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Psychology GRE

All about GRE Psychology Subject Test

If you are applying to graduate programs other than business schools then in addition to the GRE general test you might also need to answer the GRE subject test. You might not want to go through the rigmarole of answering another test especially when it is optional. Among the eight different subjects offered psychology GRE is one. While some schools may not require your GRE psychology scores for admission purposes, some may insist upon it. Contact the department or the school you want to join to find out their pre-requisites for admission. Answering your GRE psychology can help you stand out from the different applicants in terms of showcasing your skill and subject knowledge over the others. However, your GRE subject scores will not be the only important factor, even your undergraduate records, and your reference letters etc. all will be taken into consideration for admission to the respective school.

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Psychology GRE test is a paper based test, and is conducted three times in a year. The table given below gives the dates for psychology GRE test 2011-2012.

Test dates	Registration date deadline	Score Report mailing date
October 15, 2011	September 9,2011	November 25, 2011
November 11, 2011	October 7, 2011	December 23, 2011
April 21, 2012	March 16, 2011	June 1, 2011

There are also dates given for late registration, and do keep checking their updated test center list from online registration system, as not all the test centers are open on all the dates. Even though you can answer the subject test as often as you like, your results will be declared only after six weeks from the date of answering. It is advisable that you check in with your prospective colleges for admission deadlines so as to select your test dates accordingly.

Your psychology GRE subject test will basically cover questions from three content areas: experimental or natural science based Social or social science based and general.

Around 40% of the questions are Experimental based wherein you will have to answer questions from:

1) Learning (3-5%)

Classical conditioning
Instrumental Conditioning
Observational Learning, Modeling
Theories, Applications and Issues

2) Language (3–4%)

Units (phonemes, morphemes, phrases)
Syntax
Meaning
Speech Perception and Processing
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication
Bilingualism
Theories, Applications and Issues

3) Memory (7–9%)

Working Memory
Long-term Memory
Types of Memory
Memory Systems and Processes
Theories, Applications and Issues

4) Thinking (4–6%)

Representation (Categorization, Imagery, Schemas, Scripts)
Problem Solving
Judgment and Decision-making Processes
Planning, Metacognition
Intelligence
Theories, Applications and Issues

5) Sensation and Perception (5–7%)

Psychophysics, Signal Detection
Attention
Perceptual Organization
Vision
Audition
Olfaction
Gustation
Somatosenses
Vestibular and Kinesthetic Senses
Theories, Applications and Issues

6) Physiological/Behavioral Neuroscience (12–14%)

Neurons
Sensory Structures and Processes
Motor Structures and Functions
Central Structures and Processes
Motivation, Arousal, Emotion
Cognitive Neuroscience
Neuromodulators and Drugs
Hormonal Factors
Comparative and Ethology
States of Consciousness
Theories, Applications and Issues

Around 43% of the Social science questions are based on the following questions

1) Clinical and Abnormal (12-14%)

Stress, Conflict, Coping
Diagnostic Systems
Assessment
Causes and Development of Disorders
Neurophysiological Factors
Treatment of disorders
Epidemilogy
Prevention
Health Psychology
Culture and Gender Issues
Theories, Application and Issues

2) Lifespan Development (12-14%)

Nature- Nurture
Physical and Motor
Perception and Cognition
Language
Intelligence
Social and Personality
Emotion
Socialization, Family and Cultural Influences
Theories, Applications and Issues

3) Personality (3-5%)

Theories
Structure
Assessment
Personality and Behavior
Applications and Issues

4) Social (12-14%)

Social Perception, Cognition, Attribution and Beliefs
Attitudes and Behavior
Social Comparison, Self
Emotion, Affect and Motivation
Conformity, Influence and Persuasion
Interpersonal Attractions and Close Relationships
Group and Intergroup Processes
Culture and Gender Influences
Evolutionary Psychology, Altruism and Aggression
Theories, Applications and Issues

The General content area will have 17% of the questions, of which you will have 4-6% of the questions from:

History
Industrial Organization
Educational

Measurement and Methodology will form 11-13% of the questions

Psychometrics, Test Construction, Reliability, Validity
Research Designs
Statistical Procedures
Scientific Method and Evaluation of Evidence
Ethics and Legal Issues
Analysis and Interpretation of Findings

Questionnaire: Your question paper will contain a mix bag of questions from any of these three content areas and you will have to answer approximately 205 multiple- choice questions, which have to be completed within time duration of two hours and fifty minutes. You will have to choose the best answer, from the five options given in each question. The nature of these questions will be like, drawing conclusions from data and/or evaluating a research design, analyzing relationships, applying principles or just recalling factual information.

In psychology GRE test you will have two sub scores in addition to the total score. While the experimental and the social content area contribute to the sub score and the total score, the general content area contributes to the total score only.

Scoring Pattern: Your Psychology GRE test scores are assessed on a score scale of 200- 990 with 10 point increments. Your sub score will be reported on a scale of 20-99, in 1 point increments. Your sub scores are important as they give an idea of your strengths and weaknesses and this will be used for your guidance and placement services.

When you answer your Psychology test paper take time to think and answer from the best options available as your reported score will be derived from the number of correct answers minus one- fourth of the numbers of incorrect answers. However you won’t be penalized for not answering any question. This raw score is then converted to a scaled score through a process of equating which accounts for differences in difficulty among the different test editions. In other words, your scaled score will reflect approximately the same level of ability, irrespective of the edition of the test you took.

Psychology Books: Some good books which can help you through, are History and Systems of Psychology by James F. Brennan, Barron’s GRE Psychology (4th Edition). You can check websites such as Amazon.com for more handy books on Psychology.

A point to be noted is that, psychology GRE test assesses your subject knowledge which you have acquired during your undergraduate studies and hence you need not go too much into detail while studying each topic but pay attention to the names of the researchers and their famous experiments.

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