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Note: These questions are part of a larger data base of questions & are selected to represent the type of question you should expect on unit exams .  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 68 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 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 approaches to psychology, you should

•  combine and use information from all 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 statements 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, &
       a 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

27. In the definition of psychology, the term behavior means

•  internal, covert processes.
 •  outward behavior.
  •  overt actions & reactions.
   •  only animal behavior.

28. A psychologist is interested in finding out why married couples seemingly begin to look like each other after several years of marriage. This Psychologist is most interested in the goal of

•  description.
 •  explanation.
  •  prediction.
   •  control.

29. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis focused on

•  observable behavior.
 •  Gestalt perceptions.
  •  introspection.
   •  early childhood experience.

30. Which psychologist dared to ignore the whole conscious issue and return to a study of scientific inquiry by focusing on observable behavior?

•  Ivan Pavlov
 •  John Watson
  •  Sigmund Freud
   •  William James

31. Which perspective is often referred to as the "third Force" in psychology and focuses on a person's freedom of choice in determining their behavior?

•  biopsychological perspective
 •  behaviorism
  •  cognitive psychology
   •  humanism

32. If Dr. James uses an eclectic approach to her clinical treatment of children, what is it that she is doing?

•  She is relying primarily on one psychological perspective to treat all of her patients.
 •  She is using medications with all her patients, especially those suffering from depression.
  •  She relies heavily on the Freudian psychodynamic perspective to help children who
      show abnormal behavior.
   •  She is using a combination of perspectives to treat different clients.

33.  Dr. Smith identifies himself with the largest subfield of psychology? What kind of psychologist is he?

•  counseling
 •  clinical
  •  school
   •  experimental

34.  Ed has recently been diagnosed with a psychological disorder that is best addressed initially with medication. He would likely benefit the most by first seeing a _________.

•  psychiatrist
 •  psychoanalyst
  •  psychiatric social worker
   •  psychologist

35.  Which step in the scientific method is derived from the goal of description.

•  reporting your results
 •  perceiving the question
  •  drawing the conclusion
   •  forming a hypothesis

36.  Brianne wants to find an explanation for the behavior of her lab rats in her study. Which step in the scientific method is she currently focusing on?

•  testing a hypothesis
 •  perceiving the question
  •  drawing conclusions
   •  reporting her results

37.  The famous study of Phineas Gage, who survived when a metal rod pierced his skull, is an example of a

•  laboratory experiment.
 •  correlation.
  •  case study.
   •  survey.

38.  A researcher finds that as her subjects increased the number of hours they spent exercising, the overall weight of her subjects decreased. This would be an example of a _______ correlation.

•  positive
 •  negative
  •  zero
   •  causal

39.  A researcher wants to study the effects of texting on driving. Student in Group A drive a car in a computer game and see how many virtual accidents they have. Student in Group B are asked to drive the same virtual car but they must respond to and send at least three texts. The number of virtual accidents is measured for each group. What is the independent variable?

•  the virtual car
 •  texting
  •  the number of virtual accidents
   •  the group assignment

40.  Double-blind studies control for

•  the placebo effect.
 •  the experimenter effect,
  • the placebo effect and the experimenter effect.
   •  extrinsic motivation.

41.  Who is considered to be the father of African American psychology?

•  Charles Henry Thompson
 •  Robert V. Gurthrie
  •  Francis Cecil Summer
   •  Howard Hale Long

42.  Which perspective best explains the bystander effect whereby individuals will be less likely to help someone in need because of the presence of others close by?

•  psychoanalysis
 •  behaviorism
  •  cognitive psychology
   •  sociocultural

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General Psychology Robert C. Gates