AP Psych 2.8c Reading Questions, 2025-26

Your school district wants to assess whether their new early childhood program is effectively boosting student intelligence. Using concepts from the reading, design a study that would provide meaningful results.

• a. Explain why cross-sectional studies would be inadequate for this purpose, referencing the research discussed in the reading.

• b. Describe what type of study design would be most appropriate and justify your choice using evidence from Deary's Scottish studies.

• c. Predict two specific challenges the district might face in conducting this research and how the concept of stability of intelligence scores relates to interpreting their results.

Consider your own family members across different generations and analyze how crystallized vs. fluid intelligence might manifest in their daily lives.

• a. Define crystallized intelligence (Gc) and fluid intelligence (Gf) using the reading's explanations.

• b. Provide one specific example of how an older family member demonstrates high crystallized intelligence and one example of how a younger family member demonstrates high fluid intelligence.

• c. Analyze why understanding this distinction is important for reducing age-based stereotypes in workplaces or schools, referencing the "mandatory retirement" example from the text.

The reading presents seemingly contradictory information about environmental influences on intelligence. Reconcile these apparent contradictions using specific evidence.

• a. Identify one finding that suggests environment has minimal impact on intelligence and one that suggests it has significant impact.

• b. Explain how the concept of heritability helps resolve this apparent contradiction, using the Mark Twain "barrel" example to support your reasoning.

• c. Synthesize this information to argue whether parents should invest heavily in "enrichment" activities for their young children, supporting your position with evidence from multiple studies mentioned in the reading.

The reading describes how Deary's discovery of the 1932 Scottish test results "changed lives" and led to groundbreaking research on intelligence stability.

• a. Explain what made this dataset so scientifically valuable, defining the term "cohort" and "longitudinal study" from the reading.

• b. Describe two specific findings that emerged from this research and explain why these findings were significant enough to challenge previous assumptions about aging and intelligence.

• c. Analyze how this research demonstrates psychology's "self-correcting process" mentioned in the reading, connecting it to the shift from cross-sectional to longitudinal research methods.

Carol Dweck's growth mindset research suggests that beliefs about intelligence can influence academic performance, but the reading also warns against overstating these benefits.

• a. Define "growth mindset" and "fixed mindset" according to the reading, and explain how they differ in their view of intelligence.

• b. Evaluate the evidence presented for growth mindset interventions, including both the benefits (citing specific studies) and the potential downsides mentioned.

• c. Argue whether schools should implement growth mindset programs, considering both the research evidence and the warning about "blaming struggling individuals for their circumstances."

Imagine two different societies: one with extreme economic inequality and another with relatively equal opportunities and resources for all citizens.

• a. Define "heritability" as explained in the reading, emphasizing what it does and does not tell us about individual intelligence.

• b. Predict how the heritability of intelligence would differ between these two societies, using the principles explained in the Mark Twain example and environmental uniformity discussion.

• c. Explain what this analysis reveals about the relationship between social policy and our understanding of genetic vs. environmental influences on intelligence.

Using the reading's discussion of gene-environment interactions, predict how intelligence might develop differently in two identical twins separated at birth and raised in vastly different environments.

• a. Explain what "gene-environment interactions" means according to the reading, using the dance/academic aptitude examples provided.

• b. Predict specific ways that one twin raised in an enriched environment and another raised in a deprived environment (like Hunt's Iranian orphanage) might develop differently, referencing both the Romanian orphan studies and the adoption research.

• c. Analyze why the twin raised in the enriched environment might not necessarily become a "genius," integrating the reading's discussion of normal vs. extreme environmental conditions and Sandra Scarr's conclusions.

The reading reveals that higher intelligence at age 11 predicts not only academic success but also health and longevity. Analyze the societal implications of this finding.

• a. Summarize Deary's four proposed explanations for the intelligence-health link, demonstrating your understanding of each mechanism.

• b. Evaluate which of these explanations might be most important for public policy, considering both individual and societal factors mentioned in the reading.

• c. Argue whether society should use intelligence test scores to guide resource allocation (such as educational funding or healthcare interventions), considering both the predictive power of intelligence and the ethical implications of such decisions.