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Psychology is a fascinating and complex field that explores the workings of the human mind and behavior. It encompasses a wide range of topics, from perception and memory to emotion and motivation, and has a profound impact on our understanding of ourselves and others. Psychology trivia questions are a great way to test your knowledge of this fascinating subject and to learn more about the human psyche.
This list of psychology trivia questions covers a wide range of topics and is designed to challenge your understanding of the field. Some of the questions are straightforward and can be answered by simple recall, while others require a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Regardless of your level of expertise, this list of psychology trivia questions is sure to be both educational and entertaining.
Whether you're a student of psychology, a practitioner in the field, or simply a curious individual interested in the workings of the human mind, this list of psychology trivia questions is sure to provide you with hours of enjoyment and learning. So why not put your knowledge to the test and see how you fare? Let's delve into the world of psychology and see how much you really know!
1. What “B” psychological verb means to lead someone on or keep their hopes up through small acts of enticement that will lead to disappointment? It is the name of the item that Hansel and Gretel used to mark their path back home…before birds ate it.
Answer: Breadcrumb
2. Known for its "Twelve Steps" and “Twelve Traditions” guidelines for keeping clean, Bill Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith founded what alliterative support group in 1935, which launched one of its first meetings in Akron, Ohio?
Answer: Alcoholics Anonymous
3. The BDI is a "depression inventory" named for an American psychiatrist with what surname and presumably no relation to the singer of '90s indie hit "Loser"?
Answer: Beck
4. In 2018, what much-decorated Team USA Olympic swimmer went public on the benefits of therapy with an ad campaign for the app Talkspace?
Answer: Michael Phelps
5. Bipolar disorder is characterized by periods of depression or low mood that alternate with episodes of mood elevation, which is referred to using which "M" word?
Answer: Mania
6. What H-word mental health disorder is when a person is extremely worried that they have or will get a serious disease, even if they have been seen by a doctor and there is no evidence that they are sick?
Answer: Hypochondria
7. A set of three hierarchical models of evaluating education as cognitive, affective, and sensory, is known as WHOSE Taxonomy Of Learning?
Answer: Bloom's Taxonomy Of Learning
8. A 19th-century French psychologist, first name Alfred, is best known for developing a method testing human intelligence, and gave his name to what is now known as the Stanford-WHAT Test?
Answer: Alfred Binet
9. What 20th-century psychologist, herself the child of a famous psychoanalyst, expanded upon the way in which psychology can be applied to children, such as 1956’s “Indications For Child Analysis?”
Answer: Anna Freud
10. What is the minimum degree requirement for a school psychologist in the U.S.?
Answer: Master's
11. What 20th-century German developmental psychologist with an “E” name coined the term “identity crisis?” His last name is a derivation of his first name, as he rejected the last name given to him by his stepfather as part of his own personal crisis.
Answer: Erik Erikson
12. Frequently caused by a stroke or head trauma, the inability to comprehend or formulate language goes by what A-word from the Greek for "speechless"?
Answer: Aphasia
13. What term comes between “body” and “disorder” in BDD, a condition where how a person sees their body does not align with reality? For example, they might look in the mirror and see themselves as being very overweight when they are actually underweight, or they may fixate on a perceived flaw on the skin of their face (like a mole) and pick at it obsessively.
Answer: Dysmorphic
14. What is the standard medical word to describe an intense and occasionally disabling fear or reaction to a specific object or situation that often poses little actual danger?
Answer: Phobia
15. Commonly used to treat depression, the class of drugs known as SSRIs gets its name because they increase levels of what "feel-good chemical" in the brain?
Answer: Serotonin
16. Also the title of an HBO drama, what psychology E-word describes the mental state of extreme happiness?
Answer: Euphoria
17. What psychoactive street drug, also known as molly, was developed by Merck in 1912 and used as an enhancement for psychotherapy as late as the 1970s?
Answer: MDMA
18. According to "Psychology Today," four years is the modern average for marriages splitting apart instead of what timeframe in the title of a Marilyn Monroe flick?
Answer: Seven years
19. B.F. Skinner wrote a utopian novel in 1948, about an ideal place whose citizens are led to happier lives by the structural implementation of behavioral psychology. The second word of his title was “TWO,” but what was the first word? It was shared with Henry David Thoreau’s book about living in the woods.
Answer: Walden
20. In psychiatry and neurology, a syndrome where people perceive objects as appearing smaller than they actually are is named for what Lewis Carroll story, in which the main character shrinks after drinking from a bottle labelled "DRINK ME"?
Answer: Alice in Wonderland
21. In a 1972 experiment, Walter Mischel offered children one of what “M” confectionery, water and gelatin whipped to a solid-but-soft consistency, or two of these items if they could wait 15 minutes? Children who chose to wait were claimed to have better life skills going forward.
Answer: Marshmallow
22. The Rorschach test is a psychological test that involves subjects' perceptions of what black and white design?
Answer: Inkblots
23. Heliotherapy, or light therapy, is often linked to treating SAD because it attempts to make up for lost sunlight exposure and helps reset the body's internal clock. What does SAD stand for?
Answer: Seasonal affective disorder
24. Psychologist Abraham Maslow developed and popularized the hierarchy of what common must-haves among humans?
Answer: Needs
25. What type of delusions can occur in mental health conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia? A person with these beliefs thinks that they are far more capable than everyone else, that they are more powerful than everyone else, or that they are uniquely and superiorly talented compared to others.
Answer: Grandeur
26. Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman is typically considered one of the founders of Behavioral Economics. Although he'd won a Nobel Prize a decade earlier, his fame ascended when releasing the 2011 book about WHAT “Fast and Slow?”
Answer: Thinking
27. Oliver Sacks, a neurologist, wrote a book of case descriptions called “The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A” WHAT in 1985.
Answer: Hat
28. What 20th-century American developmental psychologist tested her “attachment theory” and the relationship of small children to their caregivers by placing them in “strange situations,” in which the caregiver was removed from the child in small increments?
Answer: Mary Ainsworth
29. What Ken Kesey novel, later turned into a movie, is set in an Oregon psychiatric hospital?
Answer: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
30. The four major lobes of the human brain are the frontal lobe, the parietal lobe, the occipital lobe, and what T-word lobe?
Answer: Temporal lobe
31. In 1920, John Watson used behavioral stimuli to condition a baby known as Little WHO to be afraid of mice? Hint: He shares an A-name with a famous physicist.
Answer: Little Albert
32. Solomon Asch was a 20th-century Polish-American Gestalt psychologist who performed groundbreaking experiments in what “C” concept, the compliance with societal standards, often brought on by outside pressures?
Answer: Conformity
33. Sertraline, a commonly prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, is better known by which brand name that starts with Z?
Answer: Zoloft
34. What psychologist and professor organized the infamous Stanford Prison experiment, which demonstrated the corrupt and violent depths students would go to when given authority at a fake prison?
Answer: Philip Zimbardo
35. Who is the British psychologist who wrote the books “Doctoring The Mind” and “Madness Explained” in the 2000s, and rejected the classical definition of schizophrenia?
Answer: Richard Bentall
36. Which 3-word term (with an accompanying triangular graphic) is used to describe the theory of motivation first proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943?
Answer: Hierarchy of Needs
37. Fake inmates and fake prison guards both got a mere $15 bucks a day to participate in Philip Zimbardo’s infamous 1971 psych experiment at what university?
Answer: Stanford
38. Which rare facetious disorder (which can also be “by proxy”) is when a person fakes having an illness, usually for attention or gain (like getting money from crowdfunding)?
Answer: Munchausen
39. 20th-century British American psychologist Raymond Cattell developed a test known as the 16 PF Questionnaire or the 16 WHAT Factor Model. The “P” word refers to the behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that arise from biological and environmental factors.
Answer: 16 Personality Factor Model
40. What psychological complex suggests that little girls are in psychosexual competition with their mothers for the love of their fathers? The name comes from the name of the Ancient Greek female character who attempted to kill her mother, Clymenestra, in the “Orestes” plays.
Answer: Electra complex
41. What is the six-letter "A" term used in neurology which typically refers to the lack of will or initiative? Although the severity can vary, this typically means an individual is unable to make decisions independently.
Answer: Abulia
42. The "Big Five" is a well-known suggested taxonomy for personality traits that has been developed through psychology trait theory since the 1980s. The grouping is occasionally known by its acronym OCEAN, because the five traits are openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and what fifth trait?
Answer: Neuroticism
43. What is the "M” term for the condition often associated with euphoric behavior such as frivolity and the inability to act seriously? The condition is found to originate in frontal lobe lesions and includes a lack of foresight.
Answer: Moria
44. What 19th-century psychologist, whose brother wrote “The Ambassadors,” founded a psychological practice known as pragmatism, which views things based on their practical use and success?
Answer: William James
45. In his 1943 paper “A Theory Of Human Motivation,” Abraham Maslow theorized a hierarchy of human needs, with each need built upon fulfilling the last. This hierarchy was visually presented in what shape?
Answer: Pyramid
46. Depression occurring directly after a person has given birth is given what name, referring to the 6-8 week period immediately after childbirth?
Answer: postpartum depression
47. What psychologist, one of the major originators of client-centered therapy, is noted for his person-centered approach? His books focused on helping people, with titles such as “On Becoming An Effective Teacher” and “On Becoming A Person.”
Answer: Carl Rogers
48. What 20th-century female psychologist with a “C” name challenged sexism in her books such as “The Myth Of Women’s Masochism,” and criticized the value of psychological labelling and how it helped patients in “They Say You’re Crazy?”
Answer: Paula Caplan
49. What late 19th- and early 20th-century Russian psychologist famously proved that responses could be conditioned by association, such as a dog drooling at the sound of the bell that rang before the animal was fed? His “P” name has become vernacular for someone reacting to a seemingly neutral thing.
Answer: Ivan Pavlov
50. Up to its fifth edition and still shorter than "War and Peace:” that's the American Psychiatric Association's "DSM-5." What quantitative things do the “D” and “S” stand for?
Answer: Diagnostic and Statistical
51. According to Sigmund Freud, which component of personality comprises the libido and acts according to the pleasure principle?
Answer: Id
52. What “L” cognitive psychologist, the author of “Eyewitness Testimony” and “The Myth Of Repressed Memory,” is often called on as an expert witness on memory due to her history of research on memories and their malleability?
Answer: Elizabeth Loftus
53. What “A” disorder is considered an emotional or behavioral reaction to a stressful event in a person’s life? The patient is attempting to reconcile the event, and the disorder is considered excessive if it persists for three or more months.
Answer: Adjustment Disorder
54. Which psychological experiment was performed in the early 1960s by Albert Bandura to test his theory that human behavior is largely based upon social imitation rather than inherited genetic factors?
Answer: Bobo Doll Experiment
55. In psychology, a situation in which a group makes a collective decision that none of its members individually wants to do is a "paradox" named after what city in central Texas?
Answer: Abilene
56. What “L” early 20th-century German-American psychologist was a pioneer of organized and social psychology, and studied applied research, action research, and group communication, and wrote books such as “Resolving Social Conflicts” and “A Dynamic Theory Of Personality?”
Answer: Kurt Lewin
57. Commonly used to treat depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions, SNRIs are a class of drugs that, as their name implies, modulate uptake of serotonin and what other neurotransmitter chemical?
Answer: Norepinephrine
58. What is the name given to the number that represents the suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom a person can maintain stable social relationships? The value of this number is commonly said to be 150.
Answer: Dunbar's number
59. Agnosia is a psychiatric term for when the human body is unable to use what faculties that perceive external stimuli? This problem is usually caused by brain damage.
Answer: Senses
60. What drug, starting with L, is often used to treat epilepsy or to help stabilize moods such as with bipolar disorder?
Answer: Lamotrigine
61. In Ovid’s “Metamorphoses,” there is a story about Cupid’s romance with what royal daughter who fell under Venus’ scorn? Her “P” name is also a term from modern psychology for the human mind.
Answer: Psyche
62. In what year did the American Psychiatric Association (APA) remove homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), declaring the sexual orientation to no longer beconsidered a mental health disorder?
Answer: 1973
63. Korsakoff’s Syndrome, a syndrome of amnesia and confabulation, often follows what “A” addictive disease that requires support and abstinence to treat?
Answer: Alcoholism
64. What “D” brain syndrome, created by physical causes, creates mental illusions, visual hallucinations, and persecutory ideation?
Answer: Delirium
65. In order to demonstrate his theory that human intuitions precede rationalizations, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt created the model of the WHAT and the rider, with the the first word referring to an intelligent wild animal with a large trunk?
Answer: Elephant And The Rider
66. What Austrian psychologist used abreactions, the process by which a patient vividly relieves repressed memories linked to past events, to help patients with their pathologies?
Answer: Sigmund Freud
67. Who was the first woman to earn a doctoral degree in psychology? She went on to study animal behavior and motor theory and was the second female president of the APA.
Answer: Margaret Floy Washburn
68. A mild illusion associated with a change in mood can be referred to as what type of illusion. The “A” word is commonly confused with “effect.”
Answer: Affect Illusion
69. Which cognitive bias describes the illusion that you know other people better than they know you?
Answer: Asymmetric Insight
70. Winston Churchill once said, "We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” That's a pretty decent adage to describe the environmental version of what social science that concerns itself with the mind and, in this case, studies how humans interact with their surroundings?
Answer: Psychology
71. In what Allied country did Sigmund Freud die in 1939, after having fled his homeland of Austria due to Nazi persecution?
Answer: United Kingdom
72. Which effect refers to the tendency of individuals to alter their behavior in response to awareness of being observed? This effect shares its name with the surname of the author of “The Scarlet Letter,” one of the first mass-produced books in the U.S.
Answer: Hawthorne Effect
73. There are three main types of psychology a professional can practice: social, cognitive, and what third type that deals with interactions among organisms in the natural world?
Answer: Behavioral
74. A child with what attachment disorder with the acronym “RAD” did not form a secure and loving bond with their primary caregiver. As a result, they do not turn to others for comfort, struggle to form healthy relationships, and have trouble managing their emotions.
Answer: Reactive
75. It sounds like a worldwide phenomenon, but what type of developmental delay actually is a temporary diagnosis given to a young child with delays in several areas, including cognition, language, and socialization?
Answer: Global
76. What is the nationality of clinical psychologist and Youtuber Jordan Peterson, who has written books entitled “Maps of Meaning” and “12 Rules for Life?”
Answer: Canadian
77. What “C” process refers to the mental action of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses?
Answer: Cognition
78. Howard Gardner, a development psychologist and a professor at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, is best known for a theory that separates what “I” aspect of mental power into multiple types?
Answer: Intelligence
79. Which field of psychology is the study of measurements like IQ tests, personality assessments, surveys, scales, and educational evaluations?
Answer: Psychometrics
80. Medical doctors in the 1890s, including Josef Breuer, Alfred Adler, and Otto Rank, all actively investigated the mind and systematized a set of therapies and psychotherapy. From what country did all of these men hail?
Answer: Austria
81. Also called “configurationism,” what G-word school of psychology from Germany says that as we look at the world, we see the “big picture” and not just the individual pieces? (Hint: You could simply summarize by saying “the whole is more than the sum of its parts.”)
Answer: Gestalt
82. In updated editions of the DSM, the name "Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another" replaced what other term, often abbreviated MSBP?
Answer: Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
83. Ancient Greeks created some of the earliest manuscripts about mental health disorders, including the 4th century BCE musings of what man who theorized physiological abnormalities may be the cause of mental health conditions?
Answer: Hippocrates
84. The 20th-century American psychologist Gordon Allport is considered one of the founding figures of what kind of psychology? It explores the foundational characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s character.
Answer: Personality psychology
85. The MMPI is a standardized psychological test that assesses personality traits and psychopathology. The first “M” in MMPI stands for which U.S. state, the location of the university where the test was first developed?
Answer: Minnesota
86. "The Language Instinct," "How the Mind Works," and "The Blank Slate" are among the books by what Harvard professor of psychology?
Answer: Steven Pinker
87. Who is the founder of analytical psychology? He was a famous psychoanalyst responsible for concepts like "synchronicity" and "introversion vs. extroversion."
Answer: Carl Jung
88. What 19th- and early 20th-century German psychologist was the first person to separate psychology from biological medicine, as well as the first to refer to psychology as his profession? This man with a “W” name was one of the earliest researchers to explore human memory.
Answer: Wilhelm Wundt
89. In 1961, sociologist Albert Bandura demonstrated that if children saw an adult punching a particular doll, they would be more likely to punch it themselves. What type of character was the doll? It had been created by Max Fleischer in 1919 and was called “Koko.”
Answer: Clown
90. Which class of medication that includes Xanax and Ativan can be prescribed for anxiety, seizures, or to help a patient relax before a medical or dental procedure?
Answer: Benzodiazepines
91. “Flight of” WHAT is often used to describe the way that people in the midst of a manic episode quickly shift from one thought to the next while speaking.
Answer: Ideas
92. What 20th-century Russian psychologist developed his theory of the zone of proximal development, or ZPD, where the ability of a novice to accomplish something is compared to what can be accomplished by someone with more specific knowledge?
Answer: Lev Vygotsky
93. What 18th-century English physician with a “B” name wrote “A Treatise On Madness” in 1758, the first full-length book about treating mental illness? His last name sounds like an informal animalistic adjective for people who act rather erratically or eccentrically.
Answer: William Battie
94. If you're down with O.C.C., you're probably familiar with the classical conditioning "box" created by what Harvard behaviorist?
Answer: B.F. Skinner
95. During a clinical assessment, a psychiatrist may use an imaging technique known as a PET scan to look at the brain. What does PET stand for?
Answer: Positron Emission Tomography
96. What American psychologist developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, and wrote books such as “A Guide To Rational Living” and “Overcoming Resistance?”
Answer: Albert Ellis
97. What 20th-century American psychologist is known for his “law of effect,” which states that behavioral responses that create a satisfying effect are more likely to happen again? He also came up with the theory of connectionism, an attempt to describe mental function through artificial neural networks?
Answer: Edward Thorndike
98. What “K” psychology professor at the University of Chicago and Harvard came up with six stages of moral development that a person goes through? These include morality for personality benefit, morality conforming to social norms, and finally, morality that best works for everyone.
Answer: Lawrence Kohlberg
99. What “H” early 20th-century German female psychologist challenged some of Freud’s views, in particular in terms of sexuality and instinct?
Answer: Karen Horney
100. What is the name of the 1899 book by Sigmund Freud concerning his theory of the unconscious? Freud wrote an abridged version of this book called “On Dreams.”
Answer: The Interpretation of Dreams
101. Hermann Rorschach, after whom the Rorschach test is named, was a psychoanalyst from which European country? Its other contributions to the world of psychology include Jean Piaget and Carl Jung.
Answer: Switzerland
102. Which pioneer of modern behaviorism is responsible for the theory of reinforcement, as well as the philosophy of radical behaviorism? He also invented the operant conditioning chamber, which was a box that was nicknamed after him.
Answer: Skinner
103. Steven Pinker is a Canadian-American psychologist who is an advocate of a psychological approach connected to what theory, a concept more commonly associated with Charles Darwin?
Answer: Evolution
104. Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt, one of the fathers of modern psychology, first used what “basic” term beginning with “I” to mean a tendency of an organism toward a particular behavior?
Answer: Instinct
105. Which psychologist investigated obedience using electric shocks while a professor at Yale?
Answer: Stanley Milgram
106. In 1849, an iron rod was accidentally driven through the head of a railroad worker, destroying his left temporal lobe. What was the name of this man whose resulting personality change is considered a landmark in the understanding of brain psychology?
Answer: Phineas Gage
107. What “H” psychologist performed a series of experiments on rhesus monkeys, demonstrating the effects of maternal separation, as well the effects of social isolation?
Answer: Harry Harlow
108. Mary Whiton Calkins was the first female president of the American Psychological Association and famously conducted research on dreams and memory after being taught by William James. At what Massachusetts school did Calkins teach for many years? The school shares its name with the city in which it is located.
Answer: Wellesley College
109. What is the name of the part of the brain in the frontal lobe (usually the left hemisphere) that is heavily involved in speech, and was named for the French researcher who discovered that patients with damage in this brain region had problems processing language?
Answer: Broca's area
110. Which type of conditioning (also called instrumental conditioning) involves externally reinforcing or punishing a behavior?
Answer: Operant
111. What “F” psychologist developed the theories of cognitive dissonance and social comparison, addressing the ways in which social conditions influence behavior?
Answer: Leon Festinger
112. What “E” American psychologist and professor emeritus at UC San Francisco is a pioneer in the relation between emotions and facial expressions? His books include “Telling Lies” and “Emotions Revealed.”
Answer: Paul Ekman
113. What 1994 memoir by Elizabeth Wurtzel, which tells of the author's experiences with depression and its medications, is often assigned as reading for social workers to help them better empathize with their clients?
Answer: Prozac Nation
114. 20th-century British psychologist John Bowlby is linked to "A" theory—a word meaning an affection or sympathy with someone that keeps you connected?
Answer: Attachment
115. If a patient experiences a brief episode of memory loss, they may wake up somewhere and not remember how they got there. What term paired with “dissociative” may apply to this scenario? (Hint: In Latin, the word means “flight.”)
Answer: Fugue
116. What test, named after two psychologists, was devised by Lewis Terman after revising the Binet-Simon Scale, and is used in the diagnosis of children with learning difficulties, but can also be used to identify gifted children?
Answer: Stanford-Binet
117. Which field within cognitive psychology looks at how language is related to psychology? For example, how we acquire, use, and understand language.
Answer: Psycholinguistics
118. Which subfield of psychology is a little meta because it studies the techniques and methods researchers use to study human behavior?
Answer: Quantitative
119. If you’re paranoid, you think the world is out to get you. What term is used to describe the opposite—when you’re convinced the universe is conspiring to help you?
Answer: Pronoia
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