Free General Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. the most reliable
• B. often contradicted by empirical evidence
• C. the basis for most psychological theories
• D. the basis for collecting data (observed facts)

Explanation: Common sense can seem convincing but is often contradicted by systematic psychological research because intuition is vulnerable to bias…

• A. applied
• B. commonsense
• C. pseudo
• D. forensic

Explanation: Pseudo-psychology presents unsupported practices, such as palm reading, as if they could reveal reliable psychological or personal…

• A. all are pseudo-psychology's
• B. none is subject to the P.T Barnum effect
• C. they rarely appear to "work" due to the fallacy of positive instances
• D. astrology is the only system with a scientific basis

Explanation: Astrology, palmistry and phrenology are classified as pseudopsychologies because their claims lack reliable scientific support.

• A. read their handwriting
• B. examine their skulls
• C. study their palms
• D. record their EEGs

Explanation: Phrenology claims that mental abilities can be inferred from the shape and bumps of the skull, so a phrenologist would examine the…

• A. R.W. Fogel, and S.L. Engerman
• B. Sydeny E. Ahlstrom
• C. Max Weber
• D. None of these

Explanation: Time on the Cross: The Economics of American Negro Slavery was written by economic historians Robert W. Fogel and Stanley L. Engerman.

• A. Wilhelm Wundt
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. John B. Watson
• D. B. F. Skinner

Explanation: Wilhelm Wundt is commonly called the father of modern psychology because he established psychology as a separate experimental discipline.

• A. Wilhelm Wundt
• B. Sigmund Freud
• C. John B. Watson
• D. B. F. Skinner

Explanation: Wilhelm Wundt founded the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.

• A. Vienna
• B. Zurich
• C. Berlin
• D. Prague

Explanation: Freud spent most of his professional life in Vienna, where he developed psychoanalysis and established his clinical practice.

• A. a valid method of research
• B. unscientific
• C. the cornerstone of behaviorism
• D. the study of the mind in useTry Prep Courses

Explanation: Watson considered introspection unscientific because it relies on private, subjective reports that cannot be independently observed or…

• A. Hegel
• B. R. Aron
• C. K. Marx
• D. Engels

Explanation: Hegel is especially known for his idealist philosophy of history, which explains historical development through dialectical change.

• A. the thalamus plays a central role in producing emotions
• B. the cerebellum must give the go-ahead for emotion
• C. activity in the occipital and parietal lobes happens simultaneously to produce emotion
• D. the sympathetic parasympathetic nervous systems work in concert

Explanation: Cannon-Bard theory assigns a central role to the thalamus, which sends emotional information to the cortex and autonomic nervous system at…

• A. Skinner
• B. Wundt
• C. Thorndyke
• D. Kohler

Explanation: B. F. Skinner wrote Walden Two, a fictional account of a community organised according to behavioural principles.

• A. Hunger
• B. Philosophy
• C. Fear
• D. Greed

Explanation: In Hobbes's account, fear, especially fear of violent death, drives natural man to seek an escape from the dangerous state of nature.

• A. Fear
• B. Love
• C. Reason
• D. Altruism

Explanation: For Hobbes, reason enables natural man to discover rules and agreements that can reduce conflict and provide security.

• A. K. Marx
• B. Max Weber
• C. Parsons
• D. None of aboveEnroll In Courses

Explanation: Max Weber classified legitimate authority into traditional, charismatic and rational-legal forms.

• A. Ethical philosophy
• B. Appetite and aversion
• C. Natural philosophy
• D. God and the devil

Explanation: Hobbes treated good and evil subjectively: what a person desires is experienced as good, while what the person avoids is experienced as…

• A. Herbert Spencer
• B. Durkheim
• C. R-Brown
• D. Firth

Explanation: Herbert Spencer used the organic analogy by comparing society with a living organism whose interconnected parts perform specialised…

• A. used introspection to analyze conscious experience
• B. relied heavily on the concept of natural selection
• C. was concerned with experiences as "wholes"
• D. used dream analysis to reveal the unconscious

Explanation: Structuralism attempted to break conscious experience into its basic elements, using trained introspection as its main method.

• A. Structuralism
• B. Functionalism
• C. Behaviouralism
• D. Elementalism

Explanation: Structuralism focused on identifying the basic elements of conscious experience, such as sensations, images and feelings, mainly through…

• A. rejecting determinism in favor of free will
• B. cognitive rather than behavioral
• C. drawing from many psychological approaches
• D. preferring pseudo-psychological approaches

Explanation: An eclectic psychologist selects useful ideas and techniques from several psychological approaches rather than following one school…