Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
1. What was the profound question posed by Gottfried Leibniz?
a. What is the nature of matter and energy?
b. Where do we go when we die?
c. How can people learn to live together?
d. Why is there something instead of nothing?
ANSWER: d
2. What is meant by the mind–body problem?
a. Where in the body is the mind located?
b. Why are certain types of brain activity conscious?
TU
c. What happens during an out-of-body experience?
d. Do you mind what I do with your body?
ANSWER: b
3. What is biological psychology’s point of view?
a. The only effective way to treat psychological problems is through medications.
TO
b. Evolution steadily makes us better and smarter.
c. We behave as we do because of evolved brain mechanisms.
d. Mind and brain are fundamentally separate entities.
ANSWER: c
4. When you touch something, where does the conscious perception occur?
R
a. In your hand
b. In your brain
c. Between your hand and your brain
G
d. In both your hand and your brain
ANSWER: b
U
5. What happens when you see something?
a. You send sight rays out of your eyes.
b. Light rays cause a response in your brain.
R
c. You send out sight rays that bounce back to your eyes.
d. Light rays cause your eyes to send out sight rays.
ANSWER: b
U
6. What does monism mean?
a. Both heredity and environment contribute to differences in behavior.
b. Both hemispheres of the brain contribute to mental experience.
c. You can think about only one thing at a time.
d. Brain activity and mental experience are the same thing.
ANSWER: d
7. What is the opposite of dualism?
a. Vegetarianism
b. Pacifism
c. Monism
,Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
d. Solipsism
ANSWER: c
8. Mental activity and certain types of brain activity are, so far as we can tell, inseparable. This statement is consistent
with _____.
a. Leibnitzism
b. Descartism
c. dualism
d. monism
ANSWER: d
TU
9. Your textbook lists which of these as one of the three points you should remember forever?
a. Glutamate and GABA are the most abundant transmitters in the brain.
b. The difference between human brains and other brains is mainly one of size.
c. Mental activity and brain activity are inseparable.
d. Ethical restraints put limits on what we can learn about the human brain.
TO
ANSWER: c
10. Your textbook lists which of these as one of the three points you should remember forever?
a. People differ in their sensations and behaviors because of brain differences.
b. The transmission of an action potential depends on movements of sodium and potassium.
c. The human brain is fundamentally different from that of all other species.
R
d. Scientists agree that they will never understand the brain fully.
ANSWER: a
G
11. Which of these is NOT one of the types of explanation that biological psychologists use?
a. The intention behind the behavior
b. The brain mechanisms of the behavior
c. How the behavior developed
U
d. How the behavior evolved
ANSWER: a
R
12. What does a “functional” explanation of a behavior state?
a. Why something evolved as it did
b. How something develops during early life
U
c. What intention someone has when doing something
d. What brain chemistry produced an action
ANSWER: a
13. Moths fly away from a bat call because it triggers a reflex that turns the body. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: a
,Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
14. Moths turn away from anything they hear because that behavior enhances the chance of survival. What type of
explanation is this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: d
15. A bird sings because testosterone has caused one part of its brain to grow. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
TU
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: a
16. A bird sings a particular song because it heard it during a sensitive period early in life. What type of explanation is
TO
this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: b
R
17. Two bird species sing similar songs because they had a recent ancestor in common. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
G
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: c
U
18. A male bird sings because the song attracts females and warns other males away. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
R
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
U
ANSWER: d
19. What are the four categories of biological explanations?
a. Cortical, subcortical, spinal, and peripheral
b. Electrical, chemical, mechanical, and intentional
c. Excitatory, inhibitory, compensatory, and combinational
d. Physiological, ontogenetic, evolutionary, and functional
ANSWER: d
20. What does an ontogenetic explanation emphasize?
a. Intention
, Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
b. Development
c. Culture
d. Mechanism
ANSWER: b
21. Explaining behavior by how the nervous system matures is what type of explanation?
a. Dualistic
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
TU
ANSWER: b
22. How does an evolutionary explanation of behavior differ from a functional explanation?
a. An evolutionary explanation predicts how the behavior will change in the future.
b. An evolutionary explanation relates a behavior to the maturation of the nervous system.
c. An evolutionary explanation explains why a behavior is advantageous.
TO
d. An evolutionary explanation traces a behavior to ancestral species.
ANSWER: d
23. A human infant grasps anything placed in the palm of the hand because of a reflex controlled by the spinal cord. What
type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
R
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
G
ANSWER: a
24. A human infant grasps anything placed in the palm of the hand, but the reflex fades over time as inhibition develops.
What type of explanation is this?
U
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
R
d. Functional
ANSWER: b
U
25. Human infants grasp anything placed in the palm of the hand because humans inherited this response from monkey-
like ancestors. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: c
26. An infant monkey grasps anything placed in the palm of the hand because this response enables it to cling to its
mother. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
1. What was the profound question posed by Gottfried Leibniz?
a. What is the nature of matter and energy?
b. Where do we go when we die?
c. How can people learn to live together?
d. Why is there something instead of nothing?
ANSWER: d
2. What is meant by the mind–body problem?
a. Where in the body is the mind located?
b. Why are certain types of brain activity conscious?
TU
c. What happens during an out-of-body experience?
d. Do you mind what I do with your body?
ANSWER: b
3. What is biological psychology’s point of view?
a. The only effective way to treat psychological problems is through medications.
TO
b. Evolution steadily makes us better and smarter.
c. We behave as we do because of evolved brain mechanisms.
d. Mind and brain are fundamentally separate entities.
ANSWER: c
4. When you touch something, where does the conscious perception occur?
R
a. In your hand
b. In your brain
c. Between your hand and your brain
G
d. In both your hand and your brain
ANSWER: b
U
5. What happens when you see something?
a. You send sight rays out of your eyes.
b. Light rays cause a response in your brain.
R
c. You send out sight rays that bounce back to your eyes.
d. Light rays cause your eyes to send out sight rays.
ANSWER: b
U
6. What does monism mean?
a. Both heredity and environment contribute to differences in behavior.
b. Both hemispheres of the brain contribute to mental experience.
c. You can think about only one thing at a time.
d. Brain activity and mental experience are the same thing.
ANSWER: d
7. What is the opposite of dualism?
a. Vegetarianism
b. Pacifism
c. Monism
,Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
d. Solipsism
ANSWER: c
8. Mental activity and certain types of brain activity are, so far as we can tell, inseparable. This statement is consistent
with _____.
a. Leibnitzism
b. Descartism
c. dualism
d. monism
ANSWER: d
TU
9. Your textbook lists which of these as one of the three points you should remember forever?
a. Glutamate and GABA are the most abundant transmitters in the brain.
b. The difference between human brains and other brains is mainly one of size.
c. Mental activity and brain activity are inseparable.
d. Ethical restraints put limits on what we can learn about the human brain.
TO
ANSWER: c
10. Your textbook lists which of these as one of the three points you should remember forever?
a. People differ in their sensations and behaviors because of brain differences.
b. The transmission of an action potential depends on movements of sodium and potassium.
c. The human brain is fundamentally different from that of all other species.
R
d. Scientists agree that they will never understand the brain fully.
ANSWER: a
G
11. Which of these is NOT one of the types of explanation that biological psychologists use?
a. The intention behind the behavior
b. The brain mechanisms of the behavior
c. How the behavior developed
U
d. How the behavior evolved
ANSWER: a
R
12. What does a “functional” explanation of a behavior state?
a. Why something evolved as it did
b. How something develops during early life
U
c. What intention someone has when doing something
d. What brain chemistry produced an action
ANSWER: a
13. Moths fly away from a bat call because it triggers a reflex that turns the body. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: a
,Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
14. Moths turn away from anything they hear because that behavior enhances the chance of survival. What type of
explanation is this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: d
15. A bird sings because testosterone has caused one part of its brain to grow. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
TU
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: a
16. A bird sings a particular song because it heard it during a sensitive period early in life. What type of explanation is
TO
this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: b
R
17. Two bird species sing similar songs because they had a recent ancestor in common. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
G
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: c
U
18. A male bird sings because the song attracts females and warns other males away. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
R
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
U
ANSWER: d
19. What are the four categories of biological explanations?
a. Cortical, subcortical, spinal, and peripheral
b. Electrical, chemical, mechanical, and intentional
c. Excitatory, inhibitory, compensatory, and combinational
d. Physiological, ontogenetic, evolutionary, and functional
ANSWER: d
20. What does an ontogenetic explanation emphasize?
a. Intention
, Test Bank for
Biological Psychology by James W. Kalat | 14th Edition
b. Development
c. Culture
d. Mechanism
ANSWER: b
21. Explaining behavior by how the nervous system matures is what type of explanation?
a. Dualistic
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
TU
ANSWER: b
22. How does an evolutionary explanation of behavior differ from a functional explanation?
a. An evolutionary explanation predicts how the behavior will change in the future.
b. An evolutionary explanation relates a behavior to the maturation of the nervous system.
c. An evolutionary explanation explains why a behavior is advantageous.
TO
d. An evolutionary explanation traces a behavior to ancestral species.
ANSWER: d
23. A human infant grasps anything placed in the palm of the hand because of a reflex controlled by the spinal cord. What
type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
R
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
G
ANSWER: a
24. A human infant grasps anything placed in the palm of the hand, but the reflex fades over time as inhibition develops.
What type of explanation is this?
U
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
R
d. Functional
ANSWER: b
U
25. Human infants grasp anything placed in the palm of the hand because humans inherited this response from monkey-
like ancestors. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
b. Ontogenetic
c. Evolutionary
d. Functional
ANSWER: c
26. An infant monkey grasps anything placed in the palm of the hand because this response enables it to cling to its
mother. What type of explanation is this?
a. Physiological
