Chapter 12: Biological Approaches

Chapter 12: Biological Approaches

1. 
   Phineas Gage’s story suggests that there are links between ___________functioning and personality functioning.
   
   1. 
      psychological
      
   2. 
      social
      
   3. 
      biological
      
   4. 
      sociological
      

Ans: c

2. 
   Temperament refers to individual differences in mood or quality of response, differences that are __________.
   
   1. 
      socially acquired
      
   2. 
      inherited
      
   3. 
      a social construction
      
   4. 
      unstable
      

Ans: b

3. 
   Contrary to Gall’s phrenology, contemporary researchers believe that complex actions and thought patterns are executed by _____________.
   
   1. 
      only one region of the brain
      
   2. 
      several regions of the brain
      
   3. 
      the frontal lobe
      
   4. 
      a homunculus
      

Ans: b

4. 
   Both Kretschmer’s and Sheldon’s theories linking temperament to ___________ have been discredited.
   
   1. 
      brain size
      
   2. 
      brain shape
      
   3. 
      body shape
      
   4. 
      bumps on the skull
      

Ans: c

5. 
   Research has largely been __________ of Buss and Plomin’s hypothesis that temperament types are inherited and stable.
   
   1. 
      supportive
      
   2. 
      unsupportive
      
   3. 
      dismissive
      
   4. 
      none of the above
      

Ans: a

6. 
   Kagan’s research on the development of temperament suggests that differences in reactivity to __________ stimuli predict whether a child will later become inhibited or uninhibited.
   
   1. 
      frivolous
      
   2. 
      familiar
      
   3. 
      novel
      
   4. 
      all
      

Ans: c

7. 
   Schwartz et al. (2003) used an fMRI machine to record the brain activity of adults as they were shown novel vs. familiar faces. The adults had been identified in childhood as having an inhibited temperament showed more functioning in the amygdale than those who had earlier been classified as uninhibited. This evidence provides support for both the biological basis of temperament and of its ________________.
   
   1. 
      stability
      
   2. 
      heritability
      
   3. 
      genetic basis
      
   4. 
      instability
      

Ans: a

8. 
   Because evolutionary psychologists try to understand how a given biological mechanism evolved, their theory is said to be one of __________ causes.
   
   1. 
      superordinate
      
   2. 
      ordinate
      
   3. 
      proximate
      
   4. 
      ultimate
      

Ans: d

9. 
   According to evolutionary psychology, certain psychological mechanisms evolved because they helped organisms ______________.
   
   1. 
      reproduce
      
   2. 
      survive
      
   3. 
      both ‘a’ and ‘b’
      
   4. 
      neither ‘a’ nor ‘b’
      

Ans: c

10. 
    According to evolutionary psychology, psychological mechanisms evolved to solve ___________ problems.
    
    1. 
       contemporary
       
    2. 
       specific
       
    3. 
       general
       
    4. 
       irrelevant
       

Ans: b

11. 
    Together, parental investment theory and parenthood probability theory suggest that _____________.
    
    1. 
       a woman’s “mate value” should be determined by her reproductive capacity
       
    2. 
       a man’s “mate value” should be determined by his capacity to provide resources
       
    3. 
       men and women should differ in the events that activate jealousy
       
    4. 
       all of the above
       

Ans: d

12. 
    Eagly and Wood’s (1999) reanalysis of data from a multinational study of men’s and women’s preferences in mates indicated that, in society where there was greater gender equality, sex differences in mate preferences __________.
    
    1. 
       decreased
       
    2. 
       increased
       
    3. 
       stayed the same
       
    4. 
       disappeared
       

Ans: a

13. 
    Contrary to the prediction of evolutionary psychology, DeSteno and colleagues’ research indicated that _____.
    
    1. 
       both men and women were more distressed by a partner’s sexual infidelity than by their emotional infidelity
       
    2. 
       both men and women were more distressed by a partner’s emotional infidelity than by their sexual infidelity
       
    3. 
       men were more distressed than women by a partner’s emotional infidelity
       
    4. 
       women were more distressed than men by a partner’s emotional infidelity
       

Ans: a

14. 
    In evolutionary psychology, the basic units of analysis are domain-_______, whereas the units of analysis of five-factor theory are domain-_________.
    
    1. 
       specific; neutral
       
    2. 
       specific; general
       
    3. 
       general; neutral
       
    4. 
       general; specific
       

Ans: b

15. 
    According to the logic underlying twin studies, if __________influence a given personality characteristic, then MZ twins should be more similar on the given personality characteristic than are DZ twins.
    
    1. 
       environment
       
    2. 
       genetics
       
    3. 
       social factors
       
    4. 
       culture
       

Ans: b

16. 
    A heritability coefficient of 1.00 would indicate that all of the variability in personality is due to __________.
    
    1. 
       traits
       
    2. 
       environment
       
    3. 
       genes
       
    4. 
       nonshared family environment
       

Ans: c

17. 
    By and large, molecular genetic paradigms indicate that personality is best explained by ___________.
    
    1. 
       genes
       
    2. 
       environment
       
    3. 
       gene-environment interactions
       
    4. 
       traits
       

Ans: c

18. 
    That individuals growing up in the same household can be so different is best understood with the concept of ___________.
    
    1. 
       shared family environments
       
    2. 
       genetic similarity
       
    3. 
       nonshared family environments
       
    4. 
       all of the above
       

Ans: c

19. 
    Individual differences in emotional experience has been linked to differences in ____________.
    
    1. 
       hemispheric dominance
       
    2. 
       left-anterior cortical activity
       
    3. 
       both ‘a’ and ‘b’
       
    4. 
       neither ‘a’ nor ‘b’
       

Ans: c

20. 
    According to Clark and Watson’s (2008) model, individual differences in temperament can be summarized in terms of three big superfactors NE (Negative Emotionality), PE (Positive Emotionality), and DvC (Disinhibition versus Constraint. Research indicates that PE is associated with the neurotransmitter ____________ and DvC (and possibly PE) is associated with the neurotransmitter__________.
    
    1. 
       dopamine; dopamine
       
    2. 
       dopamine; serotonin
       
    3. 
       serotonin; serotonin
       
    4. 
       serotonin; dopamine
       

Ans: b

21. 
    There is a tendency to think of biological processes as determining personality emotions and behaviors, as if the former is cause and the latter is effect. However, recent findings provide much evidence of the _______of both neural systems and neurotransmitter systems.
    
    1. 
       rigidity
       
    2. 
       stability
       
    3. 
       fragility
       
    4. 
       plasticity
       

Ans: d