1|Page
PSYCHOLOGY EXAM 1 MULTIPLE
CHOICE |ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026-27
Psychology is the study of
a.) mental illness
b.) the brain
c.) behavior and mental processes
d.) observable behavior in humans and animals - correct-answer - C
An experimenter assigned students to three classrooms with different music
playing in each room. Then he tested their ability to memorize poetry. What is the
independent variable?
a.) the type of music
b.) the motivation of students
c.) the difficulty of the poetry
,2|Page
d.) the student's success in memorizing poetry - correct-answer - A
"If an athlete imagines having a good performance, then that athlete is more
likely to be successful in an event." This statement is a description of
a.) Determinism
b.) a hypothesis
c.) a theory
d.) a correlation - correct-answer - B
What is a quantitative, statistical measure of how different test scores are from
each other in a group of students?
a.) correlation coefficient
b.) frequency distribution
c.) mean
d.) standard deviation - correct-answer - D
, 3|Page
A control group in an experiment
a.) is used to prevent experimenter bias
b.) is not necessary if random assignment to groups is used
c.) is also called a placebo group
d.) does not receive the experimental treatment - correct-answer - D
The term "significant at the .05 level" means that
a.) the student will get an A on her senior thesis
b.) the results are likely to occur by chance less than 5% of the time
c.) the means of the two groups differed by at least 5 percentage points
d.) the results are important - correct-answer - B
With the help of correlational studies, scientists have determined that people
who are chronically depressed are more likely than non-depressed people to
develop cancer. Which of the following can be derived from the study?
a.) chronic depression causes cancer
b.) early, undetected cancer causes depression
PSYCHOLOGY EXAM 1 MULTIPLE
CHOICE |ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS 2026-27
Psychology is the study of
a.) mental illness
b.) the brain
c.) behavior and mental processes
d.) observable behavior in humans and animals - correct-answer - C
An experimenter assigned students to three classrooms with different music
playing in each room. Then he tested their ability to memorize poetry. What is the
independent variable?
a.) the type of music
b.) the motivation of students
c.) the difficulty of the poetry
,2|Page
d.) the student's success in memorizing poetry - correct-answer - A
"If an athlete imagines having a good performance, then that athlete is more
likely to be successful in an event." This statement is a description of
a.) Determinism
b.) a hypothesis
c.) a theory
d.) a correlation - correct-answer - B
What is a quantitative, statistical measure of how different test scores are from
each other in a group of students?
a.) correlation coefficient
b.) frequency distribution
c.) mean
d.) standard deviation - correct-answer - D
, 3|Page
A control group in an experiment
a.) is used to prevent experimenter bias
b.) is not necessary if random assignment to groups is used
c.) is also called a placebo group
d.) does not receive the experimental treatment - correct-answer - D
The term "significant at the .05 level" means that
a.) the student will get an A on her senior thesis
b.) the results are likely to occur by chance less than 5% of the time
c.) the means of the two groups differed by at least 5 percentage points
d.) the results are important - correct-answer - B
With the help of correlational studies, scientists have determined that people
who are chronically depressed are more likely than non-depressed people to
develop cancer. Which of the following can be derived from the study?
a.) chronic depression causes cancer
b.) early, undetected cancer causes depression
