APPSC Paper I · Hostel Welfare Officer Paper II · Topic 3
3 APPSC Paper I Educational Psychology: Nature, Methods & Development questions with answers
44 questions from APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II question paper with answers and APPSC HWO Paper II Mock 1 with answers. Try each one, then tap Show answer.
Previous-paper questions are as in the original paper. Medha AI wrote the answers and explanations.
3.1Nature, scope, history and schools of psychologyNotes
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The best definition of educational psychology is a study of "Teaching and Learning" has given by
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Answer C. Charles C. Skinner
Charles E. Skinner defined educational psychology as the branch of psychology that deals with teaching and learning.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q23, final key
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Where was the first experimental psychology laboratory set up ?
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Answer D. Leipzig
Wilhelm Wundt set up the first psychology laboratory at Leipzig, Germany, in 1879.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q24, final key
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The first book of psychology was written by
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Answer B. William James
William James's 'The Principles of Psychology' (1890) is treated as the first major textbook of psychology.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q27, final key
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Which of the following neurotransmitters are associated with feelings of pleasure and reward ?
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Answer B. Dopamine
Dopamine drives the brain's reward pathway and is linked to pleasure, motivation and reinforcement.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q33, final key
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Educational psychology helps the teachers to
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Answer C. Understand learners' behaviour and needs
Educational psychology studies the learner's behaviour, development and needs, so it helps teachers understand their pupils.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q94, final key
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Educational psychology is concerned with
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Answer D. Learning process and situation
Educational psychology deals with the learner, the learning process and the learning situation.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q95, final key
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Who is the father of Educational Psychology ?
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Answer C. E. L. Thorndike
E. L. Thorndike, who wrote 'Educational Psychology' (1903) and the laws of learning, is called the father of educational psychology.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q96, final key
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Which of the following is not a function of educational psychology ?
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Answer B. To define the goals for which education is to strive
Setting the goals of education is the job of philosophy of education; educational psychology studies how those goals can be reached through the learner and the learning process.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q97, final key
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Which of the following is NOT a contribution of educational psychology to the teacher?
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Answer A. Deciding the salary and service rules of teachers
Educational psychology helps the teacher know the child, plan methods, manage the class and look after mental health; pay and service rules are an administrative matter.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
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Who launched the school of behaviourism in 1913 by declaring that psychology should be the science of observable behaviour?
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Answer B. John B. Watson
John B. Watson's 1913 paper 'Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It' rejected the study of consciousness and defined psychology as the science of behaviour.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
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In which century did psychology come to be defined as the 'science of behaviour'?
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Answer D. 20th century
In the 20th century, led by J. B. Watson, psychology came to be defined as the science of behaviour.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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According to Anderson, general psychology is a pure science, whereas educational psychology is
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Answer A. its application in the field of education
Anderson saw educational psychology as the application of general psychology to education, aimed at socialising the learner and modifying behaviour.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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After the Renaissance, science replaced 'extensive inquiry' with a method that breaks a phenomenon into small parts and studies each in detail. This method is called
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Answer D. intensive inquiry
Intensive inquiry analyses an event into its smaller components and studies each closely; it became the basic method of science.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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Revising old intelligence, personality and aptitude tests and devising new ones is the work of
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Answer A. psychometrics
Psychometric and quantitative psychologists develop and revise psychological tests and help design and analyse research.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
3.1Methods of educational psychologyNotes
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Which method of research contributes most to the advancement educational psychology as a science ?
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Answer B. Experimental method
The experimental method controls variables and tests cause and effect, which made psychology a science.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q26, final key
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The method of introspection was primarily used by
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Answer D. Structuralists
Wundt and Titchener's structuralism analysed consciousness into elements through trained introspection.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q98, final key
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The method of research that most significantly advances Educational Psychology as a science is
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Answer D. The experimental method
The experimental method controls variables and tests cause and effect, which made educational psychology a science.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q100, final key
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A teacher asks a pupil to write down exactly what she felt and thought while waiting for her examination results. The teacher is using the
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Answer D. Introspection method
Reporting one's own feelings and thoughts is introspection (self-observation).
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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Who founded the first psychological clinic, at the University of Pennsylvania in 1896, and is regarded as the founder of clinical psychology?
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Answer C. Lightner Witmer
Lightner Witmer, a student of Wundt, opened the first psychological clinic in 1896 to help children with learning and behaviour problems, and coined the term 'clinical psychology'.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
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The word 'introspection' in psychology means
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Answer B. Looking inward and reporting one's own mental experiences
Introspection (from Latin introspicere: intro = within, specere = to look) is self-observation: a person looks into his own mind and reports his feelings, sensations and thoughts.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
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A researcher tests whether a new reading method raises pupils' scores. Factors such as pupils' intelligence and home background, which may also affect the scores and must be held constant, are called
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Answer C. Extraneous variables
Extraneous (relevant) variables are factors other than the independent variable that can influence the dependent variable; the experimenter controls them, for example by equating the groups.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
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Because a pupil's behaviour varies with time and place, a teacher using observation should
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Answer A. Observe the pupil several times in different situations
Since behaviour differs from one time and place to another, observations should be repeated in varied situations before drawing conclusions.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
3.2Growth and development: principles, stages and aspects (incl. language)Notes
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Cephalocaudal sequence motor/skills development is
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Answer A. Head – Trunk – Hand – Leg
Cephalocaudal means development proceeds from head to tail: head control first, then trunk, then arms and finally legs.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q28, final key
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A child holding the Pencil by using his fingers and thumb shows which principle of development ?
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Answer A. General to specific
Development moves from general, whole-hand movements to specific, fine ones; a pincer grip with fingers and thumb is the specific end.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q29, final key
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Which of the following statement is correct about the process of development of an individual ?
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Answer C. There is cultural diversity in the process of development
Development is multi-dimensional and shaped by both heredity and environment, and it varies across cultures.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q30, final key
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Which of the following is a significant unique feature of language ?
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Answer D. Language consists of symbols
Language is a system of arbitrary symbols (sounds, letters, signs) that stand for meanings; this symbolic nature is its defining feature.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q55, final key
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The nativist perspective of language development was proposed by
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Answer C. Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky argued that children are born with an innate capacity for language (the Language Acquisition Device), the nativist view.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q56, final key
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Which of the following is not a principle of development ?
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Answer C. Development is always linear
Development is continuous, proceeds from general to specific responses and differs between individuals, but it is not uniform or linear; its rate varies across stages.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q102, final key
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Which of the following is a critical period in human development ?
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Answer B. The period during early childhood when children develop language skills
A critical period is a limited window when the brain is especially ready for a skill; early childhood language acquisition is the classic example.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q106, final key
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Rahul learns to hold a glass and a bottle before holding a pen. This example indicates that
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Answer C. Direction of development is proximo-distal
Control develops from the centre of the body outwards: gross arm and palm grasping (glass, bottle) comes before fine finger control (pen). This is the proximo-distal direction.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q107, final key
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Development of language in children according to B. F. Skinner, is the result of
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Answer B. Imitation and reinforcement
Skinner (Verbal Behavior, 1957) explained language as operant behaviour learned through imitation and reinforcement.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q117, final key
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Consider the following statements:
1. Development is shaped by the culture in which a child grows up.
2. Development always proceeds in a straight line at a steady rate.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Answer A. 1 only
Development shows cultural diversity, and it is not linear: it has spurts, pauses and plateaus.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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An adolescent who has formed a clear sense of identity is most likely to show
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Answer C. Self-confidence in making life choices
A secure identity gives self-confidence and direction; failing to form one leads to role confusion.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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The term 'proximodistal' describes development that proceeds
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Answer B. From the centre of the body to the extremities
Proximo (near) to distal (far): the trunk and shoulders come under control before the arms, and the arms before the fingers.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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Most textbooks describe the central task of adolescence as
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Answer D. The search for identity
Adolescents struggle to answer 'Who am I?' and to gain independence, so the search for identity is the key task of this stage.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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A child talks aloud to herself while solving a puzzle ('this piece goes here... no, there'). Vygotsky regarded such speech as a tool for guiding thought and called it
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Answer A. Private speech
Vygotsky called self-directed talk private speech and saw it as useful self-regulation that goes inward as inner speech; Piaget called similar talk egocentric speech.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
3.2Theories of development: Piaget, Vygotsky, Erikson, Freud, KohlbergNotes
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The process of changing existing schemes or creating new schemes to incorporate new information is called
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Answer B. Accommodation
In Piaget's theory, accommodation changes existing schemas or makes new ones; assimilation fits new information into existing schemas.
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q32, final key
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At what stage does a child typically develop a sense of autonomy ?
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Answer B. Early childhood
In Erikson's theory, autonomy versus shame and doubt is the crisis of early childhood (about 1.5 to 3 years).
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q103, final key
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A child who believes that everyone sees things from the same perspective as they do is demonstrating
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Answer C. Egocentrism
Piaget called the pre-operational child's inability to take another person's viewpoint egocentrism (shown in the three-mountains task).
Source: APPSC HWO 2025 Paper II (Notification 15/2025), Q104, final key
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'I will lend you my bicycle if you do my homework.' A child who reasons about right and wrong like this is at Kohlberg's
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Answer B. Stage 2: instrumental exchange
At Stage 2 an act is right if it serves one's own needs in a fair deal: 'you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours'.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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In Vygotsky's social constructivism, a learner's motivation is seen as
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Answer D. Both intrinsic and extrinsic
Piaget's cognitive constructivism stresses intrinsic motivation, while Vygotsky's social constructivism sees motivation as both intrinsic and extrinsic, shaped by others and the setting.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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In Vygotsky's terms, the level of performance a child shows when solving problems entirely on his own is the
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Answer B. Actual developmental level
The actual developmental level is what the child can already do independently; the potential level is what he can do with guidance.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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Lawrence Kohlberg studied the development of moral reasoning chiefly by
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Answer D. asking people to reason about moral dilemmas such as the Heinz dilemma
Kohlberg presented moral dilemmas (the best known is Heinz, who steals a drug to save his dying wife) and classified the reasoning behind the answers, not the answers themselves.
Source: Medha AI, based on the APPSC HWO Paper II syllabus (25/2026)
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Which of the following is a common criticism of Piaget's theory?
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Answer D. It gave too little weight to social and cultural influences
Critics, Vygotsky among them, argue that Piaget neglected the role of culture and social interaction and underestimated what young children can do.
Source: Medha AI, based on BRAOU B.Ed/Psychology textbooks (HWO Paper II)
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