A class wants to compare average household size across the counties of one state. Which source gives the most direct evidence?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0001
A study finds that towns with higher ice cream sales also have more drownings. What is the soundest conclusion?Wikipedia, Correlation does not imply causation (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0002
A table gives a city's unemployment rate as 4% in 2019, 8% in 2020 and 5% in 2021. Which statement does the table support?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0002
A teacher points out that autocracy, democracy and theocracy share the ending -cracy and asks what the words have in common. Which vocabulary strategy is this?Wikipedia, Democracy (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0003
Show all 50 questions (46 more)
Social science foundational skills, continued
An anthropologist lives in a village for a year, joining in daily life while keeping field notes. What is this method called?Wikipedia, Participant observation (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0001
Before a study begins, participants are told its purpose, procedures and risks and agree in writing to take part. Which ethical practice is this?Wikipedia, Informed consent (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0001
Before a unit on memory, students list what they know and what they want to find out; after reading they add what they learned. Which tool is this?Wikipedia, KWL table (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0003
Exit slips show that several students misread a passage on classical conditioning. Which next step fits the framework's call to monitor reading progress and differentiate?Own work: the answer rests on the text printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0003
In an experiment on a new study technique, participants are placed in the treatment group or the control group by the flip of a coin. Why?Wikipedia, Random assignment (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0001
Which statement is an interpretation, not a fact?National Archives, 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920) (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0002
Social science foundational knowledge 20
A map shades each county darker the higher its unemployment rate. What kind of map is this?Wikipedia, Choropleth map (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0008
A planner layers maps of flood zones, roads and population to choose a site for a shelter. Which tool is built for this?U.S. Geological Survey, What is a geographic information system (GIS)? (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0008
A savings account pays interest on the deposit and on the interest already added to it. What is this called?Wikipedia, Compound interest (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0005
A society's ranking of its people into layers by wealth, income, education and power is called what?Wikipedia, Social stratification (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0009
A traveler judges the eating customs of another country as "wrong" because they differ from those at home. What do social scientists call this?Wikipedia, Ethnocentrism (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0009
An immigrant family keeps its home language while taking on many customs of its new country. Which term names this change through contact between cultures?Wikipedia, Acculturation (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0009
The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path are central teachings of which tradition?Wikipedia, Four Noble Truths (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0006
In several regions of the world, people gave up foraging, began to plant crops and keep animals, and settled in villages. What do historians call this change?Wikipedia, Neolithic Revolution (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0006
In the 1790s, which two parties made up the first national party system of the United States?Wikipedia, First Party System (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0007
In the study of migration, which is a pull factor?Wikipedia, Human migration (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0008
In which political system does power rest with a small group of people?Wikipedia, Oligarchy (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0004
The president names a judge to the Supreme Court. Which step that follows shows checks and balances at work?National Archives, The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0004
The U.S. Constitution divides power between the national government and the states. What is this principle called?Wikipedia, Federalism in the United States (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0004
What do sociologists call behavior that violates the norms of a group or society?Wikipedia, Deviance (sociology) (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0009
What was the Great Migration of the twentieth century?Wikipedia, Great Migration (African American) (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0007
Which body sets the target range for the federal funds rate?Wikipedia, Federal Open Market Committee (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0005
Which invention of the fifteenth century let the pamphlets of religious reformers reach readers across Europe within weeks?Wikipedia, Printing press (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0006
Which law of 1944 gave returning World War II veterans funds for college education, unemployment insurance and housing?National Archives, Servicemen's Readjustment Act (1944) (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0007
Which perspective in psychology holds that the field should study observable behavior and how the environment shapes it?Wikipedia, Behaviorism (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0009
Why must every society decide what to produce and who gets it?Wikipedia, Scarcity (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0005
Human development and behavior 9
A dog hears the can opener before every meal and soon drools at the sound alone. In classical conditioning, what has the sound become?Wikipedia, Classical conditioning (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0012
A driver fastens the seat belt and the car's warning chime stops. Fastening the belt becomes more likely next time. Which process is at work?Wikipedia, Reinforcement (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0012
A student remembers a ten-digit phone number as three groups instead of ten single digits. Which memory strategy is this?Wikipedia, Chunking (psychology) (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0012
A student who has had no breakfast and little sleep cannot attend to a lesson on setting goals. Which level of Maslow's pyramid explains why?Wikipedia, Maslow's hierarchy of needs (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0011
A toddler who has learned the word "dog" points at a cow and says "dog". In Piaget's terms, what is the child doing?Wikipedia, Piaget's theory of cognitive development (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0010
In Erik Erikson's theory, which conflict is the central task of adolescence?Wikipedia, Erikson's stages of psychosocial development (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0010
"We feel afraid because we tremble." Which theory of emotion does this sentence sum up?Wikipedia, James–Lange theory (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0011
What is a just-noticeable difference?Wikipedia, Just-noticeable difference (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0011
Which part of a neuron receives signals from other neurons and carries them toward the cell body?Wikipedia, Dendrite (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0010
Personality, mental health and social behavior 11
A person collapses on a crowded platform and nobody steps forward, each bystander assuming someone else will. What do social psychologists call this?Wikipedia, Bystander effect (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0016
A psychologist asks a client to describe what a series of inkblots look like. What kind of personality measure is this?Wikipedia, Projective test (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0013
A student decides that a classmate who arrived late is lazy, without considering that the bus broke down. Which error is this?Wikipedia, Fundamental attribution error (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0016
A therapist helps a client notice the thought "If I fail one quiz, I am a failure" and test it against the evidence. Which approach to treatment is this?Wikipedia, Cognitive therapy (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0015
Hans Selye's general adaptation syndrome describes the response to prolonged stress in three stages. In what order?Wikipedia, Stress (biology) (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0014
In Freud's model of the psyche, which part works on the reality principle, mediating between impulse and conscience?Wikipedia, Id, ego and superego (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0013
In which stage of sleep do the most vivid dreams occur, with darting eyes and very low muscle tone?Wikipedia, Rapid eye movement sleep (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0014
What did Stanley Milgram's experiments at Yale in the early 1960s study?Wikipedia, Milgram experiment (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0016
Which is one of the Big Five personality traits?Wikipedia, Big Five personality traits (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0013
Which manual, published by the American Psychiatric Association, gives standard criteria for classifying psychological disorders?Wikipedia, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0015
Which model explains a psychological disorder as the joint product of biological, psychological and social factors?Wikipedia, Biopsychosocial model (read 2026-10-11). Outline: ILTS Social Science: Psychology (248) test framework, objective 0015
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the test design and framework of Illinois Licensure Testing System (ILTS) field 248, Social Science: Psychology, as the ILTS site prints them (https://www.il.nesinc.com/Content/STUDYGUIDE/IL_SG_OBJ_248.htm and the test page https://www.il.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/IL248_TestPage.html, read 2026-10-11): Social Science Foundational Skills, 20%; Social Science Foundational Knowledge, 40%; Human Development and Behavior, 17%; Personality, Mental Health, and Social Behavior, 23%; 100 multiple-choice questions (80 scorable), 3 hours 15 minutes of testing time, passing score 240. This bank holds 50 questions, spread 10, 20, 9, 11 over those subareas. Every fact was read on 2026-10-11 in the public page named under its question: the National Archives (the transcription of the Constitution and the milestone documents), the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Wikipedia article named for each remaining question. 3 questions rest on a text or a table printed in the question and on the wording of the objective. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
A free ILTS practice psychology test: 50 questions of our own for Social Science: Psychology, field 248, with a timed exam mode. It is unofficial, and the site is not affiliated with the Illinois State Board of Education or Pearson.
Read the full guide
What field 248 weighs
By the framework read October 11, 2026: social science foundational skills 20%; foundational knowledge of government, economics, history, geography and the behavioral sciences 40%; human development and behavior 17%; personality, mental health and social behavior 23%. This bank holds 10, 20, 9 and 11.
The first two subareas are shared
Objectives 0001 to 0009 read the same, word for word, in the frameworks of all six ILTS social science fields: economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology and anthropology.
Pace
Exam mode asks 40 questions in 78 minutes, the pace of the real test.
The framework names Piaget, Erikson, Maslow, Asch, Milgram and Zimbardo. Know what each one studied.
Every objective ends with a teaching task, so expect questions on how to teach a concept as well as on the concept.
Questions and answers
What is on the ILTS Social Science: Psychology test?
Sixteen objectives. Nine cover inquiry skills, reading in the social science classroom, government, economics, world and U.S. history, geography and the behavioral sciences. Seven cover development, sensation and motivation, learning and cognition, personality, stress and consciousness, disorders and social psychology.
What score do you need to pass ILTS 248?
A scaled total of 240 or above. ILTS content tests are reported from 100 to 300, a wrong answer costs nothing, and the score report explanation says there is no passing score for a single subarea.
How long is the ILTS psychology test?
The appointment lasts 3 hours 30 minutes: 15 minutes for the tutorial and nondisclosure agreement, then 3 hours 15 minutes for 100 multiple-choice questions, of which the framework counts 80 as scorable.
Are these real ILTS psychology questions?
No. Each was written for this site from the published framework and a public source, and repeats none of the sample questions in the ILTS study guide or the practice test that comes with registration.