Test Bank for Psychological Sciences, 5e

Test Bank for Psychological Sciences, 5e by Michael Gazzaniga , Diane Halpern (All Chapters)

CHAPTER 01: The Science of Psychology

MULTIPLE CHOICE

• Which of the following is the best definition of psychological science?
• the study of the brain and its function
• the study of the mind, the brain, and thought processes
• the study of the mind, the brain, and behavior
• 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:

• the mind. C. behavior.
• 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

• Trying to understand the relationship between the actions of neurons and a thought is an example

of the connection between:

• the brain and the mind. C. genes and the mind.
• 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

• Based on your textbook’s definition of psychology, which statement best reflects the relationship

between the mind and the brain?

• The brain is the same thing as the mind.
• The brain influences the mind.
• The brain is unrelated to the mind.
• 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

• 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? 1 / 4

• Barry is correct. Psychology only studies the mind.
• Candace is correct. Psychology only studies behavior.
• Both are correct. Psychology studies both the mind and behavior.
• 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

• Allanah is a psychology major. Which of the following best describes what Allanah will learn

about?

• the structure and function of the brain
• mental disorders and their treatments
• feelings and other subjective states
• 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:

• the brain. C. behaviors.
• 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

• Which of the following is an example of a psychologist who is studying the mind?
• Dr. Chu, who studies how weather influences children’s actions on the playground
• Dr. Well, who studies neural activity during sleep cycles of elderly adults
• Dr. Mann, who studies the accuracy of traumatic memories over time
• 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

• Which of the following is an example of a psychologist who is studying the brain?
• Dr. Fields, who studies the purchasing habits of impulsive individuals
• Dr. Joe, who studies how neural activity changes as newborn babies develop
• Dr. Perez, who studies how our feelings can influence our thought processes
• 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

• Which of the following is an example of a psychologist who is studying behavior?
• Dr. Wick, who studies how certain smells can trigger certain feelings
• Dr. Woods, who studies patterns of neural activity related to drug use
• Dr. Paul, who studies the thought processes involved in decision making
• Dr. Hull, who studies the facial expressions of relationship partners during a fight

• / 4

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

• According to your text, amiable skepticism is an important element in a type of reasoning called:
• scholarly inquiry. C. analytic argumentation.
• 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

• Which of the following is a characteristic of a good consumer of scientific research?
• open to new ideas C. wary of scientific findings
• 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:

• is systematic and reasonable.
• is open-minded and creative.
• criticizes others’ opinions.
• 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

• Which of the following is an example of using critical thinking and scientific reasoning?
• believing that sugar causes ADHD because you feel hyper after eating a candy bar
• concluding that listening to Mozart improves learning in children after reading an article

about this topic in a popular magazine

• using a personal example to show how a psychological principle must be wrong
• 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

• Why is critical thinking important in evaluating psychological research?
• Researchers deliberately lie about their research findings.
• There might be significant limitations to the research findings.
• Research findings are rarely influenced by political and personal agendas.
• 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 3 / 4

NAT: APA Goal 1, Knowledge Base in Psychology | APA Goal 2, Scientific Inquiry and Critical

Thinking MSC: Applying

• Which of the following is an important goal of your psychology textbook?
• to teach you how to be a therapist by using methods of psychology
• to provide you with an education about the methods of psychological science
• to help you define normal versus abnormal behavior so you can recognize mental illness
• 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

• The difference between using critical thinking explanations and everyday explanations for

psychological phenomena is that:

• critical thinking relies on evidence and scientific support for making conclusions.
• everyday explanations rely on evidence and scientific support for making conclusions.
• critical thinking relies on personal examples more than scientific evidence for making

conclusions.

• 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

• 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:

• misunderstanding or not using statistics.
• hindsight bias.
• a failure to accurately judge source credibility.
• 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

• 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?

• focus mainly on evidence that you find on your favorite news website
• place equal importance on evidence that supports and contradicts your own beliefs
• focus mainly on evidence that supports your own beliefs, since it is the most accurate

research

• 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

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