Introduction to Psychology Coursera Week 1 Quiz Answers: Foundation

Q1. After a terrible accident in which a spike went through his brain, Phineas Gage had severe damage to his brain, including his frontal lobe. As a result, what happened to him?

• He lost the ability to produce language.
• He retained motor control over only half of his body.
• He was unable to recognize common objects
• He exhibited significant personality changes.

Q2. The threshold level for a neuron to fire is a 10. What will happen if the stimulus to the neuron is 8?

• The neuron will fire, but only at 80% strength.
• The neuron will not fire at all Incorrect.

Q3. On the somatosensory homunculus, which of the following parts would be the largest?

• face
• knee
• back
• stomach

Q4. A split-brain patient is presented with two images: a key is presented on her left side, and a ring is presented on her right side. The patient is asked to report what she sees. How will she respond?

• The patient will say ‘key’ because the left hemisphere “sees” the key
• The patient will say ‘key’ because the right hemisphere “sees” the key
• The patient will say ‘ring’ because the left hemisphere “sees” the ring
• The patient will say ‘ring’ because the right hemisphere “sees” the ring Incorrect

Q5. Which of the following is not a major premise of Freudian theory?

• The importance of the unconscious
• The importance of early experiences
• The importance of self-esteem
• The importance of sexuality

Q6. According to psychoanalytic theory, which part of the mind corresponds to consciousness?

• The Ego
• The Id
• The Superego
• The Uberego

Q7.Karl Popper argued that Freud’s theories are not scientific because they lack which of the following?

• insight
• applicability
• falsifiability
• replicability

Q8. Which of the predictions of Freudian theory has held up best over time?

• the origins of oral and anal personality characteristics
• the existence of unconscious mechanisms
• the association between toilet training and later sexual preferences
• the idea that psychoanalysis is the most effective method of treatment

Q9. After living there for a while, Jan no longer notices the sound of the air conditioner at her apartment. This is an example of:

• classical conditioning
• operant conditioning
• habituation
• discrimination

Q10. True or False: Classical conditioning is the most effective when the CS (or conditioned stimulus) comes immediately before the UCS (or unconditioned stimulus)

• true
• false

Q11. Kelly’s father really annoys her by complaining about Kelly’s messy room, but he stops complaining when she starts to clean.

Which technique has her father used to maker her clean?

• positive punishment
• positive reinforcement
• negative reinforcement

Q12. A local radio station gives away concert tickets at random times everyday to reward listeners.

What schedule of reinforcement are they using?

• fixed interval
• variable interval
• fixed ratio
• variable ration

Introduction to Psychology Coursera Week 2 Quiz Answers: Development and language

Q1. Infants really enjoy peek-a-boo –– the game where parents hide their face with their hand and then suddenly remove their hands from their face and say, “peek-a-boo!”

For Piaget, this would be a good example of how infants lack:

• reversibility
• theory of mind
• object permanence
• centration
• conservation

Q2. The three mountains task examines the development of:

• egocentrism
• environmentalism
• reflexes
• accommodation
• none of the above

Q3. Current research shows that children generally acquire many of the abilities described by Piaget:

• earlier than Piaget suggested
• at the same time Piaget suggested
• later than Piaget suggested

Q4. In lecture, Professor Bloom discussed a study where infants view a possible event (a solid screen obscuring a solid object) and an impossible event (a solid screen passing through a solid object). In contrast to Piaget’s conclusion regarding the age at which physical principles are understood, this study found that infants looked:

• longer at the impossible than the possible event
• longer at the possible than the impossible event
• about equally long at both events
• for the object and tried to retrieve it in both conditions

Q5. Mom puts her car keys in a kitchen drawer before she leaves to take the trash outside. While mom is gone, her older daughter (who has an odd sense of humor) hides her keys in the refrigerator. Where will Mom look for her keys when she gets back? How will different people answer this question?

• someone with autism will often say, “the refrigerator”
• a 3-year-old will usually say, “the refrigerator”
• a 10-year-old will usually say, “the refrigerator”
• (a) and (b) are both correct
• (a) and (b) and (c) are all correct

Q6. How many morphemes are contained in the word “monster”:

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Q7. In which of these domains do babies show more sensitivity than adults:

• phonology
• morphology
• syntax
• recursion

Q8. True or false: Babies learning sign language are delayed compared to babies learning spoken language because they do not go through the stage of babbling

• true
• false

Q9. Who among the following is the most likely to learn to speak a new language just as fluently as a native speaker?

• a 10-month-old baby
• a 10-year-old child
• a very motivated adult
• (a) and (b) are both correct
• (a) and (b) and (c) are all correct

Q10. According to Professor Bloom’s lecture, which of the following established research finding(s) provide(s) evidence that language may not be necessary for abstract thought?

• individuals with certain language aphasias understand false beliefs
• nonverbal infants understand false beliefs on non-verbal measures
• nonverbal infants understand basic mathematical concepts, such as 1+1=2
• all of the above

Introduction to Psychology Coursera Week 3 Quiz Answers: Cognition

Q1. The “problem of perception” is best characterized as:

• understanding how the brain can attend to a variety of stimuli non-consciously
• understanding how humans can see, whereas some other animals cannot
• making sense of a 3-D world from 2-D data

Q2. Professor Bloom discusses an example where two squares appear different colors although they are the same. What is the explanation for this bias?

• our brain compensates when we see two squares far away from one another
• our brain fails to account for colors that change rapidly
• our brain adjusts for changes of color when objects move very quickly
• none of the above

Q3. Which of the following is not an example of a perceptual grouping rule that we use to impose order on incoming sensations?

• similarity
• closure
• ambiguity
• proximity

Q4. Which of the following is not used as a depth cue by the visual system?

• size
• priming
• interposition
• distance

Q5. Very roughly, why do the horizontal lines in the Muller-Lyer illusion (depicted below) appear to be different lengths?

• because of Depth cues
• because of Gestalt principles
• because of Top-down influences on the perception of shadows

Q6. True or false: In a Stroop task, people are slower to identify the color of the word “Blue” when it is printed in blue ink than when it is in red ink.

• true
• false

Q7. Knowing how to ride a bicycle is an example of which of the following types of memory?

• procedural memory
• implicit memory
• long-term memory
• all of the above

Q8. Essay questions tend to be more difficult than multiple choice because with essay questions:

• there are more cues to stimulate memory
• recall is required rather than recognition
• there is more maintenance rehearsal

Q9. Approximately how large is the average person’s short-term memory for lists of numbers:

• 7 digits
• 7 chunks
• 11 digits
• 11 chunks

Q10. What is the capacity of long-term memory

• approximately 7 items
• approximately 10,000 to 15,000 items
• approximately 100,000 items
• the capacity limit is unknown

Q11. Which of the following is the least effective strategy for encoding information into long-term memory?

• relating new information to information already in memory
• mentally repeating new information
• structuring the information using mnemonics

Introduction to Psychology Coursera Quiz Answers - Week 4: Self and Others

Q1. Ultimate causation refers to:

• what a creature wants or desires
• the reason something has evolved
• the immediate factors underlying a behavior

Q2. True or false: Paul Ekman argues that basic emotion expressions are universal across cultures:

• true
• false

Q3. Harlow’s studies of baby monkeys with artificial mothers that were made out of either wire or cloth provide support for

• Bowlby’s innate theory of attachment
• Skinner’s cupboard theory of attachment
• Ekman’s theory of reciprocal altruism
• Triver’s theory of reciprocal altruism

Q4. Suppose we are playing the Prisoner’s Dilemma game over multiple trials, and I am using the Tit-for-Tat strategy. After playing for a while, you defect and I cooperate. What do I do on the next move?

• defect
• cooperate
• behave randomly

Q5. John and Sarah are playing a game in which John is given $10 and can offer Sarah part of his $10. If Sarah accepts his offer, they both keep the money. If she rejects his offer, they both get nothing. The game is known as the:

• Prisoner’s dilemma
• Ultimatum game
• Dictator Game
• Tit-for-Tat game

Q6. In “cultures of honor,” you’ll most likely find:

• men show high overall levels of violence
• resources that are easily protected
• opposition to capital punishment
• strong defense of one’s reputation

Q7. In an episode of the Simpson’s, Homer Simpson had to wear a pink shirt to work while everyone else wore white shirts. He ___________ wearing the pink shirt because a phenomenon studied by social psychologists called ___________.

• liked, the spotlight effect
• disliked, the spotlight effect
• liked, attentional focus
• dislike, attentional focus

Q8. Melissa and Mike had to wait in line for over an hour to get into an exclusive restaurant. Despite being served a mediocre meal, they glowingly praised the restaurant to their friends. This behavior was probably a result of:

• the spotlight effect
• the norm of reciprocity
• perceptual confirmation
• cognitive dissonance

Q9. Brittany says, “I’m majoring in finance because my parents expect me to join the family business when I graduate, but my friend Abigail is majoring in finance because she’s materialistic.” Brittany’s statement illustrates:

• the self-fulfilling prophecy
• the fundamental attribution error
• cognitive dissonance
• unconscious stereotyping

Q10. A teacher is told that a student is exceptionally bright. Because of the Pygmalion effect, the student is more likely to:

• be bullied by other students
• perform poorly in school
• succeed in school
• cause trouble in class

Q11. The mere exposure effect refers to:

• the tendency to become bored after repeated exposure to something
• the tendency to like something more after repeated exposure
• the tendency to be attracted to someone who exposes more of their skin