WorksheetsReview Biological Bases in Psychology
Total questions: 62
Worksheet time: 47mins
Jack accidentally touches a hot stove. Such a strong stimulus:
A. increases the intensity of a neuron’s action potential.
B. affects the speed that a neuron fires.
C. triggers more neurons to fire.
D. does not affect how often a neuron fires.
The peripheral nervous system consists of:
A. association areas.
B. the spinal cord.
C. the reticular formation.
D. sensory and motor neurons.
Antidepressants such as Prozac target which neurotransmitter?
A. serotonin.
B. glutamate.
C. GABA.
D. acetylcholine.
Which region of the brain appears to have the oldest evolutionary history?
A. frontal lobes
B. limbic system
C. brainstem
D. corpus callosum
Following massive damage to his frontal lobes, Phineas Gage was most strikingly debilitated by:
A. irritability
B. memory loss
C. auditory hallucinations
D. a reward deficiency syndrome
A visit to a phrenologist would have resulted in an analysis of the person’s:
A. heart beats.
B. skull bumps.
C. neurotransmitter function.
D. endocrine system.
Which technique is most useful for seeing which regions of the brain are most active while a person reads a poem?
A, EEG
B. fMRI
C. EKG
D. PET
Which of the following activities is NOT primarily a function of the left hemisphere?
A. listening to a piano concerto
B. reading your psychology book
C. reading junk mail
D. listening to a poetry reading
A split-brain patient’s right hemisphere is presented with a key. How is he most likely to respond?
A. say the word “key”
B. select a key from a group of objects presented to his left hand
C. select a key from a group of objects presented to his right hand
D. he will not be able to say “key” or to pick out a key from a group of objects with either hand
While out for a bike ride, you can think about what you’ll make for dinner rather than concentrate on how to operate the bicycle. This illustrates:
A. dual processing
B. Sigmund Freud’s concept of the unconscious.
C. the function of delta waves.
D. somnambulism.
After suffering an accidental brain injury, Kira has difficulty walking in a smooth and coordinated manner. It is most probable that she has suffered damage to her:
A. amygdala
B. angular gyrus
C. cerebellum
D. corpus callosum
Adoptive parents are least likely to influence the ________ of their adopted children.
A. personality traits
B. religious beliefs
C. political attitudes
D. moral values
In which of the following parts of the brain would a lesion most likely result in a disruption in understanding of language?
A. corpus callosum
B. amygdala
C. hypothalamus
D. Wernicke’s area
A new superhero emerges on the scene. This superhero is able to stay awake and vigilant for extended amounts of time. He helps the intelligence community by being able to stay in surveillance for extended amounts of time without losing concentration and can always be paying attention to what is happening. A study of this superhero’s brain might show that the ____________ is more advanced and developed than a non-superhero’s.
A. frontal lobe
B. amygdala
C. reticular formation
D. occipital lobe
You are a neurologist in a large hospital. The wife of a construction worker visits you and describes that her husband has experienced a serious injury to his frontal lobe. She is perplexed by his behavior. Which of the following would you tell her is “normal behavior” for a person with frontal lobe damage?
A. Not much decline in memory or intelligence
B. Poor judgment
C. Irritability and other personality changes
D. All of these are commonly seen in frontal lobe damage.
Due to an automobile accident, Jenny suffered damage to Broca's area. Jenny is most likely to experience:
A. auditory hallucinations.
B. a disruption in speaking.
C. memory loss.
D. paralysis of her left limbs.
Little Bethany loves new faces and stimuli, and laughs easily. People respond to her with playful smiles and tickles, which makes her giggle and ask for more. This represents ___________ between genetic predispositions and environments.
A. an interaction
B. natural selection
C. heritability
D. gender typing
The similarity between the intelligence test scores of biological siblings reared together is:
A. greater than that between identical twins reared apart.
B. equal to that between fraternal twins reared together.
C. greater than that between unrelated adoptive siblings reared together.
D. less than that between children and their biological parents.
If weight were 50 percent heritable, it would be most accurate to say that:
A. your weight is equally influenced by nature and by nurture.
B. your mother’s genes are responsible for half of your weight, and your father’s genes explain the other half.
C. nature explains about half of the differences we observe among people.
D. there is very little you can do to override the power of your genes in influencing your weight.
As Allison reaches for a box in her garage, out jumps a big spider. Her heart immediately begins to race as she withdraws her hand, but soon she realizes that the spider is harmless, and she begins to calm down. Which part of her nervous system is responsible for brining her back to a normal state of arousal?
A. sympathetic nervous system
B. somatic nervous system
C. parasympathetic nervous system
D. skeletal nervous system
Which of the following systems produces, circulates, and regulates levels of hormones in the body?
circulatory system
endocrine system
limbic system
sympathetic nervous system
parasympathetic nervous system
Which of the following provides information regarding brain function by monitoring the brain at work through metabolism of glucose?
computed tomograhy (CT)
electroculography (EOG)
electroencephalography (EEG)
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
positron emission tomography (PET)
Brain damage that leaves a person capable of understanding speech but with an impaired ability to produce speech most likely indicates injury to which of the following?
the basal ganglia
Wernicke's area
the substantia nigra
Broca's area
the inferior colliculi
In right-handed individuals, whic of the following abilities is predominantly a function of the right hemisphere of the brain?
speech
writing
spatial reasoning
reading comprehension
language comprehension
Which of the following would most likely result from an injury to the medulla?
visual problems that make spatial judgements difficult
receptive aphasia that makes it difficult to understand what other people are saying
retrograde amnesia that destroys previously established memories
a problem of regulating hunger
a life-threatening disruption of heartbeat and breathing
Activation of the parasympathetic nervous system results in which of the following?
an increase in pupil dilation
an increase in respiratory rate
a decrease in digestion
a decrease in salivation
a decrease in heart rate
Which of the following correctly pairs subdivisions within the major divisions of hte human nervous system?
somatic...endocrine and exocrine
central...somatic and sympathetic
autonomic...sympathetic and parasympathetic
peripheral...central nervous system and spinal cord
Which gland of the endocrine system controls the activity of other glands?
pancreas
thyroid
adrenal
pituitary
pineal
An individual with damage to Wernicke's area is most likely to have difficulty
identifying an object held in the hand but not seen
planning what to wear to a party
remembering the name of a person in a photograph
comprehending a spoken request for information
distinguishing between red and green
Damage to a person's occipital lobe would most likely affect a person's
balance
ability to develop plans
vision
fine motor movements
language processing
Damage to which of the following brain structures may cause the inability to detect the emotional significance of facial expressions, especially those demonstrating fear?
hippocampus
thalamus
cerebellum
hypothalamus
amygdala
What is the primary function of the pons?
memory formation
sleeping, waking, and dreaming
problem solving
regulation of body temperature
emotional responses
Consistent with the concept of neural plasticity, neurons in mammals have been found to change the way they function as a result of repeated stimulation by doing which of the following?
closing the synaptic gap
growing new dendritic spines
increasing the speed of depolarization along the axon
reducing the intensity of action potentials
blocking reuptake of neurotransmitter molecules
Significant damage to which of the following parts of the brain will most likely cause a person to fall into a deep coma from which the person will be unable to awaken?
hypothalamus
frontal lobe
reticular formation
amygdala
thalamus
If an individual has lost the ability to feel pain in the left arm, there is most likely damage to what area of the brain?
left occipital lobe
left parietal lobe
right frontal lobe
right parietal lobe
right occipital lobe
As drug users experience neuroadaptation they demonstrate signs of
dissociation
narcolepsy
withdrawal
hallucinations
tolerance
