Free General Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. humanist
• B. gestalt
• C. psychoanalytic
• D. behaviorist

Explanation: Behaviorism made psychology more scientific by emphasizing observable, measurable behavior rather than unverifiable inner experience.

• A. cognitive
• B. developmental
• C. industrial/organizational
• D. psychological

Explanation: Industrial-organizational psychologists apply psychological principles to improve employee performance, job satisfaction, selection, and…

• A. behavioral
• B. social-cultural
• C. neuroscience
• D. cognitive

Explanation: The behavioral perspective is identified by its focus on observable and measurable responses.

• A. psychologists only study observable behaviors
• B. psychologists approach the study of thoughts and actions
• C. psychological research is free from value judgments
• D. all of the above

Explanation: Calling psychology a science means studying thoughts and actions systematically through evidence-based methods, not studying only visible…

• A. theory of infantile sexuality
• B. focus on individual differences
• C. creation of standardized measures of intelligence
• D. explanation of the phi-phenomenon

Explanation: Francis Galton helped establish the study of individual differences, including differences in abilities and traits.

• A. the mind and the brain
• B. the heart and the will
• C. the body and the soul
• D. the brain and the muscles

Explanation: Dualism separates reality into two interacting parts, traditionally the body and the soul or mind.

• A. stability
• B. personal
• C. continuous
• D. selective

Explanation: William James described consciousness as personal, continuous or ever-changing, and selective.

• A. humanism
• B. interactive dualism
• C. phenomenology
• D. psychoanalysis

Explanation: Psychoanalysis explains behavior partly through unconscious wishes, conflicts, and motives.

• A. random combination
• B. whole form
• C. conscious perception
• D. unconscious illusion

Explanation: Gestalt is a German term meaning a whole form or organized pattern. Gestalt psychology therefore studies how the mind organizes parts into…

• A. comparative psychology
• B. clinical psychology
• C. physiological psychology
• D. neuropsychology

Explanation: Neuropsychology examines how particular brain and nervous-system areas relate to human behavior and mental functions.

• A. Structuralism
• B. physiological psychology
• C. behaviorism
• D. ethnology
• E. None of these

Explanation: Behaviorism restricted psychology to observable behavior and rejected reliance on unobservable mental processes as its primary subject…

• A. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner
• B. Jean Piaget and John
• C. Watson C. Noam Chomsky and Jean Piaget
• D. B.F. Skinner and Noam Chomsky

Explanation: John B. Watson established behaviorism as a major school, and B. F. Skinner later developed its operant-conditioning approach.

• A. ethnology
• B. neuropsychology
• C. physiological psychology
• D. structuralism
• E. None of these

Explanation: Physiological psychology studies the biological processes underlying behavior and psychological experience, such as brain activity…

• A. physiological psychology
• B. cognitive psychology
• C. ethnology
• D. behaviorism

Explanation: Cognitive psychology became the dominant modern approach after the decline of strict behaviorism, focusing on mental processes such as…

• A. structuralism
• B. behaviorism
• C. Gestalt psychology
• D. psychoanalysis
• E. None of these

Explanation: Behaviorism rejected the mind as psychology’s proper subject and instead concentrated on observable behavior and its environmental causes.

• A. functionalism
• B. structuralism
• C. reflexology
• D. psychoanalysis

Explanation: Functionalism was strongly influenced by Darwin because it asked how mental processes and behavior help organisms adapt, survive, and…

• A. require the lowest energy expenditure
• B. they individually select from various natural alternative
• C. they learn from their parents
• D. help them to survive and reproduce

Explanation: Natural selection preserves inherited tendencies that improve an organism’s chances of surviving long enough to reproduce.

• A. Rene Descartes
• B. William James
• C. Sigmund Freud
• D. None of the above

Explanation: Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig in 1879.

• A. behavior can be influenced by physiology and the mind cannot
• B. behavior can be influenced by the environment and the mind cannot
• C. behavior can be observed and the mind cannot
• D. All of above

Explanation: Mental processes are studied scientifically through observable indicators such as responses, reports, and behavior, whereas the mind…

• A. structuralism
• B. behaviorism
• C. gestalt school
• D. functionalism

Explanation: Structuralism, associated with Wundt and Titchener, is traditionally regarded as the first formal school of psychology.