PSY 101: INTRODUCTION TO
PSYCHOLOGY – MIDTERM
EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALES/GRADED A+/2026
UPDATE/100% CORRECT
/INSTANT DOWNLOAD
Section 1: History, Approaches, & Research Methods (Questions
1–15)
1. Dr. Chen studies how natural selection has influenced aggressive behavior in
humans. Her approach aligns most closely with which psychological perspective?
a) Behavioral
b) Humanistic
c) Evolutionary
d) Psychodynamic
Rationale: Evolutionary psychology applies Darwinian principles of natural selection to
behaviors like aggression, mate selection, and cooperation.
2. Which research method would be best to determine whether watching violent
video games causes increased heart rate?
a) Naturalistic observation
b) Experimental method
c) Correlational study
d) Case study
,Rationale: Only an experiment (with manipulation of the independent variable) can
establish cause and effect.
3. A researcher finds a correlation of +0.85 between hours of sleep and exam
performance. This means:
a) Less sleep causes lower exam scores
b) More sleep is associated with higher exam scores
c) There is no relationship
d) Sleep deprivation improves grades
Rationale: A strong positive correlation means as one variable increases, the other
tends to increase, but does not prove causation.
4. The “Little Albert” experiment (Watson & Rayner, 1920) demonstrated:
a) Operant conditioning
b) Classical conditioning of fear
c) Observational learning
d) Latent learning
Rationale: Little Albert was conditioned to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud
noise (unconditioned stimulus → conditioned response).
5. Which contemporary ethical guideline was violated in the Milgram obedience
studies?
a) Deception
b) Right to withdraw without penalty
c) Animal care standards
d) Anonymity
Rationale: Milgram’s participants were pressured to continue; modern ethics require
explicit ability to withdraw at any time without repercussions.
6. A double-blind procedure is used to control for:
a) Sampling bias
b) Experimenter and participant expectancy effects
c) Confounding variables in natural settings
d) Low statistical power
Rationale: Neither the participant nor the researcher knows who is in the
experimental/control group, reducing bias.
7. Which is the correct order of psychology’s major historical “waves”?
a) Cognitive → Behavioral → Structuralism
b) Structuralism → Behaviorism → Cognitive
c) Humanistic → Gestalt → Neuroscience
d) Behaviorism → Structuralism → Cognitive
*Rationale: Structuralism (Wundt/Titchener) 1879, Behaviorism (Watson/Skinner)
1913–1950s, Cognitive revolution 1960s.*
, 8. A case study is most useful when:
a) Generalizing to a large population
b) Studying rare or unique individuals
c) Determining cause and effect
d) Measuring average behaviors
Rationale: Case studies provide in-depth info on rare conditions (e.g., Phineas Gage,
HM).
9. What did Wilhelm Wundt primarily rely on in his research?
a) Animal behavior experiments
b) Psychoanalysis
c) Introspection
d) Surveys
Rationale: Wundt trained people to report their conscious experiences systematically
(introspection).
10. The “third force” in psychology that rejected behaviorism and psychoanalysis
was:
a) Biological psychology
b) Humanistic psychology
c) Functionalism
d) Structuralism
Rationale: Humanistic (Rogers, Maslow) focused on free will, growth, and self-
actualization.
11. A researcher secretly observes children’s aggressive behavior on a playground.
This is:
a) Laboratory observation
b) Survey
c) Naturalistic observation
d) Experiment
Rationale: Observing behavior in a natural setting without interference.
12. Which correlation coefficient indicates the strongest relationship?
a) -0.92
b) +0.50
c) -0.92
d) +0.25
*Rationale: The strength of correlation is determined by absolute value; -0.92 is very
strong negative.*
13. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversees:
a) Animals in research
b) Statistical analysis
PSYCHOLOGY – MIDTERM
EXAMINATION QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS WITH
RATIONALES/GRADED A+/2026
UPDATE/100% CORRECT
/INSTANT DOWNLOAD
Section 1: History, Approaches, & Research Methods (Questions
1–15)
1. Dr. Chen studies how natural selection has influenced aggressive behavior in
humans. Her approach aligns most closely with which psychological perspective?
a) Behavioral
b) Humanistic
c) Evolutionary
d) Psychodynamic
Rationale: Evolutionary psychology applies Darwinian principles of natural selection to
behaviors like aggression, mate selection, and cooperation.
2. Which research method would be best to determine whether watching violent
video games causes increased heart rate?
a) Naturalistic observation
b) Experimental method
c) Correlational study
d) Case study
,Rationale: Only an experiment (with manipulation of the independent variable) can
establish cause and effect.
3. A researcher finds a correlation of +0.85 between hours of sleep and exam
performance. This means:
a) Less sleep causes lower exam scores
b) More sleep is associated with higher exam scores
c) There is no relationship
d) Sleep deprivation improves grades
Rationale: A strong positive correlation means as one variable increases, the other
tends to increase, but does not prove causation.
4. The “Little Albert” experiment (Watson & Rayner, 1920) demonstrated:
a) Operant conditioning
b) Classical conditioning of fear
c) Observational learning
d) Latent learning
Rationale: Little Albert was conditioned to fear a white rat by pairing it with a loud
noise (unconditioned stimulus → conditioned response).
5. Which contemporary ethical guideline was violated in the Milgram obedience
studies?
a) Deception
b) Right to withdraw without penalty
c) Animal care standards
d) Anonymity
Rationale: Milgram’s participants were pressured to continue; modern ethics require
explicit ability to withdraw at any time without repercussions.
6. A double-blind procedure is used to control for:
a) Sampling bias
b) Experimenter and participant expectancy effects
c) Confounding variables in natural settings
d) Low statistical power
Rationale: Neither the participant nor the researcher knows who is in the
experimental/control group, reducing bias.
7. Which is the correct order of psychology’s major historical “waves”?
a) Cognitive → Behavioral → Structuralism
b) Structuralism → Behaviorism → Cognitive
c) Humanistic → Gestalt → Neuroscience
d) Behaviorism → Structuralism → Cognitive
*Rationale: Structuralism (Wundt/Titchener) 1879, Behaviorism (Watson/Skinner)
1913–1950s, Cognitive revolution 1960s.*
, 8. A case study is most useful when:
a) Generalizing to a large population
b) Studying rare or unique individuals
c) Determining cause and effect
d) Measuring average behaviors
Rationale: Case studies provide in-depth info on rare conditions (e.g., Phineas Gage,
HM).
9. What did Wilhelm Wundt primarily rely on in his research?
a) Animal behavior experiments
b) Psychoanalysis
c) Introspection
d) Surveys
Rationale: Wundt trained people to report their conscious experiences systematically
(introspection).
10. The “third force” in psychology that rejected behaviorism and psychoanalysis
was:
a) Biological psychology
b) Humanistic psychology
c) Functionalism
d) Structuralism
Rationale: Humanistic (Rogers, Maslow) focused on free will, growth, and self-
actualization.
11. A researcher secretly observes children’s aggressive behavior on a playground.
This is:
a) Laboratory observation
b) Survey
c) Naturalistic observation
d) Experiment
Rationale: Observing behavior in a natural setting without interference.
12. Which correlation coefficient indicates the strongest relationship?
a) -0.92
b) +0.50
c) -0.92
d) +0.25
*Rationale: The strength of correlation is determined by absolute value; -0.92 is very
strong negative.*
13. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversees:
a) Animals in research
b) Statistical analysis
