The forgetting curve of Ebbinghaus shows that forgetting is:

Fastest soon after learning and slower later

Absent when the material is meaningful

At a steady rate from day to day

Slow at first and faster after a few days

Psychology: mind, behaviour, learning and personality

60 Kerala PSC Staff Nurse Gr II practice questions on Psychology: mind, behaviour, learning and personality, part of Behavioural Sciences. The first 25 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

Question 1 · Medium
The forgetting curve of Ebbinghaus shows that forgetting is:
1. AFastest soon after learning and slower later
2. BAbsent when the material is meaningful
3. CAt a steady rate from day to day
4. DSlow at first and faster after a few days
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Answer: A · Fastest soon after learning and slower later
Ebbinghaus found that more than half of what he learned was lost within the first hour or so, and after that the loss slowed down greatly. The curve therefore falls steeply at first and then flattens. Meaningful material is forgotten more slowly than nonsense syllables, but it still follows the same shape. Revising soon after learning and spacing reviews reduces this early loss.
- B: Meaningful material is forgotten more slowly, but it is still forgotten.
- C: The rate of loss is not constant; it slows over time.
- D: The curve falls steeply first, not later.
Question 2 · Easy
To which level of the mind do thoughts belong that are not in awareness now but are easily recalled, such as a friend's phone number?
1. AUnconscious mind
2. BConscious mind
3. CCollective unconscious
4. DPreconscious mind
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Answer: D · Preconscious mind
Freud described three levels of the mind. The conscious holds what we are aware of now, the preconscious holds material that can be brought to awareness with a little effort, and the unconscious holds repressed wishes and memories that cannot be recalled at will. He compared the mind to an iceberg, with the unconscious as the large hidden part. Unconscious material shows itself in dreams, slips of the tongue and symptoms.
- A: Unconscious material cannot be recalled at will; it needs methods such as free association.
- B: The conscious mind holds only what is in awareness at this moment.
- C: The collective unconscious is Jung's idea of inherited images shared by all humans.
Question 3 · Easy
Thinking that produces many varied, original answers to an open problem, as in creativity, is called:
1. AAutistic thinking
2. BConvergent thinking
3. CDivergent thinking
4. DConcrete thinking
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Answer: C · Divergent thinking
Guilford separated divergent thinking, which spreads out to many possible solutions, from convergent thinking, which narrows down to one correct answer. Divergent thinking is the core of creativity. Most school examinations, including MCQs, test convergent thinking. Brainstorming is a method that encourages divergent thinking.
- A: Autistic thinking is private, wish-fulfilling fantasy that ignores reality.
- B: Convergent thinking narrows to a single correct answer.
- D: Concrete thinking deals only with the literal and present, without abstraction.
Question 4 · Medium
In Freud's theory, the Oedipus complex arises during which psychosexual stage?
1. AAnal stage
2. BPhallic stage
3. COral stage
4. DLatency stage
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Answer: B · Phallic stage
Freud's psychosexual stages are oral (0-1 year), anal (1-3 years), phallic (3-6 years), latency (6-12 years) and genital (puberty onwards). In the phallic stage the child's interest centres on the genitals, and the boy develops attraction to the mother and rivalry with the father. The conflict is resolved by identifying with the same-sex parent, which forms the superego. The matching complex in girls is called the Electra complex.
- A: The anal stage centres on toilet training and control.
- C: The oral stage centres on feeding and sucking in the first year.
- D: In the latency stage sexual interest is quiet and the child turns to school and friends.
Question 5 · Easy
Which mental mechanism is used consciously, unlike most others?
1. AProjection
2. BSuppression
3. CRepression
4. DDenial
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Answer: B · Suppression
Suppression is the deliberate, conscious pushing of an unpleasant thought out of mind, for example deciding not to think about an exam result until after a shift. Most other defence mechanisms, including repression, projection and denial, work unconsciously. Repression is the unconscious form of the same act. Suppression is generally regarded as a mature, healthy way of coping.
- A: Projection works unconsciously, without the person being aware of it.
- C: Repression pushes painful material out of awareness unconsciously.
- D: Denial is an unconscious refusal to accept a painful reality.
Question 6 · Medium
'Live vaccines are avoided in pregnancy; MMR is a live vaccine; so MMR is avoided in pregnancy.' Which kind of reasoning is this?
1. ADeductive reasoning
2. BInductive reasoning
3. CIntuitive thinking
4. DAnalogical reasoning
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 7 · Easy
Which of these is an objective (external) determinant of attention?
1. ANeeds of the person
2. BInterest of the person
3. CMental set of the person
4. DIntensity of the stimulus
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 8 · Medium
Which schedule of reinforcement produces behaviour that is most resistant to extinction?
1. AContinuous reinforcement
2. BFixed interval
3. CVariable ratio
4. DFixed ratio
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 9 · Medium
A 6-year-old who was fully toilet trained starts bed-wetting and sucking his thumb after admission to the paediatric ward. This is:
1. ARepression
2. BRegression
3. CFixation
4. DConversion
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 10 · Easy
What material does the Rorschach test of personality use?
1. ATen inkblot cards
2. BAmbiguous picture cards
3. CA list of stimulus words
4. DIncomplete sentences
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 11 · Easy
Hunger, thirst, sleep and the need for oxygen are examples of which type of motive?
1. ASecondary (learned) motives
2. BAchievement motives
3. CSocial approval motives
4. DPrimary (biological) motives
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 12 · Hard
A nurse receives four patients at the same time. Using Maslow's hierarchy, whose need should be met first?
1. AA woman worried about her jewellery being stolen
2. BAn old man who feels lonely without visitors
3. CA teacher upset that his privacy was ignored
4. DA man breathless with an SpO2 of 86%
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 13 · Hard
A young woman suddenly cannot move her right arm the day after she nearly slapped her mother in a quarrel. Neurological findings are normal and she seems unconcerned. The mechanism behind the symptom is:
1. AMalingering
2. BDissociation
3. CConversion
4. DDisplacement
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 14 · Medium
A student not selected for the college football team says he never wanted to join, because practice would waste his study time. This is:
1. AIntellectualisation
2. BProjection
3. CDenial
4. DRationalisation
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 15 · Medium
Which Gestalt principle makes us see a circle with a small gap as a complete circle?
1. ASimilarity
2. BClosure
3. CContinuity
4. DProximity
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 16 · Hard
A 12-year-old boy has a mental age of 6 years. If IQ 50-69 is mild, 35-49 moderate, 20-34 severe and below 20 profound intellectual disability, his level is:
1. AMild
2. BModerate
3. CSevere
4. DProfound
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 17 · Medium
A nurse who smokes knows that smoking causes cancer, and feels uneasy about it. Festinger called this uneasy state:
1. ACognitive dissonance
2. BFrustration
3. CRole conflict
4. DLearned helplessness
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 18 · Medium
A woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer insists that the biopsy report must belong to someone else and refuses to discuss treatment. Which defence mechanism is she using?
1. AUndoing
2. BRepression
3. CRationalisation
4. DDenial
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 19 · Medium
Sheldon described a person with a strong, muscular build who is energetic and assertive. Which body type is this?
1. AEctomorph
2. BEndomorph
3. CMesomorph
4. DPyknic
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 20 · Easy
Studying a subject for the pleasure of learning it, without any reward, is an example of:
1. AIntrinsic motivation
2. BPhysiological motivation
3. CNegative motivation
4. DExtrinsic motivation
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 21 · Hard
Mothers in a coastal village of Kerala have a negative attitude towards measles-rubella vaccination. Which approach is most likely to change this attitude lastingly?
1. APrinted leaflets on the vaccination schedule
2. BA single lecture on vaccine-preventable diseases
3. CWarnings that they will lose welfare benefits
4. DDiscussion led by a trusted local mother
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 22 · Medium
According to Maslow, the need for esteem becomes a strong motivator mainly when:
1. AThe person's safety is under threat
2. BPhysiological needs are still unmet
3. CSelf-actualisation has already been reached
4. DLower needs are reasonably satisfied
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 23 · Easy
Which part of the personality, according to Freud, acts as the conscience and produces guilt after a wrong act?
1. ALibido
2. BSuperego
3. CId
4. DEgo
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 24 · Medium
A student who does well in almost every subject would be said, in Spearman's theory, to be high in:
1. APrimary mental abilities
2. BCrystallised intelligence
3. CA specific factor (s)
4. DThe general factor (g)
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account
Question 25 · Medium
In Freudian theory, an adult who smokes heavily, overeats and is very dependent on others shows fixation at which stage?
1. AAnal stage
2. BPhallic stage
3. CGenital stage
4. DOral stage
Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

35 more Psychology: mind, behaviour, learning and personality questions

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Study Behavioural Sciences

Psychology: mind, behaviour, learning and personality

The forgetting curve of Ebbinghaus shows that forgetting is:

To which level of the mind do thoughts belong that are not in awareness now but are easily recalled, such as a friend's phone number?

Thinking that produces many varied, original answers to an open problem, as in creativity, is called:

In Freud's theory, the Oedipus complex arises during which psychosexual stage?

Which mental mechanism is used consciously, unlike most others?

'Live vaccines are avoided in pregnancy; MMR is a live vaccine; so MMR is avoided in pregnancy.' Which kind of reasoning is this?

Which of these is an objective (external) determinant of attention?

Which schedule of reinforcement produces behaviour that is most resistant to extinction?

A 6-year-old who was fully toilet trained starts bed-wetting and sucking his thumb after admission to the paediatric ward. This is:

What material does the Rorschach test of personality use?

Hunger, thirst, sleep and the need for oxygen are examples of which type of motive?

A nurse receives four patients at the same time. Using Maslow's hierarchy, whose need should be met first?

A young woman suddenly cannot move her right arm the day after she nearly slapped her mother in a quarrel. Neurological findings are normal and she seems unconcerned. The mechanism behind the symptom is:

A student not selected for the college football team says he never wanted to join, because practice would waste his study time. This is:

Which Gestalt principle makes us see a circle with a small gap as a complete circle?

A 12-year-old boy has a mental age of 6 years. If IQ 50-69 is mild, 35-49 moderate, 20-34 severe and below 20 profound intellectual disability, his level is:

A nurse who smokes knows that smoking causes cancer, and feels uneasy about it. Festinger called this uneasy state:

A woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer insists that the biopsy report must belong to someone else and refuses to discuss treatment. Which defence mechanism is she using?

Sheldon described a person with a strong, muscular build who is energetic and assertive. Which body type is this?

Studying a subject for the pleasure of learning it, without any reward, is an example of:

Mothers in a coastal village of Kerala have a negative attitude towards measles-rubella vaccination. Which approach is most likely to change this attitude lastingly?

According to Maslow, the need for esteem becomes a strong motivator mainly when:

Which part of the personality, according to Freud, acts as the conscience and produces guilt after a wrong act?

A student who does well in almost every subject would be said, in Spearman's theory, to be high in:

In Freudian theory, an adult who smokes heavily, overeats and is very dependent on others shows fixation at which stage?