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General Psychology, Test 2

Multiple Choice
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
 

 1. 

The basic parts of a neuron are
a.
vesicles, terminal buttons, synapses
b.
cell body, axon, dendrites
c.
myelin, nodes, axon terminals
d.
hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain
 

 2. 

The tiny electrical charge that exists when a neuron is neither receiving nor sending information is called
a.
an action potential
b.
a synaptic gap
c.
a resting potential
d.
a neurotransmitter
 

 3. 

When a neurotransmitter is released, but it does not fit into a suitable receptor channel on the postsynaptic neuron
a.
an inhibitory postsynaptic potential will be generated
b.
an excitatory postsynaptic potential will be generated
c.
the strength of the action potential in the presynaptic neuron will increase
d.
the firing potential of the postsynaptic neuron will not be affected
 

 4. 

Nerves outside the skull and spine comprise the
a.
peripheral nervous system
b.
vascular nervous system
c.
vagus nervous system
d.
skeletal nervous system
 

 5. 

MRI scans of schizophrenic patients have indicated that
a.
schizophrenic subjects have higher levels of dopamine than nonschizophrenic subjects
b.
schizophrenic subjects have larger ventricles than nonschizophrenic subjects
c.
schizophrenic subjects have lower levels of catecholamines than nonschizophrenic subjects
d.
the amygdala of schizophrenic subjects is structurally defective relative to nonschizophrenic subjects
 

 6. 

A drunken driving suspect was unable to hold his hand out to the side and bring his finger to a stop on his nose because one of the brain structures depressed first by alcohol is the
a.
cerebellum
b.
corpus callosum
c.
hypothalamus
d.
medulla
 

 7. 

Pleasure centers in the brain appear to be concentrated most heavily in the
a.
endocrine system
b.
limbic system
c.
corpus callosum
d.
brainstem
 

 8. 

If you experience damage to Broca's area, you can expect to have difficulty
a.
being creative
b.
controlling your arms and legs
c.
speaking
d.
hearing
 

 9. 

Imagine that a picture of a spoon is briefly flashed in the left visual field of an individual with a severed corpus callosum. At the same time, a picture of a cup is briefly flashed in the right visual field. Based on Roger Sperry's work with split-brain patients, you could predict that this individual will say
a.
"I didn't see anything."
b.
"I saw a spoon resting in a cup."
c.
"I saw a spoon."
d.
"I saw a cup."
 

 10. 

The system of glands that secrete hormones directly into the bloodstream is known as the
a.
atopic system
b.
exocrine system
c.
endocrine system
d.
blood-brain system
 

 11. 

Londra and Sondra are identical twins who have been raised together in the same home. Londra has developed a psychological disorder, but Sondra does not appear to have the same disorder. This information could be used as evidence to suggest that
a.
genetic factors have more influence than environmental factors in this disorder
b.
environmental factors have more influence than genetic factors in this disorder
c.
both genetic and environmental factors contribute equally to this disorder
d.
neither genetic nor environmental factors contribute to this disorder
 

 12. 

Your text asserts that school reform should focus on
a.
providing students with more right-brain activities
b.
encouraging students to become ambidextrous so as to exercise both sides of the brain equally
c.
providing students with more left-brain activities
d.
encouraging more holistic, intuitive thinking rather than worrying about exercising one or the other half of the brain
 

 13. 

The wavelength of light mainly affects our perception of
a.
color
b.
brightness
c.
saturation
d.
light purity
 

 14. 

Petra looked directly into a very bright light and damaged her retina. The ophthalmologist has told her that she has sustained massive damage to her cones, but for the most part her rods have not been affected. One change that you could predict for Petra's vision is that she will now have
a.
poor vision in low illumination
b.
poor peripheral vision
c.
no color vision
d.
more accurate depth perception
 

 15. 

Our visual acuity will be best when a ganglion cell
a.
transmits its neural signal directly to the visual cortex
b.
has a small receptive field
c.
has a large receptive field
d.
transmits its neural signal to the cerebellum, instead of the visual cortex
 

 16. 

At the musical Andrew attended over the weekend, he noticed that whenever the red and green spotlights overlapped, they seemed to change to a yellow spotlight. This can be explained using the principles of
a.
additive color mixing
b.
subtractive color mixing
c.
hypercomplex feature detection
d.
opponent-processing of colors
 

 17. 

Psychologists who took the structuralist approach to the study of consciousness believed that the best way to understand an individual's conscious experiences was to understand all the component parts that combined to produce the experience. This view is most consistent with
a.
the top-down processing model of perception
b.
the eclectic model of perception
c.
the bottom-up processing model of perception
d.
the opponent-process model of perception
 

 18. 

The lights around the movie marquee flashed on-and-off in succession. However, Jerome did not perceive them as separate lights flashing, but instead saw a continuous band of light moving around the edge of the marquee. Jerome's perception illustrates
a.
the phi phenomenon
b.
bottom-up processing
c.
feature detection
d.
preattentive processing
 

 19. 

Blake was at a football game, and even though people wearing green jackets were spread fairly evenly throughout the stands, he still perceived all the people in green jackets as a single group of visiting fans. Blake's perception is most consistent with the Gestalt principle of
a.
proximity
b.
similarity
c.
closure
d.
simplicity
 

 20. 

Optical illusions tend to be
a.
influenced by our experiences
b.
more pronounced in children
c.
less pronounced in adults
d.
genetically determined
 

 21. 

Amanda had an operation on her eyes, but the doctors were unable to save the vision in her left eye. One major change that will affect Amanda's perception is the fact that she will
a.
no longer have any perception of depth
b.
be more likely to misinterpret perceptual illusions
c.
no longer be able to utilize binocular depth cues
d.
lose her ability to perceive colors accurately
 

 22. 

The actual, direct receptors for hearing are the
a.
ossicles
b.
cochleas
c.
hair cells
d.
basilar cells
 

 23. 

Mike broke his nose in a recent boxing match. The doctors packed his nose and told him he will need to breathe through his mouth for the next 10 to 14 days. Mike is likely to find that while his nose is packed,
a.
food will taste better because his sense of taste will be temporarily enhanced to compensate for his missing sense of smell
b.
he will have problems with his equilibrium and balance
c.
food will have little taste because much of a food's flavor depends on our sense of smell
d.
he will have trouble detecting motion because the main pathway to his superior colliculus will be blocked
 

 24. 

Which of the following has NOT been shown to influence the perception of pain in humans?
a.
mood
b.
personality
c.
expectations
d.
age
 

Essay
 

 25. 

Based on the material in Challenging your Preconceptions, identify and give an example of two variables that affect the way your perceive stimuli in the environment.
 

 26. 

Based on Challenging your Preconceptions, identify a sex difference that has been overemphasized after research has been done. Then give two costs, as mentioned in class, associated with overemphasizing sex differences when they are small or nonexistent.
 



 
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