CPCE Practice Questions – Latest 2025/2026
Exam Prep & Study Guide
Freud's stages are psychosexual while Erik Erikson's stages are...
A) Psychometric
B) Psychodiagnostic
C) Psychopharmacological
D) Psychosocial - correct answerD) Psychosocial
In Freud's psychodynamic theory instincts are emphasized. Erik Erikson is an ego
psychologist. Ego psychologists...
A) Emphasize the id processes
B) Refute the concept of the superego
C) Believe in man's powers of reasoning to control behavior
D) Are sometimes known as radical behaviorists - correct answerC) Believe in man's
powers of reasoning to control behavior
The only psychoanalyst who created a developmental theory which encompasses the
entire life span was...
A) Erik Erikson
B) Milton H. Erickson
C) A.A. Brill
D) Jean Piaget, who created the four stage theory - correct answerA) Erik Erikson
Has 8 stages representing a psychosocial crisis/turning point. Final stage does not
begin until age 60
The statement, "the ego is dependent on the id," would most likely reflect the work of...
A) Erik Erikson
B) Sigmund Freud, who created the psychodynamic theory
C) Jay Haley
D) Arnold Lazarus, William Perry and Robert Kegan - correct answerB) Sigmund Freud
(In Freudian theory, the id=the pleasure principle. Erikson emphasizes the power of
control. Haley is known for strategic and problem-solving therapy. Lazaras is pioneer in
behavior therapy.
Robert Perry - correct answer-Known for ideas related to adult cognitive development
-Stresses dualistic thinking (conceptualize things as good or bad and right or wrong)
-Enter adulthood and move into relativistic thinking (ability to perceive that not
everything is right or wrong)
Jean Piaget's idiographic approach created his theory with four stages. The correct
order from stage 1 to stage 4 is....
A) formal operations, concrete operations, preoperations, sensorimotor
,B) Formal operations, preoperations, concrete operations, sensorimotor
C) Sensorimotor, preoperations, concrete operations, formal operations
D) Concrete operations, sensorimotor, preoperations, formal operations - correct
answerC) Sensorimotor, preoperations, concrete operations, formal operations
Ideographics - correct answerExamine individuals (not groups) in depth
Some behavioral scientists have been critical of Jean Piaget's developmental research
inasmuch as...
A) he utilized the t test too requently
B) He failed to check for Type 1 or alpha errors
C) He worked primarily with minority children
D) His findings were often derived from observing his own children - correct answerD)
His findings were often derived from observing his own children
A tall skinny pitcher of water is emptied into a small squatty pitcher. A child indicates
that she feels the small pitcher has less water. The child has not yet mastered...
A) Symbolic schema
B) Conservation
C) Androgynous psychosocial issues
D) Trust vs. mistrust - correct answerB) Conservation
(The notion that a substance's weight, mass and volume remain the same event if it
changes shape. Child masters conservation at concrete operational stage (7-11 years
old)
In Piagetian literature, conservation would most likely refer to...
A) Volume or mass
B) Defenses of the ego
C) The sensorimotor intelligence stage
D) A specific psychosexual stage of life - correct answerA) Volume or mass
A child masters conservation in the Piatetian stage known as..
A) Formal operations (12+)
B) Concrete operations (7-11)
C) Preoperations (2-7)
D) Sensorimotor (birth-2) - correct answerB) Concrete operations (7-11)
(Conservation and Concrete both begin with "c")
________ expanded on Piaget's conceptualization of moral development...
A) Erik Erikson
B) Lev Vygotsky
C) Lawrence Kohlberg
D) John B. Watson - correct answerC) Kohlberg
(Vygotsky said stages unfold due to educational intervention) (Kohlberg's theory of
moral development)
,According to Jean Piaget, a child masters the concept of reversibility in the third stage,
known as concrete operations or concrete operational thought. This notion suggests...
A) The heavier objects are more difficult for a child to lift
B) The child is ambidextrous
C) The child is more cognizant of mass than weight
D) One can undo an action, hence an object (glass of water) can return to its initial
shape) - correct answerD) One can undo an action, hence an object can return to its
initial shape
During a thunderstorm, a 6-year old in Piaget's stage of preoperational thought (stage 2)
says, "The rain is following me." This is an example of...
A) Egocentrism
B) Conservation
C) Centration
D) Abstract thought - correct answerA) Egocentrism
(Child can't view the world from the vantage point of someone else)
Lawrence Kohlberg suggested...
A) A single level of morality
B) Two levels of morality
C) Three levels of morality
D) Preoperational thought as the basis for all morality - correct answerC) Three levels of
morality
(Preconventional, conventional and postconventional)
The Heinz dilemma is to Kohberg's theory as
A) a brick is to a house
B) Freud is to Jung
C) The menninger Clinic is to biofeedback
D) A typing test is to the level of typing skill mastered - correct answerD) A typing test is
to the level of typing skill mastered
(Heinz dilemma used to assess moral development)
The term 'identity crisis' comes from the work of...
A) Counselors who stress RS involvement issues with clients
B) Erikson
C) Adler
D) Jung - correct answerB) Erikson
(RS=religious and spiritual)
(Erikson's stages were defined by crisis)
Kohlber's three levels of morality are...
A) Preconventional, conventional, postconventional
B) Formal, preformal, self-accepted
C) self-accepted, other directed, authority directed
, D) Preconventional, formal, authority directed - correct answerA) Preconventional,
conventional, postconventional
(Preconventional:child responds to consequences, conventional: individual wants to
meet standards. Postconventional: concerned with universal, ethical principles)
Trust vs. mistrust is...
A) An Adlerian notion of morality
B) Erikson's first stage of psychosocial development
C) essentially equivalent to Piaget's concept of egocentrism
D)The basis of morality according to Kohlberg - correct answerB) Erikson's first stage of
psychosocial development
A person who has successfully mastered Erikson's first seven stages would be ready to
enter Erikson's final or eighth stage...
A) Generativity vs. Stagnation
B) Initiative vs. Guilt
C) Identity crisis
D) integrity vs. Despair - correct answerD) Integrity vs. Despair
In Kohlber's first or preconventional level, the individual's moral behavior is guided by...
A) psychosexual urges
B) Consequences
C) periodic fugue states
D) Counterconditioning - correct answerB) Consequences
Kohlberg's second level of morality is known as conventional morality. This level is
characterized by...
A) Psychosexual urges
B) A desire to live up to society's expectations
C) A desire to confrom
D) B and C - correct answerD) B and C
Kohlber's highest level of morality is termed "postconventional morality'. Here the
individual...
A) must truly contend with psychosexual urges
B) has the so-called "good boy/good girl" orientation
C) has self-imposed morals and ethics
D) a and b - correct answerC) has self-imposed morals and ethics
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, level 3, which is postconventional or self-accepted
moral principles...
A) Refers to the naive hedonism stage
B) Operates on the premise that rewards guide morals
C) a and b
D) is the highest level of morality. However, some people never reach this level - correct
answerD) is the highest level of morality. However, some people never reach this level
Exam Prep & Study Guide
Freud's stages are psychosexual while Erik Erikson's stages are...
A) Psychometric
B) Psychodiagnostic
C) Psychopharmacological
D) Psychosocial - correct answerD) Psychosocial
In Freud's psychodynamic theory instincts are emphasized. Erik Erikson is an ego
psychologist. Ego psychologists...
A) Emphasize the id processes
B) Refute the concept of the superego
C) Believe in man's powers of reasoning to control behavior
D) Are sometimes known as radical behaviorists - correct answerC) Believe in man's
powers of reasoning to control behavior
The only psychoanalyst who created a developmental theory which encompasses the
entire life span was...
A) Erik Erikson
B) Milton H. Erickson
C) A.A. Brill
D) Jean Piaget, who created the four stage theory - correct answerA) Erik Erikson
Has 8 stages representing a psychosocial crisis/turning point. Final stage does not
begin until age 60
The statement, "the ego is dependent on the id," would most likely reflect the work of...
A) Erik Erikson
B) Sigmund Freud, who created the psychodynamic theory
C) Jay Haley
D) Arnold Lazarus, William Perry and Robert Kegan - correct answerB) Sigmund Freud
(In Freudian theory, the id=the pleasure principle. Erikson emphasizes the power of
control. Haley is known for strategic and problem-solving therapy. Lazaras is pioneer in
behavior therapy.
Robert Perry - correct answer-Known for ideas related to adult cognitive development
-Stresses dualistic thinking (conceptualize things as good or bad and right or wrong)
-Enter adulthood and move into relativistic thinking (ability to perceive that not
everything is right or wrong)
Jean Piaget's idiographic approach created his theory with four stages. The correct
order from stage 1 to stage 4 is....
A) formal operations, concrete operations, preoperations, sensorimotor
,B) Formal operations, preoperations, concrete operations, sensorimotor
C) Sensorimotor, preoperations, concrete operations, formal operations
D) Concrete operations, sensorimotor, preoperations, formal operations - correct
answerC) Sensorimotor, preoperations, concrete operations, formal operations
Ideographics - correct answerExamine individuals (not groups) in depth
Some behavioral scientists have been critical of Jean Piaget's developmental research
inasmuch as...
A) he utilized the t test too requently
B) He failed to check for Type 1 or alpha errors
C) He worked primarily with minority children
D) His findings were often derived from observing his own children - correct answerD)
His findings were often derived from observing his own children
A tall skinny pitcher of water is emptied into a small squatty pitcher. A child indicates
that she feels the small pitcher has less water. The child has not yet mastered...
A) Symbolic schema
B) Conservation
C) Androgynous psychosocial issues
D) Trust vs. mistrust - correct answerB) Conservation
(The notion that a substance's weight, mass and volume remain the same event if it
changes shape. Child masters conservation at concrete operational stage (7-11 years
old)
In Piagetian literature, conservation would most likely refer to...
A) Volume or mass
B) Defenses of the ego
C) The sensorimotor intelligence stage
D) A specific psychosexual stage of life - correct answerA) Volume or mass
A child masters conservation in the Piatetian stage known as..
A) Formal operations (12+)
B) Concrete operations (7-11)
C) Preoperations (2-7)
D) Sensorimotor (birth-2) - correct answerB) Concrete operations (7-11)
(Conservation and Concrete both begin with "c")
________ expanded on Piaget's conceptualization of moral development...
A) Erik Erikson
B) Lev Vygotsky
C) Lawrence Kohlberg
D) John B. Watson - correct answerC) Kohlberg
(Vygotsky said stages unfold due to educational intervention) (Kohlberg's theory of
moral development)
,According to Jean Piaget, a child masters the concept of reversibility in the third stage,
known as concrete operations or concrete operational thought. This notion suggests...
A) The heavier objects are more difficult for a child to lift
B) The child is ambidextrous
C) The child is more cognizant of mass than weight
D) One can undo an action, hence an object (glass of water) can return to its initial
shape) - correct answerD) One can undo an action, hence an object can return to its
initial shape
During a thunderstorm, a 6-year old in Piaget's stage of preoperational thought (stage 2)
says, "The rain is following me." This is an example of...
A) Egocentrism
B) Conservation
C) Centration
D) Abstract thought - correct answerA) Egocentrism
(Child can't view the world from the vantage point of someone else)
Lawrence Kohlberg suggested...
A) A single level of morality
B) Two levels of morality
C) Three levels of morality
D) Preoperational thought as the basis for all morality - correct answerC) Three levels of
morality
(Preconventional, conventional and postconventional)
The Heinz dilemma is to Kohberg's theory as
A) a brick is to a house
B) Freud is to Jung
C) The menninger Clinic is to biofeedback
D) A typing test is to the level of typing skill mastered - correct answerD) A typing test is
to the level of typing skill mastered
(Heinz dilemma used to assess moral development)
The term 'identity crisis' comes from the work of...
A) Counselors who stress RS involvement issues with clients
B) Erikson
C) Adler
D) Jung - correct answerB) Erikson
(RS=religious and spiritual)
(Erikson's stages were defined by crisis)
Kohlber's three levels of morality are...
A) Preconventional, conventional, postconventional
B) Formal, preformal, self-accepted
C) self-accepted, other directed, authority directed
, D) Preconventional, formal, authority directed - correct answerA) Preconventional,
conventional, postconventional
(Preconventional:child responds to consequences, conventional: individual wants to
meet standards. Postconventional: concerned with universal, ethical principles)
Trust vs. mistrust is...
A) An Adlerian notion of morality
B) Erikson's first stage of psychosocial development
C) essentially equivalent to Piaget's concept of egocentrism
D)The basis of morality according to Kohlberg - correct answerB) Erikson's first stage of
psychosocial development
A person who has successfully mastered Erikson's first seven stages would be ready to
enter Erikson's final or eighth stage...
A) Generativity vs. Stagnation
B) Initiative vs. Guilt
C) Identity crisis
D) integrity vs. Despair - correct answerD) Integrity vs. Despair
In Kohlber's first or preconventional level, the individual's moral behavior is guided by...
A) psychosexual urges
B) Consequences
C) periodic fugue states
D) Counterconditioning - correct answerB) Consequences
Kohlberg's second level of morality is known as conventional morality. This level is
characterized by...
A) Psychosexual urges
B) A desire to live up to society's expectations
C) A desire to confrom
D) B and C - correct answerD) B and C
Kohlber's highest level of morality is termed "postconventional morality'. Here the
individual...
A) must truly contend with psychosexual urges
B) has the so-called "good boy/good girl" orientation
C) has self-imposed morals and ethics
D) a and b - correct answerC) has self-imposed morals and ethics
According to Lawrence Kohlberg, level 3, which is postconventional or self-accepted
moral principles...
A) Refers to the naive hedonism stage
B) Operates on the premise that rewards guide morals
C) a and b
D) is the highest level of morality. However, some people never reach this level - correct
answerD) is the highest level of morality. However, some people never reach this level
