PSY 201
Introduction to Psychology
Final Exam Review
(With Solutions)
2025
1. A 28-year-old patient reports difficulty recalling events from her
teenage years after a car accident. Neuroimaging shows no
structural damage but she demonstrates gaps in explicit memory.
Which brain region’s dysfunction best explains her selective
retrograde amnesia?
A. Prefrontal cortex
B. Hippocampus
C. Amygdala
D. Basal ganglia
Correct ANS: B. Hippocampus
Rationale: The hippocampus is essential for consolidation and
retrieval of explicit episodic memories; transient dysfunction can
cause retrograde amnesia without structural lesions.
2. A cognitive psychologist wants to determine whether attention
training improves multitasking performance over six months in the
same individuals. Which research design is most appropriate?
A. Cross-sectional
B. Longitudinal
C. Case study
D. Experimental
Correct ANS: B. Longitudinal
Rationale: A longitudinal design follows the same participants
over time, allowing measurement of within-subject changes in
multitasking ability.
, 3. A subject experiences vivid color–sound synesthesia during an
fMRI task and shows increased connectivity between auditory and
visual cortices. This finding best supports which principle?
A. Lateral inhibition
B. Hebbian learning
C. Cross-modal plasticity
D. Prosopagnosia
Correct ANS: C. Cross-modal plasticity
Rationale: Cross-modal plasticity refers to enhanced
communication between sensory areas, explaining synesthetic
experiences.
4. In a memory experiment, participants rehearse word lists either
silently or aloud. Those in the aloud condition recall more items.
Which memory principle accounts for this effect?
A. Levels of processing
B. Encoding specificity
C. Transfer-appropriate processing
D. Generation effect
Correct ANS: D. Generation effect
Rationale: The generation effect describes improved memory for
information actively produced (spoken) rather than passively
received (silent).
5. A graduate student assesses how social anxiety affects
interpretation of ambiguous facial expressions. Participants with
high anxiety rate neutral faces as angry. This bias illustrates:
A. Confirmation bias
B. Fundamental attribution error
C. Hostile attribution bias
D. Self-serving bias
Correct ANS: C. Hostile attribution bias
Rationale: Hostile attribution bias is the tendency to perceive
ambiguous cues as threatening or hostile, common in socially
anxious individuals.
6. During an experiment on classical conditioning, a researcher
pairs a tone with a mild shock in rats and then varies the interval
unpredictably. Which schedule of reinforcement describes
Introduction to Psychology
Final Exam Review
(With Solutions)
2025
1. A 28-year-old patient reports difficulty recalling events from her
teenage years after a car accident. Neuroimaging shows no
structural damage but she demonstrates gaps in explicit memory.
Which brain region’s dysfunction best explains her selective
retrograde amnesia?
A. Prefrontal cortex
B. Hippocampus
C. Amygdala
D. Basal ganglia
Correct ANS: B. Hippocampus
Rationale: The hippocampus is essential for consolidation and
retrieval of explicit episodic memories; transient dysfunction can
cause retrograde amnesia without structural lesions.
2. A cognitive psychologist wants to determine whether attention
training improves multitasking performance over six months in the
same individuals. Which research design is most appropriate?
A. Cross-sectional
B. Longitudinal
C. Case study
D. Experimental
Correct ANS: B. Longitudinal
Rationale: A longitudinal design follows the same participants
over time, allowing measurement of within-subject changes in
multitasking ability.
, 3. A subject experiences vivid color–sound synesthesia during an
fMRI task and shows increased connectivity between auditory and
visual cortices. This finding best supports which principle?
A. Lateral inhibition
B. Hebbian learning
C. Cross-modal plasticity
D. Prosopagnosia
Correct ANS: C. Cross-modal plasticity
Rationale: Cross-modal plasticity refers to enhanced
communication between sensory areas, explaining synesthetic
experiences.
4. In a memory experiment, participants rehearse word lists either
silently or aloud. Those in the aloud condition recall more items.
Which memory principle accounts for this effect?
A. Levels of processing
B. Encoding specificity
C. Transfer-appropriate processing
D. Generation effect
Correct ANS: D. Generation effect
Rationale: The generation effect describes improved memory for
information actively produced (spoken) rather than passively
received (silent).
5. A graduate student assesses how social anxiety affects
interpretation of ambiguous facial expressions. Participants with
high anxiety rate neutral faces as angry. This bias illustrates:
A. Confirmation bias
B. Fundamental attribution error
C. Hostile attribution bias
D. Self-serving bias
Correct ANS: C. Hostile attribution bias
Rationale: Hostile attribution bias is the tendency to perceive
ambiguous cues as threatening or hostile, common in socially
anxious individuals.
6. During an experiment on classical conditioning, a researcher
pairs a tone with a mild shock in rats and then varies the interval
unpredictably. Which schedule of reinforcement describes
