First Semester Practice Test -- Units 1-5
Perspectives/History; Research Methods; Neuropsychology+Consciousness; Sensation+Perception; Learning; Memory+Cognition+Language
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Answers + Explanations for Each Question Here
1. Mrs. Alfieri believes that her husband’s irritability toward her results from his unconscious feelings of hostility toward his own mother.
Mrs. Alfieri is interpreting her husband’s behavior from a(n) __________ perspective.
a. Evolutionary
b. Behavioral
c. Psychodynamic
d. Neuroscience
2. Which psychological perspective emphasizes the interaction of the brain and body in behavior
a. Neuroscience perspective
b. Cognitive
c. Behavioral
d. Evolutionary
3. Which psychological perspective is most likely to be concerned with identifying the powers and the limits of human reasoning
a. Cognitive
b. Behavioral
c. Neuroscience
d. Social-cultural
4. Mrs. Thompson believes that her son has become an excellent student because she is consistently uses praise and affection to stimulate
his learning efforts. Her belief best illustrates a ___________ perspective.
a. Cognitive
b. Neuroscience
c. Psychodynamic
d. Behavioral
5. Nature is to nurture as the ________ perspective is to the __________ perspective.
a. Social-cultural; neuroscience
b. Neuroscience; evolutionary
c. Evolutionary; behavioral
d. Behavioral; social-cultural
6. During a dinner conversation, a friend says that the cognitive and behavioral perspectives are quite similar. You disagree and point out
that the cognitive perspective emphasizes __________, whereas the behavioral perspective emphasizes _________.
a. Unconscious processes; conscious processes
b. Overt behaviors; covert behaviors
c. Conscious processes; observable responses
d. Introspection; experimentation
7. Professor Saxton was very skeptical about the findings of a recently reported experiment on the effects of sleep deprivation. Which
process would best enable her to assess the reliability of these findings?
a. Naturalistic observation
b. Replication
c. Random sampling
d. The case study
8. Which of the following is a statistical measure of both the direction and the strength of a relationship between two variables?
a. Correlation coefficient
b. Standard deviation
, c. Range
d. Mean
9. If the points on a scatterplot are clustered in a pattern that extends from the upper left to the lower right, this would suggest that the
two variables depicted are:
a. Normally distributed
b. Positively correlated
c. Negatively correlated
d. Not correlated
10. A correlation between physical attractiveness and dating frequency of +.60 would indicate that:
a. Physical attractiveness has no causal influence on dating frequency
b. More frequent dating is associated with lower levels of physical attractiveness
c. It is impossible to predict levels of physical attractiveness based on knowledge of dating frequency
d. Less frequent dating is associated with lower levels of physical attractiveness
11. Adele dreamed that a handsome young man she had met the previous day asked her for a date. When he actually did call her for a
date several days later, Adele concluded that dreams accurately predict future events. Her belief best illustrates:
a. The placebo effect
b. Illusory correlation
c. Random assignment
d. The false consensus effect
12. Researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to distinguish between:
a. Facts and theories
b. Causes and effects
c. Case studies and surveys
d. Random samples and representative samples
13. In a test of the effects of sleep deprivation on problem-solving skills, research participants are allowed to sleep either 4 or 8 hours
on each of three consecutive nights. This research is an example of:
a. Naturalistic observation
b. Survey research
c. A case study
d. An experiment
e. Correlational research
14. The perception that psychological research findings merely verify our common-sense understanding is most clearly facilitated by:
a. Illusory correlations
b. The hindsight bias
c. The false consensus effect
d. The placebo effect
15. In order to study the effects of loud noise on worker productivity, Dr. McDuffee had one group of research participants work in a
noisy room and second group work in a quiet room. Those who worked in the quiet room were exposed to the ______ condition.
a. Experimental
b. Survey
c. Control
d. Correlational
16. In an experimental study of the effects of anxiety on self-esteem, anxiety would be the _________ variable.
a. Experimental
b. Dependent
c. Correlational
d. Independent
Perspectives/History; Research Methods; Neuropsychology+Consciousness; Sensation+Perception; Learning; Memory+Cognition+Language
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_
Answers + Explanations for Each Question Here
1. Mrs. Alfieri believes that her husband’s irritability toward her results from his unconscious feelings of hostility toward his own mother.
Mrs. Alfieri is interpreting her husband’s behavior from a(n) __________ perspective.
a. Evolutionary
b. Behavioral
c. Psychodynamic
d. Neuroscience
2. Which psychological perspective emphasizes the interaction of the brain and body in behavior
a. Neuroscience perspective
b. Cognitive
c. Behavioral
d. Evolutionary
3. Which psychological perspective is most likely to be concerned with identifying the powers and the limits of human reasoning
a. Cognitive
b. Behavioral
c. Neuroscience
d. Social-cultural
4. Mrs. Thompson believes that her son has become an excellent student because she is consistently uses praise and affection to stimulate
his learning efforts. Her belief best illustrates a ___________ perspective.
a. Cognitive
b. Neuroscience
c. Psychodynamic
d. Behavioral
5. Nature is to nurture as the ________ perspective is to the __________ perspective.
a. Social-cultural; neuroscience
b. Neuroscience; evolutionary
c. Evolutionary; behavioral
d. Behavioral; social-cultural
6. During a dinner conversation, a friend says that the cognitive and behavioral perspectives are quite similar. You disagree and point out
that the cognitive perspective emphasizes __________, whereas the behavioral perspective emphasizes _________.
a. Unconscious processes; conscious processes
b. Overt behaviors; covert behaviors
c. Conscious processes; observable responses
d. Introspection; experimentation
7. Professor Saxton was very skeptical about the findings of a recently reported experiment on the effects of sleep deprivation. Which
process would best enable her to assess the reliability of these findings?
a. Naturalistic observation
b. Replication
c. Random sampling
d. The case study
8. Which of the following is a statistical measure of both the direction and the strength of a relationship between two variables?
a. Correlation coefficient
b. Standard deviation
, c. Range
d. Mean
9. If the points on a scatterplot are clustered in a pattern that extends from the upper left to the lower right, this would suggest that the
two variables depicted are:
a. Normally distributed
b. Positively correlated
c. Negatively correlated
d. Not correlated
10. A correlation between physical attractiveness and dating frequency of +.60 would indicate that:
a. Physical attractiveness has no causal influence on dating frequency
b. More frequent dating is associated with lower levels of physical attractiveness
c. It is impossible to predict levels of physical attractiveness based on knowledge of dating frequency
d. Less frequent dating is associated with lower levels of physical attractiveness
11. Adele dreamed that a handsome young man she had met the previous day asked her for a date. When he actually did call her for a
date several days later, Adele concluded that dreams accurately predict future events. Her belief best illustrates:
a. The placebo effect
b. Illusory correlation
c. Random assignment
d. The false consensus effect
12. Researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to distinguish between:
a. Facts and theories
b. Causes and effects
c. Case studies and surveys
d. Random samples and representative samples
13. In a test of the effects of sleep deprivation on problem-solving skills, research participants are allowed to sleep either 4 or 8 hours
on each of three consecutive nights. This research is an example of:
a. Naturalistic observation
b. Survey research
c. A case study
d. An experiment
e. Correlational research
14. The perception that psychological research findings merely verify our common-sense understanding is most clearly facilitated by:
a. Illusory correlations
b. The hindsight bias
c. The false consensus effect
d. The placebo effect
15. In order to study the effects of loud noise on worker productivity, Dr. McDuffee had one group of research participants work in a
noisy room and second group work in a quiet room. Those who worked in the quiet room were exposed to the ______ condition.
a. Experimental
b. Survey
c. Control
d. Correlational
16. In an experimental study of the effects of anxiety on self-esteem, anxiety would be the _________ variable.
a. Experimental
b. Dependent
c. Correlational
d. Independent
