APP Exam

Question 1

When asked which of the 2 countries has a larger population, participants are likely to judge the country that is more familiar to them as being more populous. Which of the following best explains the finding?

Answer 1

the availability heuristic

Question 2

An individual with damage to Wernicke’s area is most likely to have difficulty

Answer 2

comprehending a spoken request for information

Question 3

The psychoanalytic concept of repression suggests a difficulty in the functioning of which aspect of memory?

Answer 3

retrieval

Question 4

Which psychologist reported that infant attachment to another goes beyond the satisfaction of the need for nourishment?

Answer 4

Harry Harlow

Question 5

Edward L. Thorndike argued that responses lead to satisfying outcomes are more likely to be repeated, and that responses followed by unpleasant outcomes are less likely to be repeated. This became known as the law of

Answer 5

effect

Question 6

When trying to solve a problem, Bret uses a logical, step-by-step formula called

Answer 6

an algorithm

Question 7

It is well established that certain autonomic responses such as heart rate, perspiration, and respiration change under stress. In view of the fact that people generally have stronger autonomic responses when lying than when telling the truth, it follows that the polygraph would be a foolproof approach to lie detection. Which statement best explains why the polygraph is not more widely used in courtrooms and in testing of job applicants?

Answer 7

physiological arousal is much the same for several emotions, so the polygraph cannot always reliably distinguish guilt from other reactions

Question 8

The principles of operant conditioning are best illustrated by

Answer 8

a token economy to reinforce adaptive behaviors

Question 9

A man is feeling depressed about his inability to support his family after losing his job. The fact that the patient is currently unemployed is coded on which axis in the DSM-5?

Answer 9

Axis IV

Question 10

Researchers find that there is a significant, positive correlation between the number of hours students sleep and their grades. The researchers would be justified in concluding that

Answer 10

students who earn good grades tend to sleep more than those who do not

Question 11

In phase one of a study, a researcher classically conditions a dog to salivate to the ringing of a bell. In the second phase, the researcher pairs a flashing light with the ringing of the bell. After several pairings of the light and the bell, the dog will

Answer 11

salivate when the light is flashed

Question 12

Jason is attending a parade that features the local high school band. Jason’s friend Brent plays the trombone in the band. It is difficult for Jason to hear Brent play at the parade. Which of the following would best allow Jason to hear Brent’s trombone?

Answer 12

selective attention

Question 13

A statistical technique that would allow a researcher to cluster such traits as being talkative, social, and adventurous with extroversion is called

Answer 13

factor analysis

Question 14

Ralph is aware that smoking is harmful to his health, but he continues to smoke. According to cognitive dissonance theory, it is most likely that Ralph will

Answer 14

focus on the social advantages to smoking

Question 15

Curare blocks action at acetylcholine synapses and causes paralysis. This drug is an example of an

Answer 15

antagonist

Question 16

Which of the following is a type of medication that has been linked to the side effect of tardive dyskinesia?

Answer 16

neuroleptics

Question 17

A researcher surveyed social adjustment in the same group of 20 people from early childhood through adulthood. In this example, the group of 20 people surveyed was the study’s

Answer 17

sample

Question 18

Which theoretical perspective in psychology attempts to characterize the way in which humans store and process sensory information?

Answer 18

cognitive

Question 19

Gestalt psychology is concerned primarily with understanding which of the following?

Answer 19

perception

Question 20

During the night, Alicia stops breathing repeatedly, requently gasps for air, and snores loudly at regular intervals, Alicia is most likely suffering from which of the following conditions?

Answer 20

sleep apnea

Question 21

All summer Thomas hears the sound of the ice cream truck approaching before his brother Oscar hears it. Thomas most likely has which of the following?

Answer 21

a lower absolute threshold for hearing than Oscar

Question 22

A therapist who emphasizes helping clients to identify and change irrational beliefs that underlie feelings of anxiety is using which therapeutic technique?

Answer 22

rational-emotive behavior therapy

Question 23

Julio has fragmented thinking and distorted false beliefs. Which of the following psychological disorders is Julio most likely experiencing?

Answer 23

schizophrenia

Question 24

Which of the following statements best describes the role of biological processes in classical conditioning?

Answer 24

certain aspects are biologically predisposed to learn particular associations that enhance survival

Question 25

Respondents to surveys and questionnaires often report that they are healthier, happier, and less prejudiced than would be expected based on the results of other types of research. This finding can best be explained by which of the following?

Answer 25

the social desirability

Question 26

Synesthesia is a phenomenon that has been estimated to occur in only a few people in a million. Because of its rarity, researchers are likely to choose which research method to study it?

Answer 26

case study

Question 27

Paula lacks self-confidence. She has a difficult time expressing disagreement with others, and she usually lets friends make decisions for her. Others have commented that they do not know who the "real" Paula is. With which of the following personality disorders might Paula be diagnosed?

Answer 27

dependent

Question 28

Chuck recalls the day last summer when he fell off bicycle and scraped his knee. This is an example of

Answer 28

episodic memory

Question 29

Researcher Renee Baillargeon found that four-month-old infants will look longer at a ball if it appears to roll through a solid barrier, demonstrating that babies seem to grasp basic physical laws intuitively. Which of the following theories does this finding challenge?

Answer 29

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development

Question 30

In vision, transduction occurs within the

Answer 30

retina

Question 31

In a classic study, a group of rats learned to run through a maze to obtain food, and another group of rats explored the maze without receiving food. Some time later, the researcher compared the two groups of rats to determine if both groups would find the food at the end of the maze. According to the researcher, the untrained rats found the food at the end of the maze as quickly as the trained rats as a result of

Answer 31

latent learning

Question 32

During a psychology experiment, researcher uses a probe to lesion the ventromedial nucleus of a rat's hypothalamus. After the procedure the rat most likely will

Answer 32

eat more and gain weight

Question 33

When a person is suffering from severe pain, the type of drug that will best help alleviate that pain is

Answer 33

an opiate

Question 34

The defense mechanism of projection is best illustrated by which of following examples?

Answer 34

a soccer player who does not have much athletic skill constantly criticizes other athletes' performances

Question 35

Damage to the occipital lobe would most likely affect a person's

Answer 35

vision

Question 36

James was born with a condition that makes it impossible for him to metabolize certain proteins. Due to early screening and a special diet, he was able to avoid developing potentially serious symptoms. Which of the following disorders does James have?

Answer 36

phenylketonuria (PKU)

Question 37

Stanley Milgram's classic research on obedience showed that approximately what percentage of participants administered the highest voltage shock?

Answer 37

60%

Question 38

After staring at a green, black, and orange "American flag" for about a minute, an individual will see a red, white, and blue flag afterimage. Which of the following explains this phenomenon?

Answer 38

trichromatic theory

Question 39

Certain cultures often place more emphasis on collective than on personal achievement. One result of this may be that people of these cultures are more likely to develop which type of self-system?

Answer 39

interdependent

Question 40

A basic assumption underlying short-term memory is that it is

Answer 40

limited in capacity

Question 41

Carol Gilligan, in her criticism of Lawrence Kohlberg, proposed that the moral reasoning of males is primarily based on

Answer 41

rational abstract principles, whereas the moral reasoning of females is based on relationships and the social context

Question 42

Which process transfers information from sensory memory to short-term memory?

Answer 42

attention

Question 43

When the word "walk" is changed to "walked," the suffix "ed" is an example of a

Answer 43

morpheme

Question 44

The just-world hypothesis would best explain which of the following phenomena?

Answer 44

blaming the victim

Question 45

which of the following is a binocular cue for depth perception?

Answer 45

retinal disparity

Question 46

People who are color blind most likely have deficiencies in their

Answer 46

cones

Question 47

Research on human mating preferences suggests that men place greater value on physical attractiveness and youthfulness, whereas women place greater value on social status and financial resources. Which of the following psychological points of view best explains this behavior?

Answer 47

evolutionary

Question 48

If Juan tried to learn a long list of words, he would be most likely to forget words that

Answer 48

appeared in the middle of the list

Question 49

Which of the following perspectives argues that every person has the potential to become self-actualized?

Answer 49

humanistic

Question 50

An image projected to the left visual field of a split brained person will be processed in the

Answer 50

right visual cortex

Question 51

A researcher is training laboratory rats to run a complex maze. Each time the rats learn a new part of the maze, they are rewarded with a pellet of food. Within a few hours, the rats have learned the entire maze. Which of the following did the researcher use to teach the rats the maze?

Answer 51

shaping

Question 52

Martha is an undergraduate student who is interested in pursuing a career in psychology. She wants to use her knowledge of psychology to help employees become more productive in the workplace. Which field of psychology should Martha select in graduate school?

Answer 52

industrial-organizational

Question 53

Although he finds it to be difficult and not much fun, Tomas puts in long hours practicing field hockey in the hope of getting an athletic scholarship to college. This best illustrates the idea of

Answer 53

extrinsic motivation

Question 54

The term group polarization refers to the tendency for

Answer 54

the prevailing opinion within a group to become more extreme after discussion

Question 55

Which of the following assessment tools explores individuals' personalities by asking them to examine a series of inkblots and describe what they see in the inkblot?

Answer 55

rorschach test

Question 56

Which of the following neurotransmitters has been linked to Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia?

Answer 56

dopamine

Question 57

According to Freud, our sexual and aggressive instincts are located primarily in the

Answer 57

id

Question 58

Charles Spearmen's concept of 'g' is most accurately described as

Answer 58

a single, underlying intellectual capacity measured by intelligence tests

Question 59

Which of the following studies demonstrates a cross-sectional research design?

Answer 59

testing first, third, and fifth graders at the beginning of the school year

Question 60

Which type of therapy uses free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of tranference?

Answer 60

psychodynamic

Question 61

Which of the following psychometric properties is used to assess the extent to which the items on an intelligence test measure a person's intelligence?

Answer 61

construct validity

Question 62

Marc performs poorly on a psychology exam and explains his failure by saying, "That test was so hard so no one could pass it." This explanation illustrates

Answer 62

self-serving bias

Question 63

Martin fell off his skateboard and badly bruised his elbow. He immediately began rubbing the area around the bruise until the pain subsided. This method of reducing pain can be explained by which of the following?

Answer 63

gate-control theory

Question 64

While grocery shopping, John heard voices that seemed to be narrating his every action. The voices made statements such as "Now he is picking up the bread" and "Now he is putting the bread in his shopping cart." No one else heard the voices. What is John experiencing?

Answer 64

hallucinations

Question 65

John is completing a lengthy test in which he must indicate whether various written statements are true or false about himself. He is most likely taking which of the following?

Answer 65

a personality inventory

Question 66

Damage to which of the following brain structures may caused the inability to detect the emotional significance of facial expressions, especially those demonstrating fear?

Answer 66

amygdala

Question 67

Of the following cognitive milestones, which ability tends to be acquired last?

Answer 67

hypothetical thinking

Question 68

Paul Ekman found that when Japanese students watched films of surgery, they masked their expressions of disgust with a smile when an authority figure entered the room but not when alone. American students maintained their expressions of disgust both alone and in the presence of an authority figure. Ekman's findings illustrate what he calls

Answer 68

display rules

Question 69

A teacher finds the distributions of scores on a final exam to be positively skewed with low variability. On the basis of this information, the teacher would be most justified in concluding that

Answer 69

the exam was too difficult

Question 70

In which of the following techniques do researchers inject a harmless, radioactive substance into the living human brain to examine activity?

Answer 70

positron-emission tomography (PET)

Question 71

An individual who stomps angrily out of a restaurant after being kept waiting an extra five minutes for a table may be exhibiting symptoms of

Answer 71

narcissistic personality disorder

Question 72

Students who enjoyed solving a puzzle were rewarded for doing so. Later, they played less with the puzzle than their counterparts who were not rewarded for the same task. This illustrates which of the following principles?

Answer 72

the overjustification effect

Question 73

Jim is better at computer games when his friends are watching than when he plays alone. Researchers would explain Jim's behavior using which theory?

Answer 73

social facilitation

Question 74

Which of the following theories suggests that a physiological need creates a state of tension that motivates an organism to satisfy the need?

Answer 74

drive-reduction

Question 75

According to Jean Piaget, children cease to exhibit egocentrism during which of the following stages?

Answer 75

preoperational

Question 76

the fundamental attribution error occurs when individuals do which of the following?

Answer 76

overestimate the influence of personal qualities relative to situational factors when trying to explain the behavior of others

Question 77

Which procedure can reduce problems associated with the use of deception by a researcher?

Answer 77

debriefing

Question 78

Psychologists from which of the following perspectives of personality are most interested in assessing a person's locus of control?

Answer 78

cognitive

Question 79

Elizabeth picks up the clothes from her bedroom floor and puts them away to avoid her mother's repeated nagging. Elizabeth's behavior is being influenced by

Answer 79

negative reinforcement

Question 80

The diathesis-stress approach would likely support which of the following statements about psychological disorders?

Answer 80

disorders are a result of predisposed, biological factors triggered by the environment

Question 81

The Psychology Aptitude Test was administered to incoming college psychology majors. Their scores were later compared to their performance in the introductory psychology course, and high scores on the PAT were related to high grades in the course. Therefore, the PAT has

Answer 81

predictive validity

Question 82

Joseph never sleeps through the night. He wakes up at least once per hour to check all the doors and windows in his house to make sure they are locked and to check the stove to make sure it is turned off. Joseph's behavior would be classified as

Answer 82

a compulsion

Question 83

When given a drug that produced general arousal, research participants placed in a room with a happy confederate described their emotional state as happy, while those placed in a room with an angry confederate described their emotional state an angry. Which theory of emotion best explains these results?

Answer 83

schachter-singer

Question 84

Under hypnosis, Jerry is able to withstand pain without showing any outward signs of discomfort. However, when asked to signal if some part of his consciousness is aware of the pain, he raises his hand. Which of the following is a theory that best explains Jerry's behavior?

Answer 84

dissociation

Question 85

A person eats a hamburger at a restaurant and develops a very bad stomachache after finishing eating. As a result of the sudden illness, the person cannot eat hamburgers anymore. Just thinking about them makes the person feel sick to the stomach. In this scenario, the thought of a hamburger is

Answer 85

a conditioned stimulus

Question 86

Research on stereotype threat indicates that students might not do well as they can on a test if

Answer 86

they are informed that people of their ethnicity, age, or gender usually do not perform well on the tests

Question 87

When parents set a few controls on their children's television viewing, allowing the children freedom to set individual limits, make few demands, and do not punish for improper television viewing, the parents exemplify a parenting style referred to as

Answer 87

permissive

Question 88

Which of the following is the best example of a homeostatic process?

Answer 88

Cathy drinks a large amount of water to reduce thirst after a long race

Question 89

Brad hears a report on the evening news that diets low in carbs are beneficial to one's health. Considering this advice, he begins such a diet. Later he hears another report condemning low-carb diets as harmful to one's health. Based on research on belief perseverance, how would Brad respond to this new information?

Answer 89

continue to believe in the beneficial effects of a low-carb diet