AP PSYCH 500 EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026/2027
1. Jill wants to study the process of thinking. Which field of psychology should she choose?
(A) Cognitive
(B) Social
(C) Personality
(D) Learning
(E) Perception - Answers 1. (A) Cognitive psychology is the study of how we process, store, and
retrieve informa- tion. Choices (B) and (C) are devoted to studying the way people relate to
others and the unique attributes of a person; neither field focuses on one's thought process. (D)
deals with long-lasting changes in behavior, usually through experience. (E) is the experience of
a meaningful pattern of a stimulus.
2. I believe people choose to live meaningful lives. I share many of the same beliefs as Carl
Rogers. Most important, I believe many people have the ability to reach self-actualization. Who
am I?
(A) Wertheimer
(B) Skinner
(C) Maslow
(D) Terman
(E) Seligman - Answers 2. (C) Abraham Maslow is a humanist. The humanist approach
emphasizes that each indi- vidual has free will to determine his or her own future. Self-
actualization is an inherent tendency to reach our true potential.
3. Of the following, who is associated with the Gestalt school of psychology?
(A) John Watson
(B) William James
(C) Ivan Pavlov
(D) Max Wertheimer
(E) Sigmund Freud - Answers 3. (D) Wertheimer, along with Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka,
studied the illusion of flashing lights and the perception of movement. Wertheimer argued that
perceptual expe- riences, such as flashing lights, resulted from a "whole pattern" or, in German,
"Gestalt."
,4. Which of the following psychologists wrote The Principles of Psychology?
(A) William James
(B) Wilhelm Wundt
(C) John Watson
(D) Sigmund Freud
(E) Max Wertheimer - Answers 4. (A) William James wrote the Principles of Psychology,
published in 1890. This book included the study of the mind, sensation, memory, and reasoning.
James is associated with functionalism. Wundt is associated with structuralism. Watson is
associated with behavior- ism. Freud is associated with psychoanalysis. Wertheimer is
associated with Gestalt.
5. Psychology is considered a science mainly because it relies on direct observation. Which field
of psychology supports this?
(A) Behaviorism
(B) Psychodynamic psychology
(C) Social psychology
(D) Cognitive psychology
(E) Structuralism - Answers 5. (A) John Watson published a paper called "Psychology as a
Behaviorist Views It." Wat- son rejected the notion that introspection can be used as a technique
to determine the behavior of human beings. Watson believed psychology needed to be an
objective experi- mental science. Unlike choices (B), (C), (D), and (E), behaviorism was the first
field to study psychology in an observable and measurable manner.
6. Which of the following best defines eclectic psychology?
(A) The study of animal instinct
(B) The study of child development
(C) The study of abnormal behavior
(D) The study of a variety of theories with in the field
(E) The study of the human brain and central nervous system - Answers 6. (D) The definition of
the eclectic approach is a combination of techniques and ideas from many different schools of
thought in psychology.
7. Psychoanalytic psychology focuses mainly on:
,(A) Rewards and punishments
(B) Self-esteem and self-actualization
(C) Biology and genetics
(D) Internalconflictandunconsciousdesires
(E) Sensation and perception - Answers 7. (D) The psychoanalytic approach focuses on the idea
that each of us has an unconscious that contains thoughts, desires, and fears that have been
hidden or repressed because they threaten our conscious self. (A), rewards and punishments, is
based on behaviorism. (B), self-esteem and self-actualization, is based on humanism.
8. One major criticism of Ivan Pavlov's concept of classical conditioning was that:
(A) It did not take into account voluntary human behavior.
(B) It was unethical to use dogs in a psychology experiment.
(C) It did not take into account involuntary behavior.
(D) The findings over lapped with other fields of psychology.
(E) It did not relate to human behavior. - Answers 8. (A) In Pavlov's experiment in which he rang
a bell before putting food in the dogs' mouths, the dogs eventually paired the bell with salivating,
even when the food was not present. This phenomenon, which Pavlov called conditioned reflex,
eventually became known as classical conditioning. Because this theory was based on
involuntary reflexes and many psychologists believe human behavior is based on voluntary
choices, they criticized classical conditioning, claiming it could not help us further understand
human behavior. This explanation negates choice (C). (D) and (E) are irrelevant to this question.
9. Which of the following psychologists was a structuralist?
(A) John Watson
(B) Wilhelm Wundt
(C) William James
(D) MaxWertheimer
(E) Sigmund Freud - Answers 9. (B) Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological
laboratory in 1879. Structuralism
is the study of the most basic elements in our conscious minds. John Watson was a behaviorist.
William James studied functionalism. Max Wertheimer studied Gestalt. Sigmund
, Freud studied psychoanalysis.
10. The use of rewards, punishments, and positive reinforcement is an example
of which field of psychology?
(A) Personality
(B) Behavioral
(C) Social
(D) Cognitive
(E) Psychoanalytic - Answers 10. (B) The behavioral approach analyzes how organisms learn or
modify behavior based on rewards and punishments in the environment. The other choices do
not specifically focus on reinforcements in one's environment.
11. "Give me a dozen healthy infants and my own special world to bring them up in, and I'll
guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist, . . . lawyer,
doctor . . ." What psychological approach would support this statement?
(A) Cognitive
(B) Structural
(C) Functional
(D) Behavioral
(E) Psychoanalytic - Answers 11. (D) The behavioral approach emphasizes the objective,
scientific analysis of observ- able behavior. This includes conditioning human behavior. Choice
(A) focuses on an indi- vidual's thought process or perception. Choices (B) and (C) were both
schools of thought that focused on introspection. Psychoanalysis emphasized the strength of
the unconscious.
12. Who was considered the father of psychology?
(A) James
(B) Wundt
(C) Wertheimer
(D) Freud
(E) Kohler - Answers 12. (B) Wilhelm Wundt is considered the father of psychology. Wundt
established the fi rst
1. Jill wants to study the process of thinking. Which field of psychology should she choose?
(A) Cognitive
(B) Social
(C) Personality
(D) Learning
(E) Perception - Answers 1. (A) Cognitive psychology is the study of how we process, store, and
retrieve informa- tion. Choices (B) and (C) are devoted to studying the way people relate to
others and the unique attributes of a person; neither field focuses on one's thought process. (D)
deals with long-lasting changes in behavior, usually through experience. (E) is the experience of
a meaningful pattern of a stimulus.
2. I believe people choose to live meaningful lives. I share many of the same beliefs as Carl
Rogers. Most important, I believe many people have the ability to reach self-actualization. Who
am I?
(A) Wertheimer
(B) Skinner
(C) Maslow
(D) Terman
(E) Seligman - Answers 2. (C) Abraham Maslow is a humanist. The humanist approach
emphasizes that each indi- vidual has free will to determine his or her own future. Self-
actualization is an inherent tendency to reach our true potential.
3. Of the following, who is associated with the Gestalt school of psychology?
(A) John Watson
(B) William James
(C) Ivan Pavlov
(D) Max Wertheimer
(E) Sigmund Freud - Answers 3. (D) Wertheimer, along with Wolfgang Kohler and Kurt Koffka,
studied the illusion of flashing lights and the perception of movement. Wertheimer argued that
perceptual expe- riences, such as flashing lights, resulted from a "whole pattern" or, in German,
"Gestalt."
,4. Which of the following psychologists wrote The Principles of Psychology?
(A) William James
(B) Wilhelm Wundt
(C) John Watson
(D) Sigmund Freud
(E) Max Wertheimer - Answers 4. (A) William James wrote the Principles of Psychology,
published in 1890. This book included the study of the mind, sensation, memory, and reasoning.
James is associated with functionalism. Wundt is associated with structuralism. Watson is
associated with behavior- ism. Freud is associated with psychoanalysis. Wertheimer is
associated with Gestalt.
5. Psychology is considered a science mainly because it relies on direct observation. Which field
of psychology supports this?
(A) Behaviorism
(B) Psychodynamic psychology
(C) Social psychology
(D) Cognitive psychology
(E) Structuralism - Answers 5. (A) John Watson published a paper called "Psychology as a
Behaviorist Views It." Wat- son rejected the notion that introspection can be used as a technique
to determine the behavior of human beings. Watson believed psychology needed to be an
objective experi- mental science. Unlike choices (B), (C), (D), and (E), behaviorism was the first
field to study psychology in an observable and measurable manner.
6. Which of the following best defines eclectic psychology?
(A) The study of animal instinct
(B) The study of child development
(C) The study of abnormal behavior
(D) The study of a variety of theories with in the field
(E) The study of the human brain and central nervous system - Answers 6. (D) The definition of
the eclectic approach is a combination of techniques and ideas from many different schools of
thought in psychology.
7. Psychoanalytic psychology focuses mainly on:
,(A) Rewards and punishments
(B) Self-esteem and self-actualization
(C) Biology and genetics
(D) Internalconflictandunconsciousdesires
(E) Sensation and perception - Answers 7. (D) The psychoanalytic approach focuses on the idea
that each of us has an unconscious that contains thoughts, desires, and fears that have been
hidden or repressed because they threaten our conscious self. (A), rewards and punishments, is
based on behaviorism. (B), self-esteem and self-actualization, is based on humanism.
8. One major criticism of Ivan Pavlov's concept of classical conditioning was that:
(A) It did not take into account voluntary human behavior.
(B) It was unethical to use dogs in a psychology experiment.
(C) It did not take into account involuntary behavior.
(D) The findings over lapped with other fields of psychology.
(E) It did not relate to human behavior. - Answers 8. (A) In Pavlov's experiment in which he rang
a bell before putting food in the dogs' mouths, the dogs eventually paired the bell with salivating,
even when the food was not present. This phenomenon, which Pavlov called conditioned reflex,
eventually became known as classical conditioning. Because this theory was based on
involuntary reflexes and many psychologists believe human behavior is based on voluntary
choices, they criticized classical conditioning, claiming it could not help us further understand
human behavior. This explanation negates choice (C). (D) and (E) are irrelevant to this question.
9. Which of the following psychologists was a structuralist?
(A) John Watson
(B) Wilhelm Wundt
(C) William James
(D) MaxWertheimer
(E) Sigmund Freud - Answers 9. (B) Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological
laboratory in 1879. Structuralism
is the study of the most basic elements in our conscious minds. John Watson was a behaviorist.
William James studied functionalism. Max Wertheimer studied Gestalt. Sigmund
, Freud studied psychoanalysis.
10. The use of rewards, punishments, and positive reinforcement is an example
of which field of psychology?
(A) Personality
(B) Behavioral
(C) Social
(D) Cognitive
(E) Psychoanalytic - Answers 10. (B) The behavioral approach analyzes how organisms learn or
modify behavior based on rewards and punishments in the environment. The other choices do
not specifically focus on reinforcements in one's environment.
11. "Give me a dozen healthy infants and my own special world to bring them up in, and I'll
guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist, . . . lawyer,
doctor . . ." What psychological approach would support this statement?
(A) Cognitive
(B) Structural
(C) Functional
(D) Behavioral
(E) Psychoanalytic - Answers 11. (D) The behavioral approach emphasizes the objective,
scientific analysis of observ- able behavior. This includes conditioning human behavior. Choice
(A) focuses on an indi- vidual's thought process or perception. Choices (B) and (C) were both
schools of thought that focused on introspection. Psychoanalysis emphasized the strength of
the unconscious.
12. Who was considered the father of psychology?
(A) James
(B) Wundt
(C) Wertheimer
(D) Freud
(E) Kohler - Answers 12. (B) Wilhelm Wundt is considered the father of psychology. Wundt
established the fi rst
