GRE Psychology error guide

The named anatomical structure or gland does something other than the function described.

Name what the structure does before checking whether it matches the description. Working backwards from a familiar function invites the neighbouring structure.

256 wrong answers written to catch it, 238 of them in biological · concept gap

The chosen answer states an always, never, only, or all version of a finding that actually holds under stated conditions.

Treat always, never, only, and all as claims to be tested. Find the condition the real finding depends on, and see whether the option keeps it.

360 wrong answers written to catch it, 85 of them in biological · misread condition

The chosen term is the paired opposite of the right one, so the two members of a contrast pair were exchanged.

State both halves of the contrast pair and what distinguishes them before choosing one. Pairs are learned together and confused together.

179 wrong answers written to catch it, 64 of them in biological · concept gap

The transmitter chosen has a different primary role than the one the prompt describes.

Attach each transmitter to its main role and to the conditions it is implicated in, then match the prompt to that pairing.

57 wrong answers written to catch it, 44 of them in biological · concept gap

The described sleep phenomenon was attributed to a different stage of the sleep cycle.

Walk the cycle in order and attach each marker — spindles, delta waves, muscle atonia, rapid eye movement — to the stage it belongs to.

41 wrong answers written to catch it · concept gap

The hormone chosen is released by a different gland or produces a different effect than the one the prompt describes.

Name the gland that releases the hormone and the effect it produces, and check the prompt against both rather than against the name alone.

39 wrong answers written to catch it · concept gap

The division chosen — somatic, central, peripheral, or enteric — is not the autonomic branch the item describes, so the branching structure of the nervous system has not settled yet.

Walk down the branching structure — central and peripheral, then somatic and autonomic, then sympathetic and parasympathetic — before naming a division.

34 wrong answers written to catch it · concept gap

The chosen answer makes a single action potential grow or shrink with stimulus strength. Under the all-or-none principle each impulse is the same size, and intensity is carried by how often a neuron fires and how many neurons fire.

Hold on to the all-or-none principle: every impulse is the same size. Intensity is carried by how often a neuron fires and how many neurons fire.

14 wrong answers written to catch it · concept gap

The arousing and the calming branch of the autonomic nervous system were exchanged.

Decide first whether the described response arouses the body or calms it, and only then name the branch.

12 wrong answers written to catch it · concept gap

The answer names another memory store, long-term memory type, or working-memory component — episodic for semantic, procedural for declarative, iconic for echoic, the sketchpad for the loop — than the one the item describes.

Name the store and the type before answering: what it holds, how long it holds it, and what it is contrasted with.

57 wrong answers written to catch it, 37 of them in cognitive · concept gap

Encoding, storage, and retrieval were treated as interchangeable, so the failure or process was pinned on the wrong step.

Ask whether the information ever went in, whether it stayed in, or whether it could be found again, and pin the process on that step.

37 wrong answers written to catch it, 19 of them in cognitive · concept gap

The chosen answer gets the contingency backwards: it adds where the term removes, removes where the term adds, or weakens where the term strengthens.

Work out two things separately: whether something is added or taken away, and whether the behaviour goes up or down. The term is the combination of the two.

25 wrong answers written to catch it, 14 of them in cognitive · concept gap

The chosen answer describes classical conditioning where the item is about operant conditioning, or the reverse.

Ask whether the behaviour is drawn out by a signal that came first, or emitted and then followed by a consequence.

12 wrong answers written to catch it, 9 of them in cognitive · concept gap

The ability or conflict described belongs to a different stage or age band than the one chosen.

Place the ability or the conflict on the age timeline first, then read off the stage. Matching a stage name to a theorist is not the same as knowing when it happens.

85 wrong answers written to catch it, 67 of them in developmental · concept gap

The description was matched to a design with different sampling, timing, or control than the one specified.

Read who was sampled, when they were measured, and what was controlled. The design follows from those three facts, not from the topic.

169 wrong answers written to catch it, 57 of them in developmental · wrong method

The stages named are the right ones, but the sequence runs the wrong way.

Rebuild the sequence from the earliest stage upward before answering anything about order. Recognising the names is not the same as holding the order.

41 wrong answers written to catch it, 11 of them in social · concept gap

The described presentation was assigned to a neighbouring diagnostic class.

Check the described duration, symptom set, and level of impairment against the criteria before assigning a category. Neighbouring categories differ on exactly those.

122 wrong answers written to catch it, 111 of them in clinical · concept gap

The technique chosen belongs to another therapeutic tradition than the one named.

Ask what the technique assumes about how change happens, then name the school that holds that assumption.

90 wrong answers written to catch it · concept gap

The treatment or drug class named is real, but it is the first-line choice for a different disorder than the one described.

Name the condition first, then the treatment that is first-line for it. Working from a familiar drug back to a disorder picks up the wrong one.

19 wrong answers written to catch it, 18 of them in clinical · concept gap

The chosen answer treats variables that move together as proof that one produces the other, which the design cannot show.

Ask what the design could rule out. Without random assignment, variables that move together are an association and nothing more.

45 wrong answers written to catch it, 15 of them in clinical · wrong method

A real statistic was chosen, but one that answers a different question than the one asked (spread for centre, significance for magnitude, and so on).

Ask what the statistic is meant to answer — centre, spread, association, or whether a result is unlikely by chance — and choose on that basis.

108 wrong answers written to catch it, 86 of them in measurement · concept gap

Consistency of measurement was taken for accuracy of measurement, or the reverse.

Ask whether the question is about getting the same result twice or about measuring the thing you meant to measure. A test can do the first without the second.

132 wrong answers written to catch it, 76 of them in measurement · concept gap

The finding or theory named belongs to a different psychologist than the one the prompt describes.

Attach each name to the one finding it is known for, then check the description in the prompt against that finding rather than against the name's general area.

99 wrong answers written to catch it, 38 of them in measurement · concept gap

The historical school chosen holds a different position than the one the prompt describes.

Ask what the school took psychology's subject matter and its method to be, then match the description to that position.

206 wrong answers written to catch it, 77 of them in history · concept gap