PSYC 270 Final Exam | Complete Solutions (Verified)

PSYC 270 Final Exam | Complete Solutions (Verified) In a biopsychology experiment, there is only one systematic difference between the experimental conditions. this difference is manipulated by the experimenter and is called the: a) between-subject variable b) confounded variable c) within-subject variable d) dependent variable e) independent variable Which of the following is an example of a species-specific behaviour? a) detect and interpret sensory signals b) playing the guitar c) feed, drink, and sleep d) learning and behavioural change e) reproductive behaviour Class-common behaviours are: a) behaviours performed by all humans b) behaviours performed by rats and humans c) behaviours performed by all members of a class of animals d) the only behaviours of interest to biopsychologists e) a, b, and c are all correct f) all of the above are correct Which sub-discipline of biopsychology is identified with the measurement of heart rate? a) psychopharmacology b) psychophysiology c) neuropsychology d) physiological psychology e) experimental psychology Thiamine-deficient rats display: a) memory deficits b) brain damage c) excessive thirst d) anxiety e) both a) and b) The differences between the brains of humans and those of related species are more ______ than ______ a) superficial ; real b) pronounced ; once thought c) quantitative ; qualitative d) qualitative ; quantitative Which behavioural test is used to measure anxiety in rats? a) the elevated plus maze b) the water maze c) the Y maze d) the elevated A maze e) none of the above Which of the following statements is incorrect? a) measures of autonomic nervous system activity can be used to infer emotional states b) internal psychological processes and emotion states are accessible only by means of some overt behavioural expression c) brain imaging techniques provide direct, causal evidence for psychological states d) fear/anxiety in rodents can be estimate by specific behavioural tests The visual system bases its perception of motion on a comparison between movement of the image on the: a) two retinas b) retina and movement of the eyes c) retina and the contraction of the eye muscles d) retina and the neural commands sent from the brain to the eye muscles e) cornea and its movement on the retina A strength of the neuropsychological approach is that ______, whereas a weakness is ______ a) it focuses on non-human subjects; it focuses on nonhuman subjects usually precludes experiments b) it deals directly with human patients; it focuses on drug treatments c) it deals directly with human patients ; its focus on human patients as subjects usually precludes experiments d) it focuses on nonhuman subjects ; it focuses on pharmacological mutations The research of a biopsychologist working for a drug company would likely be: a) largely pure b) completely pure c) psychopharmalogical d) applied e) both c) and d) Tony is testing the effectiveness of a new drug to improve the lives of people with PTSD. What type of research is this? a) correlational research b) pure research c) case-study research d) applied research e) beneficial research Which of the following abilities lies at the core of human behaviour? a) abstract thought b) planning c) reasoning d) emotional responsiveness e) complex movement The main difference between human brains and the brains of their mammalian relatives is that human brains tend to be bigger and: a) whiter b) all gray c) have more cortex d) have two hemispheres e) both c) and d) The corpus callosum is a: a) neural pathway that connects the left and right hemispheres b) large medical dictionary c) part of the neocortex d) membership directory of the Society for Neuroscience e) source of hypothalamic hormones Which of the following two factors produce similar effects on neuron structure? a) stress and environmental enrichment b) social housing and stress c) stress and impoverished housing d) exercise and impoverished housing e) none of the above The direction towards the back of your head is: a) inferior b) posterior c) anterior d) dorsal e) ventral Darwin suggested a mechanism for evolution: a) genes b) natural selection c) sex d) all of the above e) none of the above Which of the following statements about evolution is correct? a) there are more species in existence today then during all other times throughout evolution b) humans have existed for most of the earth's history c) evolution proceeds in a straight line (towards a goal) d) evolution is a slow, gradual process of adapting to a changing environment e) some existing behaviours or body features that have evolved are not adaptive In general, afferent nerves carry sensory information: a) to the PNS b) from the brain c) from the cortex d) to the CNS e) from the CNS The two genes, one on each chromosome of a pair, that control the same trait are called: a) alleles b) genotypes c) phenotypes d) gametes e) dominants A cross-section of the spinal cord gray matter revels four arms; among these are the two: a) ventral horns b) ventral routes c) lateral horns d) lateral routes e) ventral roots Applying stimulation the occipital lobe/visual cortex during Braille reading in blind individuals will: a) has no effect on reading performance b) enhance reading performance c) interfere with reading performance d) improve visual perception e) cause participants to learn Braille at a faster rate Convergent evolution produces structures that are: a) convergent b) analogous c) homologous d) both a) and c) e) both b) and c) Synaptic vesicles tend to be most prevalent in the: a) nodes of Ranvier b) button c) postsynaptic membranes d) dendrites e) nucleus The sensitive period for the development of a particular trait is the period: a) of sexual receptivity b) during which a particular experience must occur to have a major effect on the development of the trait c) of neural regeneration d) of fertility e) of chronic pain Social dominance is an important factor in evolution because dominant males often: a) are much larger b) kill their mates c) kill their competitors d) become seriously injured e) produce more offspring than non-dominant males The experiment by Beninger and Vanderwolf asking if rats are able to discriminate their own behaviour showed that: a) rats know if they are walking or grooming b) rats do not have the ability to monitor their own behaviour c) rats know if they are swimming or climbing d) rats know if they are eating or drinking e) a), c), and d) are all correct The neurons of the dorsal roots are: a) motor b) tracts c) multipolar d) bipolar e) sensory The Golgi stain allows scientists to visualize: a) the cell body (soma) b) only dendritic spines c) only axons d) an entire neuron e) every single neuron in the brain simultaneously Identical is to fraternal as: a) two is to one b) dizygotic is to monozygotic c) monozygotic is to dizygotic d) polyzygotic is to monozygotic e) culture is to experience Mendel's early experiments challenged the central premise upon which previous ideas about inheritance had rested. this was the premise that: a) there are two genes for each trait b) there is only one gene for each trait c) some traits are dominant and some are recessive d) white seeds are dominant e) offspring can only inherit those traits that are displayed by their parents Each strand of DNA is a sequence of ______ bases a) protein b) thymine c) deoxyribonucleic d) codons e) nucleotides What mechanism can explain the transmission of specific behavioural responses to threatening objects or situations experienced by the parents to their own offspring? a) trans-genetics b) epigenetics c) genetics d) quasi-genetics e) genomics The CNS is composed of two major divisions: the ______ and ______ a) ANS and PNS b) brain and brain stem c) SNS and ANS d) spinal cord and brain stem e) none of the above Is myelencephalon is also often called the: a) midbrain b) hypothalamus c) cortex d) brain stem e) medulla ______ matter is composed largely of myelinated axons a) soma b) gray c) dura d) white e) golgi CNS is to PNS as oligodendrocytes are to: a) glial cells b) oligoaxonocytes c) astrocytes d) Schwann cells e) microglia In a famous experiment that led to the discovery of chemical neurotransmission, what was done to a frogs heart? a) it was connected to the vagus nerve of another frog's heart b) it was isolated (detached) from the vagus nerve c) it was placed in a bath of dilute palytoxin d) it was detached from the excitatory branch of its vagus nerve Aricept is a drug commonly used to treat the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Aricept improves memory by preventing the enzymatic breakdown of a neurotransmitter that is less abundant in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. which neurotransmitter system does Aricept primarily alter? a) dopamine b) glutamate c) acetylcholine d) GABA The neuromodulator estradiol is synthesized in a number of brain regions. Dr. Soutar presented evidence for aromatase (estrogen synthase) expression in the adult rat brain. in what brain region did she detect aromatase expression? a) amygdala b) hippocampus c) neocortex d) auditory thalamus Which of the following techniques can be used to study membrane currents that underlie action potentials? a) electroencephalography b) single unit recording c) positron emission tomography d) functional magnetic resonance imaging Schizophrenia is associated with excessive levels of dopamine in the brain. schizophrenia is often treated with medications that selectively antagonize dopamine receptors. which of the following would be the most likely side effect of such medications? a) depression b) mania c) pseudoparkinsonism d) pseudodementia Curare is a compound that functions as a muscle relaxant by reducing signal transmission at neuromuscular junctions. This drug is most likely a: a) acetylcholine receptor agonist b) acetylcholine receptor antagonist c) glutamate receptor antagonist d) epinephrine receptor antagonist Which of the following statements is true regarding graded potentials? a) graded potentials are hyperpolarizing and counteract action potentials b) graded potentials move faster along myelinated axons than unmyelinated axons c) graded potentials are non-decremental and "all or none" d) the magnitude of a graded potential is determined by the magnitude of the stimulus The effect of tetrodotoxin on neuron activity demonstrates the necessity of ______ activity for ______ a) voltage gated potassium channel ; hyperpolarization b) voltage gated potassium channel ; repolarization c) voltage gated sodium channel ; membrane depolarization d) sodium-potassium pump ; maintaining the resting membrane potential Hodgkin and Huxley discovered that voltage-gated potassium channels open and potassium flows out of the neuron during an action potential. potassium efflux is associated with which phase of the action potential? a) depolarization b) repolarization c) hyperpolarization d) both b) and c) Given the tendency of sodium ions to flow into the cell, which of the following is true about the concentration gradient for sodium at rest? a) the intracellular sodium concentration is greater than the extracellular concentration b) the extracellular sodium concentration is greater than the intracellular concentration c) the intracellular and extracellular sodium concentrations are equal d) both a) and c) may be true A drug receptor that binds to and activates a receptor is called a _____ for that receptor a) antagonist b) partial agonist c) agonist d) competitive antagonist Which of the following points about neurotransmitters is false? a) they are synthesized within the postsynaptic site b) they are stored within vesicles prior to release c) they act on receptors to excite or inhibit nearby postsynaptic neurons d) they are released into the synaptic cleft upon presynpatic neuron activation Which of the following is true of gap junctions (electrical synapses)? a) gap junctions allow for electrical transmission within neurons b) large molecule neurotransmitters can pass through gap junctions c) gap junctions are larger than synapses d) gap junctions allow for electrical transmission between neurons While recording from a hippocampal neuron, you see that an electrical event has occurred that changed the membrane potential from -65mV to -70mV. this event was an ______ and the membrane become ______ a) EPSP ; hyperpolarized b) IPSP ; depolarized c) IPSP ; hyperpolarized d) EPSP ; depolarized The sodium-potassium pump moves a) 2 sodium ions out of the cell and 3 potassium ions out of the cell b) 2 sodium ions into the cell and 3 potassium ions out of the cell c) 3 sodium ions into the cell and 2 potassium ions out of the cell d) 3 sodium ions out of the cell and 2 potassium ions into the cell Vasovagal syncope occurs when one faints due to overstimulation of the vagus nerve. overstimulation of the vagus nerve can cause fainting by rapidly: a) increasing heart rate b) decreasing heart rate c) increasing blood pressure d) decreasing balance Which of the following scientists are best known for discovering the chemical nature of communication between neurons? a) Santiago Ramon Y Cajal and Camillo Golgi b) Donald Hebb and Henry Dale c) Henry Dale and Otto Loewi d) Andrew Hodgkin and Alen Huxley