Example Multiple Choice Questions for:

PS51006A Biological & Comparative Approaches to Psychology (½ cu, 1 hour)

Below you will find 10 example multiple choice questions. The multiple choice
questions in the final exam will follow that same format as shown below (i.e., a choice
must be made out of four alternatives). There will be a total of 50 questions in the one-
hour examination.

1. When graphed over time, the complex electrical event known as the action
potential looks something like this:

100 100
Voltage in
Voltage in 50 millivolts 50
millivolts

0 0

-50 -50

-100 -100

Time in milliseconds Time in milliseconds

A B

200 0
Voltage in Voltage in
millivolts millivolts
150 -50

100 100

50 -150

0 -200

Time in milliseconds Time in milliseconds

C D
2. The lock-and-key model accounts for:
a) the existence of neurotransmitters
b) the summation of excitation and inhibition in postsynaptic neurons
c) the fact that specific neurotransmitters stimulate specific postsyntaptic neurons
d) the release of neurotransmitters from synaptic vesicles

3. Which of the following should be found in post-mortem (or biopsy) examination of

an Alzheimer patient’s brain
a) Neurofibrillary tangles
b) Cortical atrophy
c) Amyloid plaques
d) Both a and c
4. Which of the following can be used to assess brain anatomy:
a) MRI, fMRI and PET
b) CT Scan and MRI
c) PET, CT Scan and MRI
d) MRI and fMR

5. Which of the drugs below would be expected to produce the positive symptoms
of schizophrenia?
a) amphetamine
b) L-DOPA
c) cocaine
d) all of the above are correct

6. Which of the following is not a consequence of increases in the sympathetic

nervous system?
a) Dilated pupils
b) secretion of adrenalin and noradrenalin
c) constricted bronchi
d) dilated bronchi

7. Which of the following provides information about location

a) pitch
b) timbre
c) amplitude
d) all of the above

8. According to the kin selection hypothesis:

a) animals are more likely to choose close kin rather than unrelated individuals as
mates.
b) altruistic behaviour should be more likely among relatives than among unrelated
individuals.
c) reciprocal altruism is observed only between closely related individuals.
d) None of the above is correct.

9. The Darwinian principle of natural selection implies that:

a) social behaviour cannot be subject to evolution because it is not inherited
b) in the struggle to survive and reproduce, human beings are self-centred and
solitary creatures restrained only by the constraints imposed by society
c) coupled with principles of ethology and genetics, social and altruistic behaviour
will evolve as long as there is appropriate display or communication
d) social and altruistic behaviour may evolve only if it serves to increase the
frequencies of the genes of the animal showing this behaviour

10. Features of the human infant, such as the smile, cries, upturned nose, and
chubby cheeks, are:
a) releasers of parental behaviour
b) the stimuli through which we learn to recognize specific children
c) the vehicles for the establishment of basic trust
d) instances of distress display
Answers will be provided in the tutorial on multiple choice questions in the
Spring Term. See the section on Tutorial Topics and Recommended Reading
for more details.