Psychology Quizzes

After spending years in the ocean, a mature salmon swims up its home river to return to its birthplace. This behavior is an example of:

An instinct

Some students work hard in school to attain high grades. This best illustrates the importance of:

Incentives

Which of the following is a hunger-arousing hormone secreted by the hypothalamus?

Orexin

In a classic experiment, obese patients whose daily caloric intake was dramatically reduced lost only 6 percent of their weight. This limited weight loss was due, at least in part, to the fact that their dietary restriction led to a(n):

Decrease in their metabolic rate

One gene scan of 40,000 people worldwide identified a variant of a gene called FTO. This gene nearly doubles the risk of:

Obesity

By motivating us to satisfy our physical needs, hunger and thirst serve to:

Maintain homeostasis

Need is to ________ as drive is to ________.

Food deprivation; Hunger

Feelings of hunger accompany ________ levels of blood glucose and ________ levels of ghrelin:

Low; High

Our weight thermostats are somewhat flexible and are influence by environmental as well as biological factors. Some researchers have therefore adopted the term:

Settling point

According to health psychologists, which of the following would be the BEST advice to offer someone who wants to lose excess weight?

"Permanent weight loss requires a lifelong change in eating and exercise habits."

During which phase of the sexual response cycle does the refractory period begin?

The resolution phase

The removal of a woman’s ovaries may contribute to decreasing sexual interest because her natural ________ level is ________.

Testosterone; Lowered

The fraternal birth-order effect refers to a factor associated with:

Sexual orientation

Women, more than men, prefer to alternate periods of high sexual activity with periods of very little sexual activity. This best illustrates gender differences in:

Erotic plasticity

When asked what is most necessary for a happy and meaningful life, most people first mention the importance of satisfying their ________ needs.

Belongingness

Which of the following is indicative of a sexual disorder?

Premature ejaculation

Teenage girls are especially vulnerable to ________ because of their lower levels of protective antibodies.

STIs

Which of the following is NOT true with respect to sexual orientation?

With the help of a therapist, most people find it easy to change their sexual orientation

In one experiment, deeply-in-love university students experienced ________ when looking at their beloved’s picture.

Pain relief

The stress normally experienced by refugees is lessened by chain migration. This best illustrates the importance of ________ needs.

Belongingness

A completely focused state of consciousness resulting from optimal engagement of one’s skills is called

Flow

For each performance review, Professor Donnell is evaluated by her students, colleagues, department chair, and research assistants. This best illustrates

360 degree feedback

Assessing the impact of different management styles on the motivation and productivity of employees best illustrates the professional concerns of

Organizational psychology

Managers who build teamwork and effectively mediate employee conflicts are said to excel in

Social leadership

Human factors psychologists would be most likely to aid in the design of

User friendly factory machinery

Work is most likely to be satisfying for employees if it is associated with

The experience of flow

Personnel psychology is one of the main subfields of

Industrial organizational psychology

Achievement motivation refers to

A desire for significant accomplishment

Compared with ineffective managers, those who are effective are more likely to

Celebrate employee productivity by providing them with recognition and rewards

Rating scales used to record the dependability and productivity of workers are most clearly designed to facilitate

Performance appraisal

Evidence that emotion precedes physiological arousal would be most inconsistent with the ________. Evidence that emotion precedes mentally labeling our physiological arousal would be most inconsistent with the ________.

James-lange theory; Two factor theory

When Mr. Morgan misinterpreted his harmless symptoms of autonomic nervous system arousal as indicative of an impending heart attack, he suffered an unusually intense level of fear. His emotional suffering is best understood in terms of the

Two factor theory

Activation of the sympathetic nervous system

Decreases salivation and increases blood pressure

A lie detector test is used to monitor a person’s

Respiration

Some emotional responses to visual stimuli appear to involve no deliberate thinking. These emotional responses are said to follow a "low-road" pathway that bypasses the

Cerebral cortex

The instantaneous and automatic fear response we experience when unexpectedly stumbling upon a snake illustrates the importance of the

Amygdala

Which theory suggests that you would not experience intense anger unless you were first aware of your racing heart or other symptoms of physiological arousal?

The James Lange Theory

A therapist tells a patient who is afraid of elevators that his rapid breathing while on an elevator is not due to fear but is a natural consequence of too little oxygen in a small, enclosed space. With this new interpretation of his arousal, the patient no longer dreads elevators. The reduction in the patient’s fear is best understood in terms of the

Two factor theory

Antonio’s car stalls in the middle of a railroad crossing just as a train is rapidly approaching. His emotional arousal is likely to be accompanied by

Dilation of his pupils

Exuberant infants and alert, energetic adults are especially likely to show high levels of brain activity in the

Left frontal lobe

An approach to lie detection that assesses a suspect’s physiological response to details of a crime known only to police investigators is called the

Guilty knowledge test

The arousal that lingers after an intense argument may intensify sexual passion. This best illustrates

The spillover effect

Chiana and her husband both want to feel and express greater warmth and affection for each other. They would be advised to spend time looking intently at one another’s

Eyes

We find it especially difficult to detect from other people’s facial expressions whether they are

Lying

If a gender-neutral face is made to look angry, most people perceive it as ________. If asked to imagine an angry face, most identify it as ________.

Male;Male

In which country are people most likely to convey visible facial expressions of their inner feelings?

Australia

If you mimic another person’s facial expressions of emotion, you probably will feel increasing empathy for that person. This is best explained in terms of

The James Lange theory

Feigned smiles are initiated ________ abruptly and last for a ________ time than genuine smiles.

More; Longer

The most universally understood way of expressing emotion is through

Facial expressions

Women show ________ facial expression of emotion than men while viewing frightening films, and they show ________ facial expression of emotion than men while viewing happy films.

More; More

The facial expressions associated with particular emotions are

The same throughout the world

If people wrinkle their noses in disgust when presented with a strange-looking food, they are likely to experience an increasingly intense emotional aversion to the food. This best illustrates the

Facial feedback effect

The emotion of rage is characterized by negative valence and ________ arousal.

High

Luciano believes that the best way to get over the anger he feels toward his high school teacher is to scream shameful profanities while hitting a punching bag. His belief best illustrates

The catharsis hypothesis

Employees who have just been laid off are asked questions that encourage them to express hostility toward their employer. Research suggests that this opportunity to vent anger will

Increase their hostility

After receiving exciting news about the birth of a healthy grandson, Mr. Haney was easily persuaded to contribute a generous sum of money to a neighborhood church. This best illustrates the

Feel good, do good phenomenon

Professor Crane was ecstatic when he learned that his research study had been approved for publication. His feelings of joy quickly dissipated, however, when he heard a colleague recently had three different research articles accepted for publication. His declining emotional satisfaction is best explained in terms of

Relative deprivation

Carroll Izard has suggested that love is a mixture of interest-excitement and

Joy

Verbal and nonverbal expressions of anger can

Calm emotions and reduce anger

After watching a video of his winning game shot in a high school basketball tournament, Jordan was easily persuaded to babysit his little sister while his parents went out for dinner. This best illustrates the

Feel good, do good phenomenon

A celebrity actress experiences ever-increasing levels of professional acclaim following each successful movie role. Yet with each success, she experiences no more than a temporary surge of subjective well-being. This is best explained in terms of the

Adaptation level phenomenon

After imagining and then writing about various tragedies, such as people being burned and disfigured, university women expressed increased

Subjective well being

While taking a difficult test, Cindy’s muscles tense and her heart pounds. These physiological responses are

Stress reactions

The fight-or-flight response is associated with the release of ________ into the bloodstream.

Epinephrine

The general adaptation syndrome describes stages in the

Body’s response to prolonged stress

The macrophage and lymphocytes are major agents of the

Immune system

Type A personality is to Type B personality as ________ is to _______.

Irritable; Calm

One person, alone in a house, dismisses its creaking sounds and experiences no stress; someone else suspects an intruder and becomes alarmed. These different reactions illustrate the importance of

Stress appraisal

The second phase of the general adaptation syndrome is characterized by

Resistance

B lymphocytes are formed in the

Bone marrow

The greatest number of deaths in North America today result from

Heart Disease

Who is the best example of a Type A personality?

Andre, a competitive, easily angered journalist

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Kathy alleviated her stress by avoiding contact with her ex-boyfriend and by planning recreational activities with her best girlfriend. Kathy’s behavior best illustrates

Emotion-focused coping

Compared with the unmarried, people in low-conflict marriages are more likely to

Live longer

Aerobic exercise has been most closely linked to a decrease in

Depression

Whether a health care treatment is mainstream medicine or an alternative medicine depends on whether the treatment has been

Scientifically validated as effective

Religiously active AIDS patients ________ than do their nonreligious counterparts.

Survive longer

People tend to use emotion-focused coping rather than problem-focused coping when they

Believe they cannot change a stressful situation

When "executive" and "subordinate" rats received simultaneous electric shocks, the ________ rat was subsequently more likely to develop ________.

Subordinate; Ulcers

Amanda is stressed out because she thinks she’s too socially inept to make friends with her new classmates. Amanda best illustrates the debilitating effects of

Pessimism

Aerobic exercise ________ the body’s production of serotonin and ________ its production of the endorphins.

Increases; Increases

A diminished sense of self, space, and time is most likely to be associated with

Meditative relaxation

Jaydon doesn’t realize that his alcohol abuse and neglect of his family is leading to the destruction of both his family and career. A psychoanalyst would suggest that Jaydon shows signs of a

Weal ego

Freud suggested that adults with a passive personality marked by a childlike dependency demonstrate signs of

An oral fixation

Bryce often acts so daring and overly confident that few people realize he is actually riddled with unconscious insecurity and self-doubt. Bryce best illustrates the use of a defense mechanism known as

Reaction formation

Carl Jung emphasized the importance of ________ in personality functioning.

The collective unconscious

Hermann Rorschach introduced what has become the most widely used ________ test.

Projective

Freud thought that the part of a dream that we remember is a censored version of

Unconscious wishes

Although Alex has frequently been caught stealing money and other valuables from friends as well as strangers, he does not feel guilty or remorseful about robbing these people. Alex most clearly demonstrates a(n)

Weak superego

According to psychoanalytic theory, boys’ fear of castration is most closely associated with

The Oedipus complex

Bonnie is afraid to express anger at her overbearing and irritating supervisor at work, so she is critical of her children instead. A psychoanalyst would suggest that Bonnie’s reaction to her children illustrates

Displacement

Children who have witnessed a parent’s murder report memories that most clearly challenge Freud’s concept of

Repression

Abraham Maslow suggested that individuals who are open, spontaneous, and not paralyzed by others’ opinions illustrate

Self-actualization

Abraham Maslow studied the lives of people such as Abraham Lincoln in order to understand the nature of

Self-actualization

According to Carl Rogers, people who are self-disclosing and open with their own feelings are demonstrating

Genuineness

Humanistic psychology has been most closely associated with an emphasis on the importance of

A positive self concept

Humanistic theorists have been criticized for

Underestimating the inherent human capacity for destructive and evil behaviors.

According to Maslow, the desire to fulfill one’s potential is the motivation for

Self actualization

According to Maslow, the desire for identity, meaning, and purpose beyond the self refers to the motive for

Self transcendence

Carl Rogers emphasized that a positive self-concept is promoted by

Unconditional positive regard

Who emphasized the importance of unconditional positive regard in healthy personality development?

Carl Rogers

Which personality theorists have been criticized the most for encouraging individual selfishness and self-indulgence?

Humanistic theorists

Which technique would psychologists use to assess whether a cluster of characteristics that includes ambition, determination, persistence, and self-reliance reflects a single personality trait?

Factor analysis

During a phone call to the Psychic Network, Mark was told that "you often worry about things much more than you admit, even to your best friends." Mark’s amazement at the psychic’s apparent understanding of his personality best illustrates

The Barnum Effect

One of the Big Five personality factors is

Agreeableness

Sarah’s optimism is both a contributor to and a product of her successful career accomplishments. This best illustrates

Reciprocal determinism

Marcy believes that the outcome of athletic contests depends so much on luck that it hardly pays to put any effort into her own athletic training. Her belief most clearly illustrates

An external locus of control

Although she is intelligent and a good athlete, Abigail believes that her low grades in school and losing the quarter-mile race are reflections of her own intellectual and athletic incompetence. Her conclusion best illustrates

A pessimistic attributional style.

When Vanessa noticed that she was wearing mismatched socks, she overestimated the extent to which others would also notice. Her reaction best illustrates

The spotlight effect

Around the world, people describe others’ personality traits in terms that are consistent with a set of factors called

The big five

The stability of personality during adulthood best illustrates the value of

Trait theories

We can better predict drivers’ behavior at traffic lights from knowing the color of the lights than from knowing the drivers’ personalities. This best illustrates the importance of

Situational influences

The social-cognitive perspective highlights the interaction of personal traits with our environment, a process that Albert Bandura called

Reciprocal determinism

After experiencing prolonged and seemingly inescapable physical abuse from her husband, Kayla became increasingly depressed and hopelessly resigned to her suffering. Her reaction best illustrates

Learned helplessness

Students perceive themselves as less likely than the average classmate to develop drinking problems or drop out of school. This best illustrates

Unrealistic optimism

Card players who attribute their wins to their own skill and their losses to bad luck best illustrate

Self serving bias

Alexis is socially withdrawn and has few close friends. This behavior is most likely to be diagnosed as a symptom of psychological disorder if it is

Preventing her from functioning effectively

Although Adderall is a ________ drug, it is commonly used in the treatment of ________.

Stimulant; ADHD

At one time, disordered people were simply warehoused in asylums. These were replaced with psychiatric hospitals in which attempts were made to diagnose and cure those with psychological disorders. This best illustrates one of the beneficial consequences of

The medical model

A current authoritative scheme for classifying psychological disorders is known as the

DSM-IV-TR

After George learned that Mrs. Min suffered from schizophrenia, he mistakenly concluded that her tendencies to laugh easily and smile frequently were symptoms of her disorder. This best illustrates the

Biasing power of diagnostic labels

Ongoing patterns of behavior that interfere with normal day-to-day life are best characterized as

Dysfunctional

Brian often interrupts his teacher while she is speaking and frequently forgets to complete his homework assignments. He also has difficulty taking turns in playground games with classmates. Brian most clearly exhibits symptoms of

ADHD

An integrated understanding of psychological disorders in terms of stressful memories, evolutionary processes, and gender roles is most clearly provided by

A biopsychosocial approach.

After participants in one study were informed that a videotaped interviewee was a psychiatric patient, they characterized the person with phrases such as "a passive, dependent type" and "frightened of his own aggressive impulses." This study best illustrated the

Biasing power of diagnostic labels

Symptoms of schizophrenia begin to appear at a median age of about

20

Lenore is unexplainably and continually tense and is plagued by muscle tension, sleeplessness, and an inability to concentrate. Lenore most likely suffers from

Generalized anxiety disorder

An immediate and irrational anxiety response to the mere sight of blood is indicative of

A specific phobia

Mrs. Swift is alarmed by her own intrusive and irrational thoughts that her house is contaminated by germs. Her experience best illustrates the agitating effects of

An obsession

Years after he barely survived a terrorist attack that killed his wife and two children, Mr. Puskari suffers recurring flashbacks and frequent nightmares of the event that render him incapable of holding a steady job. Mr. Puskari is most clearly showing signs of

Post traumatic stress disorder

Andrea experiences extreme anxiety when approaching any lake. Her therapist suggests that her fear results from a traumatic boat accident she experienced as a child. The therapist’s suggestion reflects a ________ perspective.

Learning

Generalized anxiety disorder is often accompanied by

Depression

Symptoms that may be misperceived as a heart attack are most characteristic of

Panic disorder

Although Mark realizes that his behavior is unreasonable, he is so alarmed by high bridges or expressway overpasses that he avoids them by taking an unnecessarily lengthy route to and from work each day. Mark appears to suffer from

A phobia

Without success, Maxine spends hours each day trying to suppress intrusive thoughts that she might have forgotten to lock her house when she left for work. Her experience is most symptomatic of

Obsessive compulsive disorder

A therapist suggests that Mr. Broshi continues to bite his fingernails because this behavior often reduced his feelings of anxiety in the past. The therapist’s suggestion most clearly reflects a ________ perspective.

Learning

Elaine feels that her life is empty, has lost all interest in her career and hobbies, and wonders if she would be better off dead. She is most likely suffering from

Major depressive disorder

The experience of depression ________ risk taking and ________ aggression.

Inhibits; Inhibits

Between 1994 and 2003, there was a 40-fold increase in the number of people 19 and under diagnosed each year with

Bipolar disorder

An overabundance of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine is most likely to be associated with

A maniac episode

Inanna suffers from chronic depression. According to the social-cognitive perspective, how is she most likely to respond when told that she performed very poorly on a test she took the previous day?

"I’m academically incompetent and always will be."

Major depressive disorder is said to occur when signs of depression last at least

Two weeks

Mr. Hoffman has always been cautious with his money, but over the past two weeks he has developed grandiose plans to bet his entire life savings on a single horse race. With unrestrained exuberance he has also been giving everybody he sees unsolicited advice on how to make millions in the stock market. Mr. Hoffman’s behavior is most indicative of

Mania

Bipolar disorder is most likely to be characterized by

Alternations between extreme hopelessness and unrealistic optimism

Which of the following has been shown to be a risk factor for future suicide attempts?

NSSI

Amanda’s therapist suggests that her depression results from mistakenly blaming herself rather than a slumping economy for her recent job loss. Her therapist’s suggestion best illustrates a

Social-cognitive perspective

Mr. James believes that people are constantly laughing at him and that FBI agents are trying to steal his life savings. Mr. James is most clearly suffering from

Delusions

Which of the following best illustrates a negative symptom of schizophrenia?

Social withdrawal

Catatonia is characterized by

Periods of immobility or excessive, purposeless movement

Therapeutic drugs that block dopamine receptors are most likely to reduce

Hallucinations

The relationship between the season of the year in which people are born and their subsequent risk of schizophrenia best highlights the role of ________ in this disorder.

Viral infections

Mrs. Higgins believes that aliens from another planet have removed her stomach and are watching her to see how long it takes her to grow another one. Mrs. Higgins is most likely suffering from

Schizophrenia

Michael complains that threatening voices are constantly telling him that he is so evil he should drown himself. Michael is experiencing

Hallucinations

The chances for recovery from schizophrenia are considered to be greatest when the disorder develops

Rapidly in response to a stressful life situation

A PET scan study of people with ________ found increased activity in the amygdala.

Paranoia

Oxygen deprivation at the time of birth is a known risk factor for

Schizophrenia