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AP Psychology Test Information
The Exam
The AP Psychology Examination consists of 100 multiple-choice questions to be completed in 70 minutes
and two required essays to be done in 50 minutes. The multiple-choice questions count for two-thirds of the total
score, and each essay counts for one-sixth; so the two essays combined count for one-third of the total. The
multiple-choice questions get progressively more difficult, and are mixed in terms of their content area.
Approximate percentage content breakdown:
History and approaches
2-4
Methods
6-8
Biological bases of behavior
8-10
Sensation and perception
7-9
States of consciousness
2-4
Learning
7-9
Cognition
8-10
Motivation and emotion
7-9
Developmental psychology
7-9
Personality
6-8
Testing and individual differences
5-7
Abnormal psychology
7-9
Treatment of psychological disorders 5-7
Social psychology
7-9
Preparing Students for Essay Questions
When beginning the essay questions, students should count the number of parts or sections for each
question. Usually, each part of an essay counts as one point of that essay. The points are not connected, so a
student can get any point wrong and still get credit for all the other points. Essays often have between six and 10
parts.
One of the two essay questions has usually been based on an analysis and critique of a research
methodology. For example, students might have to find and fix flaws in an experimental design (including ethical
concerns); name a hypothesis based on a question and describe the major aspects of an experimental design for the
hypothesis; answer questions about a correlational study; or compare two different research methods. It is
important when answering the essays to demonstrate knowledge of psychology by using correct terminology.
Often the second essay question involves the application of perspectives -- such as the biological,
psychoanalytic and cognitive -- to a variety of concepts, such as anxiety or depression. Sometimes an essay will list
five or six psychology terms or concepts and ask students to define them and to apply them to a major idea or
concept. For example: "Define the fundamental attribution error, schema, projection, generalization in classical
conditioning, and modeling, and describe how each can contribute to an individual becoming prejudiced." One of
the two essays usually includes information from a chapter near the end of the psychology textbook, usually social
psychology.
Students need to exercise caution when answering the essay questions. They must answer all parts of each
question concisely yet completely. If the question specifically directs students to describe a behavioral outcome,
they must describe a visible behavior and not a feeling (such as happiness) or a motivational state (such as "tries
harder"). If the question asks students to describe an ethical concern about a research methodology, they should
avoid vague statements like "The subject feels bad" and instead specify an outcome that is clearly unethical and
affects the person after the research has been completed. When describing an experimental flaw, students must
give a complete explanation of the flaw, rather than just a simple description.
What common errors do students make on the essay section of the AP Psychology Exam?
Students need to practice writing concisely. When writing the essay, they should not repeat the question
nor should they include introductory or concluding paragraphs. They also need to answer the question completely.
Typically, each question will include 6 to 12 separate points to answer. Once a point is answered, students should
move on to the next point. If a question asks for a definition of a term and then an application or example of the
term (this has been a frequent pattern with former essay questions), the question should be answered in two parts:
definition and application. The description of the application should not repeat the information given in the
definition.
Which terms/concepts are often confused or used incorrectly by AP Psychology students when writing an
essay about learning?
A concept that students often misunderstand is spontaneous recovery. Spontaneous recovery in both
operant and classical conditioning is the return of a CR after extinction and a rest period. The UCS is not presented
to the subject during this time. When the UCS is presented again, it is reconditioning, not spontaneous recovery.
Another common error is a misunderstanding of interval schedules of reinforcement. Students often say that in a
fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement, a subject is reinforced after a certain passage of time. However, even
after the necessary time period has elapsed, the subject must respond correctly. So in an interval schedule of
reinforcement, after the fixed or variable time period has passed the reinforcement is delivered only after a correct
response. Some other terms or concepts frequently confused are habituation and sensory adaptation; negative
reinforcement and punishment; and instrumental and operant conditioning.
Which terms/concepts are often confused or used incorrectly by AP Psychology students when writing an
essay about research methods?
A common error is using random assignment and random sampling interchangeably. Random assignment
is a procedure used in experiments to eliminate confounds by placing subjects into groups purely by chance. This
attempts to ensure that the experimental and control groups have no significant differences other than the
independent variable. Random sampling is used in surveys to attempt to ensure that each and every observation in
a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
What topics in the early history of psychology are important to know for the AP Psychology Exam?
Students should be aware of some important early historical facts of psychology, including the first
president of APA, the first woman president of APA, and the first woman to get a Ph.D. in psychology. The early
perspectives or schools of thought in psychology, such as structuralism and functionalism, should be discussed in
terms of what they considered to be the subject matter of psychology and the research methods they used. Students
should realize that the structuralism of Wundt is thematically unrelated and distinct from the later structuralists
such as Piaget, Chomsky, and Levi-Strauss.
Is it important for students to have knowledge of the major perspectives or schools of thought in
psychology?
Students should know about the major perspectives in psychology, including Gestalt psychology,
psychoanalysis, behaviorism, humanistic psychology, biological approaches, cognitive psychology, and
sociocultural and evolutionary (sociobiological) approaches. Know each perspectives goals, major figures, and
techniques for investigating the subject matter of psychology. Students should be able to recognize quotes from the
major figures of each perspective that represent the core belief of the perspective (such as John Watson‡s famous
quote on infants). Understand the perspectives in terms of how each explains psychological processes or
phenomena, and in relation to the major themes of psychology. For example, how would the psychoanalytic,
biological, behavioral, and cognitive perspectives in psychology explain anger or happiness? How would each
describe the role of the environment in shaping behavior, or the importance of irrational or unconscious
determinants?
What kind of descriptive statistics should students know for the AP Psychology Exam?
Students should have a fundamental understanding of descriptive statistics. They should be aware of the
measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode), including procedures for their computation. Students
should be able to recognize both positively skewed and negatively skewed distributions. Students should have
knowledge of positive and negative correlation and understand that while correlation does not preclude causation,
it does not allow for inferences of causation. Students should be aware of measures of variability, such as range
and standard deviation, and understand what these concepts mean. Although students will not have to do any
involved calculations on the AP Psychology Exam, they should be able to look at sets of scores and determine
which has the greatest or least standard deviation or range.
In the summary outline for 2002 and 2003, the topic “Nomothetic and Idiographic Research” was added
under the content area “Personality.” What exactly is that?
In personality theories, idiographic theories are concerned with understanding and describing what is
unique about an individual. Nomothetic personality theories aim to understand individual behavior in terms of
general personality dimensions present in all individuals.
Research Format
* Max 3 pages typed and double spaced
Test your hypothesis and refine your theory by using one of these research strategies:
1.
Descriptive - Make observations that describe behavior (eg. case study, survey, naturalistic observation)
2.
Correlational - Detect correlations that help predict behavior (eg. associations, relationships)
3.
Experimental - Do experiments that help explain behavior (eg. manipulate variables)
-Dependent variable – What you are trying to predict.
-Independent variable – Any variable you are using to make predictions.
Collect data from a random sample.
Base your research on how you described, associated or manipulated:
- Behaviors – Stimulus/response; observation
or
- Thoughts – Framing; false consensus
1.
Theory – Form a hypothesis and explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and
predicts observations.

2.
Hypothesis - A testable prediction often implied by a theory.
Research and observations –Collect data, report variables and discuss the type of sample in order to prove
or reject your theory/hypothesis. Be aware of seeing what you expect to see. (Bias Subjective
observation)

Operational definitions – In order to check our biases, report precisely in a step-by- step
manner to allow others the possibility to replicate.
3.
Statistics - Organize (graph) and summarize (central tendency, range and standard deviation) in order to
make inferences from data.

Standard Deviation - The arithmetic average of the distance from the mean; on a bell curve,
place the mean in the center, then place four standard deviations to
the left and to the right of that mean.
s = Standard deviation
=
Summation
Y = Individual numbers
= Mean
N = Total number of data (not sum)

Statistical significance – Indicate your conclusion on the likelihood that your data results
happened by chance; not the importance of the result.
4.
Results - What results support the theory and which results disconfirm the theory?
5.
Revised theory - Form a revised hypothesis and explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes
and predicts observations from the results you discovered.
6.
Usefulness – Self reflect on how your research was useful:
-Does your research contain clear predictions and operational definitions that anyone can use
to check the theory?
-Explain what you think is great and what you would do differently in future research.
Neurotransmitters
Definition: Chemical messengers that traverse the synaptic gaps between neurons; when released by the sending neuron,
neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby
influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse.
Six types of Neurotransmitters:
Acetylcholine – muscle action, memory, learning
Undersupply leads to Alzheimer’s
Dopamine – movement, attention, emotion
Oversupply leads to Schizophrenia
Undersupply leads to Parkinson’s
Serotonin – mood, hunger, sleep
Undersupply depression
Norepinephrine (Adrenaline) – alertness
Undersupply leads to depress one’s mood
GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) - Alertness
Undersupply leads to seizures, tremors, insomnia
Glutamate – excitement, memory
Oversupply leads to overstimulation which leads to migraines or seizures
Therapeutic drug challenge: Blood-brain barrier enables the brain to fence out unwanted chemicals circulating in the blood
and some chemicals do not have the right shape to get sneak through this barrier.
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Psychological Disorders
Types of disorders:
Neurotic disorder – distressed but rational
Psychotic disorder – loses contact with reality and is irrational
Seek therapy for:
Anxiety disorders:
Generalized Anxiety disorder – continually tense
Panic disorder – minutes long tension
Phobia – persistent fear of an object
Obsessive-Compulsive disorder – unwanted repetitive thoughts and actions
Mood disorders:
Major Depressive disorder – two weeks of depression for no reason
Manic Episode – hyperactive, wild state
Bipolar disorder – from the lethargy of depression to the hyperactive state of mania.
Schizophrenia:
Delusional thinking and disturbed perceptions
Subtypes: Paranoid, Disorganized, Catatonic, Undifferentiated, and Residual
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AP Psychology Test Tips
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The 100 multiple choice questions focus mostly on vocabulary so make a list of the people and terms you need to review
and prepare accordingly.
Beware of becoming overconfident because the first few multiple choice questions are easier.
Go through all 100 multiple choice questions and complete the ones you know by eliminating the obvious incorrect answers
and skip the ones you do not know.
Go back and answer the skipped multiple choice questions and DO NOT leave any blanks – there are no penalty points for
incorrect answers.
Be conscious of your time by taking approximately 42 seconds per multiple choice question.
There are 100 points possible for the multiple-choice section and 50 points possible for the Free Response section.
Complete both FRQs and NEVER leave any portion blank – there are no penalty points for incorrect answers.
The approximate score breakdown of the 150 total points are as follows:
A 5 equals approximately 70% correct or 105 points
A 4 equals approximately 60% correct or 90 points