General Psychology Exam Questions
Course Introduction
General Psychology is an introductory course that explores the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. Through an examination of foundational theories and key concepts, students learn about major topics such as perception, learning, memory, motivation, emotion, personality, psychological disorders, and social behavior. The course also covers research methods used in psychological investigation and highlights contemporary issues and applications of psychology in everyday life. By the end of the course, students gain a broad understanding of psychological principles and their relevance to personal development and societal well-being.
Recommended Textbook
The Science of Psychology An Appreciative View 2nd Edition by Laura A. King
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Science of Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who was a leading proponent of behaviorism in the United States until his death in 1990?
A) Carl Rogers
B) B. F. Skinner
C) Ivan Pavlov
D) Albert Bandura
Answer: B
Q2) Research has shown human beings to be notoriously bad decision makers in general. Which type of psychologist was most likely to have carried out this type of research?
A) cognitive
B) sociocultural
C) humanistic
D) psychodynamic
Answer: A
Q3) Sigmund Freud believed that early family relationships shape the personality.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Psychologys Scientific Method
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Sample Questions
Q1) Five students had the following scores on a psychological test: 10, 10, 15, 20, and 40. The mode of these five scores is
A) 10.
B) 15.
C) 20.
D) 25.
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following is a technique that would NOT fall under the survey method?
A) telephone interviews
B) online polls
C) naturalistic observation
D) paper and pencil questionnaires
Answer: C
Q3) When correlations are positive, this means that one variable caused another variable to occur.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Biological Foundations of Behavior
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Sample Questions
Q1) The influence of multiple genes on behavior is referred to as
A) polygenic inheritance.
B) molecular genetics.
C) the dominant-recessive gene principle.
D) eugenics.
Answer: A
Q2) Electrical activity in the brain can be captured by placing multiple electrodes on the scalp and then measuring the underlying electrical activity. This method of studying the brain's activity is referred to as
A) an electroencephalogram.
B) positron emission tomography.
C) magnetic resonance imaging.
D) a functional MRI.
Answer: A
Q3) Neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons, can occur in humans.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception
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Sample Questions
Q1) Who is relying most heavily on their rods?
A) Shelby is walking down the street during the day.
B) Ray is reading in the library.
C) Marcus is trying to find his seat as the movie begins to play.
D) Andrew is watching football on TV.
Q2) The semicircular canals of the brain aid in detecting head motion.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The main purpose of the vestibular sense is to determine the position of our head in three-dimensional space.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Jenny did not blink an eye when she paid an extra fifty cents for her favorite CD, but almost fell out of the car when her local gas station raised the price of gas by a dollar over night. What concept best explains her contradicting reactions?
A) absolute threshold
B) just noticeable difference
C) subliminal perception
D) Weber's law
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Chapter 5: States of Conciousness
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Sample Questions
Q1) College students who consume large amounts of alcohol on weekends are abusing which type(s) of drugs?
A) depressants
B) stimulants
C) hallucinogens
D) both depressants and stimulants depending on the amount they drink
Q2) Generally, if you feel very relaxed or drowsy after taking a drug, it is likely that the drug is a(n)
A) depressant.
B) hallucinogen.
C) catecholamine.
D) amphetamine.
Q3) Night terrors typically occur
A) among older adults.
B) during non-REM sleep.
C) following sleep apnea.
D) within three hours of falling asleep.
Q4) Discuss the effects of sleep deprivation.
Q5) Discuss the roles of serotonin, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine as they pertain to sleep.
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Chapter 6: Learning
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Sample Questions
Q1) A CS should be a reliable predictor of the UCS.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Watson and Raynor conditioned Little Albert to fear a white rat. In this study, the UCS was
A) the white rat.
B) a loud noise.
C) the researchers.
D) a sealskin coat.
Q3) In operant conditioning
A) the consequences of behavior produce change in the probability of the occurrence of the behavior.
B) the consequences of behavior are the CR to environmental stimuli.
C) behavior is controlled by the environment.
D) behavior is a consequence of the CS.
Q4) Learned helplessness is the belief that you are either smart or not, and no amount of work can make up for the difference.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Contrast latent learning and insight learning.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Memory
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the Chowchilla, California kidnapping case, school children were kidnapped at gunpoint and buried for 16 hours before escaping. Several years after the event, a child psychiatrist interviewed the children. She reported that
A) virtually all of the children remembered the exact details of the chilling episode.
B) fewer than half of the children remembered any of the details of the chilling episode.
C) half of the children had notable errors and distortions in their memories of the episode.
D) most children had notable errors and distortions in their memories of the episode.
Q2) Motivated forgetting is usually associated with what type of memories?
A) procedural
B) flashbulb
C) autobiographical
D) traumatic
Q3) The amygdala is the memory center in the brain.
A)True
B)False
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Thinking, Intelligence, and Language
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Sample Questions
Q1) Evidence of the role of language in cognitive activities includes the fact that
A) memory is stored in the form of images.
B) memory is stored in the form of sounds.
C) without language, people have no memories.
D) memory is stored in the form of words.
Q2) Whenever scientists use theories and intuitions to make specific predictions and then evaluate their predictions by making further observations, ________ is at work.
A) inductive reasoning
B) fixation
C) deductive reasoning
D) functional fixedness
Q3) What is the main difference between an algorithm and a heuristic?
A) Only algorithms enhance learning.
B) Heuristics take much more time than algorithms.
C) An algorithm always leads to a correct solution, while a heuristic does not.
D) Heuristics are effective for small problems, while algorithms are only used for complex ones.
Q4) Discuss the concepts of reliability and validity as they pertain to psychological testing.
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Chapter 9: Human Development
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ability to use abstract concepts is a key component of the ________ stage of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
A) preoperational
B) formal operations
C) sensorimotor
D) concrete operations
Q2) According to Jeffrey Arnett, if Melanie is working full-time, going to college, and still living at home which stage of emerging adulthood is she engaged in?
A) identity exploration
B) diffusion
C) self-focus
D) a feeling of being "in-between"
Q3) Which of the following terms is most closely tied with the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate?
A) observable characteristics
B) range of phenotypes
C) genotypic characteristics
D) optimal life experiences
Q4) Discuss two common criticisms of Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
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Chapter 10: Motivation and Emotion
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Q1) A major criticism of the drive reduction theory is that
A) all behavior reduces drives.
B) people sometimes behave in ways that increase drives.
C) there are no behaviors that actually reduce drives.
D) the concept of drive has never been proven.
Q2) Explain the relationship between the Yerkes-Dodson Law and test anxiety.
Q3) According to self-determination theory, people are most fulfilled when they satisfy which of the following three fundamental needs?
A) competence, thirst, and sex
B) hunger, security, and love
C) competence, autonomy, and relatedness
D) hunger, esteem, and relatedness
Q4) Describe the characteristics of a person with anorexia nervosa and the circumstances that may contribute to the development of this condition.
Q5) Which of the following is most closely related to blood sugar control?
A) stomach
B) small intestine
C) insulin
D) fat cells
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Chapter 11: Gender, Sex, and Sexuality
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Sample Questions
Q1) In females, the small sensory organ located where the labia meet is called the A) g-spot.
B) mons pubis.
C) vaginal wall.
D) clitoris.
Q2) Research by Michaels in the mid 1990s placed infidelity estimates of married men around ________ percent.
A) 75
B) 50
C) 25
D) 10
Q3) Which stage of sexual response did Kaplan add to the stages proposed by Masters and Johnson?
A) excitement
B) resolution
C) desire
D) orgasm
Q4) Discuss how the social cognitive perspective views gender development.
Q5) Define the terms "sex" and "gender" and explain how these two concepts differ.
Page 13
Q6) Discuss the two common approaches to sex education.
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Chapter 12: Personality
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Sample Questions
Q1) Give a brief explanation of Freud's model of personality, including the id, ego, and superego as well as the relationship among these components.
Q2) Those who adhere to the ________ approach to personality would ask the question: "Can changing your feelings about yourself increase happiness?"
A) psychodynamic
B) social cognitive
C) trait
D) humanistic
Q3) Eysenck was most interested in the behavioral inhibition system.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Evidence of the "Big Five" personality factors has been found in animals. A)True
B)False
Q5) McAdams' work followed in the footsteps of A) Rogers.
B) Adler.
C) Murray.
D) Allport.
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Chapter 13: Social Psychology
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Sample
Questions
Q1) A person on campus walks up to you and asks if you would be willing to wear a ribbon to show support for her cause. Though the ribbon is a bit unattractive, it is small so you agree to wear it. After agreeing to this request, the solicitor then asks you if you would be willing to make a donation of $15. This example best demonstrates the persuasion technique called
A) targeting.
B) positive illusion.
C) social facilitation.
D) the foot-in-the-door.
Q2) Discuss the relationship between gender and altruism.
Q3) The Sherif's Robbers Cave Study provided an excellent example of the power of A) the mere exposure effect.
B) effort justification.
C) the investment model.
D) task-oriented cooperation.
Q4) Altruism is to ________ as egoism is to ________.
A) pro-social; social
B) reciprocity; antisocial
C) pro-social; reciprocity
D) antisocial; reciprocity
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Industrial and Organizational Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Discuss the difference between quid pro quo sexual harassment and hostile work environment sexual harassment.
Q2) According to the Hawthorne effect, people perform better when they A) are given feedback.
B) are singled out and made to feel important.
C) receive performance appraisals.
D) are given incentives.
Q3) Possible concerns about hiring through an interview process include all of the following EXCEPT
A) gender bias.
B) ethnic bias.
C) failure to assess the skills required to do the job.
D) the time involved.
Q4) Kenneth has been working for a company for nearly two years and is about to attend a workshop outlining a new software program that his company is about to adopt. What is Kenneth engaging in?
A) overlearning
B) Hawthorne effect
C) employee development
D) orientation
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Psychological Disorders
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Sample Questions
Q1) Women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.
A)True
B)False
Q2) All of the following are common compulsions EXCEPT
A) checking.
B) cleansing.
C) counting.
D) repeating phrases.
Q3) Jillian cannot bear to leave her home without washing the floors, vacuuming the carpets, and organizing everything in her cupboards. She knows that her behavior is extreme but when she tries to go to work without doing all of these things, she is overcome with such overwhelming dread that she never makes it all the way to the office. Jillian probably has
A) obsessive-compulsive disorder.
B) generalized anxiety disorder.
C) a phobia.
D) panic disorder.
Q4) What are the major criticisms associated with the DSM-IV?
Q5) Describe the biological approach to psychological disorders.
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Chapter 16: Therapies
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Sample Questions
Q1) Deinstitutionalization involves
A) releasing individuals with mental disorders from prison.
B) releasing individuals with mental disorders into the custody of law officials.
C) transferring individuals with mental disorders from mental institutions to community-based facilities.
D) transferring individuals with mental disorders from regular hospitals to mental hospitals.
Q2) James dreamed that he went to his neighbor's house at midnight and made himself a sandwich. His psychoanalyst interpreted the dream to mean that James really wanted to go to bed with his neighbor's wife. Making the sandwich was the ________ content of the dream.
A) symbolic
B) manifest
C) latent
D) explicit
Q3) Describe the benefits and drawbacks associated with electroconvulsive therapy.
Q4) Electroconvulsive therapy was originally developed to treat schizophrenia.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Health Psychology
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to research findings, is being lean, or being fit, more important to good health?
Q2) The connection between religion and a healthy lifestyle is
A) causal.
B) doubtful.
C) non-existent.
D) correlational.
Q3) Receiving support from friends, family, and even members of a support group is associated with which stage of the stages of change model?
A) precontemplation
B) contemplation
C) preparation/determination
D) action/willpower
Q4) Which of the following is the last stage in the stages of change model?
A) resolution
B) resistance
C) action/willpower
D) maintenance
Q5) Describe three common methods used to quit an addictive habit like smoking.
Page 19
Q6) Discuss the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior.
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