Print a copy of this exam and take it for practice; a link to the answer key may be found at the end of the exam. Chose the BEST answer for each of the following questions:

1. The chemicals that allow neurons to transmit messages to one another are known as

......A. polymers.

......B. neurotransmitters.

......C. retinotopics.

......D. plasticenes.

2. Marsha is a 12-year-old college freshman. Marsha has agreed to be interviewed frequently and in-depth by one of the university psychologists, so that the psychologist can more fully understand the experiences of highly gifted adolescents. The research method being used by the psychologist is

.......A. a survey

.......B. an experiment.

.......C. a quasi-experiment

.......D. a case study.

3. An experimenter hypothesizes that freshman college students who receive special study skills training will earn higher grades in college than students who do not receive this training. In this example, the independent variable is the

......A. freshman college students.

......B. college grades.

......C. study skills training.

......D. none of the above

4. The medulla

......A. is primarily responsible for functions such as vision and hearing.

......B. coordinates voluntary muscle movements and balance.

......C. regulates speech production and verbal comprehension.

......D. controls important autonomic activities such as breathing.

5. The cochlea is to hearing as the ___ is to vision.

......A. retina

......B. iris

......C. cornea

......D. optic nerve

6. Suppose that the results of a recent study found that there is a negative correlation between the number of friends a college student has and the number of illnesses he or she experiences. The best interpretation of this correlation is that

......A. when students' friends are negative, they are more likely to experience illness.

......B. the more friends a student has, the more likely he or she is to become ill through the

...........spread of infectious viruses.

......C. the more friends a student has, the fewer illnesses he or she experiences.

......D. there is no relationship between the number of friends a student has and the number of ...........illnesses he or she will experience.

7. The structure which allows the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate with each other:

......A. medulla

......B. cerebellum

......C. corpus callosum

......D. reticular formation

8. Body functions such as heart beat, pupil dilation, and perspiration are regulated by the ____ division of the peripheral nervous system.

......A. somatic

......B. central

......C. autonomic

......D. physiological

9. In this type of study, the researcher tries to intervene as little as possible. Ideally, the participant does not even know that he or she is being observed.

......A. naturalistic observation

......B. survey

......C. experiment

......D. quasi-experiment

10. If the image of an apple were presented to the left visual field of a split-brain patient, we would most likely expect the patient to

......A. say "apple" when asked to identify the object.

......B. say "orchard" when asked to identify the object.

......C. reach out and touch an apple using the left hand.

......D. reach out and touch an apple using the right hand.

11. The fact that we see a distant mountain peak as very large, even though the retinal image cast by it is very small, is a good illustration of the principle of

......A. binocular disparity.

......B. size constancy.

......C. texture gradient.

......D. atmospheric perspective.

12. In which of the following orders does a neural impulse usually travel?

......A. Axon--dendrites--cell body

......B. Dendrites--cell body--axon

......C. Cell body--dendrites--axon

......D. Axon--cell body--dendrites

13. Ned is concerned about his roommate Ted. Not only does Ted snore loudly at night, but Ted also seems to stop breathing while asleep. From this description, it seems most likely that Ted suffers from

A. sleep apnea

B. nightmares.

C. narcolepsy.

D. insomnia.

14. When Cindy first began drinking in college, she noticed she was feeling relaxed and "buzzed" after only one drink. Within a few months, the effect of one drink was greatly reduced. Cindy now needs several drinks to produce the same effect. Cindy is most clearly showing the effects of

A. withdrawal

B. tolerance

C. addiction

D. loss of control

15. Zack meets a witty, intelligent young woman at a party after drinking quite a few beers. The next morning, Zack cannot remember his new friend's name. Zack has a few more beers that night, hoping that the name will come back to him when he is once again "under the influence." Zack probably believes in

A. the levels of processing theory.

B. the multistore memory model.

C. state-dependent recall.

D. mnemonic devices.

16. Every time Jonathan misbehaves, his parents make him spend 5 minutes in "the bad chair." Because they are trying to decrease Jonathan's bad behavior, his parents' use of "the bad chair" would be categorized as

A. positive reinforcement.

B. negative reinforcement.

C. punishment.

D. vicarious punishment.

17. How many items can the average person hold in working memory?

A. 5

B. 9

C. 12

D. about as many as can be pronounced in two seconds.

18. If your professor administers a test every Friday, and students are observed to do most of their studying on the Thursday night before the test, we might describe the students' studying behavior as conditioned using which of the following schedules of reinforcement?

A. Fixed ratio

B. Fixed interval

C. Variable ratio

D. Variable interval

19. Several years ago, Grace was seriously injured when the ferry she was riding rammed the ferry terminal. To this day, Grace becomes anxious whenever she sees the large green and white ferry boats. In this example, Grace's continuing fear at the sight of green and white ferry boats is the:

A. conditioned response.

B. unconditioned response.

C. conditioned stimulus.

D. unconditioned stimulus.

20. If John observes his older brother being praised for getting good grades in school and, therefore, John decides to work hard and get good grades as well, John's behavior is MOST likely explained by principles of

A. observational learning.

B. classical conditioning.

C. operant conditioning.

D. extinction.

21. Research evidence for the encoding specificity principle suggests that performance on an exam might be enhanced by

A. taking the exam in the same room where you learned the material.

B. being able to take an exam in a room by yourself, keeping distractions to a minimum.

C. obtaining permission to take short breaks throughout the exam.

D. focusing on encoding only the information specific to the test.

22. To remember her grocery list, Kayla forms of a visual image of a cucumber on a bun, a potato in a shoe, a bottle of milk in a tree, a door shaped like a tomato, and so forth. By doing this, she successfully remembers to buy cucumbers, potatoes, milk, and tomatoes. Kayla is probably using

A. the method of loci

B. the pegword method.

C. the story method

D. an unusually good short-term memory.

23. Which of the following questions would MOST likely assist you in processing information at the deepest level?

A. "How do you spell the word psychology?"

B. "What word does psychology rhyme with?"

C. "What does the word psychology mean?"

D. "How does the word psychology apply to your own life?"

24. Dreaming occurs during which of the following stages of sleep?

A. Stage 2

B. Stage 3

C. Stage 4

D. REM sleep

25. Nicotine is a member of which class of psychoactive drugs?

A. opiates

B. depressants

C. stimulants

D. hallucinogens

26. Freud referred to the component of personality that contains an individual's morals and sense of "right" and "wrong" as the

A. id.

B. reality principle.

C. superego.

D. ego.

27. In Stage 4 (the second part of Level 2) of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, reasoning is based on

A. avoiding punishment.

B. pleasing others.

C. upholding the law.

D. personal standards.

28. Humanistic psychologists describe our natural tendency to try to "be all that we can be" as

A. a self-fulfilling prophecy.

B. working self-concept.

C. self-efficacy.

D. self-actualization.

29. According to Freudian theory, the rational part of the personality that mediates between reality and one's unconscious instincts is the

A. id.

B. ego.

C. superego.

D. preconscious.

30. Between the ages of 40 and 65, according to Erikson, people are most concerned with

A. finding a stable identity.

B. contributing to society.

C. forming permanent relationships.

D. looking back on life's accomplishments.

31. Six-month-old Rosie is most likely dealing with which of Erikson's psychosocial tasks of development?

A. Initiative vs. guilt

B. Autonomy vs. doubt

C. Competence vs. inferiority

D. Trust vs. mistrust

32. When a child sees the world from only one point of view--his or her own--Piaget would say that the child is experiencing

A. concrete operations.

B. object permanence.

C. goodness-of-fit.

D. egocentrism.

33. Freud proposed that young boys often struggle with sexual feelings for their mothers and feelings of competition with their fathers during the

A. oral stage.

B. anal stage.

C. phallic stage.

D. latency stage.

34. Mindy's father is supervising the children's afternoon play activities. After he gives each child a lump of modeling clay, Mindy says, "Daddy, give me a bigger piece of clay." Instead of giving Mindy more clay, her father simply stretches it out so that it looks bigger. Mindy responds by saying, "Thanks, Dad, I really needed a bigger piece." Apparently, Mindy has not yet acquired

A. object permanence.

B. sensorimotor skills.

C. conservation.

D. egocentrism.

35. At 2 months old, Cheryl did not seem to notice when her older sister "borrowed" her stuffed animals. However, by the age of 10 months, Cheryl would cry and reach for her toys whenever she saw her sister try to remove them from her sight. By 10 months, Cheryl was apparently demonstrating

A. egocentrism.

B. conservation.

C. object permanence.

D. concrete operations.

36. An irrational fear of a specific object or situation is known as a

..A. panic disorder.

..B. obsession.

..C. phobia

..D. fugue

37. Frontal lobotomy was conceived of in the 1930s as a way to

..A. decrease delusions in schizophrenia.

..B. treat the symptoms of major depression.

..C. eliminate epileptic seizures in schizophrenics.

..D. calm dangerously aggressive patients.

38. While at the hospital, Brendan reports being chased by wild, barking dogs. As the nurse walks up to give him his injection, Brendan warns, "Watch out--they'll bite you! Don't you see them?" Brendan is most likely experiencing

..A. delusions.

..B. hallucinations.

..C. obsessions.

..D. compulsions.

39. Nikki, a 23-year-old school custodian, believes she is Sally Ride, the first American woman in space. She is often overheard telling students about her space travels and offers to give them her autograph. Nikki is displaying symptoms of a:

..A. compulsion.

..B. delusion.

..C. conversion disorder.

..D. dependent personality disorder.

40. A psychiatrist is the only kind of therapist who can administer

..A. rational-emotive therapy.

..B. drug therapies.

..C. psychoanalysis.

..D. hypnotherapy.

41. Which of the following does NOT belong in the same category as the others?

..A. Generalized anxiety disorder

..B. Phobia

..C. Bipolar disorder

..D. Panic disorder

42. While working at a summer job as an orderly in a psychiatric hospital, you meet Cassandra, who has been brought in wandering the streets of Charlotte in a daze. She claims that she has no memory of the last week of her life, and that the last thing she does remember was being at her home in Seattle Washington. Cassandra is probably experiencing

..A. panic disorder.

..B. bipolar disorder.

..C. fugue.

..D. schizophrenia.

43. Group therapies are most strongly related to which of these individual therapies?

..A. Psychodynamic

..B. Behavior modification

..C. Humanistic therapies

..D. Biological therapies

44. A person who is relaxed and easygoing, and who is relatively unconcerned with time pressures, is most likely to be described as having a

..A. Type A behavior pattern

..B. Type B behavior pattern

..C. Type R behavior pattern

..D. Type S behavior pattern

45. Face to face contact between therapist and client is an important feature of

..A. psychoanalysis.

..B. humanistic therapies.

..C. both A and B

..D. neither A nor B

46. Which of the following is the THIRD phase of the GAS model?

A. alarm

B. resistance

C. exhaustion

D. illness