FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUITMENT
TO POSTS IN B.P.S. – 17 UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 1999
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 Highlight the advantage and limitations of various research techniques used by psychologists to study human behaviour.
2 Describe the functions of Autonomic Nervous system. What role endocrine glands play to cope with a stressful situation?
3 Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning. Give examples. Discuss the implications of operant conditioning for child rearing.
4 Critically evaluate the theories of Motivation put forth by Maslow, Lewin and Freud.
5 Discuss the effect of learning and motivation on perception. Give examples.
6 Give a critical appraisal of personality tests. Which technique you will recommend for assessment of an adult person’s personality in Pakistan?
7 Write short notes on the following: (a) formation of attitudes (b) prejudice (c) International tension(d) Determinant of perception
COMPULSORY QUESTION
8 Write only the correct answers in the answer book. Don’t reproduce the questions
(i) Structuralism is to Gestalt as: (a) knowledge is to understanding (b) part is to whole (c) reward is to punishment (d) perceiver is to stimulus
(ii) Under normal conditions, neural messages in one neuron travel from: (a) dendrite to axon to soma (b) soma to dendrite to axon c) axon to soma to dendrite (d) dendrite to soma to axon
(iii) Which of the following is not a principle of perceptual organization? (a) Simplicity (b) Similarity (c) Nearness (d) Familiarity
(iv) Classical conditioning is one form of: (a) insight learning (b) observational learning (c) associative learning (d) operant learning
(v) According to the theory of cognitive dissonance, we have a need to: (a) teach others our cognitive strategies (b) maintain our self-esteem (c) maintain cognitive consistency (d) learn the cognitive strategies of others
(vi) Correlations are useful in that they can: (a) indicate cause-and-effect relationship (b) identify valid predictors of a given behaviour (c) identify factors that may be worth further experimentation (d) Both b and c
(vii) Which of the following components is associated with prejudiced: (a) belief (b) attitude (c) behaviour (d) outcome
(viii) Which of the following is a belief? (a) hot climates make people lazy (b) I am not fond of carrots (c) I never sit near old people in a bus (d) I try not to judge anyone by their looks
(ix) A child who can remember specific details of a picture after only a brief exposure is demonstrating: (a) interactive images (b) sensory memory (c) eidetic imagery (d) method of loci
(x) The two most important goals of psychology are to: (a) study and learn (b) explain and predict (c) understand and control (d) reward and punish
(xi) Probably Freud’s most important contribution to modern psychology was his emphasis on: (a) Social and cultural influences on personality (b) Unconscious processes (c) The stages of moral development (d) Interactive modes of explaining behaviour
(xii) Opinions differ from attitudes in that opinions are: (a) difficult to verbalize (b) always conscious (c) always unconscious (d) predictions or expectations about consequences of a course of action
(xiii) In operant conditioning, reinforcement: (a) elicits the response (b) is always positive (c) follows the response (d) is always negative
(xiv) Personality structure refers to: (a) the individual’s unique physique (b) body type based on morphological components of the body (c) persistent unique features that give coherence to personality d) how a person impresses others
(xv) Factor-analytic study of traits is associated with: (a) Cattell (b) Allport (c) Jung (d) Freud
(xvi) Unconscious aspects of personally are more likely to be revealed by: (a) projective tests (b) personality inventories (c) Sociometric techniques (d) forced-choice tests
(xvii) Ego strength versus emotionality and neuroticism: Constitutes (a) surface traits (b) cardinal traits (c) personal dispositions (d) source traits
(xviii) The parasympathetic division: (a) tends to act in a piecemeal fashion affecting one organ at a time (b) is dominant in excited emotional states (c) tends to act as a unit (d) originates in the thoracic to lumber portions of the spine
(xix) Nerves that carry impulses from the periphery of the body to the central nervous system are called: (a) cranial nerves (b) afferent nerves (c) efferent nerves (d) motor nerves