Psychology 101 - McNamara 

Fall ‘99 Exam 2

Answer key -- answers in BOLD

Part I: Multiple-Choice Choose the BEST answer to each of the following. Mark your answers on the scantron sheet provided.

 

1. In a class demonstration, Dr. McNamara moved his laser pointer very fast so that we saw a circle on the screen instead of a series of light points. Which of the following mechanisms contributed to this perception?

  1. short term memory
  2. long term memory
  3. implicit memory
  4. sensory memory

2. If short-term memory capacity is measured by having people recite lists of auditorially presented digits, the estimated capacity will be greater for speakers of English than speakers of Welsh. This is true because

  1. digit names are shorter in English than in Welsh.
  2. Welsh numerals are more complex than English numerals.
  3. the Welsh people are educationally and economically disadvantaged, and therefore perform worse on some intellectual ability measures.
  4. "chunking" is harder in Welsh than in English.

3. Sperling showed that people could use a cue that indicated which row to report but could not use a cue that indicated whether to report digits or letters from a briefly presented array of items. This finding indicated that sensory memory

  1. has a very large capacity.
  2. is not perceptually processed.
  3. decays very quickly.
  4. is organized spatially.

4. Which of the following statements about memory is true?

  1. Sensory memory has only a limited capacity.
  2. Short-term memory is perceptually processed.
  3. Long term memory is organized randomly.
  4. Procedural memory is impaired in people with anterograde amnesia.

5. As discussed in the text, the basic processes involved in long-term memory are:

  1. rehearsal, organization, and interference
  2. encoding , storage, and retrieval
  3. retrograde and anterograde amnesia
  4. primacy and recency effects

6. Based on the principle of transfer appropriate processing, which of the following activities would be the best method of preparing for an essay exam?

  1. Creating and answering multiple choice questions.
  2. Recalling terms given definitions as cues.
  3. Writing responses to questions about the material.
  4. Reading the assigned material before and after the lecture.

7. The process that determines how memories are recovered and translated into performance is:

  1. retrieval
  2. encoding
  3. storage
  4. rehearsal

8. In preparation for an upcoming exam, Bonnie decided to study the material a little bit at a time over several days, rather than cramming the night before. Which of the following principles would suggest that this is a good study strategy?

  1. Elaboration
  2. Encoding-retrieval match
  3. Spaced vs massed practice
  4. Implicit vs explicit memory

9. When we form meaningful connections between new information and existing knowledge already in memory, we are using

  1. bilateral processing
  2. elaboration
  3. iconic memory
  4. encoding specificity

10. Which of the following tasks is used to test implicit memory?

  1. Recognition
  2. Recall
  3. Word-fragment completion
  4. Recitation


11. Knowledge stored in long-term memory about how to do things, such as riding a bike or tying shoelaces is considered

  1. episodic memory
  2. explicit memory
  3. semantic memory
  4. procedural memory

12. Eyewitness testimony is often considered one of the most credible sources of evidence in a trial. Since memory is highly reconstructive, how should we consider statements from an eyewitness?

a. Eyewitness memory may be inaccurate despite accurate encoding of the event.

b. The testimony can be considered accurate as long as techniques such as hypnosis were used.

c. Eyewitness testimony may be inaccurate even if the eyewitness is confidant about the accuracy of the testimony.

d. Eyewitness testimony should always be considered accurate.

13. There may exist a defense mechanism that individuals use unknowingly to push threatening thoughts, memories, and feelings out of conscious awareness. This process is called

  1. decay
  2. amnesia
  3. repression
  4. forgetting

14. In class lecture, we learned that the primary cause of forgetting is:

  1. elaboration
  2. interference
  3. poor encoding
  4. poor storage

15. Which of the following is true about individuals with anterograde amnesia?

  1. People with anterograde amnesia have difficulty with implicit memory tasks.
  2. People with anterograde amnesia have difficulty recalling old memories.
  3. People with anterograde amnesia show deficits in declarative and procedural memory.
  4. People with damage to their hippocampus may have anterograde amnesia.

16. All human languages possess basic hierarchical structure. The smallest units in a language that carry meaning are:

  1. phonemes
  2. morphemes
  3. words
  4. phrases

17. In a human language, rules that specify how words can be combined to form sentences and how different sentences are related to each other are called:

  1. pragmatics
  2. phonology
  3. semantics
  4. syntax

18. An English speaker would recognize the word "llweowyd" as a foreign word because the word structure violates the rules of English. These rules are part of:

  1. phonology
  2. pragmatics
  3. syntax
  4. semantics

19. Which of the following is a typical characteristic of Broca’s aphasia?

  1. fluent but nonsensical speech
  2. nonfluent, "telegraphical" speech
  3. normal phrase length
  4. poor comprehension of other’s speech

20. Based on class discussion, which of the following is true about the relationship between language and thought.

  1. Speakers of different language think in different ways.
  2. Language determines cognition.
  3. Thought determines language.
  4. Thinking can be influenced by language.

21. Madonna knows a lot about mammals but not much about bears. When told that bears are mammals, she concludes that they give birth to live young and nurse their cubs with milk. This function of concepts is referred to as

  1. classification
  2. understanding and explanation
  3. reasoning
  4. communication

22. Which of the following concepts may be best explained by the defining features model?

  1. "carbon" (the element)
  2. "clinically depressed" in the DSM-IV
  3. "chair"
  4. "game"

23. Which of the following statements is NOT true about problem solving?

  1. Behavior directed toward achieving a goal.
  2. It involves breaking the goal into subgoals.
  3. The means of achieving subgoals must be selected.
  4. New actions themselves can not become subgoals.

24. A problem-solving heuristic that involves devising actions that reduce the distance between the starting point and the desired goal is called

  1. working backward
  2. mean-ends analysis
  3. an algorithm
  4. adjustment

25. Based on the class discussion of Gick and Holyoak’s experiment, which of the following contributes most to helping people solve problems?

  1. no analogy and no hint
  2. analogy but no hint
  3. hint but no analogy
  4. analogy and hint

26. The manner in which the alternatives in a decision-making situation are presented is called

  1. representativeness
  2. framing
  3. availability
  4. inert knowledge

27. The tendency to rely on well-established habits of perception and thought when attempting to solve problems is:

  1. functional fixedness
  2. mental sets
  3. heuristics
  4. algorithms

28. Which of the following is true of heuristics?

  1. Problem solving and decision making do not rely heavily on heuristics.
  2. Heuristics are time consuming, but will always result in the correct answer.
  3. Heuristics are quick, but usually not economical.
  4. In most cases, the benefits from heuristics outweigh the costs.

29. Before taking a test for Senate candidates, Rico asks the examiner, "How do you know this test measures what it is supposed to measure?" Rico's question regards the test's

  1. reliability.
  2. validity.
  3. concordance.
  4. normal distribution.

30. Prior to being admitted to a graduate program most students have to take the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), which is designed to identify those individuals who will be able to best benefit from higher-level academic training. Given this information, the GRE is classified as a(n) ________ test.

  1. attitude
  2. achievement
  3. personality
  4. aptitude

31. ___________ is best known for his conceptualization of intelligence as general intelligence ("g") plus specific factors ("s").

  1. Thurstone
  2. Spearman
  3. Binet
  4. Maslow

32. If they were typical subjects, who would have the highest mean correlation in intelligence?

  1. Simon and John, who are identical twins reared apart.
  2. Mick and Keith, who are fraternal twins reared apart.
  3. John and Paul, who are identical twins reared together.
  4. Donny and Jordan, who are fraternal twins reared together.

33. According to Sternberg's Triarchic Theory there are three types of intelligence:

  1. analytical, contextual, and performance.
  2. analytical, creative, and practical.
  3. experiential, creative, and practical.
  4. contextual, applied, and general.

34. _____________ processes are involved in translating sensory inputs into mental representations, transforming mental representations, and translating mental representations into responses.

  1. Performance
  2. Preoperational
  3. Planning
  4. Procedural

35. The Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is computed by comparing

  1. latent intelligence and observed intelligence.
  2. chronological age and reaction range.
  3. mental age and chronological age.
  4. general intelligence and mental age.

36. In Piaget's theory, accommodation is to assimilation as

  1. old memory is to new memory.
  2. conservation is to egocentrism.
  3. modification of schemata is to conforming to existing schemata.
  4. preoperational is to concrete-operational.

37. When discussing the cognitive developmental level of her daughter Wynonna, Naomi says, "She mostly relies on simplistic reflex actions." Wynonna is best classified as currently being in Piaget's _________ stage of cognitive development.

  1. formal-operational
  2. sensorimotor
  3. concrete-operational
  4. preoperational

38. Brittany begins to roll a ball of clay until it forms a long "snake-like" shape. She then tells her dad, "I made a little clay into a whole bunch of clay!" Brittany's statement indicates that she does not understand

  1. conservation.
  2. schema formation.
  3. assimilation.
  4. object permanence.

39. The Zone of Proximal Development is

  1. the range of ability between a child's genetic endowment and a child's measured intelligence.
  2. the range of ability between a child's observable level and a child's potential, latent level.
  3. the time period during which a child's intelligence cannot be accurately measured.
  4. the period during childhood prior to complete development of declarative memory.

40. ___________ is an example of a domain-general process in information-processing theories of development.

  1. Memory
  2. Verbal comprehension
  3. Encoding
  4. Perceptual skill

41. An individual who complies with rules to avoid punishment is operating at Kohlberg's _______ level of moral reasoning.

  1. conventional
  2. postconventional
  3. preconventional
  4. unconventional

42. If they are following the timing of Erikson's stages of development, who would you expect to currently be obsessed with the question, "Who am I?"

  1. Janet , who is 10-years old.
  2. Michael, who is 15-years old.
  3. Tito, who is 20-years old.
  4. Jermain, who is 25-years old.

43. One criticism of Erikson's theory of psychosocial development is that

  1. it describes development as a series of discrete stages
  2. few people can successfully resolve all of the stages
  3. it fails to acknowledge that development is a lifelong process
  4. it deemphasizes interpersonal interaction

44. The "strange situation test" is often used to assess

  1. memory.
  2. accommodation.
  3. intelligence.
  4. attachment.

45. Ozzy the chimp is raised from birth in a cage with several surrogate, wire "mothers". Based on research by Harlow, which surrogate mother would Ozzy approach if frightened?

  1. The wire monkey that had a feeding tube.
  2. The wire monkey that played music.
  3. The wire monkey that had soft fur covering the wire.
  4. The wire monkey that had a picture of a monkey attached to it.

46. Debbie seems unconcerned when strangers appear or when her mother leaves, and she shows little interest when her mother returns. She would most likely be classified as

  1. having a secure attachment.
  2. having an antagonistic attachment.
  3. having a resistant attachment.
  4. having an avoidant attachment.

47. Studies of the effect of child care on interpersonal development have generally found that

  1. child care leads to insecure attachment
  2. child care provides crucial interaction with other children
  3. effects on development are largely determined by the quality of care
  4. child care facilitates interpersonal development in girls more than in boys

48. Ever since he was young, Bruce has felt uncomfortable about eating tuna and has avoided buying it at the store. In so doing, Bruce is demonstrating his __________ toward tuna.

  1. individuation
  2. attitude
  3. aptitude
  4. conformity

49. If asked to identify some of the basic components of an attitude, you should say all of the following except:

  1. it is learned
  2. it influences behavior
  3. it is evaluative
  4. it is temporary

50. Prior to entering a psychology class, Phil had no specific attitude toward William James. Just as Phil's professor begins to discuss James's work, however, a clock falls off the wall and strikes Phil on top of his head. From that moment forward, Phil has always felt great anger toward James. Phil's attitude toward James is best explained using _________ principles.

  1. information-processing
  2. instrumental conditioning
  3. humanistic
  4. classical conditioning

51. Sheryl hates brussel sprouts. Research on attitude change would indicate that if Sheryl repeatedly read the statement, "I like brussel sprouts, I like brussel sprouts, . . .," that her opinion of brussel sprouts would

  1. not change, because of habituation.
  2. become more negative; she would hate brussel sprouts even more.
  3. become more positive, because of the "memory route" to persuasion.
  4. initially improve and then get more negative, because of the joint effects of repetition and interference.

52. Which of Ricky's statements supports a self-perception theory explanation for his positive attitude toward Alice?

  1. "I must like her; I am on a date with her."
  2. "My best friend told me she was fun."
  3. "I know that I love her in my heart."
  4. "She is a super nice individual."

53. According to cognitive dissonance theory, which of the following situations would probably produce the most cognitive dissonance:

  1. An opponent of the death-penalty attending a pro-death-penalty rally and disagreeing with what she hears.
  2. An advocate of the death-penalty attending an anti-death-penalty rally and agreeing with what she hears.
  3. An opponent of the death-penalty attending an anti-death penalty rally and agreeing with what she hears.
  4. An advocate of the death-penalty attending a pro-death penalty rally and agreeing with what she hears.

54. Brandi almost always gets "Cs" on her English 104W papers. Brandi almost always gets "As" in other courses. Other students in 104W are also getting "Cs" on papers. According to Kelly's covariation model, what kind of attribution will people make in explaining Brandi's grades in 104W?

  1. An internal attribution.
  2. An external attribution.
  3. The fundamental attribution error.
  4. The self-serving bias.

55. When baking alone the average bakery employee can make about 100 donuts an hour. The fact that production level decreases to 80 per hour when employees work in small groups is best explained by the phenomenon of social

  1. facilitation.
  2. obedience.
  3. affiliation.
  4. loafing.

56. Despite the fact that she knows that it is a bad idea, she might get hurt and no one actually asked her to do it, Tiffany follows her friends in jumping off a cliff into the ocean. Tiffany's behavior is best explained as

  1. obedience.
  2. compliance.
  3. conformity.
  4. social loafing.

57. Which social influence concept involves a direct request from an authority figure?

  1. obedience.
  2. conformity.
  3. social exchange.
  4. compliance

58. People are more likely to notice unusual behaviors rather than common behaviors of outgroup members and are less likely to notice unusual behaviors than common behaviors of ingroup members. This relationship produces

  1. an imagined consensus.
  2. a stereotyped belief.
  3. an illusory correlation.
  4. a self-fulfilling prophecy.

59. Jimmy saw an elderly woman drop her groceries on a busy sidewalk. He immediately crossed the street to help her pick up her things. In this instance, Jimmy’s behavior does not conform to the

  1. self-fulfilling prophecy.
  2. normative social influence.
  3. bystander effect.
  4. mere presence effect.

60. Which of the following is a factor that will increase the likelihood of helping behavior?

  1. If the victim is stigmatized.
  2. If there is blood and gore.
  3. If the victim is a stranger.
  4. If there are few other people present.

61. Zimbardo’s Prisoner Study was discussed as an example of how _____________ can lead to aggressive behavior.

  1. social learning
  2. deindividuation
  3. environmental factors
  4. biological factors

62. Which of the following did Milgram discover in his studies of obedience?

  1. obedience was restricted to a "pathological fringe".
  2. less than one-third of the subjects were fully obedient.
  3. women we just as obedient as men.
  4. the level of obedience decreased after World War II.

Part II: Fill-in-the-blank Complete each of the following statements with the appropriate answer(s). Print your answers in the spaces provided. Please print clearly.

An organized knowledge structure in long-term memory is called a schema.

Three important characteristics that distinguish human languages from other forms of communication include timeless, symbolic, dynamic, communacative, rule-based, hierarchical.

Concepts are the mental representations of categories and the building blocks of human thought.

The three major theories of categorization are defining features, prototypes, exemplars.

The thought processes involved in evaluating and choosing from among a set of alternatives are called decision making.

Step-by-step rules or procedures that can be used to solve problems are called algorithms.

 Studies of mental processes have found that higher intelligence is associated with spending more time on planning processes and less time on performance processes.

Psychometric theories of intelligence seek to identify intellectual abilities and to determine how they are related to each other.

The central route to persuasion results in stable, long lasting attitudes.

When consistency is high, but distinctiveness and consensus are low, internal attributions tend to be made.

When explaining someone's else's behavior, we tend to overestimate internal factors and underestimate external factors. This is referred to as the fundamental attribution error.

 Enhanced performance in the presence of others is called social facilitation.

Prejudice is an unfavorable attitude directed toward other groups of people, based on insufficient or incorrect evidence.

Give two factors that have been shown to affect conformity group size, cohesiveness, social status, culture, unanimity.