PSYC 101

FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

Instructions: Read each of the questions carefully and select the best answer. Check your
answer with the text and your notes. Make corrections if necessary. Good Luck!

1. Which of the following is NOT one of the five common areas of concern for all
psychotherapies?
a. disturbed thoughts
b. biomedical disturbances
c. disturbed emotions
d. disturbed sleep

2. The system of psychotherapy developed by Freud that seeks to bring unconscious conflicts
into conscious awareness is known as _____.
a. transference
b. cognitive restructuring
c. psychoanalysis
d. the “hot seat” technique

3. According to Freud, _____ _______________is saying the first thing that comes to your
mind without censorship.
a. stress reduction
b. free association
c. aggression free
d. catharsis association

4. This form of therapy focuses on faulty thought processes and beliefs to treat problem
behaviors.
a. In-your-face therapy
b. belief-behavior therapy
c. cognitive therapy
d. dream analysis

5. The main focus in behavior therapy is to increase _____ and decrease _____.
a. positive thoughts and feelings; negative thoughts and feelings
b. adaptive behaviors; maladaptive behaviors
c. coping resources; coping deficits
d. all of these options

6. According to learning theory, anxiety disorders are most likely caused by _____.
a. classical conditioning
b. operant conditioning
c. modeling and imitation
d. all of these options

7. The two main types of mood disorders are _____.

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a. major depression and bipolar disorder
b. schizophrenia and depression
c. SAD and MAD
d. learned helplessness and mood

8. _____ refers to "split mind," while _____ refers to "split personality."

a. Psychosis; neurosis
b. Insanity; multiple personality
c. Schizophrenia; dissociative identity disorder
d. Paranoia; borderline

9. The _____ suggests that schizophrenia is caused by an overactivity of dopamine neurons in

a specific region of the brain.
a. neurotransmitter theory
b. dopamine hypothesis
c. schizophrenogenic perspective
d. hyperneuronal activity model

10. Which of the following is NOT one of the five common areas of concern for all
psychotherapies?
a. disturbed thoughts
b. biomedical disturbances
c. disturbed emotions
d. disturbed sleep

11. The system of psychotherapy developed by Freud that seeks to bring unconscious conflicts
into conscious awareness is known as _____.
a. transference
b. cognitive restructuring
c. psychoanalysis
d. the “hot seat” technique

12. According to Freud, _____ _______________is saying the first thing that comes to your
mind without censorship.
a. stress reduction
b. free association
c. aggression free
d. catharsis association

13. This form of therapy focuses on faulty thought processes and beliefs to treat problem
behaviors.
a. In-your-face therapy
b. belief-behavior therapy
c. cognitive therapy
d. dream analysis

14. The main focus in behavior therapy is to increase _____ and decrease _____.
a. positive thoughts and feelings; negative thoughts and feelings

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b. adaptive behaviors; maladaptive behaviors
c. coping resources; coping deficits
d. all of these options

15. The trait theory that explains personality in terms of openness, conscientiousness,
extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism is called the _____.
a. BEACH theory
b. OCEAN, five-factor model
c. factor analysis theory
d. Cattell and Eysenck model

16. “I'm going to take this candy because I want it NOW!” said the _____. “But, stealing is
wrong,” said the _____. “Let's ask mom if she'll advance our allowance so we can buy it
today,” said the _____.
a. animus; anima; archetype
b. brat; kissy-face; codependent
c. orally fixated child; adult masquerading as a child; anal retentive child
d. id; superego; ego

17. The first and most basic defense mechanism, which blocks unacceptable impulses from
coming into awareness, is called _____.
a. repression
b. oppression
c. sublimation
d. displacement

18. The tendency toward growth that motivates an individual to strive for the full realization of
his or her highest potential – to be “All that you can be” is called _____.
a. self-reality
b. self-promotion
c. self-actualization
d. self-potentiation

19. This has NOT been used as an approach to defining abnormal behavior.
a. infrequent occurrence
b. personal distress
c. medical school consensus
d. violation of norms

20. _____ is the specialized branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and
prevention of mental disorders.
a. Psychology

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b. Psychiatry
c. Psychobiology
d. Psychodiagnostics

21. Anxiety disorders are _____.

a. characterized by unrealistic, irrational fear
b. the least frequent of the mental disorders
c. twice as common in men as in women
d. none of these options

22. Leroy refuses to dance because of an intense, irrational fear of being negatively evaluated by
others. Leroy has a(n) _____ phobia.
a. emotional
b. social
c. germ
d. situational

23. JoAnn can’t help it. She has to wash her hands at least 10 times before she eats. Sometimes,
she washes them so hard they bleed.
a. generalized anxiety disorder
b. agoraphobia
c. obsessive-compulsive disorder
d. ritual abuse

24. _____ is an active, intense, emotional relationship between two people over time.
a. Bonding
b. Attachment
c. Liking
d. Romanticism

25. According to Harlow and Zimmerman's research with cloth and wire surrogate monkey
mothers, _____ is the most important variable for attachment.
a. availability of food
b. contact comfort
c. caregiver and infant bonding
d. imprinting

26. According to Ainsworth's research using the strange situation procedure, _____ infants used
the mother as a safe base from which to explore the environment.
a. maternally based
b. securely attached
c. anxious/ambivalent
d. nonagoraphobic

27. _____ parents set firm limits, encourage increasing levels of responsibility, and are sensitive
and caring toward their children, whereas _____ parents value unquestioning obedience and
mature responsibility, and remain detached and aloof from their children.
a. Democratic; dictatorial

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b. Authoritative; authoritarian
c. Democratic; authoritative
d. Permissive; nonpermissive

28. According to Piaget, cognitive structures that consist of a number of organized ideas that
grow and differentiate with experience are called _____.
a. data points
b. thoughts
c. schemas
d. concepts
29. Grieving people generally begin with the _____ stage, and end with the
a. _____ stage.
b. numbness; bargaining
c. grief; anger
d. yearning; relief
e. numbness; resolution

30. Which of the following is the correct sequence for Kubler-Ross’s stage
a. theory of dying?
b. denial ! anger ! bargaining ! depression ! acceptance
c. anger ! denial ! depression ! bargaining ! acceptance
d. denial ! bargaining ! anger ! depression ! acceptance
e. bargaining ! denial ! depression ! anger ! acceptance

31. Which of the following is LEAST characteristic of Kubler-Ross’s stages of

a. dying?
b. “Oh God, not me”
c. “Dammit, why me?”
d. “Thank God, it’s you!”
e. “Please God, I’ll never swear again if you’ll spare my life now.”

32. An individual's relatively stable and enduring pattern of thoughts, feelings, and actions is
known as _____.
a. character
b. trait
c. temperament
d. personality

33. Which of the following is NOT used by a psychologist to assess someone's personality?
a. direct observation
b. a structured interview
c. an unstructured interview
d. handwriting analysis

34. Unconscious strategies used to distort reality and relieve anxiety and guilt are called _____.
a. defense mechanisms
b. thoughts
c. juvenile thinking
d. primary process thinking

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35. According to the U.S. Public Health Service, this is the single most preventable cause of death and
disease in the United States.
a. drunk driving
b. caffeine use
c. obesity
d. smoking

36. A relatively permanent change in behavior as a result of practice or experience is called _____.
a. training
b. knowledge
c. intuition
d. learning

37. In Pavlov's original classical conditioning experiments, the _____ was the neutral stimulus, the
_____ was the unconditioned stimulus that would elicit a natural response, and _____ was the
response.
a. meat powder; bell; salivation
b. salivation; meat powder; ringing the bell
c. bell; meat powder; salivation
d. meat powder; salivation; ringing the bell

38. David's grandma gives him a Tootsie roll every time she visits. When David sees his grandma
arriving, his mouth begins to water. In this example, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is _____.
a. hunger
b. grandma
c. the Tootsie roll
d. the watering mouth

39. If a parent praises a child every time the child calls Arabs “terrorists”, it is likely that the child will
learn to dislike Arabs. This is an example of how prejudice is acquired through _____.
a. shaping
b. creative conditioning
c. operant conditioning
d. latent learning

40. _____ increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur, whereas _____ decreases that likelihood.
a. Operant conditioning; classical conditioning
b. Higher order conditioning; operant conditioning
c. Positive; negative
d. Reinforcement; punishment

41. Punishment can result in _____.

a. a decrease in the target behavior
b. an increase in aggression or passive aggressiveness
c. an increase in avoidance behavior
d. all of these options

42. Which of the following is NOT required for you to learn by observation?

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a. You must pay attention to the model.
b. You must organize and remember what you saw.
c. You must be able (e.g., physically or developmentally) to reproduce what you observed.
d. The model must match you in age, gender, and other characteristics.

43. This is an internal record or representation of some prior event or experience.

a. intellect
b. cognition
c. memory
d. perception

44. According to the three-stage memory model, information must first enter _____ memory, and
transfer to _____ memory, and then to _____ memory to be retained in our memory systems.
a. sensory, short-term, permanent
b. short-term, sensory, long-term
c. sensory, short-term, long-term
d. working, short-term, permanent

45. Tony just met a woman he feels attracted to. He keeps saying her name over and over to himself to
make sure he doesn’t forget it. Tony is using _____ to keep this woman’s name in _____ memory.
a. mnemonics; sensory memory
b. a reverberating circuit; sensory memory
c. maintenance rehearsal; short-term memory
d. selectivity; long-term memory

46. Your vivid memory, like a light going off in your head, of what you were doing when you learned
about Hurricane Katrina is an example of _____.
a. the encoding specificity principle
b. long-term memory
c. latent learning
d. a flashbulb memory

47. The study of age-related changes in behavior and abilities throughout the lifespan is called
_____.
a. thanatology
b. neo-gerontology
c. developmental psychology
d. longitudinal psychology

48. _____ research studies several groups of individuals at various ages, at one point in time,
and provides information regarding _____.
a. Longitudinal; age differences
b. Cross-sectional; age differences
c. Longitudinal; age changes
d. Cross-sectional; age changes

49. The _____ method of developmental data collection follows one person (or a single group of

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people) over time, and provides information about _____.
a. longitudinal; age changes
b. cross-sectional; age changes
c. cohort; age differences
d. longitudinal; age differences

50. _____ is the psychological development that occurs during the period between childhood
and adulthood
a. Maturity
b. Identity
c. Autonomy
d. Adolescence

51. The central nervous system _____.

a. consists of the brain and spinal cord
b. is the most important nervous system
c. includes the autonomic and other nervous systems
d. all of these options

52. The peripheral nervous system _____.

a. is composed of both the brain and the spinal cord
b. is less important than the central nervous system
c. is contained within the skull and spinal column
d. includes all the nerves and neurons outside the brain and spinal cord

53. The _____ nervous system dominates when you are in a relaxed state, like watching tv and
the _____ nervous system dominates when you are in an aroused or stressful state, like when
someone is following you at night in a violent area of the city.
a. soma; automatic
b. automatic; soma
c. parasympathetic; sympathetic
d. sympathetic; parasympathetic

54. The nerve cells of the nervous system are the _____.
a. neurons
b. nervous
c. synapses
d. myelin

55. The neuron has three basic parts which can be likened to your left arm. Your fingers
represent the _____; the palm of your hand represents the _____; and your forearm
represents the _____.
a. dendrites; myelin; axon terminal
b. somas; cell body, dendrite
c. receivers; generator; transmitter
d. dendrites; cell body; axon

56. The BEST definition of an action potential is _____.

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a. the likelihood that a neuron will take action when stimulated
b. the tendency for a neuron to be potentiated by neurotransmitters
c. an electrical impulse (it’s electric) that travels along an axon
d. None of the above

57. Chemical messengers that are released by axons and stimulate dendrites on another neuron
are called _____.
a. motor messengers
b. neurotransmitters
c. synaptic transmitters
d. All of the above

58. Too much of this neurotransmitter may be related to schizophrenia, and too little of this
neurotransmitter may be related to Parkinson's disease.
a. acetylcholine
b. dopamine
c. norepinephrine
d. serotonin

59. Frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes make up the _____.
a. subcortical area of the brain
b. reticular formation
c. cerebral cortex
d. association areas of the brain

60. While riding her bicycle without a helmet, Joann fell and hit the back of her head. She was
taken to the hospital because she injured her _____.
a. motor cortex, and was paralyzed
b. occipital lobe, and had visual problems
c. cerebellum, and was paralyzed
d. brain stem, and stopped breathing
61. Psychology is BEST defined as the _____.
a. science of conscious and unconscious forces on behavior
b. empirical study of the mind
c. scientific of the mind
d. scientific study of behavior and mental processes

62. The goals of psychology are to _____.

a. explore the conscious and unconscious functions of the human mind
b. understand, compare, and analyze human behavior
c. improve psychological well-being in all individuals from conception to death
d. describe, explain, predict, and change behavior

63. The term applied research is BEST defined as research that _____.
a. uses the principles and discoveries of psychology for practical purposes (e.g., to solve
real-world problems)
b. is conducted in an applied (real-world) setting rather than in the laboratory

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c. studies applications of psychological principles
d. all of these options

64. You decide you want to work in the mental health field. Which of the following careers will
allow you to prescribe medication to psychiatric patients?
a. health psychologist
b. psychiatrist
c. clinical psychologist
d. none of these options

65. The first step in the scientific method is _____.

a. forming a testable hypothesis
b. developing a theory
c. reviewing the literature of existing theories
d. designing a study

66. If researchers gave participants varying amounts of a new "memory" drug and then gave
them a story to read and measured their scores on a quiz, the _____ would be the
independent variable (IV), and the _____ would be the dependent variable (DV).
a. response to the drug; amount of the drug
b. experimental group; control group
c. exposure to the drug; quiz scores
d. researcher variables; extraneous variables

67. While conducting research, you unintentionally provide subtle cues to the study's
participants about the purpose of the research, which influences your results in the direction
you expected. This is a demonstration of _____.
a. archival research
b. misapplication of an independent variable
c. experimenter bias
d. none of these options

68. Your research class conducted an experiment on caffeine-induced stress in which neither the
class researchers nor the participants in the experiment knew who received caffeine and who
did not until after the study was completed. This research technique is called a(n) _____.
a. counterbalanced design
b. double-blind study
c. unknown condition experiment
d. controlled deception condition

69. Which of the following statements BEST summarizes the important difference between
nonexperimental and experimental research?
a. Behavior is observed in nonexperimental studies; Behavior is not observed in

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experimental studies.
b. Experiments can be used to determine cause and effect; nonexperimental research cannot.
c. Experimental research is more scientific than nonexperimental research.
d. Nonexperimental research takes less time than experimental research to perform.

70. Salary and years of education should be_____ correlated, and grade point average and the
number of hours of television watched per day should be _____ correlated.
a. not; positively
b. negatively; positively
c. positively; not
d. positively, negatively

71. Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the WEAKEST relationship?
a. +.78
b. -.84
c. -.35
d. +.20

72. A participant's agreement to take part in a study after being told what to expect is known as
_____.
a. participant observer
b. placebo effect
c. informed consent
d. debriefing

73. The first psychology lab was founded in _____.

a. 1600
b. 1879
c. 1900
d. 1939

74. Which of the following persons and terms do NOT belong together?
a. Wundt: humanist
b. James: functionalist
c. Skinner: behaviorist
d. Freud: psychoanalyst

75. When researchers systematically observe the behavior of animals or humans in their natural
state, like a classroom, or habitat like the jungle, they are conducting a(n) _____.
a. experiment
b. naturalistic observation
c. case study
d. survey

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76. Your visual receptor cells have begun to receive, translate, and send the contours of the
letters on this exam to your brain. You are therefore engaged in the process of _____.
a. interpretation
b. organization
c. reading
d. sensation

77. When you look up at the sky and simply notice the clouds, you are engaging in the process
of _____; when you try to organize the clouds into recognizable shapes or objects, you are
engaging in the process of _____.
a. noticing; daydreaming
b. sensing; perceiving
c. passive observation; active observation
d. peeping; sensing

78. When you listen to music, the sound waves are converted into neural impulses for your brain
to process. This is called _____.
a. formation
b. sound
c. perceptual illusions
d. transduction

79. The _____ is the transparent elastic structure that focuses light on the back of the eyes by
changing shape. It’s similar to the function of a camera.
a. pupil
b. iris
c. fovea
d. lens

80. The light sensitive inner surface of the back of the eye, which contains rods and cones is
called the _____.
a. lens
b. cornea
c. retina
d. fovea

81. The pathway for light energy is _____.

a. pupil  retina  lens  cornea
b. lens  pupil  cornea  retina
c. cornea  pupil  lens  retina
d. retina  pupil  lens  cornea

82. The movement of air molecules that is produced by a vibrating object is called _____.

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a. vibratory resonance
b. a sound wave
c. a good vibration
d. a resonance

83. The sense of smell is called _____, and the sense of taste is called _____.
a. epithelium; papillon
b. olfaction; gustation
c. pheromonation; salivation
d. none of these options

84. _____ is the perceptual organization principle that says people tend to perceive a finished
unit even if there are gaps in it.
a. Closure
b. Proximity
c. Similarity
d. None of the above

85. Which perceptual principle of organization suggests that you are more likely to believe that
a group of people who look alike will act alike?
a. coincidence
b. propinquity
c. evaluation
d. similarity

86. Eighteen-month-old Lisa thinks that her daddy is getting smaller and smaller as he walks
away from her. This child has not yet developed the principle of _____.
a. size constancy
b. perceptual differences
c. optical illusions
d. retinal disparity

87. If you frequently drink 4 or 5 alcoholic drinks at a sitting, this means you _____.
a. are a binge drinker
b. have a better than average metabolism for alcohol
c. have an average metabolism for alcohol
d. are like most other drinkers your age

88. Eustress is _____, while distress is _____.

a. neutral; unpleasant
b. the result of internal stressors; the result of external stressors
c. psychological; physiological
d. pleasant; unpleasant

89. _____ is an unpleasant state of tension, anxiety, and heightened sympathetic activity that
results from a blocked goal.

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a. Frustration
b. Consternation
c. Conflict
d. Annoyance

90. The fight or flight response is triggered by the _____ nervous system.
a. sympathetic
b. synthetic
c. gas
d. parasitic

91. A physiological alarm reaction, followed by resistance, and ending with exhaustion is
known as _____.
a. the fight or flight response (FOF)
b. the general adaptation syndrome (GAS)
c. an approach-avoidance conflict (AAC)
d. the aggression-frustration-surrender sequence (AFSS)

92. In simple terms, coping is defined in your text as _____.

a. avoiding stress
b. attenuating stress
c. managing stress in an effective way
d. solving problems

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