Unit 1 Practice Questions Multiple Choice

UNIT 1 PRACTICE QUESTIONS MULTIPLE CHOICE A projective test that involves making up stories about what is going on in ambiguous pictures is the A) Rorschach Inkblot Test B) Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory C) Big Five D) Thematic Apperception Test Projective tests can be criticized in that they: A) lack reliability (consistency of results) B) lack validity (measuring what they were meant to measure) C) both A and B D) neither A nor B Humanistic psychologists differ from psychoanalysts in that they focus on: A) reinforced behaviors B) unconscious motives C) achieving an “ideal” personality D) early childhood influences A trait is a(n): A) description of our outward appearance B) repeated pattern of behavior C) unconscious motive driving our behavior D) relatively stable predisposition to act and feel in a certain way The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual has two main functions: A) describe disorders and list their prevalence B) describe disorders and explain their causes C) provide an understanding of the underlying causes and treatment of disorders D) list disorders and reference their treatments Helen suddenly has shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, chest pains and choking. She goes to the emergency room and is told she is not having a heart attack, but instead is experiencing: A) generalized anxiety B) dysthymia C) agoraphobia D) a panic attack Social phobia is an extreme version of: A) nervous behavior B) shyness C) introversion D) avoidance Hand-washing that continues until the skin bleeds may be an example of a(n): A) compulsion B) obsession C) phobia D) manic episode Rogers encouraged therapists to exhibit all of the following except: A) deliberate analysis B) genuineness C) acceptance D) empathy This behavioral technique, which we watched a short video about in class, involves relaxation training and constructing an anxiety hierarchy. A) psychoanalysis B) behavior modification C) systematic desensitization D) anxiety release A procedure that involves statistically summarizing the results of many different studies is: A) multifactorial regression B) meta-analysis C) correlation coefficient comparison D) regressive analysis The technique in the previous question has been used to analyze the overall effectiveness of psychotherapy. Using this technique, we learn that the average outcome for someone who underwent therapy is better than the outcome of __% of people who did not undergo therapy: A) about 25-30% (implying that therapy is actually moderately harmful) B) about 50% (implying that therapy is no more effective than no therapy) C) about 75-80% (implying that therapy is moderately helpful) D) close to 100% (the distributions barely overlap, implying that therapy nearly always helps) Due to the effectiveness of new antipsychotic drugs, many mentally ill were deinstitutionalized in the latter half of the 20th century. The result was that many of severely disturbed people who could not care for themselves were: A) left without sufficient support, and sometimes ended up homeless B) much better off in terms of social support C) much better off in terms of professionalism – they could usually go back to work D) successfully reintegrated into society Somewhat surprisingly, ECT is helpful with some severely depressed and suicidal patients who have not responded to other treatment. What does it do (most directly)? A) floods the brain with serotonin B) induces convulsions C) erases memory of unpleasant events D) punishes patients who have negative thoughts The idea that emotional experience depends on (follows) physical responses is the: A) two-factor theory B) Cannon-Bard theory C) James-Lange theory D) self-efficacy theory When aroused, your heart rate increases, your pupils dilate, and you may sweat, indicating activation of the part of your nervous system called the: A) amygdala B) sympathetic nervous system C) parasympathetic nervous system D) peripheral nervous system The brief electrical impulse transmitted along the axon is called the: A) action potential B) stimulus threshold C) electrical cascade D) sodium pump A person with a “split brain” had surgery to cut the: A) frontal lobe B) corpus callosum C) sensory cortex from motor cortex D) cerebellum from the cerebral cortex Although Jason lost his left leg beneath the knee, he often experiences great pain in his left foot. This is known as: A) psychosomatic pain B) phantom limb pain C) substance P overload D) ineffective pain gate The idea that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” has been most clearly associated with which approach? A) clinical psychology B) Gestalt psychology C) cognitive-behavioral psychology D) perceptual psychology People who have extremely limited abilities as a general rule but a specific ability far beyond the capability of the average person are demonstrating: A) mental retardation B) the g factor C) inherited genius D) savant syndrome Studies show that intelligent people differ in their brain’s ability to adapt and grow to the environment, a quality known as: A) synaptic development B) neural plasticity C) developmental process D) inherited potential Identical twins can differ in their development before they are born in cases of: A) genetic mutations B) two placentas C) different fathers D) alcohol abuse These last three questions refer to the attached paper from the British Medical Journal. The study was about candy consumption and mortality. “Candy” was defined as including A) sugar candy B) chocolate C) neither D) both One way that candy non-consumers did not differ from candy consumers was: A) They were older B) They were more physically active C) They drank more D) They were more likely to smoke Compared with non-consumers, the “optimal” candy consumption (in terms of lowering mortality risk) appears to be: A) 1 to 3 times per month B) 1 to 2 times per week C) 3 to 10 times per week D) 6 or more times per day SHORT ANSWER Propose an alternative explanation for the findings in the candy paper. Briefly describe the three structures at the core of Freud’s theory of personality. Recall the classic study in which “sane” people infiltrated mental hospitals. What do you recall about the findings? Did this study involve any independent variables? Explain your answer briefly. As adopted children grow up, many of their measurable traits (like personality and intelligence) tend to be closer to their biological parents’ than to their adoptive families’. What might you conclude about the heritability of these traits? Many couples cohabitate before marriage, believing this will ensure success when they marry. Statistics show that they are at higher risk of divorce. Suggest (a) a third variable, and (b) a mediator.