Psychology MCQs with Answers and Explanations
Psychology MCQs with answers on this page are prepared for the CSS and PMS Psychology optional papers, PPSC and FPSC lecturer psychology tests, and university and GAT (Subject) exams. In the CSS examination, conducted by FPSC, each optional paper begins with a 20-mark MCQ section, and the 2023 psychology paper drew its MCQs from research methods, biological bases of behavior, learning, development, social psychology and abnormal psychology.
This collection covers that full range: schools of psychology and key theorists (Freud, Jung, Pavlov, Skinner, Piaget, Erikson, Maslow and Bandura), the brain and nervous system, perception, learning and conditioning, memory and intelligence (Cattell and Sternberg). It also covers emotion and motivation, personality and defense mechanisms, developmental and social psychology (attribution, conformity, the Stanford Prison Experiment), psychological disorders and therapies, industrial-organizational psychology, and research design and measurement. Every question includes a short explanation of the correct answer.
Which branch of psychology applies psychological principles and research methods to workplace environments, employee productivity, and organizational behavior?
Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology focuses on optimizing human behavior, performance, and well-being in organizational settings.
In Industrial-Organizational Psychology, the systematic process of gathering, analyzing, and documenting information about a job’s duties, responsibilities, and necessary skills is called:
Job Analysis provides the essential baseline data used for employee selection, training, performance appraisal, and compensation.
The counseling approach that focuses on helping clients achieve congruence between their ‘Real Self’ and ‘Ideal Self’ was developed by:
Carl Rogers posited that psychological distress arises when there is a significant incongruence between a person's real self and ideal self.
The systematic application of operant conditioning principles to change or modify human behavior in institutional settings (like schools or hospitals) using tokens is called:
A Token Economy uses secondary reinforcers (tokens) awarded for desirable behaviors, which can later be exchanged for primary rewards.
In humanistic and counseling psychology, the non-judgmental, complete acceptance of a client by the therapist regardless of what the client says or does is called:
Unconditional Positive Regard is one of Carl Rogers' three core conditions necessary for therapeutic personality change.
Which behavioral therapy technique involves exposing a patient directly and continuously to an intense anxiety-provoking stimulus until fear diminishes?
Flooding prevents avoidance responses and relies on extinction as exposure to the feared stimulus continues without actual danger.
The therapeutic technique in psychoanalysis where the patient speaks freely about whatever thoughts, feelings, or memories enter their mind is called:
Free Association was developed by Sigmund Freud as the primary method to uncover unconscious conflicts and hidden motives.
In psychoanalysis, when a patient projects feelings, expectations, and attitudes held toward significant figures from their past onto the therapist, it is known as:
Transference allows clients to re-enact unresolved relational conflicts within the therapeutic relationship.
When a psychotherapist unconsciously projects their own emotional issues or unresolved conflicts onto the client, it is termed:
Countertransference refers to the therapist's emotional reaction to the client, which requires therapist self-awareness and supervision.
A behavior therapy technique that pairs an undesirable behavior (such as alcohol consumption) with an unpleasant stimulus (such as nausea-inducing drugs) is called:
Aversive conditioning aims to reduce the attraction to a harmful stimulus by associating it with a negative response.
The psychological state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long-term involvement in emotionally demanding workplace situations is called:
Job Burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization (cynicism), and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment.
Gestalt Therapy, an experiential and humanistic form of psychotherapy that emphasizes personal responsibility and present-moment awareness, was founded by:
Fritz Perls and Laura Perls developed Gestalt Therapy in the 1940s, focusing on 'here-and-now' experience and self-awareness.
The cognitive bias in which an individual attributes their own successes to internal factors while blaming their failures on external, situational factors is the:
The Self-Serving Bias protects self-esteem by taking credit for positive outcomes and deflecting blame for negative ones.
The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses is known as:
Confirmation Bias leads individuals to selectively gather evidence that validates their existing views while ignoring contradictory evidence.
The tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were before the events took place is called:
Hindsight bias occurs when individuals convince themselves after an event that they had accurately predicted the outcome.
Mental shortcuts or ‘rules of thumb’ that allow people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently are called:
Heuristics reduce cognitive load during decision-making, though they can sometimes introduce systematic cognitive errors.
Evaluating the likelihood of an event based on how easily similar instances come to mind is known as the:
The Availability Heuristic causes people to overestimate the frequency of dramatic or memorable events.
Judging the probability that an object or person belongs to a specific category based on how closely it matches a typical prototype is the:
The Representativeness Heuristic often leads to ignoring base-rate information in favor of stereotypical descriptions.
A step-by-step procedure or set of rules that guarantees a correct solution to a problem if followed correctly is an:
Unlike heuristics, algorithms guarantee an accurate outcome by systematically exploring every logical step.
The tendency to persist in using a problem-solving strategy that has worked in the past, even when it is no longer effective, is called a:
A Mental Set restricts problem-solving flexibility by keeping individuals bound to past successful approaches.
The cognitive bias that prevents people from seeing an object as having a function other than its conventional or customary use is:
Functional Fixedness (demonstrated by Karl Duncker's Candle Problem) impairs creative problem-solving.
The tendency for a group’s average attitude or decision to become more extreme after group discussion than it was initially is called:
Group Polarization occurs when like-minded group members discuss an issue, strengthening their shared viewpoints.
The loss of self-awareness and individual restraint that occurs in group situations that foster anonymity is termed:
Deindividuation (studied by Zimbardo) lowers inhibitions, often leading to mob behavior or norm-defying acts.
A pre-judged, typically negative attitude toward members of a specific social group based solely on their group membership is defined as:
Prejudice refers to an affective/attitude component, whereas Discrimination is the overt behavioral manifestation.
The cognitive framework or mental structure that helps individuals organize and interpret information about the world is called a:
Introduced by Jean Piaget and Frederic Bartlett, schemas are building blocks of knowledge used to understand reality.
In Piaget’s theory, modifying existing cognitive schemas or creating new ones to incorporate new information is called:
Accommodation occurs when new experiences do not fit existing mental structures, requiring schemas to change.
In Piaget’s theory, interpreting new experiences in terms of existing cognitive schemas without changing the schema is:
Assimilation involves fitting new perceptual inputs directly into preexisting mental structures.
The tendency of young children in Piaget’s Preoperational Stage to focus on only one salient aspect of a situation while ignoring others is:
Centration limits a child's ability to conserve mass, volume, or number, as they center on a single perceptual feature.
The inability of a child in the preoperational stage to perceive a situation from another person’s perspective is called:
Egocentrism reflects cognitive limitation where children assume others see, hear, and feel exactly as they do.
The belief, common among children in the preoperational stage, that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and feelings is known as:
Animism causes young children to attribute intentions, emotions, and consciousness to non-living objects like toys or clouds.
The moral developmental stage in Kohlberg’s theory where moral reasoning is based strictly on avoiding punishment and gaining rewards is the:
At the Pre-conventional level, morality is externally controlled by physical consequences rather than societal rules.
In Kohlberg’s theory, moral reasoning based on upholding societal laws, maintaining social order, and seeking approval is the:
The Conventional level reflects an emphasis on social duty, conformity, and obeying established legal rules.
Carol Gilligan criticized Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral development theory primarily because it:
Carol Gilligan proposed an 'Ethics of Care' framework, arguing females prioritize interpersonal connections over abstract justice.
The psychological study of how physical, cognitive, and social changes occur across the human lifespan from conception to death is:
Developmental Psychology investigates age-related changes in physical growth, mental capabilities, and emotional maturation.
According to Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence, intelligence is composed of three distinct sub-components:
Sternberg's Triarchic Theory separates mental abilities into Analytical (componential), Creative (experiential), and Practical (contextual) domains.
Raymond Cattell’s theory of intelligence divides general intelligence (g) into two primary components known as:
Fluid intelligence involves abstract reasoning and novel problem-solving, whereas Crystallized intelligence relies on accumulated knowledge.
The age-related decline in abstract reasoning speed and working memory efficiency reflects a reduction in:
Fluid intelligence peaks in early adulthood and gradually declines with age, unlike crystallized intelligence which remains stable or improves.
The capacity to perceive, understand, manage, and evaluate emotions in oneself and others is known as:
Emotional Intelligence (popularized by Daniel Goleman) involves self-awareness, empathy, emotional regulation, and social skill.
A disorder characterized by significant, involuntary motor tics and at least one vocal tic lasting for more than a year is:
Tourette's Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder marked by multiple motor and phonic tics.
A severe mental condition where an individual experiences physical symptoms (e.g., paralysis, blindness) with no identifiable organic medical cause is:
Conversion disorder involves neurological symptoms that are incompatible with recognized medical conditions, historically called 'hysteria'.
Illness Anxiety Disorder, formerly classified in psychopathology as Hypochondriasis, is characterized by:
Illness Anxiety Disorder involves excessive worry about serious illness despite absence of significant physical symptoms.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, involves the presence of:
DID is a complex dissociative disorder marked by identity fragmentation and recurrent gaps in recall of everyday events.
A dissociative disorder where an individual suddenly travels away from home or work, accompanied by amnesia for their identity and past life, is a:
Dissociative Fugue involves sudden, unexpected travel away from one's customary surroundings along with identity loss.
A neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by persistent deficits in social communication, social interaction, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior is:
ASD encompasses a range of developmental conditions affecting social communication, reciprocity, and behavioral flexibility.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is primarily characterized by core symptom clusters of:
ADHD is diagnosed based on persistent patterns of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interfere with functioning.
A mental health disorder in children characterized by a repetitive pattern of behavior that violates basic rights of others and major age-appropriate social norms is:
Conduct Disorder involves serious behavioral infractions such as aggression toward people/animals, property destruction, and theft.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is distinguished from Conduct Disorder primarily because ODD does NOT involve:
Unlike Conduct Disorder, ODD involves defiance, irritability, and stubbornness without serious illegal acts or physical violence.
An eating disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors (e.g., self-induced vomiting or excessive exercise) is:
Bulimia Nervosa involves a cycle of binge eating and purging behaviors aimed at preventing weight gain.
An eating disorder characterized by intense fear of gaining weight, severe restriction of energy intake, and significantly low body weight is:
Anorexia Nervosa features extreme food restriction, body image distortion, and dangerously low body mass.
Which region of the brainstem controls essential autonomic life-support functions such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure?
The Medulla Oblongata is located at the base of the brainstem and directly regulates heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure.
The brain structure responsible for maintaining posture, body balance, and fine motor coordination is the:
The Cerebellum ('little brain') coordinates voluntary movements, balance, posture, and motor learning.
The network of nerve fibers running through the brainstem that plays a crucial role in regulating sleep, wakefulness, and arousal is the:
The Reticular Formation acts as a filter for sensory stimuli and modulates states of consciousness and alertness.
The thick band of axon fibers connecting the left and right cerebral hemispheres, allowing communication between them, is called the:
The Corpus Callosum consists of millions of myelinated nerve fibers facilitating interhemispheric transfer of information.
Surgical severing of the Corpus Callosum, often performed to control severe epilepsy, results in a condition known as:
Split-brain surgery (commissurotomy) isolates the two cerebral hemispheres, as researched extensively by Roger Sperry.
Which lobe of the cerebral cortex contains the primary visual cortex responsible for processing visual information?
The Occipital Lobe, located at the back of the brain, processes incoming visual signals received from the eyes via the thalamus.
The Primary Somatosensory Cortex, which processes tactile sensations like touch, temperature, and pain, is located in the:
The Parietal Lobe contains the postcentral gyrus, housing the somatosensory cortex that maps bodily sensations.
Which cerebral lobe is involved in auditory processing, speech comprehension, and memory integration?
The Temporal Lobe contains the primary auditory cortex, Wernicke's area (comprehension), and structures critical for memory.
Higher cognitive functions such as planning, decision-making, emotional regulation, and working memory are managed by the:
The Prefrontal Cortex governs executive functions, personality expression, impulse control, and complex reasoning.
Which major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system acts to reduce neuronal excitability and anxiety?
GABA is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter; drugs like benzodiazepines enhance GABA function to treat anxiety.
The primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, playing a vital role in learning and memory, is:
Glutamate is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain, essential for long-term potentiation and synaptic plasticity.
Endogenous opioids produced by the central nervous system that act as natural painkillers and mood elevators are called:
Endorphins bind to opioid receptors in the brain to diminish perception of pain and induce feelings of euphoria.
Memory of specific personal events, experiences, and life episodes is classified as:
Episodic memory (Tulving's taxonomy) stores autobiographical events localized in specific time and spatial contexts.
General world knowledge, facts, concepts, and vocabulary independent of personal experience are stored in:
Semantic memory is a subcomponent of explicit declarative memory that handles structured factual knowledge.
Memory for motor skills, habits, and classical conditioning responses that operate automatically without conscious awareness is called:
Procedural memory includes motor actions like riding a bicycle or tying shoes, stored mainly in the cerebellum and basal ganglia.
The memory model proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin consists of three sequential storage systems:
The Atkinson-Shiffrin multi-store model describes memory progression from Sensory Register → Short-Term Store → Long-Term Store.
Visual sensory memory that holds an exact image of visual stimuli for a fraction of a second is termed:
Iconic memory (studied by George Sperling) retains brief visual impressions for approximately 250 to 500 milliseconds.
Auditory sensory memory that retains sound information for up to 3 to 4 seconds is known as:
Echoic memory holds fleeting auditory traces slightly longer than iconic memory, allowing speech processing.
Baddeley and Hitch’s model of Working Memory replaced the passive view of short-term memory with components including the:
Baddeley's model emphasizes active processing via the Central Executive controlling verbal (Phonological Loop) and spatial (Visuospatial) slaves.
In memory retrieval, the phenomenon where information is better recalled when internal biological or psychological states match at encoding and testing is:
State-dependent memory demonstrates that physical/psychological states (e.g., caffeine arousal, mood) act as retrieval cues.
When newly learned information interferes with the ability to recall previously learned information, it is called:
Retroactive interference occurs when new learning disrupts the retrieval of old memories.
When old or previously stored information hinders the learning or recall of newly acquired information, it is called:
Proactive interference occurs when old items prevent the acquisition or retrieval of newly introduced material.
Inability to form NEW long-term explicit memories following brain injury or trauma is known as:
Anterograde amnesia prevents new memory consolidation while leaving past memories intact (famous in patient H.M.).
The loss of memories for events that occurred PRIOR to brain injury or trauma is termed:
Retrograde amnesia affects memory retrieval for past information formed before the onset of brain damage.
Elizabeth Loftus’s extensive research on eyewitness testimony demonstrated the vulnerability of memory to distortion, known as the:
Loftus showed that exposing witnesses to misleading post-event information alters and distorts their recollection of events.
The tendency to remember the first and last items in a list better than the middle items is known as the:
The Serial Position Effect consists of the Primacy Effect (LTM transfer of early items) and Recency Effect (STM retention of late items).
The psychological phenomenon where uncompleted or interrupted tasks are remembered better than completed tasks is called the:
Bluma Zeigarnik noted that incomplete tasks create task-specific cognitive tension that maintains memory accessibility.
The tendency for people to accept generic, vague personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to themselves is called the:
The Barnum Effect explains why individuals believe in astrology, horoscopes, and fortune-telling statements.
The tendency for an observer’s overall impression of a person to influence how they feel and think about that person’s specific traits is the:
The Halo Effect occurs when a single positive trait (like physical attractiveness) leads to positive judgments across all traits.
The phenomenon where research participants alter their behavior simply because they know they are being observed is called the:
Discovered during industrial studies at Western Electric's Hawthorne Works, productivity increased due to attention from researchers.
The expectation that higher teacher expectations lead to an increase in student performance is known as the Pygmalion Effect or:
Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson demonstrated self-fulfilling prophecies in classroom settings.
The substantial and sustained increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence test scores measured across populations worldwide over time is the:
Named after James R. Flynn, IQ scores increased roughly 3 points per decade across the 20th century.
Diana Baumrind categorized parenting styles into three primary types based on demandingness and responsiveness, which are:
Baumrind identified Authoritative (high control, high warmth), Authoritarian (high control, low warmth), and Permissive (low control, high warmth).
Which parenting style, characterized by high warmth combined with high expectations and firm limits, yields the best child outcomes?
Authoritative parenting balances structure with open communication, promoting high self-esteem and independence.
Mary Ainsworth developed which experimental procedure to assess infant-caregiver attachment styles?
The Strange Situation observed infant reactions to mother-stranger separations and reunions, categorizing attachment patterns.
Which secure attachment style is demonstrated when an infant uses the mother as a safe base, shows distress upon separation, and is easily comforted upon reunion?
Securely attached children explore comfortably in the mother's presence, show distress when she leaves, and greet her warmly upon return.
The Visual Cliff experiment developed by Eleanor Gibson and Richard Walk was designed to measure infants’ perception of:
Gibson and Walk demonstrated that infants aged 6 to 14 months possess depth perception and avoid crawling onto a glass surface covering a drop-off.
Raymond Cattell utilized factor analysis to reduce personality traits into how many core source traits in his 16PF Questionnaire?
Raymond Cattell identified 16 primary personality factors (source traits) using statistical factor analysis.
Hans Eysenck’s original trait model of personality proposed three major dimensions, often referred to as the PEN model:
Eysenck's biologically based PEN model includes Psychoticism, Extraversion, and Neuroticism.
The dominant modern paradigm of personality structure, the Five-Factor Model (‘Big Five’), includes which five dimensions (OCEAN)?
The Big Five model (McCrae & Costa) summarizes human personality into Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.
In psychoanalytic theory, an individual returning to an earlier stage of developmental behavior during times of severe stress is using the defense mechanism of:
Regression involves reverting to immature or child-like behavior patterns to manage overwhelming anxiety.
Attributing one’s own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or impulses onto another person is the defense mechanism known as:
Projection occurs when an individual denies their own undesirable impulses and attributes them to someone else.
Rechanneling unacceptable instinctual drives into socially acceptable, productive, or creative activities is known as:
Sublimation is considered a mature defense mechanism where primitive impulses (e.g., aggression) are transformed into productive artistic or athletic outlets.
Diverting emotional energy or aggressive impulses from the original target onto a less threatening substitute target is called:
Displacement redirects feelings (e.g., anger at a boss) toward a safer target (e.g., kicking a chair or yelling at home).
Behaving in a manner that is the exact opposite of one’s true, unacceptable unconscious desires is called:
Reaction formation replaces an anxiety-provoking impulse with its direct opposite in conscious behavior.
An individual experiencing sudden, unexpected episodes of intense panic with physical symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath suffers from:
Panic Disorder features recurrent panic attacks accompanied by persistent concern about future attacks.
An intense, irrational fear of being in public places where escape might be difficult or help unavailable is termed:
Agoraphobia involves avoidance of open spaces, crowds, or public transport due to fear of panic or helplessness.
A severe mental disorder characterized by disruptions in thinking, perception, emotional responsiveness, and social withdrawal is:
Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder featuring positive symptoms (hallucinations, delusions) and negative symptoms (flat affect, avolition).
Negative symptoms of Schizophrenia include flat affect, social withdrawal, and ‘Avolition’, which refers to:
Avolition is a core negative symptom of schizophrenia characterized by a profound lack of drive, ambition, or self-directed action.
A personality disorder characterized by a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self-image, and intense emotional reactivity is:
BPD is marked by emotional dysregulation, fear of abandonment, impulsivity, and chronic feelings of emptiness.
The minimum intensity of physical energy needed to produce a sensory experience 50% of the time is called the:
The Absolute Threshold is the minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect 50% of the time.
The principle that the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) between two stimuli is a constant proportion of the original stimulus is known as:
Weber's Law states that the size of the JND is a constant fraction of the initial stimulus intensity.
Sensory receptors in the human retina responsible for color vision and high visual acuity in bright light are called:
Cones are concentrated in the fovea and are sensitive to color and fine detail in well-lit conditions.
Which component of the eye regulates the amount of light entering the eye by adjusting the size of the pupil?
The Iris is the colored muscle surrounding the pupil that contracts or expands to control light intake.
The phenomenon where prolonged exposure to an unchanging stimulus results in a decrease in sensory responsiveness is termed:
Sensory adaptation occurs when sensory receptors become less responsive to constant, invariant stimuli.
According to the Trichromatic Theory of Color Vision proposed by Young and Helmholtz, the human eye has receptors sensitive to which three colors?
The Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory asserts that vision depends on three types of cones tuned to short (blue), medium (green), and long (red) wavelengths.
The Opponent-Process Theory of color vision, which explains afterimages, was formulated by:
Ewald Hering proposed that color vision is based on three opposing pairs: red-green, yellow-blue, and black-white.
Deep sleep characterized by delta waves on an EEG occurs during which sleep stage?
Stage 3 NREM sleep (Slow-Wave Sleep) is dominated by high-amplitude, low-frequency delta brain waves.
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep is often called ‘Paradoxical Sleep’ because:
During REM sleep, brain activity resembles waking states, yet postural muscle tone is suppressed (atonia).
Sigmund Freud referred to the remembered story line of a dream as its:
Freud distinguished between Manifest Content (the literal surface storyline) and Latent Content (the hidden symbolic meaning).
A state of heightened suggestibility in which a person responds to suggestions for changes in perception, memory, or behavior is known as:
Hypnosis is a trance-like state characterized by focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and heightened suggestibility.
A chronic sleep disorder characterized by sudden, uncontrollable episodes of falling asleep during daytime activities is called:
Narcolepsy involves sudden sleep attacks, often accompanied by cataplexy (sudden loss of muscle tone).
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs places which need at the apex of the pyramid?
Self-actualization—realizing one's full potential and personal growth—occupies the top of Maslow's hierarchy.
According to Abraham Maslow, the most fundamental human needs at the base of the hierarchy are:
Physiological needs (food, water, warmth, sleep) must be met before higher-level psychological needs emerge.
The theory of motivation suggesting that biological needs create an internal state of tension that drives the organism to reduce it is:
Drive-Reduction Theory (Clark Hull) states that physiological needs create drives (e.g., hunger) that motivate behavior to restore homeostasis.
The Yerkes-Dodson Law states that performance on a task is best when physiological arousal is:
The Yerkes-Dodson Law demonstrates an inverted-U relationship between arousal and performance, peaking at moderate levels.
Which theory of emotion asserts that emotional experience occurs AFTER and as a direct result of physiological arousal?
The James-Lange theory posits that physical bodily reactions occur first, and our perception of those bodily reactions constitutes the emotion.
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion states that physiological arousal and the emotional experience occur:
Cannon-Bard theory argues that emotional feelings and physiological responses happen at the same time via thalamic stimulation.
The Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory proposes that emotion is determined by two factors:
Schachter and Singer showed that emotional state requires both physiological arousal and a cognitive interpretation (label) of that arousal.
Hans Selye’s model describing the body’s three-stage physical response to chronic stress is known as the:
Hans Selye's GAS consists of three sequential stages: Alarm Reaction, Resistance, and Exhaustion.
The three sequential stages of Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) in order are:
The body first enters the Alarm stage, moves to Resistance to cope with prolonged stress, and eventually enters Exhaustion if unmanaged.
Individuals characterized by a competitive, aggressive, impatient, and time-urgent personality pattern are classified as having a:
Friedman and Rosenman identified Type A personality, which is linked to a higher incidence of coronary heart disease.
The internal state of balance and stability that the body attempts to maintain is called:
Homeostasis is the biological process of maintaining a stable internal environment despite external changes.
Which brain center is known as the primary satiety center that signals when to stop eating?
Destruction of the Ventromedial Hypothalamus leads to hyperphagia and extreme obesity, while the Lateral Hypothalamus drives hunger.
The tendency for observers to overestimate personality traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining others’ behavior is called the:
The Fundamental Attribution Error occurs when people attribute someone else's action to internal disposition rather than external context.
Leon Festinger’s theory that describes the psychological discomfort felt when holding two conflicting cognitions is known as:
Cognitive Dissonance occurs when a person holds contradictory beliefs or acts against their attitudes, motivating them to resolve the tension.
The famous 1961 experiment on obedience to authority where participants delivered mock electrical shocks was conducted by:
Stanley Milgram demonstrated that a remarkably high percentage of participants would obey an authority figure even to harm others.
The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, which demonstrated the profound power of social roles and situational influence, was directed by:
Philip Zimbardo set up a mock prison in Stanford's psychology basement, showing how social roles shape abusive behavior.
Solomon Asch’s classic 1950s line-judgment experiments demonstrated the strong influence of:
Asch showed that individuals would agree with an obviously incorrect group consensus to conform to social pressure.
The phenomenon where individuals exert less effort when working in a group compared to working individually is called:
Social loafing occurs because individual accountability decreases when contributions are pooled into a group effort.
The improvement in performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others is known as:
Social facilitation (studied by Norman Triplett and Robert Zajonc) increases physiological arousal, enhancing performance on simple tasks.
The tendency of decision-making groups to suppress dissenting opinions to maintain group harmony is termed:
Irving Janis coined 'Groupthink' to explain faulty decision-making in cohesive groups that prioritize consensus over critical evaluation.
The failure of bystanders to offer help to a victim in an emergency when other people are present is called the:
Research by Darley and Latané (triggered by the Kitty Genovese case) showed that presence of others reduces individual helping behavior.
The diffusion of responsibility is the primary psychological mechanism underlying which social phenomenon?
Diffusion of responsibility causes individuals in a group to feel less personally responsible for taking action.
In Carl Jung’s analytical psychology, shared ancestral memories and universal symbols passed down through generations are part of the:
Jung proposed the Collective Unconscious, containing inherited human instincts and universal symbolic patterns (Archetypes).
According to Carl Jung, universal, symbolic mental images contained within the collective unconscious are called:
Archetypes (e.g., The Hero, The Shadow, The Persona) are fundamental patterns of human thought and image in the collective unconscious.
Alfred Adler’s individual psychology emphasized that human motivation is primarily driven by the strive to overcome feelings of:
Adler posited that individuals are driven to overcome an 'Inferiority Complex' through striving for superiority and social interest.
The extent to which a test measures what it claims or intends to measure is defined as its:
Validity refers to accuracy—whether an assessment tool truly measures the construct it was designed to evaluate.
The consistency or stability of a test’s scores across repeated administrations is known as its:
Reliability indicates repeatability and consistency (e.g., test-retest reliability or split-half reliability).
In an experimental study, the variable that is deliberately manipulated by the researcher is the:
The Independent Variable (IV) is controlled and manipulated to observe its causal effect on the Dependent Variable (DV).
In an experiment, the variable that is measured to assess the effect of the manipulation is the:
The Dependent Variable (DV) represents the outcome or behavior being measured by the researcher.
A study in which neither the participants nor the researchers running the trial know who is receiving the treatment or placebo is a:
Double-blind designs eliminate both participant placebo effects and experimenter bias.
A correlation coefficient (r) ranges in value between:
Correlation coefficients range from -1.00 (perfect negative) through 0.00 (no relation) to +1.00 (perfect positive).
A correlation coefficient of r = -0.85 indicates a:
The magnitude (0.85) indicates a strong relationship, and the minus sign indicates that as one variable increases, the other decreases.
Which measure of central tendency represents the middle score in a distribution when data points are arranged in numerical order?
The Median is the 50th percentile mark that divides an ordered dataset into two equal halves.
The score that occurs most frequently in a distribution of data is the:
The Mode is the most common or frequent data point in a statistical distribution.
The square root of the variance in a dataset provides the:
Standard Deviation measures the average dispersion or spread of scores around the statistical mean.
A research design that follows and re-tests the exact same group of individuals repeatedly over an extended period of time is a:
Longitudinal research tracks development or changes within the same cohort across months, years, or decades.
A research design that compares different age groups at a single point in time is called a:
Cross-sectional studies collect data from various age cohorts simultaneously, making them faster but subject to cohort effects.
An in-depth, detailed examination of a single individual or small group is known as a:
Case studies provide rich descriptive qualitative data, especially useful for rare psychological conditions.
Who is universally recognized as the ‘Father of Experimental Psychology’ for establishing the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig in 1879?
Wilhelm Wundt established the first formal psychology research laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.
Which school of thought in psychology, founded by Edward Titchener, used introspection to analyze the structure of the human mind?
Structuralism sought to break down conscious mental processes into basic elements using the method of introspection.
The school of Functionalism, which focused on how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment, was pioneered by:
William James published 'The Principles of Psychology' (1890) and introduced Functionalism, heavily influenced by Darwinian evolutionary theory.
John B. Watson rejected the study of conscious mind and introspection, founding which major school of psychology in 1913?
John B. Watson published 'Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It' (1913), advocating that psychology must focus exclusively on observable behavior.
The famous phrase ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ is the central axiom of which psychological school?
Gestalt psychology (founded by Wertheimer, Koffka, and Köhler) asserts that human perception organizes sensory inputs into meaningful whole patterns.
Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory posits that personality is driven by three structure components known as:
Freud proposed that personality consists of the Id (pleasure principle), Ego (reality principle), and Superego (moral principle).
According to Freud, which structural component of personality operates on the ‘Reality Principle’?
The Ego mediates between the instinctual demands of the Id and the moral constraints of the Superego using the reality principle.
Which early psychologist established the first psychological clinic in 1896 and is considered the founder of Clinical Psychology?
Lightner Witmer established the world's first psychological clinic at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896.
Who served as the first President of the American Psychological Association (APA) and founded the American Journal of Psychology?
G. Stanley Hall founded the APA in 1892 and was a pioneer in developmental psychology and adolescent studies.
The perspective in psychology that emphasizes human growth, self-actualization, and free will is called:
Humanistic Psychology (often called the 'Third Force') was championed by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.
In Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments with dogs, the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) was:
The food naturally and automatically triggered salivation without prior training, making it the Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS).
B.F. Skinner developed the principles of Operant Conditioning using an apparatus commonly known as the:
The Skinner Box allowed precise control and measurement of reinforcement and punishment schedules on animal behavior.
The basic functional building block and signal-conducting cell of the nervous system is the:
Neurons are specialized cells designed to receive, process, and transmit electrical and chemical signals throughout the body.
The junction or gap across which a nerve impulse passes from one neuron to another is called a:
The synapse (synaptic cleft) is the microscopic gap where neurotransmitters are released to pass signals across neurons.
Which neurotransmitter is primarily associated with mood regulation, sleep, and appetite, and is implicated in depression?
Serotonin plays a major role in regulating mood, anxiety, and sleep; low levels are closely linked to clinical depression.
Deficits in which neurotransmitter are primarily responsible for the memory loss observed in Alzheimer’s disease?
Acetylcholine plays a crucial role in muscle action, learning, and memory; its deterioration is a hallmark of Alzheimer's.
Parkinson’s disease is caused by the progressive degeneration of neurons that produce which neurotransmitter in the substantia nigra?
The loss of dopamine-producing cells in the brain leads to the motor tremors, rigidity, and instability characteristic of Parkinson's.
Which structure in the brain acts as the primary relay station for incoming sensory information (except smell) to the cerebral cortex?
The Thalamus receives sensory signals for sight, sound, touch, and taste, directing them to appropriate cortical areas.
The brain structure essential for forming long-term explicit (declarative) memories is the:
Damage to the Hippocampus severely impairs the ability to consolidate new declarative memories (anterograde amnesia).
Which part of the limbic system plays a central role in processing emotional responses, particularly fear and aggression?
The Amygdala is critical for evaluating emotional significance and fear conditioning.
The brain area responsible for controlling motor speech production, located in the left frontal lobe, is known as:
Damage to Broca's area leads to Broca's (expressive) aphasia, characterized by non-fluent speech production.
Damage to Wernicke’s area in the left temporal lobe results in difficulty with:
Wernicke's area is responsible for understanding spoken and written language; damage produces fluent but meaningless speech.
The ‘Master Gland’ of the endocrine system that controls other hormone-secreting glands is the:
The Pituitary Gland, located at the base of the brain under hypothalamic control, regulates growth and hormonal secretion.
Which division of the Autonomic Nervous System prepares the body for action during stressful situations (‘fight-or-flight’)?
The Sympathetic system increases heart rate, dilates pupils, and inhibits digestion to mobilize energy for stress.
In Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the ability to understand that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape (Conservation) develops during the:
During the Concrete Operational stage, children master conservation, reversibility, and decentration.
According to Jean Piaget, ‘Object Permanence’—the realization that objects continue to exist even when out of sight—is acquired in the:
Object permanence is a crucial milestone achieved toward the end of the Sensorimotor stage (approx. 8–12 months).
Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory of development outlines how many distinct stages of life-span development?
Erikson proposed 8 stages of psychosocial development, each characterized by a core psychological conflict (e.g., Trust vs. Mistrust).
According to Erikson, the primary psychosocial crisis faced during adolescence is:
Adolescents struggle to integrate various roles and values into a coherent self-identity (Identity vs. Role Confusion).
Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development categorizes moral reasoning into three broad levels, which are:
Kohlberg identified Pre-conventional (reward/punishment), Conventional (social order/approval), and Post-conventional (universal principles).
The concept of the ‘Zone of Proximal Development’ (ZPD) was introduced by which developmental psychologist?
Vygotsky defined ZPD as the range of tasks a learner can perform with guidance from a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO).
Albert Bandura’s famous ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment demonstrated the power of:
Bandura showed that children imitate aggressive behavior observed in adult role models without direct reinforcement.
The capacity of human Short-Term Memory (STM) was classically estimated by George Miller to be:
George Miller's 1956 paper established that human short-term memory can hold between 5 and 9 chunks of information.
Hermann Ebbinghaus is famous in cognitive psychology for discovering the:
Ebbinghaus used nonsense syllables on himself to plot the rapid rate of memory loss over time (The Forgetting Curve).
The process of grouping individual pieces of information into larger, meaningful units to increase short-term memory capacity is called:
Chunking breaks down complex information (like phone numbers) into manageable units to bypass memory limitations.
Insight Learning, where a solution to a problem appears suddenly (‘Aha! moment’), was demonstrated in chimpanzees by:
Köhler conducted experiments with chimpanzees (Sultan) using bananas and boxes, proving insight learning in Gestalt psychology.
Edward Thorndike’s ‘Law of Effect’ states that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are:
Thorndike's Law of Effect formed the foundational basis for Skinner's later work on operant reinforcement.
The official diagnostic manual published by the American Psychiatric Association used for classifying mental disorders is the:
The DSM provides standardized diagnostic criteria for mental health professionals across clinical settings.
A persistent, irrational, and excessive fear of a specific object or situation is clinically termed a:
Phobias are anxiety disorders characterized by extreme avoidance and disproportionate fear toward a specific stimulus.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by repetitive thoughts called __________ and repetitive behaviors called __________:
Obsessions are persistent unwanted intrusive thoughts; compulsions are rigid behaviors performed to reduce anxiety.
False sensory perceptions that occur in the absence of any external stimulus (e.g., hearing voices) are called:
Hallucinations are perceptual experiences without external stimuli, commonly associated with Schizophrenia.
Firmly held false beliefs that are resistant to reasoning or contrary evidence (e.g., belief of persecution) are known as:
Delusions are fixed false cognitive beliefs characteristic of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia.
The Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) are examples of which type of personality assessment?
Projective tests present ambiguous stimuli to reveal an individual's unconscious thoughts, motives, and feelings.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is widely recognized as a major type of:
The MMPI is a standardized, empirically validated objective personality inventory consisting of true/false items.
Who developed the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), one of the earliest forms of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy?
Albert Ellis created REBT using the ABC model (Activating event, Belief, Consequence) to challenge irrational thoughts.
Aaron Beck is widely regarded as the founder of which dominant school of psychotherapy?
Aaron Beck developed Cognitive Therapy for depression, targeting negative cognitive triads and automatic negative thoughts.
Systematic Desensitization, a behavior therapy technique used to treat phobias by pairing relaxation with anxiety-provoking stimuli, was developed by:
Joseph Wolpe created Systematic Desensitization based on classical conditioning principles (reciprocal inhibition).
The Humanistic therapeutic approach centered on unconditional positive regard, empathy, and genuineness was developed by Carl Rogers and is called:
Carl Rogers advocated non-directive therapy where the therapist creates a supportive environment for client self-growth.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is primarily utilized in modern psychiatry as a rapid-acting treatment for severe, treatment-resistant cases of:
ECT applies electrical currents to induce brief seizures, providing dramatic relief for intractable major depression.
Bipolar Disorder is characterized by alternating episodes of:
Bipolar disorder involves dramatic mood swings between manic episodes (elevated energy) and major depressive episodes.
The Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale original concept of Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was formulated as:
William Stern proposed the ratio IQ formula: $IQ = frac{Mental Age}{Chronological Age} times 100$, popularized by Lewis Terman.