The link between extreme stress and cardiovascular problems can be explained by all of the following except..

• Increased adrenaline
• Increased negative coping strategies
• Increased hostitlity
• Increased physical activity

Which of the following is considered a healthy body mass index?

• 5-12
• 13-18
• 18-24
• 25-30

Melinda has developed a chronic illness.  A health psychologist is working with Melinda's physician.  Which of the following would the health psychologist be most interested in evaluating?

• Melinda's family history of illness
• Melinda's current medication regimen
• Melinda's preferrred methods of handling stress
• Melinda's surgical history

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of hardiness?

• A sense of commitment
• Perceived control over events
• Viewing problems as challenges rather than threats
• The Type A personality

Which of the following would be considered an acute stressor?

• Colon cancer
• A pop quiz
• Marital discord
• Being a member of a persecuted minority group

Which of the following is NOT helpful when it comes to reducing stress and leading a  healthier life?

• Social support
• Optimism
• Religion and faith
• External locus of control

Which of the following is a class of anti-anxiety drugs?

• Benzodiazepines
• Tricycles
• Monoamine oxidase inhibitors
• Neuroleptics

Which part of the dream is remembered by the dreamer?

Which of the following is an example of resistance?

• Saying whatever comes to mind, in a stream-of-consciousness manner.
• Experincing emotional release by revisiting painful memories.
• Showing up late to therapy appointments.
• Discussing childhood embarassments.

Which therapy would be most focuses on exploring childhoos relationships?

• Behavioral therapy
• Cognitive therapy
• Humanistic therapy
• Psychodynamic therapy

Which of the following techniques is most associated with humanistic therapy?

• Challenging distorted thinking
• Exploring unconscious motives
• Unconditional positive regard
• Focusing on parent-child dynamics

Which therapy would be least foucses on emotions?

• Behavioral therapy
• Humanistic therapy
• Gestalt therapy
• Psychodynamic therapy

Which of the following techniques would be consistent with a behavioral approach?

• Exploring the messages a person received about food while growing up.
• Challenging a person's all-or-none thinking about weight.
• Encouraging someone to buy himself or herself a new pair of shoes for losing 15 pounds.
• Discussing the meaning of weight in a person's self-image.

Modern psychodynamic therapies typically differ from traditional Freudian therapy in all of the following ways EXCEPT...

• Placing greater emphasis on conscious rather than unconscious processes.
• Focusing more on current relationships than on childhood experiences.
• Having the client face the therapist and talk to him or her directly.
• Meeting several times a week for a few months, rather than once a week for a period of years.

Ken went to the emergency room because he was short of breath, had a rapid heart beat, was sweating, and feared that he was having a heart attack and would die.  When the physician examined Ken, she was unable to find anything physically wrong with him.  When she questioned Ken further, he told her that these physical symptoms occurred right before he was to give an important presentation.  Which of the following is a possible explanation for Ken's symptoms?

• Schizophrenia
• Bipolar disorder
• Panic disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder

Which of the following is not an anxiety disorder?

• Panic disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• Bipolar disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder

Which of the following statements is most consistent with the biopsychosocial model?

• Mental illness is caused by brain abnormalities, neurochemical abnormalities, and genetic influences.
• Societal forces such as oppression and povety drive the development of mental illness.
• Genetic heritage causes a predisposition to mental illness, but environmental and cognitive/emotional factors must be present for mental illness to develop.
• Mental illness does not exist, but is rather a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.

Which of the following would be classified as a negative symptom of schizophrenia?

• Visual hallucinations
• Flat affect
• Delusions
• Loose associations

Which of the following statements is most correct?

• The biggest risk factor for depression is genetics.
• All areas of the brain of depressed persons are under-active.
• Depression is realted to neurotransmitter deregulation, genetics, and cognitive processes.
• Women experience depression because estrogen, by its nature, is a depressant.

People who suffer from borderline personality disorders often have all of the following symptoms except...

• Hallucinations
• Anger management problems
• Impulsive, risky behaviors
• Instability in personal relationships

Which of the following is NOT a valid criticism of the DSM?

• It emphasises weaknesses rather than strengths.
• It emphasizes biological causes of mental illness, rather than environmental causes.
• It is based too heavily on the medical model.
• It does not allow for consistent diagnoses.

Which of the following is NOT a criterion for distinguishing "normal" from "abnormal" behavior?

• Deviance
• Legality
• Personal distress
• Maladaptiveness

Which of the following statements is most correct?

• The fundamental attribution error is unrelated to stereotypes, while self-serving bias is related to stereotypes.
• The fundamental attribution error is focuses on others, while self-serving bias is focuses on the self.
• The fundamental attribution error attributes successes to internal causes, while self-serving bias attributes successes to external causes..
• The fundamental attribution error does not take into account all available information, while self-serving bias does.

Which of the following is helpful in reducing prejudice?

• Competition
• Us/them thinking
• Use of heuristics
• Empathy

Which of the following will decrease the likelihood of deindividuation?

• Large groups
• Darkness
• Saying a person's names
• Costumes

Which of the following statements would indicate that the speaker is making an internal attribution?

• "She got the job because she was in the right place a the right time."
• "No wonder he's a juvenile delinquent?  Just look at his home life!"
• "That man slipped on the sidewalk because it's icy."
• "I can't believe she's so overweight.  She must be a very lazy person."

All of the following increase aggression EXCEPT:

• Cool weather
• Frustration
• Lowered serotonin levels
• The presence of weapons

Of the following theorists, who is NOT associated with psychodynamic theory?

• Alfred Adler
• Karen Horney
• Carl Rogers
• Carl Jung

Which of the following is an example of hysteria?

• A woman sobbing after ending a romantic relationship.
• A man whose hand is numb despite any physical explanation.
• A woman who becomes pregnant despite using birth control.
• A man who expresses his sadness through getting into physical fights with others.

Which of the following has NOT been a criticism of Freud's theory?

• He placed too much emphasis on childhood and not enoguth emphasis on later development.
• He placed too much emphasis on sexuality and not enought emphasis on other sources of motivation.
• He placed too much emphasis on cultural influences on development, and not enought emphasis on biological influences.
• He placed too much emphasis on the unconscious and not enought emphasis on conscious thought.

Which of the following, from earliest to latest, is the correct ordering of the psychosexual stages of development?

• Oral stage, latency period, anal stage, genital stage, phallic stage.
• Anal stage, oral stage, genital stage, phallic stage, latency period.
• Latency period, anal stage, oral stage, genital stage, phallic stage.
• Oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency period, genital stage.

Which of the following has NOT been a criticism of the humanistic approach to personality?

• The humanist perspective underestimates the effect of the situation on human behavior.
• Humanists are too optimistic about human nature.
• The humanisitc approach may encourage narcissism.
• The humanistic perspective may encourage people to avoid taking responsibility for individual actions.

Which of the following traits would you expect a successful graduate student to be high in?

• Neuroticism
• Introversion
• Intelligence
• Conscientiousness

Which of the following is a key determinant of a person's set point?

• The person's age
• The number of fat cells in the person's body
• The person's insulin levels
• All of the above are correct

Which of the following statements about gender differences in sexual behavior is true?

• The sexual attitudes of both men and women are strongly influenced by cultural norms.
• Men tend to show more fluidity than women in their sexual orientation over the course of their lifetimes.
• The four-stage sexual response pattern applies to men, but not to women.
• Women tend to think about sex more frequently than men do.

Which of the following needs must be met first, according to Maslow?

• Self-actualization
• Shelter
• Self-esteem
• Sex

Which of the following goals will a person likely be most successful at completing?

• Being a good person
• Becoming a successful lawyer
• Running 3.5 miles twice a week for the next two weeks
• Losing weight

Which of the following statements is most consistent with the two-factor theory of emotion?

• Physiological arousal can be interpreted in different ways, resulting in different emotions.
• Physiological arousal and emotion happen simultaneously.
• Physiological arousal happens first; emotion then follows.
• Emotion happens first; physiological arousal then follows.

Which of the following is NOT a way to increase your own happiness?

• Making a list of things you are thankful for
• Acquiring material goods
• Engaging in activities that will benefit others
• Setting meaningful goods

Which of the following theorists is most closely associated with a theory of cognitive development?

• Erikson
• Kohlberg
• Kohut
• Piaget

During adolescence there are changes in the structure of the brain.  Changes in which of the following brain structures are thought to be partially responsible for adolescent behavior?

• The hippocampus and the cerebellum
• The basal ganglia and the thalamus
• The reticular formation and the brain stem
• The amygala and the prefrontal cortex

Which of the following socioemotional development stages occurs in adolescence?

• Intimacy versus isolation
• Generativity versus stagnation
• Initiative versus guilt
• Identity versus identity confusion

Which of the following scenarios would best be explained by the prototype model of concept structures?

• Determining whether something is a car if it has four wheels.
• Determining whether something is a fish if it swims in the water.
• Determining whether something is a flower if it is similar to a rose.
• Determining whether something is a cat if it can run.

Rose believes that she is more likely to die from a tornado than from heart disease because tornados make big news.  Which of the following errors has Rose made?

• Confirmation bias
• Hindsight bias
• Functional Fixedness
• Availability heuristic

Which of the following is a characteristic of creative thinkers?

• Inner motivation
• Functional fixedness
• Fixation
• Availability heuristic

Which of the following statements is supported by the theories of Benjamin Whorf?

• Intelligence is multifaceted, and people have different levels of each type of intelligence.
• The more words an individual has to describe an object or event, the easier it will be for him or her to think about it.
• Standardized intelligence tests tend to be culturally biased.
• Individuals determine whether an object is part of  a category by comparing it to an object typical of that category.

Which of the following supports Noam Chomsky's assertion that humans are designed for language acquisition?

• All humans speak.
• Language rules are similar from culture to culture.
• Children from different cultures develop language at about the same age and in the same order.
• Parents from all cultures speak to their infants.

Which of the following is NOT a characteristics of critical thinkers?

• Questioning assumptions
• Examining the evidence
• Mindfulness
• Picking an answer and sticking with it

Which of the following is NOT a criticism of the multiple-intelligences approach?

• There is insufficient research evidence to support this approach.
• This approach has not shown any pratical use in terms of stimulating educational research.
• Many of Gardner's intelligences overlap more than he would like to admit.
• Such approaches may be going too far in trying to separately label different types of intelligence.

A student is studying for a philosophy exam.  She is trying to remember a list of philosophy concepts and associates each one with a personal event in her life.  Which of the following is she employing?

• Intermediate level of processing
• Imagery
• Elaboration
• Chunking

Juan developed a fear of dogs after being attacked by one.  His counselor helped him to overcome this fear by teaching him to relax in the presence of dogs.  Eventually, he was no longer afraid of dogs.  Which of the following processes occurred?

• Extinction
• Spontaneous recovery
• Discrimination
• Counterconditioning

Which of the following is a primary reinforcer?

• Getting a high grade on a test.
• Being complimented on your clothes.
• Eating some delicious ice cream.
• Getting a promotion at work.

Which of the following statements is correct?

• Classical conditioning focuses on involuntary responses, while operant conditioning focuses on voluntary behaviors.
• Classical conditioning is involved with negative outcomes, while operant conditioning is involved with positive outcomes.
• Extinction occurs in classical conditioning, but not in operant conditioning.
• Shaping occurs in classical conditioning, but not in operant conditioning.

Which of the following has NOT been proposed as a reason why our bodies require sleep?

• The body can repair damage during the "down time" provided by sleep.
• From an evolutionary standpoint, sleep increased the fertility of females.
• Sleep is critical for the consolidation and storage of long-term memories.
• Sleep helps the immune system to function optimally.

The majority of dreaming occurs in which stage of sleep?

Which of the following statements is correct?

• Night terrors occur during non-REM sleep, while nightmares occur during REM sleep.
• Night terrors are more common than nightmares.
• Night terrors do not involve physiological reactions, such as sweating and increased heart rate, weheras nightmares do.
• Both night terrors and nightmares increase in frequency up through middle-adulthood.

Which of the following drugs is a depressant?

• Nicotine
• Cocaine
• Marijuana
• Barbituates

Which of the following statements is correct?

• Meditation is a state of altered consciousness.
• Meditation has health benefits.
• Brain waves among people in a meditative state are the same a people who are asleep.
• Meditation allows people to avoid their thoughts.

Which statements about age and sleep patterns is accurate?

• Insomnia is more common in early adulthood than in late adulthood.
• Young children need 8 hours of sleep per night, but teenagers usually only need about 7 hours.
• As children become adolescents, they usually shift more in the "night owl" direction.
• None of the other answer choices are correct.

Which statement about pain is TRUE?

• Unlike other forms of perception, the perception of pain is not affected by culture.
• Compared to receptors for temperature and touch, pain receptors have a higher threshold for firing.
• The fast pathway for pain goes through the limbic system.
• Directing one's attention to pain tends to make the pain dissipate faster.

Depth perception is possible becuase of...

• Binocular cues
• Monocular cues
• Texture of objects
• All of the answers are correct

Which of the following statements is correct?

• Sound waves reach the pinna first, then the eardrum, then the oval window.
• Sound waves reach the cochlea first, then the eardrum, then the hammer.
• Sound waves reach the hammer first, then the cochlea, then the pinna.
• Sound waves reach the pinna first, then the cochlea, then the ear drum.

Which of the following affect our perception?

• The stimuli
• Individual physiological differences
• Culture
• All of the answers are correct

Which of the following is known as "the master gland"?

• Adrenal gland
• Thyroid
• Hypothalamus
• Pituitary gland

Which statement about brain damage is TRUE?

• Recovery from brain damage is much easier for adults than for infants or children.
• When association cortex is damaged, the degree of function loss is based primarily on the extent of the damge rather than on the location of the damage.
• Because new neurons can never be generated, compelte recovery from brain damage is impossible.
• Brain damage can be assessed using MRI, but not using PET scans.

A psychologist is attempting to understand why certain physical characteristics are rated as attractive.  The psychologist explains that certain characteristics have been historically adaptive, and thus are considered attractive.  This explanation is consistent with which of the followign approaches?

• The sociocultural approach
• The humanistic approach
• The cognitive approach
• The evolutionary approach

Which of the following would a sociocultural psychologist be likely to study?

• The impact of media messages on women's body image.
• The way in which neurotransmitters are implicated in the development of eating disorders.
• The impact of thinking patterns on weight management.
• The benefits of exercise in preventing obesity.

From where did psychology emerge?

• The work of Wilhelm Wundt
• Early philosophical thought
• The natural sciences
• All of the answers are correct

A researcher interested in the way in which our sense of smell works would likely be associated with which of the following areas of specialization?

• Cognitive psychology
• Learning
• Motivation and learning
• Sensation and perception

Which of the following areas of specialization would focus on the ways in which stress is related to cancer remission?

• Cognitive psychology
• Community psychology
• Health psychology
• Behavioral neuroscience

If a researcher is interested in the population of college students at a large state university, which of the following would provide him or her with a random sample?

• Randomly approaching students in the student union.
• Randomly selecting three classrooms and including all the students in those classrooms in the sample.
• Randomly selecting students from a listing of every student in the unversity.
• Randomly selecting students from the incoming class.

A researcher has designed a study to test the effects of different types of individual psychotherapy on people's level of depression.  She has randomly assigned people to one of three groups: a cognitive-behavioral treatment group, a psychodynamic treatment group, or a no-treatment control group.  She then measures people's level of depression after the treatment.  Which of the following statements is true?

• The treatment group is the dependent variable; depression is the independent variable.
• Depression is the dependent variable; the treatment group is the independent variable.
• Depression is the dependent variable; cognitive-behavioral treatment is the independent variable.
• Cogntiive-behavioral treatment is the dependent variable; depression is the independent variable.

Which of the following should be adhered to in conducting ethical research?

• Informed consent
• Debriefing
• Confidentiality
• All of these answers are correct

Which of the following is an advantage of laboratory studies?

• Ecological validity
• Lack of participant bias
• Control of extraneous variables
• Observation in a naturalistic setting

Which correlation indicates the strongest relationship between two variables?

• -.85
• +.10
• +.65
• 0.0