Go to Section 2-3: Answers to Quiz Questions

1. The common belief that it is more likely to rain after you've washed your car is probably an example of a(n)

A. statistical result.
B. intuitive bias.
C. suggestive factor.
D. illusory correlation.

2. In order to determine if test anxiety causes students to receive lower test scores, Siohban told one section of her psychology course that the test they were about to take was very difficult — thereby increasing the students' test anxiety. She told a second section that the test they were about to take was very easy — thereby decreasing the students' test anxiety. Students in both sections received the same test. Siohban found that the "high-anxiety section" received a lower average test score than did the "low-anxiety section." This study is an example of experimental research because

A. a dependent variable was manipulated.
B. an independent variable was manipulated.
C. two groups of students were observed.
D. two separate conditions were observed.

2. In an experiment, the dependent variable is the

A. causal variable.
B. affected variable.
C. extraneous variable.
D. third variable.

4. A right-handed split-brain patient was asked to copy a picture from a book by drawing it with his right hand. He then was asked to draw the same picture with his left hand. What probably happened?

A. He was able to draw better with his right hand because the left hemisphere is better at drawing.
B. He was able to draw better with his left hand because the right hemisphere is better at drawing.
C. He was able to draw better with his right hand because the right hemisphere is better at drawing.
D. He was able to draw better with his left hand because the left hemisphere is better at drawing.

5. It has been found that cross-country runners have faster running times when they run with another person than when they run by themselves. This example shows the effects of

A. social conformity.
B. social facilitation.
C. social obedience.
D. social masking.

6. A group of researchers tested a new antidepressant medication, Nosad, by giving one group of depressed people one Nosad pill per day for eight weeks, and a second group of depressed people one placebo pill per day for eight weeks. At the end of eight weeks, all participants were interviewed. Based on these interviews, the participants were given a "depression score." In this example, the dependent variable is

A. the group that received the Nosad pills.
B. the group that received the placebo pills.
C. whether one received Nosad or placebo pills.
D. the depression scores obtained from the interviews.

7. Which of the following people are most likely to experience "alien-hand syndrome"?

A. Martin, who has damage to Broca's Area.
B. Marcus, who has damage to the cerebral cortex.
C. Manuel, who has damage to the corpus callosum.
D. Manfred, who has seizures because of brain damage.

8. Which of the following is necessary in order to learn and remember the material in the textbook?

A. Your learning must be the product of conscious free choice.
B. Your nervous system must exhibit plasticity.
C. Your behavior must be motivated by the desire to learn.
D. Your studying must include frequent periods of rest.

9. A split-brain patient is asked to state whether or not she recognizes faces flashed briefly on a screen. The faces are presented in such a way that the information goes to either the right or the left hemisphere. Which of the following is most likely to occur?

A. She will have more trouble recognizing faces presented only to the left hemisphere than faces presented only to the right hemisphere.
B. She will have more trouble recognizing faces presented only to the right hemisphere than faces presented only to the left hemisphere.
C. She will have trouble recognizing faces regardless of which hemisphere receives the visual information.
D. She will have no trouble recognizing faces regardless of which hemisphere receives the visual information.

10. Rosemary has found that she is able to study longer when she is in a room with other people than when she is alone. This example shows the effects of

A. social conformity.
B. social facilitation.
C. social obedience.
D. social role-playing.

11. Jerome was thinking about a friend of his whom he had not heard from in a long time when he heard the phone ring. He was very surprised when he discovered that this very same friend was on the other end of the line. Jerome decided that he must have had a psychic premonition that his friend was going to call him. Jerome's conclusion is an example of which of the following problems with our everyday attempts to determine the accuracy of our beliefs?

A. We tend to study artificial situations when we test our personal beliefs.
B. We tend to find order and meaning in experiences that have none.
C. Our beliefs about reality tend to be true only for us, and not for others.
D. Our beliefs about reality cannot be tested scientifically because they are too subjective.

12. In order to see if alcohol causes slower reaction times, one group of participants drank two glasses of alcoholic beer and a second group of participants drank two glasses of nonalcoholic beer. All participants then took a test measuring their reaction times. It was found that the participants who drank two glasses of alcoholic beer had slower reaction times, on average, than than the participants who drank two glasses of nonalcoholic beer. In this example, the independent variable is

A. whether or not alcohol was consumed.
B. whether or not reaction time was slowed.
C. the participants who drank two glasses of alcoholic beer.
D. the participants who drank two glasses of nonalcoholic beer.

13. In order to see if the amount of time spent studying has an effect on test scores, 50 people studied a chapter from a textbook for 10 hours, and another 50 people studied the same chapter for only 3 hours. All of these people then took a test that asked questions about the material in the chapter. Those who studied for 10 hours received higher grades, on average, than those who studied for 3 hours. How did this experimental study control for the directionality problem?

A. The study included both a treatment group and a comparison group.
B. People were assigned at random to either the treatment or comparison groups.
C. The study included both a causal variable and an affected variable.
D. The amount of study time was manipulated first and then the people were tested.

14. What is the major function of neurotransmitters?

A. to provide nutrition and oxygen to neurons
B. to aid in the production of neuronal proteins
C. to facilitate the transcription of neuronal DNA
D. to change the electrical activity of neurons

15. A right-handed split-brain patient is first asked to name an object placed into her right hand without looking at it. She then is asked to name a different object placed into her left hand without looking at it. What probably will happen?

A. She will be able to name the object placed into her right hand but not be able to name the object placed into her left hand.
B. She will be able to name the object placed into her left hand but not be able to name the object placed into her right hand.
C. She will be able to name both objects.
D. She will not be able to name either object.

16. If an individual is having trouble falling asleep because of nervous-system damage, which part of her nervous system would you want to check first?

A. the spinal cord
B. the cerebral cortex
C. the brain stem
D. the limbic system

17. In order to test the effects of smoking on the development of lung cancer, one group of rats inhaled cigarette smoke daily for three months, whereas a second group of rats did not. In this example, the experimental group is

A. the rats that inhaled cigarette smoke
B. the rats that did not inhale cigarette smoke
C. inhaling cigarette smoke versus not inhaling cigarette smoke
D. developing lung cancer versus not developing lung cancer

18. In order to visually recognize an object, information processed in the _____ lobes of the cerebral cortex must be transferred to the _____ lobes for further processing. [From class on Tuesday, February 21; and also Section 2-2]

A. temporal; parietal
B. temporal; occipital
C. occipital; parietal
D. occipital; temporal

19. A test is reliable if it _____; a test is valid if it _____. [From Class.]

A. provides accurate information; provides factual information
B. provides factual information; provides accurate information
C. produces similar scores on retests; measures what it was designed to measure
D. measures what it was designed to measure; produces similar scores on retests

20. Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues performed an experiment involving prison situations (see Section 5). They randomly assigned college students to be either prison guards or prisoners and then observed their behaviors in the prison situations. In this example, which of the following constituted the independent variable?

A. the students assigned to be prison guards
B. the students assigned to be prisoners
C. being a guard versus being a prisoner
D. the behaviors exhibited by the students

Go to Section 2-3: Answers to Quiz Questions