GRE Psychology Test

GRE Psychology Subject Test – a Brief Overview

GRE is an examination that all prospective candidates, desirous of pursuing post-graduation studies in colleges and universities of the USA (and some other English speaking nation), have to appear for. The primary examination is designed to test your verbal, analytical and critical skills, as well as, your proficiency in Mathematics. All questions that you will come across in this test are of undergraduate level.

However, some colleges require candidates to take a subject test. In this tests you will be asked questions on the subject you wish to major in during your post graduation years. It is a subject test that you will have to appear for if you want to do post graduation in Psychology.

The score you receive will be a reflection of your knowledge of the subject and will enhance your chances of getting accepted in the college or university of your choice. So before you start preparing for the test you must know what Psychology examination consists of and it will be discussed in the following sections.

Know Your Psychology Subject Test:

This is a 2 hours 50 minutes test designed to test your prior knowledge of the subject. The question paper comprises 205 multiple choice questions which can be divided into the following 3 subtypes:

Much of questions that you will come across in the Psychology question paper will be referring to ‘natural Psychology’. The subject matter for this section ranges from language to memory, to neuroscience, to thought processes, i.e., science oriented Psychology.
The highest number of questions of Psychology question paper deals with social science. Here you will have to answer questions dealing with mental and personality development, as well as, medical questions like abnormally developed life span etc.
The final section consists of questions on general topics like history of Psychology, psychometrics, statistics etc.
If you need more information about the subject matter of the questions then click on the following link: http://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about/content/psychology Each of the questions in the paper is followed by 5 options. You will have to select the correct option from them.

This score consists of 2 sub scores and one total score. The marks you receive in natural and social Psychology sections of the paper contribute to the total score and separately form the 2 sub scores reported in your score card. This will provide the admissions authorities of the college you apply to a better idea of your knowledge about the subject. An important point to remember here is that there is negative marking for wrong answers. For every wrong answer 1/4 marks from your total marks will be subtracted. So you must be very careful while answering the questions.

Knowledge of the question paper format and scoring system will help you in your preparation for this test. However, there are some more things that you should know about it and they are discussed in the following section.

More about Psychology under GRE

The subject tests of GRE are held in the months of October, November and April. It is held all over the world only on particular dates of the 3 afore-mentioned months. Check out the official website to find out about the dates and then register for the examination.

A good score in Psychology will increase your chances of getting a fellowship and it will increase your chances of getting admission. Appearing for a GRE subject test is not compulsory, however for some colleges it is a part of the admission requirement. If you need to know the admissions requirements of the colleges you are applying in then you will have to contact the respective authorities of the colleges.

However, a good score in this test will always put you in good stead with the particular department. Moreover, it will also prove to the admissions authorities your intent, seriousness and knowledge of the subject. So gather all the information about the particular subject and start preparing for it!