PSYC 365 Midterm 2 Study Guide –
Comprehensive University Exam Prep
Psychoanalytic & Neo-Analytic Theories
1. According to Freud, the psychic structure present at birth that operates on the pleasure
principle is the:
a) Ego
b) Superego
c) Id ✓
d) Conscious
2. The ego's primary method of avoiding anxiety by refusing to acknowledge threatening
events or thoughts is:
a) Projection
b) Repression
c) Denial ✓
d) Displacement
3. Alfred Adler's theory is primarily focused on the motivation to overcome:
a) Psychosexual Fixations
b) Feelings of Inferiority ✓
c) The Collective Unconscious
d) Conditional Positive Regard
4. Carl Jung's concept of a shared, universal reservoir of memory traces from our ancestral
past is the:
a) Personal Unconscious
b) Archetype
c) Collective Unconscious ✓
d) Persona
5. Karen Horney disagreed with Freud's concept of penis envy, arguing it was better
explained as:
a) Castration Anxiety
b) Womb Envy
c) Power Envy ✓
d) Oedipal Strivings
, 6. In Freudian theory, a boy's sexual desires for his mother and feelings of rivalry toward his
father is the:
a) Electra Complex
b) Oedipus Complex ✓
c) Phallic Stage
d) Latency Stage
7. The defense mechanism where one attributes their own unacceptable thoughts or
feelings to others is:
a) Sublimation
b) Reaction Formation
c) Projection ✓
d) Rationalization
8. According to Freud, the reality-oriented structure of the personality that operates on the
reality principle is the:
a) Id
b) Ego ✓
c) Superego
d) Preconscious
Biological & Trait Approaches
9. The "Big Five" personality factors are often recalled using the acronym:
a) MBTI
b) CANOE or OCEAN ✓
c) IDEPC
d) TRAIT
10. Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality traits?
a) Openness to Experience
b) Conscientiousness
c) Neuroticism
d) Psychoticism ✓
11. A heritability estimate of 0.50 for extraversion would indicate that:
a) 50% of your extraversion is determined by genetics. ✓
b) 50% of your extraversion is determined by your environment.
c) Extraversion is 50% stable over time.
d) Genetics and environment are equally important, but not in a 50% split.
, 12. Eysenck's model of personality originally focused on which two major biological
dimensions?
a) Openness and Conscientiousness
b) Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism ✓
c) Agreeableness and Neuroticism
d) Positive Affect and Negative Affect
13. The concept that people choose environments that reinforce their predispositions is
called:
a) Gene-Environment Correlation ✓
b) Epigenetics
c) Niche Building
d) Reciprocal Determinism
14. According to Jeffrey Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, the Behavioral Inhibition
System (BIS) is most sensitive to:
a) Rewards and non-punishment
b) Punishment, non-reward, and novelty ✓
c) Fight-or-flight impulses
d) Social approval
15. A person who is described as "moody, anxious, and insecure" would likely score high on
the Big Five trait of:
a) Extraversion
b) Agreeableness
c) Neuroticism ✓
d) Openness
16. The trait of "tendency to experience positive emotions" is most central to:
a) Neuroticism (low end)
b) Extraversion ✓
c) Agreeableness
d) Openness
Humanistic & Existential Approaches
17. Carl Rogers believed that psychological health is promoted by receiving ______ from
others.
a) Conditional Positive Regard
b) Unconditional Positive Regard ✓
, c) Accurate Empathy
d) Genuineness
18. According to Maslow, the highest level of need in the hierarchy is:
a) Safety
b) Esteem
c) Love/Belonging
d) Self-Actualization ✓
19. A person who is fully functioning, according to Rogers, is living in a state of:
a) Congruence ✓
b) Incongruence
c) Conditional Worth
d) Existential Anxiety
20. The humanistic perspective is most concerned with:
a) Unconscious Drives
b) Free Will and Human Potential ✓
c) Learned Behavior
d) Biological Predispositions
21. In Existential psychology, anxiety that arises from awareness of one's freedom and the
responsibilities of choice is called:
a) Neurotic Anxiety
b) Free-Floating Anxiety
c) Existential Anxiety ✓
d) Trait Anxiety
22. Rogers' concept of the "ideal self" refers to:
a) The person you feel you ought to be.
b) The person you could become in the future.
c) The person you were as a child.
d) The person you would like to be. ✓
23. Which of the following is a key component of Rogers' client-centered therapy?
a) Dream Analysis
b) Free Association
c) Empathic Understanding ✓
d) Systematic Desensitization
Comprehensive University Exam Prep
Psychoanalytic & Neo-Analytic Theories
1. According to Freud, the psychic structure present at birth that operates on the pleasure
principle is the:
a) Ego
b) Superego
c) Id ✓
d) Conscious
2. The ego's primary method of avoiding anxiety by refusing to acknowledge threatening
events or thoughts is:
a) Projection
b) Repression
c) Denial ✓
d) Displacement
3. Alfred Adler's theory is primarily focused on the motivation to overcome:
a) Psychosexual Fixations
b) Feelings of Inferiority ✓
c) The Collective Unconscious
d) Conditional Positive Regard
4. Carl Jung's concept of a shared, universal reservoir of memory traces from our ancestral
past is the:
a) Personal Unconscious
b) Archetype
c) Collective Unconscious ✓
d) Persona
5. Karen Horney disagreed with Freud's concept of penis envy, arguing it was better
explained as:
a) Castration Anxiety
b) Womb Envy
c) Power Envy ✓
d) Oedipal Strivings
, 6. In Freudian theory, a boy's sexual desires for his mother and feelings of rivalry toward his
father is the:
a) Electra Complex
b) Oedipus Complex ✓
c) Phallic Stage
d) Latency Stage
7. The defense mechanism where one attributes their own unacceptable thoughts or
feelings to others is:
a) Sublimation
b) Reaction Formation
c) Projection ✓
d) Rationalization
8. According to Freud, the reality-oriented structure of the personality that operates on the
reality principle is the:
a) Id
b) Ego ✓
c) Superego
d) Preconscious
Biological & Trait Approaches
9. The "Big Five" personality factors are often recalled using the acronym:
a) MBTI
b) CANOE or OCEAN ✓
c) IDEPC
d) TRAIT
10. Which of the following is NOT one of the Big Five personality traits?
a) Openness to Experience
b) Conscientiousness
c) Neuroticism
d) Psychoticism ✓
11. A heritability estimate of 0.50 for extraversion would indicate that:
a) 50% of your extraversion is determined by genetics. ✓
b) 50% of your extraversion is determined by your environment.
c) Extraversion is 50% stable over time.
d) Genetics and environment are equally important, but not in a 50% split.
, 12. Eysenck's model of personality originally focused on which two major biological
dimensions?
a) Openness and Conscientiousness
b) Extraversion-Introversion and Neuroticism ✓
c) Agreeableness and Neuroticism
d) Positive Affect and Negative Affect
13. The concept that people choose environments that reinforce their predispositions is
called:
a) Gene-Environment Correlation ✓
b) Epigenetics
c) Niche Building
d) Reciprocal Determinism
14. According to Jeffrey Gray's Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, the Behavioral Inhibition
System (BIS) is most sensitive to:
a) Rewards and non-punishment
b) Punishment, non-reward, and novelty ✓
c) Fight-or-flight impulses
d) Social approval
15. A person who is described as "moody, anxious, and insecure" would likely score high on
the Big Five trait of:
a) Extraversion
b) Agreeableness
c) Neuroticism ✓
d) Openness
16. The trait of "tendency to experience positive emotions" is most central to:
a) Neuroticism (low end)
b) Extraversion ✓
c) Agreeableness
d) Openness
Humanistic & Existential Approaches
17. Carl Rogers believed that psychological health is promoted by receiving ______ from
others.
a) Conditional Positive Regard
b) Unconditional Positive Regard ✓
, c) Accurate Empathy
d) Genuineness
18. According to Maslow, the highest level of need in the hierarchy is:
a) Safety
b) Esteem
c) Love/Belonging
d) Self-Actualization ✓
19. A person who is fully functioning, according to Rogers, is living in a state of:
a) Congruence ✓
b) Incongruence
c) Conditional Worth
d) Existential Anxiety
20. The humanistic perspective is most concerned with:
a) Unconscious Drives
b) Free Will and Human Potential ✓
c) Learned Behavior
d) Biological Predispositions
21. In Existential psychology, anxiety that arises from awareness of one's freedom and the
responsibilities of choice is called:
a) Neurotic Anxiety
b) Free-Floating Anxiety
c) Existential Anxiety ✓
d) Trait Anxiety
22. Rogers' concept of the "ideal self" refers to:
a) The person you feel you ought to be.
b) The person you could become in the future.
c) The person you were as a child.
d) The person you would like to be. ✓
23. Which of the following is a key component of Rogers' client-centered therapy?
a) Dream Analysis
b) Free Association
c) Empathic Understanding ✓
d) Systematic Desensitization
