Experimental - GRE Subject Test: Psychology

Sensorineural hearing loss is permanent and often results from the loss or damage to hair cells or the nerve from the ear to the brain. For this reason, it occurs from damage to the inner ear, where the nerve and hair cells are located. Damage to the middle ear would result in conductive hearing loss. Damage to the outer ear, would likely result in decreased sound localization.

Sound waves are pressure changes and loudness is related to the amplitude of the wave. It is quantified by the decibel (dB). Pascal is the standard unit for pressure. Whereas, Hertz is used to quantify frequencies and an octave is a doubling in frequency. Meters/second describes the speed at which sound propagates.

Hearing aids replace the cochlea and the essential apparatuses contained within. Most significantly, they perform the role of the receptor cells lining the basilar membrane within the cochlea, which are responsible for the transduction of information carried by physical energy into electrical energy within the nervous system. This type of hearing aid is of value to an individual suffering from conduction deafness, which is deafness brought about due to damage to the apparatuses of the ear. An example of this would be a soldier deafened by exploding ordinance, or an airport worker continuously exposed to the loud volume of plane engines without sufficient ear protection. Cortical deafness, also known as nerve or sensorineural deafness, however, is brought about through damage to the auditory regions of the nervous system. As such, an individual with perfectly healthy ears might be rendered deaf due to damage caused by a stroke or brain trauma. This kind of deafness cannot be rectified by hearing aids, or any other form of extant medical intervention. "Ossicle" may refer to the bones of the inner ears (the auditory ossicles), but is not itself the name for a form of deafness nor is "auditory."

The pinna is the formal term for the body part that is commonly referred to as the 'ear'. This is the portion of the ear that projects from the head. This is the first point of contact with air vibrations that will enter the ear canal to pass their vibrations onto the eardrum. The tympanic membrane the formal term for the eardrum. From here, the auditory ossicles are vibrated. These are the three, minute bones found within the middle ear: the malleus, incus, and stapes. These three bones transmit the vibrations onto the oval window of the cochlea, which contains the basilar membrane, where transduction of the physical information occurs.

Thus the correct order is: pinna, tympanic membrane, auditory ossicles, and cochlea.

The frequency of a vibration corresponds to the pitch of the perceived sound produced from it. Higher frequencies will produce higher pitched notes, while lower frequencies will produce lower pitched notes. On the other hand, the amplitude of a sound wave will determine the volume of a perceived sound. Timbre is a complex component of a sound, and is the result of a variety of other elements. To provide a brief illustration however, timbre explains why a G# note on a trumpet sounds distinct from a G# note played on a piano. The longevity of a note is not the result of either the frequency or the amplitude of a sound. This is simply determined by how long the vibration continues.

The frequency of a sound wave, or the pace of its vibrations within the ear, will determine the sound's pitch. The sound's loudness is determined by the amplitude of the sound wave, the timbre by its complexity.

Substantia nigra is named for it's darker appearance relative to its surroundings. It is dark because of high amounts of neuromelanins in its tissues—an apparent byproduct of dopamine production. The substantia nigra is subdivided into two functionally distinct sections: the pars compacta and pars reticulata.

The corpus callosum is a wide set of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the human brain. Agenesis of the corpus callosum, a rare birth defect, results in impaired cognitive abilities (e.g. key processes like face processing and other socially-important skills).

In order to examine brain functions, researchers must examine living individuals, rather than the brains of cadavers. This poses several challenges. Sometimes, animal brains are studied using invasive techniques that would be unethical to perform on human subjects. In order to mitigate these challenges and study brain activities, researchers in psychology have developed several noninvasive techniques including PET scans, MRIs, and electroencephalograms.

The correct answer is frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is responsible for reward, attention, short-term memory tasks, planning, and motivation. It is also the part that tells a person if they are making a good decision or not. If the frontal lobe is injured, people may not realize they are behaving socially unacceptably. The other choices are incorrect. The parietal lobe is responsible for processing sensory information from your environment. The occipital lobe is responsible for eyesight processing. The temporal lobe is responsible for hearing and memory input. Last, the anterior lobe does not exist.

Generalization refers to the tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to induce the conditioned response. For example, a dog’s owner rings a bell when he feeds his dog. Over successive occurrences, a dog might begin to salivate to bells of a slightly different timbre.

The light is considered the conditioned stimulus because it results in the conditioned response only after it is paired with the unconditioned stimulus (i.e. the loud noise). Prior to learning, the conditioned stimulus does not elicit the learning response. On the other hand, the unconditioned stimulus always causes the response, even without learning. The unconditioned and conditioned responses are the subject's jumping behaviors.

Forward conditioning is an effective form of classical conditioning. Forward conditioning includes both trace and delay conditioning. In trace conditioning, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented first, is then stopped/removed, and then the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented. While this can be effective, it is not the most effective of the choices. The most effective form of forward conditioning is delay conditioning, where the CS is presented and then overlaps with the US. In backward conditioning the US is presented before the CS, and does not result in any learning. Simultaneous conditioning occurs when both the US and CS are presented at the same time.

The dog was conditioned to expect food after hearing the bell or sound, which caused him to salivate before eating. After many repetitions, even before the food arrived, the dog expected to be fed soon after hearing the bell; therefore, the salivation was conditioned to happen after hearing the sound.

The correct answer is classical conditioning. In classical conditioning you can train an animal to have a response to an unrelated stimuli. Originally clapping was not associated with going for a walk. Because you associated them together the dog is now conditioned to think clapping means he is going for a walk. On the other hand the rest of the choices are incorrect. Operant conditioning is training a certain desired behavior by reinforcement. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving.

The rCBF refers to the regional cerebral blood flow, a noninvasive procedure that detects broad patterns of neural activity based on increased flow to different brain areas. CAT scans, PET scans, and MRIs are all computerized scanning techniques but not specialized to test blood flow in the brain.

The hippocampus—located in the brain's temporal lobe—is the center for making, storing, and retrieving memories. Damage to this particular area is likely to result in difficulty with one or all of these memory-related processes.

Acetylcholine or aka ACH is the neurotransmitter that is released from the axon terminal to through the neuromuscular junction across the synaptic cleft.

Addison's disease, a chronic disorder of the endocrine system, is caused by an inability of the adrenal glands to produce sufficient steroid hormones (specifically, two types of necessary natural corticosteroids). In addition to causing renal insufficiency and muscle weakness, Addison's has been known to idiopathically—through an unknown mechanism—hyper-sensitize one or more senses in the body, most commonly taste.