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Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions on Module 1 & are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exam one. You can, in fact, expect to see many of these very same questions on that exam. Exam questions, however, may deal with topics not covered in the self tests or in lectures but are discussed in your textbook. You are responsible for the content of your text book plus the content of lectures, interactive activities, & material on the web site.

    Use these sample questions to test yourself & to practice for the test. Click on your choice to see if you are right.

1.  Autism is more prevalent by this much, than it was in the 70's. (It's now occurs once in 110 births.)

•  2 times as prevalent
  •  4 times as prevalent
    •  8 times as prevalent
      •  10 times as prevalent

2.  Professor Bates is lecturing on the definition of psychology. Which example of “behavior” should he use to most effectively communicate the definition?

•  “Acts like eating, walking, & running are examples of behavior.”
 •  "Behavior consists of activities such as thinking, forgetting."
  •  “Behavior is synonymous with internal processes like memory & learning.”
   •  “We make no distinction between the observable & the unobservable - anything that a person does is behavior.”

3.  Professor Smith is presenting the modern approaches to psychology. As a well-prepared student, you notice an error Professor Smith makes in his lecture. Which of the following do you notice?

•  He says, “The different approaches have different perspectives.”
 •  He writes on the chalkboard, “Different approaches, same research methods."
  •  He says, “All of the modern approaches in psychology look at the same psychological phenomenon from different viewpoints.”
    •  He says & writes on the chalkboard, “The six common approaches include biological, cognitive, behavioral, psychoanalytic, humanistic, & cross-cultural.”

4.  A cognitive psychologist may study the way we memorize a telephone number by:

analyzing the rewards available for successful memorization
investigating how we process and store the number in memory
researching the extent to which good memory skills are common in a family
interviewing to determine what unconscious motives may be associated
       with certain telephone numbers that a person has memorized

5.  The behavioral approach was influenced greatly by the work of ___________ who stressed the study of observable behavior and reinforcement and punishment.

Erik Erikson
Sigmund Freud
B. F. Skinner
Abraham Maslow

6.  If Kurt has thoughts which make him feel fearful and guilty, Freud would say these thoughts would be:

classically conditioned
reinforced by negative thoughts
pushed into Kurt’s unconscious
totally normal and have no effect on Kurt’s actual behavior

7.  “I am a procrastinator. According to the psychoanalytic approach, my parents must have:

ignored my successes.”
gave me their procrastinating genes.”
loved me only when I did well in school.”
set goals that were too easy when I was a child.”

8.  Which school of thought discusses behavior in terms of a person’s potential for growth and self-fulfillment?

cognitive
behavioral
humanistic
psychoanalytical

9.  With regard to the six modern approaches to psychology, psychologists are most concerned with:

which approach gives the best answer
the methodology by which the approach is tested
which approach is more accepted by the psychological community
the likelihood of successfully reaching the goals of description, explanation,
       prediction, and control

10.  Once you understand the six approaches to psychology, you should

combine and use information from all six approaches.
make a personal decision about which approach is best.
place our trust in the approaches that have stood the test of time.
judge each approach by the famous people who have supported it.

11.  Structuralists focused on ________, whereas functionalists focused on _________.

adaptability of the mind; introspection
objective measurements; subjects’ self-reports
elements of the mind; adaptability of the mind
the continuous flow of mental activity; breaking down mental structures
       into smaller units

13.  The term “Gestalt” refers to

•  introspection.
 •  structuralism.
  •  whole patterns.
   •  observable behaviors.

14.  The three goals that should be used with regard to studying are:

rewarded goal, concrete goal, time goal
cognitive goal, specific goal, specific time goal
time goal, general goal, specific performance goal
time goal, specific goal, general performance goal

15.  In reference to savant syndrome, ____________

approximately one in ten (10%) of persons with autistic disorder have
       some savant skills.
in forms of development disability other than autism, such as mental
      retardation or brain injury, savant skills occur in less than
      1% of such persons.
not all savants are autistic, and not all autistic persons are savants.
50% of persons with savant syndrome have autistic disorder, and the
       other 50% have some other form of developmental disability,
       mental retardation or brain injury or disease.
all of the above statments are true.

16.  The humanistic viewpoint emphasizes

Natural selection & practical skills.
Free will, self-image, & self-actualization.
Determinism, the unconscious, & self-actualization.
The idea that "the environment is the key causal matrix."

17.  Which of the following is not a major goal of psychology?

predict
control
classify
explain
describe

18.  Which of the following people is associated with the gestalt approach?

William Wundt
William James
Max Wertheimer
John B. Waston

19.  Which of the following people is associated with behaviorism?

William Wundt
William James
Max Wertheimer
John B. Waston

20.  Which of the following people is associated with functionalism?

William Wundt
William James
Max Wertheimer
John B. Waston

21.  Which set of words best fits with the cognitive perspective?

process, memory, think
unconscious, fears, guilty
cerebellum, brain, biology
reinforcement, punishment, learning

22.  What is the primary difference between a clinical psychologist & a counselor?

•  A counselor can prescribe medication, a clinical psychologist can not.
 •  A counselor does not prescribe medication, and clinical psychologist does.
  •  A counselor deals with serious mental illnesses, a clinical psychologist does not.
   •  A counselor does not deal with serious mental illnesses, & clinical psychologist does.

23.  In an attempt to learn something about his conscious experience, Bob looked at an abstract painting & wrote down all of his impressions as they came to him. This technique of looking inward to determine the elements of the mind is called:

•  empiricism
 •  retrospection
  •  introspection
   •  psychoanalysis

24.  The father of modern psychology is considered to be

•  B.F. Skinner.
 •  William James.
  •  Sigmund Freud.
   •  Abraham Maslow.

25.  James is to functionalism as

•  Skinner is to ethnology.
 •  Wundt is to structuralism.
  •  Freud is to experimentation.
   •  Rogers is to psychotherapy.

26.  Approaches such as structuralism & functionalism were principally concerned with the ___________ self, whereas the psychoanalytic approach emphasized the influence of ___________ processes.

•  subjective; objective
 •  sensation; perception
  •  introspection; adaption
   •  conscious; unconscious

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General Psychology Robert C. Gates