PRACTICE AP MC Test

Dr. Cruickshank conducted a study to examine whether cerebral cortex activity in the brain would be higher during memory retrieval for a test or during the initial learning process. She conducted brain scans on 10 volunteers while they were learning a new set of vocabulary words and while they were given a test on the same vocabulary words. 

In which lobes of the brain should Dr. Cruickshank expect to see activity when subjects process the sounds of the vocabulary words? 

• Occipital Lobe

• Temporal Lobes

• Parietal Lobes

• Frontal Lobes

Breonna and Peyton have been dating for six months. Breonna invited Peyton to attend her family’s annual picnic. Throughout the day, Breonna’s many family members were talking loudly, laughing, and teasing each other. At the end of the day, Peyton asked Breonna why many of the family members seemed angry at each other. Breonna was surprised by Peyton’s question and thought everyone enjoyed the day.

Which of the following concepts best explains why Peyton and Breonna had very different observations at the picnic?

• Perceptual Set

• Kinesthesis

• Difference Threshold

• Change Blindness

Dr. Schmidt was interested in the relationship between sensation of a stimulus and the sensation of change in a stimulus. She tested this using sensation of weight. Participants were blindfolded and given two equal weights to hold one in each hand. With each trial, she added a slightly heavier weight to one hand than the other. The participant was asked to notify her if or when one felt heavier. She found that it was more difficult for the participants to determine the difference in the weights when the equal weights from the first trial were heavy.

What type of research study did Dr. Schmidt conduct?

• Correlational Study

• Experiment

• meta-analysis

• Cross-Sectional Study

In an experiment, participants sat at a computer and were told to focus on an X on the screen for 50 milliseconds. After this, a horizontal or vertical line was presented for 100 milliseconds. Participants were instructed to press a button every time a horizontal line appeared. Participants in the Reward condition received ten cents for each time they correctly pressed the button when the horizontal line appeared, while participants in the Punishment condition started the experiment with $10 and lost ten cents every time they incorrectly pressed the button when there was no horizontal line. The results are given in the table.

Which of the following is the best conclusion based the data in the table?

• • Participants in the Reward condition are more likely to report seeing a horizontal line even when there isn’t one.

• • Participants in the Punishment condition do not report seeing the target stimulus on the majority of trials.

• • Participants are more likely miss the target stimulus than to report seeing it when it isn’t there.

• Participants in the Reward condition are less likely to report seeing a horizontal line even when there isn’t one.

Dr. Schmidt was interested in the relationship between sensation of a stimulus and the sensation of change in a stimulus. She tested this using sensation of weight. Participants were blindfolded and given two equal weights to hold one in each hand. With each trial, she added a slightly heavier weight to one hand than the other. The participant was asked to notify her if or when one felt heavier. She found that it was more difficult for the participants to determine the difference in the weights when the equal weights from the first trial were heavy.

What was the independent variable in this research study?

• Blindfolding the participants

• • The number of trials completed

• • The heaviness of the weights

• • Comparison of the weights in both hands

Dr. Felder is studying whether the color of a drink impacts how a person experiences the taste of the drink. She has an orange-flavored liquid that she dyes either orange, purple, or blue, and gives it to participants to drink. She then asks them to describe the taste. Which of the following would best help her evaluate the impact of vision on taste?

Responses

• • Have participants taste it as a group and take turns describing the taste out loud.

• • Obscure the purpose of the experiment until after participants have completed the study.

• • Create an additional control condition in which participants wear blindfolds while they taste the drink.

• • Use participants who have the same gender identity.

Based on the bar graph above, which of the following conclusions is most accurate?

Responses

• • The more genetically related people are, the more similar their intelligence scores.

• • Identical twins are more intelligent than fraternal twins.

• • The environment alone determines intelligence.

• • Genes alone determine intelligence.

Which of the follow scenarios is the best example of natural selection?

Responses

• • An increase in predation substantially reduces the population of adult brownish and whitish moths. Relatively few moths survive to breed, and the population is reduced in the next generation.

• • Just before the moth breeding season, the weather conditions result in an unusual abundance of food. With so much food, the moth population increases dramatically, regardless of color.

• • During a hurricane, both brownish and whitish moths are killed in approximately equal numbers by the storm. The population of moths is substantially reduced.

• • During a drought, the foliage in a region turns brown. More brownish moths than whitish moths from a particular breed survive predation and produce more offspring. Subsequent generations of moths have a higher percentage of brownish moths than the generation before.

In a groundbreaking study, a researcher shared a translation of an American Indian folk tale with middle-class British participants. Later, the participants were asked to repeat the story. The researcher measured the accuracy of their recollections when they were repeating the story. Several of the participants changed the words “canoes” to “boats” and “hunting seals” to “fishing”. Which of the following explains why the participants made errors in their recollections?

Responses

• • The participants experienced the serial position effect.

• • The participants were experienced drive-reduction and, therefore, could not carefully to the story.

• • The participants had difficulty repeating the story because the details didn’t fit with their cultural schema.

• • The participants only had the chance to repeat the story five times.

Kara thinks she sees a spider on the floor of her bathroom. She is extremely afraid of spiders. Upon further inspection, though, she realizes the “spider” is only a ball of hair. Which of the following nervous systems would be responsible for calming her down after she realizes the ball of hair is not a spider?

• • Somatic nervous system

• • Parasympathetic nervous system

  • Sympathetic nervous system

• Sympathetic Nervous System

• Central Nervous System