Study Guide

Field 052: Social Studies—Psychology
Sample Multiple-Choice Questions

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Objective 0001
Psychological Terms, Concepts, and Perspectives (Standard 1)

1. Research into the mental processes associated with the learning and use of language is most closely aligned with which of the following subfields of psychology?

  1. cognitive
  2. educational
  3. social
  4. clinical
Answer
Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of characteristics of major subfields of psychology. The exploration of mental processes using scientific methods is a primary focus of cognitive psychology. Research of language, including its acquisition and use, is one of several areas pursued by cognitive psychologists.
Objective 0001
Psychological Terms, Concepts, and Perspectives (Standard 1)

2. Which of the following criticisms did early behaviorists direct toward methods involving introspection as a means of studying behavior?

  1. Behavior is determined primarily by interactions with external factors.
  2. Introspective methods cannot be used with animals to confirm the universality of basic behaviors.
  3. The act of verbalizing what one senses or feels interferes with the memory of the experience.
  4. Self-reported observations are subjective and not objectively verifiable.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of different perspectives on human personality, behavior, and emotion. Early behaviorists, such as John B. Watson, felt that psychology should focus on the study of behavior that could be observed through objective, scientific methods. In the behaviorists' view, the process of introspection, by which trained individuals reported on their own mental experiences, did not allow for verification through objective observations.
Objective 0002
Psychology Research Skills (Standard 2)

3. In psychology research, cause-and-effect conclusions are best supported by evidence gathered using which of the following methods?

  1. interviews
  2. naturalistic observations
  3. experiments
  4. correlational studies
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods and procedures used by psychologists. Experiments best lend themselves to determination of cause-and-effect relationships. Well-designed scientific experiments allow for the changing of only one variable at a time while all other factors are controlled, or kept constant. The variables that may affect a phenomenon under study can be manipulated systematically in an effort to determine the causal factor and quantify its effect.
Objective 0002
Psychology Research Skills (Standard 2)

4. In an article written for a mass media magazine, a psychologist provides a compelling argument in favor of a particular approach for improving children's math abilities. Which of the following questions would be most important to consider in evaluating this claim?

  1. Has the psychologist had previous work published in peer-reviewed psychology journals?
  2. Are the psychologist's conclusions supported by data gathered from well-designed studies?
  3. Is the psychologist affiliated with a reputable university or institution?
  4. Are there other psychologists or educators who disagree with this psychologist?
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of how to analyze generalizations and conclusions presented in psychological arguments and interpretations. While a psychologist's professional reputation and affiliations may be helpful to know, the most important consideration in evaluating a particular conclusion is whether that conclusion is backed by relevant research. Claims that are made without the support of research are difficult to evaluate independently and objectively.
Objective 0003
Biological Bases of Behavior (Standard 3)

5. Use the diagram below to answer the question that follows.

Visual hallucinations are most likely to occur as a result of lesions in which of the labeled regions of the brain?

  1. Region A
  2. Region B
  3. Region C
  4. Region D
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the anatomy of the brain and ways in which the brain processes information. The area of the brain associated with vision is the occipital lobe, located at the back of each hemisphere. This is the area labeled C in the diagram. Lesions are areas of damage caused by injury or disease. One possible effect of lesions to the visual cortex is the occurrence of visual hallucinations.
Objective 0003
Biological Bases of Behavior (Standard 3)

6. Which of the following statements best describes the importance of perceptual constancy?

  1. It allows the brain to identify an object even when the size or shape of the retinal image of the object changes with distance or angle.
  2. It prevents potentially distracting sensory stimuli in the surroundings from interfering with processing of a visual image.
  3. It maintains a picture of what is being looked at even during eye blinks or for short periods when the eyes are closed.
  4. It minimizes the number of fixations required to produce an integrated picture of the immediate environment.
Answer
Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of factors that influence sensation and perception. An object in the environment may be viewed from various angles and distances and under different lighting conditions. Although the sensory information gathered about the object (i.e., shape, size, color) differs as these conditions change, the brain processes the information based on previous experience and perceives the stimulus consistently. This allows the brain to identify the object quickly and efficiently.
Objective 0004
Human Development and Personality (Standard 4)

7. According to Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which of the following tasks are children in the concrete operational stage capable of performing that children in the preoperational stage cannot perform?

  1. recognizing that when an object they have been playing with is hidden while they are not looking, it still exists
  2. being able to empty blocks out of a box and then reverse the process and put the blocks back into the box
  3. recognizing that when one of two identical pieces of clay is rolled into a long shape, the amount of clay in both pieces is still the same
  4. being able to identify how many shirt–pants–sweater outfits are possible if there are two of each type of clothing
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of cognitive changes experienced during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. According to Piaget's theory, a child in the preoperational stage is able to construct mental representations based on their experiences, but they are unable to perform mental transformations on them. In contrast, a child in the concrete operational stage is able to perform mental operations with physical objects, although they are not yet able to do so with abstract or hypothetical situations. Conservation tasks, such as changing the shape of a piece of clay, are one type of mental operation that children in the concrete operational stage are able to perform correctly that children at the preoperational stage cannot.
Objective 0004
Human Development and Personality (Standard 4)

8. Four students in the same college class have all received poor grades on the first exam of the semester. Which of the following students is likely to have the least motivation to prepare for the next exam?

  1. Student A, who attributes her performance to her lack of sleep the night before the exam due to noisy roommates
  2. Student B, who attributes his performance to his bad memory for recalling important vocabulary and facts
  3. Student C, who attributes her performance to bad luck because she got stuck in a traffic jam and was late for the exam
  4. Student D, who attributes his performance to the difficulty of a few questions included on the exam by the professor
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of major theories of motivation and the primary internal and external factors affecting motivation. According to cognitive approaches to motivation, the reasons an individual develops to explain success or failure influence motivation. These reasons can be characterized by whether the cause is internal or external to the person, is stable, and can be controlled. Low motivation often occurs when an individual perceives the reason for failure to be due to lack of ability, which can be characterized as internal, stable, and uncontrollable. Individuals who attribute poor performance to external, controllable, or one-time events are more likely to be motivated in the future.
Objective 0005
Cognitive Psychology (Standard 5)

9. In a laboratory study, pigeons' behavior has been shaped so that they ring a bell with their beaks. This behavior is reinforced by food. Which of the following reinforcement schedules is likely to result in the highest rate of bell ringing and the greatest resistance to extinction of the behavior?

  1. fixed-interval schedule
  2. fixed-ratio schedule
  3. variable-interval schedule
  4. variable-ratio schedule
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of principles of operant and classical conditioning. The scenario describes the shaping of behavior through operant conditioning. Studies investigating different reinforcement schedules with many species have yielded consistent results—variable-ratio schedules yield the highest rates of a behavior and slowest rates of extinction. With a variable-ratio schedule, the reinforcement is provided after a specific average number of responses occur, but the exact number of responses required between reinforcements varies randomly.
Objective 0005
Cognitive Psychology (Standard 5)

10. Research by Elizabeth Loftus and her colleagues has shown that eyewitness memories are often inaccurate primarily for which of the following reasons?

  1. Information about the original event is difficult to classify for encoding.
  2. Distractions interfere with rehearsal of information, preventing its transfer from short-term to long-term memory.
  3. The context of the original event is difficult to recreate during the retrieval process.
  4. The memories are vulnerable to distortion by postevent information.
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of factors that interfere with and disrupt the retention and retrieval of memories. Elizabeth Loftus and her colleagues conducted studies in which subjects were shown brief clips or a series of photographs of situations, such as traffic accidents, and then interviewed about them afterwards. The researchers found that the wording of questions used in the interview could influence subjects' memories of an event, leading to inaccurate recall of details. This phenomenon is known as the misinformation effect.
Objective 0006
Abnormal Psychology (Standard 6)

11. The clearest example of an individual with a dissociative disorder is an individual who:

  1. believes minor changes to the body are actually a disease.
  2. has multiple identities without awareness of the identities' thoughts or feelings.
  3. imagines defects in his or her physical appearance.
  4. researches an illness and then creates the appearance of illness.
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of characteristics and causes of anxiety disorders, mood disorders, dissociative disorders, schizophrenic disorders, and personality disorders. Dissociative disorders involve disruptions in memory, consciousness, identity, or perception. One particular type of dissociative disorder is dissociative identity disorder, which is characterized by the presence of two or more distinct personality states, or identities, with impaired recall of information between the states.
Objective 0006
Abnormal Psychology (Standard 6)

12. Which of the following steps is most important for psychologists to take when conducting psychological evaluations of clients from diverse ethnic and language backgrounds?

  1. asking colleagues to review the outcomes of evaluations to provide confirmatory diagnoses
  2. ensuring that the evaluation procedures that are used have been adapted and validated for culturally diverse clients
  3. inviting clients' families or friends to be present during the evaluation process to provide support
  4. consulting with people familiar with the clients' cultures to help interpret the data collected during the evaluation process
Answer
Correct Response: B.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of political, social, and economic issues related to mental health and behavioral disorders in contemporary society. In today's diverse society, psychologists need to be aware of the sociocultural factors that influence an individual's behavior and apply procedures that take them into account. One way of doing this is by following the American Psychological Association's guidance to use evaluation techniques and instruments whose reliability and validity have been established for use with members of particular populations.
Objective 0007
Social Psychology (Standard 7)

13. Which of the following situations best illustrates the concept of social facilitation?

  1. A collegiate swimmer completes a race in front of a crowd in a faster time than she has ever achieved during training.
  2. A person who is trying to learn to play the guitar watches an instructional video and follows the step-by-step directions.
  3. A member of a construction crew contributes a smaller proportion of energy to a group task than other members of the crew.
  4. An author spends several hours a day in his home office working on an eagerly anticipated sequel to a best-selling spy series.
Answer
Correct Response: A.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of the effect of others on individual behavior and the development of self-concept. Social facilitation is the phenomenon whereby an individual's performance is enhanced in the presence of other people. This typically occurs only with tasks an individual finds easy or is comfortable performing.
Objective 0008
Psychology Instruction and Assessment (Standard 8)

14. As part of a high school psychology activity, a teacher shows students a video designed to illustrate inattentional blindness, although the students are not made aware of the video's purpose before they view it. The students follow the instructions that accompany the video and then they discuss as a class what they saw. About half the students did not notice that a person dressed as a gorilla appeared in the video while they paid attention to other details as instructed. Which of the following topics relevant to the students' everyday lives would be particularly effective to address in the context of this activity?

  1. the cumulative effects of getting too few hours of sleep each night
  2. strategies for memorizing a locker combination or phone number
  3. the risks associated with texting or talking on mobile devices while driving
  4. strategies for retracing an infrequently traveled route
Answer
Correct Response: C.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of strategies and skills for planning and designing psychology instruction. Inattentional blindness, as the scenario indicates, is the failure to perceive an unexpected stimulus when a person is performing another task that demands attention. This is similar to what can happen when a person's attention is diverted by texting or talking on a mobile phone. Having students serve as subjects in the video-viewing activity allows them to experience firsthand the effects of inattentional blindness and is likely to have a greater impact on them than if the concept were addressed through reading assignments or class discussion alone. Subsequently, students are likely to have a greater appreciation for the risks involved in texting or talking on a mobile phone while driving.
Objective 0008
Psychology Instruction and Assessment (Standard 8)

15. The use of a spreadsheet would best facilitate which of the following activities in a psychology course?

  1. reviewing basic concepts related to measurement, such as reliability and validity
  2. selecting an appropriate type of statistical analysis to perform on collected data
  3. determining the most effective way to quantify and report observed behavior for analysis
  4. exploring how changes in a set of data affect measures of central tendency and variability
Answer
Correct Response: D.
This question requires the examinee to demonstrate knowledge of instructional strategies and resources for promoting student understanding of concepts and skills related to psychology. One of the advantages of spreadsheets is that formulas can be entered once that automatically perform and update calculations as a specified set of data is changed through addition, deletion, or substitution of values. A spreadsheet that contains formulas for calculating statistical values such as measures of central tendency and variability allows students to easily explore the effects of changing the data set without having to perform the calculations repeatedly. Spreadsheets can also create graphs that also change as the data set changes.