her parents about her exciting news, but they do not know much about stats. Which of the following statements can Alice share with her parents to summarize the meaning of statistical significance? - ANSWERSThe results are unlikely to change Which number best represents the median for the following data set? 4 4 5 7 7 18 22 - ANSWERS10 Steve is graduating from college. He is excited to have received a job offer from a small accounting firm near his home. During his research on the company, he found that most of the firm's 50 employees are recent college graduates like himself who make $43,000 per year. There are 5 managers who make $80,000 per year, a vice president who makes $120,000 per year, and a ceo who makes $300,000 per year. Which of the following best represents Steve's findings on the salaries of the employees at the accounting firm? - ANSWERSA positively skewed distribution Researchers study the brain of non-human animals because - ANSWERSthe same principles govern neural functioning in all species A brief electrical charge that travels down an axon is a(n) - ANSWERSaction potential An individual is having trouble with cognitive tasks related to learning and memory. Which of the following neurotransmitters is most likely to be involved with this problem? - ANSWERSacetylcholine The purpose of the myelin sheath is to - ANSWERSspeed of the transmission of information within a neuron the peripheral nervous system - ANSWERSis the part of the nervous system that does not include the brain and spinal cord The cells most important for processing information are - ANSWERSInterneurons To walk across a street, a person would rely most directly on his? - ANSWERSSomatic nervous system The nervous system is of critical importance to psychology because - ANSWERSall psychological processes depend upon it Understanding people as biopsychosocial system means that - ANSWERSto understand people we must study how biological, psychological, and social-cultural systems work and interact opiate drugs such as morphine are classified as - ANSWERSAgonists, because they mimic other neurotransmitters pain-diminishing effects Damage to the hippocampus would result in - ANSWERSmemory problems Surgical stimulation of the sensory cortex might result in the false sensation - ANSWERSthat someone is tickling you The link between the nervous system and the endocrine system is maintained by - ANSWERShypothalamus A researcher interested in determining the size of the particular area of the brain would be most likely to a(n) - ANSWERSMRI Which of the following is a task more likely to be accomplished by the right hemisphere of the brain? - ANSWERSRecognizing a friends face If you flashed a picture of a spoon to the left visual field of a person whose corpus callosum had been severed (so it was transmitted to her right hemisphere), she would - ANSWERSBe able to draw a spoon with her left hand but would not be able to say she had seen a spoon Brain plasticity refers to - ANSWERSability of the brain tissue to take on new functions When Heinrich Kluver and neurosurgeon Paul Bucy surgically lesioned the amygdala of a rhesus monkeys' brain, the monkey - ANSWERSbecame less aggressive The reward deficiency syndrome argues that addictive disorders may be partially explained by genetic flaws in the - ANSWERSLimbic system An individual experiences brain damage that produces a coma. Which part of the brain was probably damaged? - ANSWERSReticular Formation Sudden sleep attacks at inopportune times and without warning best describes - ANSWERSnarcolepsy Deep sleep occurs in what stage - ANSWERSDelta Fruit juices, energy drinks, mints, soap, and soda have all been known to contain - ANSWERScaffeine The pineal gland's role in sleep involves - ANSWERSThe production of melatonin Bursts of rapid, rhythmic brain-wave activity while sleeping are called - ANSWERSsleep spindles Which of the following is least likely to occur as a result of good sleep habits? - ANSWERSDecreased concentration Whether a person can be hypnotized or not depends mainly on - ANSWERSthe willingness of the person to become hypnotized Jarod's muscles are relaxed, his body is basically paralyzed, and he is hard to awaken. His sleep state would most likely be called - ANSWERSParadoxical The Brain's own opiates are called - ANSWERSendorphins Awareness of ourselves and our environment best describes - ANSWERSconsciousness A person who drinks alcohol daily finds he needs to keep increasing his alcohol intake to get the same pleasure. He is experiencing - ANSWERSAlcohol tolerance An office worker is concerned about constant sleepiness. Her doctor refers her to a sleep clinic, where they discover her sleep is interrupted by gasping for breath, waking up, and falling back asleep dozens of times each night. Her doctor would likely diagnose her with - ANSWERSSleep apnea Sinead is paying close attention to her teacher as he lectures about the history of psychology. Which level of awareness describes her attentiveness? - ANSWERSConscious awareness Juan traveled from Nashville to Los Angeles yesterday. He has had a hard time adapting to the time change. Last night he found it difficult to fall asleep and during the day he had had a difficult time staying awake. The time difference has affected Juan's - ANSWERSCircadian rhythm Ever since Cathey quit smoking, she has experienced terrible headaches, nausea, and a tremendous craving for nicotine. Cathey is experiencing? - ANSWERSWithdrawal symptoms If an EEG record reveals evidence of very small and very fast waves, you are likely to conclude the patient is? - ANSWERSnot really asleep but awake Which of the following is good advice to give a friend who is dealing with insomnia? - ANSWERSDo not watch television or use your phone at least 30 minutes before it is time to go to sleep Drugs that speed up the functioning of the nervous system are called? - ANSWERSstimulants Xian's doctor has decided to give him a prescription for a drug to reduce his anxiety levels. Most likely, his doctor will prescribe a - ANSWERSdepressant The most addictive and dangerous stimulant used today is - ANSWERSnicotine Carmine was taken to the emergency room of the hospital after he reported hearing dogs screaming and seeing fire shooting across his shirt. Assuming his condition is due to a drug overdose, which type of drug did Carmine most likely consume? - ANSWERSA hallucinogen Karima has been abusing cocaine and now suffers from an inability to feel pleasure. This condition is called? - ANSWERSanhedonia In which stage of sleep are you likely to experience a sense of falling or a hypnic jerk - ANSWERSNREM1 According to Freud, dreams have two types of content, each of which contains different meanings to the dreams. __________ content is the underlying, more hidden, but true meaning of a dream. - ANSWERSLatent This is the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep deprivation - ANSWERSREM rebound An untrained dog's salivation at the sight of a food dish, is a(n) - ANSWERSunconditioned response Bailey had to get allergy shots weekly. Before administering them, the doctor would put rubbing alcohol on her skin. Bailey becomes fearful everytime she smells rubbing alcohol. Which concept best explains Bailey's fear? - ANSWERSClassical conditioning Pavlov is to _________ as Skinner is to ____________ - ANSWERSClassical conditioning; operant conditioning Which of the following could be considered an unconditioned response? - ANSWERSsweating in hot weather In Watson's Little Albert experiment, Albert became fearful or furry masks, rabbits, and dogs in addition to the original rat. Which concept did this best illustrate? - ANSWERSstimulus generalization Service dogs are often trained to assist in such tasks as letting their person know someone is at the door, safely crossing the street, or pushing buttons on the elevator. Which concept best describes how dogs were trained for these behaviors? - ANSWERSshaping Reyna's therapist reminds her of her father in a variety of ways. As a result, she has many of the same reactions to the therapist as she has to her father. Her reactions to her therapist best illustrates the concept of? - ANSWERSGeneralization Adrianna is addicted to heroin. The room in which she usually takes heroin will likely become what for her drug cravings? - ANSWERSCS If the figure above represents the sequence in classical conditioning, what does the bell represent in slide 4? - ANSWERSCS After several attempts at escape with no success, the victim in an abusive relationship gives up hope of escape and no longer tries. The best explanation for this is? - ANSWERSLearned helplessness Sheldon is refusing to complete his homework on time. After learning about his love of trains, Mr. Khan promises to reward Sheldon with a Thomas the Tank Engine train video after he finishes his next two homework assignments. This is an example of? - ANSWERSThe Premack Principle In Bandura's studies with the bobo doll, the children in the group who saw a video of the model punished for being aggressive to the bobo doll did not imitate the model. They only imitated the model if the model had been given a reward for being aggressive. These children obviously learned the behavior but did not perform it. This is called? - ANSWERSVicarious reinforcement A dramatic rise in children's violent play immediately following a viewing of a violent television cartoon demonstrates the role of? - ANSWERSVicarious learning Ward and June would like to raise their children to be socially aware and helpful people. Social learning psychologists would recommend that the strongest way they can influence their children is to? - ANSWERSModel the desired behavior A lab monkey observing a researcher lick an ice cream cone and showing brain activity in the same area as if the monkey himself had licked it is exhibiting the effects of? - ANSWERSmirror neurons Monkeys raised in labs showed no fear toward snakes. Monkeys raised in the wild showed strong fear of snakes. Lab-raised monkeys shown a video of wild monkeys responding to snakes began acting fearfully after being exposed to a toy snake. This illustrates the power of? - ANSWERSObservational learning Which of the following is an example of observational learning? - ANSWERSYoung women wear a clothing style similar to that of a popular singer In class just before an exam, Brendan is loud and cursing. The teacher kicks Brendan out of class. As a result, Brendan receives an F for that exam. Kaylee sees this and thinks to herself "I am never going to do that." This is an example of? - ANSWERSVicarious Reinforcement Rachel is taking the ACT for the third time in the hopes of improving her score by five points so that she can attend the school of her choice. When she receives her test result, she finds she has received exactly the same score as the first two times she took the ACT. Which of the following best explains Rachel's score? - ANSWERSTest-retest validity Marie has just celebrated her ninety-second birthday. She lives on her own and still drives short distances, but she is starting to forget where she leaves her glasses and cannot figure out how to work her new security system. Based on this info only, which of the following may be declining? - ANSWERSFluid intelligence Edward has gathered research on 200 sets of identical twins raised apart. Those studies have led him to believe that intelligence is 75% genetics. While he cannot say for a single individual that percentage of intelligence which is attributed to genetics, Edward is trying to identify the _______________ of intelligence. - ANSWERSHeritability When Paula takes her AP Psychology exam, the proctor reads from a set of instructions, which all students are told to follow precisely. Her friend taking the same exam at the same time in a different location was given the same instructions. Which of the following is best described in the scenario? - ANSWERSstandardization Which statement best describes the research consensus on intelligence scores of males and females? - ANSWERSDifferences in overall intelligence are explained by the stereotype threat Which of the following is the correct formula for IQ? - ANSWERSMA/CA x 100 The "magical number seven, plus or minus two" refers to the? - ANSWERSCapacity of short term memory Which of the following describes long-term potentiation? - ANSWERSmemories are formed in the brain when a synapse changes to allow for more efficient transfer of info Which of the following is an example of an implicit memory? - ANSWERSthe ability to find a hidden Where's Waldo? figure with practice Which of the following statements concerning memory is true? - ANSWERSmemories are often a blend of correct and incorrect info The basketball players could remember the main points of their coach's halftime talk, but not her exact words. This is because they encoded the info? - ANSWERSsemantically When someone provides his phone number to another person, he usually pauses after the area code and again after the next three numbers. This pattern underscores the importance of which memory principle? - ANSWERSChunking Which of the following is true regarding the role of the amygdala in memory? - ANSWERSthe amygdala helps make sure we remember events that trigger strong emotional responses You are likely to remember more psychology in your psychology classroom than in other environments because of? - ANSWERScontext effects Hermann Ebbinghaus is considered a pioneer in memory research because he established the importance of? - ANSWERSrehearsal Which of the following is an example of source amnesia? - ANSWERSStephen misremembers a dream as something that really happened Hermann Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve indicates that? - ANSWERSmost forgetting occurs early on and levels off "Chair," "freedom," and "ball" are all? - ANSWERSconcepts People are more concerned about a medical procedure when told it has a 10 percent death rate that they are when told it has a 90 percent survival rate. This is because of - ANSWERSframing Noam Chomsky believes that we all need to acquire language is - ANSWERSexposure to language in early childhood Which of the following represents a prototype for the concept indicated in parentheses? - ANSWERSA golden retriever(dog) Who proposed that language development could be explained with the principles of learning? - ANSWERSBF Skinner The inability to see a problem from a fresh perspective is called? - ANSWERSFixation Which of the following demonstrates the representativeness heuristic? - ANSWERSdeciding that a new kid in school is a nerd because he looks like a nerd Benjamin Lee Whorf's linguistic determinism hypothesis relates to the - ANSWERSinfluence language has on thinking In English, we know to put adjectives before nouns because of - ANSWERSsyntax Which of the following situations poses an approach-approach conflict for a person who listens to only classical music? - ANSWERSchoosing to study with one of two friends, both of whom listen to classical music while studying Which best explains the motivation of a student who wants to graduate at the top of her class? - ANSWERSinfluence of an individualistic culture Individuals who exhibit a strong moral sense, accept themselves as they are, are deeply democratic in nature, and are willing to act independently of social and cultural pressures would be described by Maslow as? - ANSWERSSelf-actualized Which of the following concepts explains motivation in terms of an organism seeking to maintain its biological equilibrium? - ANSWERSHomeostasis The graph above supports which of the following statements?(Yerkes dodson law) - ANSWERSOptimal performance is a function of task difficulty and level of arousal During a psychology experiment, a researcher uses a probe to lesion the ventromedial nucleus of a rat's hypothalamus. After the procedure the rat will most likely? - ANSWERSeat more and gain weight Which of the following theories suggests that a psychological need creates a state of tension that motivates an organism to satisfy the need? - ANSWERSDrive-reduction Recent and current research into human sexuality suggests that - ANSWERSsexuality is a continuum Danielle has a tremendously strong desire for achievement. Based on the research, which of the following statements is most likely true? - ANSWERSShe seeks out tasks that are nearly impossible The hypothalamus plays a role in the regulation of food intake. Which of the following most accurately characterizes how it does so? - ANSWERSIt acts with the endocrine system to control hunger and satiety Which of the following are the stages in Hans Selye's general adaptation syndrome? - ANSWERSAlarm, resistance, exhaustion Greg stays up all night during finals week studying for exams. As the week progresses, his muscles tighten and he develops a stiff neck. By the last day of finals he is taking more frequent breaks, leaning back in his desk chair, and staring off into space. He arrives for the last test with a sore throat and headache. Which of the following best describes Greg's response to stress? - ANSWERSGeneral Adaptation syndrome Individuals exhibiting a hostile type A personality pattern are at an increased risk for - ANSWERScardiovascular disease Stanely Schacter's explanation of emotions places emphasis on - ANSWERSa cognitive appraisal of physiological arousal Mark a restaurant host, began his workday in a bad mood. However, by the end of the day, he felt much happier. According to the facial feedback hypothesis, what may have influenced the change in Mark's mood? - ANSWERSBecause it is his job to be courteous to customers, mark smiled at customers frequently Researchers know that autonomic responses such as heart rate, respiration, and perspiration change under stress. Since people usually have stronger autonomic responses when lying than when speaking the truth, it makes sense that the polygraph would be an effective method to detect lies. Which statement best explains why the polygraph is not more widely used in job interviews and court rooms? - ANSWERSPhysiological arousal is much the same for several emotions, so the polygraph cannot always reliably distinguish guilt from other reactions Paul Ekman found that when Japanese students watched films that made them feel the emotion of disgust, they masked their expressions of disgust with a smile when an authority figure entered the room. However, when alone, they openly expressed disgust. American students maintained their expressions of disgust both alone and in the presence of an authority figure. Ekman's findings illustrate what he calls - ANSWERSDisplay rules The James-Lange theory of emotions would describe the experience of emotion in which order? - ANSWERSStimulus, arousal, emotion One of the consistent research findings in the area of facial expressions and emotion is the - ANSWERSuniversality of facial expressions across cultures When given epinephrine, research participants who were placed in a room with a happy confederate (researcher) described their emotional state as happy, while those who were placed in a room with an angry confederate described their emotional state as angry. Which theory of emotion best explains these results? - ANSWERSSchachter's two-factor theory Why does weight loss come slowly following a rapid loss during the initial three weeks of a rigorous diet? - ANSWERSThe body reacts as if it was being starved and metabolic rate drops An irritated person interacts with someone who is happy, causing him or her to become happy as well. This exemplifies? - ANSWERSthe spillover effect Which of the following is one of the stages of the sexual response cycle described by Masters and Johnson? - ANSWERSPlateau Which of the following is less likely to be characteristic of a Type A personality than of a type B personality? - ANSWERSA greater likelihood to anger slowly