FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUITMENT TO POSTS IN B.P.S. – 17 UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 2000
Psychology, Paper I
Time Allowed: 3 Hours Max. Marks: 100
Note: Attempt Five questions in all, including question No. 8 which is compulsory. All questions carry equal marks.
1 All of our thoughts, feelings and behavior can ultimately be traced to the activity of neurons. Discuss.
2 It is believed that learning is any relatively permanent change in behavior, capability or attitude that is acquired through experience. How far do you agree with it? Discuss with reference to the theories of learning.
3 Elucidate this type of motive where the person is strongly motivated with “the desire to perform an act to gain a reward or to avoid undesirable consequences.”
4 Discuss the major determinants of sensations.
5 Amongst the theories of personality, which theory explains the long lasting effects on individual’s personality? Discuss.
6 Discuss how political attitudes are formed, with specific reference of our cultural scenario.
7 Write short notes on two of the followings:
(a) Endocrine disorder (b) Ethnicity (c) Growing rate of suicide in Pakistan (d) Socialization process
COMPULSORY QUESTION
8 Write only the correct answers in the answer book. Don’t reproduce the questions.
1) What procedure is used by experimenters to determine whether a difference between conditions is an experiment is large enough for us to have confidence in its validity? (a) Correlation coefficient (b) Scientific intuition (c) Statistical analysis (d) None of these
2) If one finds a positive correlation between degree of coffee drinking and the likelihood of heart attacks. One can conclude that: (a) Coffee drinking causes heart attack (b) Individuals prone to heart attacks are predisposed to drink a lot of coffee (c) An active life style of certain people causes heart attack (d) None of these
3) Someone whose corpus callosum has been cut will experience difficulty in: (a) Naming an object held in the left hand (b) Naming an object held in the right hand (c) Recognizing an object held in the left hand (d) Recognizing an object held in the right hand
4) Taste depends: (a) On one’s taste buds and the smell, temperature and texture of food (b) Only on one’s taste buds (c) Only on smell and texture of food (d) None of these
5) Smoking during pregnancy is associated with: (a) High intelligence in the fetus, since the fetus must be clever to keep the cigarette burning (b) Low birth weight (c) High mortality (d) Both B and C
6) The application of psychological theories, methods and techniques to solve practical human problems describes an area of psychology known as: (a) Social psychology (b) Para-psychology (c) Applied psychology (d) Humanistic psychology
7) Which of the following is not one of the factors, which tend to hinder the fairness of intelligence tests for lower class children? (a) Inappropriate norms (b) Items requiring certain experience (c) Test assume test-taking skills (d) Test givers bias the result
8) As E scores of I-E scale show a general trend upward: (a) People show more reserve suspicion and withdrawal (b) Assassinations and events like Watergate and Vietnam increase (c) The ability for people to openly express themselves decrease (d) Both A and C
9) In ancient times, who supposedly inhibited the body and soul of a “crazy” person? (a) God (b) A saint (c) The devil (d) None of these
10) “Double approach-avoidance” conflict is: (a) Approaching a problem from two different angles (b) A doubly strong tendency to approach an object (c) Being faced with a choice between two equally attractive goals (d) Choosing between two equally attractive objects such that the choice of one means giving up the other
11) “Delusion” refer to: (a) Thoughts or beliefs that have no basis in reality (b) Feelings that have no basis in reality (c) Behaviors that have no basis in reality (d) None of these
12) The basic assumption of humanistic theories include: (a) Humans are basically good and worthy (b) Humans are basically bad and unworthy and thus have to be reconditioned using learning principles (c) There is a natural growth process that can be blocked by bad condition (d) Both A and C
13) Rotter’s social learning theory emphasizes the following: (a) Behavioral potential (b) Expectancy (c) A reinterpretation of Freud’s theory (d) Both A and B
14) “Human beings respond to their subjective cognitions about their world rather than to the objective environment” is an argument for the effectiveness of: (a) Primal therapy (b) Freudian therapy (c) Cognitive therapy (d) Rankin therapy
15) How can morality covertly enter the therapy session? (a) By having ministers take over the role of therapist (b) By the use of techniques to alter a sexual preference (c) By allowing an insane person into therapy (d) By allowing philosophers of ethics to become therapists
16) Research on the role of reinforcement in insight therapy has found that: (a) It does not play a role (b) It does play a role (c) It has an effect only on dependent patients (d) It plays a role in highly structured therapy situation
17) The notion that aggression can be reduced by allowing angry individuals to engage harmless activities that allow them to “blow off self esteem” is: (a) Frustration-aggression hypothesis (b) Displacement hypothesis (c) Sublimation hypothesis (d) Catharsis hypothesis
18) A person behavior is usually attributed to external causes when all but one of the following conditions exist:
(a) Others act in the same way (b) The person acts the same way at other times (c) The person acts differently in other situations (d) The person seems aware of the environment
19) A study of gastric ulceration in response to stress produced by shock found that the most ulceration was shown by rates who: (a) Only heard a tone but received no shock (b) Received varying levels of shock (c) Could predict the onset of shock (d) Could not predict the onset of shock
20) Studies of crowding have found that crowding: (a) Depends only on physical density (b) Affects mainly females (c) Can intensify feelings (d) Has negative effects only among the elderly