GACE: Behavioral Science

The Behavioral Science assessment, offered as part of the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators, is divided into two tests.

The first test consists of 40 selected-response questions (90% of the test score) and 1 constructed-response assignment (10% of the test score). The content area covered by the first test is psychology. The topics covered by the psychology subarea are: the historical development, theoretical perspectives, and methods of psychology; the biological basis of behavior; human development, personality, and behavior; cognition, intelligence, language, memory, and learning; and motivation, emotion, and the identification and treatment of psychological disorders.

The second test consists of 40 selected-response questions (90% of the test score) and 1 constructed-response question (10% of the test score). The content areas covered by the second test are sociology and anthropology. The topics covered by the sociology subarea are: basic sociological terms, concepts, theoretical perspectives, and methods of inquiry; socialization, social groups, and social interaction; social institutions and social organization; social stratification, social inequality, deviance, and social conformity; and population demographics, collective behavior, and social change. The topics covered by the anthropology subarea are: the origins and development of culture and the influence of culture on human beliefs and behavior.

The examination must be completed within four hours. The total test score is placed on a scale of 100 to 300, with 220 as the lowest passing score. Scores are based on the number of selected-response questions answered correctly and the scores assigned by judges to the constructed responses. Test-takers will also receive performance indices indicating their success in each subarea of the examination. Scores will be available approximately a month after the date of the examination; unofficial results are posted on the internet, and an official score report is mailed to the test-taker, the Professional Standards Commission, and the institution specified by the test-taker during registration.

Practice Questions

1. In social psychology, what is the term for the time-saving functions performed by the brain when making decisions?

A: schema
B: bias
C: heuristics
D: dissonance

2. What is the closest synonym for fixed action pattern as it is used in ethology?

A: thought
B: response
C: instinct
D: scheme

3. What is the maximum number of people that can be in a viable social network, otherwise known as Dunbar's number?

A: 50
B: 100
C: 150
D: 200

4. What is the name for the tendency to blame the victim for what has happened to him or her?

A: hindsight bias
B: just world effect
C: actor-observer effect
D: fundamental attribution error

5. Who was the leader of the Manchester School of anthropology?

A: Max Gluckman
B: A. R. Radcliffe-Brown
C: James G. Frazer
D: Bronislaw Malinowski

Answer Key

1. C. Individuals use heuristics to save mental energy and time.
2. C. A fixed action pattern is a response to a specific set of stimuli.
3. C. Dunbar's number is also known as the rule of 150 in the study of social networks.
4. B. Psychologists believe that this is an attempt to allay anxiety about the arbitrary nature of justice.
5. A. This group of intellectuals applied Marxist ideology to anthropological issues.