TEST BANK PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 6TH
EDITION BY MICHAEL S. GAZZANIGA
TEST BANK PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 6TH EDITION
BY MICHAEL S. GAZZANIGA
CHAPTER 01: T
... [Show More] he Science of Psychology
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which of the following is the best definition of psychological science?
A. the study of the brain and its function
B. the study of the mind, the brain,
and thought processes
C. the study of the mind, the brain,
and behavior
D. the study of the mind, the psyche,
and behavior
ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Remembering
2. Psychological science is the study of:
A. the mind. C. behavior.
B. the brain. D. all of the above.
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Remembering
3. Trying to understand the relationship between the actions of neurons and a
thought is an example of the connection between:
A. the brain and the
mind.
C. genes and the
mind.
B. nature and nurture.
D. the brain and
emotion.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Applying
4. Based on your textbook’s definition of psychology, which statement best reflects the relationship between the mind and the brain?
A. The brain is the same thing as the
mind.
B. The brain influences the mind.
C. The brain is unrelated to the mind.
D. The brain reflects the mind.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Applying
5. Barry and Candace are disagreeing. Barry states that psychology is the study
of the mind. Candace believes that psychology is the science of behavior.
Given your knowledge of psychology, how would you resolve this argument?
A. Barry is correct. Psychology only
studies the mind.
B. Candace is correct. Psychology only
studies behavior.
C. Both are correct. Psychology studies
both the mind and behavior.
D. Both are incorrect. Psychology only
studies emotions.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Understanding
6. Allanah is a psychology major. Which of the following best describes what Allanah will learn about?
A. the structure and function of the
brain
B. mental disorders and their treatments
C. feelings and other subjective states
D. the mind, the brain, and behavior
ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Understanding
7. For much of its history, psychologists focused mostly on:
A. the brain. C. behaviors.
B. disorders. D. the mind.
ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology
MSC: Remembering
8. Which of the following is an example of a psychologist who is studying the
mind?
A. Dr. Chu, who studies how weather
influences children’s actions on the
playground
B. Dr. Well, who studies neural activity
during sleep cycles of elderly adults
C. Dr. Mann, who studies the accuracy
of traumatic memories over time
D. Dr. East, who studies the facial expressions of relationship partners
during a fight
ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 5, Professional
Development
MSC: Applying
9. Which of the following is an example of a psychologist who is studying the
brain?
A. Dr. Fields, who studies the purchasing habits of impulsive individuals
B. Dr. Joe, who studies how neural activity changes as newborn babies
develop
C. Dr. Perez, who studies how our feelings can influence our thought processes
D. Dr. Ladd, who studies the training
activities of professional athletes
ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 5, Professional
Development
MSC: Applying
10. Which of the following is an example of a psychologist who is studying behavior?
A. Dr. Wick, who studies how certain
smells can trigger certain feelings
B. Dr. Woods, who studies patterns of
neural activity related to drug use
C. Dr. Paul, who studies the thought
processes involved in decision making
D. Dr. Hull, who studies the facial expressions of relationship partners
during a fight
ANS: D DIF: Moderate REF: 1.1 What Is Psychological Science?
OBJ: 1.1A
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 5, Professional
Development
MSC: Applying
11. According to your text, amiable skepticism is an important element in a type
of reasoning called:
A. scholarly inquiry. C. analytic argumentation.
B. nay-sayerism. D. critical thinking.
ANS: D DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Remembering
12. Which of the following is a characteristic of a good consumer of scientific research?
A. open to new
ideas
C. wary of scientific
findings
B. carefully considers the facts
D. all of the above
ANS: D DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Remembering
13. Critical thinking is best defined as thinking that:
A. is systematic and reasonable.
B. is open-minded and creative.
C. criticizes others’ opinions.
D. uses inferences but does not solve
problems.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Remembering
14. Which of the following is an example of using critical thinking and scientific
reasoning?
A. believing that sugar causes ADHD
because you feel hyper after eating
a candy bar
B. concluding that listening to Mozart
improves learning in children after
reading an article about this topic in
a popular magazine
C. using a personal example to show
how a psychological principle must
be wrong
D. conducting research to investigate
the effectiveness of left brain/right
brain games in improving memory
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
15. Why is critical thinking important in evaluating psychological research?
A. Researchers deliberately lie about
their research findings.
B. There might be significant limitations to the research findings.
C. Research findings are rarely influenced by political and personal
agendas.
D. There is always a single clear explanation and the researchers may not
have found it.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
16. Which of the following is an important goal of your psychology textbook?
A. to teach you how to be a therapist
by using methods of psychology
B. to provide you with an education
about the methods of psychological
science
C. to help you define normal versus ab-
normal behavior so you can recognize mental illness
D. to help you predict how people will
interact in novel situations
ANS: B DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Remembering
17. The difference between using critical thinking explanations and everyday explanations for psychological phenomena is that:
A. critical thinking relies on evidence
and scientific support for making
conclusions.
B. everyday explanations rely on evidence and scientific support for
making conclusions.
C. critical thinking relies on personal
examples more than scientific evidence for making conclusions.
D. everyday explanations rely on personal examples and scientific evidence for making conclusions.
ANS: A DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Science Teaches Critical Thinking OBJ: 1.1B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Remembering
18. Taj is writing a paper on global warming. He only includes research findings
that support his own beliefs about global warming because he thinks that all
the contradictory findings must be the result of flawed research. This is an example of:
A. misunderstanding or not using statistics.
B. hindsight bias.
C. a failure to accurately judge source
credibility.
D. the confirmation bias.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
19. You are asked to write a newspaper article on a controversial political topic
and you want to make sure you are not influenced by the confirmation bias.
Which of the following should you do in order to avoid the confirmation bias?
A. focus mainly on evidence that you
find on your favorite news website
B. place equal importance on evidence
that supports and contradicts your
own beliefs
C. focus mainly on evidence that supports your own beliefs, since it is the
most accurate research
D. place equal importance on evidence
you find online and in textbooks
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
20. Which of the following is one factor that contributes to the confirmation bias?
A. selective emotionality, which is the
tendency to better remember information that is negative
B. selective emotionality, which is the
tendency to better remember information that is positive
C. selective memory, which is the tendency to better remember information that supports our existing beliefs
D. selective memory, which is the tendency to better remember information that goes against our existing
beliefs
ANS: C DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Understanding
21. A drug company wants to create an advertisement for a new antidepressant
drug. Using your knowledge of source credibility, which of the following advertisements would be most persuasive?
A. an ad that features a celebrity on
the set of his or her new pirate
movie
B. an ad that features an actor portraying a doctor
C. an ad that features the CEO of the
drug company
D. an ad that features a famous person
who has struggled with depression
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
22. A drug company is creating a commercial for a new heart medication. Since
the evidence for this drug is weak, they focus on the expertise of the drug
company instead of the research findings. This strategy is known as:
A. taking mental
shortcuts.
C. appeals to authority.
B. the hindsight
bias.
D. the confirmation
bias.
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Understanding
23. Which of the following is NOT a reason why errors and biases occur in our
thinking processes?
A. People are motivated to use their intelligence.
B. People want to make sense of
events that happen around them.
C. The human brain is highly efficient
at finding patterns between things.
D. The human brain is highly efficient
at processing multiple streams of information.
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Remembering
24. Which of the following is NOT one of the major biases in thinking described in
your text?
A. misunderstanding or not using statistics
B. seeing relationships that do not exist
C. failing to accurately judge source
credibility
D. ignoring other people’s perspectives
ANS: D DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Remembering
25. Which of the following is an example of the “seeing relationships that do not
exist” bias in thinking described in your text?
A. Abby thinks she is an above-average dancer, an above-average
singer, and an above-average student, even though everyone else
thinks she is just average.
B. Tony underestimates the likelihood
of bicycle accidents because he cannot easily recall one that happened
recently.
C. Tim thinks that he must eat pizza
right before class if he wants to do
well on his exam.
D. Ziva believes that she is more likely
to make her next shot, because she
has made the last three in a row.
ANS: C DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
26. Which of the following is an example of the “misunderstanding or not using
statistics” bias in thinking described in your text?
A. Matt thinks he did well in psychology because he is intelligent, but
failed chemistry because his
teacher was incompetent.
B. Meredith overestimates the likelihood of airplane accidents because
she can easily recall one that happened recently.
C. Michael thinks that he must wear
his lucky gym shorts in order to win
the game.
D. John believes that a coin that has
landed on heads three times in a
row is more likely to be heads the
next time it is flipped.
ANS: D DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
27. Which of the following is an example of the “taking mental shortcuts” bias in
thinking described in your text?
A. Jack thinks he got an A on his essay
because he is a great writer, but got
a D on his communications project
because the instructions were too
confusing.
B. Rose overestimates how often
cruise ships sink because she can
vividly remember the sinking of the
Titanic.
C. Wade believes that he will be funnier on stage if he eats fried chicken
before he goes on stage to perform.
D. Michael thinks that he must wear
his lucky gym shorts in order to win
the game.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
28. Which of the following is a correct explanation for why the hindsight bias exists?
A. Once we know the outcome, we pre-
tend we knew it was going to happen to make ourselves feel better.
B. Once we know the outcome, we
reinterpret old evidence to make
sense of that outcome.
C. Before we know the outcome, we ignore evidence that contradicts what
we believe.
D. Before we know the outcome, we
have too much evidence to consider
to make an accurate prediction.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Understanding
29. On his way to the basketball game, Tom says he cannot predict who will win.
After his team wins the game, Tom says he knew they were going to win because their defense always plays well together. This is an example of:
A. taking mental
shortcuts.
C. the self-serving
bias.
B. the hindsight
bias.
D. the confirmation
bias.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
30. Which of the following is a benefit of using heuristics and mental shortcuts?
A. They can lead to reasonably good
decisions without too much effort.
B. They can lead to better decisions
compared to effortful decision-making strategies.
C. They can lead to poor decisions but
are very easy to use.
D. They can lead to poor decisions, but
we outgrow them as we get older.
ANS: A DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Understanding
31. Isaac is trying to decide how often shark attacks happen. He quickly remembers all the shark attack shows he saw on television last week, so he decides
that they must be common. Isaac’s overestimation of the rate of shark attacks is an example of:
A. the hindsight bias.
B. taking mental shortcuts.
C. the self-serving bias.
D. failing to accurately judge source
credibility.
ANS: B DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
32. A recent survey found that 80 percent of high school students believed that
they were above average on reading, writing, and math skills. Given that only
50 percent can be above average on any dimension, this is an example of the
bias.
A. hindsight C. confirmation
B. self-serving D. egocentric
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
33. When Brent wins his track race, he says he won because of his athletic skills
and hard work. When Brent loses his next race, he says he lost because the
track was slippery and he lost his balance. This is an example of the
bias.
A. confirmation C. egocentric
B. hindsight D. self-serving
ANS: D DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
34. Kaley has a big presentation at work. Afterward, her boss tells her she did a
terrible job and fires her immediately. Given what you know about the self-
serving bias, how will Kaley explain this situation?
A. I did poorly on this presentation because I am stupid.
B. I did poorly on this presentation because the topic was confusing and
my boss did not give me enough
time to complete it.
C. I did well on this presentation because I am a good public speaker
and I am smart.
D. I did well on this presentation because it was easy and my boss did
most of the work.
ANS: B DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.1 Psychological Reasoning Examines How People Typically Think
OBJ: 1.1C
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking MSC: Applying
35. According to your text, the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius emphasized each of the following psychological topics EXCEPT:
A. human development.
C. intelligence.
B. interpersonal relations.
D. education.
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2 What Are the Scientific Foundations of Psychology? OBJ: 1.2A
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Analyzing
36. Yuko remarks that she is interested in child development and educational
psychology. Based on your text’s discussion, Yuko’s interests echo the:
A. emphases of
Confucius.
C. thoughts of
Greek scholars.
B. writings of da
Vinci.
D. writings of early
Muslim thinkers.
ANS: A DIF: Moderate
REF: 1.2 What Are the Scientific Foundations of Psychology? OBJ: 1.2A
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Understanding
37. Psychology developed into a discipline in:
A. ancient China.
B. nineteenth-century Europe.
C. classical Greece.
D. colonial America, in the eighteenth
century.
ANS: B DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2 What Are the Scientific Foundations of Psychology? OBJ: 1.2A
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Remembering
38. Your text traces the nature/nurture debate back to:
A. the Chinese philosopher Confucius.
B. the ancient Egyptians.
C. Greek philosophers, such as Plato
and Aristotle.
D. the Renaissance philosopher
Descartes.
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2 The Nature/Nurture Debate Has a Long History OBJ: 1.2B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Remembering
39. The nature in the nature/nurture debate refers to either factors affecting human psychological development.
A. biological or behavioral
C. biological or environmental
B. behavioral or environmental
D. formal or natural
ANS: C DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2 The Nature/Nurture Debate Has a Long History OBJ: 1.2B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Remembering
40. According to the nature/nurture debate, nature states that individual psychological characteristics are a result of:
A. education. C. experiences.
B. biological influences.
D. culture.
ANS: B DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2 The Nature/Nurture Debate Has a Long History OBJ: 1.2B
NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology MSC: Remembering [Show Less]