All AP Psychology Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #73 : Dimensions Of Psychological Development
According to Erik Erikson, which stage of life involves addressing our identity and social roles?
Infancy
Adolescence
Middle childhood
Old age
Middle adulthood
Adolescence
According to Erik Erikson's psychosocial stages, adolescents are faced with how they appear to others (especially same-age peers) and take this time to "try on" different roles to see how others react. This stage is completed when the individual has adopted a comprehensive identity.
Example Question #1 : Moral Development
Which one of the following children is displaying preconventional thought?
Mark refuses to obey a law that treats certain people as second-class citizens
Natasha does not skip school because she worries about what her friends will say
Amy disagrees with her school's policy on graduating early, but she would never publicly protest it without her school's permission
Francine thinks that big corporations should be responsible for paying taxes, just as everyone else is
Kevin decides not to skip class because he will get in trouble with the principal
Kevin decides not to skip class because he will get in trouble with the principal
Lawrence Kohlberg developed three levels of morality to describe people: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional thought. Pre-conventional thought is the most elementary of the three levels, in which actions are thought to be good or bad based on the rewards or punishments that stem from said action.
Example Question #2 : Moral Development
Who developed the theory that the concept of morality is established in three stages?
Erik Erikson
Lawrence Kohlberg
B.F. Skinner
Jean Piaget
Ivan Pavlov
Lawrence Kohlberg
Lawrence Kohlberg was the theorist who developed the concept that morality comes in three stages: pre-conventional, conventional, and post-conventional.
Example Question #1 : Moral Development
Cody is 9 years old. He hit his brother while they were playing a game and his brother started crying. His mom asked him why hitting is brother is wrong, and he told her that it's wrong because he knows that "people aren't supposed to hit other people."
Cody is most likely in which of Kohlberg's stages of moral development?
Concrete operational
Postconventional
Preconventional
Formal operational
Conventional
Conventional
In the conventional stage of moral development, right vs. wrong is based upon societal conventions and expectations. Since Cody stated something that is a social convention, rather than a personal ethical belief, he is demonstrating features of the conventional stage of devlopment.
Example Question #3 : Moral Development
What is the third stage of Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development?
Individuals reject any societal views of their behavior
Individuals are only concerned with actions that will directly benefit them
Individuals are receptive to societal approval or disapproval of their behavior
Individuals begin to see their perspective as distinct from that of society's, and may or may not agree with cultural norms and ethics
Individuals are receptive to societal approval or disapproval of their behavior
At stage three of Kohlberg's theory, which usually begins in adolescence or adulthood, people become conscious of how the society at large views their behavior. Thus, they are not necessarily concerned with gaining a direct reward or avoiding punishments, but rather focus on cultivating behaviors like appreciation and good manners that will make them well-liked by society. This stage is defined by conformity to societal expectations of behavior.
Example Question #81 : Dimensions Of Psychological Development
A child who responds to a moral dilemma with "You will get in trouble. Don't do it!" is most likely operating at what stage of Kolhberg's theory of moral development?
Conventional level
Postconventional level
Unconventional level
Preconventional level
Preconventional level
Moral reasoning at the preconventional level focuses on punishment, rewards, and authority. The child in this question is exhibiting this degree of moral consideration.
Moral reasoning at the conventional level focuses on social order, upholding the law, and maintaining positive relationships.
Moral reasoning at the postconventional level focuses on principles and values beyond laws that ensure individual rights.
There is no unconventional level of moral reasoning, as presented by Kohlberg.
Example Question #1 : Moral Development
If Elliott doesn't litter because it's against his own core values to do so, what stage of Kohlberg's moral development does this reflect?
conventional
moral intuitionism
postconventional
postsocietal
preconventional
postconventional
Kohlberg's three stages are preconventional (in which morality is determined by the consequences for the person), conventional (in which morality is determined by social rules), and postconventional (in which morality is determined by core values). Since Elliott is choosing to keep the Earth clean not because he will get a fine or because his friends will judge him, but because of his own moral compass, this is an example of the postconventional stage.
Example Question #3 : Moral Development
Why did Lawrence Kohlberg present children with the Heinz dilemma?
To assess the children's physical development
To assess the children's need for mental health services
To assess the children's moral development
To assess the children's social development
To assess the children's pathological development
To assess the children's moral development
Lawrence Kohlberg is arguably the most influential psychologist in the field of moral development, particularly in children. He posits that humans can fall into three different stages of morality: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional morality. He used paradigms like the Heinz dilemma to assess children's responses, and determine which level of morality they possess.
Example Question #5 : Moral Development
According to Erikson, those in their late teens struggle with which of the following?
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
Generativity vs. stagnation
Identity vs. role confusion
Intimacy vs. isolation
Integrity vs. despair
Identity vs. role confusion
Also known as “identity crisis,” individuals in their late teens and early twenties struggle with discovering their identity. As these individuals begin venturing into the world, they struggle with who they are or want to be and their purpose in the world.
James Marcia proposed the Identity Status Theory based on Erikson’s stage of identity versus role confusion. His theory led to four different results: diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and achievement. Individuals drifting through life with no purpose or intention for exploration are in a state of diffusion. Individuals who have explored and discovered their purpose and identity are in a state of achievement.
Example Question #6 : Moral Development
When did Piaget believe a person's Moral Relativism stage begins?
Around age ten
Around age five
Around age two
Around age eighteen
Around age thirty
Around age ten
Piaget argued that children under the age of ten view the world in terms of Moral Realism, believing in fixed, universal rules and judging actions by their consequences, rather than the intent of the actor. After ten, he claimed, children learn that rules are socially created things that are adjusted as needed and begin to judge actions by the intent of their actors as they were done.