IB Psychology — Practice Questions flashcards
6 of 50 questions free to study here · 8 topics · the whole deck is built into Willys
Multiple-choice practice on the syllabus, one best answer each, on the course concepts, research methods and ethics, and key studies across the biological, cognitive and sociocultural approaches and the contexts.
Practice deck · part of IB Psychology · written against: IB Diploma Programme IB Psychology current subject guide; SL and HL in one deck, HL-only cards under subtopic tags starting HL. Updated 2026-10-10.
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Some studies find that people with depression show lower serotonin activity than people without depression. Which conclusion does this evidence support?
A) The two are linked, but which one causes the other is unclear
B) Serotonin activity has little real connection with depression
C) Low serotonin activity is what causes depression to develop
D) Depression lowers serotonin activity rather than the reverseA) The two are linked, but which one causes the other is unclearConcepts
This is a correlation: low serotonin could contribute to depression, depression could lower serotonin, or a third factor such as chronic stress could drive both. A causal claim needs a manipulated variable with other factors controlled. -
A researcher moves a helping-behaviour experiment from a laboratory to a busy train station, still manipulating the independent variable. What trade-off does this most likely involve?
A) More natural behaviour, but less control over confounding variables
B) Easier informed consent, but less natural behaviour from people
C) More natural behaviour, but no way left to infer cause and effect
D) More control over confounding variables, but less natural behaviourA) More natural behaviour, but less control over confounding variablesResearch Methods › Experiments
A field experiment still manipulates the IV, so causal conclusions remain possible, but the natural setting gives less control of confounding variables. Tighter control with more artificial behaviour describes the laboratory, not the station. -
After much of both medial temporal lobes was removed in 1953, which pattern of memory did HM show?
A) An impaired short-term span and no new procedural skills
B) A normal short-term span but almost no new long-term declarative memories
C) An impaired short-term span but normal new long-term declarative memories
D) Normal new declarative memories but no new procedural skillsB) A normal short-term span but almost no new long-term declarative memoriesCognitive Approach
HM kept a normal short-term memory span but had anterograde amnesia for new declarative memories, suggesting the two stores depend on different brain systems. He could still learn new procedural skills such as mirror-drawing. -
When Milgram moved his obedience study from Yale to a run-down office building, what happened, and what does it suggest?
A) Obedience fell but stayed high, so prestige may add to authority
B) Obedience did not change, so the setting plays no role at all
C) Obedience rose, so a less formal setting strengthens authority
D) Obedience fell almost to zero, so prestige fully explains obedienceA) Obedience fell but stayed high, so prestige may add to authoritySociocultural Approach
Just under half still went to the maximum (48%, against 65% at Yale), so obedience fell but stayed high. Milgram judged the drop not statistically significant: prestige may add some legitimacy, but even an unknown private firm was enough for high obedience.
Watch out: archival studies of Milgram's files suggest doubters tended to give stronger shocks and the prods were not always used as scripted, so the size of his effects is debated. -
In Baron-Cohen, Leslie and Frith's (1985) Sally–Anne test, which result supported a theory of mind deficit in autism?
A) Most autistic children named where Sally had left the marble
B) Autistic and typically developing children answered alike
C) Most children with Down syndrome named where the marble was
D) Most autistic children named where the marble actually wasD) Most autistic children named where the marble actually wasHuman Development
About 80% of autistic children answered with where the marble actually was, while most typically developing children and children with Down syndrome said where Sally left it. The autistic group had the higher verbal mental age, so language cannot explain the result. -
In Sherif's Robbers Cave study, which change most reduced the hostility that competition had created between the two groups of boys?
A) Giving each group its own separate camp leader
B) Removing the most hostile boys from each of the groups
C) Superordinate goals that needed both groups to cooperate
D) More competitive contests with prizes for the winning groupC) Superordinate goals that needed both groups to cooperateHuman Relationships
Superordinate goals, such as restoring the camp's water supply, needed both groups to cooperate and reduced hostility, supporting realistic conflict theory. Competition for prizes was what produced the hostility in the first place.
Watch out: archival research suggests the staff steered events, and Sherif's 1953 camp study failed to produce the same conflict, so the study is contested.
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About these cards
Review status: Second-reader reviewed, with corrections applied.
Checked against:
- Facts follow this folder's study deck, which was checked against the references below and the published reports or standard accounts of the studies it names (reference only; no text copied).
- Written in the style of the IB Diploma Programme Psychology guide, first assessment 2027 (topic outline only; no text copied); scenarios are hypothetical and describe no real person.
- APA Dictionary of Psychology (dictionary.apa.org), NIH and MedlinePlus pages and the original studies, consulted as references; no text copied.
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