GRE psychology - important names
UPDATED Questions and CORRECT
Answers
Who studied the effect of competition on performance and found that people perform better on
familiar tasks when in the presence of other than when alone?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - a (Norman Triplett)
Who created the social facilitation effect? For exampled, cyclists tend to have faster times when
riding in the presence of a counterpart as opposed to riding alone?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - a (Norman Triplett)
Who published the first textbooks on social psychology and defended that all matter has a mental
aspect?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
,E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - b (William McDougall)
Who suggested that social approval influences behavior? For example, the course of a
conversation changes dramatically based upon feedback (approval) from others?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - d (Verplank)
Who helped to establish reinforcement theory?
I. Verplank
II. Pavlov
III. Thorndike
IV. Hull
V. B. F. Skinner
A. I and II
B. I, II, and III
C. I, II, and IV
D. II, III, and V
E. all of the above - CORRECT ANSWER - c (All of the above. Reinforcement theory:
behavior is motivated by anticipated rewards)
Who considered personality to be a collection of behavior that happens to have been sufficiently
reinforced to persist, and the result of behavioral development of an organism?
,A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined positive reinforcement (the case where you reward someone in order to increase the
frequency of a behavior)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined negative reinforcement (desired response will be performed by taking away or
preventing something undesirable whenever the desired response is made)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined punishment (giving organisms something undesirable whenever the response is
made)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
, C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined extinction (behavior that used to bring reward no longer does)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who proposed that behavior is learned through imitation?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - c (Albert Bandura)
Who was the main figure in social learning theory?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - c (Albert Bandura. social learning theory:
aggression is learned through modeling (direct observation) or reinforement)
UPDATED Questions and CORRECT
Answers
Who studied the effect of competition on performance and found that people perform better on
familiar tasks when in the presence of other than when alone?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - a (Norman Triplett)
Who created the social facilitation effect? For exampled, cyclists tend to have faster times when
riding in the presence of a counterpart as opposed to riding alone?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - a (Norman Triplett)
Who published the first textbooks on social psychology and defended that all matter has a mental
aspect?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
,E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - b (William McDougall)
Who suggested that social approval influences behavior? For example, the course of a
conversation changes dramatically based upon feedback (approval) from others?
A. Norman Triplett
B. William McDougall
C. E.H. Ross
D. Verplank
E. Pavlov - CORRECT ANSWER - d (Verplank)
Who helped to establish reinforcement theory?
I. Verplank
II. Pavlov
III. Thorndike
IV. Hull
V. B. F. Skinner
A. I and II
B. I, II, and III
C. I, II, and IV
D. II, III, and V
E. all of the above - CORRECT ANSWER - c (All of the above. Reinforcement theory:
behavior is motivated by anticipated rewards)
Who considered personality to be a collection of behavior that happens to have been sufficiently
reinforced to persist, and the result of behavioral development of an organism?
,A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined positive reinforcement (the case where you reward someone in order to increase the
frequency of a behavior)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined negative reinforcement (desired response will be performed by taking away or
preventing something undesirable whenever the desired response is made)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined punishment (giving organisms something undesirable whenever the response is
made)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
, C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who coined extinction (behavior that used to bring reward no longer does)?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - b (B.F. Skinner)
Who proposed that behavior is learned through imitation?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - c (Albert Bandura)
Who was the main figure in social learning theory?
A. Hull
B. B. F. Skinner
C. Albert Bandura
D. Robert Rescorla
E. E.L. Thorndike - CORRECT ANSWER - c (Albert Bandura. social learning theory:
aggression is learned through modeling (direct observation) or reinforement)
