Free psychology practice questions covering conditioning, memory, motivation, social psychology, personality, and key theorists with 50 flashcards.
Psychology 101 is consistently one of the most popular but also most failed first-year university subjects — not because the material is difficult, but because students treat it as memorisation when it rewards understanding and application. Tour practice set covers the six major psychological perspectives (biological, psychodynamic, behaviourist, cognitive, humanistic, sociocultural), research methods, sensation and perception, learning and memory, motivation and emotion, development, personality, psychological disorders, and social psychology.
Every explanation is written to show how the concept applies in a real context — because psychology exam questions almost always present a scenario and ask you to identify which concept is illustrated, not just define a term in isolation.
Introduction to Psychology covers the scientific study of human behaviour. One of the most popular first-year university subjects worldwide.
Study tip: For each major theorist: learn the theory name, 2-3 key concepts, the defining experiment, and one criticism. Tour structure answers most exam questions.
0/150
correct answers
Question 01 of 20
What is operant conditioning?
Explanation: Operant conditioning (B.F. Skinner): behaviour shaped by consequences.
Question 02 of 20
What is negative reinforcement?
Explanation: Negative reinforcement: removes aversive stimulus. Increases behaviour. NOT punishment.
Question 03 of 20
What is cognitive dissonance?
Explanation: Festinger's cognitive dissonance: discomfort from inconsistent cognitions.
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
Explanation: Intrinsic: do it because it's inherently satisfying. Extrinsic: do it for reward/to avoid punishment. Over-justification effect: adding extrinsic reward for intrinsically motivated activity can undermine intrinsic motivation. Self-determination theory: autonomy, competence, relatedness support intrinsic motivation.
ADVERTISEMENT
Q26
What is the bystander effect?
Explanation: Bystander effect (Darley & Latané, Kitty Genovese case): more bystanders → less likelihood any individual will help. Two mechanisms: diffusion of responsibility (someone else will help) and pluralistic ignorance (others look calm → must not be emergency). Overcome by: direct requests ('You, in the red shirt, call 911').
Q27
What is the fundamental attribution error?
Explanation: FAE: Actor-observer effect variant. We explain others' behaviour by character ('he is lazy') but our own by situation ('I was tired'). Self-serving bias: attribute own successes to disposition, failures to situation. FAE strongest in individualistic cultures.
Q28
What is positive psychology?
Explanation: Positive psychology: PERMA model (Seligman): Positive emotions, Engagement/flow, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Focus: strengths (VIA classification), resilience, gratitude, mindfulness, post-traumatic growth. Contrast with deficit/disease model of traditional psychology.
Q29
What is the difference between reliability and validity in psychology research?
Explanation: Reliability types: test-retest, inter-rater, internal consistency. Validity types: face, construct, criterion, ecological. A measure can be reliable (consistent) without being valid (not measuring the right thing). A valid measure must be reliable.
Q30
What is the difference between a psychology experiment and a correlational study?
Explanation: Experiment: random assignment + manipulation = can establish causation. Correlation: r = -1 to +1, shows relationship strength/direction, can't establish causation (confounds, direction of causality unknown). 'Correlation ≠ causation' is fundamental. Quasi-experiment: manipulation without random assignment.
Q31
What is Bandura's social learning theory?
Explanation: Bandura: observational learning requires: attention, retention, reproduction, motivation. Bobo doll study: children imitated aggressive behaviour modelled by adults. Self-efficacy: belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations — key to motivation and learning.
Q32
What is the difference between nature and nurture in psychology?
Explanation: Nature: genetic predispositions, heritability. Nurture: family, culture, experience, epigenetics. Gene-environment interaction: some genes only expressed in certain environments. Twin studies: separate genetic and environmental effects. Epigenetics: environment can modify gene expression.
Q33
What is cognitive dissonance?
Explanation: Cognitive dissonance (Festinger): smoker who knows smoking is harmful experiences dissonance. Resolution: quit (behaviour change), deny harm (belief change), add new belief ('I exercise so it's OK'), minimise importance. Post-decision dissonance: after choosing between equally attractive options.
Q34
What is the difference between psychosis and neurosis?
Explanation: Defence mechanisms (Freud): Repression (unconscious blocking), Denial (refusing to accept reality), Projection (attributing own impulses to others), Rationalisation (making excuses), Sublimation (channelling into acceptable behaviour), Regression (returning to childlike behaviour), Reaction formation (opposite behaviour).
Q38
What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
Explanation: Psychologist: 5+ years doctoral training, specialises in assessment/therapy. Psychiatrist: medical school + residency, can prescribe antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilisers. Collaboration is ideal for complex cases. In some jurisdictions (Louisiana, New Mexico, US military): prescribing psychologists exist.
Q39
What is learned helplessness?
Explanation: Learned helplessness (Seligman): dogs given inescapable shocks later didn't escape when they could. Humans: repeated failures/uncontrollable stressors → belief that effort is futile. Related to depression. Therapy: help person recognise control and efficacy. Growth mindset: antidote to learned helplessness.
Q40
What is the difference between personality disorders and Axis I conditions?
Explanation: Personality disorders: enduring, ego-syntonic (feel like self), onset in adolescence/early adulthood. Clusters: A (odd — paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal), B (dramatic — borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, histrionic), C (anxious — avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive). DSM-5 eliminated formal axes.
Q41
What is ecological validity?
Explanation: Ecological validity: do findings apply to real life? Lab studies: high control/internal validity, potentially low ecological validity. Naturalistic observation: high ecological validity, low internal validity (can't establish causation). Trade-off: control vs generalisability.
Q42
What is confirmation bias?
Explanation: Confirmation bias: affects: interpretation of ambiguous evidence, information search (seek confirming, avoid disconfirming), memory (better recall of confirming info). Mitigation: seek disconfirming evidence deliberately, peer review, registered reports (pre-register hypotheses). Contributes to conspiracy theory persistence.
Q43
What is the difference between fear and anxiety in clinical psychology?
Explanation: Fear: specific object/situation, present danger, adaptive survival response, subsides when threat passes. Anxiety: future-oriented, anticipatory, can be without clear trigger, can become maladaptive. GAD: excessive worry about multiple domains. Phobia: excessive fear of specific object/situation.
What is the difference between internal and external locus of control?
Explanation: Locus of control (Rotter, 1954): internal → better mental health, higher achievement, greater persistence. External → more vulnerable to learned helplessness and depression. Not fixed — can be domain-specific. Related to self-efficacy (Bandura).
Q46
What is the difference between a fixed and growth mindset?
Explanation: Dweck's mindset research: Fixed (entity theory): failure = evidence of low ability → avoid challenges, give up. Growth (incremental theory): failure = opportunity to learn → embrace challenges, persist. Growth mindset interventions improve academic outcomes, especially in disadvantaged students.
Q47
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?
Explanation: Empathy: 'I feel what you feel' — perspective-taking, resonating with another's experience. Cognitive empathy: understanding without feeling. Affective empathy: feeling it. Sympathy: 'I feel sorry for you' — concern from one's own perspective. Compassion: empathy + motivation to help.
Q48
What is the placebo effect?
Explanation: Placebo effect: real physiological changes (measurable). Mechanisms: expectation, conditioning, therapeutic relationship. Nocebo: negative outcomes from negative expectations. In research: placebo-controlled double-blind trials control for this. Ethical use: patients who know they take placebos still show effects.
Q49
What is attribution theory?
Explanation: Attribution theory (Weiner): success/failure attributed to: ability (internal, stable), effort (internal, unstable), task difficulty (external, stable), luck (external, unstable). Locus (internal/external), stability, controllability affect emotional and motivational responses. Adaptive attributions: unstable, controllable for failure ('I didn't study enough').
Q50
What is schema theory in cognitive psychology?
Explanation: Schemas (Bartlett, Piaget): organise knowledge, aid efficient processing, but can distort memory and perception. Assimilation: fit new info into existing schema. Accommodation: change schema to fit new info. Stereotypes: social schemas. Scripts: event schemas. Schemas influence what we notice, encode, and remember.
ADVERTISEMENT
Q51
What is classical conditioning?
Explanation: Classical conditioning: UCS→UCR (unconditioned). CS paired with UCS → CS→CR (conditioned). Extinction: CS presented without UCS → CR weakens. Spontaneous recovery: CR returns after rest. Generalisation: similar stimuli also elicit CR.
Q52
What is operant conditioning?
Explanation: Operant conditioning: Positive reinforcement (add reward), Negative reinforcement (remove aversive stimulus — both increase behaviour). Positive punishment (add aversive), Negative punishment (remove reward — both decrease behaviour). Schedules: fixed ratio (most resistant to extinction).
Q53
What are Piaget's stages of cognitive development?
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
Explanation: Intrinsic: do it because it's inherently satisfying. Extrinsic: do it for reward/to avoid punishment. Over-justification effect: adding extrinsic reward for intrinsically motivated activity can undermine intrinsic motivation. Self-determination theory: autonomy, competence, relatedness support intrinsic motivation.
Q56
What is the bystander effect?
Explanation: Bystander effect (Darley & Latané, Kitty Genovese case): more bystanders → less likelihood any individual will help. Two mechanisms: diffusion of responsibility (someone else will help) and pluralistic ignorance (others look calm → must not be emergency). Overcome by: direct requests ('You, in the red shirt, call 911').
Q57
What is the fundamental attribution error?
Explanation: FAE: Actor-observer effect variant. We explain others' behaviour by character ('he is lazy') but our own by situation ('I was tired'). Self-serving bias: attribute own successes to disposition, failures to situation. FAE strongest in individualistic cultures.
Q58
What is positive psychology?
Explanation: Positive psychology: PERMA model (Seligman): Positive emotions, Engagement/flow, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Focus: strengths (VIA classification), resilience, gratitude, mindfulness, post-traumatic growth. Contrast with deficit/disease model of traditional psychology.
Q59
What is the difference between reliability and validity in psychology research?
Explanation: Reliability types: test-retest, inter-rater, internal consistency. Validity types: face, construct, criterion, ecological. A measure can be reliable (consistent) without being valid (not measuring the right thing). A valid measure must be reliable.
Q60
What is the difference between a psychology experiment and a correlational study?
Explanation: Experiment: random assignment + manipulation = can establish causation. Correlation: r = -1 to +1, shows relationship strength/direction, can't establish causation (confounds, direction of causality unknown). 'Correlation ≠ causation' is fundamental. Quasi-experiment: manipulation without random assignment.
Q61
What is Bandura's social learning theory?
Explanation: Bandura: observational learning requires: attention, retention, reproduction, motivation. Bobo doll study: children imitated aggressive behaviour modelled by adults. Self-efficacy: belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations — key to motivation and learning.
Q62
What is the difference between nature and nurture in psychology?
Explanation: Nature: genetic predispositions, heritability. Nurture: family, culture, experience, epigenetics. Gene-environment interaction: some genes only expressed in certain environments. Twin studies: separate genetic and environmental effects. Epigenetics: environment can modify gene expression.
Q63
What is cognitive dissonance?
Explanation: Cognitive dissonance (Festinger): smoker who knows smoking is harmful experiences dissonance. Resolution: quit (behaviour change), deny harm (belief change), add new belief ('I exercise so it's OK'), minimise importance. Post-decision dissonance: after choosing between equally attractive options.
Q64
What is the difference between psychosis and neurosis?
Explanation: Defence mechanisms (Freud): Repression (unconscious blocking), Denial (refusing to accept reality), Projection (attributing own impulses to others), Rationalisation (making excuses), Sublimation (channelling into acceptable behaviour), Regression (returning to childlike behaviour), Reaction formation (opposite behaviour).
Q68
What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
Explanation: Psychologist: 5+ years doctoral training, specialises in assessment/therapy. Psychiatrist: medical school + residency, can prescribe antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilisers. Collaboration is ideal for complex cases. In some jurisdictions (Louisiana, New Mexico, US military): prescribing psychologists exist.
Q69
What is learned helplessness?
Explanation: Learned helplessness (Seligman): dogs given inescapable shocks later didn't escape when they could. Humans: repeated failures/uncontrollable stressors → belief that effort is futile. Related to depression. Therapy: help person recognise control and efficacy. Growth mindset: antidote to learned helplessness.
Q70
What is the difference between personality disorders and Axis I conditions?
Explanation: Personality disorders: enduring, ego-syntonic (feel like self), onset in adolescence/early adulthood. Clusters: A (odd — paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal), B (dramatic — borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, histrionic), C (anxious — avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive). DSM-5 eliminated formal axes.
Q71
What is ecological validity?
Explanation: Ecological validity: do findings apply to real life? Lab studies: high control/internal validity, potentially low ecological validity. Naturalistic observation: high ecological validity, low internal validity (can't establish causation). Trade-off: control vs generalisability.
Q72
What is confirmation bias?
Explanation: Confirmation bias: affects: interpretation of ambiguous evidence, information search (seek confirming, avoid disconfirming), memory (better recall of confirming info). Mitigation: seek disconfirming evidence deliberately, peer review, registered reports (pre-register hypotheses). Contributes to conspiracy theory persistence.
Q73
What is the difference between fear and anxiety in clinical psychology?
Explanation: Fear: specific object/situation, present danger, adaptive survival response, subsides when threat passes. Anxiety: future-oriented, anticipatory, can be without clear trigger, can become maladaptive. GAD: excessive worry about multiple domains. Phobia: excessive fear of specific object/situation.
What is the difference between internal and external locus of control?
Explanation: Locus of control (Rotter, 1954): internal → better mental health, higher achievement, greater persistence. External → more vulnerable to learned helplessness and depression. Not fixed — can be domain-specific. Related to self-efficacy (Bandura).
ADVERTISEMENT
Q76
What is the difference between a fixed and growth mindset?
Explanation: Dweck's mindset research: Fixed (entity theory): failure = evidence of low ability → avoid challenges, give up. Growth (incremental theory): failure = opportunity to learn → embrace challenges, persist. Growth mindset interventions improve academic outcomes, especially in disadvantaged students.
Q77
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?
Explanation: Empathy: 'I feel what you feel' — perspective-taking, resonating with another's experience. Cognitive empathy: understanding without feeling. Affective empathy: feeling it. Sympathy: 'I feel sorry for you' — concern from one's own perspective. Compassion: empathy + motivation to help.
Q78
What is the placebo effect?
Explanation: Placebo effect: real physiological changes (measurable). Mechanisms: expectation, conditioning, therapeutic relationship. Nocebo: negative outcomes from negative expectations. In research: placebo-controlled double-blind trials control for this. Ethical use: patients who know they take placebos still show effects.
Q79
What is attribution theory?
Explanation: Attribution theory (Weiner): success/failure attributed to: ability (internal, stable), effort (internal, unstable), task difficulty (external, stable), luck (external, unstable). Locus (internal/external), stability, controllability affect emotional and motivational responses. Adaptive attributions: unstable, controllable for failure ('I didn't study enough').
Q80
What is schema theory in cognitive psychology?
Explanation: Schemas (Bartlett, Piaget): organise knowledge, aid efficient processing, but can distort memory and perception. Assimilation: fit new info into existing schema. Accommodation: change schema to fit new info. Stereotypes: social schemas. Scripts: event schemas. Schemas influence what we notice, encode, and remember.
Q81
What is the difference between a counsellor and a psychologist?
Explanation: Mental health professionals: Psychiatrist (MD, prescribes). Psychologist (PhD/PsyD, assessment, therapy). Counsellor/therapist (MA/MSc, therapy). Social worker (MSW, therapy + community). Counsellors typically work with adjustment/situational issues; psychologists with complex disorders and assessment needs.
Q82
What is DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)?
Explanation: DBT: four modules: Mindfulness (core skill), Distress Tolerance (crisis survival), Emotional Regulation (manage intense emotions), Interpersonal Effectiveness (relationships). Dialectic: accepting things as they are while working to change them. Evidence-based for: BPD, chronic suicidality, eating disorders, PTSD, substance use.
Q83
What is exposure therapy?
Explanation: Exposure therapy: graded exposure (hierarchy from least to most feared stimulus). Habituation: anxiety decreases with prolonged exposure. Extinction: fear response weakens without negative consequence. Variants: in vivo (real exposure), imaginal, interoceptive (physical sensations for panic). EMDR: adds eye movements for trauma processing.
Q84
What is the biopsychosocial model?
Explanation: Biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977): replaced purely biomedical model. Example: chronic pain involves: biological (tissue damage), psychological (catastrophising, depression), social (work disability, social support). Treatment addresses all three dimensions. Used in: medicine, psychiatry, health psychology, physiotherapy.
Q85
What is the difference between OCD and OCPD?
Explanation: OCD: unwanted intrusive thoughts + compulsive rituals to reduce anxiety. Ego-dystonic: patient knows it's irrational. OCPD: pervasive pattern of orderliness, perfectionism, control — feels normal to person. Not the same. OCD: Cluster OC spectrum. OCPD: Cluster C personality disorder (anxious). Different treatments.
Q86
What is attachment theory?
Explanation: Bowlby: attachment is evolutionary — proximity to caregiver = survival. Internal working model: mental representation of self and others based on early attachment. Ainsworth's Strange Situation: secure (60%), insecure-anxious (15%), insecure-avoidant (20%), disorganised (5%). Adult attachment influences: relationships, parenting, mental health.
Q87
What is the halo effect?
Explanation: Halo effect: one positive trait (attractiveness, charisma) causes positive assessment of unrelated traits. Devil effect (horn effect): one negative trait colours all judgments negatively. Research applications: job interviews (attractive candidates rated higher), criminal sentencing (attractive defendants get lighter sentences), teaching (teacher's expectation affects student performance — Pygmalion effect).
Q88
What is the difference between bipolar I and bipolar II disorder?
Explanation: Bipolar I: full mania (grandiosity, decreased sleep, racing thoughts, risky behaviour, psychosis possible). Bipolar II: hypomania (less intense, no psychosis, functional) + depression. Bipolar II often misdiagnosed as unipolar depression. Treatment: mood stabilisers (lithium, valproate), atypical antipsychotics, not antidepressants alone.
Q89
What is the difference between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder?
Explanation: Schizoaffective disorder: schizophrenia symptoms + mood disorder symptoms simultaneously, with periods of psychosis without mood symptoms. Two subtypes: bipolar type (manic episodes) and depressive type. Prognosis: better than schizophrenia, worse than pure mood disorder. Treatment: antipsychotics + mood stabilisers or antidepressants.
Q90
What is EMDR therapy?
Explanation: EMDR (Shapiro, 1987): eight-phase protocol. While recalling traumatic memory, patient follows therapist's finger movements. Proposed mechanism: bilateral stimulation facilitates information processing similar to REM sleep. Evidence: strong for PTSD, effective as exposure therapy. Recognised by: WHO, NICE, APA as evidence-based PTSD treatment.
Q91
What is the difference between antisocial and psychopathic personality?
Explanation: ASPD: DSM-5 diagnosis, requires history of conduct disorder before 15. Focus on behavioural criteria (lying, impulsivity, aggression). Psychopathy (Hare PCL-R): two factors — interpersonal/affective (grandiosity, callousness, lack of remorse) and social deviance (criminal versatility). ~25% of prison population has ASPD; ~15-25% meet psychopathy criteria.
Q92
What is catastrophising in cognitive psychology?
Explanation: Catastrophising: 'If I fail tour exam, my life is ruined.' Two components: magnification (overestimating probability/severity of negative event), and minimisation (underestimating coping ability). Common in: pain catastrophising (worsens chronic pain), anxiety, depression. CBT technique: Socratic questioning — 'What is the evidence? What is the best/worst/most realistic outcome?'
Q93
What is the difference between working memory and long-term memory?
What is positive reinforcement vs negative reinforcement?
Explanation: Key distinction: both REINFORCE (increase) behaviour. Positive: add something good (praise, treat). Negative: remove something bad (headache tablet removes pain → more tablet-taking). Common misconception: negative reinforcement = punishment. It is not. Punishment DECREASES behaviour. Negative punishment REMOVES something good to decrease behaviour.
Q95
What is the difference between PTSD and acute stress disorder?
Explanation: Trauma-related disorders: Acute Stress Disorder (ASD): 3 days to 4 weeks post-trauma. PTSD: persists > 1 month. Complex PTSD (cPTSD): repeated trauma (not yet in DSM-5 but in ICD-11). PTSD symptoms: re-experiencing, avoidance, negative cognition/mood, arousal/reactivity. Risk factors: prior trauma, severity, lack of social support.
Explanation: Phobia development: UCS (loud noise) → UCR (fear). CS (rat) + UCS repeatedly → CS (rat) → CR (fear). Watson and Rayner (1920): conditioned Little Albert to fear a white rat. Ethical violations: Albert never desensitised. Little Peter: Jones (1924) used counter-conditioning (food + rat) to eliminate phobia.
Q98
What is the self-serving bias?
Explanation: Self-serving bias: 'I passed because I'm smart; I failed because the exam was unfair.' Adaptive: maintains self-esteem. Maladaptive: prevents learning from failure. Cross-cultural variation: less pronounced in collectivist cultures (Japan, China). Contrast: depressive realism — mildly depressed people more accurate in self-assessment.
Q99
What is groupthink?
Explanation: Groupthink (Janis, 1972): symptoms — illusion of invulnerability, collective rationalisation, belief in group morality, stereotyping of outgroups, pressure on dissenters, self-censorship, illusion of unanimity. Historical examples: Bay of Pigs, Challenger disaster. Prevention: devil's advocate, anonymous voting, invite outside experts, leader withholds initial opinion.
Q100
What is the difference between reactive and proactive aggression?
Explanation: Reactive: 'hot aggression' — anger-driven, responds to frustration. Higher in ASPD, borderline PD. Proactive: 'cold aggression' — calculated, no emotional arousal. Higher in psychopathy. Both elevated in conduct disorder. Treatment differs: reactive → anger management, emotional regulation; proactive → cognitive restructuring, consequences.
ADVERTISEMENT
Q101
What is the difference between anxiety and fear?
Explanation: Fear: specific object, present danger, subsides when threat passes. Anxiety: anticipatory, about future uncertainty. Normal anxiety: motivates performance (Yerkes-Dodson curve: optimal arousal = best performance). Pathological anxiety: GAD (excessive, uncontrollable worry about multiple domains), panic disorder, specific phobia, social anxiety, agoraphobia.
Q102
What is the difference between extroversion and introversion?
Explanation: Introversion/extraversion: Big Five trait, normally distributed. Introverts: more easily aroused (Eysenck: cortical arousal theory), prefer less stimulation. Extraverts: need more external stimulation. Ambivert: middle. Cultural bias: Western cultures value extraversion. Carl Jung coined the terms. Both equally capable of social interaction.
Q103
What is motivational interviewing?
Explanation: Motivational interviewing (Miller and Rollnick): OARS skills — Open questions, Affirmations, Reflective listening, Summaries. Stages of change (Prochaska): Precontemplation → Contemplation → Preparation → Action → Maintenance → Relapse. Key: roll with resistance, develop discrepancy, elicit change talk. Effective for: substance use, health behaviour change, disordered eating.
Explanation: Pain catastrophising scale (Sullivan): magnification ('something serious might happen'), rumination ('I keep thinking about how much it hurts'), helplessness ('there's nothing I can do'). Predicts: disability, opioid use, surgical outcomes, pain chronicity. Treatment: CBT, acceptance and commitment therapy, pain neuroscience education.
Q106
What is learned optimism?
Explanation: Explanatory style: optimists: 'Bad things are external (not my fault), temporary (will pass), specific (only in tour area).' Pessimists: 'Bad things are internal (my fault), stable (always), global (affects everything).' Learned optimism associated with: better health, resilience, academic achievement. ABCDE model: Adversity, Belief, Consequence, Disputation, Energisation.
Q107
What is the difference between delusion and hallucination?
Explanation: Psychotic symptoms: Delusions — false, fixed, not correctable by evidence. Types: persecutory, grandiose, referential (events refer to self), somatic, nihilistic. Hallucinations — auditory (most common in schizophrenia), visual, olfactory, tactile, gustatory. Both can occur in: schizophrenia, bipolar I, severe depression, substance-induced psychosis.
Q108
What is autistic spectrum condition (ASC)?
Explanation: ASC (formerly autism spectrum disorder): DSM-5 unified under single diagnosis. Severity levels 1-3 based on support needs. Characteristics: social communication differences, restricted interests, repetitive behaviours, sensory sensitivities. Not caused by vaccines. Genetic component: 64-91% heritability. Neurodiversity perspective: different, not disordered.
Q109
What is the psychodynamic concept of transference?
Explanation: Transference: patient may feel toward therapist as they felt toward parents. Countertransference: therapist's unconscious feelings toward patient. Working through transference: core of psychodynamic therapy — provides insight into relationship patterns. Positive transference: warm feelings (can enhance therapeutic alliance or impede therapy). Negative: hostility, which must be explored.
Q110
What is sensory processing and sensory integration?
What is the difference between a personality trait and a mental disorder?
Explanation: Dimensional vs categorical: most traits (anxiety, introversion, impulsivity) exist on a spectrum. A disorder is diagnosed when: distress or impairment is significant, symptoms meet duration/frequency criteria, not explained by substances or medical conditions. DSM-5 moving toward dimensional model for personality disorders.
Question 112 of 150
What is classical conditioning?
Explanation: Classical conditioning: UCS→UCR (unconditioned). CS paired with UCS → CS→CR (conditioned). Extinction: CS presented without UCS → CR weakens. Spontaneous recovery: CR returns after rest. Generalisation: similar stimuli also elicit CR.
Question 113 of 150
What is operant conditioning?
Explanation: Operant conditioning: Positive reinforcement (add reward), Negative reinforcement (remove aversive stimulus — both increase behaviour). Positive punishment (add aversive), Negative punishment (remove reward — both decrease behaviour). Schedules: fixed ratio (most resistant to extinction).
Question 114 of 150
What are Piaget's stages of cognitive development?
What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?
Explanation: Intrinsic: do it because it's inherently satisfying. Extrinsic: do it for reward/to avoid punishment. Over-justification effect: adding extrinsic reward for intrinsically motivated activity can undermine intrinsic motivation. Self-determination theory: autonomy, competence, relatedness support intrinsic motivation.
Question 117 of 150
What is the bystander effect?
Explanation: Bystander effect (Darley & Latané, Kitty Genovese case): more bystanders → less likelihood any individual will help. Two mechanisms: diffusion of responsibility (someone else will help) and pluralistic ignorance (others look calm → must not be emergency). Overcome by: direct requests ('You, in the red shirt, call 911').
Question 118 of 150
What is the fundamental attribution error?
Explanation: FAE: Actor-observer effect variant. We explain others' behaviour by character ('he is lazy') but our own by situation ('I was tired'). Self-serving bias: attribute own successes to disposition, failures to situation. FAE strongest in individualistic cultures.
Question 119 of 150
What is positive psychology?
Explanation: Positive psychology: PERMA model (Seligman): Positive emotions, Engagement/flow, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Focus: strengths (VIA classification), resilience, gratitude, mindfulness, post-traumatic growth. Contrast with deficit/disease model of traditional psychology.
Question 120 of 150
What is the difference between reliability and validity in psychology research?
Explanation: Reliability types: test-retest, inter-rater, internal consistency. Validity types: face, construct, criterion, ecological. A measure can be reliable (consistent) without being valid (not measuring the right thing). A valid measure must be reliable.
Question 121 of 150
What is the difference between a psychology experiment and a correlational study?
Explanation: Experiment: random assignment + manipulation = can establish causation. Correlation: r = -1 to +1, shows relationship strength/direction, can't establish causation (confounds, direction of causality unknown). 'Correlation ≠ causation' is fundamental. Quasi-experiment: manipulation without random assignment.
Question 122 of 150
What is Bandura's social learning theory?
Explanation: Bandura: observational learning requires: attention, retention, reproduction, motivation. Bobo doll study: children imitated aggressive behaviour modelled by adults. Self-efficacy: belief in one's ability to succeed in specific situations — key to motivation and learning.
Question 123 of 150
What is the difference between nature and nurture in psychology?
Explanation: Nature: genetic predispositions, heritability. Nurture: family, culture, experience, epigenetics. Gene-environment interaction: some genes only expressed in certain environments. Twin studies: separate genetic and environmental effects. Epigenetics: environment can modify gene expression.
Question 124 of 150
What is cognitive dissonance?
Explanation: Cognitive dissonance (Festinger): smoker who knows smoking is harmful experiences dissonance. Resolution: quit (behaviour change), deny harm (belief change), add new belief ('I exercise so it's OK'), minimise importance. Post-decision dissonance: after choosing between equally attractive options.
Question 125 of 150
What is the difference between psychosis and neurosis?
Explanation: Defence mechanisms (Freud): Repression (unconscious blocking), Denial (refusing to accept reality), Projection (attributing own impulses to others), Rationalisation (making excuses), Sublimation (channelling into acceptable behaviour), Regression (returning to childlike behaviour), Reaction formation (opposite behaviour).
Question 129 of 150
What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
Explanation: Psychologist: 5+ years doctoral training, specialises in assessment/therapy. Psychiatrist: medical school + residency, can prescribe antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilisers. Collaboration is ideal for complex cases. In some jurisdictions (Louisiana, New Mexico, US military): prescribing psychologists exist.
Question 130 of 150
What is learned helplessness?
Explanation: Learned helplessness (Seligman): dogs given inescapable shocks later didn't escape when they could. Humans: repeated failures/uncontrollable stressors → belief that effort is futile. Related to depression. Therapy: help person recognise control and efficacy. Growth mindset: antidote to learned helplessness.
Question 131 of 150
What is the difference between personality disorders and Axis I conditions?
Explanation: Personality disorders: enduring, ego-syntonic (feel like self), onset in adolescence/early adulthood. Clusters: A (odd — paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal), B (dramatic — borderline, narcissistic, antisocial, histrionic), C (anxious — avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive). DSM-5 eliminated formal axes.
Question 132 of 150
What is ecological validity?
Explanation: Ecological validity: do findings apply to real life? Lab studies: high control/internal validity, potentially low ecological validity. Naturalistic observation: high ecological validity, low internal validity (can't establish causation). Trade-off: control vs generalisability.
Question 133 of 150
What is confirmation bias?
Explanation: Confirmation bias: affects: interpretation of ambiguous evidence, information search (seek confirming, avoid disconfirming), memory (better recall of confirming info). Mitigation: seek disconfirming evidence deliberately, peer review, registered reports (pre-register hypotheses). Contributes to conspiracy theory persistence.
Question 134 of 150
What is the difference between fear and anxiety in clinical psychology?
Explanation: Fear: specific object/situation, present danger, adaptive survival response, subsides when threat passes. Anxiety: future-oriented, anticipatory, can be without clear trigger, can become maladaptive. GAD: excessive worry about multiple domains. Phobia: excessive fear of specific object/situation.
What is the difference between internal and external locus of control?
Explanation: Locus of control (Rotter, 1954): internal → better mental health, higher achievement, greater persistence. External → more vulnerable to learned helplessness and depression. Not fixed — can be domain-specific. Related to self-efficacy (Bandura).
Question 137 of 150
What is the difference between a fixed and growth mindset?
Explanation: Dweck's mindset research: Fixed (entity theory): failure = evidence of low ability → avoid challenges, give up. Growth (incremental theory): failure = opportunity to learn → embrace challenges, persist. Growth mindset interventions improve academic outcomes, especially in disadvantaged students.
Question 138 of 150
What is the difference between empathy and sympathy?
Explanation: Empathy: 'I feel what you feel' — perspective-taking, resonating with another's experience. Cognitive empathy: understanding without feeling. Affective empathy: feeling it. Sympathy: 'I feel sorry for you' — concern from one's own perspective. Compassion: empathy + motivation to help.
Question 139 of 150
What is the placebo effect?
Explanation: Placebo effect: real physiological changes (measurable). Mechanisms: expectation, conditioning, therapeutic relationship. Nocebo: negative outcomes from negative expectations. In research: placebo-controlled double-blind trials control for this. Ethical use: patients who know they take placebos still show effects.
Question 140 of 150
What is attribution theory?
Explanation: Attribution theory (Weiner): success/failure attributed to: ability (internal, stable), effort (internal, unstable), task difficulty (external, stable), luck (external, unstable). Locus (internal/external), stability, controllability affect emotional and motivational responses. Adaptive attributions: unstable, controllable for failure ('I didn't study enough').
Question 141 of 150
What is schema theory in cognitive psychology?
Explanation: Schemas (Bartlett, Piaget): organise knowledge, aid efficient processing, but can distort memory and perception. Assimilation: fit new info into existing schema. Accommodation: change schema to fit new info. Stereotypes: social schemas. Scripts: event schemas. Schemas influence what we notice, encode, and remember.
Question 142 of 150
What is the difference between a counsellor and a psychologist?
Explanation: Mental health professionals: Psychiatrist (MD, prescribes). Psychologist (PhD/PsyD, assessment, therapy). Counsellor/therapist (MA/MSc, therapy). Social worker (MSW, therapy + community). Counsellors typically work with adjustment/situational issues; psychologists with complex disorders and assessment needs.
Question 143 of 150
What is DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)?
Explanation: DBT: four modules: Mindfulness (core skill), Distress Tolerance (crisis survival), Emotional Regulation (manage intense emotions), Interpersonal Effectiveness (relationships). Dialectic: accepting things as they are while working to change them. Evidence-based for: BPD, chronic suicidality, eating disorders, PTSD, substance use.
Question 144 of 150
What is exposure therapy?
Explanation: Exposure therapy: graded exposure (hierarchy from least to most feared stimulus). Habituation: anxiety decreases with prolonged exposure. Extinction: fear response weakens without negative consequence. Variants: in vivo (real exposure), imaginal, interoceptive (physical sensations for panic). EMDR: adds eye movements for trauma processing.
Question 145 of 150
What is the biopsychosocial model?
Explanation: Biopsychosocial model (Engel, 1977): replaced purely biomedical model. Example: chronic pain involves: biological (tissue damage), psychological (catastrophising, depression), social (work disability, social support). Treatment addresses all three dimensions. Used in: medicine, psychiatry, health psychology, physiotherapy.
Question 146 of 150
What is the difference between OCD and OCPD?
Explanation: OCD: unwanted intrusive thoughts + compulsive rituals to reduce anxiety. Ego-dystonic: patient knows it's irrational. OCPD: pervasive pattern of orderliness, perfectionism, control — feels normal to person. Not the same. OCD: Cluster OC spectrum. OCPD: Cluster C personality disorder (anxious). Different treatments.
Question 147 of 150
What is attachment theory?
Explanation: Bowlby: attachment is evolutionary — proximity to caregiver = survival. Internal working model: mental representation of self and others based on early attachment. Ainsworth's Strange Situation: secure (60%), insecure-anxious (15%), insecure-avoidant (20%), disorganised (5%). Adult attachment influences: relationships, parenting, mental health.
Question 148 of 150
What is the halo effect?
Explanation: Halo effect: one positive trait (attractiveness, charisma) causes positive assessment of unrelated traits. Devil effect (horn effect): one negative trait colours all judgments negatively. Research applications: job interviews (attractive candidates rated higher), criminal sentencing (attractive defendants get lighter sentences), teaching (teacher's expectation affects student performance — Pygmalion effect).
Question 149 of 150
What is the difference between bipolar I and bipolar II disorder?
Explanation: Bipolar I: full mania (grandiosity, decreased sleep, racing thoughts, risky behaviour, psychosis possible). Bipolar II: hypomania (less intense, no psychosis, functional) + depression. Bipolar II often misdiagnosed as unipolar depression. Treatment: mood stabilisers (lithium, valproate), atypical antipsychotics, not antidepressants alone.
Question 150 of 150
What is the difference between schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder?
Explanation: Schizoaffective disorder: schizophrenia symptoms + mood disorder symptoms simultaneously, with periods of psychosis without mood symptoms. Two subtypes: bipolar type (manic episodes) and depressive type. Prognosis: better than schizophrenia, worse than pure mood disorder. Treatment: antipsychotics + mood stabilisers or antidepressants.
Practice More on Dragonfly
500+ questions across 45+ subjects with timed mode and flashcards.
Classical conditioning (Pavlov) is learning through association. A neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) that produces an unconditioned response (UCR). Eventually, the neutral stimulus alone (now the conditioned stimulus, CS) produces the conditioned response (CR). Example: bell (CS) paired with food (UCS) → salivation (UCR) → bell alone → salivation (CR).
Operant conditioning (Skinner) is learning through consequences. Reinforcement increases the likelihood of a behaviour: positive reinforcement (add reward), negative reinforcement (remove aversive stimulus). Punishment decreases likelihood: positive punishment (add aversive stimulus), negative punishment (remove reward). Reinforcement schedules affect extinction resistance.
Freud proposed three structures: the Id (unconscious, instinctual drives, operates on the pleasure principle — immediate gratification), the Ego (conscious, rational, operates on the reality principle — mediates between id and reality), and the Superego (internalised moral standards, conscience, and ideal self — produces guilt when violated).
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (1943) is a motivational theory with five levels: Physiological (food, water, shelter), Safety (security, stability), Love/Belonging (relationships, community), Esteem (respect, achievement, status), and Self-actualisation (reaching full potential, creativity, meaning). Lower needs must generally be met before higher needs become motivating.
Cognitive dissonance (Festinger) is the psychological discomfort experienced when holding two or more conflicting beliefs, values, or behaviours simultaneously. People are motivated to reduce tour discomfort by: changing a belief, changing behaviour, adding new beliefs that reconcile the conflict, or minimising the importance of one belief. Example: a smoker who knows smoking is harmful.
The nature vs nurture debate concerns whether behaviour and development are determined primarily by genetics (nature) or environment and experience (nurture). Modern psychology rejects tour dichotomy — behaviour results from gene-environment interactions. Genes set parameters; environment shapes expression. Twin and adoption studies help separate genetic and environmental effects.
Social psychology studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Key phenomena: conformity (Asch), obedience to authority (Milgram), social facilitation, bystander effect (Kitty Genovese case), attribution errors (fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias), and groupthink.