Tools and Strategies for Writing Questions – Some Examples and Tips
Types of Questions: Factual
1. Getting information into memory is called _____, while getting information out of memory is called _____.
A. encoding…retrieval
B. storage…retrieval
C. encoding…storage
D. storage…encoding
2. The recipes or blueprints for the products produced by a neuron are provided by
a. the nucleus, which contains the genetic material (chromosomes, genes, DNA) of the neuron
b. mitochondria, which are distributed throughout the cytoplasm of the neuron
c. microtubules, which are located in the cytoskeleton of the neuron
d. Betty Crocker
3. A trophozoite is
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
a reproductive spore-forming structure seen in some fungi.
a type of mold.
the motile feeding stage seen in most protozoans.
a prehistoric bacterial form identified from fossil records.
the dormant resting stage seen in many protozoans.
4. Sometimes viruses cause microscopic or macroscopic degenerative changes and abnormalities in the host
cells they infect. The appropriate term for describing this effect of viruses on a host cell is
a. cytocidal.
b. cytopathic.
c. malignant.
d. carcinogenic.
e. benign.
Types of Questions: Conceptual and Applied
5. Kara's therapist is working to help her uncover the hidden, unconscious conflicts, probably based in early
childhood, that cause her to lose one job after another due to chronic lateness. This therapist is most likely
using __________ therapy.
A. behavior
B. cognitive
C. humanistic
D. rational-emotive
E. psychodynamic
6. Dr. Klein was interested in whether the gender of a defendant influences the verdicts of jurors (guilty or not
guilty) in a criminal trial. He randomly assigned a group of 60 student volunteers to read descriptions of a
mock murder trial that were identical except for the gender of the defendant (male or female). One half of the
students (n=30) read about the trial involving the male defendant while the other half (n=30) read about the
trial involving the female defendant. In terms of design, Dr. Klein's study is best described as
a. a descriptive study
b. a correlational study
c. a true experiment
d. a quasi-experiment
7.
The unnecessary and inappropriate use of antibiotics has caused problems for the treatment of infectious
disease because increased exposure to antibiotics
a. causes bacteria to mutate into resistant forms.
b. favors those bacterial mutants that happen to be drug resistant thereby accelerating the rate
at which resistant bacterial strains arise.
c. causes people to become resistant to these drugs.
d. weakens people’s immune systems making them more susceptible to infectious disease.
8. Which of the following sentences would be most appropriate to use when describing an article in the
Introduction of an APA formatted paper?
a. In the article published in 1997 by Barry Ruback and Daniel Juieng, the authors discussed parking
behavior.
b. In the 1997 article we read in class, B. Ruback and D. Juieng studied parking behavior.
c. Ruback and Juieng (1997) conducted a series of studies designed to investigate parking behavior.
d. In the 1997 article entitled “Territorial defense in parking lots: Retaliation against waiting drivers,”
Ruback and Juieng investigated parking behavior.
e. All of the above would be appropriate.
9. Dorothy memorized her shopping list. When she got to the store, however, she found she had forgotten
many of the items from the middle of the list. This is an example of
A. consolidation
B. encoding specificity
C. the serial-position effect
D. repression
10. Which of the following statements regarding stress is FALSE?
A. Stress is a nonspecific response to a real or perceived challenge or threat.
B. Responses to stressors may be cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and/or physiological.
C. Stress can suppress immune responses through chemical messengers such as hormones and
neurotransmitters.
D. In general, moderate levels of arousal actually enhance performance.
E. Emotion-focused coping strategies are generally more effective than problem-focused coping strategies.
11. One of the ways the human body fights off a viral infection is to produce antibodies specific for the virus. The
antibodies are secreted into the blood and can make contact with the virus as soon as the virus is released
from an infected host cell. The antibodies work by binding to and completely coating the virus. Which of the
following steps in viral replication is most directly and immediately inhibited by this?
a. adsorption
b. assembly (maturation)
c. penetration and uncoating
d. release
e. replication (synthesis)
12. It is possible for a bacterial cell to lose certain of its cellular structures and still remain alive. Other structures
are absolutely essential and their loss cannot be tolerated. Identify the one structure below that, if lost by a
bacterial cell, would eventually cause all metabolic processes to stop and bring about the certain death of
the cell?
a. cell wall
b. flagella
c. glycocalyx
d. plasmid
e. ribosomes
Strategies and Approaches for Writing Questions
Ideas for developing questions:
 Use a test bank, modifying questions to tailor them to your course and students. Example:
Original
Modified
A researcher who uses a theory to generate ideas is
One step in the scientific method involves using a
using which of the following?
general theory to generate a specific testable
a. The deductive method
hypothesis. This process is an example of
b. The inductive method
a. replication
c. The method of prior relationships
b. inductive reasoning
d. The method of everyday behavior
c. reduction
d. deductive reasoning
 String together a series of true/false questions and ask the students to select the one from the group that is
false or true (see question 10).
Address terminology and vocabulary with:
 Factual questions to determine knowledge - State a definition and ask students to select the appropriate term
from a list of possible terms (see questions 1 and 4), or state the term and ask students to identify the
appropriate definition from a list of possible definitions (see question 3).
 Applied or conceptual type questions to gauge understanding (see questions 5, 6, 9).
Judicious use of small doses of humor can help counter test anxiety (See question 2 and below).
Which of the following statements regarding stress is FALSE?
A. Stress is a nonspecific response to a real or perceived challenge or threat.
B. Responses to stressors may be cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and/or physiological.
C. Stress can suppress immune responses through chemical messengers such as hormones and
neurotransmitters.
D. In general, moderate levels of arousal actually enhance performance.
E. Emotion-focused coping strategies are generally more effective than problem-focused coping strategies.