✏️ CLEP Central
Introductory Psychology
A comprehensive, exam-focused study guide covering every tested topic
Exam Overview
What the Exam Tests
The CLEP Introductory Psychology exam is equivalent to a one-semester college intro psychology course. Questions test your ability to recall facts, apply psychological concepts to real-life scenarios, interpret research, and identify major theories and their associated thinkers.
💡 Tip
You need a score of 50 out of 80 (scaled) to pass. Credit hours awarded (3–6) vary by institution. Always verify with your specific college before testing.
Content Area Breakdown
- History, Approaches & Methods — 8–9%
- Biological Bases of Behavior — 8–9%
- Sensation & Perception — 6–7%
- States of Consciousness — 5–6%
- Learning — 8–9%
- Cognitive Psychology — 8–9%
- Motivation & Emotion — 6–7%
- Developmental Psychology — 8–9%
- Personality — 6–7%
- Social Psychology — 8–9%
- Abnormal Psychology — 8–9%
- Treatment of Psychological Disorders — 5–6%
- Social & Cultural Dimensions of Behavior — 5–6%
History, Approaches & Methods
8–9%History & Major Approaches
Psychology's history spans from Wundt's first laboratory to today's biopsychosocial model. Key milestones: Wundt (structuralism, first psych lab Leipzig 1879), James (functionalism), Freud (psychoanalysis), Watson & Skinner (behaviorism), Maslow & Rogers (humanism), the cognitive revolution 1950s–60s, and the modern biopsychosocial model integrating biological, psychological, and social factors.
Structuralism
Structuralism
Wundt · Titchener
Used introspection to find basic elements of consciousness. First scientific approach to psychology.
Functionalism
Functionalism
William James
How mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment. Influenced by Darwin's evolution.
Behaviorism
Behaviorism
Watson · Skinner
Only observable behavior matters — no mental states. Psychology as the science of stimulus-response.
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Freud
Unconscious drives and childhood experiences shape behavior. Emphasized repression and the unconscious mind.
Humanism
Humanism
Maslow · Rogers
Free will, self-actualization, and human potential. Reaction against behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Cognitive
Cognitive
Neisser · Beck
Mental processes as information processing. Reintroduced the mind to scientific psychology in the 1950s–60s.
Research Methods
- Naturalistic observation — observing behavior in natural settings without interference
- Case study — in-depth study of one individual or group
- Survey — self-reported data from a sample; risk of response bias
- Correlation — measures relationship between two variables; does NOT establish causation
- Experiment — only method that establishes cause and effect; requires IV, DV, control group, random assignment
- Single-blind — participants don't know condition; double-blind — neither participants nor researchers know
- Placebo effect — improvement from expectation alone
🔑 Key Rule
Correlation ≠ causation. Only a controlled experiment with random assignment can establish cause-and-effect.
Ethics in Research
- Informed consent — participants must agree before participating
- Deception — allowed only when necessary; debriefing required afterward
- APA ethical guidelines — protect participants from harm
- IRB review — Institutional Review Board must approve research
- Milgram & Zimbardo — landmark studies that prompted modern ethical standards due to participant distress
Biological Bases of Behavior
8–9%The Neuron
Neural signal path: dendrites → cell body → axon → myelin sheath → axon terminals → synapse. The action potential is all-or-none — the neuron either fires fully or not at all. Neurotransmitters cross the synapse to bind to receptor sites on the next neuron.
- Dopamine — reward, motivation, voluntary movement (depleted in Parkinson's; excess linked to schizophrenia)
- Serotonin — mood, sleep, appetite (low levels linked to depression)
- Norepinephrine — arousal, alertness, fight-or-flight
- Acetylcholine — memory and muscle contraction (depleted in Alzheimer's)
- GABA — main inhibitory neurotransmitter; reduces neural activity
- Glutamate — main excitatory neurotransmitter; increases neural activity
- Endorphins — natural pain relief; released during exercise; bind to opioid receptors
The Brain
- Hindbrain: medulla (breathing, heart rate), cerebellum (coordination, balance), pons (sleep, arousal, facial movement)
- Midbrain: reticular activating system (RAS) — controls alertness and attention
- Forebrain: thalamus (sensory relay — "gateway to cortex"), hypothalamus (homeostasis, hunger, sex, aggression — the 4 Fs), limbic system (amygdala — fear/emotion; hippocampus — memory formation)
- Cerebral cortex lobes: Frontal (executive function, personality, motor cortex), Parietal (somatosensory/touch), Occipital (vision), Temporal (hearing, language)
💡 Tip
Know the four lobes and their functions cold — several questions test this directly.
Brain Lateralization
Left hemisphere: language, logic, sequential detail. Right hemisphere: spatial reasoning, creativity, big-picture processing. The corpus callosum connects the two hemispheres. Split-brain research (Sperry) — severing the corpus callosum revealed each hemisphere's specialized functions.
Nervous & Endocrine Systems
- CNS (brain + spinal cord) vs. PNS (all other nerves)
- Somatic (voluntary) vs. Autonomic (involuntary)
- Sympathetic — fight-or-flight: increases heart rate, dilates pupils, slows digestion
- Parasympathetic — rest-and-digest: slows heart rate, promotes digestion
- Endocrine system: pituitary ("master gland"), adrenal (cortisol/adrenaline — stress), thyroid (metabolism), gonads (sex hormones)
Genetics & Behavior
Nature vs. nurture debate: heritability estimates how much variation in a trait is attributable to genes within a population. Twin studies (identical vs. fraternal) and adoption studies separate genetic from environmental influences. Genes set a reaction range; environment determines where within that range a person lands.
Sensation & Perception
6–7%Key Concepts
- Sensation — detecting raw stimulus energy from the environment
- Perception — interpreting and organizing sensory information
- Absolute threshold — minimum stimulus detectable 50% of the time
- Difference threshold / JND — smallest detectable change between two stimuli
- Weber's Law — JND is a constant proportion of the original stimulus (stronger stimuli need bigger changes to notice)
- Signal detection theory — detecting a signal depends on both sensitivity and decision criteria (hits, misses, false alarms, correct rejections)
- Sensory adaptation — diminished sensitivity after prolonged exposure to a stimulus
Vision
Light path: cornea → pupil → lens (accommodation) → retina. Rods — low light, periphery, black & white. Cones — color, detail, fovea (center). Signal travels: bipolar → ganglion cells → optic nerve → optic chiasm → visual cortex (occipital lobe).
- Trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz) — three types of cones for red, green, blue
- Opponent-process theory (Hering) — color receptors work in opposing pairs; explains afterimages
Hearing
Sound path: eardrum → ossicles (hammer, anvil, stirrup) → oval window → cochlea → hair cells → auditory nerve. Frequency theory explains low-pitch sounds; place theory explains high-pitch sounds. Conduction vs. sensorineural hearing loss differ in where the damage occurs.
Other Senses
- Olfaction (smell) — only sense with a direct path to the limbic system (emotion/memory)
- Gustation (taste) — 5 basic tastes: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami
- Touch/pain — gate-control theory (Melzack & Wall): pain signals can be "gated" by non-pain input
- Vestibular sense — balance and spatial orientation (inner ear)
- Kinesthesia — sense of body position and movement
Perceptual Organization
- Gestalt principles: figure-ground, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure
- Depth cues — binocular: retinal disparity (each eye sees slightly different image), convergence (eyes turn inward for close objects)
- Depth cues — monocular: interposition, linear perspective, texture gradient, relative size, atmospheric perspective
- Perceptual constancy: size, shape, and color remain stable despite changing retinal images
- Top-down processing — perception driven by expectations/knowledge; bottom-up — built from raw sensory data
- Perceptual set — mental predisposition to perceive one thing over another
States of Consciousness
5–6%Sleep & Dreams
Circadian rhythms — 24-hour biological clock regulated by the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus. Sleep cycles last ~90 minutes and repeat 4–5 times per night.
- NREM Stage 1 — light sleep; hypnic jerks; theta waves
- NREM Stage 2 — sleep spindles and K-complexes; harder to wake
- NREM Stage 3 — slow-wave/deep sleep; delta waves; sleepwalking and night terrors occur here
- REM — rapid eye movement; vivid dreaming; muscle atonia (paralysis); brain is highly active ("paradoxical sleep"); REM increases across the night
Sleep disorders: insomnia (difficulty sleeping), narcolepsy (sudden sleep attacks + cataplexy), sleep apnea (breathing interruptions), night terrors (NREM 3 — no memory), somnambulism/sleepwalking (NREM 3).
🔑 EEG Wave Types
Beta (alert/awake) → Alpha (relaxed/drowsy) → Theta (NREM 1–2) → Delta (NREM 3/deep sleep). REM looks like waking beta waves despite being asleep.
Dream Theories
- Freud — manifest content (what you remember) vs. latent content (hidden unconscious wish fulfillment)
- Activation-synthesis (Hobson & McCarley) — random brainstem activation during REM; cortex constructs a narrative from the noise
- Information-consolidation theory — dreams help process and consolidate memories
- REM for emotional regulation — processing of emotional experiences during sleep
Hypnosis
A state of heightened suggestibility. Hypnosis is NOT sleep. Two competing explanations: dissociation theory (Hilgard — a "hidden observer" remains aware while another part follows suggestions) vs. social influence theory (Barber — hypnotic behavior is role-playing). Can reduce pain and alter perception in suggestible individuals.
Psychoactive Drugs
- Depressants (alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines) — slow CNS; GABA agonists; reduce anxiety; risk of dependence
- Stimulants (cocaine, amphetamines, caffeine) — increase CNS activity; elevate dopamine and norepinephrine; increase alertness
- Opioids (heroin, morphine, oxycodone) — bind to endorphin receptors; relieve pain; produce euphoria; highly addictive
- Hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, mescaline) — distort perception; alter serotonin pathways
- Cannabis — mixed effects; THC binds cannabinoid receptors; can impair memory
- Tolerance — need more for same effect; withdrawal — physical symptoms when stopping; dependence — physical vs. psychological
Learning
8–9%Classical Conditioning (Pavlov)
Learning through association. A neutral stimulus paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus (US) comes to elicit a conditioned response (CR).
- US → UR (food → salivation); CS → CR (bell → salivation)
- Acquisition — CS-US pairings build the association
- Extinction — CS presented without US; CR weakens
- Spontaneous recovery — extinguished CR reappears after rest
- Generalization — responding to stimuli similar to the CS
- Discrimination — responding only to the specific CS
- Higher-order conditioning — CS becomes a US for a new CS
- Garcia effect / taste aversion — one-trial learning with long delay; violates Pavlov's rules; shows biological preparedness
- Watson's Little Albert — fear conditioned to a white rat; demonstrated classical conditioning of emotion in humans
Operant Conditioning (Skinner)
Behavior is shaped by its consequences. Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases behavior. Positive = add stimulus; Negative = remove stimulus.
- Fixed ratio (FR) — reward after set number of responses; high rate, brief pause after reward
- Variable ratio (VR) — reward after unpredictable number; highest response rate and most resistant to extinction (gambling)
- Fixed interval (FI) — reward after set time; scallop pattern (slow then fast)
- Variable interval (VI) — reward after unpredictable time; steady, moderate rate
- Shaping — reinforcing successive approximations toward target behavior
- Thorndike's Law of Effect — satisfying consequences strengthen behavior; annoying ones weaken it
⚠️ Common Mistake
"Negative reinforcement" ≠ punishment. Negative reinforcement increases behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus (e.g., buckling up stops the beeping).
Cognitive & Observational Learning
- Tolman — cognitive maps and latent learning: learning occurs without reinforcement and is demonstrated only when needed
- Bandura — observational/social learning; Bobo doll study showed children imitate models; introduced concepts of modeling and self-efficacy
- Insight learning (Köhler) — sudden "aha" solution without trial-and-error; demonstrated in chimpanzees
- Preparedness / instinctive drift (Breland & Breland) — animals drift toward instinctive behaviors, resisting conditioning
- Learned helplessness (Seligman) — after repeated inescapable aversives, organisms stop trying; applied model of depression
💡 Tip
VR schedule = highest response rate AND most resistant to extinction. This appears on nearly every practice exam.
Cognitive Psychology: Memory, Thinking, Language
8–9%Memory Models
Atkinson-Shiffrin model: sensory memory → short-term (working) memory → long-term memory.
- Sensory memory: iconic (~0.5 sec), echoic (~3–4 sec)
- Short-term memory (STM): 7±2 items (Miller); ~20 sec without rehearsal; chunking increases capacity
- Long-term memory (LTM): explicit (declarative) — episodic (personal events) vs. semantic (facts); implicit — procedural, priming, classically conditioned responses
Encoding & Retrieval
- Levels of processing (Craik & Lockhart) — deeper, more meaningful processing = better retention
- Elaborative rehearsal — linking new info to existing knowledge
- Encoding specificity — retrieval is best when conditions match encoding context
- Context-dependent memory — environmental context at encoding aids retrieval
- State-dependent memory — internal state (mood, intoxication) at encoding aids retrieval
- Spacing effect — distributed practice beats massed ("cramming")
- Serial position effect: primacy (first items remembered via LTM) + recency (last items in STM)
Forgetting
- Ebbinghaus forgetting curve — rapid initial forgetting, then leveling off
- Proactive interference — old memories disrupt learning new information
- Retroactive interference — new memories disrupt recall of old information
- Anterograde amnesia — inability to form new memories after injury
- Retrograde amnesia — loss of memories before injury
- Repression (Freud) — motivated forgetting of threatening material
🔑 H.M. (Henry Molaison)
Bilateral hippocampus removal → severe anterograde amnesia. Could NOT form new explicit memories but could still learn new motor skills. Key evidence: hippocampus = explicit memory consolidation; implicit memory intact.
Thinking & Problem Solving
- Concepts & prototypes — mental categories; prototypes are the best example of a category
- Algorithms — step-by-step guarantee correct answer; heuristics — mental shortcuts, faster but error-prone
- Representativeness heuristic — judge by how well something matches a prototype
- Availability heuristic — judge probability by how easily examples come to mind
- Anchoring bias — over-relying on first piece of information
- Confirmation bias — seeking information that confirms existing beliefs
- Functional fixedness — inability to see an object used in a new way
- Mental set — tendency to approach problems the same way as before
Language
- Structure: phonemes (sounds) → morphemes (meaning units) → syntax (grammar rules) → semantics (meaning) → pragmatics (context/use)
- Chomsky — language acquisition device (LAD); universal grammar; children are biologically prepared for language
- Whorf / linguistic relativity — language shapes thought; different languages produce different perceptions
- Critical period — early childhood window for optimal language acquisition
- Broca's area (left frontal) — speech production; damage → halting, effortful speech
- Wernicke's area (left temporal) — language comprehension; damage → fluent but meaningless speech
Motivation & Emotion
6–7%Motivation Theories
- Instinct theory (McDougall) — behavior driven by innate biological programs
- Drive-reduction theory (Hull) — biological needs create drives; behavior reduces the drive to restore homeostasis
- Arousal theory / Yerkes-Dodson — inverted U curve; optimal moderate arousal for performance; complex tasks need lower arousal than simple tasks
- Incentive theory — external stimuli pull behavior (carrots and sticks)
- Maslow's hierarchy: physiological → safety → love/belonging → esteem → self-actualization (must satisfy lower needs first)
- Intrinsic motivation — driven by internal satisfaction; extrinsic — driven by external rewards
- Overjustification effect — adding extrinsic reward undermines existing intrinsic motivation
- Self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan) — three basic needs: autonomy, competence, relatedness
Hunger & Eating
- Hypothalamus: lateral hypothalamus = hunger "on switch"; ventromedial hypothalamus = satiety "off switch"
- Ghrelin — hunger hormone secreted by stomach; leptin — satiety signal from fat cells
- Set-point theory — body has a target weight it defends through metabolic adjustment
- Eating disorders: anorexia nervosa (severe restriction), bulimia nervosa (binge-purge cycle), binge-eating disorder
Sexual Motivation
- Masters & Johnson — 4-phase human sexual response cycle: excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution
- Kinsey surveys — first large-scale data on human sexual behavior
- Sexual orientation — genetic and biological basis supported by research; not a choice; removed from DSM as disorder in 1973
Theories of Emotion
- James-Lange: stimulus → physiological arousal → perceived emotion ("we feel afraid because we tremble")
- Cannon-Bard: stimulus → simultaneous physiological arousal AND subjective emotion
- Schachter-Singer Two-Factor: physiological arousal + cognitive label = emotion; the label determines which emotion is felt
- Lazarus: cognitive appraisal must precede emotion — we must interpret the situation first
- Facial feedback hypothesis (Zajonc): facial expressions can influence the emotion experienced
Expressing & Detecting Emotion
- Ekman — 6 universal emotions recognized across cultures: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise
- Microexpressions — brief, involuntary facial expressions that reveal true emotions
- Display rules — culturally learned norms about when and how to express emotion
- Polygraph — measures arousal (heart rate, GSR), not lying; low validity; not admissible in most courts
Developmental Psychology
8–9%Research Methods
- Cross-sectional — compare different age groups at one point in time; fast but cohort effects are a problem
- Longitudinal — follow same group over time; more valid but slow and subject to attrition
- Cross-sequential — combines both approaches to control for cohort effects
Prenatal Development & Infancy
- Stages: germinal → embryonic → fetal
- Teratogens — environmental agents that harm fetal development; alcohol → fetal alcohol syndrome; most harmful during embryonic stage
- Neonatal reflexes: rooting, sucking, Moro (startle); fade as cortex matures
- Habituation — decreased response to repeated stimulus; shows learning even in infants
- Attachment (Harlow) — contact comfort beats food; monkeys preferred cloth "mother" over wire one with food
- Ainsworth Strange Situation: secure (explores, distressed at separation, comforted on return), anxious-ambivalent (clingy, not reassured), anxious-avoidant (indifferent to caregiver), disorganized
- Stranger anxiety — peaks around 8 months
Piaget's Cognitive Stages
- Sensorimotor (0–2) — object permanence develops; schemas, assimilation, accommodation
- Preoperational (2–7) — symbolic thinking; egocentrism; lacks conservation, centration, reversibility
- Concrete operational (7–11) — understands conservation; logical thinking about concrete objects; classification
- Formal operational (12+) — abstract reasoning; hypothetical thinking; systematic problem solving
🔑 Vygotsky vs. Piaget
Vygotsky emphasized social/cultural origins of cognition: Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) — what a learner can do with guidance but not alone. Scaffolding = temporary support within the ZPD. Criticized Piaget for underestimating social factors.
Erikson's 8 Psychosocial Stages
- Trust vs. Mistrust — infancy
- Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt — toddler
- Initiative vs. Guilt — preschool
- Industry vs. Inferiority — school age
- Identity vs. Role Confusion — adolescence ← most tested
- Intimacy vs. Isolation — young adulthood
- Generativity vs. Stagnation — middle adulthood
- Integrity vs. Despair — late adulthood
Adolescence & Beyond
- Kohlberg's moral development: preconventional (self-interest) → conventional (rules/laws) → postconventional (universal ethics)
- Gilligan's critique — Kohlberg's model was male-biased; women often use a care orientation vs. justice orientation
- Marcia's identity statuses: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, achievement
- Kübler-Ross 5 stages of grief: denial → anger → bargaining → depression → acceptance
- Menopause — end of menstrual cycles; estrogen declines; mid-life transition
Personality
6–7%Psychoanalytic / Psychodynamic
- Freud's structures: id (pleasure principle, unconscious), ego (reality principle, conscious), superego (morality/conscience)
- Levels: conscious, preconscious, unconscious
- Psychosexual stages: oral, anal, phallic (Oedipus/Electra complex), latency, genital; fixation at any stage shapes personality
- Defense mechanisms: repression (most basic — banishing anxiety-producing thoughts), projection, rationalization, reaction formation, displacement, sublimation, denial, regression
- Neo-Freudians: Jung (archetypes, collective unconscious, introversion/extraversion); Adler (inferiority complex, striving for superiority)
Humanistic
- Rogers — unconditional positive regard, self-concept, congruence, fully functioning person; conditional regard creates incongruence and distress
- Maslow — self-actualization, peak experiences, hierarchy of needs
- Criticism — unscientific (hard to test), culture-bound (individualistic bias)
Trait Theories
- Allport — cardinal, central, and secondary traits
- Cattell — 16 Personality Factors (16PF)
- Eysenck — extraversion–introversion and neuroticism dimensions
- Big Five / OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism — most empirically supported trait model
- Person-situation debate (Mischel) — behavior varies significantly by situation; traits may be less stable than assumed
Social-Cognitive
- Bandura — reciprocal determinism: person (cognition) ↔ behavior ↔ environment mutually influence each other; self-efficacy = belief in one's ability to succeed
- Rotter — locus of control: internal (outcomes controlled by self) vs. external (controlled by luck/others)
Personality Assessment
- Projective tests: Rorschach (inkblots), TAT (Thematic Apperception Test) — ambiguous stimuli reveal unconscious; low reliability and validity
- Objective/self-report: MMPI (most widely used clinical instrument), NEO-PI (Big Five), Myers-Briggs (popular but low validity)
- Reliability — consistency of measurement; validity — actually measures what it claims to measure
Abnormal Psychology
8–9%Defining Abnormality
- 4 Ds: Deviance (statistical rarity), Distress (subjective suffering), Dysfunction (impairs daily life), Danger (risk to self/others)
- Medical model — psychological disorders have biological causes and can be diagnosed and treated
- DSM-5 — Diagnostic and Statistical Manual; categorical diagnosis system; replaced multiaxial with dimensional approach
- Rosenhan study ("On Being Sane in Insane Places") — pseudopatients admitted to psychiatric hospitals; challenged reliability of psychiatric diagnosis
Anxiety Disorders
- Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) — excessive, uncontrollable worry about multiple areas for 6+ months
- Panic disorder — recurrent panic attacks plus persistent fear of future attacks
- Specific phobia — marked fear of a specific object or situation
- Social anxiety disorder — fear of social situations; fear of embarrassment/judgment
- PTSD — exposure to traumatic event; re-experiencing (flashbacks), avoidance, hyperarousal, negative cognitions/mood; lasts 1+ month
- OCD — now its own category; obsessions (intrusive thoughts) + compulsions (repetitive behaviors to reduce anxiety)
Mood Disorders
- Major depressive disorder — depressed mood or anhedonia for 2+ weeks; 5+ symptoms
- Persistent depressive disorder (dysthymia) — chronic low-grade depression for 2+ years
- Bipolar I — full manic episodes (may include psychosis); Bipolar II — hypomania + major depression
- Monoamine hypothesis — depression linked to deficits in serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine
- Learned helplessness (Seligman) — repeated uncontrollable events → passive resignation → depression
- Beck's cognitive triad — negative views of self ("I am worthless"), world ("Life is unfair"), and future ("Nothing will improve")
Schizophrenia Spectrum
- Positive symptoms — added experiences: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech/behavior
- Negative symptoms — diminished/absent: flat affect, alogia (reduced speech), avolition (reduced motivation), anhedonia
- Dopamine hypothesis — excess dopamine activity in certain pathways
- Structural abnormalities — enlarged ventricles; reduced prefrontal cortex activity
- Diathesis-stress model — genetic vulnerability + environmental stressors trigger disorder
- Onset: late teens–early 30s; men affected earlier and more severely than women
Other Disorders
- Dissociative identity disorder (DID) — 2+ distinct personality states; controversial etiology
- Personality disorders: Cluster A (odd — paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal), Cluster B (dramatic — antisocial, borderline, histrionic, narcissistic), Cluster C (anxious — avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive)
- ADHD — neurodevelopmental; inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity
- Autism spectrum disorder — neurodevelopmental; deficits in social communication; restricted/repetitive behaviors
Treatment of Psychological Disorders
5–6%Psychodynamic Therapies
Based on Freud's model. Techniques: free association (say whatever comes to mind), dream interpretation, analysis of transference (projecting feelings onto therapist), and analysis of resistance. Goal: bring unconscious conflicts to consciousness for insight. Typically long-term.
Humanistic Therapies
- Rogers' client-centered therapy — empathy, unconditional positive regard, genuineness, active listening; non-directive; client leads the session
- Gestalt therapy (Perls) — here-and-now awareness; focus on unfinished business and integration of self
- Goal: self-awareness, self-acceptance, and personal growth
Behavioral Therapies
- Systematic desensitization (Wolpe) — gradual exposure hierarchy paired with relaxation; counterconditioning; most used for phobias
- Flooding/implosion — immediate full exposure to feared stimulus
- Exposure and response prevention (ERP) — exposure to obsession triggers + prevention of compulsive response; first-line for OCD
- Aversion therapy — pair unwanted behavior with unpleasant stimulus
- Token economy — operant conditioning in institutional settings; tokens exchanged for privileges
Cognitive & CBT
- Beck's cognitive therapy — identify and challenge cognitive distortions (all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, overgeneralization, personalization)
- REBT (Ellis) — irrational beliefs → emotional disturbance; ABC model: Activating event, Belief, Consequence
- CBT — combines cognitive restructuring with behavioral techniques; most empirically supported for depression and anxiety
Biological Therapies
- Antidepressants: SSRIs (fluoxetine/Prozac — block serotonin reuptake; first-line), SNRIs, MAOIs, tricyclics
- Antipsychotics: first-gen/typical (phenothiazines — risk of tardive dyskinesia); second-gen/atypical (fewer motor side effects)
- Mood stabilizers: lithium (bipolar disorder)
- Anxiolytics: benzodiazepines (fast-acting; risk of dependence)
- ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) — effective for severe, treatment-resistant depression; side effect: memory loss
- rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) — non-invasive brain stimulation for depression
💡 Tip
SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants. They block reuptake of serotonin, increasing its availability in the synapse. Know this mechanism cold.
Social & Cultural Dimensions of Behavior
5–6%Culture & Psychology
- Cross-cultural psychology — studies universals vs. cultural specifics in behavior and mental processes
- Individualism vs. collectivism (Hofstede) — Western cultures emphasize individual goals; Eastern/collectivist cultures emphasize group harmony
- Culture-bound syndromes — psychological disorders that appear only in specific cultures
- Ethnocentrism — judging other cultures by one's own standards; cultural relativism — evaluating behavior within its own cultural context
- Display rules — culturally specific norms for emotional expression; Ekman's universal emotions modified by culture
Socioeconomic & Demographic Factors
- SES and health — lower socioeconomic status linked to higher stress, worse physical and mental health outcomes
- Minority stress model — chronic stress from stigma and discrimination contributes to mental health disparities
- Stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson) — awareness of a negative stereotype about one's group impairs performance on relevant tasks
- Social support — strong social networks buffer against stress and improve health outcomes
- Health psychology — Type A behavior (competitive, hostile, time-pressured) linked to heart disease; hardiness (Kobasa) — commitment, control, challenge buffers stress
🔑 Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson: minority group members aware of a negative stereotype about their group perform worse on relevant tasks due to anxiety about confirming the stereotype. Reduced by framing the task as non-diagnostic.
Gender & Psychology
- Sex (biological) vs. gender (social/psychological construct)
- Gender identity — internal sense of one's gender
- Gender role socialization — cultural transmission of gender-appropriate behavior
- Gender differences in cognition — largely small and often overstated; context-dependent
- Androgyny (Bem) — having high levels of both masculine and feminine traits; associated with psychological flexibility
- Gender schema theory (Bem) — children develop schemas about gender that guide their perceptions and behavior
Key Theorists
Key Terms
Absolute threshold
Minimum stimulus intensity detected 50% of the time
Action potential
Electrical impulse that travels down the axon when a neuron fires (all-or-none)
Anterograde amnesia
Inability to form new long-term memories after brain injury (H.M. case)
Assimilation
Piaget: fitting new information into existing schemas
Accommodation
Piaget: modifying existing schemas to fit new information
Attribution
Explaining the causes of behavior as dispositional (internal) or situational (external)
Classical conditioning
Learning through association (Pavlov); neutral stimulus acquires meaning through pairing
Cognitive dissonance
Festinger: discomfort from conflicting beliefs or between beliefs and behavior
Conditioned response (CR)
Learned reaction elicited by the conditioned stimulus alone
Defense mechanisms
Freud: unconscious strategies that reduce anxiety (repression, projection, displacement, etc.)
Deindividuation
Loss of self-restraint and identity when part of an anonymous group
Dopamine
Neurotransmitter linked to reward, motivation, and voluntary movement
Elaborative rehearsal
Deep processing that links new information to existing knowledge; improves retention
Encoding specificity
Retrieval is best when conditions at retrieval match conditions at encoding
Fundamental attribution error
Overweighting dispositional causes and underweighting situational factors when judging others
Groupthink
Pressure for consensus within a cohesive group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives
Hierarchy of needs
Maslow: physiological → safety → love/belonging → esteem → self-actualization
Hippocampus
Brain structure critical for forming new explicit (declarative) memories
Id
Freud: primitive, unconscious part of personality driven by the pleasure principle
Intrinsic motivation
Engaging in an activity for its own inherent satisfaction, not for external reward
Just noticeable difference (JND)
Weber: smallest detectable change in a stimulus; a constant proportion of the original
Latent learning
Tolman: learning that occurs without reinforcement and is demonstrated only when needed
Locus of control
Rotter: belief that outcomes are controlled internally (self) or externally (luck/others)
Negative reinforcement
Removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase a behavior — NOT punishment
Neuroplasticity
Brain's ability to reorganize and form new neural connections in response to experience
Object permanence
Piaget: understanding that objects exist even when not visible; develops in sensorimotor stage
Operant conditioning
Skinner: behavior changes based on its consequences (reinforcement increases, punishment decreases)
Placebo effect
Improvement from believing one received treatment, regardless of actual treatment received
Proactive interference
Old memories interfere with learning or recalling new information
Psychosexual stages
Freud: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital stages of personality development; fixation shapes character
Retroactive interference
New memories interfere with recall of old information
Self-efficacy
Bandura: belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish specific tasks
Serotonin
Neurotransmitter linked to mood, sleep, and appetite; low levels associated with depression
Social facilitation
Presence of others improves performance on simple/well-learned tasks; impairs complex ones
Stereotype threat
Steele: anxiety about confirming a negative group stereotype impairs performance on relevant tasks
Zone of proximal development
Vygotsky: gap between what a learner can do alone vs. with guidance from a more skilled person
Video Resources
Modern States – Introductory Psychology
Full free CLEP-aligned course. Best single free resource for exam prep.
FREE CLEP COURSECrashCourse Psychology (PBS)
Full YouTube playlist — 40 episodes covering all major topics with engaging visuals.
YOUTUBE SERIESKhan Academy – Mental Health
Free videos on disorders, treatment, brain function, and behavior.
FREEMr. Sinn – AP Psychology
YouTube: clear, exam-focused AP Psychology videos aligned with CLEP content.
YOUTUBEHow to Pass the CLEP Psychology Exam
Exam tips, what to study, and how to approach test-day strategy.
YOUTUBEPowerhouse Prep – Free Practice Tests
Free CLEP Psychology practice tests and targeted study guides.
FREE PRACTICEPractice Exam — 200 Questions
Click any question to reveal the answer and explanation.
1
Who established the first experimental psychology laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany?
▼
B — Wilhelm Wundt. Wundt is the "father of psychology." He used introspection to study the structure of consciousness. James (functionalism) worked in the US during the same era.
2
A researcher randomly assigns participants to receive either a new drug or a sugar pill, and neither participants nor researchers know who received which. This is called a:
▼
C — Double-blind study. Controls for both placebo effect (participant) and researcher expectancy bias (experimenter). Single-blind = only participants are unaware.
3
William James's school of psychology, which focused on how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment, is called:
▼
C — Functionalism. James asked "how/why does the mind work?" Wundt/Titchener asked "what is the mind made of?" (structuralism).
4
A researcher finds that cities with more libraries have higher average incomes. This is an example of:
▼
B — A positive correlation. Both variables move in the same direction. A controlled experiment would be needed to claim causation.
5
APA ethical guidelines require that participants who were deceived in a study be:
▼
C — Debriefed. Debriefing explains the true purpose after the study concludes. Informed consent may be waived when deception is necessary, but debriefing is always required.
6
The part of the brain responsible for regulating hunger, thirst, body temperature, and sexual behavior is the:
▼
D — Hypothalamus. Controls homeostasis and the 4 Fs (feeding, fighting, fleeing, sexual behavior). Thalamus = sensory relay. Amygdala = fear/emotion. Hippocampus = memory.
7
Damage to Broca's area would most likely result in:
▼
B — Difficulty producing speech. Broca's area (left frontal lobe) = speech production. Wernicke's area (left temporal) = speech comprehension. Hippocampus = new memory formation.
8
When you jump at a loud noise, your heart races and you breathe faster. This response is controlled by the:
▼
C — Sympathetic nervous system. Fight-or-flight: accelerates heart rate, dilates pupils, slows digestion. Parasympathetic = rest-and-digest (calms the body).
9
Neurotransmitters that reduce pain and produce feelings of euphoria after strenuous exercise are called:
▼
C — Endorphins. They bind to opioid receptors, producing analgesia and euphoria ("runner's high"). Dopamine = reward/movement. GABA = inhibitory neurotransmitter.
10
A brain imaging study finds that a patient's hippocampus is significantly smaller than average. This finding is most consistent with:
▼
C — Chronic stress and PTSD. Prolonged cortisol exposure from chronic stress can shrink the hippocampus. PTSD is associated with hippocampal and amygdala structural changes.
11
According to Weber's Law, the just noticeable difference (JND) between stimuli is:
▼
B — A constant proportion. Weber's Law: the stronger the original stimulus, the larger the change required to notice a difference. The ratio stays constant, not the absolute amount.
12
The Gestalt principle stating that we perceive incomplete figures as complete is called:
▼
D — Closure. We fill in gaps to perceive a whole object. Proximity = nearby elements grouped together. Similarity = like elements grouped. Continuity = smooth lines preferred.
13
The ability to perceive depth using information available to only one eye is called:
▼
C — Monocular depth cues. Examples: interposition, linear perspective, texture gradient, relative size, atmospheric perspective. Binocular cues (retinal disparity, convergence) require both eyes.
14
During which sleep stage does most vivid dreaming occur, along with muscle paralysis and rapid eye movements?
▼
D — REM sleep. Paradoxical sleep: brain is highly active but body is paralyzed. Vivid dreaming, memory consolidation. NREM Stage 3 = deep sleep (sleepwalking, night terrors).
15
A person who suddenly loses muscle control and collapses while laughing most likely has:
▼
C — Narcolepsy. Characterized by sudden sleep attacks and cataplexy (sudden muscle paralysis triggered by strong emotion such as laughter). Caused by loss of orexin-producing neurons.
16
According to the activation-synthesis theory of dreams:
▼
B — Random neural activation. Hobson & McCarley: the brainstem fires randomly during REM; the cortex tries to make sense of these signals and constructs a narrative — the dream.
17
Pavlov rang a bell every time he fed his dogs. Eventually the dogs salivated at the bell alone. The bell is the:
▼
C — Conditioned stimulus (CS). Bell (neutral → CS) was paired with food (US). Salivation to food = UR. Salivation to bell alone = CR. The bell acquired meaning through association.
18
Taking an aspirin to relieve a headache is reinforced by the removal of pain. This is an example of:
▼
B — Negative reinforcement. Removing the unpleasant stimulus (pain) increases the likelihood of the behavior (taking aspirin). Negative reinforcement always increases behavior — it is NOT punishment.
19
A slot machine pays out on an unpredictable, variable schedule. This explains why gambling is so hard to stop — it operates on a:
▼
C — Variable ratio (VR). Highest response rate AND most resistant to extinction of all schedules. The unpredictability keeps behavior going because every response might be the winner.
20
Albert Bandura's Bobo doll experiments demonstrated that children can learn aggressive behavior by:
▼
B — Observational learning. Children imitated the model's aggressive behavior, especially when the model was rewarded. Learning without direct reinforcement — foundational evidence for social learning theory.
21
Seligman's dogs that had been exposed to inescapable shocks later failed to escape shocks even when escape was possible. This demonstrated:
▼
C — Learned helplessness. After repeated inescapable aversive events, organisms stop trying to escape even when escape becomes possible. Applied as a model for human depression.
22
According to Miller (1956), the capacity of short-term memory is approximately:
▼
C — 7 ± 2. "The Magical Number Seven" — STM holds 7±2 chunks. Chunking (grouping items) effectively increases capacity by reducing the number of units to remember.
23
Henry Molaison (H.M.) could not form new long-term memories after his hippocampal surgery but could still learn new motor skills. This best illustrates the distinction between:
▼
B — Implicit vs. explicit memory. Explicit (declarative) memory requires the hippocampus. Implicit (procedural) memory does not. H.M. had intact implicit memory — he could learn motor skills without remembering learning them.
24
You studied for an exam while listening to jazz. You perform best when the exam is also taken with jazz playing. This is called:
▼
B — Context-dependent memory. Environmental cues present at encoding aid retrieval. State-dependent memory involves internal states (mood, drug state) rather than external environment.
25
The tendency to overestimate the probability of events that come easily to mind is called the:
▼
C — Availability heuristic. If examples come to mind easily (e.g., plane crashes from news coverage), we overestimate their frequency. Representativeness = judging by how well something fits a prototype.
26
Chomsky proposed that children are born with an innate capacity for language called the:
▼
B — Language acquisition device (LAD). Chomsky proposed children are biologically pre-wired with universal grammar. Linguistic relativity (Whorf) = language shapes thought. Critical period = sensitive window for language acquisition.
27
According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, optimal performance on a complex task is associated with:
▼
C — Moderate arousal. Yerkes-Dodson inverted U: performance peaks at moderate arousal. Complex tasks need lower optimal arousal than simple tasks. Too little or too much arousal impairs performance.
28
A student who studies because she loves learning (not for grades) is demonstrating:
▼
C — Intrinsic motivation. Driven by inherent satisfaction. Adding external rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation — the overjustification effect. Extrinsic motivation = driven by external consequences.
29
According to the James-Lange theory, emotions result from:
▼
C — Physiological reactions first. Stimulus → body reacts → we perceive the reaction → emotion. "We feel afraid because we tremble." Cannon-Bard: simultaneous arousal and emotion. Schachter-Singer: arousal + label = emotion.
30
The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory of emotion emphasizes the importance of:
▼
B — Arousal + cognitive label. Two factors determine emotion: (1) physiological arousal and (2) cognitive attribution of that arousal. The bridge study: aroused men attributed feelings to the attractive interviewer rather than the shaky bridge.
31
A 4-year-old insists that her doll is thirsty and must drink water. This illustrates Piaget's concept of:
▼
D — Animism. Preoperational stage: attributing life/mental states to inanimate objects. Egocentrism = inability to take others' perspectives. Conservation = understanding quantity is unchanged despite appearance change.
32
Ainsworth's Strange Situation experiment was designed to assess:
▼
B — Attachment styles. Secure (explores freely, upset at separation, comforted upon return), anxious-ambivalent (clingy, not soothed), anxious-avoidant (indifferent to caregiver), disorganized (contradictory behavior).
33
Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) refers to:
▼
B — The ZPD. What a child can accomplish with help but not yet independently. Scaffolding = temporary support provided within the ZPD that is gradually removed as the learner gains competence.
34
According to Erikson, the central challenge of adolescence is:
▼
D — Identity vs. Role Confusion. Stage 5 (adolescence): developing a clear and committed sense of self. Failure results in role confusion. Marcia's four identity statuses (diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, achievement) elaborate on this stage.
35
Kohlberg's highest level of moral reasoning, in which people follow universal ethical principles even if they conflict with laws, is called:
▼
C — Postconventional. Based on self-chosen universal ethical principles (e.g., justice, human dignity). Most adults reach conventional reasoning (following rules and laws). Gilligan critiqued Kohlberg's male-biased justice focus.
36
According to Freud, the part of the personality that operates on the reality principle and mediates between instincts and reality is the:
▼
B — Ego. The ego is the rational executive, mediating between the id (pleasure principle, unconscious impulses) and the superego (morality/conscience). The ego operates on the reality principle.
37
Carl Rogers believed that a therapist's most important quality was offering the client:
▼
C — Unconditional positive regard. Accepting and valuing the client without judgment, regardless of what they say or do. Rogers believed conditional regard creates incongruence and psychological distress.
38
The Big Five personality trait referring to the tendency to be organized, disciplined, and goal-directed is:
▼
D — Conscientiousness. OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism. Conscientiousness is the strongest predictor of academic and occupational performance.
39
Bandura's concept of reciprocal determinism means that:
▼
B — Mutual influence. Reciprocal determinism: person (cognition/personality) ↔ behavior ↔ environment — all three constantly and bidirectionally influence each other. Core concept of social-cognitive theory.
40
The tendency to attribute another person's behavior to their internal character rather than the situation is called the:
▼
C — Fundamental attribution error (FAE). We overweight disposition and underweight situation when explaining others' behavior. Actor-observer: we attribute our OWN behavior to situation, but others' to disposition. Self-serving: attribute successes to self, failures to external factors.
41
In Milgram's obedience studies, approximately what percentage of participants administered the maximum (450-volt) shock?
▼
C — 65%. Two-thirds of participants administered the maximum shock. Key factors: legitimate authority, proximity of authority figure, distance from victim, institutional setting. Core lesson: situation > character.
42
Darley and Latané found that bystanders are less likely to help in an emergency when other people are present. This phenomenon is called:
▼
D — Diffusion of responsibility. Each bystander assumes someone else will act. Also involves pluralistic ignorance (looking to others for cues about whether a situation is an emergency). Inspired by the Kitty Genovese case.
43
Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance predicts that after voluntarily writing an essay arguing for a position they disagree with, people will:
▼
B — Shift their attitude. Behavior (writing the essay) conflicts with attitude → dissonance → reduce discomfort by changing attitude to match behavior. Effect is strongest when the behavior was freely chosen with little external justification.
44
Solomon Asch's conformity experiments showed that people would give obviously wrong answers to simple questions when:
▼
C — Unanimous group. ~75% of participants conformed at least once. Driven by normative social influence (desire to fit in). Adding just one dissenter in the group dramatically reduced conformity rates.
45
Which of the following is NOT a positive symptom of schizophrenia?
▼
D — Flat affect is a negative symptom. Positive symptoms = added experiences (hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech/behavior). Negative symptoms = diminished/absent responses: flat affect, alogia, avolition, anhedonia.
46
Beck's cognitive triad describes depression as involving negative views of:
▼
B — Self, world, future. "I am worthless" (self), "The world is unfair" (world), "Nothing will improve" (future). Beck's cognitive therapy targets these distorted thought patterns directly through cognitive restructuring.
47
The diathesis-stress model of schizophrenia proposes that:
▼
C — Vulnerability + stress. Diathesis (genetic/biological vulnerability) + stress (environmental triggers) → disorder. Explains why identical twins show only ~50% concordance — genes load the gun, environment pulls the trigger.
48
A person washes their hands 50 times a day to neutralize the fear of contamination. The hand-washing is best classified as:
▼
B — A compulsion. OCD: obsessions = intrusive, unwanted thoughts (contamination fear); compulsions = repetitive behaviors performed to reduce the anxiety from obsessions (hand-washing). Compulsions temporarily reduce anxiety, reinforcing the cycle.
49
Systematic desensitization, developed by Joseph Wolpe, treats phobias by:
▼
B — Gradual exposure + relaxation. Counterconditioning: replaces anxiety response with relaxation response through gradual exposure hierarchy. Flooding = immediate full exposure without the relaxation component. Both are behavioral therapies.
50
Stereotype threat, as described by Steele and Aronson, refers to the finding that:
▼
B — Performance impairment under stereotype salience. Awareness of a negative stereotype about one's group creates anxiety that impairs performance on relevant tasks. Demonstrated in Black students on verbal tests, women on math tests. Reduced by framing tasks as non-diagnostic.
51
Which neurotransmitter is most directly implicated in Parkinson's disease due to the degeneration of neurons in the substantia nigra?
▼
C — Dopamine. Parkinson's disease results from the death of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, causing motor control deficits (tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia). Treatment typically involves L-DOPA, a dopamine precursor. Dopamine excess in other pathways is also linked to schizophrenia (dopamine hypothesis).
52
In synaptic transmission, after a neurotransmitter is released into the synaptic cleft, it binds to receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. Excess neurotransmitter is removed primarily by:
▼
B — Reuptake or enzymatic breakdown. Reuptake (recycling neurotransmitter back into the presynaptic neuron) is the primary removal mechanism for monoamines like dopamine and serotonin. SSRIs work by blocking serotonin reuptake, increasing its availability. Enzymatic breakdown (e.g., MAO destroying monoamines) is a secondary mechanism.
53
Signal detection theory differs from classical threshold theory primarily by acknowledging that detecting a signal depends not only on its intensity but also on:
▼
C — Expectations, motivations, and response bias. Signal detection theory separates sensitivity (d-prime) from response bias (criterion). A radiologist looking for tumors sets a low criterion (better to say "yes" and be wrong) while a sommelier identifying a rare wine sets a higher criterion. Hits, misses, false alarms, and correct rejections are the four outcomes.
54
The perceptual phenomenon in which a white shirt appears white both in bright sunlight and in dim indoor lighting is called:
▼
C — Color/lightness constancy. Perceptual constancies allow us to perceive stable objects despite changing sensory data. Size constancy: a far-away person doesn't look tiny. Shape constancy: a door remains rectangular even as it swings open. Lightness constancy: brightness is perceived relative to surrounding objects, not absolute light intensity.
55
During non-REM sleep, the stage characterized by very slow delta waves, deep sleep, and the hardest to awaken from is:
▼
C — Stage 3 (N3), slow-wave sleep. Sleep architecture: N1 (light sleep, hypnic jerks), N2 (sleep spindles, K-complexes), N3 (delta waves, deep/restorative sleep — growth hormone released, immune function), REM (dreaming, motor paralysis). N3 is most important for physical restoration; REM for memory consolidation and emotional processing.
56
In classical conditioning, "higher-order conditioning" (second-order conditioning) refers to:
▼
B — CS used to condition a new neutral stimulus. After a bell (CS) reliably elicits salivation (CR), you can pair a light with the bell — eventually the light alone elicits salivation, even though the light was never paired with food. This extends conditioning chains and explains how fears can develop without direct traumatic exposure.
57
In operant conditioning, which reinforcement schedule produces the HIGHEST and most consistent rate of responding and is most resistant to extinction?
▼
C — Variable ratio. Variable ratio (VR) reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses — like gambling. This produces the highest, most steady rate of responding and the greatest resistance to extinction. Fixed ratio produces high rates with a post-reinforcement pause. Fixed interval produces scallop-shaped responding. Variable interval produces slow, steady responding.
58
The encoding specificity principle states that memory retrieval is best when:
▼
C — Retrieval context matches encoding context. Tulving's encoding specificity principle: memory is best when contextual cues present during encoding are also present during retrieval. Includes state-dependent memory (mood at recall matches mood at encoding) and context-dependent memory (studying and being tested in the same environment improves recall).
59
You learn a list of Spanish words, then learn a list of French words. When tested on the Spanish words, you remember fewer of them. This is an example of:
▼
B — Retroactive interference. Retroactive interference: new learning interferes with retrieval of old memories. Proactive interference: old learning interferes with recall of new material. Example: learning French (new) disrupts recall of Spanish (old) = retroactive. Previously learned languages disrupting a new one = proactive. Interference theory holds that forgetting is due to competing memories, not passive decay.
60
The Whorf-Sapir (Sapir-Whorf) linguistic relativity hypothesis proposes that:
▼
B — Language shapes thought and perception. The strong version (linguistic determinism) claims language determines thought; the weak version (linguistic relativity) holds that language influences thought. Evidence: Inuit peoples' multiple words for snow may allow finer perceptual distinctions. Contrast with Chomsky, who argues universal grammar underlies all languages, suggesting thought capacity is pre-linguistic.
61
The "anchoring effect" in decision-making refers to the tendency to:
▼
B — Over-relying on the first piece of information encountered. Tversky and Kahneman demonstrated that an arbitrary "anchor" (e.g., a randomly spun number wheel) influences subsequent numerical estimates. Retailers exploit this with initial "suggested retail prices" to make discounts seem larger. Anchoring is a cognitive heuristic that leads to predictable biases in judgment.
62
Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) describes the body's response to prolonged stress in three stages. The correct order of these stages is:
▼
B — Alarm → Resistance → Exhaustion. GAS: (1) Alarm reaction: body mobilizes fight-or-flight resources (adrenaline, cortisol spike); (2) Resistance: body adapts and maintains heightened readiness, cortisol remains elevated; (3) Exhaustion: prolonged stress depletes resources, immune function declines, organ damage risk increases. Relevant to understanding stress-related illnesses.
63
According to Lazarus's cognitive appraisal theory of stress, stress results when a person:
▼
B — Appraises a situation as threatening with insufficient coping resources. Lazarus distinguished primary appraisal (is this a threat, challenge, or irrelevant?) from secondary appraisal (can I cope?). Stress occurs when a person judges a situation as exceeding their resources. This cognitive model explains why the same event (e.g., public speaking) is stressful to one person but exciting to another.
64
A person who experienced combat trauma and now re-experiences the event through intrusive flashbacks, avoids reminders of the trauma, and has persistent hyperarousal most likely meets criteria for:
▼
C — PTSD. DSM-5 PTSD criteria require exposure to a traumatic event plus: (1) intrusion symptoms (flashbacks, nightmares), (2) persistent avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, (3) negative alterations in cognition and mood, (4) alterations in arousal and reactivity. Symptoms must last >1 month. Acute stress disorder has the same symptoms but lasts 3 days to 1 month post-trauma.
65
The key distinguishing feature between major depressive disorder and bipolar I disorder is:
▼
B — At least one full manic episode in bipolar I. Bipolar I requires at least one full manic episode (elevated/irritable mood, decreased need for sleep, grandiosity, racing thoughts, impulsive behavior lasting at least 1 week). Bipolar II involves hypomania (less severe) and major depression. Major depression has no manic or hypomanic episodes. Lithium is the classic mood stabilizer for bipolar disorder.
66
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is BEST characterized by:
▼
C — Persistent, excessive, uncontrollable worry across multiple domains. GAD involves chronic worry (work, health, family, finances) lasting at least 6 months, with symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance. Unlike panic disorder (discrete attacks) or specific phobias (focused fear), GAD is pervasive. It is highly comorbid with major depression.
67
Anorexia nervosa is distinguished from bulimia nervosa primarily by:
▼
B — Significantly low body weight from caloric restriction. Anorexia involves restriction of food intake leading to significantly low weight, intense fear of weight gain, and distorted body image. Bulimia involves recurrent binge-purge cycles (usually at normal weight). Both involve distorted body image. Anorexia has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder. Both require medical and psychological treatment.
68
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression targets:
▼
B — Maladaptive thoughts and behaviors. CBT (Beck, Ellis) identifies cognitive distortions (catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, mind-reading) and the behaviors that reinforce depression (withdrawal, avoidance). Techniques include cognitive restructuring, behavioral activation, and thought records. CBT has the strongest empirical evidence base of any psychotherapy for depression and anxiety.
69
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are the most commonly prescribed medications for depression and anxiety. Their mechanism of action is to:
▼
B — Block serotonin reuptake, increasing synaptic availability. SSRIs (fluoxetine/Prozac, sertraline/Zoloft) block the serotonin transporter (SERT) on the presynaptic neuron, preventing reuptake and leaving more serotonin in the synapse. This enhances serotonergic neurotransmission. SNRIs also block norepinephrine reuptake. MAOIs block the enzyme that breaks down monoamines. Tricyclics block reuptake of multiple neurotransmitters but have more side effects.
70
The APA ethical principle requiring that participants' decision to participate be free from coercion and based on accurate information about what participation involves is called:
▼
B — Informed consent. Informed consent requires that participants (1) receive accurate information about the study, (2) understand it, (3) voluntarily agree to participate, and (4) know they can withdraw at any time without penalty. Some research uses deception (which requires IRB approval and full debriefing afterward). Confidentiality protects participant identities. Debriefing reveals study purposes post-participation.
71
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is primarily associated with which psychological functions?
▼
C — Executive functions. The prefrontal cortex is the most recently evolved brain region and is not fully mature until the mid-20s, explaining adolescent impulsivity. Damage to the PFC (as in Phineas Gage's famous case) causes personality changes, poor impulse control, and difficulty planning. The PFC is involved in working memory, decision-making, social behavior, and inhibiting inappropriate responses.
72
The cerebellum is primarily responsible for:
▼
B — Movement coordination, balance, and fine motor control. The cerebellum ("little brain") processes sensory input to coordinate smooth, precise movements and maintain balance. Cerebellar damage causes ataxia (uncoordinated movement), tremors during intentional movement, and difficulty with timing. Recent research also links the cerebellum to cognitive functions and language, but motor coordination is its primary and best-established role.
73
Which of the following best describes "spontaneous recovery" in classical conditioning?
▼
B — Reappearance of extinguished CR after a rest period. After extinction (repeated CS presentation without UCS), if you wait and then present the CS again, the CR returns weakly — this is spontaneous recovery. It demonstrates that extinction suppresses, but doesn't erase, the original CS-UCS association. This has clinical implications: successfully treated phobias can return after time away from the feared stimulus.
74
The sensory register (sensory memory) differs from short-term memory primarily in that sensory memory:
▼
B — Large capacity, very brief duration, unprocessed sensory information. Iconic memory (visual sensory store) holds a snapshot of a visual scene for ~250ms; echoic memory (auditory) lasts 3–4 seconds. George Sperling's partial-report experiments demonstrated iconic memory's large capacity. Information attended to moves into working (short-term) memory; unattended information decays. This first stage of the Atkinson-Shiffrin model is entirely pre-cognitive.
75
In the context of problem-solving, a mental set (Einstellung effect) refers to:
▼
B — Using old strategies even when a simpler solution exists. Mental set is a cognitive bias where prior successful strategies blind people to new, more efficient solutions. Classic demonstration: Luchins' water jar problems, where people persist using a complex three-jar formula even after a simpler direct method would work. Functional fixedness (option C) is a related concept — inability to use an object in an unconventional way.
76
The representativeness heuristic leads people to judge the probability of something by:
▼
B — How closely it resembles a prototype. The representativeness heuristic can cause the conjunction fallacy — judging that a specific scenario (feminist AND bank teller) is more probable than a general one (just bank teller), because the specific scenario "sounds more representative." Kahneman and Tversky's Linda problem is the classic demonstration. It can lead to stereotyping and base-rate neglect.
77
Insomnia disorder, according to DSM-5, is BEST characterized by:
▼
B — Dissatisfaction with sleep quality, 3+ nights/week for 3+ months. DSM-5 insomnia disorder requires difficulty initiating/maintaining sleep or early waking, causing daytime distress/impairment, occurring ≥3 nights/week for ≥3 months. It must not be attributable to substances or another disorder. CBT-I (cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia) is more effective long-term than sleep medications and is the first-line recommended treatment.
78
The psychoanalytic concept of "defense mechanisms" refers to:
▼
B — Unconscious ego strategies to protect against anxiety. Common Freudian defense mechanisms: repression (pushing threatening thoughts into unconscious), projection (attributing own unacceptable impulses to others), rationalization (making up logical reasons for irrational behavior), reaction formation (acting opposite to unconscious impulse), sublimation (channeling impulses into socially acceptable activities), displacement (redirecting emotions toward a safer target).
79
The humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs places which needs at the highest level?
▼
C — Self-actualization. Maslow's hierarchy (bottom to top): physiological → safety → love/belonging → esteem → self-actualization. Self-actualization is the realization of one's full potential. Maslow later added "self-transcendence" above this. The hierarchy assumes lower needs must be sufficiently met before higher ones become motivating. It has been influential but criticized for cultural bias toward individualistic Western values.
80
In health psychology, the concept of "health locus of control" refers to:
▼
B — Belief that health is controlled by own behavior vs. external forces. Internal health locus of control: "My health depends on my choices." External (powerful others): "Doctors control my health." External (chance): "My health is due to luck." Internal locus of control is associated with better health behaviors (diet, exercise, medication adherence). Rotter's locus of control concept was adapted for health by Wallston. Related to Bandura's self-efficacy.
81
Which of the following best describes a "specific phobia"?
▼
C — Marked, persistent, excessive fear of a specific object or situation. Specific phobias involve fears of specific stimuli (animals, blood-injection, situational, natural environment, other). They cause significant distress or functional impairment. DSM-5 types include animal, natural environment, blood-injection-injury (BII — which can cause vasovagal fainting, uniquely), situational, and other. Exposure therapy is the most effective treatment.
82
Prozac (fluoxetine) belongs to which class of antidepressant medications?
▼
C — SSRIs. SSRIs are first-line for depression and anxiety due to their favorable side-effect profile compared to older antidepressants. TCAs (imipramine, amitriptyline) block reuptake of multiple neurotransmitters but have more cardiac side effects. MAOIs (phenelzine) block MAO enzyme but require dietary restrictions (avoid tyramine). Benzodiazepines (diazepam) are anti-anxiety agents that enhance GABA, not antidepressants.
83
Emotional intelligence (EI), as conceptualized by Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso, includes all of the following EXCEPT:
▼
D — Suppressing emotional responses is not part of EI. The four-branch model of EI: (1) perceiving emotions (reading faces, voices), (2) using emotions (emotional facilitation of thought), (3) understanding emotions (emotional vocabulary, causes), (4) managing emotions (regulating one's own and others' emotions). EI is distinct from general intelligence and predicts outcomes beyond IQ in social and professional domains.
84
The "cognitive revolution" in psychology, beginning in the 1950s-1960s, was a reaction against the limitations of:
▼
B — Behaviorism's exclusion of internal mental processes. The cognitive revolution repositioned the mind as a legitimate object of scientific study. Key contributors: Miller (working memory), Chomsky (critique of Skinner's language model), Neisser (Cognitive Psychology, 1967), Simon and Newell (computer models of problem-solving). The computer served as the dominant metaphor: mind as information processor with input, storage, and output.
85
Language acquisition milestones in infancy typically follow this order:
▼
B — Babbling → one-word → two-word → telegraphic. Timeline: Cooing (2 months), babbling (6 months), first words / holophrases (12 months), two-word combinations (18-24 months), telegraphic speech (2-3 years: "want cookie"), then full sentences. The babbling stage includes sounds from all languages; after about 6-8 months, infants specialize in the phonemes of their native language (perceptual narrowing).
86
Psychoanalytic therapy fundamentally aims to:
▼
B — Bring unconscious conflicts into conscious awareness. Psychoanalytic therapy uses free association (saying whatever comes to mind), dream analysis, and analysis of transference (patient projecting feelings onto therapist) to reveal unconscious material. The "talking cure" aims to produce insight into repressed conflicts. Modern psychodynamic therapy is briefer and more focused than classical Freudian analysis.
87
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) is the brain's major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Benzodiazepines (like Valium) treat anxiety by:
▼
B — Enhancing GABA activity, increasing inhibition. GABA inhibits neural firing. Benzodiazepines bind to a site on the GABA-A receptor that increases the frequency of chloride ion channel opening, enhancing GABA's inhibitory effect. This produces sedation, muscle relaxation, anti-anxiety, and anticonvulsant effects. Alcohol also enhances GABA and reduces glutamate (the main excitatory neurotransmitter), explaining its sedating effects.
88
The concept of "observational learning" (social learning) requires which of the following four processes identified by Bandura?
▼
B — Attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. For observational learning to occur: (1) Attention: observer must notice the model; (2) Retention: must encode and remember the behavior; (3) Reproduction: must have the physical capability to imitate; (4) Motivation: must have incentive to reproduce (including vicarious reinforcement — seeing model rewarded). This explains media effects: exposure to modeled behavior is not enough; motivation matters.
89
Which of the following correctly identifies a feature of REM sleep?
▼
C — Active brain, muscle atonia, vivid dreaming. During REM, the brain shows activity similar to waking (hence "paradoxical sleep"). Muscle atonia (paralysis) prevents acting out dreams — REM behavior disorder occurs when this paralysis fails. REM periods lengthen over the night, so more REM is experienced in the second half. Memory consolidation (especially procedural and emotional memories) and emotional processing are REM's key functions. Growth hormone is released in N3.
90
The concept of "extinction" in classical conditioning means:
▼
B — Repeated CS-alone trials weaken and eliminate the CR. Extinction is the procedure (presenting CS without UCS) and the result (CR diminishes). Importantly, extinction does not erase the original CS-UCS association from memory — spontaneous recovery and renewal effects demonstrate this. Exposure therapy is essentially extinction in clinical practice: presenting feared stimuli without the feared consequence until fear response diminishes.
91
The amygdala plays a primary role in:
▼
C — Processing emotional memories, especially fear. The amygdala (part of the limbic system) rapidly evaluates stimuli for threat and triggers fear responses before conscious awareness. LeDoux's research identified a "fast path" (thalamus → amygdala) and "slow path" (thalamus → cortex → amygdala). Amygdala lesions impair fear conditioning. Hyperactive amygdala responses are associated with anxiety disorders and PTSD. It also plays roles in aggression and social judgments.
92
Functional fixedness, as a barrier to problem-solving, refers to:
▼
B — Inability to see an object beyond its typical function. Duncker's candle problem demonstrates functional fixedness: participants struggle to use a box of tacks as a shelf because they see the box as a container, not a platform. Overcoming functional fixedness often requires mental flexibility or "thinking outside the box." It is a form of cognitive rigidity and is related to mental set (Einstellung), though functional fixedness is specifically about objects.
93
The polygraph ("lie detector") test is considered unreliable by most psychologists primarily because:
▼
B — Arousal reflects anxiety generally, not specifically lying. Polygraphs measure heart rate, blood pressure, respiration, and galvanic skin response. The fundamental problem: these physiological indicators reflect emotional arousal, which can occur when telling the truth (if one is anxious) or be suppressed by countermeasures when lying. False positive rates are high (truthful people appearing deceptive). The National Academy of Sciences concluded polygraph evidence is unreliable for security screening.
94
Which of the following is an example of an "algorithm" as a problem-solving strategy?
▼
B — Systematically checking every possible combination. Algorithms guarantee a correct solution by exhaustively testing all possibilities. They are reliable but time-consuming. Heuristics are mental shortcuts that are fast and usually effective but not guaranteed (availability, representativeness, means-ends analysis). In practice, people use heuristics when time-limited and algorithms for critical tasks requiring certainty.
95
The dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia proposes that schizophrenic symptoms result from:
▼
B — Excess dopamine in mesolimbic; possibly too little in prefrontal pathways. Evidence for the dopamine hypothesis: (1) antipsychotic medications (neuroleptics) block D2 receptors and reduce positive symptoms; (2) dopamine-boosting drugs (amphetamines, cocaine) can induce schizophrenia-like symptoms. The updated version: mesocortical dopamine deficiency → negative symptoms/cognitive deficits; mesolimbic dopamine excess → positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions).
96
A student who uses the mnemonic "ROYGBIV" to remember the colors of the rainbow is using which memory encoding strategy?
▼
B — Chunking and mnemonic device. Mnemonics improve encoding by creating meaningful associations or groupings. Common types: acronyms (ROYGBIV), acrostics (sentences where first letters encode information), rhymes, the method of loci (associating information with locations on a familiar route), and the peg-word method. Elaborative rehearsal encodes by connecting new information to existing knowledge — more effective for long-term retention than maintenance rehearsal (simple repetition).
97
The "misinformation effect," studied extensively by Elizabeth Loftus, demonstrates that:
▼
B — Post-event misinformation can alter original memories. Loftus's eyewitness testimony research shows that the wording of questions (e.g., "smashed" vs. "contacted" in a car accident description) alters subsequent recall. False memories can be implanted by leading questions, suggestions, or repeated imagination. This has profound implications for legal proceedings, where eyewitness testimony is often unreliable but highly persuasive to juries.
98
The technique of "token economies" in behavioral therapy is based primarily on which principle of learning?
▼
B — Operant conditioning with token reinforcement. Token economies use secondary (conditioned) reinforcers — tokens, points, stickers — that can be exchanged for primary reinforcers (food, activities, privileges). Used in psychiatric hospitals, schools (especially for autism spectrum disorder), and prisons. Key principle: immediate reinforcement of targeted behaviors. Shaping (reinforcing successive approximations) may be combined to establish new behaviors.
99
Narcissistic personality disorder is characterized by:
▼
C — Grandiosity, need for admiration, lack of empathy. Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a Cluster B (dramatic/erratic) personality disorder. Features: inflated sense of own importance, fantasies of unlimited success, need for excessive admiration, sense of entitlement, exploiting others, lack of empathy, arrogance. Contrast with borderline PD (emotional instability, abandonment fears), paranoid PD (distrust), and schizoid PD (emotional detachment).
100
Which research design involves studying the same group of people over an extended period of time to observe how they change?
▼
B — Longitudinal design. Longitudinal studies follow the same participants over years or decades. Advantages: tracks actual developmental change, controls for cohort effects. Disadvantages: time/cost, attrition (dropout), and practice effects. Cross-sectional designs compare different age groups at one point in time — faster but confounded by cohort effects (different generations had different experiences). Sequential designs combine both approaches.
101
Which neurotransmitter is most strongly associated with reward, motivation, and the reinforcing effects of addictive drugs?
▼
B — Dopamine. The mesolimbic dopamine pathway (from the ventral tegmental area to the nucleus accumbens — the "reward circuit") is central to pleasure, motivation, and reinforcement learning. Addictive drugs flood this system with dopamine, creating powerful reinforcing effects. Serotonin regulates mood, appetite, and sleep (target of SSRIs). GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter (anxiolytics enhance it). Norepinephrine mediates the fight-or-flight response and is involved in alertness and attention (target of SNRIs).
102
During an action potential, the rapid influx of sodium ions (Na⁺) into the neuron causes:
▼
B — Depolarization; inside becomes more positive. Resting membrane potential is approximately −70 mV (inside negative). When a threshold is reached (~−55 mV), voltage-gated sodium channels open, Na⁺ rushes in → depolarization (inside becomes positive, ~+40 mV). Then K⁺ flows out → repolarization → brief hyperpolarization (afterpotential). The all-or-none law: the action potential either fires fully or not at all; intensity is coded by frequency of firing, not size of the action potential.
103
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) functions primarily as:
▼
B — Brain's primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. GABA hyperpolarizes neurons (makes inside more negative), making them less likely to fire. Anxiety disorders are associated with insufficient GABA activity. Drugs that enhance GABA — benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax), barbiturates, alcohol — produce anxiolytic, sedative, and anticonvulsant effects. Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter. The balance between GABA (inhibition) and glutamate (excitation) is critical for normal brain function; disruption is implicated in seizure disorders.
104
Signal detection theory (SDT) in sensation and perception emphasizes that the ability to detect a stimulus depends on:
▼
B — Both sensitivity (d-prime) and decision criterion (beta). SDT separates the sensory process from the decision process. Sensitivity (d') reflects genuine ability to detect a signal. Criterion (beta) reflects willingness to say "yes" — influenced by expectations, motivation, and payoffs. A radiologist interpreting X-rays may set a low criterion (report even ambiguous findings) to avoid missing cancer. False alarms (saying "yes" when no signal) and hits (correct detections) trade off based on criterion. This replaced the simple absolute threshold concept that ignored decision factors.
105
Perceptual constancy refers to the tendency to:
▼
B — Perceive objects as stable despite changes in sensory input. Types: size constancy (a car looks the same size whether near or far, even though the retinal image changes); shape constancy (a door looks rectangular whether open or ajar); brightness constancy (white paper looks white in dim light despite less light reaching the eye); color constancy (a red apple looks red under different lighting). These constancies are achieved through cognitive processing that "corrects" raw sensory data using context. Without constancy, the world would be chaotically unstable as we move through it.
106
Which Gestalt principle states that elements close to each other in space tend to be perceived as belonging together?
▼
A — Proximity. Gestalt principles describe how we organize sensory elements into meaningful wholes ("the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"): Proximity — nearby elements group together. Similarity — similar elements group together. Closure — we mentally fill gaps to see complete figures. Continuity — we prefer smooth, continuous lines. Figure-ground — we distinguish objects (figures) from backgrounds. Common fate — elements moving together are grouped. These principles underlie design, logo creation, and user interface layout — and demonstrate that perception is active and constructive, not passive recording.
107
Circadian rhythms in humans are primarily regulated by which brain structure?
▼
C — Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the hypothalamus. The SCN serves as the brain's "master clock," controlling ~24-hour biological rhythms including sleep-wake cycles, body temperature, hormone release (melatonin from the pineal gland), and metabolic processes. Light information from the retina travels to the SCN via the retinohypothalamic tract, allowing light to synchronize (entrain) the internal clock to the external day-night cycle. Disruption (jet lag, shift work) impairs cognition, mood, and health. Blue light from screens suppresses melatonin, potentially disrupting sleep onset.
108
REM sleep is most associated with which of the following?
▼
B — Vivid dreaming, waking-like brain activity, voluntary muscle paralysis. REM (rapid eye movement) sleep: EEG resembles waking brain; eyes move rapidly; most vivid dreams occur; voluntary muscles are paralyzed (atonia — preventing acting out dreams). REM rebound occurs after REM deprivation. Theories: activation-synthesis (Hobson — random brainstem activation, cortex constructs narrative); memory consolidation (REM important for procedural and emotional memory). Non-REM stages progress from light (N1, N2 with sleep spindles/K-complexes) to deep slow-wave sleep (N3 with delta waves) where physical restoration occurs.
109
The "encoding specificity principle" in memory (Tulving and Thomson) states that memory retrieval is best when:
▼
B — Retrieval context matches encoding context. Encoding specificity: memories are stored with contextual cues; retrieval is most successful when those same cues are present. Related phenomena: context-dependent memory (divers remembering words learned underwater better when back underwater); state-dependent memory (recall is better in the same physiological state as encoding — though effect is modest). This principle explains why studying in the same room where you will be tested may aid recall, and why returning to a childhood home can trigger dormant memories.
110
Flashbulb memories are defined as unusually vivid and detailed memories for the circumstances surrounding a highly emotional or significant event. Research shows that these memories are:
▼
B — Subjectively vivid and confidently held, but not more accurate than ordinary memories. Coined by Brown and Kulik (1977), flashbulb memories (learning of JFK's assassination, 9/11) feel like perfect "photographs" but research (Neisser and Harsch; Talarico and Rubin) shows they deteriorate and distort over time just as ordinary memories do — yet confidence remains high. This dissociation between confidence and accuracy has major implications for eyewitness testimony. The emotional arousal and personal significance make the memory feel special, but this feeling doesn't guarantee accuracy.
111
Anterograde amnesia, as observed in patient H.M. (Henry Molaison) after hippocampal removal, is characterized by:
▼
B — Inability to form new long-term declarative memories after the injury. H.M. had his hippocampus and surrounding temporal lobe tissue removed for severe epilepsy. He couldn't form new episodic or semantic memories (anterograde amnesia) but could learn new skills (motor learning, mirror tracing) — showing procedural memory is independent of the hippocampus. He retained memories from before surgery (retrograde memory mostly intact for distant past). This established the hippocampus as critical for declarative memory consolidation and demonstrated the distinction between different memory systems.
112
Noam Chomsky's "Language Acquisition Device" (LAD) hypothesis proposes that:
▼
B — Innate mental structure predisposing humans to acquire language. Chomsky's nativist theory: language is too complex and children receive too little explicit instruction (poverty of the stimulus) to explain acquisition through learning alone. Children correctly apply rules they've never explicitly heard and make characteristic errors (overregularization: "goed," "mouses") consistent with rule extraction. Universal grammar underlies all languages. Critics: Tomasello argues language is learned through general cognitive abilities and social interaction (usage-based theory). The LASS (Language Acquisition Support System — Bruner) emphasizes social-interactionist scaffolding.
113
Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences proposes that:
▼
B — Intelligence is a set of distinct abilities, not a single factor. Gardner ("Frames of Mind," 1983) proposed 8+ intelligences, each with distinct neural underpinnings, developmental trajectories, and cultural value. Criticisms: many "intelligences" overlap with personality traits or talents rather than cognitive abilities; criteria for intelligence are not clearly defined; little psychometric evidence for distinct factors (IQ testing generally shows a positive manifold — intercorrelations among all abilities). Sternberg's triarchic theory proposes three aspects: analytic, creative, and practical intelligence. Both challenge the dominance of IQ as the sole measure.
114
The "Flynn effect" refers to the documented finding that:
▼
B — Average IQ scores have risen substantially across generations. James Flynn documented ~30-point gains over the 20th century in many countries. This rise is too fast to be genetic — it must reflect environmental changes. Proposed causes: better nutrition (especially early childhood), reduced childhood disease, increased formal education, greater exposure to abstract thinking through media and technology, smaller family sizes (more parental attention), and reduced lead exposure. The Flynn effect demonstrates that IQ is highly malleable and environmental, undermining claims that group IQ differences are primarily genetic.
115
Stereotype threat, as documented by Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson, refers to:
▼
B — Anxiety from fear of confirming a negative stereotype, impairing performance. Steele and Aronson (1995): Black college students performed worse on GRE verbal questions when told it was an intelligence test (activating the stereotype of Black intellectual inferiority) than when framing was neutral. The mechanism: anxiety and distraction consume working memory resources. Subsequent research showed stereotype threat affects women in math, elderly on memory tests, and white men in athletics relative to Black men. Interventions: value affirmation exercises, growth mindset instruction, and identity-safe environments reduce stereotype threat effects.
116
Freud's defense mechanism of "projection" involves:
▼
B — Attributing own unacceptable thoughts/feelings to others. Key Freudian defense mechanisms: Repression — blocking threatening thoughts from consciousness (the foundational defense). Projection — attributing own impulses to others ("I don't hate him; he hates me"). Displacement — redirecting impulses to a safer target (kicking the dog after a bad day at work). Reaction formation — expressing the opposite of one's true feelings. Rationalization — creating logical justifications for unacceptable behaviors. Regression — returning to earlier developmental behaviors. Sublimation — channeling impulses into socially acceptable activities. All operate unconsciously to reduce anxiety.
117
Carl Jung's concept of the "collective unconscious" refers to:
▼
B — Shared unconscious containing universal archetypes. Jung broke with Freud to propose that the unconscious has two layers: the personal unconscious (repressed individual experiences) and the collective unconscious (inherited, species-wide templates). Archetypes are universal patterns: the Shadow (repressed dark side), Anima/Animus (feminine/masculine aspects within each person), the Self (the goal of integration), the Persona (the social mask). Evidence cited: cross-cultural similarities in myths, fairy tales, and religious imagery. Modern criticism: not empirically testable, cultural similarities may reflect common human experiences rather than inherited structures.
118
The DSM-5 categorizes mental disorders based primarily on:
▼
B — Descriptive symptom clusters based on clinical consensus. The DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual) uses an atheoretical, descriptive approach: disorders are defined by symptom criteria (number, duration, intensity, functional impairment) rather than cause. This allows reliability across clinicians but is criticized for: reifying categories that may be continuous spectra; medicalizing normal variation; cultural bias; and lack of biological grounding. The RDoC (Research Domain Criteria) initiative aims to develop biologically-grounded classifications. The DSM shifted to a non-axial format in DSM-5, replacing the multiaxial system of DSM-IV.
119
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by:
▼
B — Obsessions (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (repetitive acts to reduce anxiety). In OCD, obsessions are ego-dystonic (unwanted, recognized as excessive); compulsions temporarily reduce anxiety but reinforce the cycle. Common themes: contamination (hand-washing), symmetry, forbidden thoughts, harm. GAD = persistent worry about multiple domains. Panic disorder = recurrent unexpected panic attacks. PTSD = trauma-related flashbacks, avoidance, hyperarousal. OCD moved from anxiety disorders to its own category ("OCD and Related Disorders") in DSM-5, reflecting distinct neurobiology (cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits). Best treatment: ERP (exposure and response prevention) + SSRIs.
120
The key distinguishing feature between Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Bipolar I Disorder is:
▼
B — Bipolar I requires at least one manic episode; MDD has only depression. Bipolar I: at least one full manic episode (elevated/expansive/irritable mood, inflated self-esteem, decreased need for sleep, racing thoughts, impulsivity, lasting ≥7 days or requiring hospitalization). Bipolar II: hypomanic episodes (less severe than mania) + depressive episodes. Cyclothymia: chronic, less severe cycling. Misdiagnosis is common because bipolar patients often first present during depressive episodes. Treating bipolar with antidepressants alone (without mood stabilizers) can trigger mania — making correct diagnosis critical. Mood stabilizers (lithium, valproate) are first-line for bipolar.
121
Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence identifies three aspects of intelligence. Which of the following correctly matches the aspect to its description?
▼
B — Practical intelligence: adapting to, shaping, and selecting real-world environments. Sternberg's three components: Analytic (componential) — breaking problems down, academic reasoning, what IQ tests measure. Creative (experiential) — handling novel situations, generating new ideas, insight. Practical (contextual) — adapting to and navigating real-world environments; tacit knowledge; "street smarts." Sternberg argued schools overemphasize analytic intelligence. Research: practical intelligence predicts real-world success independently of IQ. Critique: overlap between creative/practical and personality traits like openness and conscientiousness; less psychometric support than the g-factor model.
122
The Whorf-Sapir (Sapir-Whorf) hypothesis in its strong form (linguistic determinism) claims that:
▼
B — Language entirely determines what one can think (strong version). The strong form (determinism) is largely rejected — people clearly can think concepts beyond their vocabulary (and then invent words for them). The weak version (linguistic relativity) has more support: language influences how readily certain concepts are processed. Classic examples: languages with many snow terms may facilitate finer snow distinctions; languages without color terms between blue and green affect color discrimination speed. The hypothesis is tested through cross-cultural studies comparing speakers of languages with different structures. Chomsky's nativism takes the opposite position: universal grammar underlies all language and thought.
123
In Asch's conformity experiments, participants gave clearly incorrect answers about line lengths primarily because:
▼
B — Social pressure from unanimous majority led to conformity despite private knowledge of correct answer. Asch (1951): confederates gave obviously wrong line-length answers; naive participants conformed on ~37% of trials. Variables affecting conformity: unanimity (one dissenter dramatically reduced conformity); group size (conformity increased up to 4–5 confederates, then plateaued); task difficulty; culture (more conformity in collectivist cultures). Two types: normative influence (conforming to gain acceptance/avoid rejection) and informational influence (genuinely believing the group knows better). Asch demonstrated the power of social pressure on behavior, even for unambiguous factual questions.
124
The bystander effect predicts that the likelihood of helping a person in need:
▼
B — Likelihood decreases as bystanders increase (diffusion of responsibility + pluralistic ignorance). Latané and Darley (inspired by the Kitty Genovese case, 1964): two key mechanisms: (1) Diffusion of responsibility — "someone else will help"; each person feels less personal responsibility as group size grows. (2) Pluralistic ignorance — uncertain situations: each person looks to others for cues; if no one reacts, each assumes no emergency. Countermeasures: if you need help in a crowd, make direct eye contact with one specific person and assign them the task ("You in the red jacket — call 911!"). The bystander effect is reduced when the victim is clearly in need, the situation is unambiguous, or bystanders feel personally capable.
125
Deindividuation in group settings refers to the tendency for individuals to:
▼
B — Loss of self-awareness and personal responsibility, leading to disinhibited behavior. Festinger, Pepitone, and Newcomb (1952); Zimbardo extended the concept: anonymity (masks, crowds, uniforms) reduces self-consciousness and shifts attention from internal standards to the group, releasing normally inhibited behaviors. Examples: mob violence, looting, aggressive behavior in online anonymity. The SIDE model (Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects) proposes a more nuanced view: deindividuation makes people more responsive to salient group norms — which can produce prosocial OR antisocial behavior depending on the group's norms.
126
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) addresses psychological problems by targeting:
▼
B — Interaction between maladaptive thoughts and behaviors, using structured techniques. CBT (Aaron Beck + Albert Ellis) integrates cognitive and behavioral approaches. Beck's cognitive therapy: identifies automatic negative thoughts and cognitive distortions (catastrophizing, all-or-nothing thinking, personalization) and challenges them with evidence. Ellis's REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy): ABC model — Activating event → Beliefs → Consequences; disputes irrational beliefs. Behavioral techniques: activity scheduling, behavioral activation, homework assignments, thought records. CBT is the most empirically supported psychotherapy across many disorders — depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, eating disorders.
127
Systematic desensitization (Joseph Wolpe) treats phobias by:
▼
B — Pairing relaxation with gradual hierarchical exposure to feared stimuli. Based on classical conditioning: the fear response (CS → CR) is incompatible with relaxation. Steps: (1) train deep muscle relaxation; (2) construct an anxiety hierarchy (least to most feared scenarios); (3) pair each hierarchy level with relaxation, working up the ladder. The underlying mechanism is reciprocal inhibition — relaxation inhibits anxiety. Flooding (implosion) is the opposite: immediate full exposure to the most feared stimulus until habituation occurs — more efficient but harder to tolerate. Both are forms of exposure therapy. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a related trauma treatment.
128
The "levels of processing" framework (Craik and Lockhart, 1972) proposes that memory retention depends primarily on:
▼
B — Depth of processing at encoding; semantic/deep processing produces better retention. Craik and Lockhart challenged Atkinson-Shiffrin's multi-store model: memory is not determined by how long information stays in STM but by depth of encoding. Structural processing (how does the word look?) → shallow trace. Phonemic (does it rhyme?) → intermediate. Semantic (does it fit a sentence meaning?) → deep, durable trace. Elaborative rehearsal (connecting to existing knowledge, generating examples) is deep and effective. Simple repetition (maintenance rehearsal) keeps info in working memory temporarily but forms weak long-term traces. Practical implication: active, meaningful engagement with material beats passive re-reading.
129
Humanistic therapy (Rogers' person-centered approach) holds that psychological growth occurs when the therapist provides:
▼
B — Unconditional positive regard, empathy, and congruence. Rogers believed psychological distress results from the gap between the actual self and the ideal self, maintained by conditions of worth imposed by others. Therapeutic change requires: (1) Unconditional positive regard — accepting the client without judgment; (2) Empathic understanding — accurately reflecting the client's inner experience; (3) Congruence/genuineness — the therapist's authentic presence. These "necessary and sufficient" conditions allow the client's natural actualizing tendency to restore growth. Rogers pioneered recording therapy sessions for research and training — a major methodological contribution to psychotherapy research.
130
The hypnosis debate in psychology centers on whether hypnosis is:
▼
B — Altered state (neodissociation) vs. heightened compliance/role-playing (sociocognitive). Hilgard's neodissociation theory: hypnosis creates a dissociation between systems — a "hidden observer" maintains awareness while the hypnotized part responds to suggestions. Sociocognitive theory (Sarbin, Spanos): hypnotic subjects are imaginative, motivated to cooperate, and playing the social role of "hypnotized person" — no special state needed to explain results. Practical uses: pain management, anxiety reduction in medical settings. Important: hypnotically "recovered" memories are highly unreliable and contaminated by suggestion — hypnosis does not improve memory accuracy.
131
Norepinephrine (noradrenaline) plays a primary role in:
▼
B — Fight-or-flight response, alertness, attention, and arousal. Norepinephrine (NE) is released by the locus coeruleus (brainstem) and the adrenal medulla. In the brain: increases alertness, attention, and arousal; involved in the stress response. In the body: increases heart rate and blood pressure, dilates pupils, redirects blood to muscles. SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) increase both serotonin and NE — used for depression, anxiety, and chronic pain. Low NE is implicated in depression (alongside serotonin); excessive NE activation during stress is implicated in anxiety disorders and PTSD.
132
Adler's individual psychology diverged from Freud primarily by emphasizing:
▼
B — Striving for superiority and social interest, rooted in feelings of inferiority. Alfred Adler broke from Freud's libido-based theory: humans are primarily motivated by social belonging and the striving to overcome feelings of inferiority (felt by all children who are helpless and dependent). Healthy development: "social interest" (Gemeinschaftsgefühl) — genuine concern for others and contribution to community. Unhealthy: "inferiority complex" — feelings of inadequacy so overwhelming they paralyze; or "superiority complex" — overcompensation through arrogance. Birth order influenced development. Adler influenced humanistic psychology, positive psychology, and modern social psychiatry.
133
The "NEO" model of personality (McCrae and Costa) organizes personality around five broad traits often called the "Big Five." Which of the following lists all five correctly?
▼
B — OCEAN: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism. The Big Five emerged from factor analysis of personality trait descriptors. Each trait is a dimension with two poles: Openness (creative, curious ↔ conventional, practical); Conscientiousness (organized, reliable ↔ impulsive, disorganized); Extraversion (sociable, outgoing ↔ reserved, introverted); Agreeableness (cooperative, trusting ↔ competitive, critical); Neuroticism (emotionally unstable, anxious ↔ stable, calm). Cross-cultural research finds the Big Five replicate across many cultures. Conscientiousness is the strongest predictor of academic and job performance; Neuroticism predicts psychological distress.
134
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is distinguished from Acute Stress Disorder primarily by:
▼
B — Duration: ASD = 3 days to 1 month; PTSD = symptoms persist beyond 1 month. Both ASD and PTSD follow exposure to actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. PTSD symptom clusters (DSM-5): intrusion (flashbacks, nightmares), avoidance (of trauma reminders), negative alterations in cognition/mood (guilt, detachment), and hyperarousal (startle, sleep disturbance). ASD may include more prominent dissociative symptoms. Not everyone exposed to trauma develops PTSD — resilience factors include social support, pre-existing mental health, and coping styles. Evidence-based treatments: Prolonged Exposure (PE), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), and EMDR.
135
Object relations theory in psychodynamic psychology (Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott) focuses primarily on:
▼
B — Early caregiver relationships internalized as mental representations templating later relationships. Object relations theory shifts from Freud's drive-based model to a relational model: the infant's relationship with caregivers (especially the "good enough mother" — Winnicott) creates internal working models ("objects") that shape all future relationships. Winnicott's "transitional objects" (security blankets, teddy bears) help infants bridge internal and external reality. Attachment theory (Bowlby) was influenced by object relations. Therapeutic application: the therapist-client relationship recreates and allows reworking of early relational templates — the corrective emotional experience.
136
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is primarily characterized by:
▼
B — Persistent, excessive, difficult-to-control worry about multiple domains for ≥6 months. GAD features: worry is difficult to control and disproportionate; accompanied by restlessness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance. Unlike specific phobias (focused on one thing) or panic disorder (unexpected attacks), GAD worry is diffuse — finances, health, family, work. CBT for GAD: worry postponement, relaxation training, challenging catastrophic thinking. Medications: SSRIs, SNRIs, buspirone. Unlike social anxiety disorder, GAD anxiety is not limited to social evaluation situations.
137
Milgram's obedience research demonstrated that ordinary people would continue administering apparently dangerous electric shocks primarily because of:
▼
B — Situational factors: authority legitimacy, gradual escalation, distance from victim. Milgram (1961–1963): ~65% of participants administered what appeared to be the maximum 450-volt shock to a protesting confederate when ordered by an authority figure. Key variables: obedience decreased when the experimenter left the room, when the learner was in the same room, when the participant had to physically hold the learner's hand on the shock plate, or when peers refused. Obedience increased with authority symbols (Yale, lab coat). Agentic state theory: people shift to an "agentic" mode when subordinate to authority, feeling less personal responsibility. Major influence on understanding of atrocities in war.
138
REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy), developed by Albert Ellis, holds that emotional disturbance is caused primarily by:
▼
B — Irrational beliefs (absolutistic "musts" and "shoulds") generating emotional distress. Ellis's ABC model: A (Activating event) + B (Belief about the event) → C (emotional/behavioral Consequence). Irrational beliefs: "I must be perfectly competent," "Others must treat me well," "Life must be easy." The therapist actively disputes (D) these beliefs, aiming for E (effective new philosophy). Common irrational beliefs: catastrophizing, low frustration tolerance, global self-rating. REBT is more direct and confrontational than Beck's cognitive therapy, which uses collaborative empiricism. Both are forms of CBT. REBT emphasizes unconditional self-acceptance (USA) regardless of performance.
139
Which class of psychiatric medications works by blocking reuptake of serotonin into the presynaptic neuron, making more serotonin available in the synapse?
▼
C — SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). SSRIs (fluoxetine/Prozac, sertraline/Zoloft, escitalopram/Lexapro) block the serotonin transporter (SERT), preventing reuptake, leaving more serotonin in the synapse. First-line treatment for depression, anxiety disorders, and OCD. MAOIs block the enzyme that breaks down monoamine neurotransmitters — effective but dangerous food interactions. Tricyclics block reuptake of both serotonin and NE but have more side effects. Benzodiazepines enhance GABA (anxiolytics, not antidepressants). Antipsychotics (neuroleptics) primarily block D2 dopamine receptors. Mood stabilizers (lithium) treat bipolar disorder through multiple mechanisms.
140
Language acquisition stages in infants proceed in which order?
▼
B — Cooing → babbling → one-word → two-word → longer sentences. Milestones: Birth — crying, reflexive sounds. 2–3 months — cooing (vowel-like sounds). 4–6 months — babbling begins (consonant-vowel combinations: "bababa"). ~12 months — one-word (holophrastic) stage: single words carry sentence meaning ("Milk!" = "I want milk"). ~18–24 months — two-word (telegraphic) speech: content words, no function words ("More juice," "Daddy go"). 2–3 years — multi-word sentences, overregularization errors begin ("foots," "goed"). 3–5 years — complex grammar. Babbling is universal and at first includes sounds from all languages; by ~6 months, narrows to native language sounds (phonemic contraction).
141
Schizophrenia is classified as a psychotic disorder primarily because it involves:
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B — Break from reality: hallucinations, delusions, disorganized thought/behavior. Schizophrenia positive symptoms (excess/distorted function): hallucinations (most often auditory — hearing voices), delusions (paranoid, grandiose), disorganized speech, bizarre behavior. Negative symptoms (diminished function): flat affect, alogia (poverty of speech), avolition (lack of motivation), anhedonia, social withdrawal. Cognitive symptoms: impaired working memory and executive function. The dopamine hypothesis: excess dopamine activity in mesolimbic pathways underlies positive symptoms. Treatment: antipsychotics (D2 blockers); atypicals (clozapine, risperidone) also affect serotonin, with fewer extrapyramidal side effects.
142
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is primarily characterized by:
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B — Instability in emotions, self-image, and relationships; fear of abandonment. BPD (Cluster B) features: unstable intense relationships (idealization ↔ devaluation/splitting), identity disturbance, impulsivity, self-harm, suicidality, emotional dysregulation, chronic emptiness, inappropriate intense anger, transient dissociation or paranoia under stress. Invalidating environments in childhood are strongly associated with BPD development. Most evidence-based treatment: DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy — Marsha Linehan), which combines CBT with acceptance strategies and skills training in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
143
Synaptic transmission involves the release of neurotransmitters that bind to postsynaptic receptors. What happens to excess neurotransmitter in the synapse after transmission?
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B — Cleared through reuptake, enzymatic degradation, or diffusion. After neurotransmitter binds to postsynaptic receptors and the signal is transmitted: Reuptake — the presynaptic neuron recaptures the neurotransmitter via transporter proteins (e.g., SERT for serotonin). This is the main mechanism and the target of many drugs (SSRIs, cocaine). Enzymatic degradation — enzymes in the synapse break down the neurotransmitter (e.g., MAO breaks down monoamines; acetylcholinesterase breaks down acetylcholine). Diffusion — some NT drifts out of the synaptic cleft. Understanding clearance mechanisms is fundamental to pharmacology: drugs that block reuptake or degradation amplify neurotransmitter effects.
144
The "self-serving bias" in social psychology refers to the tendency to:
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B — Own successes attributed to internal factors; failures to external factors. The self-serving bias protects self-esteem. Related biases: Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE) — overattributing others' behavior to disposition, underweighting situation. Actor-Observer Effect — we explain our own behavior situationally and others' dispositionally. Self-handicapping — creating excuses in advance ("I'm tired") to protect self-esteem after poor performance. False consensus effect — overestimating how many others share our views. Illusory superiority (Lake Wobegon effect) — most people rate themselves above average on desirable traits. These biases serve motivated reasoning, not accurate perception.
145
The stages of sleep cycle through NREM stages and REM sleep in a night. Which statement about this cycling is accurate?
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B — ~90-minute cycles; more slow-wave sleep early, longer REM periods late in the night. A typical night: 4–6 sleep cycles, each ~90 minutes. First cycles: more N3 (slow-wave/deep) sleep, short REM periods. Later cycles: slow-wave sleep diminishes, REM periods lengthen (final REM periods may last 45–60 minutes). This explains why REM deprivation is most severe when sleep is cut short in the morning — that's when REM is most concentrated. REM rebound (increased REM after deprivation) demonstrates its importance. N1 (light sleep), N2 (sleep spindles, K-complexes, memory consolidation), N3 (delta waves, growth hormone, physical restoration), REM (dreams, emotional memory consolidation).
146
The "availability heuristic" (Tversky and Kahneman) leads to errors in judgment because:
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B — Probability estimated by ease of recall; vivid/memorable events overestimated. Availability heuristic: if examples come readily to mind, the event seems frequent/probable. Bias: plane crashes get extensive media coverage, making them seem more dangerous than car travel (statistically much safer). Shark attacks, murders, and rare diseases are overestimated; heart disease and mundane risks underestimated. Related heuristics: Representativeness (judging by typicality — leads to base-rate neglect and conjunction fallacy); Anchoring (adjusting insufficiently from initial value). Kahneman's System 1 (fast, heuristic) vs. System 2 (slow, deliberative) thinking framework contextualizes these biases.
147
The distinction between "crystallized intelligence" and "fluid intelligence" (Cattell and Horn) is that:
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B — Crystallized = accumulated knowledge; fluid = novel reasoning independent of prior knowledge. Crystallized intelligence (Gc): vocabulary, general knowledge, reading comprehension — builds through experience and education; tends to remain stable or increase into old age. Fluid intelligence (Gf): abstract reasoning, pattern detection, working memory — declines with age beginning in young adulthood. This explains why older adults may outperform younger adults on knowledge-based tasks but younger adults excel at novel reasoning tasks. Relevant to aging research: Gf loss with age is one of the most robust findings in cognitive gerontology, while Gc compensation is a key mechanism of successful aging.
148
The "two-factor theory" of emotion (Schachter and Singer, 1962) proposes that emotions arise from:
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B — Physiological arousal + cognitive labeling based on situational cues. Schachter-Singer: emotion = undifferentiated arousal + cognitive interpretation. Adrenaline-injected subjects labeled their state as euphoria or anger depending on whether they were around a happy or angry confederate. This explained why different emotions can feel physically similar (racing heart in fear and excitement). Related theories: James-Lange (bodily changes precede emotion; you're afraid because you run); Cannon-Bard (emotion and physiology simultaneously generated by thalamus); Lazarus (cognitive appraisal precedes emotion). The misattribution of arousal paradigm (suspension bridge study — Dutton and Aron) is a famous application.
149
A person with damage to the left hemisphere's Broca's area would most likely exhibit:
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B — Non-fluent speech (Broca's aphasia) with intact comprehension. Broca's area (left frontal lobe): speech production. Damage → Broca's aphasia (expressive aphasia): slow, effortful, telegraphic speech ("want...water...no...soup"); comprehension relatively preserved; patients aware of difficulty, often frustrated. Wernicke's area (left temporal lobe): language comprehension. Damage → Wernicke's aphasia (receptive aphasia): fluent but meaningless speech (word salad); comprehension impaired; patients often unaware of their errors. Arcuate fasciculus connects Broca's and Wernicke's areas: damage → conduction aphasia (repetition impaired). Most language processing is left-lateralized in right-handed people (~95%) and most left-handers (~70%).
150
The social learning theory explanation for aggressive behavior (Bandura's Bobo doll studies) demonstrated that children:
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B — Learn aggression through observation/imitation even without direct reinforcement. Bandura (1961, 1963): children who watched an adult model hit, punch, and kick a Bobo doll (inflatable clown) were significantly more aggressive toward the doll than control children — even without any reinforcement. Key extensions: children were more likely to imitate the aggressive model if they saw the model rewarded (vicarious reinforcement) and less likely if they saw the model punished. This established observational learning (modeling/vicarious conditioning) as a distinct mechanism beyond classical and operant conditioning. Media violence and modeling: implications for the effects of violent media on children's behavior.
151
The hippocampus is primarily associated with which function?
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B — Forming and consolidating new declarative memories. The hippocampus (medial temporal lobe) is critical for converting short-term memories into long-term declarative memories (episodic: personal events; semantic: facts). Patient H.M., who had his hippocampus removed, could no longer form new explicit memories (anterograde amnesia) but retained older memories and procedural skills. The amygdala is central to fear conditioning and emotional memory enhancement. The cerebellum coordinates smooth motor movements and procedural learning. The medulla oblongata regulates autonomic functions like heart rate and breathing.
152
The amygdala's primary role in psychological functioning involves:
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C — Processing emotional stimuli, especially fear, and triggering fight-or-flight. The amygdala (almond-shaped, bilateral, limbic system) evaluates stimuli for emotional significance, particularly threat. It can trigger the HPA axis stress response before the cortex has fully processed the situation — the "low road" of fear (LeDoux). Amygdala damage produces Urbach-Wiethe disease: inability to recognize fearful faces and absence of fear responses. The prefrontal cortex can inhibit amygdala responses (emotion regulation). The hypothalamus regulates hunger, thirst, temperature, and the sleep-wake cycle via the suprachiasmatic nucleus.
153
Split-brain research by Sperry and Gazzaniga demonstrated that:
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B — Each hemisphere is specialized; they operate independently after corpus callosum severance. Split-brain patients (callosotomy for epilepsy) provided a natural experiment: information shown to the left visual field (processed by right hemisphere) could not be named (left hemisphere handles speech) but could be drawn with the left hand (right hemisphere controls). Left hemisphere: language, analytical reasoning, sequential processing. Right hemisphere: spatial skills, holistic processing, facial recognition, music. Key finding: each hemisphere has its own independent stream of consciousness. The "interpreter" module (left hemisphere) confabulates explanations for right-hemisphere actions, showing how narrative self-understanding is constructed, not purely observed.
154
Weber's Law states that the just noticeable difference (JND) between two stimuli:
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B — JND is a constant proportion (ratio) of the original stimulus. Weber's Law: ΔI/I = k (Weber's constant). Example: if you can just notice a 1 lb difference when holding 10 lbs (10% ratio), you need a 10 lb difference when holding 100 lbs — still 10%. The law holds reasonably well in the middle ranges of intensity. Practical applications: packaging (change product size by less than the JND to avoid consumer notice), music (equal-tempered tuning), and price changes. Absolute threshold = minimum stimulus detectable 50% of the time. Difference threshold = minimum detectable change between two stimuli (= JND). Weber's law is closely related to Fechner's law (perceived sensation grows as the log of stimulus intensity).
155
Gate-control theory of pain (Melzack and Wall) proposes that pain perception can be reduced by:
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B — Activating large-diameter fibers closes the spinal gate, reducing pain signal transmission. Gate-control theory (1965): in the spinal cord's dorsal horn, a neural "gate" modulates pain transmission. Large-diameter A-β fibers (touch, pressure) inhibit transmission cells — activating them "closes the gate." Small-diameter C-fibers (pain, temperature) open the gate. This explains why rubbing a bumped elbow reduces pain, why TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) works, and why distraction reduces pain. Top-down factors also influence the gate: anxiety opens it (more pain); relaxation and positive mood close it. The gate metaphor was revolutionary in explaining why pain is not simply a direct signal from injury to brain but a modulated, constructed perception.
156
Retinal disparity as a depth cue works because:
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B — Each eye receives a slightly different image; brain computes depth from the degree of difference (disparity). Retinal (binocular) disparity is a binocular depth cue. The greater the disparity between the two retinal images, the closer the object. Stereoscopes and 3-D movies exploit this by presenting slightly different images to each eye. Convergence (another binocular cue) uses the muscular effort of both eyes turning inward to focus near objects. Accommodation (lens shape change) is a monocular cue. Height in visual field, linear perspective, interposition (overlap), texture gradient, and relative size are all monocular (pictorial) depth cues that work with one eye.
157
The James-Lange theory of emotion differs from the Cannon-Bard theory in that James-Lange proposes:
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B — James-Lange: perception of bodily responses creates emotion; Cannon-Bard: arousal and emotion occur simultaneously and independently. James-Lange (independently proposed by William James and Carl Lange, 1880s): stimulus → physiological response → perception of response → emotion. "We don't tremble because we're afraid; we're afraid because we tremble." Cannon-Bard critique: physiological responses are too slow, too undifferentiated, and can be induced without producing emotion. Cannon-Bard: stimulus → thalamus simultaneously sends signals to cortex (emotion) AND body (arousal). Schachter-Singer two-factor: general physiological arousal + cognitive label = specific emotion. Facial feedback hypothesis (Ekman/Strack): facial expression feeds back to produce corresponding emotion.
158
Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) describes the body's response to prolonged stress in three stages. The correct order is:
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B — Alarm → Resistance → Exhaustion. Selye's GAS (1956): Alarm stage: initial stress response — sympathetic nervous system activates, cortisol released, fight-or-flight. Resistance stage: body adapts to sustained stressor — arousal remains elevated but below alarm level; resources are mobilized and maintained. Exhaustion stage: prolonged stress depletes resources — immune function declines, stress-related illness, burnout, and potentially death if the stressor is severe enough. The HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis drives cortisol release throughout. Chronic stress is associated with immunosuppression, cardiovascular disease, depression, and metabolic disorders. Problem-focused coping targets the stressor itself; emotion-focused coping regulates the emotional response.
159
In research methodology, "internal validity" refers to:
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B — Degree to which changes in the DV were caused by the IV, with alternative explanations ruled out. Internal validity is about causal inference. Threats include: confounds (third variables that vary with the IV), demand characteristics (participants change behavior based on perceived experimental demands), experimenter bias, placebo effects, and history/maturation effects. Random assignment to conditions is the primary tool for establishing internal validity. External validity = generalizability. Construct validity = whether the measure captures the intended construct. Reliability = consistency of measurement. A highly controlled lab experiment maximizes internal validity but may sacrifice external validity.
160
A Type I error in hypothesis testing occurs when a researcher:
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B — Rejecting a true null hypothesis; concluding an effect exists when it doesn't (false positive). Type I error (alpha, α): probability of falsely rejecting H₀ when it is actually true. Controlled by the significance level (typically α = .05). Type II error (beta, β): failing to reject a false H₀ — missing a real effect (false negative). Power = 1 − β = probability of detecting a real effect. Trade-off: lowering α (e.g., to .01) reduces Type I error risk but increases Type II error risk. Effect size (Cohen's d, r) indicates the magnitude of the effect independently of sample size; statistical significance tells you whether the result is likely due to chance, not whether it's practically meaningful.
161
Self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan) identifies three basic psychological needs that support intrinsic motivation. These are:
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C — Autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Self-determination theory (SDT): intrinsic motivation flourishes when basic psychological needs are met. Autonomy: perception that one's actions are self-chosen, not externally controlled. Competence: feeling effective in interactions with the environment. Relatedness: feeling connected to, cared for by, and caring for others. External rewards can undermine intrinsic motivation (overjustification effect) when they reduce perceived autonomy. SDT distinguishes motivation types: amotivation → external regulation → introjection → identification → integration → intrinsic motivation — a continuum of autonomy. Relevant to education, therapy, and work motivation.
162
The opponent-process theory of motivation (Solomon and Corbit) is best illustrated by which phenomenon?
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B — Initial emotional response followed by opposing state; with repetition the initial response weakens and the opponent (opposite) state strengthens. Solomon and Corbit's opponent-process theory (1974): the nervous system opposes emotional changes to maintain equilibrium. First few pairings: strong initial response (a-process) + weak aftereffect (b-process). After repeated exposure: initial response (a-process) weakens; opposing aftereffect (b-process) strengthens. Application to addiction: first use of a drug produces euphoria (a-process); withdrawal is mild. With repeated use, euphoria diminishes; withdrawal (opponent b-process) becomes intense. This explains tolerance and the shift from using drugs for pleasure to using them to avoid withdrawal discomfort.
163
The prefrontal cortex is most critically involved in which psychological functions?
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C — Executive functions: working memory, planning, decision-making, impulse control, emotion regulation. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), especially the dorsolateral PFC (working memory) and ventromedial/orbitofrontal PFC (decision-making, emotion regulation), is the seat of executive function. Damage to the PFC (as in Phineas Gage's famous case) can drastically alter personality, decision-making, and impulse control. The PFC is the last brain region to fully mature (into the mid-20s), explaining adolescent risk-taking. The PFC inhibits the amygdala's fear responses, enabling emotional regulation. The cerebellum handles motor coordination and procedural learning. The parietal lobe handles somatosensory integration and spatial processing.
164
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to:
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B — Brain reorganizes structure and function in response to experience, learning, and injury. Neuroplasticity: Hebb's rule — "neurons that fire together, wire together" (long-term potentiation). Experience-dependent plasticity: London taxi drivers show enlarged hippocampal volume; musicians show enhanced auditory cortex representation. Sensitive periods: certain plasticity is especially pronounced early in development (e.g., language acquisition, visual development). Injury-induced plasticity: after stroke, neighboring regions can take over some functions. Adult neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus (dentate gyrus) and olfactory bulb. Implications: learning literally changes the brain; rehabilitation after brain injury works by harnessing neuroplasticity; enriched environments enhance plasticity.
165
Ekman's cross-cultural research on facial expressions found that:
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B — A core set of basic emotions show consistent facial expressions across cultures, including isolated pre-literate societies. Ekman tested his universality hypothesis by showing photos to the Fore people of Papua New Guinea (pre-literate, isolated from Western media). They correctly identified the six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, disgust. This supported Darwin's evolutionary view that facial expressions are biological adaptations. Cultural display rules differ (when and how much emotion to show publicly) — hence the same person may show the same core expression privately but suppress it in public. Microexpressions (brief, involuntary expressions) are difficult to suppress even when someone tries to hide emotion.
166
The "desirable difficulties" framework in memory research (Bjork) suggests that learning conditions that produce:
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B — Effortful initial learning (spacing, interleaving, retrieval practice) produces superior long-term retention despite feeling less productive. The testing effect (retrieval practice): recalling information from memory strengthens it more than rereading. The spacing effect: distributed practice over time beats massed practice (cramming) for long-term retention. Interleaving: mixing different problem types or subjects during study beats blocked practice for transfer, even though blocked practice feels easier. These all share the quality of making initial learning harder while producing superior retention and transfer. The illusion of knowing: students often prefer massed, blocked, rereading because they feel more fluent — but fluency ≠ retention. Metacognitive calibration is often poor.
167
Change blindness in perception research demonstrates that:
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B — People fail to notice large changes when attention is diverted, revealing that perception is sparse and attention-dependent. Change blindness (Rensink, O'Regan, Simons): participants watching a video fail to notice major scene changes (actor swap, color change) when a brief flicker, cut, or distraction occurs. The "door study" (Simons and Levin): mid-conversation, a different person walked through carrying a door — approximately 50% of participants didn't notice the swap. Implication: we don't have a rich, detailed internal model of the scene; attention is required to encode and detect changes. Related concept: inattentional blindness (failing to notice unexpected stimuli — the "gorilla" study). These findings have implications for eyewitness testimony reliability.
168
The DRM (Deese-Roediger-McDermott) paradigm in memory research demonstrates:
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C — People falsely remember a critical lure word never presented, showing false memories form through semantic association. The DRM procedure: participants study lists of words associated with an unstudied theme word (the "critical lure," e.g., "sleep"). At test, participants confidently recall or recognize the critical lure at high rates even though it was never presented. Demonstrates that memory is reconstructive — the semantic network activates the theme even without direct exposure. Applications: eyewitness testimony research (Loftus); understanding how misinformation creates false memories; the "misinformation effect" — post-event information can be incorporated into memory as if originally experienced. Implications for interrogation practices and therapy (recovered memories).
169
Which finding from eyewitness testimony research has the most direct implication for police lineup procedures?
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B — Simultaneous lineups encourage relative judgment and produce more false IDs than sequential lineups. Relative vs. absolute judgment (Wells): simultaneous presentation leads witnesses to pick the person who looks most like the perpetrator relative to others in the lineup — even if the actual perpetrator is absent. Sequential lineups force an absolute judgment about each individual separately, reducing this comparison bias and lowering false identification rates. Other reforms supported by research: blind administration (administrator doesn't know who the suspect is — prevents subtle cues), pre-lineup instructions that the perpetrator may not be present, and videotaping the identification process. High witness confidence at the time of identification is a relatively better predictor of accuracy than confidence at trial (after suggestion and feedback).
170
Seligman's PERMA model of positive psychology identifies five elements of well-being. "R" (Relationships) refers to:
▼
B — Positive, authentic, supportive relationships with others. PERMA (Seligman, Flourish, 2011): P = Positive emotions (joy, gratitude, awe); E = Engagement (absorption/flow in activities); R = Relationships (positive, supportive connections); M = Meaning (belonging to and serving something larger than the self); A = Accomplishment (pursuing achievement and mastery for its own sake). Research: strong social relationships are among the most robust predictors of longevity, health, and happiness (Harvard Study of Adult Development over 75 years). Flow state (Csikszentmihalyi): optimal experience of complete absorption in a challenging-but-attainable task, characterized by loss of time awareness, effortless concentration, and intrinsic reward.
171
Drive reduction theory of motivation (Hull) proposes that behavior is motivated by:
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B — Biological needs create tension (drives); behavior reduces drive and restores homeostasis. Hull's drive reduction theory: need (biological deficit) → drive (psychological tension) → behavior (drive-reducing) → need satisfied. Examples: hunger → food-seeking → eating → reduced hunger. Limitation: doesn't explain curiosity-driven or stimulus-seeking behaviors (we sometimes increase arousal, not reduce it). Yerkes-Dodson law: performance is best at intermediate arousal levels — too little or too much arousal impairs performance. Incentive theory: external stimuli (incentives) pull behavior — no internal drive required (explains food-seeking when not hungry). Arousal theory: people seek an optimal level of arousal, seeking stimulation when under-aroused and calming when over-aroused.
172
The HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) is activated during stress. The final hormone released by this cascade that has widespread effects on the body is:
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C — Cortisol, released from the adrenal cortex in response to ACTH from the pituitary. HPA cascade: perceived threat → hypothalamus releases CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone) → pituitary releases ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone) → adrenal cortex releases cortisol. Cortisol effects: mobilizes glucose for energy, suppresses immune response (anti-inflammatory), increases cardiovascular tone. Adaptive short-term; damaging long-term (chronic cortisol suppresses immunity, impairs hippocampal memory, promotes visceral fat, contributes to depression). The SAM axis (sympathetic-adrenal-medullary) is faster, releasing epinephrine/norepinephrine from the adrenal medulla for the immediate fight-or-flight response. Cortisol provides the slower, sustained stress response.
173
Type A personality research, originally conducted by cardiologists Friedman and Rosenman, found that Type A individuals are characterized by competitiveness, time urgency, and:
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B — Hostility was identified as the "toxic core" most strongly linked to coronary heart disease. Original Type A (Friedman/Rosenman, 1959): competitive, time-urgent, hostile pattern linked to doubled coronary heart disease risk in the Western Collaborative Group Study. Later research: disaggregating Type A components showed hostility/anger is the crucial component; time urgency and competitiveness alone are not reliably linked to CHD. Type B = relaxed, unhurried, non-hostile. Type D (distressed) personality: high negative affect + social inhibition — also associated with cardiac risk. The cynical hostility hypothesis: cynically distrusting others leads to chronic anger, physiological reactivity, and poor social support — all cardiovascular risk factors.
174
The vestibular system, located in the inner ear, primarily provides information about:
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B — Head position and movement (linear and rotational acceleration), contributing to balance and spatial orientation. The vestibular system consists of: the utricle and saccule (otolith organs) — detect linear acceleration and head tilt relative to gravity (hair cells displaced by movement of calcium carbonate crystals); the semicircular canals (three fluid-filled loops at right angles) — detect rotational acceleration of the head. The vestibular system connects to the cerebellum (for motor coordination), the oculomotor system (vestibulo-ocular reflex — keeps gaze stable during head movement), and the cerebral cortex (for conscious spatial awareness). Motion sickness occurs when visual and vestibular signals conflict.
175
Social support is thought to protect health during stress through two mechanisms: the "buffering hypothesis" and the "direct effects hypothesis." The buffering hypothesis specifically proposes that:
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B — Support is most beneficial during high stress; it moderates (buffers) the stress–health relationship. Buffering hypothesis (Cohen and Wills): social support × stress interaction — support protects against stress-induced health decline more than it helps in low-stress conditions. Direct effects hypothesis: social support improves health regardless of stress level. Research finds evidence for both, depending on the type of support and outcome measured. Mechanisms: support reduces appraisal of threat (cognitive), reduces physiological reactivity to stressors, provides coping assistance, and encourages healthy behaviors. Social isolation is one of the strongest predictors of premature mortality — comparable in risk magnitude to smoking.
176
The basal ganglia are most critically involved in:
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B — Initiating/regulating voluntary movement, procedural/habit memory, and reward-based learning. The basal ganglia (caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, substantia nigra, subthalamic nucleus) are a set of subcortical nuclei involved in action selection, habit formation, and reward learning. Parkinson's disease: loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra → reduced basal ganglia activity → tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia (slowness). Huntington's disease: degeneration of striatal neurons → loss of inhibition → chorea (involuntary movements), dementia. Basal ganglia are part of the dopamine reward pathway and heavily involved in addiction (habit loop: cue → routine → reward). Contrast with cerebellum: fine-tuning and coordination of movements already initiated.
177
A perceptual set, as demonstrated by the classic "13 in the middle of B-13-C" demonstration, shows that:
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B — Top-down expectations and context shape perception of ambiguous stimuli. Perceptual set (Bruner and Minturn): the same ambiguous figure (the character between A–B–C or 12–13–14) is perceived as "B" in a letter context or "13" in a number context. This demonstrates top-down (conceptually driven) processing shaping perception. Other demonstrations: Rorschach inkblots; the Necker cube; Rubin's vase/faces figure. Perceptual set is influenced by: motivation (hungry people see food-related ambiguous stimuli more readily), emotion (anxious people see threatening stimuli more readily), cultural experience, and priming. The interaction of bottom-up (sensory data) and top-down (expectations, knowledge) processing is fundamental to constructive theories of perception.
178
Flow state, as described by Csikszentmihalyi, is most likely to occur when:
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C — Challenge well-matched to skill: stretching but not overwhelming, producing complete absorption and intrinsic enjoyment. Flow (Csikszentmihalyi): optimal experience characterized by: complete concentration and absorption in the activity; loss of self-consciousness; distorted time perception (time flies); intrinsic reward (autotelic experience); clear goals and immediate feedback; sense of personal control. When challenge greatly exceeds skill → anxiety; when skill greatly exceeds challenge → boredom; the flow channel is the "sweet spot" in between. Flow occurs in diverse domains: music, sports, surgery, coding, art. Organizations can promote flow by matching tasks to employee skills, providing clear goals, and minimizing interruptions. Related to intrinsic motivation and optimal arousal theories.
179
Sensory adaptation refers to the phenomenon where:
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B — Receptor firing rate reduces with constant stimulus; awareness decreases even though the stimulus is still present. Sensory adaptation: we adapt to the smell of our own home, the feel of our clothing, background noise — because receptors respond to change, not to constant stimulation. Adaptive value: allows the sensory system to focus on novel, changing stimuli (which are more likely to signal danger or opportunity) rather than constant background stimulation. Example: sliding into a cold pool — within minutes the water feels less cold. Vision adaptation: stabilized images on the retina disappear (Troxler fading). NOT the same as perceptual set (which is about expectations) or habituation (a learning process reducing behavioral responses to repeated stimuli).
180
Character strengths in positive psychology (as identified in the Values in Action classification by Peterson and Seligman) are categorized under six broad virtues. Which combination correctly pairs a virtue with its character strengths?
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B — Humanity: love, kindness, social intelligence. Peterson and Seligman's VIA Classification (2004): six virtues with 24 character strengths: Wisdom (curiosity, love of learning, perspective, creativity, open-mindedness, ingenuity); Courage (bravery, persistence, integrity, vitality); Humanity (love, kindness, social intelligence); Justice (fairness, leadership, teamwork/citizenship); Temperance (forgiveness, modesty, prudence, self-regulation); Transcendence (gratitude, hope, humor, spirituality, appreciation of beauty). Character strengths are defined as positive traits that are morally valued, contribute to fulfillment, and can be cultivated. The "signature strengths" intervention (identifying and using one's top strengths) is one of the most empirically supported positive psychology interventions for well-being.
181
Double-blind experimental design controls for which threat to validity?
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B — Controls both participant demand characteristics and experimenter bias simultaneously. In a double-blind design, neither participants nor the researchers interacting with them know which condition participants are in (treatment vs. placebo). Eliminates: demand characteristics (participants alter behavior to match perceived experimental hypothesis); experimenter expectancy effects (Rosenthal effect — subtle, unintentional cues from the researcher influence participant behavior/reporting). Single-blind: only participants are unaware of condition. Placebo control: a group receives an inert treatment to control for expectation effects. These controls are especially critical in clinical drug trials and psychological intervention research where subjective outcome measures (mood, pain, anxiety) are susceptible to expectation effects.
182
Texture gradient as a monocular depth cue works because:
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B — Texture elements become progressively finer and denser as surfaces recede; coarse = near, fine = far. Texture gradient (James Gibson): the visual angle subtended by individual texture elements decreases with distance. Looking at a cobblestone road: nearby stones appear large and distinct; distant stones appear tiny and compressed. This gradient provides rich, reliable information about the slope and depth of surfaces. It's a monocular (pictorial) cue — works with one eye and in photographs/paintings. Other monocular cues: interposition (overlap), relative size, height in visual field (higher = farther), linear perspective (converging parallels), atmospheric perspective (haze makes distant objects bluish-gray), and motion parallax (closer objects appear to move faster across the visual field during observer movement).
183
The facial feedback hypothesis (as tested in classic pen-in-mouth experiments) proposes that:
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B — Feedback from one's own facial muscles influences emotional experience. Strack's original pen study (1988): participants holding a pen in their teeth (inducing a smile) rated Far Side cartoons as funnier than those holding a pen with their lips (preventing a smile). Supported James's idea that bodily feedback contributes to emotion. Note: a high-profile replication failure (2016 registered replication report with 17 labs) failed to reproduce the original pen effect. Debate continues about when and how facial feedback influences emotion. The "as if" principle: acting as if you feel a certain way can induce that feeling. Related: power pose research controversy (Amy Cuddy) — similar questions about whether bodily posture affects hormones and confidence.
184
The absolute threshold in signal detection theory differs from the classical conception of absolute threshold in that:
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B — SDT separates sensitivity (d') from response bias (criterion); rejects a fixed absolute threshold. Classical psychophysics: a fixed absolute threshold — stimuli above it are detected, below it are not. SDT (Green and Swets): detection is probabilistic and depends on two factors: d' (sensitivity — distance between signal and noise distributions) and criterion (β — the observer's decision threshold, influenced by payoffs, expectations, costs). Hits (true positive), misses (false negative), false alarms (false positive), correct rejections (true negative). Liberals set a low criterion → more hits BUT more false alarms. Conservatives → fewer false alarms BUT more misses. SDT is essential for medical diagnosis, radar operator performance, quality control, and understanding why witnesses sometimes report seeing things they didn't.
185
Problem-focused coping strategies are most effective under which circumstances, compared to emotion-focused coping?
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B — Problem-focused is better for controllable stressors; emotion-focused is better for uncontrollable stressors. Lazarus and Folkman's transactional model: primary appraisal (is this a threat?) → secondary appraisal (can I do anything about it?) → coping. Problem-focused coping: taking direct action to change the stressor (information gathering, planning, problem-solving). Emotion-focused coping: regulating the emotional response (social support-seeking, reappraisal, acceptance, distraction, denial). When a stressor is controllable, problem-focused coping is more effective. When it's uncontrollable (cancer diagnosis, death of loved one), emotion-focused strategies like acceptance, finding meaning, and seeking support are more adaptive. Mismatching coping to controllability (problem-focusing on an uncontrollable stressor) produces frustration and additional distress.
186
In the context of experimental research, a "confound" is best defined as:
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B — A variable that systematically varies with the IV and could alternative-explain the DV — threatens internal validity. Confound: imagine a study testing whether a new therapy reduces depression. If the therapy group also receives more therapist attention, the additional attention confounds the specific therapy effect. Confounds are systematic (not random) — they covary with the IV. Random error reduces reliability/power but doesn't bias results in one direction. Random assignment is the primary method for equating experimental groups on potential confounds (including unknown confounds). Matching and statistical control (ANCOVA) can also reduce confounding. The difference between a confound and a covariate: covariates are known and measured; confounds may be unmeasured.
187
Demand characteristics in psychological research refer to:
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B — Cues that allow participants to infer the hypothesis and alter their behavior accordingly. Demand characteristics (Orne, 1962): participants are motivated to be "good subjects" and often try to figure out the hypothesis and either confirm it ("please-the-researcher effect") or deny it if they suspect deception. Solutions: deception (hidden hypothesis) followed by complete debriefing; within-subjects designs with cover stories; unobtrusive measures; comparing experimental with yoked control groups. Demand characteristics threaten internal validity — they may explain the results just as well as the IV. Related: evaluation apprehension (participants perform better when observed); Hawthorne effect (mere observation changes behavior). Demand characteristics are distinct from social desirability bias (underreporting undesirable behavior on self-reports).
188
The difference between statistical significance and practical significance (effect size) is best illustrated by which scenario?
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B — Large samples can produce statistically significant but trivially small effects that lack practical importance. Statistical significance (p-value): tells you whether the result is likely due to chance — but with a large enough sample, even a tiny, meaningless effect will reach significance. Effect size (Cohen's d, r, η²): tells you the magnitude of the effect independent of sample size. Cohen's conventions: d = 0.2 (small), 0.5 (medium), 0.8 (large). A p-value of .001 tells you the result probably isn't chance; an effect size of d = 0.02 tells you the effect is negligible in magnitude. Best practice: always report both p-values AND effect sizes. Confidence intervals provide additional information about precision and effect magnitude. Power = probability of detecting a real effect; underpowered studies (small n) may miss real effects even when effect sizes are substantial.
189
Opponent-process color vision theory (Hering) best explains which visual phenomenon that trichromatic theory cannot easily account for?
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B — Afterimages: opponent channels fatigue and rebound, producing the complementary color. Trichromatic theory (Young-Helmholtz): three cone types (S, M, L — sensitive to short/blue, medium/green, long/red wavelengths) mix to produce all color perceptions. Explains color mixing and color blindness. But cannot explain afterimages or the fact that we never see "reddish-green" or "bluish-yellow." Opponent-process theory (Hering): ganglion cells process color in opposing pairs: red-green, blue-yellow, black-white. Staring at red fatigues the red side → green rebounds = green afterimage. These theories are complementary and describe different levels of processing: trichromatic at the receptor level; opponent-process at the retinal ganglion cell/lateral geniculate nucleus level.
190
Csikszentmihalyi's concept of flow is most related to which positive psychology construct?
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B — Engagement (E in PERMA): flow is the pinnacle of engagement. Seligman explicitly identifies flow as the exemplar of the E (Engagement) element in PERMA. Flow does not necessarily involve positive emotions during the experience — the person may be too absorbed to consciously experience pleasure in the moment; the positive affect typically follows the activity. Flow also differs from meaning (which involves purpose beyond self) and accomplishment (which focuses on achievement outcomes). Conditions for flow: clear goals, immediate feedback, balance between challenge and skill, sense of control, and intrinsic motivation. Flow can occur in activities ranging from surgery to rock climbing to playing chess — what matters is the challenge-skill balance, not the specific domain.
191
In sensation, the "just noticeable difference" (JND) is defined as:
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B — Smallest detectable difference between two stimuli (detectable 50% of the time). JND = difference threshold. The absolute threshold = minimum intensity detectable from nothing (50% detection criterion). The JND is the building block of Weber's Law: ΔI/I = k. Example: the JND for weight is about 2% — you can tell the difference between 100g and 102g, but not between 100g and 101g. The JND for brightness is about 8%; for pitch, about 0.3%. Fechner's law builds on Weber's: S = k log I (perceived intensity grows as the log of physical intensity). Stevens' power law improves on Fechner: perceived intensity grows as a power function of physical intensity.
192
In research on eyewitness testimony, the "misinformation effect" refers to:
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B — Post-event misinformation alters the original memory trace, incorporating inaccurate information as if it were originally experienced. Loftus's misinformation effect: witnesses to a car accident who were asked "How fast was the car going when it smashed into the other car?" (vs. "hit") later recalled seeing broken glass that wasn't there — a false memory implanted by the leading question's implication. This demonstrates that memory is reconstructive, not reproductive — memories are not stored like video recordings but are rebuilt each time from fragmentary traces plus inference and suggestion. Implications: police interview techniques, courtroom testimony, therapy (recovered memories), and interrogation practices. NICHD Protocol and cognitive interview are evidence-based techniques for reducing misinformation contamination.
193
The placebo effect is best understood as a demonstration of:
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B — Genuine psychological and physiological effects of expectation — inert treatments produce real measurable changes. The placebo effect is not "fake" — it produces real neurobiological changes. Placebo analgesia: genuine endorphin release (blocked by naloxone, an opioid antagonist), demonstrating real neurochemical mechanisms. Open-label placebos: some studies show placebos work even when patients know they're taking placebos, suggesting conditioning and ritual as mechanisms beyond mere expectation. Nocebo effect: negative expectations produce real negative symptoms. Magnitude: placebo effects are substantial in pain, depression, anxiety, and nausea studies. Clinical implications: the therapeutic relationship, setting, and ritual of treatment delivery matter clinically, beyond the specific active ingredients of treatments.
194
Which of the following best characterizes the "cross-race effect" in face recognition?
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B — People recognize own-race faces more accurately than other-race faces; significant implications for eyewitness identification. The cross-race effect (own-race bias): robust finding across cultures — people are better at distinguishing between faces of their own racial/ethnic group. Explanation: perceptual expertise from experience — individuals develop expertise for face categories they most frequently encounter (contact hypothesis). Implications: in criminal justice, cross-race eyewitness identifications are significantly less reliable than same-race identifications; false identification rates are higher. Courts have increasingly recognized the need to inform jurors about this effect. Reducing the effect: quality interracial contact and individuating information improve other-race face recognition, consistent with an expertise explanation.
195
The concept of external validity in psychological research refers to:
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B — Generalizability of findings to other populations, settings, and times. External validity encompasses: population validity (can findings generalize to people different from the sample?); ecological validity (do findings generalize from lab to real-world settings?); temporal validity (do findings hold across different time periods?). The "WEIRD" problem (Henrich et al.): much psychological research has been conducted on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic populations — limiting generalizability. Tension with internal validity: highly controlled lab experiments maximize internal validity but may reduce external validity (artificiality). Field experiments sacrifice control for naturalistic settings, gaining external validity but potentially sacrificing internal validity. Meta-analyses across multiple studies with diverse samples and settings help establish external validity.
196
The "two-factor theory" of emotion (Schachter and Singer) has which practical implication demonstrated in their 1962 adrenaline misattribution study?
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B — Same arousal labeled differently based on social context: euphoric with happy confederate, angry with angry confederate. Schachter and Singer (1962): participants injected with adrenaline (epinephrine) and placed with either a euphoric or angry confederate. Those who were told about adrenaline's effects had an "appropriate" explanation for their arousal and showed less emotion. Those who were uninformed about adrenaline's effects labeled their unexplained arousal using environmental cues. Key implication: cognitive attribution/appraisal of undifferentiated arousal determines which specific emotion is experienced. This explains why we can misattribute arousal: excitement from roller coasters misattributed as romantic attraction (excitation transfer, Zillmann). Distinguishes from James-Lange (body creates specific emotion) and Cannon-Bard (simultaneous, independent).
197
In the context of personality research, what is the fundamental attribution error, and in which research paradigm was it most dramatically demonstrated?
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B — Overestimating dispositional factors and underestimating situational factors for others' behavior; Jones and Harris essay study. Fundamental attribution error (FAE) / correspondence bias (Ross, 1977): observers infer personality from behavior even when situational constraints clearly explain the behavior. Jones and Harris (1967): participants read essays for or against Castro. Even when told the essay writer had no choice (assigned position), participants assumed the essay reflected the writer's true attitude. Cultural variation: FAE is stronger in individualistic Western cultures; collectivist cultures show less FAE and more situational attribution. Actor-observer asymmetry: we attribute others' behavior to dispositional factors but our own behavior to situational factors. FAE and attribution processes are central to clinical psychology, organizational behavior, and cross-cultural psychology.
198
Biological preparedness (Seligman's concept of "preparedness") in classical conditioning refers to:
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B — Evolutionarily relevant CS-US pairings are acquired with fewer trials and are more resistant to extinction. Preparedness (Seligman, 1971): the evolutionary history of a species shapes which associations are "prepared" (easily learned), "unprepared" (neutral), or "contraprepared" (difficult to learn). Garcia and Koelling's taste-aversion experiment: rats easily learned to associate taste (but not lights/sounds) with illness, even with a one-trial, long-delay pairing — violating traditional conditioning principles (contiguity, many trials). This is "prepared" learning because taste-illness associations were evolutionarily adaptive. Humans readily acquire fears of snakes, spiders, heights, and strangers (prepared fears) but not fears of cars or electrical outlets (evolutionarily novel threats), consistent with evolutionary preparedness. This explains the non-random distribution of specific phobias.
199
Which neuroscience finding best explains why adolescents engage in more risk-taking behavior than adults?
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B — Limbic system (reward) matures before PFC (impulse control); developmental imbalance drives adolescent risk-taking. The dual-systems model (Casey; Steinberg): the limbic reward system (nucleus accumbens, dopamine pathway) matures earlier (around puberty onset), producing heightened reward sensitivity, novelty-seeking, and sensation-seeking. The prefrontal cortex (top-down control, impulse inhibition, future planning) continues developing until mid-20s. This developmental mismatch creates a "gap" in which adolescents feel rewards intensely but cannot fully regulate their responses. Peer presence further amplifies reward sensitivity in adolescents more than in adults. Implications: legal distinctions (juvenile justice), graduated driving licenses, age restrictions, and therapeutic approaches that work with, not against, adolescent reward-seeking tendencies.
200
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion was proposed as a critique of James-Lange. Cannon's main objections included which of the following?
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B — Visceral responses are too slow, undifferentiated, and their severance doesn't eliminate emotion — Cannon's key objections. Cannon (1927) presented five objections to James-Lange: (1) artificially inducing visceral arousal (e.g., adrenaline injection) does not reliably produce genuine emotion; (2) visceral changes are too slow to be the source of rapidly experienced emotions; (3) the same visceral pattern (general sympathetic arousal) characterizes multiple different emotions — can't distinguish fear from anger from excitement physiologically; (4) viscera are relatively insensitive organs with few sensory fibers; (5) severing visceral afferents in animals does not prevent emotional behavior. Cannon's alternative: thalamus simultaneously activates cortex (subjective emotion) and body (physiological arousal) — hence "Cannon-Bard" (Bard conducted supporting animal research).
Social Psychology
8–9%Social Cognition
Social Influence
Group Behavior
Attitudes & Persuasion
Prejudice, Aggression & Altruism