Name:_______________________ Date:________________ Date Received:__________

Introduction to Psychology
Final Exam, December 2010

Instructions: Read each question carefully. Circle the answer that

best fits the question. There is only one right answer.

1. Many psychologists reject the “disorders-as-illness” view and

content that other factors may also be involved—for
example, the person’s bad habits and poor social skills. This
view represents the _________ approach.

a. Medical
b. Positive psychology
c. Biopsychosocial
d. Diagnostic labels

2. One study found that psychologists using the DSM-IV agreed

on a diagnosis for more than 80 percent of patients. The
DSM-IV’s reliability stems in part from its reliance on

a. Structured-interview procedures.
b. In-depth histories of patients.
c. Input from patients’ family and friends.
d. The theories of Pinel, Freud, and others.

3. Anxiety that takes the form of an irrational and maladaptive

fear of a specific object or situation is called

a. A phobia
b. A panic attack generalized anxiety
c. Generalized anxiety
d. An obsessive-compulsive disorder

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4. One relatively common disorder is

a. Conversion disorder.
b. Hypochondriasis
c. Dissociative identity disorder.
d. Multiple personality disorder.

5. Depression affects many people, often following a stressful

event, such as divorce or job change. The rate of depression
is

a. Increasing among young people,

b. Decreasing among young people.
c. Increasing among elderly women,
d. Decreasing among elderly women.

6. People with schizophrenia may hear voices urging self-

destruction. Hearing voices in the absence of any auditory
stimulation is an example of a (n)

a. Flat emotion
b. Inappropriate emotion
c. Word salad
d. Hallucination

7. Chances for recovery from schizophrenia are best when

a. Onset is sudden, in response to stress.

b. Deterioration occurs gradually, during childhood.
c. No environmental causes can be identified.
d. There is a detectable brain abnormality.

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8. Most psychological disorders strike by early adulthood. The
symptoms of ________ appear around age 10; ______ tends
to appear later, around age 25.

a. Schizophrenia; bipolar disorder

b. Bipolar disorder; schizophrenia
c. Major depression; phobias
d. Phobias; major depression

9. Compared with psychoanalysts, humanistic therapists are

more likely to emphasize

a. Hidden or repressed feelings.

b. Childhood experiences
c. Psychological disorders
d. Self-fulfillment and growth.

10.Behavior therapists apply learning principles to the treatment

of problems such as phobias and alcohol dependency. In such
treatment, the goal is to

a. Identify and treat the underlying causes of the problem.

b. Improve learning and insight,
c. Eliminate the unwanted behavior.
d. Improve communication and social sensitivity.

11.The neuron fiber that carries messages to other neurons is the

a. dendrite.
b. Axon.
c. Cell body.
d. Myelin.

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12. Endorphins are released in the brain in response to

a. morphine or heroin.
b. Pain or vigorous exercise,
c. The all-or-none response.
d. All of these answers are correct.

13. The neurons of the spinal cord are part of the

a. somatic nervous system.

b. Central nervous system.
c. Autonomic nervous system.
d. Peripheral nervous system.

14. The lower brain structure that governs arousal is the

a. spinal cord.
b. Cerebellum.
c. Reticular formation.
d. Medulla.

15. The neural structure that most directly regulates eating,

drinking, and body temperature is the

a. endocrine system
b. hypothalamus.
c. Hippocampus.
d. Amygdale.

16. Which of the following body regions has the greatest

representation in the sensory cortex?
a. knee
b. toes
c. forehead
d. thumb

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17. Studies of people with split brains and brain scans of those
with undivided brains indicate that the left hemisphere excels in

a. processing language.
b. Visual perceptions.
c. Making inferences.
d. Neurogenesis.

18. Plasticity—the brain’s ability to reorganize itself after

damage—is especially evident in the brains of

a. split-brain patients.
b. Young adults.
c. Young children.
d. Right-handed people.

19. Damage to the brain’s right hemisphere is most likely to reduce

a person’s ability to

a. recite the alphabet rapidly.

b. Make inferences.
c. Understand verbal instructions.
d. Solve arithmetic problems

20. An experimenter flashes the word HERON across the visual

field of a man whose corpus callosum has been severed. HER is
transmitted to his right hemisphere and ON to his left hemisphere.
When asked to indicate what he saw, the man

a. says he saw HER but points to ON.

b. Says he saw ON but points to HER.
c. Says he saw HERON but points to her.
d. Says he saw HERON but points to ON.

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 21. Failure to see visible objects when our attention is occupied
elsewhere is called

a. parallel processing
b. awareness unconsciousness.
c. Inattentional blindness.
d. Subconscious processing.

22. Our body temperature tends to rise and fall in sync with a
biological clock, which is referred to as

a. the circadian rhythm.

b. Narcolepsy.
c. REM sleep,
d. Hypnagogic sensations.

23. The brain emits large, slow delta waves during the deepest
stage of sleep, called

a. stage 2.
b. Stage 4.
c. REM sleep.
d. Paradoxical sleep.

24. The tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep
deprivation is referred to as

a. paradoxical sleep.
b. Deep sleep.
c. REM rebound.
d. Slow-wave sleep.

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25. In interpreting dreams, Freud was most interested in their

a. information-processing function.
b. Physiological function.
c. Manifest content, or story line.
d. Latent content, or hidden meaning.

26. In family therapy, the therapist assumes that

a. Only one family member needs to change.

b. Each person’s actions trigger reactions from other family
members.
c. Dysfunctional families must improve their interactions or
give up their children.
d. All of these statements are true.

27. The most enthusiastic or optimistic view of the effectiveness of

psychotherapy comes from

a. Outcome research.
b. Randomized clinical trials.
c. Reports of clinicians and clients.
d. A government study of treatment for depression.
e. All of the above.

28. The three ingredients of evidence-based practice are

a. Research evidence, clinical expertise, and knowledge of the

patient.
b. Hope, a fresh perspective, and a caring relationship.
c. Biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences.
d. The client, the clinician, and their shared values.

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29. An approach that seeks to identify and alleviate conditions that
put people at high risk for developing psychological disorders is
called
a. Deep-brain stimulation
b. The mood-stabilizing perspective.
c. Spontaneous recovery.
d. Preventive mental health.

30. If we encounter a person who appears to be high on drugs, and

we make the fundamental attribution error, we probably attribute
the person’s behavior to

a. Moral weakness or an addictive personality.

b. Peer pressure.
c. The easy availability of drugs on city streets.
d. Society’s acceptance of drug use.

31. Researchers have found that a person is most likely to conform

to a group if

a. The group members have diverse opinions

b. The person feels competent and secure.
c. The person admires the group’s status.
d. No one else will observe the person’s behavior.
e. All of the above.

32. When people are part of a group working toward a common

goal, their individual efforts are diminished. Latane and his
colleagues called this
a. Minority influence
b. Social facilitation.
c. Social loafing.
d. Group polarization.

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33. When we are frustrated, prejudice provides an outlet for our
anger and gives us someone to blame. This effect is best described
by

a. Ingroup bias
b. Scapegoat theory
c. Vivid-case theory
d. The just-world phenomenon
e. All of the above

34. Studies show that parents of delinquent young people tend to

use beatings to enforce discipline. This demonstrates that
aggression can be

a. Learned through direct rewards.

b. Triggered by exposure to violent media.
c. Learned through observation of aggressive models.
d. Caused by hormonal changes at puberty.
e. All of the above.

35.The mere exposure effect helps explain why proximity is a

powerful predictor of friendship and marriage, and why, for
example, people tend to marry someone

a. About as attractive as themselves.

b. Who lives or works nearby.
c. With whom they enjoy self-disclosure.
d. With whom they have an equitable relationship.
e. Experience triggers that rapid development and production of
human growth hormones.

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36. Social psychologists have attempted to define the
circumstances that facilitate conflict resolution. One way of
resolving conflicts and fostering cooperation is by giving rival
groups superordinate goals, which are

a. The goals of friendly competition.

b. Shared goals that override differences.
c. Goals for winning at negotiations.
d. Goals for increasing conflict through reduced contact.
e. Cultural norms.
f. Collectivist influences.

37. The bystander effect states that a particular bystander is less

likely to give aid if

a. The victim is similar to the bystander in appearance.

b. No one else is present.
c. Other people are present.
d. The incident occurs in a deserted or rural area.
e. duty to family; personal fulfillment

38. Aggression is influenced by biology at the genetic, neural, and

biochemical levels. Evidence of a biochemical influence on
aggression is the finding that

a. aggressive behavior varies widely from culture by culture.

b. Animals can be bred for aggressiveness.
c. Stimulation of an area of the brain’s limbic system produces
aggressive behavior.
d. A higher-than-average level of hormone testosterone is
associated with violent behavior in males.
e. differ; different ethnic groups

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39.We tend to agree to a larger request more readily if we have
already agreed to a small request. This tendency is called

a. the fundamental attribution error

b. the foot-in the door phenomenon
c. the behavior-follows-attitudes principle.
d. Role-playing.

40. The hour before sleep is a good time to memorize information

because going to sleep after learning new material minimizes
a. the misinformation effect
b. proactive interference
c. source amnesia
d. repression
e. retroactive interference

41.We may recognize a face in the crowd but unable to recall

where we know the person from. This is an example of

a. the misinformation effect.

b. Proactive interference
c. Source amnesia
d. Repression

42.A concept is

a. a mental grouping of similar things

b. an example of insight
c. a fixation on certain characteristics
d. a representativeness heuristic

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 43. The most systematic procedure for solving a problem is a (n)

a. heuristic
b. algorithm
c. insight
d. intuition

44. Children reach the one-word stage of speech development at

about

a. 4 months
b. 6 months
c. 1 year
d. 2 years

45. According to Chomsky, children are born with a readiness to

learn the grammatical rules of language, and all they need to
acquire language is

a. instruction in grammar
b. exposure to some language in early childhood
c. reinforcement for babbling and other early verbal behaviors
d. imitation and drill

46. Most researchers agree that apes can

a. communicate through symbols

b. reproduce most human speech sounds
c. master language in adulthood
d. surpass a human 3-year-old in language skills

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 47. Sternberg’s three aspects of intelligence are

a. spatial, academic, and artistic

b. musical, athletic, and academic
c. academic, practical, and creative
d. emotional, practical, and spatial

48. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a creative

person?

a. expertise
b. extrinsic motivation
c. a venturesome personality
d. imaginative thinking skills

49. The environmental influence that has the clearest, most

profound effect on intellectual development is

a. being enrolled in a Head Start program

b. growing up in an economically disadvantaged home or
neighborhood
c. being raised in conditions of extreme deprivation
d. being an identical twin

50. In drive-reduction theory, the maintenance of a balanced

internal state is called

a. instinct
b. pursuit of stimulation
c. a hierarchy of needs
d. homeostasis

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