Multiple Choice Questions

1. What term describes the idea that humans consider themselves to have a superior and fundamental place in the universe?

  1. anthropocentrism
  2. egocentrism
  3. ethnocentrism
  4. narcissism

Answer: A

2. What sort of data describes meaning and experience?

  1. idiographic
  2. quantitative
  3. nomothetic
  4. qualitative

Answer: D

3. What sort of data describes numerical data?

  1. idiographic
  2. quantitative
  3. nomothetic
  4. qualitative

Answer: B

4. The concept of survival of the fittest refers to

  1. the individuals who have characteristics that fit in best to the environment
  2. the individuals who are the strongest and most likely to survive
  3. the individuals who have characteristics that make them more attractive and hence more likely to get a mate
  4. the individuals who work out the most

Answer: A

5. Male gorillas have relatively small testicles compared to those of a chimpanzee because

  1. they have a different diet
  2. they have a lower level of sexual activity
  3. the females exclusively mate with one gorilla
  4. they live in large communities

Answer: C

6. The evolution of hominids is generally believed to have begun around how many years ago?

  1. 50,000
  2. 250,000
  3. 2.5 million
  4. 50 million

Answer: C

7. What are proximate explanations?

  1. explanations of why a particular behaviour or trait can improve inclusive fitness and why a particular behaviour can be favoured in evolutionary terms
  2. explanations that describe the mechanisms involved in terms of how they contribute towards a specific behaviour that may benefit an individual and aid survival
  3. explanations of social reasoning as an aid towards cooperation and deception in order to maximize inclusive fitness
  4. explanations that show how closely different human functions are related

Answer: B

8. Altruism can be defined as

  1. an act that benefits the recipient at a cost to the donor
  2. working together for a common goal
  3. buying patronizing Band Aid records at Christmas
  4. ensuring that all individuals have equal access to resources

Answer: A

9. How many of your first cousins (your uncle and auntie’s children) would need to survive to maintain the genetic presence in the world as you?

  1. 64
  2. 32
  3. 16
  4. 8

Answer: D

10. Many primates engage in social grooming, which is a very time-consuming activity. The main function of this is

  1. to reinforce social bonds
  2. to ensure the good health of all members of the group
  3. to stimulate sexual activity
  4. to remove parasites from other individuals

Answer: A

11. In order for natural selection to occur, what must there be amongst individuals of each generation?

  1. variation
  2. homogeneity
  3. harmony
  4. unlimited access to resources

Answer: A

12. Being able to adapt to changes in the environment is referred to as what?

  1. natural selection
  2. evolution
  3. versatility
  4. survival of the fittest

Answer: D

13. Mendel’s work on the transmission of the physical characteristics of his pea plants across generations led him to formulate which law?

  1. The Law of Genetic Transmission
  2. The Law of Inheritance
  3. The Law of Genetic Recombination
  4. The Law of Polygenetics

Answer: B

14. Mendel’s work demonstrated the transfer of what molecule across generations?

  1. genes
  2. mitochondria
  3. blood type
  4. ribonucleic acid

Answer: A

15. What is the term for the expressed characteristic of a gene?

  1. phenotype
  2. phenomenon
  3. phoneme
  4. photon

Answer: A

16. What is the term for a person’s genetic profile?

  1. genus
  2. genitive
  3. genotype
  4. genesis

Answer: C

17. Anthropomorphism is

  1. the observation of human-like characteristics in animals
  2. the observation of animal-like characteristics in humans
  3. the attribution of human characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, forces of nature and others
  4. the belief in some people that they can communicate with animals

Answer: C

18. A class of species that share certain attributes is known as a

  1. genus
  2. phylogenetic
  3. breed
  4. category

Answer: A

19. A group that exists within a genus is referred to as what?

  1. breed
  2. species
  3. class
  4. subgroup

Answer: B

20. The growth of which particular brain region has been found to be associated with the evolution of humans from their primitive ancestors?

  1. brain stem
  2. hypothalamus
  3. pituitary gland
  4. neocortex

Answer: D

21. Which of these is NOT an early hominid species?

  1. Homo neanderthalensis
  2. Homo erectus
  3. Homo habilis
  4. Homo cro magnus

Answer: D

22. In psychology, consciousness may be defined as

  1. the awareness of self and others
  2. being awake and alert
  3. being meticulous
  4. the capacity for mental ability

Answer: A

23. The term meme refers to

  1. sounds that have meanings
  2. the smallest unit of sound that can be understood to be part of a language
  3. an idea than can be described and transmitted to another individual
  4. units of thought or culture that are then replicated in the brain

Answer: D

24. What does Dunbar’s number refer to?

  1. the ratio between brain size and intelligence
  2. the average group size in a species as predicted by the size of the neocortex
  3. the number of friends that the average human being has
  4. the number of hours spent grooming by a species

Answer: B

25. In evolutionary terms, what do we mean by ‘culture’?

  1. information that is acquired from other individuals via social transmission mechanisms such as imitation, teaching or language
  2. the development of community practices around agriculture
  3. the development of social mating patterns that lead to larger groups of individuals
  4. the development of non-survival-based artefacts, such as paintings, songs and burial grounds

Answer: A

26. When calculated for human beings, Dunbar’s number is estimated to be

  1. 150
  2. 250
  3. 1,000
  4. 5,000

Answer: A

27. The use of websites such as Facebook and Twitter constitutes examples of what form of social bonding?

  1. social networking
  2. social grooming
  3. social relations
  4. social communication

Answer: B

28. What did Mendel use to demonstrate genetic transmission?

  1. daisies
  2. carrots
  3. peas
  4. geranium

Answer: C

29. How many genes is a Homo sapiens thought to inherit?

  1. 5,000 to 10,000
  2. 10,000 to 15,000
  3. 15,000 to 20,000
  4. 20,000 to 25,000

Answer: D

30. What does the term epigenetics refer to?

  1. the study of how our phenotype is likely to develop in the future
  2. the study of how our genotype is likely to develop in the future
  3. the study of heritable changes in the genotype that occur without changes to the phenotype
  4. the study of heritable changes in the phenotype that occur without changes to the genotype

Answer: D