Psychology Degree Psychology 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which defense mechanism involves attributing one's own unacceptable feelings to another person?
- Rationalization
- Projection (Correct answer)
- Displacement
- Sublimation
Correct answer: Projection
Projection involves unconsciously attributing one's own threatening impulses or feelings to someone else.
Question 2: The concept of 'learned helplessness' was first demonstrated experimentally by which psychologist?
- Albert Bandura
- Martin Seligman (Correct answer)
- Aaron Beck
- B.F. Skinner
Correct answer: Martin Seligman
Martin Seligman demonstrated learned helplessness through experiments with dogs exposed to inescapable shocks.
Question 3: In Piaget's theory, what cognitive ability first emerges during the formal operational stage?
- Object permanence
- Conservation
- Hypothetical-deductive reasoning (Correct answer)
- Symbolic thought
Correct answer: Hypothetical-deductive reasoning
Formal operational stage (age 12+) is marked by the ability to reason about abstract and hypothetical scenarios.
Question 4: Which neurotransmitter is most directly implicated in the reward pathway and is associated with feelings of pleasure?
- Serotonin
- GABA
- Dopamine (Correct answer)
- Acetylcholine
Correct answer: Dopamine
Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter in the mesolimbic reward pathway, driving motivation and pleasure.
Question 5: A researcher finds that the more hours college students sleep, the better their GPA. This is an example of what type of correlation?
- Negative correlation
- Zero correlation
- Positive correlation (Correct answer)
- Spurious correlation
Correct answer: Positive correlation
A positive correlation means both variables increase together; here, more sleep corresponds to higher GPA.
Question 6: Which theory proposes that emotions result from our interpretation of physiological arousal in context?
- James-Lange theory
- Cannon-Bard theory
- Schachter-Singer two-factor theory (Correct answer)
- Lazarus appraisal theory
Correct answer: Schachter-Singer two-factor theory
Schachter and Singer argued emotion = physiological arousal + cognitive label assigned based on situational cues.
Question 7: What is the term for the tendency to search for information that confirms one's preexisting beliefs?
- Availability heuristic
- Confirmation bias (Correct answer)
- Anchoring bias
- Dunning-Kruger effect
Correct answer: Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias leads people to favor and seek out evidence that supports what they already believe.
Psychology Degree Psychology 2
Which defense mechanism involves attributing one's own unacceptable feelings to another person?