PSY 2012
General Psychology
Final Test Review
(Questions & Solutions)
2025
1
,1. A 28-year-old woman experiences recurrent panic attacks
characterized by sudden palpitations, shortness of breath, and
intense fear without an obvious trigger. Functional neuroimaging
most likely shows hyperactivation of which structure?
A. Prefrontal cortex
B. Amygdala
C. Nucleus accumbens
D. Ventral tegmental area
ANS: B
Rationale: The amygdala is central to fear processing and shows
heightened activity during panic attacks.
2. A researcher presents paired auditory tones and mild electric
shocks to rats, later finds that the tone alone elicits freezing behavior.
Which synaptic change in the lateral amygdala best underlies this
conditioned fear?
A. Decreased GABAergic inhibition
B. Long-term potentiation of glutamatergic synapses
C. Reduced NMDA receptor expression
D. Increased endocannabinoid signaling
ANS: B
Rationale: Fear conditioning induces LTP at glutamatergic synapses
in the lateral amygdala.
3. During sleep, which stage is most strongly associated with
consolidation of declarative memories via hippocampal–neocortical
dialogue?
A. Stage 1 NREM
B. Stage 3 NREM (slow-wave sleep)
C. REM sleep
2
, D. Stage 2 NREM
ANS: B
Rationale: Slow-wave sleep facilitates hippocampal ripples and
neocortical spindles supporting declarative memory consolidation.
4. A 60-year-old patient with Parkinson’s disease receives L-DOPA
therapy. Which side effect results from excessive dopaminergic
stimulation in the mesolimbic pathway?
A. Akathisia
B. Dyskinesias
C. Hallucinations
D. Orthostatic hypotension
ANS: C
Rationale: Mesolimbic overactivation can provoke psychotic
symptoms such as visual hallucinations.
5. A classic Stroop task shows that naming the ink color of the word
“RED” printed in blue takes longer than reading the word itself. This
interference effect illustrates the principle of:
A. Automatic processing
B. Iconic memory decay
C. Semantic priming
D. Divided attention
ANS: A
Rationale: Reading words is an automatic process that disrupts the
controlled task of color naming.
6. In Piaget’s theory, a 7-year-old child who can solve conservation
problems but struggles with abstract hypotheticals is in which stage?
A. Sensorimotor
B. Preoperational
C. Concrete operational
3
General Psychology
Final Test Review
(Questions & Solutions)
2025
1
,1. A 28-year-old woman experiences recurrent panic attacks
characterized by sudden palpitations, shortness of breath, and
intense fear without an obvious trigger. Functional neuroimaging
most likely shows hyperactivation of which structure?
A. Prefrontal cortex
B. Amygdala
C. Nucleus accumbens
D. Ventral tegmental area
ANS: B
Rationale: The amygdala is central to fear processing and shows
heightened activity during panic attacks.
2. A researcher presents paired auditory tones and mild electric
shocks to rats, later finds that the tone alone elicits freezing behavior.
Which synaptic change in the lateral amygdala best underlies this
conditioned fear?
A. Decreased GABAergic inhibition
B. Long-term potentiation of glutamatergic synapses
C. Reduced NMDA receptor expression
D. Increased endocannabinoid signaling
ANS: B
Rationale: Fear conditioning induces LTP at glutamatergic synapses
in the lateral amygdala.
3. During sleep, which stage is most strongly associated with
consolidation of declarative memories via hippocampal–neocortical
dialogue?
A. Stage 1 NREM
B. Stage 3 NREM (slow-wave sleep)
C. REM sleep
2
, D. Stage 2 NREM
ANS: B
Rationale: Slow-wave sleep facilitates hippocampal ripples and
neocortical spindles supporting declarative memory consolidation.
4. A 60-year-old patient with Parkinson’s disease receives L-DOPA
therapy. Which side effect results from excessive dopaminergic
stimulation in the mesolimbic pathway?
A. Akathisia
B. Dyskinesias
C. Hallucinations
D. Orthostatic hypotension
ANS: C
Rationale: Mesolimbic overactivation can provoke psychotic
symptoms such as visual hallucinations.
5. A classic Stroop task shows that naming the ink color of the word
“RED” printed in blue takes longer than reading the word itself. This
interference effect illustrates the principle of:
A. Automatic processing
B. Iconic memory decay
C. Semantic priming
D. Divided attention
ANS: A
Rationale: Reading words is an automatic process that disrupts the
controlled task of color naming.
6. In Piaget’s theory, a 7-year-old child who can solve conservation
problems but struggles with abstract hypotheticals is in which stage?
A. Sensorimotor
B. Preoperational
C. Concrete operational
3
