All Free Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. chunking
• B. over learning
• C. meaningfulness
• D. knowledge of results

Explanation: Knowledge of results is feedback about performance and primarily supports learning or correction, rather than directly strengthening…

• A. condition failure
• B. recovery
• C. extinction
• D. habituation

Explanation: Extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus, causing the conditioned…

• A. learned
• B. reflexive
• C. hereditary
• D. conditioned

Explanation: The connection between the conditioned stimulus and conditioned response is acquired through training, so it is learned rather than…

• A. fixed-ratio
• B. variable-ratio
• C. fixed-interval
• D. variable-interval

Explanation: A variable-ratio schedule reinforces after an unpredictable number of responses, producing a very high and steady response rate, as in…

• A. presenting a positive stimulus after a response
• B. removing an unpleasant stimulus after a response
• C. being told that you have done a good job
• D. all of the above

Explanation: Reinforcement strengthens a behavior either by adding a desirable stimulus or removing an unpleasant one; praise can function as positive…

• A. a positive reinforce
• B. a discriminative stimulus
• C. punishment
• D. shaping

Explanation: Avoidance learning requires a cue that signals when the avoidance response will prevent or postpone an aversive event, functioning as a…

• A. extinction
• B. generalization
• C. spontaneous recovery
• D. discrimination

Explanation: The monkey responds to the bell but withholds the response to the buzzer, showing that it has learned to distinguish between two stimuli.

• A. positively reinforced
• B. negatively reinforced
• C. punished
• D. extinguished

Explanation: Negative reinforcement strengthens a behavior by removing an unpleasant stimulus after the behavior occurs.

• A. conditioned response
• B. unconditioned response
• C. unconditioned stimulus
• D. conditioned stimulus

Explanation: Salivation caused by the bell is learned after the bell has been paired with food, making it a conditioned response.

• A. an avoidance response
• B. generalization
• C. extinction
• D. negative reinforcement

Explanation: Extinction occurs when a previously reinforced operant response weakens and stops because reinforcement is discontinued.

• A. classical conditioning
• B. operant conditioning
• C. observational learning
• D. insight learning

Explanation: Skinner viewed operant conditioning as the major way behaviour is learned because consequences strengthen or weaken voluntary responses.

• A. classical conditioning
• B. habituation
• C. positive reinforcement
• D. b and c

Explanation: The unexpectedly good grade is a rewarding consequence that increases the student's studying, so it is positive reinforcement.

• A. reinforcement
• B. punishment
• C. discrimination
• D. chaining

Explanation: Reinforcement is any process or consequence that increases the future likelihood of an operant response.

• A. mating behavior in dogs
• B. operant behaviors in dogs
• C. digestive reflexes in dogs
• D. neurological damage in dogs

Explanation: Pavlov discovered classical conditioning while studying dogs' digestive reflexes, especially salivation in response to food.

• A. shaping
• B. partial reinforcement
• C. secondary reinforcement
• D. modeling

Explanation: Shaping reinforces successive approximations, rewarding steps that gradually become closer to the target behaviour.

• A. conditioned response
• B. unconditioned stimulus
• C. unconditioned response
• D. conditioned stimulus

Explanation: Food naturally triggers salivation without prior learning, so food is the unconditioned stimulus and the resulting salivation is the…

• A. operant conditioning
• B. observational learning
• C. place learning
• D. habituation

Explanation: Operant conditioning changes habits by arranging consequences, such as reinforcement for healthy behavior or penalties for smoking and…

• A. its consequences
• B. free will
• C. knowledge
• D. instinct

Explanation: In operant conditioning, behaviors become more or less likely according to their consequences, especially reinforcement and punishment.

• A. shaping
• B. acquisition
• C. discrimination
• D. generalization

Explanation: Stimulus discrimination is the ability to respond differently to a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that are not paired with the…

• A. maturation
• B. animal cognition
• C. operant conditioning
• D. classical conditioning

Explanation: Pavlov studied classical conditioning, demonstrating that dogs could learn to salivate to a previously neutral stimulus such as a bell…