Name: ___________________________________ Date: ______________
____ 1. When Fred pronounced the words “this” and “that,” he noticed that they share a common
A) prototype. B) phenotype. C) morpheme. D) algorithm.
E) phoneme.
____ 2. The various vowel sounds that can be placed between a “t” and an “n” produce words such as tan, ten, tin, and ton. These various vowel sounds represent different
A) morphemes. B) prototypes. C) phonemes. D) semantics.
E) algorithms.
____ 3. Children begin to demonstrate that they know how to put words in a sensible order during the ________ stage.
A) babbling B) syntactic C) two-word D) three-word
E) phonetic
____ 4. In the words “lightly,” “neatly,” and “shortly,” the “ly” ending is a(n) A) algorithm.
B) phenotype. C) phoneme. D) morpheme.
E) prototype.
____ 5. When her teacher mentioned the arms race, Krista understood that the word “arms” referred to weapons and not to body parts. Krista's correct interpretation best illustrates the importance of
A) semantics.
B) the representativeness heuristic. C) syntax.
D) morphemes. E) prototypes.
____ 6. Noam Chomsky has emphasized that the acquisition of language by children is facilitated by
A) an inborn readiness to learn grammatical rules.
B) their ability to imitate the words and grammar modeled by parents.
C) the learned association of word sounds with various objects, events, actions, and qualities.
D) the positive reinforcement that adults give children for speaking correctly. E) operant and classical conditioning techniques.
____ 7. To combine words into grammatically sensible sentences, we need to apply proper rules of
A) semantics. B) syntax. C) nomenclature. D) phonics.
E) phonemes.
____ 8. Lavonne was careful to avoid the use of dangling participles and run-on sentences in her essay because she did not want to lose points for faulty
A) semantics. B) phonemes. C) algorithms. D) morphemes.
E) syntax.
____ 9. The tendency to think of objects only in terms of their normal uses is called A) functional fixedness.
B) the availability heuristic. C) confirmation bias. D) belief perseverance.
E) the representativeness heuristic.
____ 10. Despite overwhelming and highly publicized evidence that Senator McEwan was guilty of serious political corruption and misconduct, many who had supported her in past elections remained convinced of her political integrity. Their reaction best
illustrates
A) functional fixedness.
B) the representativeness heuristic. C) belief perseverance.
D) the availability heuristic. E) the framing effect.
____ 11. When we use the word automobile to refer to a category of transport vehicles, we are using this word as a(n)
A) mental set. B) heuristic. C) concept. D) algorithm.
E) syntax.
____ 12. Professor Pegler's research efforts focus on how the use of heuristics influences the way people assess financial risks. Which specialty area does his research best represent?
A) developmental psychology B) biological psychology C) clinical psychology D) cognitive psychology
E) personality psychology
____ 13. Which term refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating?
A) schema B) heuristic C) cognition D) syntax
E) language
____ 14. People are likely to take less time to recognize a woman as a nurse than a man as a nurse because a woman more closely resembles their nurse
A) hierarchy. B) prototype. C) algorithm. D) fixation.
E) heuristic.
____ 15. Dean overestimates the proportion of family chores for which he takes sole
responsibility because it's easier for him to recall what he has done than to recall what other family members have done. This best illustrates the impact of
A) overconfidence. B) functional fixedness.
C) the representativeness heuristic. D) confirmation bias.
____ 16. A sudden realization of the solution to a problem is called A) framing.
B) insight. C) a heuristic.
D) belief perseverance. E) an algorithm.
____ 17. Marlene forgot to bring a pillow on the camping trip, so she spent a very
uncomfortable and restless night. Unfortunately, she never thought of using her down-filled jacket as a pillow. Marlene's oversight best illustrates
A) confirmation bias. B) belief perseverance. C) functional fixedness. D) the availability heuristic.
E) overconfidence.
____ 18. Stockbrokers often believe that their own expertise will enable them to select stocks that will outperform the market average. This belief best illustrates
A) functional fixedness. B) the framing effect.
C) the representativeness heuristic. D) overconfidence.
E) belief perseverance.
____ 19. Stockbrokers who market their services with confidence that they can outperform the market average in picking stocks are especially likely to
A) appear credible to their customers.
B) find it difficult to decide which stocks to purchase. C) avoid the dangers of belief perseverance.
D) use algorithms to generate stock choices. E) employ workers who use heuristics.
____ 20. Although intuition can at times hinder rationality, it is often valuable because it facilitates
A) framing.
B) quick decisions. C) belief perseverance. D) functional fixedness.
____ 21. The inability to see a problem from a new perspective is called A) confirmation bias.
B) fixation. C) a heuristic.
D) the framing effect. E) the availability heuristic.
____ 22. When we use the word “automobile” to refer to a category of transport vehicles, we are using this word as a(n)
A) mental set. B) heuristic. C) concept. D) algorithm.
E) phoneme.
____ 23. Because Ken is 6′6″, people often mistakenly assume that he must be a member of his
college's basketball team. This mistaken judgment best illustrates the impact of A) confirmation bias.
B) the belief perseverance phenomenon. C) the representativeness heuristic. D) the availability heuristic.
E) framing.
____ 24. When Larina started college, she was certain that she would never smoke marijuana. By the end of her freshman year, however, Larina had used this drug on three different occasions. Larina's experience best illustrates
A) the availability heuristic. B) confirmation bias. C) overconfidence. D) the framing effect.
E) the belief perseverance phenomenon.
____ 25. After learning that her two best friends had lost their jobs, Mariah began to grossly overestimate the national unemployment rate. Mariah's reaction best illustrates the consequences of
A) confirmation bias. B) the availability heuristic.
C) the representativeness heuristic. D) the belief perseverance phenomenon.
____ 26. A prototype is a
A) mental grouping of similar objects, events, or people. B) step-by-step procedure for solving problems.
C) best example of a particular category.
D) simple thinking strategy for solving problems efficiently. E) new, novel item fitting an existing mental category.
____ 27. Eva had difficulty recognizing that a sea horse was a fish because it did not closely resemble her fish
A) hierarchy. B) heuristic. C) algorithm. D) prototype.
E) fixation.
____ 28. Our tendency to judge the likelihood of an event on the basis of how readily we can remember instances of its occurrence is called the
A) framing effect.
B) belief perseverance phenomenon. C) confirmation bias.
D) representativeness heuristic. E) availability heuristic.
____ 29. College students routinely underestimate how much time it will take them to complete assigned course projects. This best illustrates the impact of
A) framing.
B) functional fixedness. C) the availability heuristic.
D) the representativeness heuristic. E) overconfidence.
____ 30. The inability to take a new perspective on a problem is called a A) confirmation bias.
B) fixation. C) heuristic. D) framing effect.
____ 31. The value of generating positive first impressions in your initial interactions with a new employer is best underscored by the research on
A) overconfidence. B) the framing effect. C) belief perseverance. D) functional fixedness.
E) the representativeness heuristic.
____ 32. The tendency to search for information consistent with our preconceptions is called A) functional fixedness.
B) the availability heuristic. C) confirmation bias.
D) the representativeness heuristic. E) overconfidence.
____ 33. Myra has such low self-esteem that she typically expects critical comments about her appearance and behavior. Myra's behavior best illustrates the dangers of
A) confirmation bias. B) the framing effect. C) functional fixedness. D) algorithms.
E) the representativeness heuristic.
____ 34. A televised image of a starving child had a greater impact on Mr. White's perception of the extensiveness of world hunger than did a statistical chart summarizing the tremendous scope of the problem. This suggests that his assessment of the world hunger problem is influenced by
A) the belief perseverance phenomenon. B) the representativeness heuristic. C) confirmation bias.
D) fixations.
E) the availability heuristic.
____ 35. The risks of smoking are more alarming when presented in terms of the number of smokers with lung cancer than the percentage of smokers with lung cancer. This illustrates the importance of
A) the representativeness heuristic. B) belief perseverance.
C) overconfidence. D) framing.
____ 36. Which of the following best accounts for people's greater fear of commercial air flights than of driving an automobile?
A) perceived control B) functional fixedness C) the framing effect D) category hierarchies
E) representativeness heuristic
____ 37. Miss Jan De Jong is orderly, neat, fairly quiet, and shy. She enjoys reading in her spare time and belongs to a social club that includes three librarians, nine real estate agents, and eight social workers. A tendency to conclude that Jan must be one of the three librarians would illustrate the powerful influence of
A) confirmation bias. B) the framing effect.
C) the representativeness heuristic. D) the belief perseverance phenomenon.
E) the availability heuristic.
____ 38. A single, memorable case of welfare fraud has a greater impact on estimates of the frequency of welfare abuse than do statistics showing that this case is actually the exception to the rule. This illustrates that judgments are influenced by the
A) confirmation bias.
B) representativeness heuristic. C) belief perseverance phenomenon. D) framing effect.
E) availability heuristic.
____ 39. Raul and Sophia were having a picnic when it started to rain. They did not think of using their big plastic tablecloth as a temporary rain shelter and so were drenched within minutes. Their oversight best illustrates
A) the availability heuristic. B) confirmation bias. C) belief perseverance. D) functional fixedness.
E) overconfidence. ____ 40. An algorithm is a
A) simple thinking strategy for making decisions quickly and efficiently. B) method of hypothesis testing involving trial and error.
C) best example of a particular category.
D) methodical step-by-step procedure for solving problems. E) specific kind of prototype.
____ 41. Our schemas often influence the form in which information is retrieved from long-term memory. This fact is most relevant to appreciating the importance of
A) long-term potentiation. B) automatic processing. C) memory construction. D) the spacing effect.
E) visual encoding.
____ 42. Austin can't remember Jack Smith's name because he wasn't paying attention when Jack was formally introduced. Austin's poor memory is best explained in terms of A) storage decay.
B) proactive interference. C) encoding failure.
D) retroactive interference. E) source amnesia.
____ 43. The smell of freshly baked bread awakened in Mr. Hutz vivid memories of his early childhood. The aroma apparently acted as a powerful
A) echoic memory. B) retrieval cue. C) implicit memory. D) spacing effect.
E) mnemonic.
____ 44. Laurie's thumbsucking has become habitual because she begins to feel less anxious whenever she sucks her thumb. This best illustrates the process of
A) generalization. B) extinction.
C) classical conditioning. D) latent learning.
E) operant conditioning.
____ 45. Like European Christians who risked their lives to rescue Jews from the Nazis, civil rights activists of the 1960s had parents who
A) consistently used reinforcement in combination with punishment to shape their children's moral behavior.
B) modeled a strong moral or humanitarian concern.
C) consistently used psychological punishment rather than physical punishment in shaping their children's behavior.
D) consistently used permissive rather than authoritarian child-rearing practices. E) consistently explained to their children the harsh consequences of immoral
____ 46. The psychologist most closely associated with the study of operant conditioning was A) Skinner.
B) Pavlov. C) Watson. D) Bandura.
E) Garcia.
____ 47. Distant trees were located closer to the top of the artist's canvas than were the nearby flowers. The artist was clearly using the distance cue known as
A) linear perspective. B) texture gradient. C) relative height. D) relative clarity.
E) interposition.
____ 48. Damage to the temporal lobe region of the brain essential for facial recognition produces a loss of
A) perception. B) signal detection. C) transduction. D) accommodation.
E) sensation.
____ 49. Babies are born with several reflexes for getting food. One of these is to A) withdraw a limb to escape pain.
B) turn the head away from a cloth placed over the face.
C) open the mouth in search of a nipple when touched on the cheek. D) look longer at facelike images than at a solid disk.
E) avoid overly sweet foods.
____ 50. Mrs. Pearson cut Judy's hot dog into eight pieces and Sylvia's into six pieces. Sylvia cried because she felt she wasn't getting as much hot dog as Judy. Piaget would say that Sylvia doesn't understand the principle of
A) object permanence. B) conservation. C) assimilation. D) egocentrism.
____ 51. Genetically female children exposed to excess testosterone during prenatal
development subsequently exhibit more “tomboyish” behaviors than most girls. In order to avoid overestimating the influence of prenatal hormones on these behaviors, it should be noted that these children
A) do not experience gender-typing. B) have unusually reactive temperaments.
C) may be treated more like boys because they frequently look masculine. D) are affected by a variety of random errors in gene replication.
E) develop a more masculine brain-wiring pattern prior to birth.
____ 52. The reproductive advantage enjoyed by organisms best suited to a specific ecological niche is known as
A) heritability. B) behavior genetics. C) natural selection. D) collectivism.
E) cloning.
____ 53. Our inability to fall asleep early as we had planned is most likely a reflection of A) dissociation.
B) narcolepsy.
C) the circadian rhythm. D) night terrors.
E) sleep apnea.
____ 54. Mr. Dayton occasionally stops breathing while sleeping. He wakes up to snort air for a few seconds before falling back to sleep. Mrs. Dayton complains that her husband snores. Clearly, Mr. Dayton suffers from
A) sleep apnea. B) narcolepsy. C) insomnia. D) night terrors.
E) aphasia.
____ 55. When the release of ACh is blocked, the result is A) depression.
B) muscular paralysis. C) aggression.
D) schizophrenia. E) euphoria.
____ 56. Endocrine glands secrete hormones directly into A) synaptic gaps.
B) the bloodstream. C) the limbic system. D) sensory neurons.
E) interneurons.
____ 57. In order to study the effects of noise on worker productivity, researchers have one group of subjects work in a noisy room and a second group work in a quiet room. To ensure that any differences in the productivity of the two groups actually result from the different noise levels to which the groups are exposed, the researchers would use A) the case study.
B) correlational measurement. C) naturalistic observation. D) replication.
E) random assignment.
____ 58. Seven members of a girls' club reported the following individual earnings from their sale of raffle tickets: $5, $9, $4, $11, $6, $4, and $3. In this distribution of individual earnings, the
A) median is greater than the mean and greater than the mode. B) median is less than the mean and less than the mode. C) median is equal to the mean and equal to the mode. D) median is greater than the mean and less than the mode.
E) median is less than the mean and greater than the mode.
____ 59. Contemporary psychology is best defined as the scientific study of A) conscious and unconscious mental activity.
B) observable responses to the environment. C) behavior and mental processes.
D) thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. E) maladaptive and adaptive behaviors. ____ 60. William James was a prominent American
A) psychoanalyst. B) behaviorist. C) functionalist. D) structuralist.
Answer Key - c9 practice test
1. E 2. C 3. C 4. D 5. A 6. A 7. B 8. E 9. A 10. C 11. C 12. D 13. C 14. B 15. E 16. B 17. C 18. D 19. A 20. B 21. B 22. C 23. C 24. C 25. B 26. C 27. D 28. E 29. E 30. B 31. C 32. C 33. A 34. E 35. D 36. A 37. C 38. E 39. D
42. C 43. B 44. E 45. B 46. A 47. C 48. A 49. C 50. B 51. C 52. C 53. C 54. A 55. B 56. B 57. E 58. E 59. C 60. C
