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FIFTY Questions
AP PSYCHOLOGY
1.

Ernst Weber introduced the notion of
a) physiological zero; b) just noticeable difference
c) motion parallax; d) subliminal processing.
Just Noticeable difference. It’s the smallest
difference between two stimuli that allows
them to be perceived as distinct stimuli.
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Physiological zero is the temperature that is
percieved as neither hot nor cold
Motion parallax is one way in which depth
perception are perceived (objects seem to pass in
opposing direction)
2.
Dichotic listening tasks are used to study:
a) selective attention; b) echoic memory; c) habituation

Dichotic listening requires subject to listen to
and shadow what is heard in one ear and
ignore distracting information that is heard in
the other ear. When the subject is asked to
repeat a message as she hears it, it’s called
shadowing. Shadowing is used to study
selective attention.
3.
Which psychological approach would most likely say the
following: “Give me a group of infants, and if I could control
the world in which they are raised, I could predict which will
become doctors and which will become sculptors.”

Similar to a statement by BEHAVIORIST
John B. Watson. Behaviorists emphasize the
ENVIROMENT’s influence on a person’s
observable behaviors.
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Freud/Psychoanalyisis would be concerned with
unconscious
Behaviorism shapes behavior through reward,
punishment
4.
If myelin degenerates from around the bodies of axons,
what is likely to occur?

Myelinization allows for faster nerve
conduction times as the action potential
jumps from node to node along the axon. So
conduction would be SLOWED if myelin
decreases.
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5.
Once Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate at the
sound of the bell/tuning fork, the sound was
an:

Conditioned stimulus (one the dog learned to
react to)
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UCS - food
CS-sound
UCR -salivate
CR - salivate
6.
The “blind spot” refers to the area of the retina where:
a) there are rods, no cones; b) there are cones, no rods;
c) there are no receptors and the optic nerve connects

The blind spot refers to the area where the
optic nerve connects to the retina. There are
no rods and cones in this area, so no visual
perception occurs.
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7. What is fundamental attribution
error?

When we attribute (blame) someone’s
behaviors on their disposition
(personality/character) rather than look at
their situation. In this assessment, we can
be incorrect because we tend to blame
people’s inborn traits rather than look at the
circumstances they face.
8.

John loves to fish. He puts his line in the
water and leaves it there until he feels a tug.
What kind of reinforcement schedule is this?
Variable interval
–
He does not know when the fish will bite and
because he just leaves the line in the water, he is
not really acting. Fly fishing (where the person
casts and reels the line in IS DIFFERENT - it is
variable ratio)
9.

Chimps are given tokens to perform tricks. These
tokens are used in a vending machine to get
grapes. The token is what kind of reinforcer?
Primary or secondary?
SECONDARY - the chimp must learn that the token
ultimately represents a primary reinforcer (grapes)
10.

Viewing a certain color for an extended period of time
results in an afterimage of a complementary color. This
is consistent with which theory? a) Helmholtz’s
trichromatic theory; b) opponent-process theory;
c) place theory; d) frequency theory; e) gate theory
Edward Hering’s opponent process theory for color
vision posits that color is perceived through the
action of three opponent
processes:
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Red/green
Blue/yellow
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AFTERIMAGE appears after staring at a color for a long period
of time and provides support for OPPONENT PROCESS
THEORY
PLACE (first, high…last, low) and FREQUENCY: EAR
11.

What is a central tenant of GESTALT?
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The Gestalt school of psychological thought
focuses on PERCEPTION and the
perception of wholes.
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The LAW OF PRAGANZ (in Gestalt) is also
known as the law of simplicity. We see the world
in the simplest form possible. Closure and
grouping are two parts of this law.
Behviorists see the mind as meaningless
because they only study what is observable
Freud studies how the UNCONSCIOUS mind
controls behavior
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12.

The work of Paul Broca led him to believe that
The area of the left, frontal lobe was
associated with SPEECH PRODUCTION.
He found that patients with aphasia (the
inability to speak) tended to have damage to
this area, now termed BROCA’s area.
13. Which best represents
negative reinforcement?

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A) Teresa is scolded when she runs through the
house yelling.
B) Lina is not allowed to watch television until she
has finished her HW
C) Greg changes his math class, so he does not
have to see his old girlfriend
D) Aditya is praised for having the best essay in
class
E) Alex takes the wrong medicine and gets violently
ill afterwards
14.
The first official laboratory for psychology was
founded in Leipzig in 1879 by

Wilhelm Wundt - aka BIG POPPA and the
founder of psychology. His studies used
introspection to analyze the nature of
consciousness. He was part of
STRUCTURALISM.
–
William James was a functionalist who brought
psychology out of Germany to the United States
15.

If the mean IQ of Americans is 100 with a standard
deviation of 16, what percentage of Americans would
you expect to score 132 AND BELOW on an IQ test?
a) 34%; b) 48%; c) 68%; d) 84%; e) 98%
You need to memorize the percentages of students
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two,
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three standard deviations
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from the mean. 68%
of scores in a distribution fall
within one standard deviation from the mean. That
means that 34% of scores in a normal distribution fall
between the mean and one standard deviation up and
one standard deviation down. 28% of scores fall
between one and two standard deviations from the
mean (14% on each side), so 96% of scores fall
between the mean and two standard deviations up or
down. 4% of scores fall beyond two standard
deviations from the mean (2% on each side). 132 is
two standard deviations above the mean of 100, so
98% of scores would be at or below 132.
16.

Though he has never seen a sparrow before, Jawarhi
identifies the sparrow as a bird because it has wings,
and birds have wings. This is an example of a:
a) schema; b) algorithm; c) metacognition; d) functional
fixedness
Piaget refers to schema as organized patterns of
behavior or thought. Jawarhi sees something new
and attempts to incorporate that new instance into
his existing schema ASSIMILATE
–
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To accommodate, the new item CHANGES schema
Algorithm is step-by-step mathematical technique to solve a
problem
Functional fixedness is the tendency in problem solving to
view objects and tools as having a single fixed function or
purpose
17.

Jenny went to Memphis on three different weekends, and
each time, it rained. Based on this information, Jenny
determines that it is always raining in Memphis. This is
an example of:
a) divergent thinking; b) the availability heuristic;
c) mental sets
The availability heuristic refers to the tendency to
make decisions based on available data. Because
Jenny is relying on information she has available in
her mind (rain) she fails to consider the weather in
Memphis all the times she has not been there.
Another ex: we think tornadoes kill more people than
asthma when the latter causes 20x more deaths!
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Divergent thinking is creative and opposes functional
fixedness
Of all the potential solutions to solve problems, mental sets
cause the person to approach problems in a similar way
each time.
18.
Which of the following measures is the MOST
SENSITIVE to outlying observations? a) mean; b) median; c)
mode; d) variance; e) standard deviation

Always remember that the average or
arithmetic mean is MOST sensitive to
outlying observations and is least indicative
of CENTRAL TENDANCY when dealing with
a SKEWED DISTRIBUTION. For example,
the median income is usually a better
indicator of central tendency than the mean
income.
The central tendency should KEEP the 3ms even on a normal curve. But if
one tail is longer than the other, then the graph is SKEWED. In a positive
skew, there are more LOW scores, but a few POSITIVE scores skew the
average. In this case, the MEAN is higher than the MEDIAN.
In the negative skew, there are more HIGH scores, but a few NEGATIVE scores
skew the average. In this case, the MEAN is lower than the median.
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19.
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The method of loci is an example of
This is a classic mnemonic device or memory
tool that associates terms with locations one
is already familiar with.
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An example might be when you forget what you
were about to do, you go back to the spot where
you started. This specific placement may help
you remember what you were thinking.
20. Shaping is…

Rewarding behaviors that get closer and
closer to desired goal
21.

A graphical representation of correlational data is called
a
a) skewed distribution; b) scatterplot; c) bell curve
The slope of a scatterplot corresponds to the
correlation coefficient.
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22. Which of the following correlation coefficients is the
strongest?
a) -0.88; b) 0.00; c) +0.15; d) +0.75; e) +1.05

-0.88 represents the strongest correlation.
Correlation coefficients reflect the level to which
variables change in direct relation to each other. A
correlation coefficient of -1.00 represents a perfect
negative correlation
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a correlation of 0.00 represents no correlation
A correlation of +1.00 represents a perfect positive
correlation
A negative correlation can be stronger than a positive one if
it is numerically closer to one
Harry Harlow’s experiments with wire and cloth
surrogate mothers demonstrated the importance of
a) insight learning; b) contact comfort; c) attachment
23.

Harlow’s study of
monkeys found that
young monkeys
preferred the contact
comfort provided by
cloth mother despite
the fact that they
could only get
sustenance from wire
mother.
–
Mary Aisworth showed
attachment issues with
kids
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24.

AFFERENT pathways are involved in which of the
following sensory system(s)?
a) visual; b) tactile; c) auditory; d) kinesthetic;
e) all of the above
All four sensory systems that appear in this
question involve the action of AFFERENT or
SENSORY pathways. These neurons leave
SENSES and ASCEND
or ARRIVE to the
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brain.
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Efferent pathways EXIT the brain and are more
involved in MOTOR skills and functioning
25. If an individual is facing the psychosocial crisis of identity
versus role confusion, according to Erik Erickson’s model,
that individual is most likely…

An adolescent
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First year: Trust vs. Mistrust
1-3 yrs: Autonomy vs. Shame and doubt
3-6 yrs: Initiative vs. guilt
6-12 yrs: Industry vs. inferiority
Teen: Identity vs. Role Confusion
Young adult: Intimacy vs. isolation
Midlife: Generativity vs. stagnation
Old age: Integrity vs. despair
http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2007/07/09/episode-20eriksons-eight-stages-of-life/
26. When people are deprived of REM sleep, they compensate
by spending more time in REM sleep at a later time. This is
commonly known as

THE REM rebound effect
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27. According to Piaget, when do children understand the
concept of conservation?

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Subjects in the
preoperational stage
(2-7) were UNABLE to
realize both beakers
contained the same
amount. Subjects in
the CONCRETE
OPERATIONAL
STAGE (7-11) did.
28. Which choice IS NOT OPERANT
CONDITIONING?
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A) A rat learns to press a bar to get food
B) A dog jumps over a hurdle to avoid
electric shock
C) A pigeon turns in circles for a reward.
D) A dog flinches at the sight of a hand
after years of abuse.
E) Studying hard for good grades on tests
D - is not operant
29.Latent learning is…

Learning in the absence of rewards (rat in
maze without reward utilizes cognitive map)
30. Carol Gilligan’s criticism of Kohlberg’s theories of moral
development center around…

Gender differences in orientations towards
morality: While men are more likely to be
concerned with rules and law, women were
more concerned with relationships. Since
Kohlberg interviewed men, Gilligan
questioned his descriptions of morality.
31. The main advantage of a heuristic over an algorithm is that
a heuristic:

IS FASTER than an algorithm. A heuristic is
a short cut or rule of thumb that may not
always get you to the correct solution, but will
get you to your solution more quickly than an
algorithm. An algorithm is helpful in that it
will always find the solution to a problem, but
frequently, it will take longer than desired to
get there.
32. When asked to recall the months of the year, young
children often recall January and February and November and
December better than the months in between. This is an
example of….

Serial Position Effect or Primacy/Recency effect.
This states that it is easier to remember items at the
beginning (primacy) and end (recency) of a list. In
this example, the early and late months are
remembered better.
Retroactive
interference
– Proactive
interference
–
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33.
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Jamel got very sick after eating some mushrooms on a pizza at his
friends house. He didn’t know that he had a stomach virus at the time,
blamed his illness on the mushrooms, and refused to eat them again.
Which of the following is the unconditioned stimulus for his taste
aversion to mushrooms?
A) pizza
B) stomach virus
C) mushrooms
D) headache
E) aversion to mushrooms
–
ANS B
34. Which exemplifies RETROACTIVE INTERFERENCE?
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
After suffering a blow to the head, Jean cannot
form new memories
Elle failed a Spanish test because she studied
for her Italian test after studying Spanish.
Lee cannot remember an important date on a
history exam.
Gene cannot remember his new locker
combination, but remembers last year’s.
Jodi remembers the first few items on her school
supply list, but can’t remember the rest of them
CHOICE B
35. Difference between INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL
and the Atkinson-Shiffrin process of memory?


Encode, store, retrieve (info process)
Sensory memory, STM/Working, LTM (3stage or Atkinson-Shiffrin)
36.
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Of the following, which are located exclusively in the
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM?
A) afferent neurons
B) interneurons
C) efferent neurons
D) glial cells
E) effectors
–
Ans. B
37.

Which of the following refers to a disorder in which a
person repeatedly stops breathing while sleeping?
A) narcolepsy; b) epilepsy; c) sleep apnea; d) insomnia
Sleep apnea is a disorder in which a person
repeatedly stops breathing during sleep. It
can be extremely dangerous.
–
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Narcolepsy: excessive daytime sleepiness
Insomnia: persistent difficulty falling asleep or
staying asleep
38. What are two types of long-term memory and where are
they stored?


Explicit memories *aka declarative* are
stored in the HIPPOCAMPUS (brain
structure that plays a key role transferring
information from STM to LTM)
Implicit memories *aka procedural* are
stored in the CEREBELLUM (brain structure
for balance, coordination, and muscle
memory)
39. Define self-fulfilling prophecy and give an example.

The tendency to behave according to one’s own
expectations or the expectations of others. Events
will transpire the way we believe they will (because
of our expectations)
– If a teacher tells students they will fail, there is no
point studying – then they’ll fail.
– If a coach says their team will WIN, the team will
most likely take an that winning attitude.
– A teacher believes a student is unable to learn, so
he never calls on her and she fails.
40.

Why is REM sleep PARADOXICAL?
During REM
sleep, brain
waves look
similar to
alpha waves
(which occur
when we’re
awake) even
though
muscle tone
remains
RELAXED.
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41.

The pineal gland produces melatonin which helps…
Regulate circadian rhythms/sleep
The “tip-of-the-tongue” phenomenon is due to difficulty
in
a) encoding; b) storage; c) retrieval; d) working
memory
42.

The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is where
you feel like you’re on the verge of
remembering something, but can’t quite do
so. This is a problem with recovering
information already in memory, or retrieval.
–
Most tip-of-the-tongue experiences occur when
trying to recall material in long term memory, e.g.
“What was the name of my third grade teacher?”
43. Who studied the effect of misleading questions on
eyewitness testimony?

Elizabeth Loftus found that what we
remember about what we have seen can be
altered by presenting new information or by
asking misleading questions.
44. Iconic memory is a type of…

Sensory Memory: iconic, echoic, haptic
–
–
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The three stages: Sensory, Working, Long Term
The three processes: encoding, storage, retrieval
Short Term or working memory: 5-7 items
Long Term Memory: infinite
–
EXPLICIT: DECLARATIVE, Hippocampus
– IMPLICIT: PROCEDURAL, cerebellum
45.

Which neurotransmitter is inhibitory?
a) dopamine; b) serotonin; c) acetylcholine; d) GABA
e) glutamine
GABA is the abbreviation for gamma-aminobutyric
acid, produces inhibitory postsynaptic potentials. All
the others are excitatory. When excitatory, there is
more potenital for a neuron to FIRE!
–
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Glutamine: excitatory
Acetylcholine: muscles, memory

–
Serotonin: mood

–
Too little (Alzheimer’s)
Too little (depression)
Dopamine: pleasure

Too much (schizophrenia); too little (Parkinson)
46. A first grade child is given a test of cognitive abilities and
scores at the first-grade level. The same child then retakes the
test with help and guidance from a teacher and scores at the
third grade level. This finding supports which theorist?


Jean Piaget’s theory of conservation
Lev Vygotsky’s theory of the zone of proximal
development
The child performs differently when given no help and
when given help by an adult. This is the zone of
proximal development. While Vygotsky saw
development as CONTINUOUS, while Piaget saw
development as DISCONTINUOUS (stages).
47.

The regular pattern or “clock” of body temperature and
other physiological markers that repeats consistently
from day to night is called:
a) circadian rhythm; b) sleep spindles; c) REM sleep
Studies have shown that if humans are
denied environment cues (I.e.- live in a cave)
they begin to follow a 25-hour cycle which is
slightly out of sync with a normal, 24 hour
day. Irregular sleep patterns can cause
significant disruptions in an individual’s
circadian rhythms.
48. Hubel and Wiesel discovered FEATURE
DETECTORS…describe what these are…


Nerve cells in the RETINA and brain that
respond to specific features of a stimulus
such as shape, angle or movement (SAM)
Basically, they discovered by cat
experimentation that there are certain
neurons made to get excited by certain
shapes, angles, or movements.
49. What is the signal detection theory?
It’s not enough to study the “point at which people detect stimuli
at least 1/2 of the time” (absolute threshold) because
perception of stimuli varies from person to person and
according to the situation
Sound
HIT button because
subject heard sound
MISS - did not hit
button even
though there was
sound
No sound
FALSE ALARM - hit
button because subject
thought there was
sound, but there was
only silence
CORRECT
REJECTION - did
not hit button
because there
was no sound
50. Describe the functions of the middle and inner ear…

Middle Ear H.A.S. 3 bones
–

Hammer (Malleus), Anvil (Incus), Stirrup (Stapes)
Inner Ear is where transduction takes place. Sound
travels into cochlea and into auditory nerve.
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Place theory: where sound hits basilar membrane; this is
what creates high/low sounds (first hit=high; last hit=low)
Frequency theory: the number of vibrations send
appropriate message to auditory nerve
Independent and dependent variables?
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Scary movies cause nightmares
Isolation causes stress in development
(Harlow)
Authority figures cause an increase in
obedience of subjects (Milgram)
Split brain patients cannot speak words
flashed into their left field of vision (Sperry)
Ex: IV: Authority figure DV: Obedience;
IV: Isolation; DV: Stress leves