Free Learning and Motivation MCQs with Answers

370 Learning and Motivation MCQs from Psychology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

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370 questions · page 5 of 19

  • A. flow
  • B. strengths-based selection
  • C. transformation leadership
  • D. achievement motivation

Explanation: Csikszentmihalyi used flow to describe intense absorption in an activity, in which a person becomes highly focused and loses awareness of…

Correct answer: flow
  • A. a competence motive
  • B. a drive motive
  • C. an achievement motive
  • D. an intellect motive

Explanation: The achievement motive is the desire to master difficult tasks, meet high standards, and outperform others.

Correct answer: an achievement motive
  • A. arousal; Incentive
  • B. drive reduction; arousal
  • C. drive; reduction; incentive
  • D. incentive; drive; reduction

Explanation: At first, Josh smokes for the pleasurable incentive produced by nicotine; after dependence develops, smoking reduces the unpleasant…

Correct answer: incentive; drive; reduction
  • A. instinct
  • B. drive reduction
  • C. incentive
  • D. evolutionary

Explanation: An incentive is an external reward that attracts and energises behaviour, such as the promised car.

Correct answer: incentive
  • A. Lauren is motivated by both a fear of failure and a need for achievement, while Curtis is merely motivated by a need for achievement
  • B. Lauren is motivated by a fear of failure and Curtis is motivated by a need for achievement
  • C. both students are motivated by a need for achievement
  • D. both students are motivated by a fear of failure

Explanation: Lauren studies to avoid failing, showing fear of failure, whereas Curtis studies to attain the highest grade, showing a need for…

Correct answer: Lauren is motivated by a fear of failure and Curtis is motivated by a need for achievement
  • A. fixed-action patterns
  • B. homeostasis
  • C. secondary drives
  • D. arousal

Explanation: Money is a secondary drive because its motivational value is learned through its association with primary needs and rewards.

Correct answer: secondary drives
  • A. ventromedial; lateral
  • B. lateral; ventromedial
  • C. non-homeostatic; homeostatic
  • D. cyclic; episodic

Explanation: The ventromedial hypothalamus is traditionally associated with satiety, whereas the lateral hypothalamus is associated with feeding and…

Correct answer: ventromedial; lateral
  • A. lowering its set point
  • B. destruction of its lateral hypothalamus
  • C. destruction of its ventromedial hypothalamus
  • D. stimulation of its ventromedial hypothalamus

Explanation: The ventromedial hypothalamus is classically linked with satiety, so its destruction removes an important stop signal and can produce…

Correct answer: destruction of its ventromedial hypothalamus
  • A. a stimulus need
  • B. a curiosity drive
  • C. the Coolidge effect
  • D. an episodic drive

Explanation: The Coolidge effect is the return of sexual interest when a novel mate is introduced, even after sexual satiation with the previous mate.

Correct answer: the Coolidge effect
  • A. emotional distress
  • B. the fear of becoming too thin
  • C. drinking alcohol in small quantities
  • D. the perception that they have cheated on their diet

Explanation: Restrained eaters commonly lose dietary control after believing they have already broken their diet, producing the ‘what-the-hell’ effect.

Correct answer: the perception that they have cheated on their diet
  • A. taste aversions are really more like operant conditioning
  • B. taste aversions can be unlearned as well
  • C. there is a biological tendency to associate sickness with any food eaten earlier
  • D. there is less aversion associated with the actual sickness than with whatever caused the sickness in the first placeTry Prep Courses

Explanation: Taste aversion is a biological preparedness effect: organisms are especially ready to associate a taste with later illness, even after a…

Correct answer: there is a biological tendency to associate sickness with any food eaten earlier
  • A. drink more water than biologically needed
  • B. refuse to drink until forced to do so
  • C. eat until it becomes obese
  • D. refuse to eat until force fed

Explanation: Damage to the lateral hypothalamus produces aphagia, or failure to eat, often accompanied by reduced drinking.

Correct answer: refuse to eat until force fed
  • A. a total loss of appetite
  • B. eating based on recognized need, not internal feelings of hunger
  • C. some changes in eating, but hunger still occurs
  • D. the need for patients to be "trained" to eat; otherwise they would inadvertently starve to deathGet Study Guides

Explanation: Removing the stomach or severing its sensory nerves does not eliminate hunger because hunger is regulated by multiple bodily and brain…

Correct answer: some changes in eating, but hunger still occurs
  • A. needs that are learned, such as the needs for power for achievement
  • B. innate but no necessary for survival
  • C. not innate but necessary for survival
  • D. innate and necessary for survival

Explanation: Secondary motives are acquired through learning and experience rather than being biologically programmed.

Correct answer: needs that are learned, such as the needs for power for achievement
  • A. plain water
  • B. a slightly salty liquid
  • C. a beverage containing some alcohol
  • D. milk

Explanation: Prolonged vigorous exercise causes loss of water and electrolytes, especially sodium through sweating.

Correct answer: a slightly salty liquid
  • A. arousal theory
  • B. drive reduction theory
  • C. Yerkes-Dodson Law
  • D. inverted-U function

Explanation: The Yerkes-Dodson law links arousal with task difficulty and performance, predicting that moderate arousal is often best.

Correct answer: Yerkes-Dodson Law
  • A. Thematic Apperception Test
  • B. Sentence Completion
  • C. Rorschach
  • D. MMPI

Explanation: McClelland measured achievement motivation using the Thematic Apperception Test, interpreting recurring themes in ambiguous stories.

Correct answer: Thematic Apperception Test
  • A. extrinsic
  • B. secondary
  • C. learned
  • D. primary

Explanation: Thirst is a primary drive because it arises from a basic physiological need and motivates restoration of the body’s fluid balance.

Correct answer: primary
  • A. lower the body's set point
  • B. reduce tension and anxiety
  • C. decrease blood glucose levels
  • D. prevent bulimia nervosa

Explanation: Carbohydrate consumption can increase brain serotonin activity, which is associated with reduced tension and anxiety in this motivational…

Correct answer: reduce tension and anxiety
  • A. sexual disorders
  • B. boredom
  • C. hunger
  • D. refractory periods

Explanation: Arousal theory proposes that people seek an optimal level of stimulation, so boredom is aversive because arousal is too low.

Correct answer: boredom