AP Psychology : Influential Psychologists

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Psychology

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Example Questions

Example Question #211 : History And Research

Which of the following psychologists founded the first laboratory dedicated to psychological research in 1879?

Possible Answers:

Ivan Pavlov

Wilhelm Wundt

G. Stanley Hall

William James

Sigmund Freud

Correct answer:

Wilhelm Wundt

Explanation:

Wilhelm Wundt is considered the “father of experimental psychology.” His psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig was the first of its kind. It is because of his efforts that psychology is considered a distinct scientific discipline.

Example Question #41 : Influential Psychologists

Psychologists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers believed in which of the following psychological perspectives?

Possible Answers:

Psychoanalyst perspective 

Socio-cultural perspective

Humanist perspective

Cognitive perspective

Correct answer:

Humanist perspective

Explanation:

Maslow and Rogers theorized that what an individual chooses to believe and accept to be true determines the likelihood of developing certain psychological disorders. This is a humanistic way of thinking. 

Example Question #43 : Influential Psychologists

Which of the following is one of Erik Erikson's major contributions to pschology?

Possible Answers:

Cognitive theory of development

Stages of moral development

Psychosocial stages of development

Experiments on obedience to authority 

Hierarchy of needs

Correct answer:

Psychosocial stages of development

Explanation:

Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing the psychosocial stages of development, each of which involved a conflict or crisis between the wants of the individual and the wants of the society, such as trust vs. distrust in infancy.

Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing a cognitive theory of development, which centered around figuring out why and how people (particularly children) make mistakes as a way of figuring out their ways of thinking. Based on that research, Piaget came up with stages of cognitive development—sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Lawrence Kohlberg was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing stages of moral development based on the perceived consequences for the actor—pre-conventional (based on immediate consequences), conventional (authority-focused), and post-conventional (based on individual morals).

Abraham Maslow is a psychologist famous for his theory of hierarchy of needs, which explains the order in which humans prioritize their desires. The hierarchy goes from physical needs to safety to love/belonging to esteem to self-actualization.

Stanley Milgram is a social psychologist who is famous for his experiments on obedience to authority, which are now known as “the Milgram experiments.” These experiments involved subjects giving an electric shock (or so they thought) to another subject because an authority figure demanded it. The willingness of people to go against their conscience to obey authority was surprising and an important discovery.

Example Question #41 : Influential Psychologists

Which of the following is one of Jean Piaget's major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Stages of moral development

Hierarchy of needs 

Cognitive theory of development 

Experiments on obedience to authority

Psychosocial stages of development 

Correct answer:

Cognitive theory of development 

Explanation:

Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing a cognitive theory of development, which centered around figuring out why and how people (particularly children) make mistakes as a way of figuring out their ways of thinking. Based on that research, Piaget came up with stages of cognitive development—sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Lawrence Kohlberg was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing stages of moral development based on the perceived consequences for the actor—pre-conventional (based on immediate consequences), conventional (authority-focused), and post-conventional (based on individual morals).

Abraham Maslow is a psychologist famous for his theory of hierarchy of needs, which explains the order in which humans prioritize their desires. The hierarchy goes from physical needs to safety to love/belonging to esteem to self-actualization.

Stanley Milgram is a social psychologist who is famous for his experiments on obedience to authority, which are now known as “the Milgram experiments.” These experiments involved subjects giving an electric shock (or so they thought) to another subject because an authority figure demanded it. The willingness of people to go against their conscience to obey authority was surprising and an important discovery.

Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing the psychosocial stages of development, each of which involved a conflict or crisis between the wants of the individual and the wants of the society, such as trust vs. distrust in infancy.

Example Question #1722 : Ap Psychology

Which of the following is one of Lawrence Kohlberg's major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Cognitive theory of development

Psychosocial stages of development

Experiments on obedience to authority

Hierarchy of needs

Stages of moral development

Correct answer:

Stages of moral development

Explanation:

Lawrence Kohlberg was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing stages of moral development based on the perceived consequences for the actor—pre-conventional (based on immediate consequences), conventional (authority-focused), and post-conventional (based on individual morals).

Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing the psychosocial stages of development, each of which involved a conflict or crisis between the wants of the individual and the wants of the society, such as trust vs. distrust in infancy.

Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing a cognitive theory of development, which centered around figuring out why and how people (particularly children) make mistakes as a way of figuring out their ways of thinking. Based on that research, Piaget came up with stages of cognitive development—sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Abraham Maslow is a psychologist famous for his theory of hierarchy of needs, which explains the order in which humans prioritize their desires. The hierarchy goes from physical needs to safety to love/belonging to esteem to self-actualization.

Stanley Milgram is a social psychologist who is famous for his experiments on obedience to authority, which are now known as “the Milgram experiments.” These experiments involved subjects giving an electric shock (or so they thought) to another subject because an authority figure demanded it. The willingness of people to go against their conscience to obey authority was surprising and an important discovery.

Example Question #46 : Influential Psychologists

Which of the following is one of Abraham Maslow’s major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Hierarchy of needs 

Stages of moral development

Psychosocial stages of development 

Experiments on obedience to authority

Cognitive theory of development 

Correct answer:

Hierarchy of needs 

Explanation:

Abraham Maslow is a psychologist famous for his theory of hierarchy of needs, which explains the order in which humans prioritize their desires. The hierarchy goes from physical needs to safety to love/belonging to esteem to self-actualization.

Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing the psychosocial stages of development, each of which involved a conflict or crisis between the wants of the individual and the wants of the society, such as trust vs. distrust in infancy.

Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing a cognitive theory of development, which centered around figuring out why and how people (particularly children) make mistakes as a way of figuring out their ways of thinking. Based on that research, Piaget came up with stages of cognitive development—sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Lawrence Kohlberg was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing stages of moral development based on the perceived consequences for the actor—pre-conventional (based on immediate consequences), conventional (authority-focused), and post-conventional (based on individual morals).

Stanley Milgram is a social psychologist who is famous for his experiments on obedience to authority, which are now known as “the Milgram experiments.” These experiments involved subjects giving an electric shock (or so they thought) to another subject because an authority figure demanded it. The willingness of people to go against their conscience to obey authority was surprising and an important discovery.

Example Question #47 : Influential Psychologists

 Which of the following is one of Stanley Milgram’s major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Cognitive theory of development 

Experiments on obedience to authority

Psychosocial stages of development 

Stages of moral development

Hierarchy of needs

Correct answer:

Experiments on obedience to authority

Explanation:

Stanley Milgram is a social psychologist who is famous for his experiments on obedience to authority, which are now known as “the Milgram experiments.” These experiments involved subjects giving an electric shock (or so they thought) to another subject because an authority figure demanded it. The willingness of people to go against their conscience to obey authority was surprising and an important discovery.

Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing the psychosocial stages of development, each of which involved a conflict or crisis between the wants of the individual and the wants of the society, such as trust vs. distrust in infancy.

Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing a cognitive theory of development, which centered around figuring out why and how people (particularly children) make mistakes as a way of figuring out their ways of thinking. Based on that research, Piaget came up with stages of cognitive development—sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Lawrence Kohlberg was a developmental psychologist who is famous for developing stages of moral development based on the perceived consequences for the actor—pre-conventional (based on immediate consequences), conventional (authority-focused), and post-conventional (based on individual morals).

Abraham Maslow is a psychologist famous for his theory of hierarchy of needs, which explains the order in which humans prioritize their desires. The hierarchy goes from physical needs to safety to love/belonging to esteem to self-actualization.

Example Question #48 : Influential Psychologists

Which of the following is one of Carl Rogers’s major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Client-centered therapy

Nativist theory of language

Establishment of psychology as a science

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Linguistic relativity

Correct answer:

Client-centered therapy

Explanation:

Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who is most famous for the development of client-centered therapy, a type of therapy that involves clients trying to reach self-realization themselves (rather than being told answers by the therapists) and the therapist treating the client with unconditional positive regard.

William Wundt was a psychologist who is considered by some to be the father of psychology because he started to separate psychology from philosophy by showing that psychology, like other branches of science, can use the experimental method to get empirical results. Wundt also focused his research on introspection and structuralism, which is the study of the different components of the mind.

Philip Zimbardo is a psychologist most famous for the “Stanford Prison Experiment” in which a group of male subjects were randomly assigned to be either prison guards or inmates. The study found that after only a few days, the prison guards were sadistic and the inmates desolate, indicating how strongly people respond to situational factors.

Noam Chomsky is a cognitive psychologist and linguist who is most famous for his nativist theory of language. This theory rests on a critique of Skinner’s idea that language is learned through conditioning and instead suggests that children are born with a language acquisition device that allows them to learn language from birth.

Benjamin Lee Whorf is a cognitive linguist who is most famous for his idea that the language you speak affects the way that you view and think about the world, otherwise known as linguistic relativity or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Example Question #41 : History And Principles Of Psychology

Which of the following is one of William Wundt's major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Client-centered therapy

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Linguistic relativity

Establishment of psychology as a science

Nativist theory of language

Correct answer:

Establishment of psychology as a science

Explanation:

William Wundt was a psychologist who is considered by some to be the father of psychology because he started to separate psychology from philosophy by showing that psychology, like other branches of science, can use the experimental method to get empirical results. Wundt also focused his research on introspection and structuralism, which is the study of the different components of the mind.

Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who is most famous for the development of client-centered therapy, a type of therapy that involves clients trying to reach self-realization themselves (rather than being told answers by the therapists) and the therapist treating the client with unconditional positive regard.

Philip Zimbardo is a psychologist most famous for the “Stanford Prison Experiment” in which a group of male subjects were randomly assigned to be either prison guards or inmates. The study found that after only a few days, the prison guards were sadistic and the inmates desolate, indicating how strongly people respond to situational factors.

Noam Chomsky is a cognitive psychologist and linguist who is most famous for his nativist theory of language. This theory rests on a critique of Skinner’s idea that language is learned through conditioning and instead suggests that children are born with a language acquisition device that allows them to learn language from birth.

Benjamin Lee Whorf is a cognitive linguist who is most famous for his idea that the language you speak affects the way that you view and think about the world, otherwise known as linguistic relativity or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Example Question #1731 : Ap Psychology

Which of the following is one of Philip Zimbardo's major contributions to psychology?

Possible Answers:

Nativist theory of language

Client-centered therapy

Establishment of psychology as a science

Linguistic relativity

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Correct answer:

The Stanford Prison Experiment

Explanation:

Philip Zimbardo is a psychologist most famous for the “Stanford Prison Experiment” in which a group of male subjects were randomly assigned to be either prison guards or inmates. The study found that after only a few days, the prison guards were sadistic and the inmates desolate, indicating how strongly people respond to situational factors.

Carl Rogers was a humanistic psychologist who is most famous for the development of client-centered therapy, a type of therapy that involves clients trying to reach self-realization themselves (rather than being told answers by the therapists) and the therapist treating the client with unconditional positive regard.

William Wundt was a psychologist who is considered by some to be the father of psychology because he started to separate psychology from philosophy by showing that psychology, like other branches of science, can use the experimental method to get empirical results. Wundt also focused his research on introspection and structuralism, which is the study of the different components of the mind.

Noam Chomsky is a cognitive psychologist and linguist who is most famous for his nativist theory of language. This theory rests on a critique of Skinner’s idea that language is learned through conditioning and instead suggests that children are born with a language acquisition device that allows them to learn language from birth.

Benjamin Lee Whorf is a cognitive linguist who is most famous for his idea that the language you speak affects the way that you view and think about the world, otherwise known as linguistic relativity or the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

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