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Psy-Q: Test Yourself with More Than 80 Quizzes, Puzzles and Experiments for Everyday Life
Psychology 101 as you wish it were a collection of entertaining experiments, quizzes, jokes, and interactive exercises
Psychology is the study of mind and how and why people do absolutely everything that people do, from the most life-changing event such as choosing a partner, to the most humdrum, such as having an extra donut. Ben Ambridge takes these findings and invites the reader to test their knowledge of themselves, their friends, and their families through quizzes, jokes, and games. You’ll measure your personality, intelligence, moral values, skill at drawing, capacity for logical reasoning, and more—all of it adding up to a greater knowledge of yourself, a higher “Psy-Q”.
Lighthearted, fun, and accessible, this is the perfect introduction to psychology that can be fully enjoyed and appreciated by readers of all ages.
Take Dr. Ben’s quizzes to
- If listening to Mozart makes you smarter
- Whether or not your boss is a psychopath
- How good you are at waiting for a reward (and why it matters)
- Why we find symmetrical faces more attractive
- What your taste in art says about you
Psychology is the study of mind and how and why people do absolutely everything that people do, from the most life-changing event such as choosing a partner, to the most humdrum, such as having an extra donut. Ben Ambridge takes these findings and invites the reader to test their knowledge of themselves, their friends, and their families through quizzes, jokes, and games. You’ll measure your personality, intelligence, moral values, skill at drawing, capacity for logical reasoning, and more—all of it adding up to a greater knowledge of yourself, a higher “Psy-Q”.
Lighthearted, fun, and accessible, this is the perfect introduction to psychology that can be fully enjoyed and appreciated by readers of all ages.
Take Dr. Ben’s quizzes to
- If listening to Mozart makes you smarter
- Whether or not your boss is a psychopath
- How good you are at waiting for a reward (and why it matters)
- Why we find symmetrical faces more attractive
- What your taste in art says about you
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 21, 2014
103 people are currently reading
956 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
January 17, 2015
I may have had an unusual education, but by the time I left college I did not know that many companies administer a type of IQ test or personality test to applicants as part of their interview procedure. Only in a course in graduate school did I encounter the very cool questions devised to see how one thinks. Ben Ambridge doesn’t give us many IQ questions here, but lots of PSY-Q questions, designed to determine how people perceive, think, and compose opinions. Ambridge thinks they’re fun, and I agree, but they’re not only fun. I argue that it is also instructive to know how most people answer these questions, right or wrong.
The set up for the puzzles, jokes, experiments might be just a sentence or a paragraph. The explanation often takes a little more space, not including thinking time. Take for example the short set up for The Patient: “Scientists have found a new disease that is spreading around the country…The disease is pretty rare, but it causes cancer…scientists have developed a test that is 99% accurate, and you have tested positive! What are the chances you have the disease?” I am sure you have seen this, or a variation of this example before. Do you remember how to solve it? What percentage of folks can figure it out? (A hint: many psychologists find this confusing!) Ambridge gives us this, a little history of how the question is used in real life situations, and links to further reading about game theory, examples, and a math website that makes jokes about frequent errors in the use of statistics.
Ambridge also uses real life scenarios like online dating statistics, whether or not to leave your present job with a struggling company, whether to change lanes in heavy traffic. I have encountered these types of questions, the results, and the studies that engendered them before but Ambridge is such a good-humored and enthusiastic host that one doesn’t mind looking the fool once again. Truthfully, I think this is the perfect book for a bright teen who may find they are interested in the way folks make decisions, reveal their prejudices, and believe fallacies. Our own errors in judgment are likewise illustrated.
Ambridge is amusing, clear, and relevant. Readers may find they want to follow the web links to further information and more tests, if their interest is piqued.
The teen with whom I shared the book with became immediately engrossed. He’d stated more than once that he might be interested in programming for online games. I can’t think of a more entertaining way to learn about the ways people perceive the information they are given, how they react in certain situations, and how impressionable we all are. This book is a fun way to get an education.
This book is a Penguin Paperback Original, but it is also available as an eBook. If the links are embedded in the e-text, that might be the best way to read this book, though there is something about being able to pass around a paper copy that is appealing.
The set up for the puzzles, jokes, experiments might be just a sentence or a paragraph. The explanation often takes a little more space, not including thinking time. Take for example the short set up for The Patient: “Scientists have found a new disease that is spreading around the country…The disease is pretty rare, but it causes cancer…scientists have developed a test that is 99% accurate, and you have tested positive! What are the chances you have the disease?” I am sure you have seen this, or a variation of this example before. Do you remember how to solve it? What percentage of folks can figure it out? (A hint: many psychologists find this confusing!) Ambridge gives us this, a little history of how the question is used in real life situations, and links to further reading about game theory, examples, and a math website that makes jokes about frequent errors in the use of statistics.
Ambridge also uses real life scenarios like online dating statistics, whether or not to leave your present job with a struggling company, whether to change lanes in heavy traffic. I have encountered these types of questions, the results, and the studies that engendered them before but Ambridge is such a good-humored and enthusiastic host that one doesn’t mind looking the fool once again. Truthfully, I think this is the perfect book for a bright teen who may find they are interested in the way folks make decisions, reveal their prejudices, and believe fallacies. Our own errors in judgment are likewise illustrated.
Ambridge is amusing, clear, and relevant. Readers may find they want to follow the web links to further information and more tests, if their interest is piqued.
The teen with whom I shared the book with became immediately engrossed. He’d stated more than once that he might be interested in programming for online games. I can’t think of a more entertaining way to learn about the ways people perceive the information they are given, how they react in certain situations, and how impressionable we all are. This book is a fun way to get an education.
This book is a Penguin Paperback Original, but it is also available as an eBook. If the links are embedded in the e-text, that might be the best way to read this book, though there is something about being able to pass around a paper copy that is appealing.
July 24, 2019
Not a lot that's new here for those familiar with Kahneman and Bargh but this book is still worth reading if only as a light hearted, humorously written, short summary of practically all the interesting (scientifically accepted) psychology studies done in modern times. It added insights on to the familiar while introducing enough new material and interpretations to keep things interesting.
For example, atheists cringe in discomfort and show measurable signs of stress when asked to make statements like "I dare God to paralyze my Mother". Interestingly the effect is negligible when 'God' is removed from the statement to control for subjects reacting to saying something unpleasant. It seems that all of us have a minimal amount of inherent superstitious beliefs owing to our evolutionary development that we cannot overcome via logic. Will you wear the sweater once worn by Hitler, even though you know evil does not spread like a disease (irrespective of what our ancestors firmly believed)? Or will you be comfortable in drinking a glass of water if I dipped a perfectly sterilized cockroach into it? Interesting stuff.
The book also has enough paper and pencil tasks to understand your own psychology, from personality to IQ. A good book for those considering a future in psychology and for those genuinely interested in the field.
For example, atheists cringe in discomfort and show measurable signs of stress when asked to make statements like "I dare God to paralyze my Mother". Interestingly the effect is negligible when 'God' is removed from the statement to control for subjects reacting to saying something unpleasant. It seems that all of us have a minimal amount of inherent superstitious beliefs owing to our evolutionary development that we cannot overcome via logic. Will you wear the sweater once worn by Hitler, even though you know evil does not spread like a disease (irrespective of what our ancestors firmly believed)? Or will you be comfortable in drinking a glass of water if I dipped a perfectly sterilized cockroach into it? Interesting stuff.
The book also has enough paper and pencil tasks to understand your own psychology, from personality to IQ. A good book for those considering a future in psychology and for those genuinely interested in the field.
January 30, 2022
Negaidīti laba grāmata par to, kā un kāpēc mēs uztveram visu apkārt notiekošo. Daudz interesantu praktisku uzdevumu sevis izpētīšanai :)
August 31, 2014
It would be too easy to dismiss this book as pop psychology. I studied psychology to degree level - not yesterday! - and have an abiding interest in it and I didn't find this collection of tests and theories too trite. If you enjoy having a little more insight into how your mind and others' minds work then there is no harm in working your way through this book. Interestingly, however, despite having been a professional classical musician for several years, the Mozart Effect does not work for me. Give me meditation every time. It's nice to be different!
December 18, 2023
Interessant
September 18, 2016
I read another paperback version of the book, titled "Psy-Q: A mind-bending miscellany of everyday psychology", published in 2015 but I cannot add this edition to the website as I was not granted a librarian status by Goodreads.
Anyway, let's get to the review:
4.5 out of 5
I really recommend this book to anyone interested in Psychology. The author has a PhD in Psychology and is a lecturer at Liverpool University, UK, so he knows what he's doing. What I really loved about the book is:
The quizzes/experiments are presented in only a couple of pages, so almost every 3 pages you get to try and learn about a new psychology experiment/theory and you rarely get bored. Also, Ambridge sticks mostly to academic peer-reviewed studies that are important in his field. The reason why I didn't give the book 5 out of 5 is that just a few number of the studies or quizzes are repetitive/boring and that one of the books he recommends is a book written by an unprofessional, ignorant physician.
Anyway, let's get to the review:
4.5 out of 5
I really recommend this book to anyone interested in Psychology. The author has a PhD in Psychology and is a lecturer at Liverpool University, UK, so he knows what he's doing. What I really loved about the book is:
The quizzes/experiments are presented in only a couple of pages, so almost every 3 pages you get to try and learn about a new psychology experiment/theory and you rarely get bored. Also, Ambridge sticks mostly to academic peer-reviewed studies that are important in his field. The reason why I didn't give the book 5 out of 5 is that just a few number of the studies or quizzes are repetitive/boring and that one of the books he recommends is a book written by an unprofessional, ignorant physician.
January 2, 2017
Ein sehr kurzweiliges Schmökerbuch mit vielen interessanten Tests und Erklärungen dazu. Es war sehr spannend und amüsant, in die eigene Psyche einzutauchen bzw. etwas an der Oberfläche zu kratzen. So weiß ich jetzt zum Beispiel, dass mein EQ - also die emotionale Intelligenz - noch unter dem von Strafgefangenen und Drogensüchtigen liegt. (schluck!) Allerdings gab es auch ein paar Punkte, die mich gestört haben: bei einigen Tests waren die Erklärungen ein bisschen zu dürftig (man konnte ja auch zu jedem Kapitel im Internet weiterforschen, aber das war mir dann doch etwas zu mühsam), und bei anderen gab es nur Erklärungen zu Ergebnissen, das die Mehrheit der Menschen erreicht. Wenn man aber nun zu dem Teil gehört, der einen anderen Ausgang oder eine andere Ansicht vertreten hat, stand man doch etwas im Dunkel.
Alles in allem aber eine sehr nette Unterhaltung, die einem doch recht viel über sich selbst erzählt.
Alles in allem aber eine sehr nette Unterhaltung, die einem doch recht viel über sich selbst erzählt.
February 7, 2017
BA-YIL-DIM!! Inanılmaz ilgi çekici, fazlasıyla bilgilendirici ve eğlenceliydi. Psikoloji öğrencisi olarak verdiği bilgilerin haricinde kullandığı eğlenceli üsluptan da fazlasıyla hoşlandım. Ayrıca hiçbir konuda "kesinlikle böyledir" demeyip başka olasılıkların da olabileceğini belirtmesini takdir ettim. Tekrar tekrar okumayı ve tabi ki içindeki soruları arkadaşlarıma ve akrabalarıma da yöneltmeyi sabırsızlıkla bekliyorum.
February 2, 2024
Ļoti viegla lasāmviela par psiholoģiju ar dažādiem interesantiem un mazāk interesantiem testiem. Lasījās ļoti viegli un šo to jaunu arī uzzināju gan par cilvēku uzvedību, gan arī par to, kāpēc bieži vien izvēles ir tieši tādas, kādas tās ir.
January 8, 2015
It offers only a basic start to various psychological concepts, but it's fun all the same.
July 20, 2016
İçinde insan zihnine ve psikolojisine dair pek çok eğlenceli test, araştırma ve inceleme yazıları ve yorumları bulunan, okuması keyifli bir kitap.
November 10, 2016
Beklentinizi yüksek tutmazsaniz eğlenceli ve interaktif bir kitap.
June 5, 2016
Definitely a fun and interactive read!
May 31, 2017
I came to this book late, via Ben Ambridge's more recent title Are You Smarter than a Chimpanzee? In that book, it was the human side that I found more interesting than the animal psychology, so a whole book on people in Ambridge's amiable, entertaining style seemed a good bet - as it proved to be.
There was a fair amount here that you will have come across if you've read any other popular psychology books, from the ultimatum game to common psychological illogicalities, like our tendency to give more value to something we own than something we don't. However, there was also enough that I'd never seen before to make it an entertaining read, and even the familiar was often worth revisiting.
One of the more unusual things that Ambridge did was to take in a few borderline psychology/psychiatry concepts from the Rorshach Test to Freud's dream analysis and mildly debunk them. I say 'mildly' as Ambridge doesn't tear into them, but gently points out their lack of scientific basis.
Quite a lot of the psychological treats in this miscellany involve taking a little test. Those that can be done quickly and without writing in the book go down a treat, though once it's necessary to write I suspect a fair number of readers will just look at them and not bother to do them (I'm afraid I did) - which is a shame as we get insights into everything from personality tests to graphology (guess what - it doesn't work). I particularly liked the way that Ambridge takes on the really well known psychology experiments, such as the famous Milgram experiment where subjects were asked to give another volunteer repeated electric shocks, and shows that the traditional interpretation of these experiments may well be wrong.
I've a few quibbles. Ambridge takes without question the 2 sigma level for significance, which is far too low as far as physicists are concerned, and frequently gives a web link that doesn't actually take you to the page for the book. (It's still there, but you have to hunt for it via two levels of indirection.) And he totally misunderstands the finances of Concorde when using it as an example of the sunk cost fallacy, suggesting that the airlines kept putting good money after bad, where the airlines actually made a tidy profit flying Concorde (plus huge kudos) - it was the governments who sponsored the construction who lost money.
All in all, if you've read several popular psychology books, you probably won't find a lot that's new - but for absolute beginners, or those who want to remind themselves of the fun bits, this is a must.
There was a fair amount here that you will have come across if you've read any other popular psychology books, from the ultimatum game to common psychological illogicalities, like our tendency to give more value to something we own than something we don't. However, there was also enough that I'd never seen before to make it an entertaining read, and even the familiar was often worth revisiting.
One of the more unusual things that Ambridge did was to take in a few borderline psychology/psychiatry concepts from the Rorshach Test to Freud's dream analysis and mildly debunk them. I say 'mildly' as Ambridge doesn't tear into them, but gently points out their lack of scientific basis.
Quite a lot of the psychological treats in this miscellany involve taking a little test. Those that can be done quickly and without writing in the book go down a treat, though once it's necessary to write I suspect a fair number of readers will just look at them and not bother to do them (I'm afraid I did) - which is a shame as we get insights into everything from personality tests to graphology (guess what - it doesn't work). I particularly liked the way that Ambridge takes on the really well known psychology experiments, such as the famous Milgram experiment where subjects were asked to give another volunteer repeated electric shocks, and shows that the traditional interpretation of these experiments may well be wrong.
I've a few quibbles. Ambridge takes without question the 2 sigma level for significance, which is far too low as far as physicists are concerned, and frequently gives a web link that doesn't actually take you to the page for the book. (It's still there, but you have to hunt for it via two levels of indirection.) And he totally misunderstands the finances of Concorde when using it as an example of the sunk cost fallacy, suggesting that the airlines kept putting good money after bad, where the airlines actually made a tidy profit flying Concorde (plus huge kudos) - it was the governments who sponsored the construction who lost money.
All in all, if you've read several popular psychology books, you probably won't find a lot that's new - but for absolute beginners, or those who want to remind themselves of the fun bits, this is a must.
June 2, 2017
If you know someone who wants an introduction to psychology, and hasn't read about it before, I can't think of any better book than this one. It is accessible but intelligently put together, easy to understand but deals with proper scientific vocabulary.
This is the first one I have found that also has an interactive element, and in the 'take 20 minutes and try this' sense rather than a single optical illusion in a chapter of text. These weren't gimmicky, and did add to the reward in going through the book. Many of the tests were surprisingly accurate, not in itself a surprise given this was clearly taken seriously, but the author himself highlights the issue of conditions not conducive to reliable results.
The major drawback was that it rarely felt particularly deep. Granted, this was not intended to be a comprehensive review of psychology, but I felt too few of the chapters went deep enough into the topics explored. There were some exceptions, notably the discussion of the famous Milgram experiment, which has appeared in about 50% of the books I've read recently, from Quiet to How to Win:The Secret Footballer. Because I've read a bit of popular psychology, though, there was a lot of repetition without much extra expansion. I do give credit to the author's recommendations of books to read further though, and I am especially keen to read In Your Face by David Perret as a result. It is also interesting to see just how much influence Thinking: Fast and Slow has had on popular science (and indeed science, but few people read peer reviewed journals), as it's findings are everywhere.
There are many merits to this book, and I almost feel bad about only giving it three stars, but there's so much white space in the pages that I feel it could be legitimately cover more to improve the title, rather than make it drag.
This is the first one I have found that also has an interactive element, and in the 'take 20 minutes and try this' sense rather than a single optical illusion in a chapter of text. These weren't gimmicky, and did add to the reward in going through the book. Many of the tests were surprisingly accurate, not in itself a surprise given this was clearly taken seriously, but the author himself highlights the issue of conditions not conducive to reliable results.
The major drawback was that it rarely felt particularly deep. Granted, this was not intended to be a comprehensive review of psychology, but I felt too few of the chapters went deep enough into the topics explored. There were some exceptions, notably the discussion of the famous Milgram experiment, which has appeared in about 50% of the books I've read recently, from Quiet to How to Win:The Secret Footballer. Because I've read a bit of popular psychology, though, there was a lot of repetition without much extra expansion. I do give credit to the author's recommendations of books to read further though, and I am especially keen to read In Your Face by David Perret as a result. It is also interesting to see just how much influence Thinking: Fast and Slow has had on popular science (and indeed science, but few people read peer reviewed journals), as it's findings are everywhere.
There are many merits to this book, and I almost feel bad about only giving it three stars, but there's so much white space in the pages that I feel it could be legitimately cover more to improve the title, rather than make it drag.
October 3, 2017
Psikoloji üzerine yazılmış diğer kitaplara göre oldukça eğlenceli. İçerisinde genelde soru-cevap mantığı ile işlenmiş ve sohbet üslubu ile yazılmış kısa kısa bölümler var. Kitaptaki testlerin sonuçlarının iç açıcı olması durumunda kitabın daha eğlenceli geldiğini itiraf etmeliyim. 320 sayfa gibi görünse de aslında hemen her bölümün sonunda size sunulan linklerle başka testler ya da okumalar sayesinde kitabı daha uzun hale getirmek sizin elinizde. Burda önemli bir dezavantaj şu ki ABD ve İngiltere odaklı hazırlanmış bir kitap olduğu için bu linklerle ulaşılan sayfalar da tabi ki Türkçe değil. "domingo" yayınlarının sitesinde kitabın bazı sayfaları mevcut ancak (kitapta da yazdığı gibi şekillerin daha net görülebilmesi için internete konulmuş olması gereken) IQ testi ile ilgili sayfalar siteye maalesef konmamış. Durumu kafaya takıp yabancı kaynaklı sitelerden aynı testi bulmak mümkün. Kitabın yeni baskılarında leke testi ile ilgili bölümdeki sayfalar renkli basılsa daha güzel olurdu.
July 31, 2021
This one is always a fun read, allowing for a quick insight into a range of psychological studies and concepts with interactive quizzes and jokes to keep everything lighthearted. I last read this 5 years ago, but it was fun to revisit it and relearn a few things especially when the content is delivered with great hilarity, including puns!
I did think the "It's All Chinese to Me" test could have been improved by not using an actual language script to test whether familiarity breeds contempt. It would be very obvious for anyone who actually recognises those characters to approach the test based on the meaning of the kanji, not just on the look - at least, that's how I approached it, and so my results were totally skewed. Considering the emphasis placed in the book on the proper form for conducting tests, I thought this was a rather obvious 'confound'. Otherwise, a super fun read that I'll probably pick up in another 5 years for a refresher!
I did think the "It's All Chinese to Me" test could have been improved by not using an actual language script to test whether familiarity breeds contempt. It would be very obvious for anyone who actually recognises those characters to approach the test based on the meaning of the kanji, not just on the look - at least, that's how I approached it, and so my results were totally skewed. Considering the emphasis placed in the book on the proper form for conducting tests, I thought this was a rather obvious 'confound'. Otherwise, a super fun read that I'll probably pick up in another 5 years for a refresher!
June 12, 2022
Kitap; hiç popüler psikoloji hakkında okumamış veya belgeseller seyretmemiş, podcastler dinlememiş birisi için hazineler barındırıyor ancak birçok bahsi geçen testin çok da bilimsel olmadığını, çok yavan ve basit kaldığını, bazı bahsedilen konularınsa çok çok yerde bahsi geçtiği için enteresan olmaktan uzak olduğunu belirtmeliyim. Bu sebeple kitapta ilerlemek için gerekli olan itkiyi kendimde bulmakta hala zorlanıyorum ancak her 10 başlıktan bir tanesine "Hmm enteresan gibi" dediğim için devam ediyorum.
July 27, 2019
An interesting and entertaining selection of psychology experiments and accompanying explanations. For anyone looking for an in-depth and systematic introduction to psychology, this might not be the best book to choose, but if fun trivia is your thing, then it is recommended. I did learn a few things along the way, and it certainly encouraged me to think differently about some aspects of human behaviour.
March 27, 2020
Kesinlikle vakit kaybı, kitapları yarım bırakmaktan nefret ettiğim için kendimi zorlayarak okudum. Testlerin çoğu anlamsız, hiçbir yere götürmeyen genelgeçer ifadelerden ibaret. Kitapta en beğendiğim yer burçlarla ilgili kısımdı, bu kısımda yer alan ve hakkında “hangi arkadaşınıza okursanız okuyun bunun kendi burcu için yazıldığına inanır” denen kısmın tam olarak bu kitabı anlattığını düşünüyorum.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2019
Like many other reviewers have said, this is best as an introduction to psychology rather than something in depth.
But that said I just think this book is a lot of fun. For me I just love the fact that it’s interactive and you can take tests along the way.
But that said I just think this book is a lot of fun. For me I just love the fact that it’s interactive and you can take tests along the way.
May 31, 2017
Cool read. It was kind of like going back to year 11 phsych. Ah, nostalgia..
August 20, 2018
Nice read to dip in and out of, read a page...come back to...
September 11, 2018
It is a good introduction to psychology, a pretty acceptable way to pass time during a flight. It is not that comprehensive and it does not intend to be.
November 10, 2018
Entertaining and mind-bending from time to time. Some of the stuff seem obvious now after reading the book and I must say I enjoy psychology a lot.
April 29, 2019
Actually really interesting little tests - made you really think about life and personalities much more than you would have thought.
September 10, 2019
Çok başlangıç diye kızıp duruyordum ama son cümleleriyle beni kazandı
October 22, 2019
Took me years to finish, starts of interesting. Then just peters on.
Best memory I have of this book is buying it in London on Victoria Station.
Best memory I have of this book is buying it in London on Victoria Station.
April 16, 2020
Kitaptaki çoğu testi ve deneyi zaten biliyordum. Kitabı okuduktan sonra da daha önceki düşüncem değişmedi: bu bilim değil
May 23, 2020
Fun to read but doesn't offer many new insights into psychology
Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews