GRE Subject Test: Psychology : Experimental

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #111 : Experimental

Watson’s “Little Albert” experiment demonstrates which of the following?

Possible Answers:

None of these

Fear is a learned behavior

Fear is relayed from mother to child

Babies have genetic predispositions to fear

Children see white, furry objects as scary

Correct answer:

Fear is a learned behavior

Explanation:

In the study,Watson found the babies did not fear animals until loud noises were paired with their images. In other words, the children were not afraid of the sight of animals; however, fear was induced when sounds were paired with them. 

Example Question #112 : Experimental

This type of conditioning is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room.

Possible Answers:

Negative punishment

Classical conditioning

Positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcement

Positive punishment

Correct answer:

Negative reinforcement

Explanation:

Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. On the other hand the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. In classical conditioning you can train an animal to have a response to an unrelated stimuli. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Negative punishment is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late. Last, positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving.

Example Question #113 : Experimental

Which of the following types of conditioning is would best be characterized as when you give something good to create a desired behavior (e.g. giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room).

Possible Answers:

Positive punishment

Negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement

Negative punishment

None of these

Correct answer:

Positive reinforcement

Explanation:

Positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving. On the other hand, the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, "negative punishment" is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late.

 

Example Question #114 : Experimental

Which of the following types of conditioning is would best be characterized as when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior (e.g. if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late)?

Possible Answers:

Positive punishment

Negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement

Negative Punishment

None of these

Correct answer:

Negative Punishment

Explanation:

Negative punishment is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late. On the other hand, the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving.

Example Question #115 : Experimental

Which of the following types of conditioning is would best be characterized as when you add something bad to decrease a behavior (e.g. if you spank a child for misbehaving)?

Possible Answers:

Positive reinforcement

Negative punishment

Positive punishment

All of these

Negative reinforcement

Correct answer:

Positive punishment

Explanation:

Positive punishment is when you add something bad to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you spank a child for misbehaving. On the other hand, the rest of the listed choices are incorrect. Negative reinforcement is an example of operant conditioning. This is when you take something good away to create a desired behavior. Such as taking away a child's cell phone until they clean their room. Positive reinforcement is another example of operant conditioning. This is when you give something good to create a desired behavior. An example of this is giving a child a cookie because they cleaned their room. Last, negative punishment is when you remove a good thing to decrease a behavior. An example of this is if you remove a child's cell phone for coming home late.

 

Example Question #1 : Phonemes, Morphemes, & Phrases

How many morphemes are in the word "beaches"?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Morpheme refers to the smallest unit of language that carries meaning. In the word "beaches" there are two: "beach," and "es" which designates that the word is plural. By contrast, phonemes refer to the smallest units of sound.

Example Question #333 : Gre Subject Test: Psychology

Which of the following is best defined as the smallest unit of language that carries meaning?

Possible Answers:

Phoneme

Grammar

Word 

Concept

Morpheme

Correct answer:

Morpheme

Explanation:

"Phonemes" are the smallest unit of language that create sound; however, "morphemes" are the smallest units that carry a meaning. 

Example Question #341 : Gre Subject Test: Psychology

A gorilla which has learned a limited form of sign language gains the attention of its trainer and signs the incomplete sentence "treat, bring now."

This is most closely an example of which of the following?

Possible Answers:

Babbling

Telegraphic speech

Language drift

Overgeneralization

Syntax error

Correct answer:

Telegraphic speech

Explanation:

Telegraphic speech is speech during the two-word stage of language acquisition, consisting of commands or imperatives given in three-or-more word sentences consisting of functional words only. A sentence like "treat, bring now" contains enough to make the message effective, if not particularly precise.

Example Question #341 : Gre Subject Test: Psychology

Which of the following words contains an example of a cranberry morpheme?

Possible Answers:

Deadly

Progeny

Damaging

Killed

Sublimation

Correct answer:

Progeny

Explanation:

A cranberry morpheme is a type of morpheme (the smallest meaningful unit of language) which has no independent meaning or function, but which still serves to distinguish one word from another. In this case, progeny contains the the cranberry morpheme '-geny', an obsolete term designating offspring which is also found in exogeny and endogeny

Example Question #341 : Gre Subject Test: Psychology

Which of the following words contains an example of a cranberry morpheme?

Possible Answers:

Barometer 

Destroyer

Thermometer

Hinterland

Unapologetic

Correct answer:

Hinterland

Explanation:

A cranberry morpheme is a type of morpheme (the smallest meaningful unit of language) which has no independent meaning or function, but which still serves to distinguish one word from another. In this case, the term hinterland contains the German word hinter ("behind"), paired with the free morpheme '-land'.

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