AP Psychology UNIT 6 Practice Test 2025 (Developmental Psychology)

Last Updated on March 25, 2025

AP Psychology UNIT 6 Practice Test 2025 (Developmental Psychology): The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) exam Psychology UNIT 6 (Developmental Psychology) Questions and Answers. Try our free AP Psychology review practice test for free.

Developmental psychology studies physical, intellectual, social, and moral changes across the lifespan from conception to death. Developmental psychologists attempt to describe, explain, and predict age-related behaviors.

In a way, developmental psychology is the most comprehensive topic psychologists attempt to research. Developmental psychologists study how our behaviors and thoughts change throughout our lives, from birth to death (or conception to cremation).

UNIT 5 (Developmental Psychology): TOPICS

6.1 The Lifespan and Physical Development in Childhood
6.2 Social Development in Childhood
6.3 Cognitive Development in Childhood
6.4 Adolescent Development
6.5 Adulthood and Aging
6.6 Moral Development
6.7 Gender and Sexual Orientation

AP Psychology UNIT 6 Practice Test 2025

Test Name	Advanced Placement Exam
Subject	AP Psychology Practice Test 2025
Unit 6	Developmental Psychology
Section 1	Multiple Choice Question
Total Items	30 Sample MCQs
Time Limit	35 Minutes
AP EXAM WEIGHTING	13–17%

Start Sample Tests

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AP Psychology UNIT 6 Practice Test

AP Psychology Practice Test
UNIT 6: Developmental Psychology
Total MCQs: 30
Time Limit: 35 Minutes

1 / 30

According to Kohlberg’s theory, postconventional morality requires thinking at Piaget’s

(A) sensorimotor level

(B) preoperational level

(D) formal operational level

(E) universal principle level

2 / 30

Which of the following theories best exemplifies continuity?

(A) Erikson’s psychosocial theory

(B) Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

(D) Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

(E) Gilligan’s theory of moral development

3 / 30

According to social learning theory, gender identity is

I. a process which occurs when young children unconsciously identify with the same-sex parent
II. a result of being positively reinforced for acting in ways that conform to male and female roles
III. learned through observing and imitating role models like their parents

(A) I only

(B) II only

(D) II and III only

(E) I, II, and III

4 / 30

A child was born with widely spaced eyes, a thin upper lip, and a short, flat nose. Chances are that he will later suffer from intellectual disability. To which teratogen was this child most likely exposed during the prenatal period?

(A) tobacco

(B) German measles

(D) alcohol

(E) cocaine

5 / 30

According to Diana Baumrind, which of the following parental styles results in the most socially competent and responsible adults?

(A) authoritarian

(B) authoritative

(D) permissive

(E) indulgent

6 / 30

Harlow’s experiment with rhesus monkeys and surrogate mothers emphasized the importance of

(A) contact comfort

(B) feeding

(D) incentive theory

(E) gender schema

7 / 30

Which of the following is a similarity between the cognitive developmental theory of Piaget and the moral developmental theory of Kohlberg?

(A) Both theories stress the importance of changes in thinking in their stages.

(B) Both believe personality is formed in the first 5 years.

(D) Both developed a life span theory and had eight stages.

(E) Both believe that libido fixated in childhood cannot be changed.

8 / 30

A critical period is a stage in development when

(A) specific stimuli have a major effect on development that they do not produce at other times

(B) children are resistant to any kind of discipline by their parents

(D) bonding between the child and parent first takes place

(E) the child first enters elementary school and needs positive reinforcement

9 / 30

Mr. Hernandez explains to his son that the speed limit is 55 mph. He tells him to stay under the speed limit when driving because it’s the law and will probably prevent accidents. Kohlberg’s level of morality illustrated by this example is

(A) preconventional

(B) concrete operational

(D) egocentric

(E) postconventional

10 / 30

Dorothy just celebrated her 90th birthday with her close friends, and is excited about a visit from her grandchildren. According to Erikson, she has probably most recently achieved

(A) isolation

(B) integrity

(D) autonomy

(E) industry

11 / 30

The rooting reflex is a neonate’s tendency to

(A) open its mouth and turn its head when touched on the cheek

(B) throw out its arms and legs and quickly retract them when startled

(D) look longer at round shapes that look like faces than square shapes that do not

(E) grasp nearby objects

12 / 30

Object permanence is

(A) the belief that all objects have life just like humans do

(B) the idea that gender does not change by putting on the clothes of the opposite sex

(D) a belief that all objects in the world, including mountains and streams, are made by people

(E) the understanding that things continue to exist even when they are out of sight

13 / 30

Researchers were interested in studying the effects of divorce on children. Their study included 250 4-year-olds. Interviews and family observations were conducted 6 months, 2 years, 5 years, and 10 years after the initial interviews and observations. Which method did the researcher use?

(A) cohort sequential

(B) cross-sectional

(D) experimental

(E) quasi-experimental

14 / 30

In the nature versus nurture controversy, “nature” refers to

(A) heredity

(B) plants and animals

(D) constituents of the problem

(E) the environment

15 / 30

What is the response pattern of securely attached children in the strange situation when their mothers return?

(A) They tend to ignore their mothers because they are secure about her care.

(B) Sometimes they run over to their mothers and sometimes they do not; there’s no consistent pattern in their responses.

(D) They tend to go to their mothers for comfort.

(E) They hit their mothers.

16 / 30

Which of the following is the correct term for a mental rule Piaget said we use to interpret our environment?

(A) schema

(B) syllogism

(D) accommodation

(E) hypothesis

17 / 30

Which of the following attachment styles did Mary Ainsworth find most often in her research (in about 66 percent of the cases she studied)?

(A) avoidant

(B) authoritarian

(D) anxious/ambivalent

(E) authoritative

18 / 30

The ability to generate several alternate hypotheses in order to explain a phenomenon demonstrates cognition in which of the following Piagetian stages?

(A) operational

(B) hypothetical-operations

(D) formal-operations

(E) abstract reasoning

19 / 30

According to Erikson’s theory, adolescents are most primarily concerned in a search for

(A) career.

(B) identity.

(D) autonomy.

(E) archetypes.

20 / 30

In which stage of cognitive development do infants learn object permanence?

(A) preoperational

(B) formal-operations

(D) sensorimotor

(E) conventional

21 / 30

You have a cousin named Holden who flunked out of three expensive private schools and was arrested for wandering the streets of New York using his parents’ credit card. Holden is intelligent but cannot seem to get motivated toward any career. What conflict would Erikson say Holden is struggling with?

(A) autonomy versus authority

(B) identity versus role confusion

(D) industry versus inferiority

(E) trust versus isolation

22 / 30

A major difference between the psychoanalytic stage theories (Freud and Erikson) and the more cognitive or experiential stage theories (Piaget and Kohlberg) is

(A) the psychoanalytic theories are less empirical.

(B) the psychoanalytic theories were based exclusively on data from children with developmental disorders.

(D) only the psychoanalytic theories take parental effects into account.

(E) the psychoanalytic theories are continuous, the others are discontinuous.

23 / 30

According to research, the most advantageous parenting style for children’s development is

(A) authoritarian, because children learn boundaries quickly and appreciate consistency.

(B) permissive, because young children need to explore the environment more than they need guidelines for behavior.

(D) securely attached, because children are confident parents will meet their needs.

(E) authoritative, because children have boundaries that are reasonable and justified

24 / 30

Harlow’s experiments with substitute mothers made of wire demonstrated the importance of what aspect of nurturing?

(A) feeding

(B) responsiveness to needs

(D) touch

(E) stranger anxiety

25 / 30

A principal difference between a longitudinal study and a cross-sectional study is the

(A) number of participants involved.

(B) developmental stage of the participants.

(D) statistical methods employed to evaluate the data.

(E) sampling method used to choose participants.

26 / 30

Parental involvement can have dramatic effects on all the following human traits except

(A) intelligence.

(B) reading ability.

(D) motor development.

(E) emotional development.

27 / 30

Most prenatal influences on humans are genetic or hormonal in origin except for

(A) teratogens.

(B) stress on the mother.

(D) family history of mental illness.

(E) operant conditioning occurring before birth.

28 / 30

Which of the following statements is most true about how a newborn’s senses function?

(A) A newborn’s senses function the same as an adult’s since the sensory apparatus develops in the womb.

(B) All of our senses function normally when we are newborns except taste due to lack of stimulation in the womb.

(D) A newborn’s senses function at a very low level but develop very quickly with experience.

(E) Most senses function normally, but sight develops slowly with experience

29 / 30

You read in your philosophy class textbook that humans are born “tabula rasa” or “blank slates.” As a student of psychology, which of the following responses would you have?

(A) The statement is incorrect. Humans may be born without reflexes and instincts, but we are born with the ability to learn them.

(B) The statement is correct. Humans are born without instincts or other mechanisms in place to help us survive.

(D) The statement is incorrect. Humans are born with a set of reflexes that help us survive.

(E) The statement is impossible to prove since we cannot infer what babies know or do not know due to their lack of language.

30 / 30

Some researchers consider developmental psychology an applied research topic because

(A) it is more easily applied to people’s lives than research such as behaviorism

(B) researchers apply findings and theories from other areas of psychology to the specific topic of human development.

(C) it is more commonly studied by a graduate student rather than an undergraduate because of the applications for other research.

(D) doing original research in this area is difficult, so most of the research is about application.

(E) pure research is difficult to gain support for, especially when a researcher needs to recruit children as participants.

Your score is

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