All AP Psychology Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #311 : History And Research
Martin Seligman is best known for his work in which of the following sub-disciplines of psychology?
Analytical psychology
Positive psychology
Psychoanalysis
Health psychology
Positive psychology
Seligman is best known as a pioneering thinker in the field of positive psychology, or the science of what helps people to thrive. This contrasts starkly with the traditional focus of psychology: on discovering what makes people distressed or unhappy. He is well known for coining the term "learned helplessness," a phenomenon he observed in dogs that also translates to human behavior.
Example Question #312 : History And Research
Which of the following influential psychologists is best known for developing the approach known as rational-emotive therapy?
Aaron Beck
Albert Ellis
Erik Erikson
Lev Vygotsky
Albert Ellis
Albert Ellis studied psychoanalysis but eventually broke from that school of thought and developed rational-emotive therapy, a cognitive approach which stresses that negative thoughts lead to mental disorders like depression. Like Ellis, Aaron Beck began as a psychoanalyst but eventually formed a new approach known as cognitive therapy. Lev Vygotsky took a socio-cultural approach to exploring cognitive development, emphasizing that family relationships and culture play key roles in the development of cognition. Erik Erikson was a personality theorist whose 8-stage psychosocial theory of development across the lifespan has been highly influential.
Tip: When studying influential psychologists, focus on understanding the differences between psychologists whose approaches are most similar, such as Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis.
Example Question #141 : History And Principles Of Psychology
Which psychological perspective does not consider inner mental and emotional states as key aspects of the study of human psychology?
Psychoanalysis
Phemenological
Social-cognitive
Humanist
Behaviorism
Behaviorism
Behaviorism believes that psychology can only be accurately studied through the analysis of objective and quantifiable actions and behaviors conducted by a chosen population. While there is, of course, a wide spectrum of behaviorist thinker who consider inner emotional states to various degrees, in the strictest sense behaviorism studies behaviors and actions exclusively
Example Question #142 : History And Principles Of Psychology
A middle school has been facing a long pattern of bullying. The district has decided to work with psychologists to help control the problem. Which of the choices is the kind of specialization that would most likley be beneficial for the situation?
Cognitive Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Comparitive Psychology
Community Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology
Community Psychology
Community psychology focuses on studying the interaction between people and their social environments and how social institutions influence individuals and groups. In this scenario, a community psychologist would observe how the school or area promotes bullying. A community psychologist strives to understand the connection between individuals' contexts with regards to the wider society. By doing so, they try to understand the quality of life in terms of the people, the community, and the society. In this instance, there may be some underlying cause in the community or society that is promoting children to instigate and continue bullying at school by affecting their behavior and attitudes. Comparative psychology would not be the correct answer because this specialization focuses on studying the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals as to shed light on evolutionary and developmental history. Cognitive psychology would be incorrect because this specialization pertains to understanding and observing mental processes such as paying attention, learning, language, memory, and the like. Developmental and evolutionary psychology would also be incorrect choices in that these specializations focus on understanding the changes of human mental processes over time or with respect to natural selection. All options excluding community psychology pertain to understanding behavior or mental abilities such as learning. Given that this bullying incident is not localized to one student, a broader approach would best fit the situation.
Example Question #143 : History And Principles Of Psychology
Bob, a man dealing with general anxiety disorder, is being treated by methods that attempt to uncover his unconscious thoughts and motivations. Which psychological approach is this treatment likely derived from?
Humanism
Psychoanalysis
Cognitive psychology
Neuropsychology
Behavioral psychology
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis, pioneered by Sigmund Freud, focuses on making the unconscious thoughts and motivations of humans become conscious. Treatment based off of this would likely involve methods to expose the unconscious thoughts and motivations of a patient.
Example Question #144 : History And Principles Of Psychology
Freud is known to have mainly influenced which major approach of psychology?
Behavioral
Biopsychosocial
Humanistic
Psychodynamic
Cognitive
Biopsychosocial
The correct answer is "psychodynamic." In this theory, Freud explains how the unconscious drives human behavior through the id, the ego, and the superego. On the other hand, the "behavioral" approach reasons that behavior is a direct respondent of reinforcement. Watson and Skinner famously contributed to this school of thought. The "cognitive" approach emphasizes the process and storage of information in the brain. Piaget and Chomsky are most well known in this school of psychological thought. The "humanistic" approach studies how environmental influences, such as love, determine human outcome in life. Rogers and Maslow are famous contributors to this approach. Last, the "biopsychosocial" approach encompasses all of the other approaches mentioned in these answers. It stems from the idea that biological, psychological and socio-cultural influences affect behavior and thinking.
Example Question #145 : History And Principles Of Psychology
Which subdiscipline of psychology focuses on designing products for effective human use?
Human factors psychology
Applied developmental psychology
Humanistic psychology
Ego oriented psychology
Clinical psychology
Human factors psychology
Human factors psychology applies information on human behavior to design and evaluate various products. This field focuses on maximizing human efficacy by making the easiest to use and safest products for consumers.
Example Question #146 : History And Principles Of Psychology
Members belong to which of the following professions can prescribe medication?
School psychologists
Psychiatrists
Social workers
Biological psychologists
All of these
Psychiatrists
"Psychiatrists" are medical doctors (i.e. physicians) who are allowed to prescribe psychopharmacological treatments (e.g. antidepressants) to help aid in treating various psychiatric illnesses. All of the other professions cannot legally prescribe medication.
Example Question #1831 : Ap Psychology
Which subdiscipline of psychology focuses on studying human behavior in the workplace?
Environmental psychology
Industrial-organizational psychology
Applied psychology
Developmental psychology
Sociological psychology
Industrial-organizational psychology
"Industrial-organizational psychology" focuses on applying the scientific study of individuals and groups to optimizing workplace performance. Psychologists in this field typically work for large corporations and help them to improve areas including employee satisfaction, employee retention, and productivity.
Example Question #1832 : Ap Psychology
Which of the following professions is not licensed to perform psychotherapy?
Social workers
Psychologists
Psychiatrists
Life coaches
Mental health counselors
Life coaches
Anyone can call themselves a "life coach" without meeting particular qualifications; however, all of the other answer choices require specific schoolwork and appropriate licensure in order to practice psychotherapy.