Here is the answer key with explanations for MA Psychology Entrance Exam Model 2 Questions.
- b) Leon Festinger
Explanation: Leon Festinger is most closely associated with the theory of cognitive dissonance, which describes the discomfort people feel when their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors are inconsistent with each other. - a) Confirmation bias
Explanation: Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypotheses. - b) Conditioned stimulus
Explanation: In Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments, the sound of the metronome became a conditioned stimulus (CS) that, after repeated pairings with food (the unconditioned stimulus), eventually elicited salivation (the conditioned response). - d) Intuition
Explanation: The “Big Five” personality traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (OCEAN). Intuition is not one of these traits. - c) Stress
Explanation: Stress is defined as the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging. - b) Amygdala
Explanation: The amygdala is a key brain structure primarily responsible for processing emotions, especially fear and aggression. - c) Cognitive
Explanation: The cognitive perspective in psychology focuses on how our thoughts, beliefs, and perceptions shape our behaviors and mental processes. - b) Adolescence
Explanation: In Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development, the conflict of “Identity vs. Role Confusion” occurs during adolescence, typically between the ages of 12 and 18. - b) Fundamental attribution error
Explanation: The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute others’ actions to internal factors (personality, disposition) while attributing our own actions to external factors (situation, circumstances). - d) Cognition
Explanation: Cognition is not a defense mechanism according to Freudian theory. Repression, projection, and sublimation are all examples of defense mechanisms in psychoanalytic theory. - c) Memory
Explanation: Memory is the process of encoding, storing, and retrieving information in the brain. - b) Giving a child a sticker for good behavior
Explanation: Positive reinforcement involves adding a desirable stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Giving a sticker for good behavior is an example of this. - b) Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Explanation: The concept of “flow” in positive psychology was introduced by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow is a state of complete immersion in an activity, often described as being “in the zone.” - e) Regression
Explanation: The Kübler-Ross model of grief includes five stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Regression is not part of this model. - b) Anchoring bias
Explanation: Anchoring bias is the tendency to rely too heavily on the first piece of information encountered (the “anchor”) when making decisions. - d) Emotional-social
Explanation: Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences does not include “emotional-social” intelligence as a distinct category. The others listed are part of his theory. - d) Deindividuation
Explanation: Deindividuation is the phenomenon where individuals in a group setting lose their sense of individual identity and behave in ways they normally wouldn’t, often conforming to group behavior despite their own beliefs. - a) Safety
Explanation: In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety needs come immediately after physiological needs. - c) Ethnocentrism
Explanation: Ethnocentrism is the belief that one’s own group or culture is superior to others. - d) Sensory
Explanation: Sensory memory is not a type of long-term memory. Episodic, semantic, and procedural memories are all types of long-term memory. - c) Serial position effect
Explanation: The serial position effect describes the tendency to remember items at the beginning (primacy effect) and end (recency effect) of a list better than those in the middle. - d) Abstract operational
Explanation: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. “Abstract operational” is not one of these stages. - a) Hindsight bias
Explanation: Hindsight bias, also known as the “I-knew-it-all-along” effect, is the tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have predicted an outcome that could not have been predicted. - d) Medial
Explanation: The four lobes of the cerebral cortex are frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital. The medial lobe is not one of them. - b) Social loafing
Explanation: Social loafing is the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group compared to when working alone. - d) Hypothetical
Explanation: Hypothetical is not a type of psychological research method. Experimental, correlational, and case study are all valid research methods in psychology. - b) Perception
Explanation: Perception is the process by which we organize and interpret sensory information to give it meaning. - d) Emotional
Explanation: Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence includes analytical, creative, and practical intelligence. Emotional intelligence is not part of this theory. - d) Psychoanalysis
Explanation: Psychoanalysis, developed by Sigmund Freud, is the psychological perspective that focuses on the role of the unconscious mind in shaping behavior. - a) Mere exposure effect
Explanation: The mere exposure effect is the phenomenon where people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them. - d) Recovery
Explanation: Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome includes three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. Recovery is not part of this model. - b) Emotional intelligence
Explanation: Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and those of others. - d) Insight learning
Explanation: Insight learning is not typically considered a type of learning according to behaviorism. Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning are all associated with behaviorist theories. - b) Bipolar disorder
Explanation: Bipolar disorder is characterized by extreme mood swings between mania and depression. - a) Self-fulfilling prophecy
Explanation: A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that causes itself to become true due to the behavior of the person who holds the belief. - d) Trans-conventional
Explanation: Kohlberg’s theory of moral development includes pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional stages. Trans-conventional is not part of this theory. - c) Role theory
Explanation: Role theory focuses on how people conform to social roles and expectations. - e) Codependent
Explanation: Codependent is not one of the attachment styles in attachment theory. The main attachment styles are secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized. - b) Social psychology
Explanation: Social psychology is the branch of psychology that focuses on how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. - a) Illusory correlation
Explanation: Illusory correlation is the tendency to perceive a relationship between variables when no such relationship exists. - d) Actualization
Explanation: The transtheoretical model of behavior change includes precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance stages. Actualization is not part of this model. - c) Gestalt psychology
Explanation: The principle that “the whole is different from the sum of its parts” is a fundamental concept in Gestalt psychology. - b) Bystander effect
Explanation: The bystander effect describes the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. - d) Cognitive dissonance
Explanation: Cognitive dissonance is not a type of cognitive bias. It is a theory that describes the discomfort experienced when holding conflicting beliefs or attitudes. - c) Humanistic psychology
Explanation: Humanistic psychology focuses on the role of meaning, self-actualization, and personal growth in human behavior and experience. - b) Self-serving bias
Explanation: Self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute positive events to internal factors and negative events to external factors. - d) Neuroticism
Explanation: The “dark triad” personality traits are narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Neuroticism is not part of this group. - a) Affective forecasting
Explanation: Affective forecasting refers to predictions about future emotional states, often overestimating the intensity and duration of emotional reactions to future events. - d) Intuition
Explanation: Intuition is not typically considered a formal problem-solving strategy. Algorithms, heuristics, and trial and error are all recognized problem-solving methods. - c) Evolutionary psychology
Explanation: Evolutionary psychology is the perspective that focuses on how behavior and mental processes can be explained through natural selection and adaptation.
Please also consult the model questions first set at this link.
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