Explaining Behavior: Level-Of-Analysis Approach

1. When explaining behaviour, the levels-of-analysis approach considers the _________, ___________, and _________ perspectives.
A. pre-event; event; post-event
B. antecedent; behavioural; consequential
C. biological; psychological; environmental D. developmental; biological; humanistic
2. The synapse is a:
A. location in the neuron where neurotransmitters are packaged into vesicles.
B. tiny area on the tip of the dendrite of the next neuron.
C. large area where neurotransmitters are released.
D. tiny gap between the axon terminal of a neuron and the dendrite of the next neuron.
3. A hypothesis is best considered as a(n):
A. tentative explanation or prediction about some phenomenon.
B. attempt to explain something after it has already occurred.
C. set of formal statements that explain how certain events are related to one

another. D. particular type of experimenter expectancy.
4. The order of the five steps of chemical communication is: A. synthesis, storage, release, binding, & deactivation.
B. storage, synthesis, binding, release, & deactivation.
C. release, synthesis, binding, storage, & deactivation.
D. synthesis, release, storage, binding, & deactivation.
5. When considering the mind-body puzzle, some philosophers argue that the mind is a separate entity from the body and is not subject to the same physical laws as the body. These individuals would belong to which philosophical position?
A. monism
B. structuralism C. dualism
D. functionalism
6. Police officers try to determine if a driver is drunk by giving him/her tests of coordination. That is because alcohol disrupts _____________ function.
A. reticular formation
B. pons
C. cerebellum D. medulla
7. Which of the following refers to any characteristic that can vary? A. operational definition
B. hypothesis
C. variable
D. theory
8. The structure that plays a major role in emotional and motivational behaviours, including sexual behaviour, temperature regulation, sleeping, eating, drinking, and fighting or fleeing is the ________.
A. thalamus
B. limbic system
C. hippocampus
D. hypothalamus
9. Basic research seeks:
A. knowledge for its own sake.
B. to solve a specific, practical problem.
C. to utilize biological or genetic methodologies. D. to do research in a unique new area.
10. All of the following are specifically mentioned as questions to consider asking when engaged in critical thinking about a claim, EXCEPT:
A. are there other possible explanations?
B. what is the evidence?
C. what do other people think about this? D. what is the most reasonable conclusion?
11. A researcher is examining the relation between two variables: variable X and variable Y. If she is conducting a correlational study, the researcher ____________ variable X and ____________ variable Y.
A. manipulates; manipulates
B. manipulates; measures C. measures; manipulates D. measures; measures
12. The approach that attempted to analyze the mind in terms of its basic elements is known as _____________.
A. functionalism
B. structuralism
C. pyschodynamism D. empiricism
13. A researcher wants to assess the effect of sleep on test performance. She brings students into the lab, gives each student an IQ test, and then asks them how much they slept last night. This would NOT be an experiment because
A. IQ was measured first.
B. sleep was measured second.
C. sleep and IQ were measured at the same time. D. no variable was manipulated.
14. This perspective arose from philosophical schools that emphasized free will, innate tendencies toward growth, and the attempt to find meaning in one's existence:
A. sociocultural
B. behavioural
C. humanistic D. cognitive
15. The field of psychology is concerned with the scientific study of: A. directly observable behaviours but not internal states and processes. B. internal states and processes but not directly observable behaviours. C. personality and abnormal behaviour.
D.

directly observable behaviours and internal states and processes.
16. When the researcher observes behaviour as it occurs in a normal or typical setting, she is using _______________.
A. survey research
B. a case study
C. correlational research D. naturalistic observation
17. The all-or-none law of neural conduction suggests that:
A. all neurons have action potential thresholds but none of them are the same threshold.
B. if the action potential threshold is just met, a weak action potential will occur whereas if the action potential threshold is exceeded, a more intense action potential will occur.
C. once the action potential threshold is met an action potential of uniform and maximum intensity occurs.
D. once an action potential has occurred the neuron will either take all or none of the refractory period time before firing another action potential.
18. A neuron sends an action potential to the muscle that contracts your eyelid. This neuron would be classified as a(n) __________________ neuron.
A. excitatory
B. action
C. sensory D. motor
19. The nucleus of the neuron and the biochemical structures needed for cell survival are contained in

the:
A. axon.
B. cell body.
C. dendrites.
D. myelin sheath.
20. In the human body, which nervous system is responsible for activating the body for such things as the fight-or-flight response?
A. autonomic
B. somatic
C. sympathetic
D. parasympathetic
21. The process of repeating an experiment to determine whether the same results can be obtained is called _________.
A. replication
B. meta-analysis
C. repeat sampling
D. experimental evaluation
22. In a study looking at which factors influence interpersonal attraction, the researcher uses a very attractive person for an assistant. Interpersonal attraction is then assessed by whether subjects call up the attractive assistant to ask the person on a date. The method used to assess interpersonal attraction would be considered a(n):
A. correlational study B. hypothesis
C. case study
D. operational definition
23. When presented with the findings of psychological research, it is not uncommon for people to comment that the results are trivial, obvious, and that they "knew that all along." This tendency is referred to as:
A. the law of parsimony.
B. hindsight bias.
C. the bystander effect.
D. an unobtrusive measure.
24. Neurotransmitters that increase the postsynaptic neuron's negative potential are called: A. excitatory transmitters.
B. inhibitory transmitters.
C. receptor sites.
D. synaptic vesicles.
25. If you are conducting research that involves making observations of people's behaviour, one major issue that you would need to be concerned about is:
A. that people may behave differently when they know they are being watched.
B. that if you do not have a representative sample, then your observations will be confounded. C. that people's behaviours often do not have good internal validity.
D. that you must consider at least two different variables in order to draw cause-and-effect conclusions.
26. Steve is having problems with unwanted feelings of anger and frustration at work. He consults with a psychologist who asks Steve many detailed questions about his early childhood and interprets Steve's problems as being a result of conflicts between his unconscious aggressive urges and his defence mechanisms. Steve's therapist would most likely identify with which psychological perspective?
A. behavioural
B. cognitive
C. psychodynamic
D. sociocultural
27. British empiricism made the specific claim that our knowledge and understanding should be based upon:
A. intuition.
B. basic research.
C. observation. D. reason.
28. The rapid shift of the neuron's electrical potential from -70 millivolts to +40 millivolts is called:
A. polarization.
B. an action potential.
C. a resting potential. D. hyperpolarization.
29. During dinner one evening, Ariel mentions that she just read in a popular magazine that a particular herbal substance improves memory. She's very excited about trying this supplement in hopes that it might improve her grades. Sitting across the table from her, Juan is skeptical. He begins to ask her about such things as the nature of the evidence regarding the herb's effectiveness and how big the memory improvement effect is supposed to be. Juan's behaviour is most consistent with which of the following concepts discussed in the text?
A. Gestalt psychology B. functionalism
C. British empiricism D. critical thinking
30. In a negative correlation, higher scores on one variable are associated with ____________ scores on a second variable.
A. the same
B. lower
C. random D. higher
31. Natalie has black hair and brown eyes. This is an example of a(n): A. genotype.
B. phenotype.
C. chromosome.
D. polygenic transmission.
32. Knowing the level of genetic similarity in family members is important to the study of behavioural genetics because it provides a(n):
A. estimate for the relative contribution of environment to physical and psychological characteristics.
B. estimate for the relative contribution of genes to physical and psychological characteristics.
C. estimate for the relative contributions of environment and genes to physical and psychological characteristics.
D. prediction regarding need for additional learning assistance in children.
33. Although earlier estimates predicted the human genome to consist of ___________ genes, research has indicated that approximately ____________ genes actually exist.
A. 300,000; 500,000
B. 40,000; 25,000
C. 100,000; 25,000 D. 25,000; 60,000
34. Seymour Kety et al. (1978) studied people who had been adopted and who were diagnosed
with schizophrenia later in life. What conclusion did the research support?
A. As 12% of biological family members also had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, compared with only 3% of adoptive family members, it was likely there was a hereditary link.
B. As only 3% of biological family members also had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, compared with 12% of adoptive family members, it was likely an environmental link.
C. Both biological and adoptive families had diagnosis rates of 1-2%, so no conclusion was reached.
D. Both biological and adoptive families had diagnosis rates of 15-20%, so no conclusion was reached.
35. Although approximately ____________ births produce monozygotic twins, approximately ___________ births produce dizygotic twins.
A. 1 in 150; 1 in 250
B. 1 in 100; 1 in 200
C. 1 in 50; 1 in 80 D. 1 in 250; 1 in 125
36. The knockout procedure refers to the process of:
A. artificially suppressing the function of the immune system.
B. preventing neurons from firing by inhibiting reuptake.
C. altering an individual gene such that its normal function is prevented.
D. flooding the body with stress hormones so that an organism goes into temporary shock.
37. There is strong evidence that genes play a significant role in intelligence, accounting for ________ of group variation in IQ.
A. 25-30%
B. 30-40%
C. 40-50% D. 50-70%
38. Siblings living in the same home have unique relationships with parents and siblings and engage in unique activities. In this respect, siblings have a(n):
A. shared environment.
B. unshared environment.
C. genotype.
D. fixed action pattern.
39. Twin studies indicate a strong genetic component for dyslexia, with heritability estimates ranging from:
A. 0.2 to as high as 0.5
B. 0.2 to as high as 0.9
C. 0.5 to as high as 0.9 D. 0.8 to as high as 0.9
40. If genetics are important in determining an individual's personality, then we would expect that if Jim is an outgoing, friendly, sociable person, then his identical twin Jacob would have a high score on which of the following personality dimensions?
A. agreeableness
B. openness to experience C. neuroticism
D. extraversion