AP Psych 3.4 Reading Questions, 2025-26

You're babysitting your 18-month-old cousin who becomes upset when you hide her favorite stuffed animal under a blanket, acting as if it no longer exists. Using Piaget's theory, explain what cognitive milestone she hasn't yet achieved and how this affects her daily experiences.

• Define object permanence and identify which of Piaget's stages this relates to.

• Describe two other behaviors you might observe in a child this age that demonstrate the same developmental limitation.

• Explain how achieving this milestone will change how she interacts with her environment in the coming months.

Compare how Piaget and Vygotsky would differently explain why a 4-year-old struggles to tie her shoes but can do it successfully when her older brother guides her through each step.

• Identify the key concept from Vygotsky's theory that explains this scenario and define it using the reading.

• Describe how Piaget would interpret this same situation, focusing on the child's developmental stage.

• Analyze which theoretical perspective better explains how learning occurs in social contexts and justify your reasoning.

Your 5-year-old neighbor insists that when you pour his juice from a short, wide cup into a tall, narrow glass, he now has "more juice" and refuses to drink it because "it's too much." Analyze this behavior using Piaget's theory.

• Define conservation and explain why children at this developmental stage struggle with this concept.

• Describe what specific cognitive operations this child cannot yet perform that lead to this misunderstanding.

• Predict what will change in his thinking when he reaches the concrete operational stage that will resolve this issue.

Evaluate why understanding theory of mind development is crucial for teachers working with preschool children, using evidence from the reading about false belief tasks.

• Define theory of mind and explain what the "false belief task" reveals about children's cognitive development.

• Provide two specific examples of classroom situations where a child's underdeveloped theory of mind might create challenges.

• Judge whether early intervention programs should focus on developing theory of mind skills, supporting your position with evidence from the reading about social outcomes.

Create a scenario where you could distinguish between a child in the preoperational stage versus one in the concrete operational stage, focusing on their approach to solving a practical problem.

• Identify three key cognitive abilities that differentiate these two stages according to Piaget.

• Design a simple problem-solving task that would reveal which stage a child has reached, explaining your reasoning.

• Predict how a child in each stage would approach your task differently, demonstrating their distinct thinking patterns.

The reading states that "today's researchers see development as more continuous than Piaget did." Analyze what this means for our understanding of children's cognitive abilities.

• Define what Piaget meant by "discontinuous development" using his stage theory.

• Explain three pieces of evidence from modern research (like "baby math" or early symbolic thinking) that challenge Piaget's timeline.

• Evaluate whether this research invalidates Piaget's contributions or simply refines them, justifying your conclusion.

Using Haidt's concept of moral intuition, analyze why teenagers might make different moral decisions than adults when facing the same ethical dilemma.

• Define moral intuition and explain how it differs from moral reasoning according to the reading.

• Describe how adolescent brain development and the "personal fable" might influence their moral decision-making.

• Apply this understanding to explain why character education programs that focus on "the whole moral package" might be more effective than programs focusing only on moral reasoning.

Design an educational program for older adults based on what the reading reveals about age-related memory changes, incorporating both the challenges and strengths of aging cognition.

• Identify which types of memory decline with age versus those that remain strong, using specific examples from the research.

• Explain why meaningful information is better retained than meaningless information in older adults, connecting this to their "rich web of existing knowledge."

• Create three specific strategies your program would use to maximize learning while accommodating age-related cognitive changes, justifying each choice with evidence from the reading.