PSY 100: Practice/Review Questions for Test #1

1. Tracey has been unable to participate in her gymnastics class and is very uncoordinated since she was involved in an
accident where she suffered a head injury. As a result of the accident, she was likely to have suffered damage to her
___________________.
a) cerebellum
b) medulla
c) hypothalamus
d) amygdala

2. Participants in research early in psychology’s history might have been asked to view a chair and describe its color,
shape and texture, trying to break down conscious experience into its simplest elements. These individuals would have
been using a method called ____________.
a) hypnosis
b) introspection
c) psychoanalysis
d) structural integrity

3. Which of the following is a likely effect of damage to the hypothalamus?

a) reduced use of left arm
b) deregulation of hormones
c) development of aphasia
d) reduced ability to reason

4. The class is playing a game of Jeopardy! and it is your turn. “I’ll take Pioneers in Psychology for $50.” The revealed
answer is “Focused on unconscious factors.” Just before the buzzer sounds, what will you say?
a) “Who is B. F. Skinner?”
b) “Who are the humanists?”
c) “Who is Sigmund Freud?”
d) “Who are the behaviorists?”

5. LaKeisha stepped on a piece of glass and quickly pulled her foot away from that sharp object. Which of the following
are responsible for sending a message to the muscles in LaKeisha’s foot, resulting in her pulling her foot away from the
piece of glass?
a) interneurons
b) motor neurons
c) sensory neurons
d) parietal lobe neurons

6. Sally proposes the idea that one’s sexual history prior to marriage may be linked to whether or not one ends up
getting divorced. This best represents which step of the scientific method?
a) designing study to test hypothesis
b) formulating theory
c) reporting the findings
d) forming a hypothesis

7. Julie finds that the number of hours she sleeps each night is related to the scores she receives on quizzes the next day.
As her sleep approaches 8 hours, her quiz scores improve; as her sleep drops to 5 hours, her quiz scores show a similar
decline. Julie realizes that _______________________.
a) there is a positive correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grade
b) her low quiz scores are caused by sleep deprivation the night before a quiz
c) there is a negative correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grade
d) she should sleep about 10 hours a night to ensure 100 percent quiz grades
8. What are two majors roles of glial cells?
a) acting as insulation and providing structure to surrounding neurons
b) shaping cells and moving new neurons into place
c) regulating metabolic activity and serving as pain detectors
d) monitoring neural transmission and releasing hormones in the brain

9. How our minds help us adapt to the world around us was a primary question addressed by which early movement in
psychology?
a) behaviorism
b) psychodynamic
c) structuralism
d) functionalism

10. __________________ plays a role as a neurotransmitter that stimulates muscles to contract.

a) GABA
b) Dopamine
c) Acetylcholine
d) Endorphin

11. As Molly is walking across campus, a car swerves toward her. Her heart races and sweat breaks out as she jumps
out of harm’s way. This mobilization of energy is due to the action of Molly’s _______________ nervous system.
a) somatic
b) skeletal
c) parasympathetic
d) sympathetic

12. Professor Wenches approaches questions about human behavior from a perspective that emphasizes unconscious
processes within the individual, such as inner forces and conflicts. It is most likely that she accepts which of the
following psychological approaches?
a) social-cognitive
b) psychodynamic
c) learning
d) humanistic

13. The state during which a neuron contains more negatively charged ions inside the cell than outside the cell and is
not firing is referred to as the ________________.
a) action potential
b) quiet potential
c) synaptic potential
d) resting potential

14. In a laboratory, smokers are asked to “drive” using a computerized driving simulator equipped with a stick shift and
a gas pedal. The object is to maximize the distance covered by driving as fast as possible on a winding road while
avoiding rear-end collisions. Some of the participants smoke a real cigarette immediately before climbing into the
driver’s seat. Others smoke a fake cigarette without nicotine. You are interested in comparing how many collisions the
two groups have. In this study, the independent variable is _____________________.
a) the use of a driving simulator
b) the number of collisions
c) the use of nicotine
d) the driving skills of each driver
15. Josh has been participating in a clinical study by a cognitive neuroscientist. It is likely that his brain is being studied
to explore _________________.
a) memory
b) thinking
c) other cognitive processes
d) all of the above

16. A college student is having difficulty staying awake during the day and sleeping through the night. Her difficulties
are MOST likely due to problems in the ________________.
a) hippocampus
b) pons
c) medulla
d) cerebellum

17. After a head injury a person reports that she is unable to see, although her eyes are uninjured. A doctor would
suspect an injury in the ____________ lobe.
a) occipital
b) temporal
c) pariental
d) frontal

18. The two main divisions of the nervous system are the _________________ and ________________________.
a) brain; spinal cord
b) autonomic; somatic
c) glands; muscles
d) peripheral nervous system; central nervous system

19. You are watching sleep researchers monitor the sleep of a normal adult. The participant is hooked up to an EEG.
What brain waves would you observe as the person becomes drowsy and then enters the first stage of sleep?
a) alpha waves
b) beta waves
c) delta waves
d) theta waves

20. Jim is 56 years old and slightly overweight. His wife reports that he snores loudly. What sleep disorder seems likely
to fit Jim’s symptoms?
a) narcolepsy
b) cataplexy
c) REM sleep disorder
d) sleep apnea