Introductory Psychology – Test 2
October 19, 2005
Write your name and UTEID on
both the ScanTron and on THIS test. Be
sure and record the form number on the ScanTron.
1.
Which of the following
has been suggested as a reason for women to have orgasms?
a.
To decrease the
likelihood of pregnancy and, at the same time, increase the possibility of
future sexual activity.
b.
To increase the
likelihood of becoming pregnant -- women may experience a high and relaxation
after orgasm, and this may lead them to stay lying down, aiding sperm in their
upward journey towards an egg.
c.
To excite their
partners, so their partner is more likely to orgasm.
d.
To increase the
likelihood of becoming pregnant -- when women have orgasms, their vaginas
release a mucus that aids in sperms’ journey upwards towards an egg.
e.
To increase the
likelihood of becoming pregnant – when women have an orgasm, they release
oxytocin, which increases the likelihood of pregnancy.
2.
Using the strange
situation test, experimenters observed baby Larisa.
a.
Anxious-ambivalent
attachment
b.
Oblivious
attachment
c.
Disorganized
attachment
d.
Avoidant
attachment
e.
Secure attachment
3.
Sarah is a 22-year-old
school teacher. According to the
Parental Investment Theory, which of the following men would Sarah be MOST
likely to want to marry?
a.
Alberto, a
25-year-old weight lifter because his physical strength will lead to a release
of oxytocin in Sarah’s hippocampus, leading to better orgasms.
b.
Sam, a
35-year-old doctor who is very popular with women. Although he flirts a lot, he makes a great
deal of money.
c.
Per, a
20-year-old who wants to be an actor because he has big dreams,
and Sarah has big dreams too.
d.
Lewis, a
23-year-old graduate student because they have common interests; they both go
to school everyday.
e.
Zhang, a
45-year-old vice president of an engineering company who is responsible and who
has never been married before.
4.
If someone is
trying to tickle you with a feather while you sleep and you don't feel it, what
is happening?
a.
Humor in general,
and tickling in particular, is not part of psychophysics.
b.
The sensation
exceeds the transduction model.
c.
The sensation
exceeds Weber's fraction.
d.
The sensation fails
to meet the absolute threshold.
e.
The tickling must
not be occurring during stage 3 of sleep.
5.
Most cross-sex
friendships that survive have
a.
long periods of
denial and deception for both the men and women
b.
adhered to women's style of friendship.
c.
at some point involved sexual activity.
d.
adhered to men's style of friendship.
e.
found common ground between men's and women's style of
friendship.
6.
Sasha wanted to
teach her daughter to keep her room clean.
Sasha told her daughter that she would check her room and give her a
reward each time it was clean. How often
should Sasha check her daughter’s room if she wants her
daughter to continue to keep her room clean even after she moves out?
a.
Every Wednesday
because Sasha doesn’t want her daughter to be spoiled by too many rewards
b.
On an
inconsistent schedule because cleaning will then be more resistant to
extinction
c.
Every other day
because consistent checking leads to long term retention
d.
On an
inconsistent schedule because this will lead to faster learning
e.
Never because
children don’t learn well by rewards
7.
Genny is a normal
6 year old child. According to Piaget,
which of the following is a task that Genny could probably not do yet?
a.
Solve a maze in
reverse.
b.
Realize she has
the power to control her fingers.
c.
Understand that
his father can see her while she sees her father.
d.
Know that a row
of 4 candies bunched together has more in it than a row of 3 candies spread
really far apart.
e.
Understand that
her older brother still exists even though he has gone off to college.
8.
The process of
unlearning the association between the
a.
change.
b.
acquisition.
c.
extinction.
d.
contiguity.
e.
disconnectionism.
9.
You are choosing a
mobile as a gift for a newborn nephew. According to cognitive development
research, which will your nephew like most?
a.
a mobile with
only one moving part
b.
a mobile with all
the parts in the shape of ovals
c.
a mobile with
many different patterns
d.
a bright blue
mobile
e.
a mobile that can
stay perfectly still
10.
Many
psychologists view perception as a process of
a.
painful growth
from conception to birth to adulthood
b.
using a one dimensional model to construct a
three-dimensional world.
c.
seeing the world as would a robot.
d.
ongoing hypothesis-testing.
e.
arriving at one perceptual "answer" and then
worrying if it is correct.
11.
It has been
proposed that children undergo 6 emotional developmental stages from infancy to
age 4. Which of the following is the
last of these stages?
a.
the child is able
to intentionally, purposefully communicate emotions
b.
the child becomes
entirely independent and may even take the family car out for a spin
c.
the child learns
to regulate or control his or her emotions, and specifically to calm, soothe,
and relax himself/herself
d.
the child develops a higher sense of self, is able to
take part in elaborate fantasies, and begins anticipating and expecting things.
e.
the child “falls
in love” or forms ties with his or her parents
12.
Which of the
following is FALSE:
a.
Infants develop
depth perception by about 3 months because of their ability to focus both eyes
(binocular disparity)
b.
Object perception
studies with infants suggest that they have a primitive understanding of basic
physical laws
c.
Infants look
longer at novel stimuli than they do at familiar stimuli
d.
Infants have
better memory about events than adults because they are less suggestible than
older children.
e.
Infants are
capable of basic reasoning abilities and are able to certain solve problems
13.
What does the
Yerkes-Dodson law say about arousal?
a.
Too little
arousal can be paralyzing.
b.
Animals seek to
obtain an optimal level of arousal.
c.
Animals are
motivated to reduce arousal.
d.
“Let’s party!”
e.
Animals are
motivated to increase arousal.
14.
What did
a.
It supported
Freudian theories, but was a challenge to behavioral theories.
b.
It supported
behavioral theories, but was a challenge to Freudian theories.
c.
It was irrelevant
to both theories
d.
It supported both
theories.
e.
It was a
challenge to both theories.
15.
Katie really
liked ice cream. Every time she would
eat ice cream, she would get really happy.
Her best friend Jim wanted her to learn to like the smell of coffee
brewing as well, so he decided to always start brewing his coffee just before
he would bring Katie a dish of ice cream.
Jim was trying to teach Katie to become happy when she smelled the
coffee brewing. In this case, the coffee
brewing represented the
a.
Punishment
b.
Unconditioned
stimulus
c.
Conditioned
response
d.
Unconditioned
response
e.
Conditioned
stimulus
16.
Bobbie is a child
who can play for hours with a jack-in-the-box.
He winds the toy and a clown jumps out of the box. Then the clown is pushed back into the box,
the process starts again. Once the clown
is in the box, Bobbie can’t see it, and he seems to forget that the clown is
inside the box. This shows that Bobbie
is likely in which of Piaget’s stages of development?
a.
Preoperational
b.
Concrete operational
c.
Socioemotional
d.
Sensorimotor
e.
Formal operations
17.
We bring 100
people into the lab – none of whom has any phobias about anything. For half of the people, we present pictures
of various office supplies one at a time.
The other half of the people get to see pictures of animals. Those who see office supplies are given
electric shocks whenever pictures of pencils appear. In the animal group, whenever people see
pictures of snakes, they get shocked.
From what we know about classical conditioning, would people have
stronger conditioned responses to pictures of pencils or to snakes at the end
of the study?
a.
It is impossible
to answer the question without more information. Specifically, we need to know how old the people
are as well as their prior conditioning experiences.
b.
Higher responses
to the pictures of the snakes because of the phenomenon of preparedness. Humans are genetically programmed to fear
snakes and other dangerous species.
Consequently, they can more readily develop a powerful CR to snake
pictures.
c.
The degree of
people’s conditioned responses to the pencils (in the office supply group) and
to snakes (in the animal group) should be equally high in both groups. Classical conditioning affects everyone equally.
d.
Higher responses
to pencils because most people have had more experience with pencils than
snakes. This knowledge together with the
UCS (the shocks) will make people more nervous about pencils.
e.
Neither. Because these are ordinary objects that people
have seen before, any conditioning will have disappeared (or extinguished) by
the end of the day
18.
Harry Harlow’s
research with the wire and cloth monkeys demonstrated the importance of early
mother-child relationships. In fact,
research showed that the monkeys would generally choose
a.
Comfort rather
than food
b.
Love rather than
money
c.
Their toys rather
than their mother
d.
Their mother
rather than their father
e.
To play rather
than to sleep
19.
The purpose of
lateral inhibition is
a.
to make colors seem brighter.
b.
to detect edges and contours.
c.
to inhibit lateral movements in line formations.
d.
to reduce visual background noise.
e.
to produce night vision.
20.
According to competition
of cues, you would be most likely to notice that you felt a little sick to
your stomach if:
a.
You accidentally
stepped on a nail, causing some bleeding and pain on your left foot
b.
You were by
yourself all day and your phone and television were broken
c.
You are spending
your day hanging around sick people at the hospital
d.
You are trying to
finish a series of tasks before a deadline
e.
You were watching
a sad movie about people losing their homes after a hurricane
21.
According to the
idea of hierarchy of needs, people must
a.
deprive themselves of base needs in order to achieve
self-actualization.
b.
eventually achieve self-actualization.
c.
fulfill their needs within a complex social hierarchy such as
family.
d.
meet lower-level needs before higher-level needs.
e.
be at peace with themselves in order to be satisfied.
22.
The Gibson
approach to perception argues that our senses should be considered as broader
perceptual systems. The best example of
this idea would be:
a.
Our ability to
sense danger in a new environment involved higher levels of logic, reasoning,
and language
b.
The gate control
theory of pain – nerve fibers are processed in the spinal cord and go to a
neural gate in the midbrain called the periaqueductal gray (PAG).
c.
The ability to
judge how far away a bird is will depend on binocular disparity, other visual
cues, sound information, balance information (from the inner ear), and possibly
smell, touch, and other sensations
d.
There are similar
power curves in psychophysics that describe the relationships between stimuli
and our perception of those stimuli (including light intensity, shock
intensity, noise intensity)
e.
Our ability to
sense danger in a new environment is genetically based
23.
Thirty years in
the future, you are a psychologist studying romantic relationship patterns in
the Gnesnig, an alien species. The existing
theory describing how a female Gnesnig selects a romantic partner states that
her selection pattern progresses through ordered stages as she matures. Young females choose romantic partners based
on the number of tentacles they have (physical attraction). Later in life, female Gnesnigs choose
romantic partners based on their need for sexual compatibility. Finally, once the female Gnesnig is elderly
and no longer able to have babies, she selects her romantic partner based on
the number of offspring he has already had.
You are examining this theory to figure out if it is accurate in
describing how female Gnesnigs choose mates.
You have found that 75 of the 100 female Gnesnigs you’ve examined do not
follow this pattern. Instead, they seem
to use these reasons for selection, but in an unpredictable order. What would you say about the existing theory?
a.
It is a bad
example of a linear theory, because female Gnesnigs’ choices are unlikely to
develop in a slow and straight-forward manner.
b.
It is a poor
example of a stage theory, because the typical female Gnesnig does not progress
through these stages in this order.
c.
It is a bad
example of a string theory.
d.
It is a good
example of a stage theory, because female Gnesnig are likely to go from one
stage to the next without bouncing around.
A Gnesnig who chooses a partner based on number of tentacles alone
learns better, and chooses the next partner based on sexual compatibility in
order to maximize the number of babies they have.
e.
It is a bad
example of a linear theory, because female Gnesnigs’ choices are likely to go
through other stages as well. For
example, someone may choose a relationship partner for convenience or because
of peer pressure or even out of desperation.
24.
To what does
theory of mind (TOM) refer?
a.
the ability to
see how the environment produces our own behavior
b.
the tendency to
explain our own behavior in terms of our mental states, and to explain others'
behavior in terms of environmental effects
c.
the hypothesis
that neural networks come together and connect by synapses; as the number of
synapses increase, the more complex the person’s mind
d.
the ways we
explain our own behavior in terms of environmental effects, and to explain
others' behavior in terms of mental states
e.
the unique human
ability to explain behavior in terms of people's mental states
25.
Can a person with
only one eye perceive depth?
a.
no because of
motion parallax
b.
it depends entirely on which eye is functioning and at
what age the person loses vision in the eye that is not working.
c.
no because of
binocular disparity
d.
yes because there
are a variety of cues in the visual world that provide depth information,
including linear perspective, occlusion, and text gradient
e.
yes because the left
hemisphere of the brain creates the Ponzo effect which signals the reticular
formation and cerebrum
26.
Elvis Bob is
sitting quietly taking this exam. Out of
nowhere, he thinks about Maria from his chemistry class. Although he has never spoken with Maria, a
tiny shiver of sexual excitement washes over him. It’s likely that Elvis Bob has just released
a bit of
a.
lovin’ in the oven.
b.
oxytocin in the testes.
c.
GABA in the
prefrontal cortex.
d.
dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.
e.
serotonin in the ventromedial hypothalamus.
27.
Guido had a
difficult relationship with his mother.
He was classified as having an anxious-ambivalent attachment to
her. Now Guido is an adult with a
girlfriend. Based on attachment theory,
which of the following best describes his relationship with his girlfriend?
a.
Guido is often
concerned that his girlfriend may leave him for someone else.
b.
Guido and his
girlfriend have a really happy and secure relationship.
c.
Guido only sees
his girlfriend once a week, but that’s enough for him.
d.
Guido and his girlfriend
will likely get married after being together one month.
e.
Guido pays a lot
of attention to his girlfriend because he wants to treat her differently than
his mother treated him.
28.
Cross-sectional
studies are to longitudinal
studies as: __________ is to _____________
a.
The way Piaget
did research; the way Pavlov did research
b.
Different people
at the same time; same people across different times
c.
Prenatal
development; post-natal development
d.
Exploring what is
inside people; exploring how people develop
e.
29.
Mahkmad wants to
get his roommate Chuck to make his bed.
Bed-making, then, is Mahkmad’s target response. Shaping is a method of
learning that involves
a.
punishing behaviors that deviate from the target response.
b.
reinforcing behaviors that deviate from the target response.
c.
targeting
responses that deviate behaviors through reinforcement and punishment
d.
reinforcing behaviors that are close to the target response.
e.
punishing behaviors that are close to the target response.
30.
A group of
mothers bring their 4-year-olds to a room filled with toys and interesting play
structures designed for children around this age. The mothers all sit quietly while the
children are free to do as they please.
One of the children stands very quietly, near her mother, and simply
watches all the other children. How
would this child be described?
a.
She is
self-confident and comfortable doing her own thing, not conforming to the
expectations of the other children.
b.
We can’t say
anything about her temperament; her behavior is entirely determined by her
environment.
c.
She is very
timid, and probably also unintelligent.
d.
She is very moody
or unstable.
e.
She has a timid,
cautious temperament.
31.
Recent models of
learning are emphasizing:
a.
Holographic
metaphoric modeling (HMM) whereby learning is thought to be represented in the
brain the same way a hologram picture is stored in three dimensional space. As learning
becomes more complex, the learning image becomes richer.
b.
The death of traditional
learning (DTL) perspective whereby approaches such as classical and
instrumental conditioning are being discredited. Instead, learning is viewed as a genetic
process whereby all experiences are encoded in our DNA – much like fixed action
patterns.
c.
Parallel-distributed
processing models (PDP) whereby mirror neurons in the left and right hemisphere
of the brain process a problem independently and at the same time. The two solutions are then compared by the
corpus callosum
d.
Intracranial
self-stimulation (ICSS) that emphasizes that all learning is associated with
pleasure. The more satisfying a learning
experience is, the more effective the learning process will be
e.
Long-term
potentiation (LTP) whereby learning is associated with the strengthening of the
connections between neurons at the synapse level
32.
Andy has been
described by his teachers as inattentive, restless, isolated, and occasionally
violent. In sociometric terms, what type of child is Andy?
a.
normocentric
b.
controversial
c.
delinquent
d.
avoidant
e.
rejected
33.
Over the last 100
years, theories in psychology have been changing about their assumptions of
organisms. Current models assume that
the people and other organisms are:
a.
Active rather
than passive. This can be seen in
learning (the newer instrumental versus the older classical conditioning) and
perception (the newer and more active Gibson-like models versus the older
traditional psychophysics approaches).
b.
Personal rather
than impersonal. Old philosophical
approaches assumed that people were isolated and alone; newer approaches focus
on family and social connections.
c.
Right brain
rather than left brain. Current models
of development, learning, and perception tend to deal with emotional and
illogical processes (for example, Piaget, attachment, mirror neurons); the older
approaches were obsessed with logical and rational thinking (for example,
Freud, Pavlov, and psychophysics).
d.
Pessimistic
rather than optimistic. Older approaches
(such as Freud and Pavlov) viewed people as more happy and optimistic about the
future; newer
perspectives (such as Piaget and Skinner) paint humans and other animals in a
more negative and depressive light.
e.
Post-conventional
thinking rather than conventional thinking.
The moral reasoning literature has clearly demonstrated that humans in
the last century have evolved into higher stages of moral development.
34.
Mark was amazed
by the emotions expressed by his newborn baby.
Which of the following emotions would the baby NOT be able to display by
the first month?
a.