BrainSnail

Psychology · Unit 1

What is Psychology?

What psychology studies and why we behave

Psychology is the attempt to study behaviour and mental life with the same rigour applied to anything else, which is difficult because the subject and the instrument are the same kind of thing.

The unit covers what psychology studies, why people behave as they do, how psychologists actually investigate it, the relationship between mind and brain, and who works in the field.

This unit breaks down into 23 short steps and 120 questions, starting at difficulty 1 and building to 5. Below you can see exactly what it covers, how the path is structured, and worked examples with explanations.

Steps
23
Questions
120
Difficulty
1-5

What this unit covers

  • What Psychology Is
  • Why We Behave
  • Who Psychologists Are
  • How Psychology Is Studied
  • The Mind and the Brain

Where this fits

The first unit in the track. Research Methods explains the methodology properly.

Where people slip

Psychology is not the same as psychiatry. Psychiatrists are medical doctors who can prescribe; most psychologists are not and cannot.

How the unit is structured

What is Psychology? runs as 23 short steps that unlock in order. 17 are practice rounds and 6 are challenge rounds that pull together everything before them. Questions start at difficulty 1 and climb to 5 as you progress.

Step 1 · easierStep 23 · harder

Challenge rounds

Example questions

30 real questions from this unit, with the answer and the reason behind it, grouped by what they practise. There are 120 in the unit altogether.

How Psychology Is Studied

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    1. Which of these are ways psychologists study people? Pick all that apply.

    • Watching how they behavecorrect
    • Asking questions in surveyscorrect
    • Doing experimentscorrect
    • Guessing with no evidence

    Watching behavior, asking questions in surveys, and doing experiments are all real methods.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    2. Before a study begins, scientists write a testable prediction called a ____.

    • hypothesiscorrect
    • holiday
    • password
    • painting

    A hypothesis is the prediction a study sets out to test.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    3. A set of questions used to learn what many people think is called a ____.

    • surveycorrect
    • recipe
    • painting
    • song

    A survey is a list of questions used to gather what lots of people think or feel.

  • True or falseLevel 2

    4. A hypothesis is a careful, testable prediction that a study is designed to check.

    Answer: True

    A hypothesis is a prediction that a study tries to test with evidence.

  • Type the answerLevel 2

    5. What word names a set of questions given to many people to learn their opinions?

    Answer: survey

    A survey gathers opinions or facts by asking many people the same questions.

  • Put in orderLevel 3

    6. Put these steps of the scientific method in the right order.

    Answer: Ask a question -> Form a hypothesis -> Test it with a study -> Draw a conclusion

    Scientists ask a question, make a hypothesis, test it, then draw a conclusion.

The Mind and the Brain

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    7. Which of these does your brain help you do? Pick all that apply.

    • Thinkcorrect
    • Remembercorrect
    • Feel emotionscorrect
    • Grow taller just by wishing

    The brain helps you think, remember, and feel emotions.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    8. The long-studied question of how the mind and the body are connected is called the mind-____ problem.

    • bodycorrect
    • water
    • music
    • color

    The mind-body problem asks how our thoughts relate to our physical brain and body.

  • Match the pairsLevel 2

    9. Match each word to what it means.

    Answer: Brain = A physical organ; Mind = Your thoughts and feelings; Behavior = The things you do

    The brain is the organ, the mind is your inner thoughts and feelings, and behavior is what you do.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    10. Three of these are jobs done by the brain. Which one is NOT?

    • Pumping blood around the bodycorrect
    • Storing memories
    • Controlling movement
    • Creating emotions

    Pumping blood is the heart's job, while the others are done by the brain.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 3

    11. The science that studies how brain activity links to thoughts and feelings is called ____.

    • neurosciencecorrect
    • geology
    • astronomy
    • botany

    Neuroscience studies the brain and nervous system to help us understand the mind.

  • Sort into groupsLevel 4

    12. Sort each description as being about the brain or the mind.

    Answer: A wrinkled organ of nerve cells = Brain; Weighs about 1.4 kilograms = Brain; Your private thoughts and feelings = Mind; Your sense of who you are = Mind

    The brain is the physical organ, while the mind is the inner experience it produces.

What Psychology Is

  • Fill the blankLevel 1

    13. Psychology is the study of the mind and ____.

    • behaviorcorrect
    • weather
    • planets
    • music

    Psychology looks at the mind and at behavior, which means the things people and animals do.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 1

    14. What does psychology mainly study?

    • The mind and behaviorcorrect
    • Rocks and soil
    • The weather
    • Machines and engines

    Psychology is the science of the mind and behavior, meaning our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

  • True or falseLevel 1

    15. Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior.

    Answer: True

    That is the simple definition of psychology, the science of how we think, feel, and act.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    16. Which of these are things psychology studies? Pick all that apply.

    • Feelingscorrect
    • Memorycorrect
    • Behaviorcorrect
    • The price of gold
    • Ocean tides

    Feelings, memory, and behavior are all part of psychology, but the price of gold is not.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    17. Which of these does psychology NOT study?

    • Stars in spacecorrect
    • Feelings
    • Memory
    • Behavior

    Psychology studies feelings, memory, and behavior, but stars in space belong to astronomy.

  • Guess the numberLevel 4

    18. In what year did Wilhelm Wundt open the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig?

    Answer: 1879

    Wundt opened his lab in 1879, often called the birth year of scientific psychology.

Who Psychologists Are

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    19. A psychologist who studies how people act in groups and around others is a ____ psychologist.

    • socialcorrect
    • tiny
    • frozen
    • musical

    Social psychologists study how people influence and relate to one another.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    20. Which of these might a psychologist do at work?

    • Talk with people about their feelingscorrect
    • Fix car engines
    • Fly passenger planes
    • Bake bread for a shop

    Psychologists often talk with people about their feelings to understand and help them.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    21. Which job does NOT mainly study the mind and behavior?

    • Firefightercorrect
    • Psychologist
    • Counselor
    • Therapist

    Psychologists, counselors, and therapists work with the mind, but a firefighter's job is different.

  • Sort into groupsLevel 2

    22. Sort each job by whether it mainly studies the mind.

    Answer: Psychologist = Studies the mind; Counselor = Studies the mind; Plumber = Other job; Baker = Other job

    Psychologists and counselors study the mind, while plumbers and bakers do other kinds of work.

  • Choose all that applyLevel 3

    23. Which of these are places a psychologist might work? Pick all that apply.

    • A hospital or cliniccorrect
    • A school or universitycorrect
    • A sports teamcorrect
    • The center of the sun

    Psychologists work in many real places like clinics, schools, and sports teams.

  • Match the pairsLevel 3

    24. Match each type of psychologist to what they focus on.

    Answer: Clinical psychologist = Helping with mental health; Sport psychologist = Helping athletes perform; Developmental psychologist = How people grow and change; Forensic psychologist = Psychology and the law

    Different psychologists specialize in areas like mental health, sport, development, and the law.

Why We Behave

  • Choose all that applyLevel 2

    25. Which of these can affect how a person behaves? Pick all that apply.

    • How they feelcorrect
    • What they have learnedcorrect
    • The people around themcorrect
    • The number of moons in the sky

    Our feelings, what we have learned, and the people around us all shape our behavior.

  • Fill the blankLevel 2

    26. A reason that makes you want to do something is called ____.

    • motivationcorrect
    • gravity
    • weather
    • a shadow

    Motivation is the reason or drive that makes you want to act.

  • Multiple choiceLevel 2

    27. A student studies hard to pass a test. Wanting to pass is their ____ to study.

    • motivationcorrect
    • height
    • shoe size
    • hair color

    The wish to pass is the motivation, the reason that pushes the student to study.

  • Odd one outLevel 2

    28. Three of these could be a reason someone helps a friend. Which is NOT a reason for behavior?

    • The moon's gravitycorrect
    • Kindness
    • Wanting to feel good
    • Feeling sorry for them

    Kindness, wanting to feel good, and feeling sorry are reasons people act, but the moon's gravity is not.

  • Sort into groupsLevel 2

    29. Sort each cause of behavior as mainly nature or mainly nurture.

    Answer: Eye color = Nature; The reflex to blink = Nature; Good table manners = Nurture; A sport learned at school = Nurture

    Nature covers traits we are born with, while nurture covers what we learn from life.

  • Match the pairsLevel 4

    30. Match each perspective in psychology to its main focus.

    Answer: Biological = Genes, brain, and hormones; Behavioral = Learning from rewards and punishment; Cognitive = Thinking, memory, and beliefs; Humanistic = Personal growth and free choice

    Each perspective explains behavior through a different main focus.

Where these questions come from. Each unit starts as a plan of the concepts it should cover and the difficulty it should span. Questions are written against that plan with AI assistance, then checked by a validator that rejects anything without a single defensible answer, an explanation, or plausible wrong options. How we write questions sets out the whole process, and corrections are fixed in the bank and reach the site and the app the same day.

How you practise

This unit mixes 10 different question formats, so you are recalling and applying rather than recognising the same layout every time.

  • Choose all that apply
  • Fill the blank
  • Guess the number
  • Match the pairs
  • Multiple choice
  • Odd one out
  • Put in order
  • Sort into groups
  • True or false
  • Type the answer

Practise What is Psychology?

120 questions across 23 steps. Start with step one and crawl at your own pace.

Play this unit

Read about What is Psychology?

Explainers from our blog on what this unit covers. Each one ends with real questions from the bank.

More units in Psychology

See all 18 units in Psychology →