Psychology Degree Psychology 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sleep stage is most associated with dreaming and rapid eye movements?
- Stage 1 NREM
- Stage 2 NREM
- Stage 3 NREM (slow-wave)
- REM sleep (Correct answer)
Correct answer: REM sleep
REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep features vivid dreaming, muscle atonia, and heightened brain activity.
Question 2: In social psychology, the bystander effect predicts that as the number of onlookers increases, each individual's likelihood of helping:
- Increases proportionally
- Remains unchanged
- Decreases (Correct answer)
- Doubles
Correct answer: Decreases
The bystander effect occurs due to diffusion of responsibility — each person assumes someone else will act.
Question 3: Which psychological disorder is characterized by persistent, recurrent, intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors performed to reduce anxiety?
- Generalized Anxiety Disorder
- Panic Disorder
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (Correct answer)
- Specific Phobia
Correct answer: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
OCD involves obsessions (intrusive thoughts) and compulsions (rituals) that temporarily relieve distress.
Question 4: According to Erikson's psychosocial theory, the central conflict of adolescence is:
- Trust vs. Mistrust
- Industry vs. Inferiority
- Identity vs. Role Confusion (Correct answer)
- Intimacy vs. Isolation
Correct answer: Identity vs. Role Confusion
During adolescence (ages 12–18), the developmental task is forming a coherent personal identity.
Question 5: The phenomenon where the first items in a list are best remembered is called the:
- Recency effect
- Spacing effect
- Primacy effect (Correct answer)
- Serial position effect
Correct answer: Primacy effect
The primacy effect occurs because early items receive more rehearsal and are better encoded into long-term memory.
Question 6: Which research method allows the strongest conclusions about cause and effect?
- Case study
- Survey
- Randomized controlled experiment (Correct answer)
- Naturalistic observation
Correct answer: Randomized controlled experiment
Only a randomized controlled experiment with manipulation and random assignment allows causal inference.
Question 7: Classical conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus until the neutral stimulus alone elicits a response. This learned response is called the:
- Unconditioned response
- Conditioned response (Correct answer)
- Unconditioned stimulus
- Conditioned stimulus
Correct answer: Conditioned response
The conditioned response is the learned reaction produced by the conditioned stimulus after repeated pairings.
Which sleep stage is most associated with dreaming and rapid eye movements?