Intro Psychology Practice Questions With Answers
Twelve intro psychology practice questions with answers and explanations, from p-values and IQ to conditioning, memory and therapy, from the free deck.
These twelve questions come from Encodr's free Intro Psychology deck, with one from each of twelve different units, so the set samples the whole course rather than one chapter. Questions are quoted as they appear in the deck, and each answer comes with the explanation the card gives.
To get the most from them, answer before you read. Commit to a choice, then check it. That small act of retrieval beats rereading the chapter, as the testing effect shows, and the questions you get wrong are the ones worth putting back into rotation. If a statistics question trips you up, the z-score calculator is a quick way to see how a score sits on the normal curve.
1. Psychological Research
A study reports p < .05. Which is a correct reading?
- A. There is a 95% chance that the hypothesis is true
- B. The effect must be large and practically important
- C. Such data would be rare if no real effect existed
- D. The finding cannot fail to replicate in later studies
Answer: C. Such data would be rare if no real effect existed
Why: A p-value is the probability of data at least this extreme if there were no real effect. It is not the probability that a hypothesis is true, and .05 is a convention.
2. Biopsychology
Which hindbrain structure sits at the top of the spinal cord and controls breathing, heart rate and blood pressure?
- A. Medulla
- B. Cerebellum
- C. Pons
- D. Thalamus
Answer: A. Medulla
Why: The medulla keeps vital automatic functions running, which is why damage there is life-threatening.
3. States of Consciousness
Hilgard's hypnotized subjects held an arm in ice water and denied any pain, yet pressed a button when asked if part of them felt it. Which theory does this support?
- A. Social-cognitive theory
- B. Activation-synthesis theory
- C. The view that hypnosis is ordinary sleep
- D. Dissociation theory
Answer: D. Dissociation theory
Why: The result suggests consciousness split into streams, one unaware of pain and another still registering it.
4. Sensation and Perception
Organizing a scene into a focal object against a background is called _____ organization.
Answer: figure-ground
Why: A vase-and-faces drawing shows it: you see either the vase or the faces as the object and the rest as its background.
5. Learning
What is a stimulus that naturally triggers a reflexive response, with no learning required, called?
- A. Conditioned stimulus
- B. Unconditioned stimulus
- C. Neutral stimulus
- D. Unconditioned response
Answer: B. Unconditioned stimulus
Why: In Pavlov's dogs, the meat powder was the unconditioned stimulus.
6. Thinking and Intelligence
Modern IQ tests are scaled to which mean and standard deviation?
Answer: Mean 100, standard deviation 15
Why: So a score of 85 is one standard deviation below the mean and 115 is one above.
7. Memory
Which brain structure is essential for forming new declarative memories?
Answer: The hippocampus
Why: It is also involved in recognition, spatial memory and consolidation.
8. Lifespan Development
A 22-year-old lives with her parents while exploring career options. Which life period does this describe?
- A. Adolescence proper
- B. Middle adulthood years
- C. Late adulthood years
- D. Emerging adulthood
Answer: D. Emerging adulthood
Why: The so-called Boomerang Generation often returns home while establishing an adult life.
9. Social Psychology
You blame heavy traffic when you are late, but you assume a friend who is late is just careless. Which bias is this?
- A. Fundamental attribution error
- B. Actor-observer bias
- C. Self-serving bias
- D. Just-world hypothesis
Answer: B. Actor-observer bias
Why: Actor-observer bias: the situation explains my behavior, but a disposition explains yours.
10. Stress Lifestyle and Health
In Seligman and Maier's 1967 experiment, which dogs later failed to escape a shock they could have avoided?
Answer: Dogs that had first received inescapable shocks
Why: This finding, called learned helplessness, was proposed as a model of passivity and depression after uncontrollable events.
11. Psychological Disorders
For a diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder, excessive worry must occur more days than not for at least how long?
- A. Four weeks
- B. Two weeks
- C. Six months
- D. Two years
Answer: C. Six months
Why: GAD is a continuous, hard-to-control worry about many everyday matters, and it must last at least six months.
12. Therapy and Treatment
Traditional antipsychotic drugs such as Haldol and Thorazine act mainly by blocking which neurotransmitter?
- A. GABA
- B. Serotonin
- C. Acetylcholine
- D. Dopamine
Answer: D. Dopamine
Why: Blocking dopamine reduces positive symptoms of schizophrenia, such as hallucinations and delusions.
What to do with your score
Note the unit headings of anything you missed and go back to those chapters in the full Intro Psychology deck, where the cards are scheduled for spaced review. For a view of everything the course covers, see what's in intro psychology. For a study plan, see how to study for intro psychology. If the conditioning question felt shaky, classical vs operant conditioning lays out the difference side by side.
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