Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

SOSC1960 Discovering Mind and Behavior

Summer Semester 2014
Sample Test Questions for Quiz 1
Date: July 21, 2014
Time: 9:00 09:40am
Instructions

Choose the BEST answer and mark all your answers on the MC answer sheet
provided.

You should mark only ONE answer for each question. If you mark more than
one answer, you will receive ZERO MARK for that question.

There are a total of 40 questions. Each question carries 0.75 mark.

No marks will be deducted for wrong answers.

You are required to return both the question booklet and answer sheet at the
end of the quiz.

Write your name and student ID on the question booklet and answer sheet.

The HKUST Academic Honor Code

Honesty and integrity are central to the academic work of HKUST. Students
of the University must observe and uphold the highest standards of academic integrity
and honesty in all the work they do throughout their program of study.
As members of the University community, students have the responsibility to help
maintain the academic reputation of HKUST in its academic endeavors.
Sanctions will be imposed on students, if they are found to have violated the
regulations governing academic integrity and honesty.
Declaration of Academic Integrity: I confirm that I have answered the
questions using only materials specifically approved for use in this examination,
that all the answers are my own work, and that I have not received any
assistance during the examination.

Name:__________________________
Student ID: ______________________
Signature:________________________

1. Although their interests are diverse, psychologists share a common

A.
interest in mental processes and behavior.
B.
concern for applying their knowledge to social situations.
C.
interest in the study of animal behavior.
D.
respect for the ideas of psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud.
Answer: A
2. Hassan believes that to understand his girlfriend, he must consider how her brain
and other parts of the nervous system work together to influence her behavior.
Hassans belief is consistent with the underpinnings of
A.
neuroscience perspective.
B.
psychodynamic perspective.
C.
humanistic perspective.
D.
behavioral perspective.
Answer: A
3. The question of whether a person can do mental arithmetic and listen to music
without one activity interfering with the other would be a topic of
A.
behavioral perspective.
B.
neuroscience perspective.
C.
psychodynamic psychology.
D.
cognitive psychology.
Answer: D
4. Dr. Clark is interested in the ways girls and boys differ in their understanding of
moral behavior as they age. Clarks research focuses on ____________.
A.
memory
B.
development
C.
health psychology
D.
states of consciousness
Answer: B
5. All of the following are steps in the scientific method except:
A. identifying questions of interest.
B. exploring explanations for everyday behavior.
C. using common sense.
D. developing a theory to explain observed phenomenon.
Answer: C
2

6. Psychologists identify questions to be researched from:

A. everyday observations.
B. previous research.
C. curiosity, creativity, or insight.
D. All of these.
Answer: D
7. If you were to spend some time watching people in the checkout line of a local
discount store to see how many read the tabloid newspapers displayed next to the
register, you have chosen the __________ research method to answer your question.
A.
B.
C.
D.

experimental
naturalistic observation
survey
case study

Answer: B
8. As a researcher, Cheep Skate wanted to use a relatively inexpensive way to test his
hypothesis. Therefore, he examined existing data such as census documents, college
records, and newspaper clippings. This type of research is known as:
A. naturalistic observation.
B. case study.
C. archival research.
D. correlational research.
Answer: C
9. Dr. Secret Decoda wanted to investigate students' problem-solving abilities. He
designed a study in which he presented an easy problem, a moderately difficult
problem, and a very difficult problem. He measured how long it took students to
complete each problem. He hypothesized that students would take less time to solve
the easier problem and more time to solve the moderately difficult problem and even
more time to solve the very difficult problem. The level of problem difficulty is:
A. the dependent variable.
B. the independent variable.
C. an operational definition.
D. the control condition.
Answer: B

10. James heard the crash in the back of the store, but was distracted as a customer
entered the front door. Later he wondered when the boxes in the back room had fallen
over. The "crash" _______________.
A.
B.
C.
D.

entered James's sensory memory, but was not stored

was encoded and remained in storage
was an iconic memory
was consolidated and could not be retrieved

Answer: A
11. "Tell me how to put it together!" Kent demanded. "I can't." Alvin complained. "I
know how to do it, but I can't just tell you or write it down. It just all comes together
one step after another." Alvin is attempting to explain _______________.
A.
the importance of timing in memory
B.
the difference between declarative and procedural memory
C.
the interference effect
D.
the effect of aging on memory
Answer: B
12. The advantage of a semantic network is _______________.
A.
small compared to the advantage of a strong procedural memory
B.
that recalling one term may activate the network which assists the recall of
another term
C.
that additional mnemonics can be formed
D.
the evidence that creativity may increase
Answer: B
13. Individuals who experience anterograde amnesia face a greater challenge than
those who suffer from retrograde amnesia because _______________.
A.
they are unable to recall any old information
B.
retrograde amnesia can often be cured
C.
memories from the past are more valuable than new memories
D.
memory is dysfunctional if new information cannot be encoded
Answer: D

14. It was an embarrassing situation. Ellen knew her friend's name. They had worked
together for years before Ellen had changed jobs. When she met her in the mall, Ellen
could not remember her friend's name. Ellen's experience is typical of
_______________.
A.
visual imagery
B.
dual coding
C.
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
D.
procedural memory decline
Answer: C
15. Poynte Dexta was sitting in the library about 20 feet from Dumb Jock. Poynte was
irritated because he could hear Dumb's watch ticking. He then moved a few seats
away from Dumb and could no longer hear the ticking. When Poynte heard the
ticking in his first seat, he was probably at his _______________ for sound.
A. absolute threshold
B. difference threshold
C. just noticeable difference
D. noise level
Answer: A
16. Driving with headlights on during the daytime makes no difference in the road's
illumination, yet it makes a big difference at night. Weber's law explains this example
as follows:
A. Just noticeable differences at day and night are equal.
B. Top-down processing applies in the daytime, while bottom-up processing
applies at night.
C. The added brightness from the headlights exceeds the just noticeable
difference at night but not during the day.
D. The retinal rods and cones are insensitive during the day.
Answer: C

17. The smallest intensity of a stimulus that must be present for the stimulus to be
detected refers to the ______ threshold; the ________ threshold refers to the smallest
amount of stimulation required to discriminate one stimulus from another.
A.
B.
C.
D.

difference; absolute
subliminal; difference
absolute; difference
difference; subliminal

Answer: C
18. The fact that we can still read the words on a newspaper that has been partially
covered by a spilled box of toothpicks demonstrates the gestalt perceptual organizing
principle of
A. simplicity.
B. closure.
C. proximity.
D. similarity.
Answer: B
19. Top-down processing is illustrated by the importance of ______ in determining
how we perceive objects.
A. context
B. figure
C. features
D. shape
Answer: A
20. The university sleep lab is an interesting place. Psychology students are
participating in a study in which they will use several different methods to measure
specific behaviors during sleep. They hope to replicate previous studies by using
_______________.
A. introspection and adaptation
B. EEG reading and measures of muscle and eye movement
C. opponent process component measurements
D. measurements of pupil dilation
Answer: B

21. Uncle Billy fell asleep in front of the television again. Five minutes later a noise
from the kitchen awakened him. He sat up looking a bit dazed and explained, "I was
having something like a dream. I saw my first bicycle, Old Blue, just as bright and
shiny as it was when it was new." Uncle Billy was probably experiencing
_______________.
A. stage 1 sleep
B. stage 2 sleep
C. stage 3 sleep
D. stage 4 sleep
Answer: A
22. In free-running sleep experiments, subjects have no external signal regarding the
time of day. Under these conditions, subjects tend to:
A. continue to function on a 24-hour cycle.
B. have no fixed cycle.
C. drift toward a 25-hour cycle.
D. have trouble falling asleep.
Answer: C
23. Boris drifts off into sleep during many of his daily activities. It is possible that he
would be diagnosed as having which of the following sleep disturbances?
A. insomnia
B. narcolepsy
C. sleep walking
D. night terror
Answer: B
24. According to Freud, the purpose of a dream is:
A. direct sexual gratification
B. conflict resolution between id and superego
C. indirect expression of unconscious wishes
D. repression of unconscious desires
Answer: C

25. Dan was riding a bus when the engine backfired and made a loud "bang." His
heart started pounding, and he felt sick with fear. The next time Dan got on a bus,
these unpleasant feelings returned. How would Pavlov explain what happened to Dan?
A. Through a shaping process, Dan had become reinforced for behaving in a
nervous way.
B. Dan was seeking attention from the other people on the bus.
C. Unconscious anxiety was aroused by Dan's sexual feelings toward the bus
driver.
D. The unpleasant feeling had become a conditioned response.
Answer: D
26. Dr. Robin W. is a psychologist with an interest in photography. She wants to see if
she can train people to salivate when they look at photographs. In her research,
subjects look at photographs of trees while lemonade crystals are placed on their
tongue. The lemonade causes them to salivate. Over the course of many trials, people
start to salivate to the photographs alone. In this situation, the photographs serve as
the
A. unconditioned responses.
B. conditioned responses.
C. unconditioned stimuli.
D. conditioned stimuli.
Answer: D
27. Which of the following demonstrates latent learning?
A. Jerry is afraid of bees because she saw her sister bitten by one.
B. Elaine develops a craving for olives when she is pregnant.
C. George hits a base hit in softball when he gets an easy pitch.
D. Newman is able to drive a van after being a passenger in his uncles van.
Answer: D
28. Soon after the popular people in her group started to smoke cigarettes, Barb
started smoking, too. Barbs behavior is an example of what kind of learning process?
A. Observational learning
B. Classical conditioning
C. Aversive conditioning
D. Latent learning
Answer: A