AP Psychology : AP Psychology

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #761 : Ap Psychology

Jessica's parents are very responsive and caring. They set expectations and boundaries for Jessica, but they also request her input and explain their reasons when making specific decisions or rules. Jessica feels supported by her parents, and she knows that they will still love her even when she makes mistakes. According to Baumrind, which style of parenting and child-rearing describes Jessica's parents?

Possible Answers:

Authoritarian child-rearing style 

Uninvolved child-rearing style 

Authoritative child-rearing style 

Permissive child-rearing style 

Correct answer:

Authoritative child-rearing style 

Explanation:

Authoritative child-rearing and parenting entails high acceptance and involvement with reasonable control/demands and autonomy of children. The scenario described in this question best corresponds to this style of parenting.

Authoritarian child-rearing and parenting emphasizes strict rules and control, with little acceptance and autonomy of children.

Permissive child-rearing and parenting entails high acceptance of children, but parents tend to act more as "friends" with their children by not setting clear expectations, granting too much autonomy, and spoiling children. 

Uninvolved child-rearing and parenting often conveys disinterest or emotional detachment from children. Beyond providing for children's basic needs (e.g., food, clothes, shelter), parents tend to not be actively involved or emotionally available for children. 

Example Question #5 : Theories Of Psychological Development

According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, individuals learn how to behave through which two mechanisms? 

Possible Answers:

Modeling and reinforcement 

Unconscious conflicts and resolutions 

Self-directed initiation and exploration 

Emotionality and attachment

Correct answer:

Modeling and reinforcement 

Explanation:

Social Learning Theory stems from behaviorism and operant conditioning, and it emphasizes imitation, modeling, and reinforcement to encourage appropriate behavior.

Unconscious conflicts and resolutions are linked more to psychoanalytic theory, whereas self-directed behavior is associated more with Piagetian ideals of actively exploring one's world to facilitate learning. 

Emotionality and attachment are related more to social-emotional development than cogntiive development and learned behavior. 

Example Question #3 : Theories Of Psychological Development

During which of Freud's psychosexual stages does the Oedipus Complex occur?

Possible Answers:

Oral

Adulthood

Puberty

Phallic

Anal

Correct answer:

Phallic

Explanation:

During the phallic stage (ages 3 to 5), Freud believed that young boys desire their mother - but because the boys cannot have their mother, they identify with their father and take on a male gender role.

Example Question #6 : Theories Of Psychological Development

According to Baumrind's work on parenting styles, children who develop anger and trust issues towards their parents are most likely to have been raised in which sort of household?

Possible Answers:

Authoritative or Authoritarian

Authoritarian

Authoritative or Permissive

Authoritative

Permissive

Correct answer:

Authoritarian

Explanation:

Authoritarian parents prioritize the obedience of their children, and are more likely to punish bad behavior than to reward good behavior. This tends to more often produce anger, distrust, and withdrawal in children raised in Authoritarian households than in children raised in Authoritative or Permissive homes.

Example Question #4 : Theories Of Psychological Development

How did Erik Eriksen's proposed stages of human development differ from those earlier put forth by Sigmund Freud?

Possible Answers:

Eriksen's stages of development continue beyond puberty through the entirety of adulthood

All of these

Eriksen accounted for social influences

None of these

Eriksen's theory diminished the importance of sexual and aggressive drives

Correct answer:

All of these

Explanation:

Freud's stages of human development focus heavily on sex and aggression, and largely do not account for social influences beyond relationships with one's parents, and after puberty. Eriksen found all of these features of Freud's theory problematic.

Example Question #21 : Studying Developmental Psychology

Mary Ainsworth developed the "Strange Situation" experiment to examine _________

Possible Answers:

Mothers' parenting styles

Mothers' attachment to their infants

Infants' sensory perception

Infants' linguistic capabilities

Infants' attachment to their mothers

Correct answer:

Infants' attachment to their mothers

Explanation:

The "Strange Situation" experiment began by placing a mother alone in a room with her child. After some time, a stranger enters the room, and the mother leaves the room shortly after the stranger's entrance. A short time later, the mother returns and the stranger leaves. Following this, the mother again leaves the room and returns after a brief period in which the child is alone in the room.

The purpose of this study was to examine the infant's behavior when "abandoned" by his/her mother, and his/her reaction when the mother returned to the room. The children were then classified into three kinds of attachment to their mothers.

Example Question #21 : Developmental Psychology

In his theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget used the term "schemata" to refer to which of the following?

Possible Answers:

Cognitive maps children form during the concrete operational stage

The inability to form solid logical reasoning in early childhood

The rare phenomena of a child in the preoperational stage possessing concrete logical capability

Mental rules or frameworks used to organize and interpret the surrounding world

A full understanding of the world attained only in the final stage of development

Correct answer:

Mental rules or frameworks used to organize and interpret the surrounding world

Explanation:

Jean Piaget's term schemata refers to cognitive rules/frameworks/blueprints ("schematics") with which humans interpret the world around them. As humans develop through childhood, their schemata are challenged and change to assimilate new knowledge and logic.

Example Question #11 : Theories Of Psychological Development

As an alternative to Jean Piaget's theory of 4 stages of cognitive development, the Information-Processing Theory proposes that __________

Possible Answers:

it is impossible to have a universal theory of cognitive development because of the subjective nature of how humans process information

there are six distinct stages of cognitive development rather than only four

human mental capacities to memorize, interpret, and perceive develop gradually rather than in stages

None of these answers

higher cognitive processes such as logical thinking and abstract reasoning are instinctual rather learned

Correct answer:

human mental capacities to memorize, interpret, and perceive develop gradually rather than in stages

Explanation:

In contrast to Jean Piaget's 4 stages, the Information-Processing Model suggests continuous, gradual development, the rate of which depends on the individual and the information presented to them. This model also tends to draw illustrative examples of human cognition and information processing from the way computers process information.

Example Question #11 : Theories Of Psychological Development

Which of the following is not one of Erik Erikson's 8 stages of psychosocial development?

Possible Answers:

Nature vs. Nurture

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Industry vs. Inferiority

Trust vs. Mistrust

Correct answer:

Nature vs. Nurture

Explanation:

Nature vs. nurture refers to the debate over which of the two aspects has greater influence on human behavior. Erik Erikson developed a psychosocial theory which proposed 8 stages throughout life: trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and lastly integrity vs. despair.

Example Question #25 : Developmental Psychology

Who did NOT come up with a theory of development that involved stages?

Possible Answers:

Freud

Skinner

Kohlberg

Erik Erikson

Piaget

Correct answer:

Skinner

Explanation:

Freud, Erik Erikson, Piaget, and Kohlberg all developed theories of development that involved stages, whereas Skinner focused on classical conditioning. 

Freud came up with the psychosexual stages of development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital. Erik Erikson came up with eight stages of social development (ex: trust vs. mistrust). Piaget came up with the stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Kohlberg came up with the stages of moral development: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional. 

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