Name: __________________________ Date: _____________

1. Which philosopher is most well known for theorizing that the mind at birth is tabula
rasa or a “blank slate”?
A) Plato
B) John Locke
C) Immanuel Kant
D) René Descartes
E) Aristotle

2. Who used the method of introspection to scientifically identify basic elements of mind?
A) Aristotle
B) John Locke
C) Edward Titchener
D) John Watson
E) Socrates

3. Research participants who carefully observe and report their immediate reactions and
feelings in response to different musical sounds are using the method known as
A) spaced practice.
B) psychoanalysis.
C) introspection.
D) natural selection.
E) SQ3R.

4. The early school of psychology known as functionalism was developed by

A) Wilhelm Wundt.
B) William James.
C) René Descartes.

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 D) John B. Watson.
E) Sigmund Freud.

5. William James was a prominent American

A) psychoanalyst.
B) behaviorist.
C) functionalist.
D) structuralist.
E) gestaltist.

6. In its early years, psychology focused on the study of ________, but from the 1920s into
the 1960s, American psychologists emphasized the study of ________.
A) environmental influences; hereditary influences
B) maladaptive behavior; adaptive behavior
C) unconscious motives; conscious thoughts and feelings
D) mental life; observable behavior
E) biology; culture

8. Humanistic psychologists focused on the importance of

A) childhood memories.
B) genetic predispositions.
C) unconscious thoughts.
D) healthy growth potential.
E) punishment and reinforcement.

9. Arguments as to whether psychological differences between men and women result

from biological or social influences most clearly involve a debate over the issue of
A) evolution versus natural selection.
B) stage development versus continuous development.

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 C) structuralism versus functionalism.
D) behavior versus mental processes.
E) nature versus nurture.

10. Who highlighted the reproductive advantages of environmentally adaptive traits?

A) Plato
B) Aristotle
C) John Locke
D) Charles Darwin
E) William James

13. Dr. Ochoa develops tests to accurately identify the most qualified job applicants in a
large manufacturing firm. Which psychological specialty does Dr. Ochoa's work best
represent?
A) developmental psychology
B) industrial-organizational psychology
C) biological psychology
D) clinical psychology
E) psychiatry

14. For no apparent reason, Adam has recently begun to feel so tense and anxious that he
frequently stays home from work. It would be most beneficial for Adam to contact a(n)
________ psychologist.
A) industrial-organizational
B) clinical
C) personality
D) biological
E) social

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16. Professor Smith told one class that alcohol consumption has been found to increase
sexual desire. He informed another class that alcohol consumption has been found to
reduce sexual appetite. The fact that neither class was surprised by the information they
received best illustrates the power of
A) overconfidence.
B) replication.
C) the hindsight bias.
D) the double-blind procedure.
E) the placebo effect.

17. When provided with the unscrambled solution to anagrams, people underestimate the
difficulty of solving the anagrams by themselves. This best illustrates
A) illusory correlation.
B) hindsight bias.
C) the placebo effect.
D) wording effects.
E) overconfidence.

21. Replication involves

A) the selection of random samples.
B) perceiving order in random events.
C) repeating an earlier research study.
D) rejecting ideas that cannot be scientifically tested.
E) overestimating the extent to which others share our views.

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23. The biggest danger of relying on case-study evidence is that it
A) is based on naturalistic observation.
B) may be unrepresentative of what is generally true.
C) overestimates the importance of operational definitions.
D) leads us to underestimate the causal relationships between events.
E) relies mostly on correlational rather than causational evidence.

24. Surveys indicate that people are much less likely to support “welfare” than “aid to the
needy.” These somewhat paradoxical survey results best illustrate the importance of
A) random sampling.
B) wording effects.
C) the placebo effect.
D) naturalistic observation.
E) hindsight bias.

25. To learn about the TV viewing habits of all the children attending Oakbridge School,
Professor DeVries randomly selected and interviewed 50 of the school's students. In this
instance, all the children attending the school are considered to be a(n)
A) population.
B) representative sample.
C) independent variable.
D) control condition.
E) dependent variable.

28. An extensive survey revealed that children with relatively high self-esteem tend to
picture God as kind and loving, whereas those with lower self-esteem tend to perceive
God as angry. The researchers concluded that the children's self-esteem had apparently
influenced their views of God. This conclusion best illustrates the danger of
A) perceiving order in random events.

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 B) generalizing from extreme examples.
C) randomly sampling children's views.
D) exaggerating the extent to which others share our beliefs.
E) assuming that correlation proves causation.

29. The belief that weather conditions signal the onset of arthritis pain best illustrates
A) an illusory correlation.
B) operational definition.
C) the hindsight bias.
D) overconfidence.
E) random sampling.

30. To study the effects of noise on worker productivity, researchers have one group of
subjects work in a noisy room and a second group work in a quiet room. To ensure that
any differences in the productivity of the two groups actually result from the different
noise levels to which the groups are exposed, the researchers would use
A) the case study.
B) correlational measurement.
C) naturalistic observation.
D) replication.
E) random assignment.

31. The relief of pain following the ingestion of an inert substance that is presumed to have
medicinal benefits illustrates
A) random assignment.
B) the hindsight bias.
C) the double-blind effect.
D) the placebo effect.
E) illusory correlation.

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33. In the hypothesis “Students who study a list of terms in the morning, just after waking
up, will recall more terms than students who study the list just before falling asleep,”
what is the independent variable?
A) list of terms
B) memorization
C) time of day
D) number of terms remembered
E) students

34. During the past year, Zara and Ivan each read 2 books, but George read 9, Ali read 12,
and Marsha read 25. The median number of books read by these individuals was
A) 2.
B) 50.
C) 10.
D) 12.
E) 9.

35. In a distribution of test scores, which measure of central tendency would likely be the
most affected by a couple of extremely high scores?
A) median
B) range
C) mode
D) standard deviation
E) mean

36. The IQ scores of the five members of the Duluth family are 100, 82, 104, 96, and 118.
For this distribution of scores, the range is
A) 6.
B) 14.

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 C) 36.
D) 48.
E) 100.

37. Coach Vroman attended a clinic to improve his basketball coaching skills. Afterward, he
randomly assigned his seventh-grade players to two groups: Group 1 will be coached by
the new method and Group 2 will be coached by his old method. He then measured their
performance at one team practice to judge the effectiveness of the new coaching
method. Which of the following might affect the statistical significance of his study?
A) Approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) was not obtained before
beginning his study.
B) To determine the effectiveness of the new method, Coach Vroman must first find
the median score of each group.
C) By testing only two groups, Coach Vroman's sample size may be too small and
unrepresentative.
D) Coach Vroman should wait until next year to test the incoming freshman because
his sample was biased.
E) A third variable, such as height, might affect the relationship between the two
variables.

38. Which of the following are considered to be limitations of psychological experiments

conducted in laboratory environments?
A) Laboratory experiments allow researchers to have control over variables.
B) Experiments conducted in laboratories allow researchers to make causal inferences.
C) It's difficult to accurately measure the research variables.
D) Laboratories are artificial environments, so behavior might not apply to the real
world.
E) Researchers tend to ignore ethical considerations in the pursuit of proving their
hypotheses.

39. The enduring traditions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a large group of people
constitutes their
A) culture.
B) normal curve.
C) wording effects.
D) statistical significance.

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 E) operational definition.

40. The American Psychological Association and British Psychological Society have
developed ethical principles urging investigators to
A) avoid the use of monetary incentives in recruiting people to participate in research.
B) forewarn potential research participants of the exact hypotheses that the research
will test.
C) avoid the manipulation of independent variables in research involving human
participants.
D) explain the research to the participants after the study has been completed.
E) increase the difficulty level of research endeavors while maintaining validity.

41. Psychologists' personal values and goals

A) are carefully tested by means of observation and experimentation.
B) lead them to avoid experiments involving human participants.
C) can bias their observations and interpretations.
D) have very little influence on the process of scientific observation.
E) affect their work only if they are different from the norm.

42. One of the three major concerns of developmental psychology centers around the issue
of
A) identity or intimacy.
B) continuity or stages.
C) imprinting or object permanence.
D) conservation or egocentrism.
E) longitudinal or cross-sectional.

43. Boys first begin producing sperm during

A) embryonic development.
B) fetal development.
C) the first year after birth.

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 D) puberty.
E) early childhood.

44. What is a fertilized egg cell called?

A) zygote
B) fetus
C) embryo
D) teratogen
E) Y chromosome

45. Nutrients and oxygen are transferred from a mother to a fetus through the
A) embryo.
B) neural networks.
C) placenta.
D) association areas.
E) teratogens.

46. Newborn infants typically prefer their mother's voice over their father's voice because
A) their rooting reflex is naturally triggered by higher-pitched sounds.
B) they rapidly habituate to lower-pitched male voices.
C) they become familiar with their mother's voice before they are born.
D) they form an emotional attachment to their mother during breast-feeding.
E) they have difficulty hearing lower-pitched voices during the first few days after
birth.

47. Harmful chemicals or viruses that can be transferred from a mother to her developing
fetus are called
A) schemas.
B) attachments.

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 C) teratogens.
D) zygotes.
E) menarche.

48. Sierra, a 28-year-old heroin addict, is pregnant. Her baby will be born
A) with schizophrenia.
B) a heroin addict.
C) visually impaired.
D) with Down syndrome.
E) hyperactive.

49. When a pregnant woman drinks heavily, she puts her unborn child at risk for
A) autism.
B) fetal alcohol syndrome.
C) neurogenesis.
D) Alzheimer's disease.
E) Asperger syndrome.

50. Mr. Hersch triggered a rooting reflex in his infant son by touching him on the
A) foot.
B) knee.
C) arm.
D) cheek.
E) palm.

52. To test whether newborns can visually discriminate between various shapes and colors,
psychologists have made use of the process of
A) conservation.

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 B) attachment.
C) habituation.
D) accommodation.
E) imprinting.

53. Research on the perceptual abilities of newborns indicates that they

A) see nothing for the first 12 hours.
B) see only differences in brightness.
C) recognize the outlines of objects but none of the details.
D) look more at a facelike image than at a bull's-eye pattern.
E) have very good visual acuity.

54. When placed between a gauze breast pad from its nursing mother's bra, week-old babies
are likely to
A) move their eyes in a visual search for their mother.
B) turn their head toward the smell of their mother's pad.
C) open their mouth in a vigorous search for a nipple.
D) demonstrate signs of stranger anxiety.
E) modify feeding schema.

55. Maturation is to education as ________ is to ________.

A) accommodation; assimilation
B) learning; experience
C) nature; nurture
D) imprinting; critical period
E) environment; learning

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59. A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information is called a(n)
A) assimilation.
B) attachment.
C) temperament.
D) schema.
E) neural network.

61. The first time that 4-year-old Sarah saw her older brother play a flute, she thought it was
simply a large whistle. Sarah's initial understanding of the flute best illustrates the
process of
A) assimilation.
B) egocentrism.
C) conservation.
D) accommodation.
E) maturation.

62. Alex now realizes that his stereotypical view of women as weak is not accurate and so
revises his beliefs. He is demonstrating the process of
A) maturation.
B) assimilation.
C) imprinting.
D) accommodation.
E) conservation.

63. Olivia understands her world primarily by grasping and sucking easily available objects.
Olivia is clearly in Piaget's ________ stage.
A) preoperational
B) concrete operational

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 C) sensorimotor
D) formal operational
E) postconventional

64. Lisa attempts to retrieve her bottle after her father hides it under a blanket. This suggests
that Lisa has developed a sense of
A) egocentrism.
B) object permanence.
C) conservation.
D) accommodation.
E) secure attachment.

65. According to Piaget, a child can represent things with words and images but cannot
reason with logic during the ________ stage.
A) concrete operational
B) sensorimotor
C) formal operational
D) preoperational
E) postconventional

66. Chloe can clearly sense when her sister's teasing is intended to be friendly fun or a
hostile put-down. This best illustrates that Chloe has developed a(n)
A) sense of object permanence.
B) insecure attachment.
C) concept of conservation.
D) theory of mind.
E) critical period.

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67. Four-year-olds are not completely egocentric and 5-year-olds can exhibit some
understanding of conservation. This indicates that Piaget may have underestimated the
A) importance of critical periods in early life.
B) role of motivation in cognitive development.
C) continuity of cognitive development.
D) importance of early attachment experiences.
E) relationship between schema and children's self-concept.

68. Studies of monkeys raised with artificial mothers suggest that mother-infant emotional
bonds result primarily from mothers providing infants with
A) adequate nourishment.
B) body contact.
C) the opportunity to explore.
D) self-esteem.
E) breast-feeding.

69. Mr. Johnson spends time each day caressing and rocking his infant daughter. This time
together should serve most directly to promote
A) habituation.
B) secure attachment.
C) stranger anxiety.
D) egocentrism.
E) conservation.

70. Exceptionally inhibited and fearful infants tend to become introverted adolescents. This
best illustrates the long-term stability of
A) temperament.
B) the critical period.
C) gender schemas.
D) the X chromosome.

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 E) self-concept.

71. To recognize that a face seen in a mirror is his or her own, a child must have a
A) theory of mind.
B) secure attachment.
C) self-concept.
D) concept of conservation.
E) gender role.

72. Authoritative parents are likely to have children who

A) are obedient but have low self-esteem.
B) have high self-esteem and are self-reliant.
C) have high self-esteem but are somewhat dependent.
D) are rebellious and have low self-esteem.
E) have low self-concept but are egocentric.

74. Primary sex characteristics are to ________ as secondary sex characteristics are to
________.
A) male testes; adrenal glands
B) female ovaries; deepened male voice
C) female breasts; deepened male voice
D) male testes; female ovaries
E) adrenal glands; underarm hair

75. Vincent's ability to reason hypothetically in his geometry class indicates that he is in the
________ stage of development.
A) concrete operational
B) formal operational

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 C) preconventional
D) postconventional
E) preoperational

76. A student who does not cheat on tests because he doesn't want to violate classroom rules
is in Kohlberg's ________ stage.
A) preconventional
B) preoperational
C) conventional
D) postconventional
E) operational

77. Despite huge legal costs and social disapproval, Mr. Lambers refuses to pay income
taxes because his conscience will not allow him to support a government that spends
billions of dollars on military weapons. Mr. Lambers' reasoning best illustrates
Kohlberg's ________ stage.
A) postconventional
B) concrete operational
C) preconventional
D) egocentric
E) conventional

78. Lolita vacillates between acting rebellious toward her parents and high school teachers
and behaving with compliance and respect. Erikson would have suggested that Lolita's
inconsistency illustrates
A) separation anxiety.
B) role confusion.
C) egocentricity.
D) stagnation.
E) inferiority.

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80. In one 15-year period, more Americans died on the two days after Christmas than on the
two days before Christmas. It has been suggested that this illustrates
A) a death-deferral phenomenon.
B) a critical period.
C) terminal decline.
D) habituation.
E) accommodation.

81. During the last few years, 75-year-old Mrs. Yamaguchi has gradually become so
mentally disoriented that she can't find her way around her own house and often fails to
recognize her husband. It is most likely that Mrs. Yamaguchi is suffering the effects of
A) crystallized intelligence.
B) menopause.
C) habituation.
D) Alzheimer's disease.
E) menarche.

82. On which of the following tasks is a 20-year-old most likely to outperform a 70-year-
old?
A) recalling previously presented nonsense syllables
B) recognizing previously presented foreign language words
C) recalling previously presented names of cities
D) recognizing previously presented names of fruits and vegetables
E) recalling words for a crossword puzzle

83. Marie feels socially useful in her career as a financial investment advisor. Erik Erikson
would have suggested that Marie experiences a sense of
A) secure attachment.
B) conventional morality.

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 C) generativity.
D) conservation.
E) integrity.

85. Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory work involved experimental studies of

A) animal intelligence.
B) personality development.
C) learning and memory.
D) reactions to sensory stimulation.
E) association and generalization.

86. Which of the following innovations differentiated Wilhelm Wundt's research the most
from any psychologist before him?
A) empiricism
B) structuralism
C) tabula rasa
D) laboratory research
E) separation of mind and body

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Answer Key

1. B
2. C
3. C
4. B
5. C
6. D
8. D
9. E
10. D
13. B
14. B
16. C
17. E
21. C
23. B
24. B
25. A
28. E
29. A
30. E
31. D
33. C
34. E
35. E
36. C
37. C
38. D
39. A
40. D
41. C
42. B
43. D
44. A
45. C
46. C
47. C
48. B
49. B
50. D
52. C
53. D
54. B
55. C
59. D

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61. A
62. D
63. C
64. B
65. D
66. D
67. C
68. B
69. B
70. A
71. C
72. B
74. B
75. B
76. C
77. A
78. B
80. A
81. D
82. A
83. C
85. D
86. D

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