Free General Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. Psychology's theoretical diversity
• B. Psychology's empiricism
• C. People's experience of the world is subjective
• D. The joint influence of heredity and experience

Explanation: The examples show that behaviour and emotion arise through the interaction of biological factors with environmental experience.

• A. Enjoying a televised football game.
• B. Solving a crossword puzzle
• C. Washing dishes.
• D. Riding a bicycle.

Explanation: High arousal can support simple or well-practised actions but disrupts attention and reasoning on complex tasks.

• A. Relative deprivation principle
• B. Adaptation-level principle
• C. James-Lange theory
• D. Catharsis hypothesis

Explanation: Holding a pen with the teeth activates smiling muscles and can increase amusement, illustrating facial feedback: bodily and facial…

• A. Epinephrine
• B. Glycogen.
• C. Testosterone.
• D. Insulin.

Explanation: Epinephrine, also called adrenaline, is released during emergencies and raises heart rate, blood pressure, and blood glucose to prepare…

• A. Peripheralist
• B. Modern
• C. Centralist
• D. Contemporary

Explanation: Cannon-Bard is called a centralist theory because it places the emotional experience in the brain, especially the thalamus, rather than…

• A. While
• B. After
• C. Then
• D. Before

Explanation: James-Lange theory proposes that a stimulus first produces bodily arousal, and the perception of those bodily changes is then experienced…

• A. It is impossible to reach either of the two goals.
• B. The two goals are equally desirable
• C. One goal is more desirable than the other.
• D. Neither goal is particularly desirable.

Explanation: An approach-approach conflict involves choosing between two desirable goals, so deciding is difficult because both have similar positive…

• A. The experience of emotion depends on autonomic arousal and on one's cognitive interpretation of that arousal.
• B. Different patterns of autonomic activation lead to the experience of different emotions.
• C. Emotion occurs when the thalamus sends signals simulitaneously to the cortex and to the autonomic nervous system.
• D. Emotions develop because of their adaptive value.

Explanation: James-Lange theory links distinct emotions to distinct patterns of bodily or autonomic activation, such as changes in heart rate or muscle…

• A. 90
• B. 75
• C. 125
• D. 100

Explanation: The traditional IQ formula is mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100.

• A. is a powerful influence and should be legally controlled.
• B. is effective only when used in wide-screen movies.
• C. is successful because the stimuli used register unconsciously.
• D. has a weak effect, if any at all

Explanation: Research generally finds that subliminal messages produce weak, short-lived effects rather than powerful control over behaviour.

• A. occur when we can first detect some stimulus
• B. occur when we can detect the change in the intensity of a stimulus
• C. depend on the energy necessary to stimulate a sensory receptor
• D. are measured in judgmental Normal Differences

Explanation: A difference threshold, or just-noticeable difference, is the smallest change in stimulus intensity that a person can detect.

• A. mouth
• B. hands & fingers
• C. feet and toes
• D. legs

Explanation: The motor cortex allocates disproportionately large areas to body parts requiring precise control, especially the hands and fingers, as…

• A. medulla
• B. cerebellum
• C. frontal cortex
• D. limbic system

Explanation: Many addictive drugs activate the brain’s reward circuitry, which is closely associated with limbic structures such as the nucleus…

• A. accommodation
• B. conduction hearing loss
• C. loss of movement
• D. nerve deafnessTake Psychology Courses

Explanation: The basilar membrane contains the cochlea’s sensory hair cells, so damage there disrupts neural transmission of sound and causes…

• A. neurotransmitters
• B. agonists
• C. genes
• D. hormones

Explanation: Endocrine glands release hormones into the bloodstream, allowing chemical signals to act on distant target organs.

• A. somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system
• B. brain and the spinal cord
• C. sympathetic division and the parasympathetic division
• D. central nervous system and the peripheral nervous systemExplore Anatomy Models

Explanation: The nervous system is broadly divided into the central nervous system, consisting of the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous…

• A. blinking in response to a light
• B. imitating a friend's gesture
• C. remembering a pleasant experience
• D. rapid eye movements while sleepingExplore Anatomy Models

Explanation: Covert behavior is an internal activity that cannot be directly observed, such as remembering a pleasant experience.

• A. Ivan Pavlov
• B. B.F. Skinner
• C. Max wertheimer
• D. John Watson

Explanation: Max Wertheimer was a founder of Gestalt psychology, which studies how the mind organizes experiences into meaningful wholes.

• A. ossicle
• B. nerve
• C. conduction
• D. auditoryTry Prep Courses

Explanation: Hearing aids amplify sound entering the ear, so they can help when conduction through the outer or middle ear is impaired.

• A. sensory adaptation
• B. stabilization of physiological nystagmus
• C. the triggering of perceptual defense systems
• D. release of endorphins

Explanation: Acupuncture may reduce pain by stimulating the release of endorphins, the body's natural opioid-like pain-relieving chemicals.