MCQ Practice for GATE Psychology

2024

Question 1

Maria, a college student, can recall very little of

the French that she learned in seventh grade.
Maria enrolls in a beginning French course at
college and learns French more rapidly than she
had earlier. Of the following, which describes this
increased rate of learning?

(A) The serial position effect

(B) Savings
(C) Shaping
(D) Secondary reinforcement
(E) Proactive inhibition
Question 2

In studies of human memory, the “magic number”

7 + 2 refers to the

(A) number of items that can be repeated without

error immediately after hearing them
(B) number of objects that can be stored in a
single visual image
(C) maximum number of items that can be
recognized after the first presentation of a
set of 12 items
(D) age (in years) when children first start using
memory strategies
(E) decay rate (in seconds) of a memory trace
Question 3

Of the following, who was the first to develop the

concept of the “stream of consciousness’’?

(A) Titchener
(B) Hall
(C) James
(D) Penfield
(E) Jung

Question 4

Transmission of neural impulses across most

synapses in the nervous system relies on

(A) structural changes

(B) chemical events
(C) saltatory conduction
(D) mechanical events only
(E) both electrical and mechanical events
Question 5

Ordinarily, there is a profound loss of postural

muscle tone in which of the following?

(A) REM sleep

(B) Gamma efferent activity
(C) Psychogenic fugue
(D) Tourette’s syndrome
(E) Norepinephrine depletion

Question 6

The approach to studying personality that focuses on intra-individual

tendencies and their organiza-tion is called

(A) nomothetic
(B) factor analytic
(C) transactional
(D) situational
(E) idiographic
Question 7

The test item “Getting what I want has little or nothing to do with
luck” is most likely to be from a measure of

(A) authoritarianism
(B) manifest anxiety
(C) social loafing
(D) addictive personality
(E) locus of control

Question 8

Developers of classification systems for the types

of psychotic disorders found in DSM-IV are best
characterized as the intellectual descendants of

(A) Leta Hollingworth

(B) Karen Horney
(C) Sigmund Freud
(D) Emil Kraepelin
(E) Ivan Pavlov
Question 9

When a conditioned response is measured on the

first extinction trial, what is the usual result?

(A) The response strength is similar to that on the

immediately preceding trial.
(B) The response generalizes to other stimuli that
are similar to the CS.
(C) The response strength decreases considerably.
(D) The response strength increases considerably.
(E) The response is reconditioned with a new CS.
Question.10

Which of the following is the best example of a

placebo effect?

(A) Recovery from a disorder as the result of the

mere passage of time
(B) A drug-induced change in the pathogno-
monic, but not in the accessory, symptoms
of a disorder
(C) The primary prevention of a disorder by a
drug
(D) Improvement in a condition following
treatment with a pharmacologically inert
substance
(E) Spontaneous recovery from a disorder in the
absence of any intervention.
Question 11

An individual having which of the following disorders would be

LEAST likely to experience guilt or remorse?

(A) Obsessive-compulsive disorder

(B) Generalized anxiety disorder
(C) Antisocial personality disorder
(D) Schizophrenia
(E) Depression

Question 12

The Schizophrenia scale (Sc) of the MMPI was initially developed by

contrasting the item responses of patients diagnosed as schizophrenic
with the item responses of which of the following groups?

(A) Adolescent nonpsychiatric medical patients

(B) Patients with a variety of organic mental
disorders
(C) Students from a university counseling center
(D) A random sample of medical personnel
(E) Adults believed to have no psychiatric
disorders
Question 13

Prolonged use of antipsychotic drugs in treating

schizophrenia often leads to physical symptoms
most similar to those seen in

(A) hypermania
(B) REM-sleep deprivation
(C) epilepsy
(D) aphasia
(E) Parkinson’s disease

Question 14

Sensory transduction refers to the process

whereby

(A) acomplex stimulus is analyzed into its

components
(B) central processes influence incoming
stimulation
(C) external events trigger neural events
(D) neural impulses are transmitted in parallel
pathways
Question 15

The facial-feedback and James-Lange theories of

emotion both claim that

(A) the medulla is the part of the brain that 1s

most involved in emotion
(B) cognitive evaluations of environmental cues
determine the emotion experienced
(C) different emotions evolved at different times
in the course of evolution
(D) a specific kind of bodily response precedes
the experience of a specific emotion
(E) the eyes express more emotion than does the
mouth
Question 16

A man who was the victim of a violent crime fully recovers from the
physical injuries. However, even a year later, the man continues to
experiencerecurrent, intrusive memories of the incident, has trouble
concentrating, and experiences sleep disturbances. He also avoids
going anywhere near the vicinity of the crime. The man is most likely
suffering from

(A) a generalized anxiety disorder

(B) a phobia
(C) an obsession
(D) a somatization disorder
(E) a posttraumatic stress disorder

Question 17

The F-ratio is a ratio of

(A) variance estimates

(B) alpha levels
(C) degrees of freedom
(D) observed means
(E) sample sizes
Question 18

The intensity of a stimulus might be coded by a

single nerve fiber in a number of ways. Which
of the following eliminates the possibility that
intensity might be coded by differing amounts
of potential change in the neural impulses?

(A) Presynaptic inhibition

(B) The chemistry of neurotransmitters
(C) Depolarization
(D) Hyperpolarization
(E) The all-or-none law
Question 19

In a study of retroactive interference (RI), an

experimenter used the following procedure for
each participant: learn list 1, learn list 2, recall
list 1. This procedure for studying RI is question-
able because the experimenter

(A) failed to include a control group that did not

perform an interfering interpolated activity
(B) used the procedure intended to study
proactive rather than retroactive interference
(C) did not control for possible retrieval cues that
could aid in recall
(D) was studying interference rather than simple
trace decay
(E) was measuring negative transfer of learning
rather than retroactive interference
Question 20

Which of the following developed a formal model

based on the idea that behavior is a joint function
of the person and the environment?

(A) Eugen Bleuler

(B) Charles Darwin
(C) Kurt Lewin
(D) B. F. Skinner
(E) John B. Watson
Question 21

Which of the following was a major reason why

psychology became a discipline independent of
philosophy during the nineteenth century?

(A) Psychology’s use of the experimental method

(B) Theorizing about the unconscious

(C) Arguments over the dualistic theory of mind

and body

(D) Arguments about imageless thought

(E) Philosophers’ lack of interest in psycho-

logical problems
Question 22

Which of the following propositions best exem-

plifies the social psychological concept of the
sleeper effect?

(A) Fatigue enhances attitude change.

(B) Fatigue reduces attitude change.

(C) The persuasive impact of a high-credibility

source tends to increase over time.

(D) The persuasive impact of a low-credibility

source tends to increase over time.

(E) The persuasive impact of a low-credibility

source tends to decrease over time.
Question. 23

A picture of a pencil is presented so that it is

represented in the right hemisphere of a split-
brain patient who has left-hemisphere dominance.
As a result, the patient will most likely respond by

(A) writing out the word “pencil” with the right

hand

(B) using the nght hand to point at another pencil

among a miscellaneous group of objects

(C) using the left hand to select a pencil from a

group of hidden objects

(D) saying aloud that the object is something to

write with

(E) saying aloud that the picture is a picture of a

pencil
Question 24

M. J. Lerner and his associates have found that a

participant randomly assigned to receive shock is
disliked by another participant observing the
situation. They explain this downgrading of an
innocent victim in terms of

(A) psychological reactance

(B) increase in cognitive dissonance

(C) contrast empathy

(D) the guilt-denial principle

(E) the just-world hypothesis

Question 25

The same substance may act as a hormone or as a

neurotransmitter. The major distinction between
the two 1s that a hormone is

(A) unlikely to reach its target, whereas a neuro-

transmitter almost always reaches its target

(B) produced by glial cells, whereas a neuro-

transmitter is produced by terminal boutons

(C) transmitted by arteries, whereas a neurotrans-

mitter is transmitted by capillaries

(D) secreted into the bloodstream, whereas a

neurotransmitter is secreted into a synapse

(E) likely to inhibit cell activity, whereas a

neurotransmitter can only stimulate cell
activity
Question 26

Which of the following disorders is most likely to

be treated with exposure and response-prevention

procedures?

(A) Obsessive-compulsive

(B) Schizotypal personality

(C) Attention-deficit hyperactivity

(D) Bipolar depressive

(E) Somatoform
Question 27

When persuasive communications follow the

peripheral route, they focus on which of the
following?

(A) Beliefs
(B) Facts
(C) Values
(D) Emotions
(E) Cognitions
Question 28

Consider the sentence “The dishwasher is

running.” Which of the following is true?

(A) It can have more than one surface structure.

(B) It can have more than one deep structure.
(C) It is grammatically incorrect.
(D) It can have more than one syntax.
(E) It violates the rules of bottom-up processing.
Question 29

Organizing the string of letters B-F-J-T-A-V-K-C

into JFK-TV-CAB is an example of

(A) simplifying
(B) clustering
(C) seriating
(D) chunking
(E) paraphrasing
Question 30

The bradykinesia, cogwheel rigidity, and tremors

that characterize Parkinson’s disease are a result
of the degeneration of dopaminergic cells in the

(A) association cortex

(B) cerebellum
(C) hippocampus
(D) reticular formation
(E) substantia nigra
Question 31

Which of the following is chemically similar

to opiates, has the ability to reduce pain, and
is blocked by the action of naloxone?

(A) Norepinephrine
(B) Acetylcholine
(C) Serotonin
(D) Endorphin
(E) Dopamine
Question 32

A 40-item vocabulary test was administered

to a group of students. A second, similar test of

vocabulary terms was administered to this same
group of students approximately one week later.
The researcher reported that the correlation
between these two tests was r= .90. What type
of reliability is represented in this example?

(A) Test-retest
(B) Internal consistency
(C) Alternate forms
(D) Split-half
(E) Inter-rater
Question 33

Over many trials a puff of air aimed at JoAnne’s

eyes 1s paired with a loud noise and a subtle
smell. Afterward, it is very likely that JoAnne’s
conditioned eye blink will be under the control
of the loud noise and not the subtle smell. This
phenomenon is an example of

(A) overshadowing
(B) conditioned suppression
(C) generalization
(D) counterconditioning
(E) reinstatement
Question 34

Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess described

three categories of infants: easy, difficult, and
slow to warm up. These are categories of

(A) play
(B) emotions
(C) toilet training
(D) temperament
(E) smiles
Question 35

The idea that people cope with stress by moving

toward people, away from people, or against
people is most consistent with the views of

(A) Aaron Beck

(B) Carl Rogers
(C) Karen Horney
(D) Erik Erikson
(E) Erich Fromm
Question 36

Which of the following types of cognitive abilities

is LEAST likely to show a decline in late life?

(A) Working memory

(B) Processing speed
(C) Fluid intelligence
(D) Semantic memory
(E) Episodic memory
Question 37

The sharing of information about oneself

is referred to as

(A) social exchange

(B) experience sampling

(C) communal sharing
(D) self-disclosure
(E) authority ranking
Question 38

Charles Scott Sherrington proposed that rapid

stimulation of a specific synapse 1s likely to

produce a cumulative effect in the postsynaptic

cell because of

(A) spatial summation

(B) temporal summation
(C) saltatory conduction
(D) neuromodulation
(E) spreading depression
Question 39

Research on children’s social behavior shows that relative to young

adolescent boys, young adolescent girls exhibit more of which type of
aggression?

(A) Hostile
(B) Instrumental
(C) Physical
(D) Relational
(E) Displaced
Question 40

‘“T runned to the car” is an example of

(A) telegraphic speech

(B) fast mapping
(C) overregularization
(D) overextension
(E) holophrasing
Question 41

Which of the following is an atypical

developmental pattern characterized by
stereotyped motor responses and poor
communication skills?

(A) Tardive dyskinesia

(B) Autism spectrum disorder

(C) Down syndrome

(D) Williams syndrome

(E) Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Question 42

The visual pathway that tells us what we

are looking at is called the

(A) corticospinal tract

(B) solitary tract
(C) spinothalamic tract
(D) dorsal stream
(E) ventral stream
Question 43

Which theorist revised Sigmund Freud’s stages of

development, replacing Freud’s psychosexual
stages with psychosocial stages’?

(A) Karen Horney

(B) Erik Erikson
(C) Alfred Adler
(D) Viktor Frankl
(E) Abraham Maslow
Question 44

Rapid eye movements are most closely associated with which of the
following?

(A) Alpha waves

(B) Delta waves
(C) Dreaming
(D) Apnea
(E) Stage II sleep
Question,45

Using a pendulum apparatus, a participant

attempts to derive the physical laws that determine the rate at which a
pendulum swings.
The participant’s approach to solving this problem
is to hold a relevant factor (X) constant and to
vary a second relevant factor (Y), and then to
reverse this procedure by holding Y constant and
varying X. According to Jean Piaget, the
participant’s level of cognitive functioning is most
likely

(A) preoperational
(B) concrete operational
(C) formal operational
(D) sensorimotor
(E) conventional
Question 46

An investigator interested in the development of

children’s attitudes toward the police assessed and
compared the attitudes of 250 eight year olds, 240 twelve year olds,
and 245 sixteen year olds. She matched the three groups with regard
to gender and socioeconomic background. The investigator’s research
design is best charac-terized as which of the following?

(A) A case study

(B) A controlled experiment

(C) Sequential

(D) Cross-sectional

(E) Longitudinal
Question 47

If a psychological disorder has a genetic basis,

one would expect to find the highest concordance
rate for the illness between which of the
following?

(A) Mother and child

(B) Father and child
(C) Identical twins
(D) Fraternal twins
(E) Nontwin siblings
Question 48

According to Sigmund Freud, a child who grabs

food from another child because of hunger 1s
driven by

(A) the id

(B) the ego

(C) environmental reinforcers

(D) the superego

(E) cognitive schemas

Question 49

The standard deviation of a sample of test scores

is a measure of the

(A) central tendency of scores

(B) variability of individual scores
(C) concurrent validity of the test
(D) line of best fit
(E) normality of the distribution
Question 50

A client sleeps sixteen hours a day. According to

the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5_ ), the client
most likely has which of the following sleep
disorders’?

(A) Circadian rhythm sleep-wake

(B) Insomnia
(C) Hypersomnolence
(D) Sleep arousal
(E) Nightmare
Question 51

All of the following statements about

psychodynamic theorists are correct EXCEPT:

(A) Karen Horney stressed the importance of

social relationships between children and
their parents.

(B) Alfred Adler claimed that childhood feelings

of inferiority lead to striving for superiority.

(C) Carl Jung identified two components of the

unconscious: the preconscious and the
formal unconscious.

(D) Erik Erikson described conflicts at different

stages of development.

(E) Sigmund Freud stressed the interaction of the

id, the ego, and the superego.
Question 52

Annette is looking for a psychotherapist whose

clinical work is rooted in object relations theory.

The best match for Annette would be a therapist

who emphasizes

(A) the use of medication

(B) the here and now
(C) cognitive distortions
(D) early life relationships
(E) counterconditioning
Question 53

Which of the following learning theorists first

demonstrated that a neutral stimulus could

acquire the ability to evoke a response originally

attributed to another stimulus’?

(A) Michael Domjan

(B) Ivan Pavlov
(C) Albert Bandura
(D) B. F. Skinner
(E) E. L. Thorndike
Question 54

Which of the following was the first to

systematically and empirically study memory

by developing an innovative approach based

on consonant-vowel-consonant combinations?

(A) Hermann Ebbinghaus

(B) James Mill
(C) John B. Watson
(D) Max Wertheimer
(E) Christian von Ehrenfels
Question 55

Which memory store is believed to have the

largest capacity?

(A) The sensory store

(B) The short-term store
(C) The long-term store
(D) The phonological loop
(E) The visuospatial sketch pad
Question 56

The use of polite words such as “please” and

“thank you” in everyday speech is called

(A) morphology
(B) syntax
(C) semantics
(D) pragmatics
(E) phonetics
Question 57

According to the theory of cognitive development

proposed by Lev Vygotsky, children learn best
by working

(A) independently

(B) with adults and advanced peers

(C) with less advanced peers
(D) with visually simple objects
(E) with visually complex objects
Question 58

Which of the following factors would best

explain why monozygotic twins, raised together,
nevertheless develop different personalities?

(A) Shared genetic material

(B) Non-shared genetic material
(C) Shared environments
(D) Non-shared environments
(E) Shared histories
Question 59

Which of the following predictions is the best

example of context-dependent memory?

(A) Concrete words are easier to recall than

abstract words.

(B) Auditory encoding is superior to visual

encoding.

(C) Information is better recalled when learning

and testing occur in the same room.

(D) Information is better recalled when it is

deeply encoded.

(E) In a list of words, those in bold are easier to

recall.
Question 60

Edmundo got into an argument with the grocery

clerk. When he returned to his car after shopping,
he discovered that he received a parking ticket.
Edmundo furiously crumpled up the ticket and
threw it on the ground. When his friend Terri
told him to calm down, he screamed at her to
mind her own business. Which of the following
theories best accounts for Edmundo’s behavior?

(A) Excitation transfer

(B) Social identity
(C) Correspondent inference
(D) Distraction-conflict
(E) Normative focus
Question 61

. Fred was keenly interested in a new science

fiction film and therefore was surprised when he
arrived at the theater on opening night and found
only a few people there. Fred’s mistaken
judgment of the popularity of the film illustrates

(A) the self-serving bias

(B) self-handicapping

(C) pluralistic ignorance

(D) the actor-observer effect

(E) the false consensus effect

Question 62

According to the evolutionary principle of

kin selection, people are more likely to help

someone who

(A) is physically attractive

(B) shares their genes
(C) will return the favor
(D) is a potential mate
(E) is of higher status
Question 63

Manic episodes are a defining feature of which of

the following disorders?

(A) Major depressive

(B) Autism spectrum
(C) Posttraumatic stress
(D) Bipolar
(E) Schizophrenia spectrum
Question 64

Young children form rudimentary sentences that

resemble telegrams even though they have never
heard anyone make such utterances before. This is
evidence of

(A) reinforcement theory

(B) a universal grammar
(C) pragmatics
(D) semantics
(E) morphology
Question 65

A fixed action pattern is defined as a response to a

(A) secondary reinforcer

(B) generalization gradient
(C) conditioned stimulus
(D) drop in reticular activity
(E) sign stimulus