20 PSYCHOLOGY QUESTIONS
1. According to _______ approaches to motivation, each person strives to maintain a certain level of
stimulation and activity.
A. arousal
B. instinct
C. drive-reduction
D. homeostasis
2. Which of the following statements regarding human sexuality is most accurate?
A. Regarding premarital sex, the double standard applies to both men and women.
B. Only a minority of people engage in sex fantasies during actual intercourse.
C. Masturbation is an infrequent but not uncommon cause of sexual dysfunctions.
D. In females, estrogen production is a direct result of ovulation.
3. Sternberg’s concept of practical intelligence is most directly related to
A. overall success in living.
B. multiple intelligences.
C. information processing.
D. emotional intelligence.
4. Which statement about anorexia nervosa is true?
A. Typically, the lives of anorexics center on sex.
B. Anorexics almost never starve to death, although they may die from other disorders.
C. Sufferers are usually males between the ages of 12 and 40.
D. People with this disorder may well be attractive and successful.
5. Carol is most likely to reject the _________ theory of aging because she pictures the body as a machine
that stops working properly as the parts wear out.
A. wear-and-tear
B. genetic preprogramming
C. activity
D. disengagement
6. If you agree with B.F. Skinner as to the nature of personality, you would also agree that
A. human personality is largely shaped through observational learning.
B. traits like sociability arise from unconscious wishes to be liked by others.
C. personality is shaped by people’s thoughts, feelings, expectations, and values.
D. humans are infinitely changeable because they can learn new behavior patterns.
7. In the Binet IQ test, an IQ score is equal to MA divided by CA times 100. In this formula, “MA” is to
mental age as “CA” is to
A. calculated ability.
B. cognitive age.
C. common age.
D. chronological age.
8. If you support the idea that physiological arousal and the experience of an associated emotion will occur
simultaneously, you’ll agree with the
A. biological emotion-activation theory.
B. James-Lange theory of emotion.
C. Schachter-Singer theory of emotion.
D. Cannon-Bard theory of emotion.
9. In the research conducted by Hans Eysenck, factor analysis was used to identify ________ basic
personality dimensions. Of these, the tendency to distort reality was labeled:
A. five; conscientiousness
B. three; extraversion
C. five; neuroticism.
D. three; psychoticism
10. Having been attacked and bitten by a German shepherd, Sam reacts with fear on spotting any large
dog. According to recent developments in brain research the linking role of the _________ is paramount in
the recall of this sort of fear-evoking stimulus.
A. visual cortex
B. amygdala
C. hippocampus
D. left temporal lobe
11. In Piaget’s model of cognitive development, a child’s tendency to view the world entirely from his or
her own perspective is referred to as
A. egocentric thought.
B. the concrete operational stage.
C. the sensorimotor stage.
D. metacognition.
12. Which of the following statements regarding adolescent suicide is not true?
A. Male suicide rates are five times higher than those for females.
B. Females attempt suicide more often than males.
C. Suicide is the leading cause of death among adolescents.
D. Suicide is normally associated with depression.
13. The original purpose in constructing the MMPI-2 was
A. identifying psychological disorders.
B. screening job applicants.
C. screening college applicants.
D. identifying a client’s optimal choices among occupations.
14. To formulate a general definition of emotion, it will be most accurate to say that
A. an emotion is a specific reaction to a perceived change in a situation.
B. emotions are feelings that have both physiological and cognitive elements.
C. emotions are adaptive physiological responses to feelings.
D. emotion is a feeling state evoked by an expressed behavior.
15. According to your textbook’s treatment of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, a focus on rewards
and punishment in respect to a moral dilemma is characteristic of
A. children who haven’t grasped the principle of object constancy.
B. children who haven’t reached the conventional stage of moral development.
C. adolescents who have reached the conventional level of moral development.
D. adolescents who have reached the formal operational stage of moral development.
16. You maintain that physical changes in late adulthood are largely related to built-in time limits to cell
reproduction. It’s safe to say that you endorse the _______ theory of aging.
A. disengagement
B. genetic preprogramming
C. amyloid precursor
D. wear-and-tear
17. During middle adulthood, the most clearly marked biological change is related to
A. memory loss.
B. weight loss.
C. the so-called midlife transition.
D. reproductive capabilities.
18. According to Erik Erikson, generativity-versus-stagnation is the typical challenge of
A. adolescence.
B. early adulthood.
C. old age.
D. middle adulthood.
End of exam
19. As discussed in your textbook, which statement best illustrates fluid intelligence?
A. Alex recalls the wiring pattern and deftly reconnects the power lead to the battery.
B. Gavin the spy quickly memorizes the 12-digit code.
C. Dylan scribbles tdraft of a poem onto the back of an envelope.
D. Caldwell critically evaluates the likely causes of kidney stones.
20. I show you a picture of an adult figure hovering over a sleeping child. I ask you to tell me a story about
what you think is happening. Which kind of projective test am I using?
A. Thematic Apperception Test
B. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2
C. Rorschach test
D. Behavioral assessment test
