1. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why is Matilda struggling to play an instrument that she has not played for many years? Predict the Answer: Think about what type of memory phenomenon is at play here, and note Matilda’s age. Teenagers strengthen neural connections for activities in which they continue to engage, but these connections weaken with disuse (“pruning”). There is no indication of learning another instrument or anything else that would “interfere” with her prior knowledge, so (B) and (D) do not apply. She has not altered her memory, so (A) is out. This is not a situation in which she recalls information, but cannot recall from what source she received it, so (E) does not apply.
2. D
Choice (D) is the correct definition. Choice (A) is what Alzheimer’s does. Choice (B) is sensory adaptation. Choice (C) is satiety. Choice (E) is hyperthyroidism.
3. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which kind of scientist emphasizes the importance of culture? Predict the Answer: Culture should mean anthropology to you. If not, get reviewing, and use POE. Are structuralists, (A), the kind of scientists that emphasize culture? Even if you don’t remember what structuralists are, the name does not imply culture. If you are completely unfamiliar with (B), leave it and move on. Choice (C), sociobiologists, may throw you, but (D), behaviorists, should be one you can easily eliminate. When you plug in (E), anthropologists, it should jog your memory. Remember, this is only the third question on the exam and the questions often start off easier and then get increasingly difficult, so keep it simple, and go for the easier choice.
4. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Culturally based versus psychologically based? Predict the Answer: Look for something that is not considered “innate.” Is (A), caring for one’s children, cultural? It seems that most cultures do it in some form, but if you are unsure, leave it. Choice (B), arriving on time for work, is not something that is done in every culture, so this looks good. Choices (C), having the desire to reproduce, and (D), seeking food and water, are primary drives present in all cultures, and (E), smiling, has also been found as a universal facial expression. Choice (B) is clearly something that occurs only in time-oriented cultures.
5. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which of the following means “reward after specific number of purchases”? Predict the Answer: Fixed-ratio. If you don’t remember, anything like “fixed number” will get you to your answer using POE. Get rid of (A), variable-ratio, and (B), variable-interval, because they are variable, and (E), continuous, because you are not being continuously rewarded. Choice (C), fixed-ratio, refers to a ratio or number, whereas (D), fixed-interval, refers to interval or time.
6. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle neurotransmitters and pleasure. Predict the Answer: Dopamine. If you don’t remember, use POE to get rid of the ones you do recognize. Is (A), GABA, associated with pleasure? No, so cross it off. Is (B), acetylcholine, associated with pleasure? No, it has something to do with memory. Choice (C), serotonin, may throw you off, so leave it if you are unsure. Choice (E), adrenaline, is not a neurotransmitter, so cross it off.
7. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: What in the teacher’s behavior may have caused the girls to perform so badly? Predict the Answer: This is an example of a stereotype (that girls are bad at math) and it’s not a positive thing, so it cannot be a boost. Telling a group of people that it is expected to underperform other groups on a task may produce a self-fulfilling prophecy. Choice (C) is the opposite: telling the group that it is expected to do particularly well. Choices (B) and (E) are obstacles to effective problem-solving because they cause people to ignore base rates.
8. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: What in this study is making the psychologist’s research impossible to accurately interpret? Predict the Answer: She gives the test in the morning at one school and in the afternoon at another. If you missed this point, use your definition of confounding variable to evaluate each answer choice. Is (A), the fact that the research is done at two different schools, a potential problem with the study? No, that is part of what she is comparing. Is (B), the fact that she is comparing the same grade, a potential problem? Definitely not. Is (C), the fact that the students are tested at different times, a potential problem? Bingo. Is (D), the fact that she is testing the students on the same day, a potential problem? No. Is (E), the fact that she is administering a basic skills exam, a potential problem? No.
9. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Developmental psychologists do what kind of research? Predict the Answer: Cross-sectional research. If you don’t know this, review Chapter 6. Use POE to eliminate the rest of the choices.
10. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: How do narcotics work? Predict the Answer: They imitate endorphins. If you are not sure exactly how they work but know they imitate a chemical substance in the brain, use POE. Do narcotics imitate (A), endorphins? Endorphins are chemicals in the brain that have to do with pleasure, so this could be it. Do narcotics imitate (B), hormones? This is less likely because hormones are secreted throughout the body and for a wide variety of purposes. Cross it off. Do narcotics imitate (C), secretions? What secretions? Too broad, so cross it off. Do narcotics imitate (D), GABA? This is a specific neurotransmitter—too specific to be the thing that all narcotics imitate. Cross it off. Choice (E), acetylcholine, can also be eliminated on these grounds. The answer must be (A).
11. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Someone will be more likely to recall a list of positive words if…Predict the Answer: S/he was in a positive frame of mind while hearing the words. Use POE: does (A), the researcher exhibiting a positive mood, mean the same thing as the participant being in a positive frame of mind? No, so cross it off. Does (B), the participant being in a positive mood, mean the same thing as the participant being in a positive frame of mind? Yup. Does (C), the participant considering himself a positive person regardless of his mood during the experience, mean the same thing as the participant being in a positive frame of mind during the experience? No. Does (D), the participant considering the initial testing experience positive, mean the same thing as the participant having a positive frame of mind during the experience? Careful—it doesn’t mean the same thing. Cross it off. Does (E), the participant perceiving the list of words as positive regardless of the true meaning of the words, mean the same thing as the participant being in a positive frame of mind during the experience? No, plus you know that the words are positive. Cross it off. Your answer must be (B).
12. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle minimum amount of physical energy. Predict the Answer: Absolute threshold. If you don’t remember, use POE. Would (A), JND (just noticeable difference), be the amount of energy needed to notice a stimulus? No, the JND involves noticing the difference between two stimuli. Cross it off. The same is true of (B), difference threshold. Choices (D), median difference, and (E), hit threshold, are both made-up terms, and sound like it.
13. D
The frontal lobes are involved with decision-making, planning, and emotional regulation, so (A), (B), (C), and (E) are all problems that Gage had. The frontal lobes are not a specific repository of memories.
14. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle medulla oblongata. The medulla oblongata is critical for basic life functions, such as respiration. Predict the Answer: If the medulla oblongata is destroyed, it’s all over. If you don’t remember, you can probably still get rid of a few choices with POE. Choices (C) and (D) involve speech and vision, which are clearly tied to other areas of the brain. Be sure to review the major components of the brain if you missed this item.
15. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which system prepares the body for fight or flight? Predict the Answer: Sympathetic nervous system. If you have trouble remembering if it’s the sympathetic, (D), or parasympathetic, (E), try this mnemonic: the sympathetic nervous system is sympathetic to your problems, so it responds. POE should have gotten rid of (A), the central nervous system, (B), the somatic nervous system, and (C), the sensorimotor nervous system, even if you couldn’t remember whether it was (D) or (E).
16. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which aspect of this study is the independent variable? Predict the Answer: The placement of the bottle of milk. The milk is being moved back and forth to see if the monkeys attach to the food or to the mothers. In other words, the milk is being manipulated to see what response will occur—it is therefore the independent variable. If you don’t remember, POE your way to the answer using your common sense. In (B), why would the independent variable be the wire mother versus the cloth mother? Choices (D) and (E) are essentially the same answer, so they can’t be right, and (C), (D), and (E) all talk about preferences, meaning responses, meaning dependent variables. Choice (A) has to be it.
17. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Cats that were allowed to see through only one eye at a time will have what kind of vision problems? Predict the Answer: Using both eyes together. Which answer choice means using both eyes together? Binocular vision. Choice (D) is the only answer that mentions binocular cues. Choice (A), interposition depth perception, would be hard to evaluate in a cat, as would be (B), perceptual constancy. Be careful of (C)—just because it mentions left and right doesn’t mean it contains the full answer; it is still talking about monocular cues. Choice (E) would again be hard to evaluate because it involves perception.
18. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle the words control group, and then go to the experiment and label the control group. Predict the Answer: Because the study is about the effects of music on memory, the second group, which had no music, is the control group. Use POE to get rid of the other choices.
19. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle dependent variable; then go find it. Predict the Answer: The dependent variable is the thing being tested, so the number of words recalled is the dependent variable. Use POE to get rid of the other choices.
20. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Who is most often diagnosed with ADHD? Predict the Answer: Boys. This is something you should know. Don’t get sucked in by overly detailed answers such as (D) or (E).
21. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle psychoanalytic. Predict the Answer: Psychoanalytic = Freud = unconscious forces. Use POE: Does (A), unconscious forces, mean unconscious forces? Yup. Does (B), response to external reward and punishment, mean unconscious forces? No. Does (C), product of genetic programming, mean unconscious forces? No. Does (D), compilation of the ways in which people think and interact, mean unconscious forces? Not really, so cross it off. Does (E), each person’s striving to reach full potential, mean unconscious forces? Not necessarily. The answer must be (A).
22. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle categorical. Categorical versus continuous. Predict the Answer: Something that is an either/or versus an ongoing kind of trait. Use POE. Is (A), intelligence, an either/or? No, it is more of an ongoing trait. Cross it off. Is (B), disposition, an either/or? No. Is (C), optimism, an either/or? Careful, it is not true that you must be either optimistic or pessimistic. It is more of a continuum. Cross it off. Is (D), gender, an either/or? Yes, in most cases you are either male or female. Is (E), personality, an either/or? No.
23. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: The fact that she didn’t see alternative uses for the paper is known as…Predict the Answer: Functional fixedness. Choices (B), (D), and (E) are made up, and (A), confirmation bias, refers to something else.
24. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: What was Elise doing to remember the number? Predict the Answer: Rehearsing it over and over. Use POE. Because you know she is rehearsing, you can get rid of (A), (C), and (E). Does it seem like a rehearsal that is elaborative or based on maintenance? Your answer must be (D), maintenance rehearsal.
25. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: The serial position curve has to do with the positions of the words in regard to recall. Which of the words would the person be most likely to forget, given the position of the word in the list? Predict the Answer: The serial position phenomenon actually says people tend to forget items in the middle of a list, so the answer must be (E), license, because it is in the center of the list.
26. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle smallest unit. Predict the Answer: Morphemes. If you don’t remember, use POE to get rid of (B), phenotypes, and (E), syntactical rules.
27. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle abnormally elevated or expansive mood. Which disorder involves extreme happiness or “bigness”? Predict the Answer: Mania. If you don’t remember, use POE. Does (A), depression, manifest itself in extreme happiness? No. Does (B), schizophrenia, manifest itself in extreme happiness? Extreme happiness is not a defining characteristic of schizophrenia. Does (C), euphoria, manifest itself in extreme happiness? Yes, but is it a disorder? Be careful—this response is a trap. Does (D), dysthymia, manifest itself in extreme happiness? If you don’t know, leave it. Does (E), mania, manifest itself in extreme happiness? Yes. Your answer is (E).
28. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which hormone is essential for sleep regulation? Predict the Answer: Melatonin. If you don’t remember, use POE. Is (A), estrogen, essential for sleep regulation? No. Cross it off. Is (B), adrenaline, essential for sleep regulation? No. Is (C), testosterone, essential for sleep regulation? No. Is (D), melatonin, essential for sleep regulation? If you don’t remember, leave it. Is (E), dopamine, essential for sleep regulation? No, and it’s not a hormone. The answer has to be (D).
29. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: How does Jacob’s mother influence his behavior? Predict the Answer: She gives in to his demands, thereby reinforcing his behavior. The other terms (associated, extinguished, shaped) are all relevant to learning theory, but not relevant to answering this question.
30. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle the words reinforcement and learning. Both of these terms mean you want to modify behavior. Predict the Answer: B. F. Skinner is the only behaviorist in this list. If you don’t remember his name, use POE to get rid of the ones you know are not behaviorists: (A), Freud, (C), Rogers, (D), Ainsworth, and (E), Darwin.
31. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle 97th percentile. Which of the choices is a pretty high, but not the highest, IQ score? Predict the Answer: 130s. If you don’t know, use your common sense and POE. Choices (A), 85, and (B), 100, are definitely too low. Choice (C), 130, is considered very high but not extreme. Choices (D), 150, and (E), 170, are rare, more like the 99th percentile.
32. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle Pavlov. What was Pavlov’s big discovery? Predict the Answer: While experimenting with dogs, he discovered that they would salivate at the sight and sound of the person bringing their food, even before eating their food. This fact led Pavlov to discover classical conditioning. Because you know he experimented with dogs, get rid of (A), (C), and (D). Choice (B) is the answer closest to yours.
33. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which concept relates to grounding someone for misbehaving? Predict the Answer: It’s a form of punishment. Choices (A) and (E) are irrelevant to learning theory, and (C) is made up. Only (B) and (D) are concepts of learning theory, and only (B) fits the prediction. Choice (B) is the correct answer.
34. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why do people stay aroused after an emergency? Predict the Answer: Adrenaline is still in their blood. Use POE. Cross off both (A) and (B) because they deal with neurons. Choice (A) is also a false statement—neurons do not remain graded after they fire. Watch out for (C): adrenal glands do secrete epinephrine but they would not continue to do so after the crisis has passed. This is the trap answer. Be sure to read each choice completely. Choice (D) is false because it is the sympathetic system that puts the body in a state of fight or flight. Choice (E) is the closest to your answer.
35. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which system returns the body to normal after an emergency? Predict the Answer: Parasympathetic nervous system. Choices (B), peripheral nervous system, and (E), central nervous system, are not part of the autonomic system. Remember our mnemonic for distinguishing between (C) and (D): the sympathetic nervous system is sympathetic to your stress, so it responds.
36. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Tina’s teacher is shocked at her bad driving because…Predict the Answer: Tina is always good—halo effect. If you don’t remember the term, use POE. Does (A), modeling, mean always being perceived as good? No, cross it off. Does (B), accommodation, mean always being perceived as good? No. Does (C), halo effect, mean always being perceived as good? Sounds like it. Does (D), convergence, mean always being perceived as good? No. Does (E), behavioral dissonance, mean always being perceived as good? No. The answer must be (C).
37. C
This is where wave energy is transformed into a nerve impulse, so the correct answer is (C).
38. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why don’t you notice the way a bakery smells after a while? Predict the Answer: Adaptation. You get used to the smell, and your senses don’t pay attention to it as much because it is constant and not a critical piece of information. Use POE to get rid of (A), (C), and (D) because they wouldn’t explain why you would no longer notice the aroma. Choice (E) is not a real psychological term.
39. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: If Carlotta is so well-adjusted, what’s her family’s parenting style? Predict the Answer: Authoritative. This parenting style generally seems to be the most effective. The parents set rules and expectations, but they are not completely domineering. Even if you don’t remember the term, you know the style is structured but not overbearing. Use POE to get rid of (A), (B), and (E). Watch out for (C)—it is the trap. Authoritarian parents are domineering, which can be unhealthy for children.
40. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle semicircular canals. What do they do? Predict the Answer: Help a person maintain his/her balance. If you don’t remember, use POE. Could the semicircular canals of the inner ear help maintain (A), tone quality? Maybe. Leave and check the others. Could the semicircular canals of the inner ear help maintain (B), melatonin? No, melatonin involves sleep regulation. Cross it off. Could the semicircular canals of the inner ear help maintain (C), balance? Hopefully this answer reminds you of the connection between the ear and balance. Could the semicircular canals of the inner ear help maintain (D), olfaction? No, olfaction is smell. Could the semicircular canals of the inner ear help maintain (E), transduction? Although transduction occurs in the inner ear, that is not the purpose of the semicircular canals.
41. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why does the shape seem the same even though sensory information changes? Predict the Answer: You have to account for experience and expectation of constancy. Because we’re talking about the door being rectangular, it is (C), shape constancy, and not (A), color constancy, or (D), size constancy.
42. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle norepinephrine receptors. What happens when they are stimulated? Predict the Answer: A person experiences increased alertness. Does (A), euphoria, mean increased alertness? No. Cross it off. Does (B), increased motor activity, mean increased alertness? No. Does (C), alertness, mean increased alertness? Yup. Does (D), anxiety, mean increased alertness? Not exactly. Does (E), hypertension, mean increased alertness? No.
43. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle visual cliff. This is a study in which infants are subjected to an optical illusion of a drop. Predict the Answer: The infants won’t crawl into the area that looks like a drop. You need to read all the choices and compare them, if you don’t remember visual-cliff studies. POE should get rid of (C) and (D) as very unlikely. Choice (B) is the most probable.
44. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which of the answers is NOT one of the conditions of the APA (American Psychological Association) regarding deception? Be careful—four of the five answer choices here are “right,” while only one is “wrong.” Predict the Answer: A study must be very important, unable to be done without deception, not objectionable to the participant, and it must both allow a participant to stop at any time and inform the participant at the end of the study. Cross off any answer that matches these. The one remaining is your answer.
45. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: What is the mind versus body problem called? Predict the Answer: Mind-body problem. Don’t make it harder than it is. This is only a medium question.
46. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle behaviorism. Predict the Answer: Behaviorists believe that behavior is the result of learning and consequences. Find an answer that exemplifies this tenet, and use POE. “Introspection” makes (B) wrong. Choice (C) is psychodynamic, (D) is almost the opposite, and (E) is way off.
47. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle knowledge and information processing. Who cares about how knowledge and information processing interact? Predict the Answer: Cognitive psychologists. Use your knowledge to get rid of the other four choices.
48. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Who studies psychological development through the life span? Predict the Answer: Developmental psychologists. If you don’t remember, use what you know to POE. Do (A), psychometricians, study people throughout the life span? No. Cross it off. Do occupational psychologists, (B), study people throughout the life span? No, they study occupations. Do developmental psychologists, (C), study people throughout the life span? Yes, as people develop. Do social psychologists, (D), study people throughout the life span? Not necessarily. Do cognitive behaviorists, (E), study people throughout the life span? No.
49. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: If a relationship shown in a sample can be generalized so as to apply to the population from which it was taken, you can say the relationship is…Predict the Answer: Generalizable. Use your work to POE the other choices. Reliability, (A), refers to whether a test produces consistent results, not whether the results themselves are valid, so you can eliminate this choice, as well as (D). Validity, on the other hand, deals with those conclusions. External validity, (B), specifically refers to whether results can be generalized to deal with situations outside the sample or test conditions. Internal validity, (C), looks only at whether a casual relationship can be drawn between the tested variables, and can be eliminated, along with (E), which is looking for correlation, not behavior.
50. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: What makes this study reliable? The methodology used involves researchers evaluating various behavior patterns of children. Therefore, the evaluators need to do an unbiased, accurate job. Predict the Answer: Inter-rater reliability. Use POE if you don’t remember the term. Choices (A) and (B) are made-up terms. Does (C), inter-rater reliability, address the accuracy of the evaluators? Yes. Does (D), test-retest reliability, address the accuracy of the evaluators? No. Does (E), correlational statistical reliability, address the accuracy of the evaluators? No.
51. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: What area of the brain regulates hunger and eating? Predict the Answer: Hypothalamus. If you don’t remember, use POE. Does (A), the somatosensory cortex, regulate hunger and eating? Probably not—it is a cortex and somehow involves “sensory” stuff, and hunger is a primary drive. Cross this off. Does (C), the medulla oblongata, regulate hunger and eating? Probably not, because you know it is a part of vital organ functioning. Do the occipital lobes, (D), regulate hunger and eating? No, they involve vision. Does (E), the amygdala, regulate hunger and eating? No, it is involved in emotions. The answer must be (B).
52. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: How does the method of loci memory aid work? Predict the Answer: Loci is plural for locus, which means place. With this aid, you associate new material with places you’re familiar with, like places in your house. So you have to imagine these spaces, or visualize them. Use POE. Does (A), semantic encoding, mean visualization? No. Cross it off. Does (B), visual imagery, mean visualization? Yes. Does (C), auditory cues, mean visualization? No. Does (D), echoic memory, mean visualization? No, it also means auditory (think echo). Does (E), read, recite, review, mean visualization? No.
53. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which helps determine if the findings of a study mean something or if they were a fluke? Predict the Answer: Inferential statistics. If you don’t remember, use POE to evaluate the answer choices. Could (A), inferential statistics, help determine if the findings of a study mean something? They help to infer stuff, so probably. Keep it, and read the others. Could (B), descriptive statistics, help determine if the findings of a study mean something? They only describe, so probably not. Cross it off. Could (C), standard deviation, help determine if the findings of a study mean something? Cross it off. Same goes for (D), extraneous variables. Could (E), correlation coefficients, help determine if the findings of a study mean something? No, so the answer must be (A).
54. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: When there is rapid eye movement, what sleep cycle are you in? Predict the Answer: rapid eye movement points directly to (C), REM sleep. You can immediately eliminate all the other choices.
55. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which gland is called the master gland? Predict the Answer: Pituitary gland. If you don’t remember, use POE to get rid of (B) and (E) because they are not glands. You also know that (D), adrenal gland, isn’t responsible for much more than adrenaline, so cross it off, too.
56. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: What types of mistakes do all children make when learning language? Predict the Answer: They learn to use the rules of grammar, but they apply them too generally. Use POE. It must be (C), overgeneralization.
57. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: What does a researcher have to do to show that one thing causes another? Predict the Answer: Show that manipulating one variable consistently leads to changes in another variable. Use POE to find the answer that is closest to yours. Choice (A) is unethical, and (B) and (C) would do nothing to show causation. Regarding (E), remember that correlation does not mean causation!
58. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle learned helplessness. This means being helpless because you believe you are helpless. Predict the Answer: It’s a result of expectation. If you don’t remember the term expectation, use POE. Could (A), expectation, lead to being helpless simply because you believe you are helpless? Yes—your expectations determine your ability. Could (B), positive reinforcement, lead to being helpless simply because you believe you are helpless? This doesn’t make sense, and neither does (C), negative reinforcement. Could (D), classical conditioning, lead to being helpless simply because you believe you are helpless? No—there is no classical conditioning involved. Could (E), prepared learning, lead to being helpless simply because you believe you are? This doesn’t make sense. The answer must be (A).
59. B
Jose demonstrates characteristics of the Preoperational stage, including the fact that he has yet to learn principles of conservation of matter. Choice (C) is not a stage in Piaget’s theory. Choice (A) involves infants and toddlers who are just learning to walk and talk. Choice (D) is the stage during which children learn principles of conservation. Choice (E) is the stage when children become capable of abstract and higher-level thinking.
60. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Georgia is motivated by internal issues or emotions, while Kathy is motivated by money. How are these motivations different? Predict the Answer: Georgia is motivated intrinsically; that is, she is rewarded by the work itself. Kathy is motivated extrinsically; that is, by an external reward—money. If you don’t remember the terms, use POE. Choice (A), primary and secondary drives, doesn’t make sense, so cross it off. Choice (B), positive and negative loci of control, also doesn’t address the internal versus external motivations. Choice (C), sympathetic and autonomic motivation, are made-up terms, and (D), instinctive and derived drives, refer to basic drives, not social motivations.
61. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle depression. What chemicals in the brain are involved in depression? Predict the Answer: Depression should make you think “serotonin.” If it doesn’t, use POE to get rid of a few choices. Get rid of (A) and (D) due to elevated levels (not likely with depression). Review disorders and their relationship to chemicals in the brain.
62. A
Deindividuation applies to situations of high arousal and low perceived personal identification, when individuals might succumb to mob mentality. Choice (B) involves group members becoming more extreme in their preexisting views as time goes on. Choice (C) occurs in a group that prizes consensus over free exchange of competing views. Choice (D) involves performing better when other people are around. Choice (E) involves people forming more positive views of something simply because they have encountered it repeatedly.
63. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why do the pigeons not peck at other artists’ paintings? Predict the Answer: Stimulus discrimination. They peck at the one they have learned and can distinguish from the others. With this information, use POE to cross off (A), modeling response, (B), reflexive response, and (D), stimulus generalization, because it is the opposite idea.
64. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: She recalls the book by also recalling the lunch. What type of memory is she calling up? Predict the Answer: Episodic memory. She relates the memory to a recent episode. Use POE to get rid of the other four choices.
65. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Converting physical energy into neural impulses is called. Predict the Answer: Transduction. If you don’t remember, use POE. Choice (A), sensation, is out because it involves only detection of energy, not conversion. The same is true of (E), detection. You can also eliminate (D), encoding, because it is not involved in energy conversion.
66. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: A person is shown something. Later, she is shown incomplete information related to the first thing she was shown. The experimenter watches to see if she recognizes the incomplete information more quickly than usual. In other words, does the fact that she saw related stimuli make identifying the second set easier? Predict the Answer: The researcher is studying the effects of priming. If you don’t remember the term, use POE. Cross off (B) because no mnemonic devices are used. Choice (C), declarative memory, is out because it deals with retrieved and “declared” information. Choice (D), iconic memory, is out because we don’t know if these are visual images or other types of information.
67. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: What did Binet study? Predict the Answer: Binet = intelligence. He studied intellectual potential in children. Knowing he studied intelligence and not personality will help you cross off (C) through (E). Then take a smart guess. You know he developed some kind of test, and most intelligence testing is done on children. Choice (B) is your smart guess.
68. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle fluid intelligence. Fluid, as in real-time, flexible information-processing intelligence, versus crystallized intelligence, as in acquired factual knowledge. Which of the subjects involves real-time, flexible intelligence? Predict the Answer: Problem-solving. All the others require primarily crystallized intelligence.
69. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle repression. Repression means keeping stressful thoughts out of conscious awareness. Predict the Answer: Repression is a defense mechanism that keeps anxiety-producing information out of conscious awareness for our protection. Use POE to find the answer that is closest to yours. Choice (A) is the definition of passive aggression, (B) is transference, and (D) is rationalization. Choice (E) doesn’t make any sense—people can’t describe what is unconscious.
70. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which answer shows that genetics, as opposed to environment, has a direct effect on intelligence? Predict the Answer: Find an answer that shows genes/biology as more important than environment. Use POE. Choices (B) and (C) say the opposite. Choice (D) also would not support genetics. In (A), fraternal twins have the same average genetic similarity as parents and their offspring, so this answer does not support genetics. The answer must be (E).
71. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle negative symptoms. Remember that “negative” means the absence of something. Predict the Answer: Lack of normal emotional responses. If you don’t remember, POE will get rid of all the other choices because each describes the presence, not the absence, of something.
72. C
The Yerkes-Dodson law posits that, for most people, most of the time, in most activities, a moderate level of arousal is best. Choice (A) is about sequencing of emotion and physiological arousal. Choice (B) is about when children become capable of abstract thinking. Choice (D) is about how people tolerate stress. Choice (E) is about different types of intelligence.
73. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle heritability. In other words, inherited. Another question about genetics over environment. Predict the Answer: The monozygotic (identical) twins will be more similar than the dizygotic (fraternal) twins. If you don’t know the terms, POE and common sense will get rid of (D) and (E).
74. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle drive-reduction theories. Predict the Answer: Cross off all the answers that show a response that reduces a drive. The remaining choice will be the answer. In (A), Jerome is thirsty and quenches his thirst, thus satisfying his drive. Cross off this response. In (B), Ernest didn’t eat lunch, implying hunger, so he eats cookies, trying to reduce his hunger drive. Cross it off. In (C), Tish is not hungry, so she doesn’t eat. Although this is not drive reduction, it is not against natural drives. Leave it, and see if there is a better choice. In (D), Cameron is hungry and needs food, so she goes out of her way to get it. This is drive reduction, so cross it off. In (E), Kezia orders more food even though she is very full. This desire goes against drive reduction, so this is your answer.
75. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle Maslow and motives. Predict the Answer: Maslow theorized that needs are arranged hierarchically, from physiological needs to self-actualization needs. Use POE. Does (A), homeostatic regulation, have to do with hierarchy? No. Cross it off. Does (B), goal-setting, have to do with hierarchy? No. Does (C), expectancy-value, or (D), cognitive dissonance, have to do with hierarchy? No. Choice (E), hierarchy of needs, is it.
76. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle anterograde amnesia. Predict the Answer: Look for an example of someone who can’t form new memories. Get rid of (B) and (D) because they are clearly “after” memories. Choice (A) involves infantile amnesia, and (E) is an example of source amnesia.
77. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle classical conditioning. Predict the Answer: Find a choice that demonstrates a conditioned response to a stimulus. Choices (B), (C), and (D) are not conditioned responses. Beware of (E); it’s a trap because it uses rats and salivation, but notice that the rats salivate only after they begin to eat. Choice (A) demonstrates a conditioned fear response after experiencing an accident on the highway.
78. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Which will help you understand how a person or persons interpret the behavior of others? Predict the Answer: Attribution theory. Attribution theory addresses how one person or group attributes certain things to another person or group in order to understand the other person’s or group’s actions or behaviors. If you don’t remember this, use POE. Could (A), reinforcement theory, help explain how one group interprets the actions of another? Reinforcement has nothing to do with how groups interrelate. Cross it off. Could (B), classical behaviorism, help explain how one group interprets the actions of another? No. Could (C), attribution theory, help explain how one group interprets the actions of another? How they attribute things to others? Could be. Leave it. Could (D), hierarchy of needs, help explain how one group interprets the actions of another? No. Could (E), cognitive dissonance, help explain how one group interprets the actions of another? No. Your answer must be (C).
79. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: During which of Piaget’s stages of development do children develop symbolic and verbal representations? Predict the Answer: Preoperational. If you don’t remember, think about the age at which this behavior occurs. You may recall the order of the stages and their approximate ages: sensorimotor, ages zero to two; preoperational, ages two to seven; concrete operational, ages seven to twelve; formal operational, ages twelve and up. The development of language and symbolic thinking occurs between the ages of two and seven. Use POE to get rid of (A) because sensorimotor definitely does not imply symbolic thought and (C) because symbolic is not one of Piaget’s stages.
80. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle Kohlberg and third (postconventional) level. Predict the Answer: As “postconventional” implies, this stage of morality centers on carefully weighed principles that may or may not be conventional—they are determined by the individual. You may remember that Kohlberg posited only three stages, and this third one is the most advanced, so look for an answer that encompasses the most advanced form of moral thinking. Choices (A) and (B) illustrate the first or preconventional stage of development. Choices (C) and (D) represent the second or conventional stage of development.
81. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle order of auditory transmission. Predict the Answer: Use POE to assess the correct order based on what you know about this process.
82. E
This is Whorf’s theory: Thinking doesn’t just affect language—the language used affects thinking. The Behaviorist theory of language development is that children produce language that is reinforced. Chomsky’s theory is that people have an innate capacity for learning language rules, especially grammar. Selye’s theory involves stress. Schachter-Singer’s theory involves emotion.
83. C
According to Erikson, when looking back on their lives, elderly individuals hope to find that they have gained wisdom. Choice (A) applies to young adults, (B) to children in the three-to-six age range, (D) to children in the one-to-three range, and (E) to middle-aged adults.
84. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle Carl Rogers. How did he approach psychotherapy? Predict the Answer: Rogers believed in empathy and unconditional support that would promote self-discovery. If you don’t remember, you know that Rogers is a big name in psychology, so get rid of the clearly un-psychological answer choices—(B) and (E)—and (D), due to the “professional achievement” goal.
85. D
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle breathing-related sleep disorder. Predict the Answer: Apnea. Your clue is “breathing-related.” If you don’t remember, you can still cross off (B), (C), and (E) because they are not breathing-related.
86. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: What facial expressions are found in all cultures? Predict the Answer: List the ones you can think of: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise. Then use POE. You can also use POE to get rid of lists that have inappropriate choices: (A) is out because of “lust,” (C) is out because of “desire,” and (D) is out because of both “fight” and “flight.” “Indifference” is the problem with (B).
87. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle chemical sense. Predict the Answer: Find something that is a result of chemical interaction. Even if you don’t remember that taste is a chemical sense, use POE to get rid of the answers that are definitely physical properties: (A), (B), (D), and (E) are all physical or mechanical processes.
88. A
Understand the Question/Key Words: Who is most likely to become anorexic? Predict the Answer: List what you know about the typical anorexic: white female, teenager, usually good student, need for control. Then use POE. Because she is more likely to be Caucasian, get rid of (B), (C), and (E). Choice (D) is your trap answer—anorexia tends to afflict young women who seem confident and successful.
89. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle circadian rhythms and LEAST. Circadian rhythms involve sleep patterns. Four of the choices will show people who may work odd or night hours. Predict the Answer: Choose the profession that is a normal “day” job. That eliminates (A) through (D).
90. E
Cordelia has harnessed what might otherwise be socially unacceptable impulses and turned them into something positive. She has not imagined these impulses in other people, (A), treated someone the opposite of how she truly feels about him/her, (B), fully buried her traumatic experiences, (C), or denied those experiences, (D).
91. C
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why don’t you notice the changes in the statue as you view it from different places? Why does the image remain constant? Predict the Answer: Perceptual constancy. If you don’t remember the term, use POE and your common sense. Choice (E) is definitely out. Could (A), convergence, mean that the image remains constant? “Convergence” means coming together, so not really. Cross it off. The same is true of (D), interpositioning. You may not be sure about (B), motion parallax, but (C), perceptual constancy, makes the most sense because the image remains constant.
92. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle paradoxical sleep. Predict the Answer: A paradox is a statement that seems self-contradictory but is actually true. Choices (A), (B), (C), and (D) are properties of sleep, but no paradox is noted.
93. D
Broca’s area is responsible for the production of fluent speech. Choice (A) is about speech, but it is about comprehension and meaning rather than fluency. Choice (B) is responsible for consolidating memory in the brain. Choice (C) is the “fear center” in the brain. Choice (E) controls basic processes like breathing and swallowing.
94. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Inferring from an observation to a generalization is what kind of reasoning? Predict the Answer: Inductive reasoning. If you don’t remember, use POE where you can. Be careful on (A); deductive reasoning is something that can be clearly deduced, not inferred or probabilistic. Choice (D), statistical reasoning, is also out. Choices (C) and (E) are not the correct psychological terms.
95. B
Claudio has created a prototypical, or stereotypical, idea of an elderly person who is not interested in technology and this may conflict with the actual number of elderly individuals who are interested in his services. Choice (A) is also an obstacle, but it involves Claudio having more information about one group than others. Choice (C) involves being unable to see novel uses for familiar objects. Choice (D) is an attribution bias that causes people to view their own prospects too favorably. Choice (E) is an obstacle that involves seeking only evidence to support one’s predetermined views or ignoring evidence that conflicts with those views.
96. E
Understand the Question/Key Words: What’s the route visual information takes? Predict the Answer: Retina, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, and optic nerve. If you don’t remember, you probably know that transduction starts in the retina, so rods and cones are first. Cross off (A), (B), and (D). Rods and cones are in the retina, so that takes care of (C).
97. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle Rogers and view of personality. What did Rogers say about personality? Predict the Answer: Rogers believed in the goodness of the individual. If you are not sure, use POE. Cross off (A) because it is extreme and untrue (is that always the case?), and (C) is a behavioral explanation of personality. Choices (D) and (E) were not statements of Rogers.
98. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Circle acetylcholine. It’s related to what disease? Predict the Answer: Alzheimer’s. If you don’t remember, you may remember that dopamine is somehow tied to Parkinson’s, so you can cross off (A). If you have reviewed disorders enough, you will also know that it is not tied to (C), (D), or (E), so the answer must be (B).
99. B
Understand the Question/Key Words: Why do babies lack clear vision shortly after birth? Predict the Answer: Not all neural connections are in place at birth. If you don’t know, use POE to get rid of what you can. Choice (D) is way off (aqueous humor is in the eye). Glial cells do not detect messages so (E) is out, and myelination is a tight coat of lipids, so watch out for (C).
100. A
Choice (A) is the correct definition. None of the other choices applies. This is one of those questions for which only straight memorization will help you.
1. Essay number one is worth seven points. Points are given based on a student’s ability to explain behavior and apply theories and perspectives in authentic contexts. Each essay is unique, but here is our run-down of what a student should definitely address in his or her Free Response Essay for this question:
The “Big Five” trait of Openness to Experience: if Kai ranks high in this trait, he will enjoy the opportunity to perform in a new environment and do well; if he ranks low, he would prefer his usual environment and this might negatively affect his performance.
Convergence (depth perception): Kai may have difficulty judging depth in the mid-distance; for example, following the snap to the holder, or seeing where the holder places the ball. But remember that he should be okay judging depth to the goalposts, because that is too far for convergence to be a factor.
Cognitive dissonance: he believes in the importance of careful preparation, yet he was unable to practice. This discordance will cause him tension and this might negatively affect his performance. He could cope by changing his attitude; for example, he could rationalize that his excitement will overcome the lack of preparation.
Social facilitation: since this is a simple, well-practiced skill, having other people around could enhance his performance. Not having others around will deprive him of this benefit. But the other side of that coin is that his knowing that the evaluators are around, even if he cannot see them, will still enhance his performance.
Sympathetic nervous system: this arousal mechanism activates the fight-or-flight response. If he is nervous, this could negatively affect his performance. But you may wish to take this answer a step further and admit that his success as a kicker in the past has demonstrated that he is able to control this response in stressful situations, so he should do well in this situation.
Non-declarative memory: kicking a football is a procedural memory that is relatively resistant to decay. Also worth noting is the fact that “muscle memory” should remain intact in a stressful situation.
Self-efficacy: he believes that he is a capable kicker and this belief makes it more likely that he will succeed in a stressful situation.
2. Essay number two is worth seven points. Points are given based on students’ ability to analyze psychological research studies, including analyzing and interpreting quantitative data. Two points are awarded for defining operant conditioning and giving an example, plus explaining how it could be used to improve a prisoner’s behavior. Two points are awarded for defining positive and negative reinforcement and giving an example of each, plus explaining how they could be used to improve a prisoner’s behavior. Two points are awarded for defining shaping and giving an example, plus explaining how it could be used to improve a prisoner’s behavior. One point is given for applying one of the learning techniques to modify a thief’s behavior.
This is what our student chose to do for her essay. She scored a seven out of seven on this essay. Use this as a sample of a high-scoring essay.
Although the concept sounds fine, prisons just don’t seem to work. Instead of rehabilitating prisoners, they create a separate culture in which crime and criminal thinking are the norm. Instead of putting convicted criminals into a system that is destined to fail, a rehabilitation setting could be created using operant conditioning. Operant conditioning is the conditioning of behavior through the association of a desired behavior with some type of reward. For example, with animals, if a scientist wanted to teach a pigeon to peck only at selected artistic works, he could condition the pigeon to do so by rewarding him when he pecked at those works and punishing him when he pecked at others. The same thing could be done with criminals. To get a criminal to not want to commit a crime again, a psychologist could condition an aversive response into the criminal whenever he saw—and eventually whenever he thought of—the crime.
Another option would be to use positive and negative reinforcement to shape a criminal’s behavior. Positive reinforcement, giving a reward to someone for doing the right thing, could be used to provide criminals with needed or desired items for X period of time of good behavior. Similarly, negative reinforcement is the removal of something bad as a reward for good behavior. Therefore, a criminal, who would most likely start out under serious restrictions, would be granted more and more freedom the longer he demonstrated the desired behavior.
Finally, shaping is a great way to mold someone’s behavior. Shaping involves first praising actions that are remotely close to what you want to achieve, and then later praising actions only as they get closer and closer to the desired behavior. For example, at the beginning of the process, if a criminal does anything right, he is praised or rewarded. Then, after he begins to consistently demonstrate good behaviors, he is only praised or rewarded when he sustains that good behavior for longer and longer periods of time.
Shaping could be used to modify a thief’s behavior so that he will never steal again. In the beginning, the thief is praised simply for using his own things. After he begins to consistently use his own things, the psychologist could begin to put him into more tempting situations, and then praise him when he doesn’t take anything. Once the thief overcomes a low-level temptation—like the lunch room—he could be taken to a K-Mart, then a Macy’s, then a jewelry store. Each time, he would be praised at first for lasting without taking anything for five minutes, then ten, and so on. Once the K-Mart didn’t seem tempting anymore, he could be brought to the next level and again shaped into the right kind of behavior. This could not be accomplished in a prison setting because he would never be allowed out into the real world, so he would never overcome his temptations.
