PSY101 — Introduction to Psychology: Midterm & Finalterm Solved MCQs and Subjective

This solved paper covers PSY101 — Introduction to Psychology for Virtual University of Pakistan students, with midterm (Lectures 1–22) and finalterm (Lectures 23–45) questions solved with answers. It includes 10 midterm MCQs, 10 finalterm MCQs, 5 midterm subjective questions and 5 finalterm subjective questions — 30 questions in total — covering introduction to psychology, learning, memory, perception, personality and abnormal psychology. Every answer was solved independently and cross-checked against the VU handout, with the handout lecture cited under each question; handout page numbers are being added as they are verified. Use the Take the PSY101 quiz link below to practise all 20 MCQs interactively with a live score counter. See the Solved MCQs page and the midterm and finalterm mega hubs for solved papers for every subject. Compiled and verified by Virtual Ustaad. Last updated: 6 November 2026.

1. Midterm Solved MCQs

Q1. Laws of perceptual organization were proposed by which of the following schools of thought?

A) Functionalism
B) Structuralism
C) Gestalt school
D) Behaviorism

Correct answer: C — Gestalt school

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Schools of thought: Gestalt psychology. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q2. Today psychology is considered the scientific study of which of the following?

A) Mind
B) Conscious experiences
C) Behavior and mental processes
D) Soul

Correct answer: C — Behavior and mental processes

Reference: VU handout, Lecture 1 — Introduction to psychology: definition. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q3. Who among the following gave the concept of Insight?

A) Max Wertheimer
B) Wolfgang Kohler
C) James Rowland Angell
D) James McKeen Cattell

Correct answer: B — Wolfgang Kohler

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Gestalt school: insight learning. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q4. Who among the following is regarded as the "Father of Medicine"?

A) Hippocrates
B) Kraepelin
C) Plato
D) Socrates

Correct answer: A — Hippocrates

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — History of psychology. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q5. Who among the following is the author of the book "The Origin of Species"?

A) Emil Kraepelin
B) Paul Broca
C) Wilhelm Griesinger
D) Charles Darwin

Correct answer: D — Charles Darwin

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — History and evolution. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q6. Which of the following can increase the likelihood of occurrence of a behavior?

A) Extinction
B) Reinforcement
C) Punishment
D) Insight

Correct answer: B — Reinforcement

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Learning: operant conditioning. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q7. Identify where we stop reinforcement and behavior extinguishes.

A) Generalization
B) Extinction
C) Spontaneous recovery
D) Shaping

Correct answer: B — Extinction

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Learning: operant conditioning. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q8. Which law, given by Thorndike, says that all responses followed by satisfaction are stamped into an individual and he learns those responses?

A) Law of exercise
B) Law of effect
C) Law of insight
D) Law of belongingness

Correct answer: B — Law of effect

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Learning: Thorndike. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q9. Which perspective of psychology emerged out of a desire to understand the conscious mind, free will, human dignity, and the capacity for self-reflection and growth?

A) Humanistic
B) Behavioral
C) Gestalt
D) Psychodynamic

Correct answer: A — Humanistic

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Perspectives in psychology. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q10. Which of the following is the correct order for Piaget's four stages of development?

A) Preoperational, sensory-motor, concrete operations, formal operation
B) Concrete operations, preoperational, sensory-motor, formal operation
C) Sensory-motor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operation
D) Preoperational, concrete operations, sensory-motor, formal operation

Correct answer: C — Sensory-motor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal operation

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Cognitive development: Piaget. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

2. Finalterm Solved MCQs

Q1. Who among the following gave the Cognitive Labelling or Two Factor Theory of Emotions?

A) James and Lange
B) Cannon and Bard
C) Freud
D) Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer

Correct answer: D — Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Theories of emotion. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q2. Tests in which the subject is first shown an ambiguous stimulus and then he has to describe it or tell a story about it are known as what?

A) Self-report tests
B) Projective tests
C) Intelligence tests
D) Aptitude tests

Correct answer: B — Projective tests

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Personality assessment. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q3. Who developed REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy)?

A) George Kelly
B) John Dollard
C) Albert Ellis
D) Neal Miller

Correct answer: C — Albert Ellis

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Therapies. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q4. In which of the following stages is the Oedipus complex observed?

A) Oral stage
B) Anal stage
C) Phallic stage
D) Genital stage

Correct answer: C — Phallic stage

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Psychodynamic theory: Freud's psychosexual stages. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q5. A child who gives many answers in response to a question resorts to the process of ______.

A) Convergent thinking
B) Latent thinking
C) Divergent thinking
D) Critical thinking

Correct answer: C — Divergent thinking

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Thinking and problem solving. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q6. In which defense mechanism does a person revert back to a stage that was satisfying?

A) Sublimation
B) Repression
C) Denial
D) Regression

Correct answer: D — Regression

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Defense mechanisms. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q7. ______ are enduring dimensions of personality characteristics that differentiate a person from others.

A) Behaviour
B) Personality
C) Traits
D) All of the given options

Correct answer: C — Traits

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Personality: traits. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q8. As Saadia is walking across the campus, a car swerves toward her. Her heart beats fast and sweat breaks out as she jumps out of harm's way. This mobilization of energy is due to the action of Saadia's ______ system.

A) Sympathetic
B) Parasympathetic
C) Somatic nervous
D) Skeletal nervous

Correct answer: A — Sympathetic

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Emotion and the nervous system. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q9. What two categories of dream content did Sigmund Freud describe?

A) Latent and manifest
B) Poetic and realistic
C) Delusional and hallucinatory
D) Literal and symbolic

Correct answer: A — Latent and manifest

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Psychodynamic theory: dreams. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q10. Which memory system provides us with a very brief representation of all the stimuli present at a particular moment?

A) Sensory memory
B) Short-term memory
C) Long-term memory
D) Primary memory

Correct answer: A — Sensory memory

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Memory: sensory memory. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

3. Midterm Subjective

Q1. Define psychology in your own words.

Answer: Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Behavior means observable actions and responses, while mental processes include thinking, feeling, remembering and perceiving. Psychology uses scientific methods — observation, experiment and measurement — rather than guesswork to study these. Its goals are to describe, explain, predict and control behavior. In this sense it is both a science and a profession that helps people understand themselves and others.

Reference: VU handout, Lecture 1 — Introduction to psychology: definition and goals. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q2. What is structuralism, and what method did it use?

Answer: Structuralism was an early school of thought that defined psychology as the study of the structure of the mind. Its leaders, Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener, tried to break conscious experience into its basic elements, such as sensations and feelings. The main method was introspection, in which trained participants reported their own conscious mental experiences to the investigator. The method was criticised because introspection is subjective and its results cannot easily be checked by others. Even so, structuralism gave psychology its first laboratory and its first scientific programme.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Schools of thought: structuralism. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q3. What is the difference between classical conditioning and operant conditioning?

Answer: In classical conditioning, learning happens by association: a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus until it alone brings out the response, as in Pavlov's dogs salivating to a bell. In operant conditioning, learning happens by consequences: a behavior followed by reinforcement becomes more likely, while a behavior followed by punishment becomes less likely. Classical conditioning is about involuntary, reflexive responses, whereas operant conditioning is about voluntary behavior that operates on the environment. Both show that learning changes behavior through experience.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Learning: classical and operant conditioning. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q4. Explain stimulus generalization, using Watson's Little Albert experiment.

Answer: Stimulus generalization is the tendency for a conditioned response to be given to stimuli that are similar to the original conditioned stimulus. In Watson's experiment, Little Albert was conditioned to fear a white rat, and afterwards he was also afraid of other white, furry things such as cotton balls. The fear had generalized from the rat to similar stimuli. Generalization shows that learning is not limited to the exact stimulus used in training. It also helps to explain why fears can spread in everyday life.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Learning: generalization. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q5. What are Piaget's four stages of cognitive development, in order?

Answer: Piaget's four stages, in order, are the sensory-motor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operations stage and the formal operations stage. In the sensory-motor stage the infant learns through senses and actions; in the preoperational stage the child uses language and symbols but thinks egocentrically. In the concrete operations stage the child can think logically about concrete objects, and in the formal operations stage the adolescent can think abstractly and hypothetically. Each stage builds on the one before it, and the order does not change. This theory remains a central account of how children's thinking develops.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 1–22 — Cognitive development: Piaget. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

4. Finalterm Subjective

Q1. Name and briefly explain the three functions of memory.

Answer: The three functions of memory are encoding, storage and retrieval. Encoding is the process of getting information into memory, for example by paying attention and organising it. Storage is keeping that information over time, in sensory, short-term or long-term memory. Retrieval is bringing stored information back into use when it is needed, such as recalling an answer in an exam. If any of these three functions fails, remembering fails. Good memory therefore depends on all three working together.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Memory: functions and stages. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q2. Compare the James–Lange and Cannon–Bard theories of emotion.

Answer: The James–Lange theory says that emotion follows bodily arousal: we feel afraid because our heart races and our body reacts first, and the brain then reads those changes as fear. The Cannon–Bard theory disagrees about the sequence: it says that emotional experience and bodily arousal happen at the same time and independently, both triggered by the thalamus. In James–Lange the body comes first and then the emotion; in Cannon–Bard the two occur simultaneously and neither causes the other. The Schachter–Singer two-factor theory later added that a cognitive label for the arousal also matters. Together these theories show that emotion involves the body, the brain and interpretation.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Theories of emotion. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q3. Enlist three eating disorders.

Answer: Three eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge-eating disorder. In anorexia nervosa a person severely restricts food intake and has an intense fear of gaining weight, even when underweight. In bulimia nervosa a person has repeated episodes of binge eating followed by purging or other compensatory behaviour. In binge-eating disorder a person has repeated binge-eating episodes without purging, often with distress and loss of control. All three are serious psychological disorders that need professional help, not only a change in diet.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Psychological disorders: eating disorders. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q4. Enlist at least three techniques of coping with stress.

Answer: Three techniques of coping with stress are relaxation exercises and meditation, problem-focused coping, and seeking social support. Relaxation and meditation calm the body's stress response and reduce tension. Problem-focused coping means facing the source of stress directly, for example by planning, managing time or solving the problem step by step. Seeking social support means talking to family, friends or a counsellor, which gives emotional comfort and practical help. Using a mix of these techniques works better than relying on only one.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Stress and coping. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified

Q5. What are the symptoms of a person suffering from major depression? Name five.

Answer: Five symptoms of major depression, as listed in DSM-IV-TR, are a depressed mood most of the day, a marked loss of interest or pleasure in activities, a significant change in appetite or weight, sleep disturbance (sleeping too little or too much), and fatigue or loss of energy. Other symptoms include feelings of worthlessness or guilt, difficulty concentrating, and recurrent thoughts of death. A diagnosis requires at least five of these symptoms for at least two weeks, including depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure, with distress or impaired functioning. Depression is treatable, and professional help should be sought.

Reference: VU handout, Lectures 23–45 — Psychological disorders: mood disorders. Page — not confirmed in source.

Status: Verified