Free MCAT-style practice, 8A
MCAT Erikson, Freud, Kohlberg and Vygotsky Practice Questions
Ten free MCAT-style practice questions on Erikson's psychosocial stages, Freud's psychosexual stages, Kohlberg's moral reasoning, Vygotsky's ZPD and Mead's game stage, with full explanations.
Quick concept primer
Stage theories describe development as a sequence of qualitatively different periods. Erikson proposed eight psychosocial crises across the whole lifespan, from trust versus mistrust in infancy to integrity versus despair in late adulthood; each crisis is resolved well or poorly, and an earlier resolution shapes later ones (identity before intimacy, for example). Freud's psychosexual stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) end at puberty and explain adult traits through fixation, with the superego forming as the phallic stage is resolved.
Kohlberg scored the reasoning behind moral choices, not the choices themselves: preconventional (punishment, self-interest), conventional (approval, law and order) and postconventional (social contract, universal principles). Vygotsky stressed social learning: the zone of proximal development is the gap between what a learner does alone and with guidance, and scaffolding is support that fades. Mead described the self emerging through play (taking the role of significant others) and games (the generalized other).
Traps: in a Kohlberg item the same decision can sit at any level, so read the justification. Erikson covers the whole lifespan, Freud stops at puberty, and a large ZPD means a large gap between assisted and solo performance, not high solo ability.
10 practice questions
Question 1
A developmental psychologist interviews 30 adults aged 45 to 60. Participants who describe mentoring younger coworkers and coaching youth teams score highest on a life satisfaction measure, while those who say their work and family life will leave nothing lasting score lowest. In Erikson's theory, this contrast best reflects which psychosocial crisis?
- Integrity versus despair
- Intimacy versus isolation
- Generativity versus stagnation
- Industry versus inferiority
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Generativity versus stagnation
Generativity versus stagnation is Erikson's crisis of middle adulthood (roughly 40 to 65), centered on contributing to the next generation through parenting, mentoring and productive work. Integrity versus despair is the late-life review of a completed life, intimacy versus isolation is young adulthood, and industry versus inferiority belongs to school-age children.
Question 2
Researchers present adolescents with a dilemma: a pharmacy clerk can secretly give a neighbor a medication the neighbor cannot afford. Four participants give the answers below. Which answer would be scored at Kohlberg's postconventional level?
- "She should not, because she would be fired and might be arrested."
- "She should give it, because the neighbor would then owe her a favor."
- "She should not, because if everyone ignored property laws, society would fall apart."
- "She should give it, because a person's life matters more than a store's property, even if the law says otherwise."
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. "She should give it, because a person's life matters more than a store's property, even if the law says otherwise."
Postconventional reasoning appeals to principles that can stand above a specific law, such as the value of human life. Choice A reflects stage 1 (avoiding punishment), choice B reflects stage 2 (self-interest and exchange), and choice C reflects stage 4 (maintaining law and social order), which is conventional.
Question 3
In a classroom study, each child first places puzzle pieces alone for five minutes, then works on a matched puzzle for five minutes while an adult gives hints.
| Child | Pieces placed alone | Pieces placed with hints |
|---|---|---|
| W | 4 | 5 |
| X | 6 | 14 |
| Y | 12 | 13 |
| Z | 3 | 3 |
According to Vygotsky, which child shows the widest zone of proximal development for this task?
- Child W
- Child X
- Child Y
- Child Z
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Child X
The zone of proximal development is the difference between independent and assisted performance. Child X gains 8 pieces with hints (14 minus 6), compared with 1 for W, 1 for Y and 0 for Z. Child Y has the best solo score, but a high solo score is not the same as a wide ZPD.
Question 4
A 4-year-old boy announces that he will marry his mother and acts jealous of his father. Over the next year he begins copying his father's habits and talking about rules his father enforces. In Freud's theory, this resolution occurs in which stage, and which personality structure forms as a result?
- Anal stage; the ego
- Oral stage; the id
- Latency stage; the superego
- Phallic stage; the superego
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Phallic stage; the superego
Freud placed the Oedipus complex in the phallic stage (about ages 3 to 6). The boy resolves it by identifying with the same-sex parent, which internalizes parental standards and forms the superego. The id is present from birth, the ego develops in early childhood to mediate with reality, and latency is a later, relatively quiet period.
Question 5
All of the following are criticisms commonly raised against Kohlberg's theory of moral development EXCEPT:
- it explains moral growth mainly as the outcome of conflict between the id and the superego.
- his original research sample was made up of boys only.
- Gilligan argued it undervalues a care orientation centered on relationships.
- higher-stage moral reasoning does not reliably predict moral behavior.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. it explains moral growth mainly as the outcome of conflict between the id and the superego.
Kohlberg's model is cognitive: it ties moral reasoning to developing thinking abilities, not to id and superego conflict, which is Freud's framework. The other choices are standard critiques: the original longitudinal sample was male, Gilligan proposed a care perspective alongside justice, and knowing the right reasoning does not guarantee acting on it.
Question 6
A 7-year-old playing her first organized soccer match learns to anticipate what the goalie, the defenders and the referee each expect of a forward, and she adjusts her play to the rules of the game as a whole. In George Herbert Mead's account, she is in which stage, taking the perspective of whom?
- Play stage; significant others
- Game stage; the generalized other
- Preparatory stage; the people she imitates
- Game stage; the looking-glass self
Show answer and explanation
Answer: B. Game stage; the generalized other
In Mead's game stage, children take the attitudes of many roles at once and internalize the expectations of the group, which he called the generalized other. In the play stage, children pretend to be one significant other at a time, and the preparatory stage is simple imitation. The looking-glass self is Cooley's concept, not a stage of Mead's.
Question 7
A 2-year-old insists on dressing herself and choosing her own snack. According to Erikson, a parent who repeatedly mocks or takes over these attempts is most likely to foster which outcome?
- Mistrust
- Guilt
- Shame and doubt
- Inferiority
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Shame and doubt
Toddlers face autonomy versus shame and doubt; support for safe independence builds will, while ridicule or overcontrol builds shame and doubt about one's abilities. Mistrust belongs to infancy, guilt to the preschool initiative stage (about 3 to 6), and inferiority to the school-age industry stage.
Question 8
In a hypothetical longitudinal study, researchers rated 100 participants' identity status at age 22 and then recorded whether each was in a committed long-term partnership at age 30.
| Status at age 22 | n | In a committed partnership at 30 |
|---|---|---|
| Identity achieved | 50 | 34 |
| Identity diffused | 50 | 16 |
Which conclusion is best supported?
- The pattern (68 percent versus 32 percent) is consistent with Erikson's view that identity resolution supports later intimacy, but the design cannot show causation.
- The data prove that achieving an identity causes people to form committed partnerships.
- The data contradict Erikson, because some identity-diffused participants formed partnerships.
- The data show that intimacy must be resolved before identity can form.
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. The pattern (68 percent versus 32 percent) is consistent with Erikson's view that identity resolution supports later intimacy, but the design cannot show causation.
34 of 50 is 68 percent and 16 of 50 is 32 percent, a pattern that fits Erikson's sequence in which identity versus role confusion precedes intimacy versus isolation. Because identity status was measured, not assigned, other variables could explain the link, so causal language is not justified. Exceptions do not refute a probabilistic pattern.
Question 9
A tutor gives a student a fully worked example, then removes one step at a time as the student succeeds. The student starts quietly talking himself through each problem, and months later solves them silently. Which pair of concepts best describes this?
- Scaffolding and private speech
- Assimilation and accommodation
- Conservation and egocentrism
- Fixation and regression
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Scaffolding and private speech
Support that is gradually withdrawn as competence grows is scaffolding, and self-directed talk that guides problem solving before becoming inner speech is private speech; both come from Vygotsky. Assimilation, accommodation, conservation and egocentrism are Piaget's terms, and fixation and regression are Freudian concepts.
Question 10
A clinician working from a Freudian framework describes an adult client as extremely orderly, stubborn and reluctant to spend money. Freud would most likely attribute these traits to fixation at which stage?
- Oral
- Phallic
- Anal
- Genital
Show answer and explanation
Answer: C. Anal
Freud linked an anal-retentive personality (orderliness, stubbornness, stinginess) to conflict over toilet training in the anal stage. Oral fixation was linked to dependency and oral habits such as smoking or overeating, phallic issues to the Oedipal conflict, and the genital stage is the mature endpoint rather than a typical fixation point.