Psychology Trivia Questions for Students — page 4

Free association and dream interpretation frequently characterize which of the following treatments?

• Ahumanistic therapy
• Bcognitive therapy
• Cpsychoanalysis
• Dbehavior therapy

In order for the mean, mode, and median of a data set to be equal, the distribution must be

• Anormal
• Bnegatively skewed
• Casymmetrical
• Dpositively skewed

Which of the following newborn reflexes help infants find and eat food?

• Aatttachment
• BBabinski
• Crooting
• DMoro

What area of psychology focuses on the study of subjective well-being, optimism, and happiness?

• Apsychometrics
• Bsocial psychology
• Chuman factors psychology
• Dpositive psychology

The precedent established in Larry P. v. Riles resulted in

• Athe assignment of similar funding to athletic activities for boys and girls
• Bthe provision of bilingual education for English-language learners
• Cthe provision of a free, appropriate public education for students with disabilities
• Dschools being held responsible for providing tests that do not discriminate on the basis of race

Emily scored at the 65th percentile on a standardized achievement test. This indicates which of the following? Her score was

• Ajust passing
• Babove average
• Caverage
• Dbelow average

Who would most likely have said, "People are basically good"?

• ACognitivist Albert Ellis
• BBehaviorist B. F. Skinner
• CHumanist Carl Rogers
• DPsychoanalyst Sigmund Freud

What would Piaget test in order to determine whether a child is in the pre-operational or concrete operational stage of cognitive development?

• Aconcepts of conservation
• Bobject permanence
• Chypothesis testing
• Dattachment

Runners in a park were found to pick up their pace when another runner came into view; this finding illustrates the phenomenon of

• Adeindividuation.
• Bconformity.
• Cnorms.
• Dsocial facilitation.

Which research method would most likely be used to test the following hypothesis: People who conserve energy by buying hybrid cars are more likely to spend more money on organic foods.

• Anaturalistic observation
• Bcase study
• Ccorrelation
• Dexperiment

Ryan suffers from nearly constant, low-level arousal of his autonomic nervous system. Ryan is most likely to be classified as suffering from

• Ahypochondriasis.
• Bobsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
• Cmajor depressive disorder.
• DGAD.

In the rock opera Tommy, Tommy becomes deaf and blind after witnessing a terrible murder, although there is nothing organically wrong with his ears or eyes. Tommy is suffering from

• Apost-traumatic stress disorder
• Bconversion disorder
• Cpanic disorder
• Dobsessive-compulsive disorder

Each of the following is a step taken by a therapist who is employing systematic desensitization EXCEPT

• Aconstructing a hierarchy of feared images
• Bhelping the client experience the desired state of relaxation through hypnosis
• Cteaching the client to relax through techniques such as deep breathing
• Dinstructing the client to picture each fearful image while maintaining a relaxed state

A famous character in a Shakespearean play keeps washing her hands to get them clean of blood that is no longer on them. The repeated washing of her hands is

• Aa delusion
• Ban obsession
• Ca hallucination
• Da compulsion

Conflicting attitudes or behaviors that create tension within a person's mind are referred to in terms of

• Aserial position
• Bpersuasion
• Ccognitive dissonance
• Dgeneral adaptation syndrome

Which of the following is primarily a chemical sense?

• AVision
• BTouch
• CHearing
• DTaste

Which of the following is an example of a result of operant conditioning?

• APaula is promoted to vice president of her company and vows to not lose touch with her employees.
• BRebecca cancels her credit card to avoid paying the annual fee but plans to reinstate it in the new year.
• CAshmed speaks louder than usual when he talks to his mother on the phone because she is hard of hearing.
• DMilo starts at the sound of a buzzer because it sounds very similar to the alarm clock that wakes him every morning.

Disorganized language like clang associations or neologisms is associated with

• Abipolar disorder.
• Bdissociative identity disorder.
• Cautism spectrum disorder.
• Dschizophrenia.

You are given four lists of words to learn: 1, 2, 3, and 4. You must learn list 1, then list 2, etc. Which list(s) would cause proactive interference for remembering list 2?

• Alist 1 only
• Blists 3 and 4 only
• Clist 3 only
• Dlist 4 only

A doctor suspects that her patient's language processing area is in the right hemisphere. This would most likely be corroborated by the use of

• ACAT
• BPET
• CMRI
• DMMPI

Research has shown a possible connection between the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and which of the following mental disorders?

• ASchizophrenia
• BMania
• CParkinson's disease
• DAlzheimer's disease

Which theory of emotion are cognitive psychologists most likely to support?

• Athalamic theory
• Btwo-factor theory
• Csocial facilitation theory
• DJames-Lange theory

Most New Yorkers remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard that the World Trade Center was destroyed. Which of the following best identifies this type of memory?

• Aflashbulb memory
• Bexplicit memory
• Cimplicit memory
• Dengrams

All of the following are examples of punishment EXCEPT

• Arefusing to return the boss' phone call after not getting the expected raise
• Bgrounding a teenager for staying out past curfew
• Cpermanently revoking the driving privileges of a third-time DWI driver
• Dspanking a child for misbehavior

Scott tried to unscramble the letters NEBOTYA for 20 minutes to spell a word, but was not successful. While walking to class, the answer suddenly came to him that the word was BAYONET. This exemplifies

• Aclassical conditioning
• Binsight
• Cthe law of effect
• Doperant conditioning

Which of the following brain structures is most centrally involved in hunger motivation?

• Amedulla
• Bamygdala
• Chypothalamus
• Dcerebellum

A child is frightened by the sudden barking of a neighbor's dog. Once her mother picks her up, the child begins to calm down as which of the following biological processes occurs?

• AThe autonomic nervous system resumes control and reverses the peripheral responses.
• BThe parasympathetic nervous system resumes control and reverses the sympathetic responses.
• CThe peripheral nervous system resumes control and reverses the autonomic responses.
• DThe sympathetic nervous system resumes control and reverses the parasympathetic responses.

According to the Law of Effect, behaviors followed by negative consequences

• Awill never be performed again
• Boccur more frequently
• Coccur less frequently
• Dwill be performed more forcefully

Hypnosis has been used effectively to diminish

• Anight terrors
• Balcohol abuse
• Cchronic pain
• Dkinesthetic abilities

The contingency model explains classical conditioning from which of the following perspectives?

• Abehavioral
• Bcognitive
• Chumanistic
• Dpsychoanalytic

Which developmental stage theory explained how experiences in infancy, childhood, adolscence, adulthood, and old age influence later personality characteristics?

• AErikson's psychosocial stage theory
• BKohlberg's moral development theory
• CPiaget's cognitive development theory
• DAinsworth's social attachment theory

The Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic relativity helps explain why

• AEskimos have many words relating to snow
• Bphonemes are not interchangeable with morphemes
• Ccultures have developed different languages
• Dparents use a high-pitched voice when speaking to infants

Lupe has been dating Craig for a few months. She's attracted to him and has fun with him, but she can't stand his friends or his family. Lupe's conflict would best be classified as

• Aan avoidance-avoidance conflict.
• Ban approach-avoidance conflict.
• Ca multiple approach-avoidance conflict.
• Dan approach-approach conflict.

According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which of the following must an educational agency do before it changes the educational placement of a student with a disability?

• ANotify the parents in writing
• BObtain parental consent
• CGive the child a trial period in the new environment
• DObtain school board approval

Our ability to perceive depth depends primarily on what other perceptual abilities?

• Atop-down processing and bottom-up processing
• Bsize and shape constancy
• Cbinocular and monocular cues
• Dproximity and similarity

Antonia has a cat. The first time she sees a rabbit, she calls it a cat. Her mistake is due to the process of

• Adiscrimination.
• Baccommodation.
• Cassimilation.
• Dgeneralization.

Which of the following kinds of therapists is most likely to prescribe lithium for a patient diagnosed with bipolar disorder?

• Apsychiatrist
• Bclinical psychologist
• Ccognitive psychotherapist
• Dpsychoanalyst

In schools characterized by high student achievement and family involvement, schoolcommunity partnerships

• Areduce the amount of success students achieve
• Bprovide additional opportunities for students to maximize their learning
• Ctake up too much of the school's and the community's time
• Dare not an important factor for students to be successful

Albert Bandura and the social-cognitive personality theorists believe that personality results from the interaction of which factors?

• Agenetics, the unconscious, and social
• Bid, ego, and superego
• Ctraits, the environment, and behavior
• Drewards, punishments, and reinforcements

According to Erikson, a young adult's developmental crisis centers around

• Aindustry vs. inferiority
• Bintimacy vs. isolation
• Cautonomy vs. shame and guilt
• Didentity vs. role confusion

Which of the following is the term used to describe a number of psychotic disorders that involve disturbances in nearly every dimension of human psychology including thought, perception, behavior, and communication?

• AIntellectual disabilities
• BDissociative disorder
• CDepression
• DSchizophrenia

In a crisis, the adrenal glands of the body secrete "emergency" hormones, while the body prepares for fight-or-flight, directed by

• Athe sensorimotor nervous system
• Bthe somatic nervous system
• Cthe sympathetic nervous system
• Dthe central nervous system

A major advantage of standardized normreferenced assessment, as compared with curriculum-based assessment, is that standardized norm-referenced tests

• Aare more tailored to the specific curriculum
• Bprovide more information on the interplay between the students' learning environment and skills
• Cyield more information on whether students have mastered units that are prerequisites for future work
• Dprovide a greater capacity to evaluate students in terms of large groups of grade-level peers

Which of the following is the best example of an attribute that is culturally-based rather than primarily psychologically-based?

• AArriving on time for work
• BSeeking food and water
• CHaving the desire to reproduce
• DCaring for one's children

Jay suffers from periods of amnesia and frequent loss of a sense of personal identity. It is likely Jay has a(n)

• Aschizophrenic disorder
• Bantisocial personality disorder
• Cassociative disorder
• Ddissociative disorder

When a person experiences a discrepancy between an attitude and a behavior, the person experiences

• Abehavioral dysfunction
• Bdissociation
• Ccognitive dissonance
• Dmetacognition

Which of the following types of data involves counting the number of occurrences of a behavior observed during a specified time period?

• ALatency recording
• BWhole-interval recording
• CEvent recording
• DDuration recording

In the nature versus nurture debate, nature is most closely associated with

• Alearning.
• Btemperament.
• Cenvironment.
• Dculture.

A sixth-grade teacher is concerned because Kerry, a student in class, has been hostile to classmates. Which of the following teacher strategies is most likely to encourage Kerry to be more cooperative with classmates?

• AHaving Kerry memorize rules of behavior and write examples of how they would apply in the classroom
• BImplementing social skills training to teach Kerry appropriate replacement behaviors for hostile behaviors
• CWithholding attention or approval from Kerry in response to hostile behavior
• DPreventing Kerry from participating in play or recess activities as a consequence of hostile behavior

Which of the following subsystems of the autonomic nervous system help the body return to "business-as-usual" after an emergency?

• AParasympathetic nervous system
• BSympathetic nervous system
• CPeripheral nervous system
• DSomatic nervous system