APA Biological Psychology and Neuroscience 3

Question 1

The HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis is primarily activated in response to:

Accepted Answer

Stress and perceived threats

Answer

The HPA axis is the central stress response system; stressors trigger the hypothalamus to release CRH, which drives pituitary ACTH release, ultimately causing the adrenal cortex to secrete cortisol.

Question 2

During REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, brain activity most closely resembles:

Accepted Answer

A waking, alert state

Answer

EEG recordings during REM sleep show high-frequency, low-amplitude waves nearly identical to the waking state, which is why REM is often called paradoxical sleep.

Question 3

Split-brain research by Sperry and Gazzaniga demonstrated that severing the corpus callosum results in:

Accepted Answer

Independent functioning of the two cerebral hemispheres

Answer

Split-brain studies showed that with the corpus callosum severed, each hemisphere independently perceives and responds to information, revealing distinct specializations of the left and right hemispheres.

Question 4

Which neuroimaging technique measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation levels (the BOLD signal)?

Accepted Answer

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

Answer

fMRI measures the Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) signal, mapping neural activity by detecting hemodynamic responses to increased oxygen demand in active brain regions.

Question 5

Heritability estimates in behavioral genetics are best defined as:

Accepted Answer

The proportion of trait variance in a population attributable to genetic differences

Answer

Heritability is a population-level statistic describing what proportion of observed variation in a trait is accounted for by genetic variation; it does not indicate how much of the trait itself is genetic.

APA - American Psychological Association Practice Test

APA - American Psychological Association Practice Test

APA Biological Psychology and Neuroscience 3