Trial type Responded “yes” Responded “no” Tone present (50 trials) 40 10 Tone absent (50 trials) 15 35 An observer completes 100 trials of an auditory detection task, with the results shown in the table. Which of the following correctly gives the observer’s hit rate and false-alarm rate?

Hit rate = .80; false-alarm rate = .30

Hit rate = .73; false-alarm rate = .27

Hit rate = .40; false-alarm rate = .15

Hit rate = .20; false-alarm rate = .30

Hit rate = .80; false-alarm rate = .70

In a false-belief task, most 3-year-olds say that Sally will look for her marble in the box to which it was moved in her absence. A critic proposes that the children simply forget where the marble was first placed. Which of the following findings most directly counts against the critic’s explanation?

The children correctly answer a control question about where the marble was at the start

The children perform no better when the marble is replaced with a more attractive toy

The children perform better when the task is presented with puppets instead of with dolls

The children give more correct answers as their age increases from 3 to 5 years

The children correctly answer a control question about where the marble is at the end

A 34-year-old nurse is hospitalized for the fourth time in a year with unexplained hypoglycemia. Staff discover that she has been secretly injecting herself with insulin. She has no pending lawsuit, disability claim, or other evident incentive, and she appears to welcome invasive tests. Which of the following best describes her presentation?

Factitious disorder imposed on self

Functional neurological symptom disorder

Mice homozygous for the ob mutation overeat and become obese, and injections of leptin reduce their food intake and body weight. Most obese humans, however, do not lose weight when given leptin. The most likely reason is that obese humans typically

have high leptin levels but respond weakly to the hormone

have too few fat cells to secrete adequate leptin

secrete too little ghrelin from the stomach lining

carry the same mutation in a milder, recessive form

have damage to the lateral area of the hypothalamus

People verify “A robin is a bird” faster than “A penguin is a bird.” This typicality effect is a problem for Collins and Quillian’s hierarchical network model because the model

places both birds one link from the category node

assumes that links differ in strength and in length

stores each property at every level of the hierarchy

represents a category by its remembered exemplars

has no stored links between instances and categories

In a field trial, pairs of clinicians independently interview the same 200 patients and agree on the presence or absence of a proposed diagnosis far more often than chance would predict (kappa = .82). Follow-up shows that patients with and without the diagnosis do not differ in course, family history, or response to treatment. The proposed diagnosis has

high interrater reliability but doubtful validity

high construct validity but doubtful test–retest reliability

high predictive validity but doubtful interrater reliability

high test–retest reliability but doubtful internal consistency

high content validity but doubtful interrater reliability

GRE Psychology Test

Free GRE Psychology Practice Questions

10 sample questions for the GRE Psychology Test, with the correct answer and an explanation for each. No account needed. Try each one before you open the answer.

Sections covered on the exam: Cognitive, Social, Developmental, Clinical, Measurement/Methodology/Other.

Question 1 · Cognitive
Trial type Responded “yes” Responded “no”
Tone present (50 trials) 40 10
Tone absent (50 trials) 15 35
An observer completes 100 trials of an auditory detection task, with the results shown in the table. Which of the following correctly gives the observer’s hit rate and false-alarm rate?
- A.Hit rate = .80; false-alarm rate = .30
- B.Hit rate = .73; false-alarm rate = .27
- C.Hit rate = .40; false-alarm rate = .15
- D.Hit rate = .20; false-alarm rate = .30
- E.Hit rate = .80; false-alarm rate = .70
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Hit rate = .80; false-alarm rate = .30
The hit rate is the proportion of signal-present trials answered “yes” (40 of 50 = .80), and the false-alarm rate is the proportion of signal-absent trials answered “yes” (15 of 50 = .30). Dividing by all 100 trials, or by the 55 “yes” responses, confuses these conditional rates with overall proportions, and .70 is the correct-rejection rate.
Question 2 · Cognitive
Female Belding’s ground squirrels give alarm calls at the sight of a predator far more often when close relatives live nearby than when they do not, even though calling draws the predator’s attention to the caller. This pattern is best explained by
- A.group selection
- B.filial imprinting
- C.kin selection
- D.sexual selection
- E.reciprocal altruism
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. kin selection
Calling is costly to the caller but protects relatives who carry copies of its genes, so the behavior raises the caller’s inclusive fitness, as Hamilton’s account of kin selection predicts. Reciprocal altruism is the tempting alternative, but it predicts help directed at unrelated partners who are likely to return the favor, not help that depends on relatedness.
Question 3 · Cognitive
Which of the following theorists used factor analysis to argue that intelligence consists of seven relatively independent primary mental abilities, such as word fluency and perceptual speed, and not of one dominant general factor?
- A.Raymond Cattell
- B.Charles Spearman
- C.Howard Gardner
- D.L. L. Thurstone
- E.Robert Sternberg
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. L. L. Thurstone
Thurstone’s factor analyses yielded seven primary mental abilities, including verbal comprehension, word fluency, number, space, memory, perceptual speed and reasoning. Gardner also rejected a single general ability, but his multiple intelligences rest on case evidence and criteria such as brain localization, not on factor analysis, and they are not called primary mental abilities.
Question 4 · Developmental
In a false-belief task, most 3-year-olds say that Sally will look for her marble in the box to which it was moved in her absence. A critic proposes that the children simply forget where the marble was first placed. Which of the following findings most directly counts against the critic’s explanation?
- A.The children perform no better when the marble is replaced with a more attractive toy
- B.The children perform better when the task is presented with puppets instead of with dolls
- C.The children give more correct answers as their age increases from 3 to 5 years
- D.The children correctly answer a control question about where the marble was at the start
- E.The children correctly answer a control question about where the marble is at the end
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. The children correctly answer a control question about where the marble was at the start
If 3-year-olds can report where the marble was originally, their error cannot be due to forgetting that location; they fail because they do not attribute to Sally a belief that differs from reality. Knowing where the marble is now shows only that they tracked the move, which the forgetting account does not dispute.
Question 5 · Clinical
A 34-year-old nurse is hospitalized for the fourth time in a year with unexplained hypoglycemia. Staff discover that she has been secretly injecting herself with insulin. She has no pending lawsuit, disability claim, or other evident incentive, and she appears to welcome invasive tests. Which of the following best describes her presentation?
- A.Illness anxiety disorder
- B.Factitious disorder imposed on self
- C.Functional neurological symptom disorder
- D.Somatic symptom disorder
- E.Malingering
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Factitious disorder imposed on self
She deliberately induces illness and deceives staff with no obvious external reward, which defines factitious disorder; the motive is the patient role itself. Malingering also involves intentional symptom production but requires an external incentive such as money or avoiding duty, and the remaining disorders involve symptoms or fears that are not intentionally produced.
Question 6 · Cognitive
An observer just detects a change when a 40-unit light is raised to 44 units. If Weber’s law holds, a 150-unit light must be raised to what intensity before the change is just noticeable?
- A.154 units
- B.160 units
- C.165 units
- D.175 units
- E.190 units
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. 165 units
The Weber fraction is the JND divided by the standard: 4/40 = .10. The same proportion of a 150-unit standard is 15 units, so the light must reach 165 units. Adding the original 4 units to reach 154 treats the JND as a constant amount, which is the assumption Weber’s law rejects.
Question 7 · Cognitive
Mice homozygous for the ob mutation overeat and become obese, and injections of leptin reduce their food intake and body weight. Most obese humans, however, do not lose weight when given leptin. The most likely reason is that obese humans typically
- A.have too few fat cells to secrete adequate leptin
- B.secrete too little ghrelin from the stomach lining
- C.carry the same mutation in a milder, recessive form
- D.have damage to the lateral area of the hypothalamus
- E.have high leptin levels but respond weakly to the hormone
Show answer and explanation
Answer: E. have high leptin levels but respond weakly to the hormone
The mutant mice lack leptin, so replacing it restores the satiety signal. Most obese humans already have high circulating leptin, in proportion to their fat mass, and their brains respond weakly to it, so adding more has little effect. Assuming that human obesity reflects the same missing-hormone defect is the tempting error; such mutations are rare in humans.
Question 8 · Cognitive
People verify “A robin is a bird” faster than “A penguin is a bird.” This typicality effect is a problem for Collins and Quillian’s hierarchical network model because the model
- A.assumes that links differ in strength and in length
- B.places both birds one link from the category node
- C.stores each property at every level of the hierarchy
- D.represents a category by its remembered exemplars
- E.has no stored links between instances and categories
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. places both birds one link from the category node
In the hierarchical model verification time depends on the number of links crossed, and robin and penguin are each a single link below bird, so the model predicts equal times. Links that vary in length with relatedness are a feature of Collins and Loftus’s later spreading-activation model, which was introduced to handle this result.

Trial type	Responded “yes”	Responded “no”
Tone present (50 trials)	40	10
Tone absent (50 trials)	15	35

Question 9 · Developmental

Episode	Infant X	Infant Y
Caregiver present	Plays with toys; rarely looks at caregiver	Stays close to caregiver; explores little
Caregiver leaves	Continues playing; little visible distress	Cries intensely
Caregiver returns	Looks away and moves past caregiver to a toy	Reaches to be held, then arches away and keeps crying

Two 13-month-olds are observed in the Strange Situation. On the basis of the observations in the table, which of the following classifications is most appropriate?

A.X: insecure-avoidant; Y: insecure-resistant
B.X: secure; Y: insecure-resistant
C.X: insecure-resistant; Y: insecure-avoidant
D.X: secure; Y: disorganized
E.X: insecure-avoidant; Y: disorganized

Show answer and explanation

Answer: A. X: insecure-avoidant; Y: insecure-resistant

Infant X shows the avoidant pattern: minimal distress at separation and active avoidance at reunion. Infant Y shows the resistant (ambivalent) pattern: intense distress followed by contact seeking mixed with angry resistance and failure to settle. A secure infant may also cry at separation but is comforted quickly at reunion, and the disorganized pattern involves contradictory, dazed or fearful behavior with no consistent strategy.

Question 10 · Clinical
In a field trial, pairs of clinicians independently interview the same 200 patients and agree on the presence or absence of a proposed diagnosis far more often than chance would predict (kappa = .82). Follow-up shows that patients with and without the diagnosis do not differ in course, family history, or response to treatment. The proposed diagnosis has
- A.high construct validity but doubtful test–retest reliability
- B.high predictive validity but doubtful interrater reliability
- C.high test–retest reliability but doubtful internal consistency
- D.high interrater reliability but doubtful validity
- E.high content validity but doubtful interrater reliability
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. high interrater reliability but doubtful validity
A kappa of .82 shows that independent clinicians agree well, which is interrater reliability. Because the diagnosis predicts nothing about course, family history, or treatment response, there is no evidence that it marks a meaningful distinction, so its validity is in doubt; agreement among raters does not guarantee validity.

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