SAT English Practice Question

In the early twentieth century, the field of psychology was dominated by the behaviorist school of thought, which focused on the study of observable behaviors and the role of environmental stimuli. This approach to psychology largely ignored internal mental processes, such as thoughts and feelings, arguing that they were too subjective and difficult to measure. But as the century progressed, a new wave of thinking emerged, challenging the behaviorist perspective. This new approach, known as cognitivism, argued that mental processes—such as perception, attention, memory, and language—are crucial to understanding human behavior and should be studied scientifically. What is the main idea of the passage?

1. A.the history of psychology and the development of cognitivism.
2. B.the limitations of the behaviorist approach to psychology.
3. C.the importance of studying mental processes in understanding human behavior.
4. D.the differences between behaviorism and cognitivism.