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Quizzes > Health & Medicine > Psychology & Mental Health

Take the Psychology Trivia Quiz and Prove Your Expertise

Ready for basic psychology trivia questions? Start the challenge now!

Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art illustration for psychology trivia quiz on a dark blue background

This psychology trivia quiz helps you practice core ideas and see what you remember from class or life. Play through quick questions, learn a fact or two, and spot any gaps before an exam or study session. Try more practice questions or check out a quick personality quiz .

Who is considered the founder of psychoanalysis?
B.F. Skinner
Ivan Pavlov
Sigmund Freud
Carl Jung
Sigmund Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis in the early 20th century, focusing on unconscious motives and conflicts. His work laid the groundwork for modern psychodynamic therapy. Freud introduced key concepts such as the id, ego, and superego.
Behaviorism, as a psychological approach, primarily focuses on:
Developmental stages
Observable behavior
Cognitive processes
Unconscious motives
Behaviorism, championed by John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner, emphasizes the study of observable and measurable behaviors rather than internal mental states. It asserts that all behavior is learned through interaction with the environment. This approach avoids speculation about unobservable phenomena.
Which part of a neuron is responsible for receiving incoming signals?
Axon
Dendrites
Synapse
Soma (cell body)
Dendrites are branched extensions of a neuron that receive chemical signals from other neurons and convert them into electrical impulses. The axon transmits those impulses away from the cell body. The synapse is the junction where neurons communicate.
In psychological testing, a normal distribution is often referred to as a:
Network
Bell curve
Series
Pyramid
A normal distribution is a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes how scores are distributed in many types of psychological measurements. Most scores cluster around the mean, with fewer scores appearing as you move away. It underpins many statistical tests in psychology.
What does the abbreviation IQ stand for?
Intelligence Quotient
Intellectual Question
Intelligence Quality
Intuitive Quotient
IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient, a score derived from standardized tests designed to measure human intelligence. The concept was introduced by psychologist William Stern. IQ scores are adjusted so that the average score is 100.
Which researcher is best known for the discovery of classical conditioning?
Ivan Pavlov
B.F. Skinner
Albert Bandura
John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning through his experiments with dogs, demonstrating how a neutral stimulus can elicit a conditioned response. He paired the sound of a bell with food until the bell alone triggered salivation. This became a foundational model for associative learning.
The placebo effect refers to:
Improvement due to the expectation of treatment
Statistical anomalies in clinical trials
Bias in experimenter observations
Actual pharmacological impact of a drug
The placebo effect occurs when participants experience real changes in health or behavior after receiving an inert treatment, purely because they believe it will help. It highlights the power of expectations in clinical research. Placebos are critical controls in randomized trials.
During which of Jean Piaget's stages does abstract logical reasoning first appear?
Sensorimotor
Formal Operational
Concrete Operational
Preoperational
In the Formal Operational stage (beginning around age 12), individuals develop the ability to think abstractly and reason hypothetically. Earlier stages focus on sensory exploration and concrete problem-solving. Piaget's theory maps cognition across childhood.
Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation experiment is designed to assess:
Attachment styles between infants and caregivers
Memory recall in infants
Language acquisition in toddlers
Moral reasoning in preschoolers
The Strange Situation, developed by Mary Ainsworth, observes infants' reactions to separations and reunions with their caregiver to identify secure or insecure attachment styles. It's a cornerstone of developmental psychology. Observations inform understanding of emotional bonds.
Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality traits?
Extraversion
Conscientiousness
Emotional Intelligence
Agreeableness
The Big Five traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN). Emotional intelligence, while important in psychology, is not one of these five core dimensions. The Big Five model is widely used in personality research.
In classical conditioning, the stimulus that initially produces no specific response but comes to elicit a conditioned response is called the:
Reinforcer
Neutral stimulus
Conditioned stimulus
Unconditioned stimulus
A neutral stimulus does not naturally produce a response until paired repeatedly with an unconditioned stimulus, after which it becomes a conditioned stimulus. This process underlies associative learning in classical conditioning.
What is the term for the decline in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations?
Extinction
Habituation
Sensitization
Generalization
Habituation is the decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, reflecting a basic form of learning. It allows organisms to conserve energy by ignoring irrelevant stimuli. Sensitization, by contrast, increases responsiveness.
Which psychological perspective emphasizes human potential and self-actualization?
Psychoanalysis
Cognitive psychology
Humanistic psychology
Behaviorism
Humanistic psychology, led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, focuses on individual free will, personal growth, and self-actualization. It arose as a response to behaviorist and psychoanalytic approaches. Its key concept is realizing one's full potential.
Which brain imaging technique records electrical activity produced by neurons?
MRI
fMRI
PET
EEG
Electroencephalography (EEG) measures electrical activity along the scalp produced by the firing of neurons in the brain. It's widely used for diagnosing epilepsy and sleep disorders. MRI and fMRI use magnetic fields, and PET uses radioactive tracers.
The Stanford prison experiment is most famous for demonstrating:
The power of situational factors on behavior
The bystander effect
Trait theory in personality
Cognitive dissonance processes
Philip Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment revealed how social roles and situational pressures can lead ordinary people to engage in abusive behavior. Participants quickly internalized prisoner and guard roles. The study underscores the importance of environment in shaping actions.
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Study Outcomes

  1. Recall Key Psychology Terms -

    Memorize and define fundamental concepts such as classical conditioning, reinforcement, and neuroplasticity to build a solid foundation in psychology trivia.

  2. Identify Common Cognitive Biases -

    Spot examples of biases like confirmation bias and availability heuristic in trivia questions, enhancing your ability to recognize these distortions in everyday thinking.

  3. Analyze Memory Processes -

    Distinguish stages of memory - encoding, storage, and retrieval - through targeted quiz items to deepen your understanding of how memory functions.

  4. Recognize Social Behavior Phenomena -

    Detect principles like conformity, obedience, and groupthink in scenario-based questions to sharpen your insight into social psychology dynamics.

  5. Apply Psychology Insights -

    Use quiz feedback to connect theoretical concepts with real-world examples, improving your ability to leverage psychology principles in daily life.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Confirmation Bias -

    This cognitive bias leads us to favor information that confirms our preexisting beliefs. Remember the phrase "seek disconfirming evidence" as a mnemonic trick to counteract it. Studies from Harvard University show that actively challenging your assumptions improves critical thinking in psychology trivia and real-world scenarios.

  2. Memory Stages -

    Memory involves encoding, storage, and retrieval - think "ESR" as a simple mnemonic. For example, chunking phone numbers into groups (123-456-7890) boosts short-term memory retention. Research from the University of California, San Diego highlights that practicing retrieval (self-quizzing) strengthens long-term recall.

  3. Bystander Effect -

    This social psychology concept explains why individuals are less likely to help when others are present, due to diffusion of responsibility. A classic study by Latané and Darley (1968) demonstrated slower help responses in groups versus alone. Remember "many eyes, fewer hands" to recall this effect during basic psychology trivia questions.

  4. Classical Conditioning -

    Pavlov's experiments pair a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to produce a conditioned response (US → UR; CS → CR). A handy formula is US + NS = CS, where NS becomes the conditioned stimulus. This foundational concept often appears in introductory psychology questions and quizzes for beginners.

  5. Piaget's Developmental Stages -

    Jean Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Use "SPCF" as an acronym to recall the sequence from birth through adolescence. University of Geneva research confirms these stages shape how children understand the world.

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