FRQ practice is one of the most important ways to prepare for the AP Psychology exam! To get ready, review these student responses to a practice prompt (focused on unit 1: research methods and stats) with corresponding feedback from Fiveable teacher John Mohl!

These questions are modeled after Free Response Questions (FRQs) of the AP Psychology Exam. Below would most likely represent one of two questions that could appear on the FRQ.
The instructions on the most recent FRQs have included the following: 

It is not enough to answer a question by merely listing facts. You should present a cogent argument based on your critical analysis of the questions posed, using appropriate psychological terminology.

Use the items below to assess your mastery of knowledge of the topics below, but also how you might apply your knowledge to present your “cogent argument.”

a)Poor external validity is having a study that can generalized outside the context of the study. To avoid low external validity, researchers must use random selection so everyone has an equal chance of being in the study and it’s a representative sample.

b)Coercion means getting a person to do a study through force. This can be avoided as ethics in psychological studies require no coercion to be used in studies and that it must be voluntary, and studies with coercion cannot be approved by the IRB.

c) Framing effect happens when options or questions have a negative or positive connotation to them and create bias. This can be avoided by researchers making sure questions or options present no positive or negative effect to them. For instance instead of saying “Since smoking kills people everyday, how do you feel about smoking” change it to “How do you feel about smoking?”

d)Correlation-Causation Fallacy is the tendency to think that correlation causes causation, but actually correlation doesn’t imply causation. This can be avoided by not using any spurious correlations in the study such as connecting ice cream process to forest fires increasing.

e)The Placebo effect happens when participants believe they have had or show benefits due to the placebo they took. To minimize this effect, researchers can use double-blind studies, this will make sure researchers don’t give any hints to the participants on whether they have the placebo or the actual pill.

Part a is correct. Random selection can help maintain external validity. For part b, stressing that a study is voluntary reduces the threat of perceived coercion. For part c, the example of rephrasing the question is an effective way of ensuring that the point will be scored. Part d is a tough question. Spurious correlations are likely to be found if you search for them in data. How can we avoid making that mistake? Part e would not score. Consider what the placebo effect is. Is it avoidable?

a. Poor External Validity means the research cannot be replicated in other situations. In order to prevent this, you can have fellow researchers skim through your experiment plan, before you start, and determine whether or not they would be able to replicate it.

b. Coercion means forcing people to participate in your research study. This can be prevented if you get word out for your research early and have your volunteers ready. Also, it is unethical to force people to participate, so the study would not be approved.

c. The framing effect is a principle that influences people’s decisions based on how the options were presented (tone, diction, etc). To prevent this, make sure your voice is neutral while presenting the various options, so that bias is not formed.

d. The Correlation-Causation Fallacy emphasizes that the IV may not be the sole reason of the change in the DV. To prevent this, make sure you account for the other variables like confounding, external, etc before you start, so that you can figure out a way to prevent them from influencing your study,

e. The placebo effect states that the expectations and biases of the participants could influence their behavior in the study. To prevent this, researchers should use a double blind study, so that neither the psychologist nor the participants are influenced by anything. Also, researchers can tell the participants as minimal as possible, so that they don’t know what is supposed to happen to them if they do not receive the placebo.

Part a would not score. External validity and procedures are not too closely related. For part b, how would having them ready early reduce coercion? For part c, tone of voice is possible, but I would also stress wording as well. In part d, the definition is incorrect but the application will likely score. For part e, double blind by itself would not address the placebo effect. To what are you comparing placebo?

A. Poor External Validity is the inability of a research study to generally apply to the targeted population. This potential problem is best prevented by using random selection and random assignment in the conducted research study.

B. Coercion is when a participant in a study is forced into participating using threats or other forms of pressure. This can be avoided by having a random selection of participants, and if participants choose not to volunteer, others who are randomly selected who do choose to participate will help keep the study ethical and maintain its validity.

C. Framing Effect is the usage of diction to manipulate a positive or negative correlation to something–resulting in a bias in the research study. This is best prevented by ensuring that there is no preset bias in the experiment by looking at the way questions and phrases are worded.

D. The Correlation-Causation Fallacy is the false belief that two variables that are correlated were caused by one or the other. This can be prevented by ensuring the claim in a research study frames only the information that was found, and does not assume any information that was not found or backed up by the study.

E. The Placebo Effect is a false belief that a participant taking a placebo has felt a difference. This results in bias from researchers as they are already aware that they are taking the placebo, and is best prevented by having a double-blind study take place.

For part a, random selection scores the point, but not random assignment. For part b, random selection would not help avoid the threat of coercion. Part c would score. Part d is lacking some detail that would score the point. Part e needs more detail to score the point; placebo compared to what?

Poor external validity is when outside factors are heavily influencing the experiment. This can best be prevented by random selection, which will allow participants to be representatives of their population without the worry of other factors. Coercion is when participants are forced into the study. Coercion can best be prevented by giving individuals the option to participate in an experiment/survey (without the use of a reward if they decide to go ahead with participating). The Framing Effect is when a participant reacts to something the experimenter says based on how it’s presented in front of them. This can be prevented by giving just the amount of information a participant needs without going too far in depth in order to prevent unnecessary skewing of results. The Correlation-Causation Fallacy is when two or more things are believed to be correlated to each other, but are not. This can be prevented by making some sort of scatter plot after conducting an experiment showing how one variable may influence the likes of another. The placebo effect is when a drug doesn’t have any effect on the participant/test subject. This can be prevented by conducting an experiment and administering the drug without telling the participants there is a drug at all (single-blind studies).

In part a, the definition is not correct but the application scores the point. Part b would score the point. Part c likely scores the point because the definition gives context. Part d likely would not score: a scatterplot tells you whether there is a correlation. I don’t think part e would score. What you describe would still result in a placebo effect.

AP Psych Unit 1 FRQ Practice Prompt Answers & Feedback 

So you want a 5 on your AP Psych exam? Duh! Of course, you do! Whether you want to study psychology in college or not at all, the credit you can earn from AP Psychology will come in handy.

Last year, only 22% of students that took the AP Psych exam scored a 5. You'll need to surround yourself with the absolute best resources if you are headed toward a high score.

Although there are thousands of teacher websites and other free content across the internet, these five resources are proven to help students pass the exam with flying colors. Some of them are free, some cost as much as $40, but when you consider the amount of college credit you can earn, it's a worthy investment to pass this exam.

 The perfect mix between group and online tutoring. Every unit has a guide that goes along with it that explains, in-depth, everything you need to know to ace the exam. 

This year, Fiveable is also going to cover the AP Psych curriculum with students, making it possible to take the AP class online 🥳

There are two different semesters: Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. Each 15 week semester covers the whole curriculum, even though most schools teach AP Psych in a full year. Join at any time for $55 and obtain access to: 

You can choose either Fall 2020 or Spring 2021! They are exactly the same. If you take the Fall 2020 course, you will still have access to all resources in the Spring 🌺  The live interaction component of the course will no longer be available in the Spring.

 The key feature that Fiveable has that you won't find anywhere else is a live and experienced teacher to answer all of your questions. If you attend the live sessions, you can submit questions for the teacher to discuss. The replay will get time-stamped with the answered questions, which makes it really easy to go back and review that answer. Also all written resources are completely free and accessible from anywhere.

 The cool thing about Fiveable is that even though the live reviews are at the core of this resource, there are several other key features like trivia games that members play live! There are thousands of members across the world and you can see how you stack up against them!

2. Cracking the AP Psychology Exam, Princeton Review 

 For AP Psych, the Princeton Review prep book is a great resource because of its practice exams. Although the content explanations are a bit long for a prep book, they are also written in a way that is easy to follow.

 There are two full-length practice exams with answer keys that are incredibly useful to use. One of the best ways to study for AP Psych is to take as many practice multiple choice questions as you can because it's 2/3 of your score on the exam.

 There are test-taking strategies outlined in the beginning and we can't stress enough how useful this is. Although you may be tempted to only focus on the content, it's so important that you understand the skills, so you can master the FRQs.

 David Duez is a dedicated and experienced AP Psychology teacher from Texas. He has been building his website for years and it has become a massive resource for students around the world as they study for the exams. He is a page for each of the units and so many awesome materials embedded throughout.

 Mr. Duez is a current AP Psych teacher and this site was primarily built for his own students, which is what makes it so helpful. There are videos, lectures, helpful links, and study guides throughout. It's all hyper-focused on exactly what you need to know.

 If you are self-studying for AP Psych, he has all of his agendas for class posted as well, so you can essentially follow along with his class!

 It's an app! Actually, it's a super useful app and super affordable ($4.99). There are tons of questions on here that cover all of the topics in a really straightforward way to help you study terms. These practice questions are not stimulus-based like the exam, but rather quick recall so you can play it a whole bunch of times.

 Vocabulary is such a big part of any AP exam, and this app was created by teachers who truly understand the value of studying key terms. If you play this a few times a week, you'll be golden.

 The entire app is designed as a massive trivia game for AP Psych students. There is a running leaderboard to see how you do against other students! 

: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Exam

 It's more than your average prep book but way less than a textbook. Each chapter is roughly 10 pages and gets straight to the point.

 It's super easy to read! If you get it soon, you could read the whole thing.

 Every chapter has practice questions at the end, which are amazing! There are multiple-choice, short-answer, long-essay, and document-based questions that you can practice throughout. The only downside is the answer key, which is super secure and for teachers only.

As long as you study the vocabulary over and over again, all that's left to do is practice. I'm confident you will do amazing on the AP Psychology exam.

When I took AP Psych, I read the textbook and made my own review sheets to help me study. This allowed me to actively recall all the information and then by the time it was May, I already had outlines of every unit. If you think this might work for you, give it a try!

Practice, practice, practice, you got this.

Best Resources for AP Psych

Getting a 5️⃣ on the AP Psychology Exam is very doable with hard work and practice. Plus, we've got some tips and tricks for you to help you get the score you deserve in May 😌

Before preparing for the exam, it's good to know what exactly is on it. Here is a quick overview: 

Section 1: Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

Here is also a quick breakdown of what units are on the test: 

Looking at the exam breakdown, you can identify which units you should prioritize over the others. Since about 13-15% of the exam will be about cognitive psychology 🧠 and 12-16% will be about clinical psychology🛋️, you should focus on these two units more than sensation and perception 👀

AP Psychology 🧠 covers so many different topics that involve your wellbeing and social interactions/behaviors. This course generally includes lots and lots of vocabulary terms, so start memorizing early! 🤔

Throughout the year, as you learn each unit, try and memorize each term for your exam ✍️ Doing well on your unit exams and preparing for them will help you in the long run.

 Memorizing once and then refreshing your memory in April when studying for the AP is much more effective than cramming! You actually learn this term in psych - relearning.

This only ensures that you understand the content🧠 and leaves much more time to do practice questions❓ when studying for the exam. Set yourself up for success and try not to cause yourself too much stress!

There are tons of resources you could use to help you study!

👉5 Best Resources for AP Psychology (coming soon)

Study a little bit everyday, and trust me, you'll do so much better in the long run ☺️

3. Apply the Vocabulary to your Life! 💯

On the exam, you will be given situations and asked to apply psychological concepts or explain behavior using a term you learned throughout the year. With such a fun and interesting course, why not practice this on your own with situations in your own life? 😍

Every time you learn a new term, try and figure out a time where you've seen it in action 🎬 For example, you could probably think of several times where you've seen polarization between two groups. 

Group polarization is discussed in Unit 9, but there are millions of different situations you could come up with where there are two groups with extremely opposing views. What's a better example to use than our own political system 🔴🔵? 

Applying the vocab to real life situations only makes it easier to understand and memorize 😉

After applying situations to your own life, try some AP practice questions. 

Use your textbook throughout the year for solid ones that would help you understand each unit further🔖 

 "Really understand the vocab and how to apply it! At the end of each unit, I would go over the vocab and find ways to apply it — there are many FRQs to work on that." —Abby L.

Once May comes around (sadly, sooner than you expect it 😫), try doing tons of past AP FRQs.

AP Classroom is also a really good source for practice questions, so be sure to take advantage of this free, accessible content.

5. Know your Strengths and Weaknesses when Studying

Everyone learns differently, so find something that works for you!

Also, don't stress if you are taking a little more time trying to apply the content and need to ask more questions in class. Seriously, don't be scared! Asking questions and wanting to learn and do better is always a good thing 🥳

A lot of the information you learn in AP Psych can either be organized in tables or represented by a diagram. 📈

Almost every unit could be organized in table form. For example, Unit 2, Biological Bases of Psychology, involves lots of diagrams of the brain 🧠

An example of using diagrams and tables for your benefit is trying to memorize one and then filling out a blank one. If you were trying to memorize the parts of the brain and their functions ⚙️, you could label each part of the brain and write the function of the part right next to it. 

This not only helps you memorize, as you can do this several times, but it's also more entertaining than trying to memorize by reading (at least in my opinion🤭). 

Stay confident and take things slow! Memorizing and practicing is 🔑, especially with such a content heavy course. 

The most important tip you should take away from this guide is to 

 apply the terms to real-life situations. The exam doesn't test your ability to define a term; the College Board wants to see you put your knowledge to use🧠

Don't forget to have fun too; you learn some pretty cool things in AP Psych 😉

 "Keep your mind open! Be ready to learn and digest new information every day. Keep up with your readings, and the course will leave you with [the] knowledge that will change your thinking for the better." — Meghna P.

How to Get a 5 in AP Psychology

Hey 👋 so, you're wondering if you should take AP Psychology 🧠. Let's talk about it!

AP Psychology gives you a taste of what you would learn in a semester-long introductory psychology course. There are 9 different units that you cover in AP Psych, all of which require zero prerequisites 🥳

There is a lot of memorization in this course. Most units can also be visualized and put into a graph. If you're a visual learner 👀, this course is very viable for you.

. This is one of the many diagrams that help you visualize specific information!




Regardless, as long as you review the content necessary for the exam and practice, you will do really well. Many students take AP Psych as their first AP, deeming it as one of their "easier" exams.

For the first section of the exam, you are given 70 minutes to answer 100 multiple-choice questions 🤔 These 100 questions count for 67% of your total score.

For the second section of the exam, you are given 50 minutes to answer two free-response questions ✍️ These count for the other 33% of your total score and are more focused on applying your psychology knowledge to real-life situations.

Once you nail the concepts and units, all that is left to do is practice. Let's get into it!

There is no way to truly judge how hard the course is, but many deem it to be really fun, interesting, and engaging. It all really depends on the teacher you have, your workload, and how much time you want to commit to this course alone ⬇️

Most students are so happy they took AP Psychology and consider it very fun and interesting to learn about. Just in case, here are some factors to consider:

Quotes from Students that have taken AP Psychology

"AP Psychology was truly insightful as it opened the door to secrets about me that I hadn’t yet discovered, teaching me how my mind works and thinks. The course allowed me to understand why certain parts of my brain and body functioned in various ways. I was fascinated!" —Meghna P.

"AP Psych, by all means, was worth it! Personally, what I loved most about it was that everything we learned was so directly applicable to real life." —Mishika G.

"AP Psych was more than worth it. It had a unique curriculum that incorporated science, history, and language all in one. I usually forget content after taking the test, but the information I learned in AP Psych has truly stuck with me." —Lillian M.

"AP Psych is not related to my major, but it taught me so much about culture, how people behave/interact, and how to communicate well with others. It taught me people skills, how to have a good school-work-life balance, proper eating/sleeping/studying habits (seriously. there's a whole module dedicated to this, and it's 

 helpful) and cultural differences!" —Colleen B.

Weigh all of the factors in and make your decision on whether or not you want to take AP Psych. If you go for it, you'll never forget this class 🙃. No matter what you choose, you got this!

Is AP Psychology Hard? Is AP Psychology Worth Taking?

Thinking about self-studying for AP Psych? You're in the right place 😉.

Many students either take AP Psych as either their first AP course or their first self-study course. It is highly recommended for both and usually shows up in most student's high school schedules 📅

The Course and Exam Description (CED) 🔖

For every AP Exam, College Board creates a CED to go along with it. The CED includes an outline of the course and an extensive guide to each part of the exam. Here is the 

Almost any question about the course can be answered by looking at the CED. The CED is separated into 3 sections: Course Framework, Instructional Approaches, and Exam Information.

The most that you can get out of this guide is in the Course Framework section, which is split up by each unit. This section also includes the skills ⚙️ required for success in AP Psych.

Each unit splits up into key topics. Each key topic has a page with a list of concepts or ideas that you should 100% know for the AP exam.

These key topic pages don't go in-depth! They just list a few main ideas and vocab terms/concepts that are in that key topic.

Here is an example of Unit 1, Key Topic 3 (or Topic 1.3):

. The CED always contains useful information. In 1.3 specifically, it is essential to memorize that correlational research 

The CED can be very helpful for a self-studier! We highly recommended looking at it if you want to know what's on the exam.

There is a ton of exam information, and there are even practice questions in the Exam Information section. You might want to look at this at least twice throughout the year and complete the questions closer to the exam date.

Looking at the exam breakdown, you can identify which units you should prioritize over the others. Since about 13-15% of the exam will be about cognitive psychology 🧠 and 12-16% will be about clinical psychology 🛋️, you should focus on these two units more than sensation and perception 👀

Pacing and staying on track is important when preparing for the exam. It may seem stressful, but setting weekly goals for yourself will really help relieve this stress 😌

It is best to study by the units in order ➡️ Some units require the knowledge of previous units, so learning them in order is the perfect way to digest the material.

Fiveable has created the perfect pacing guide to help you self-study throughout the year! It includes 3 resources per key topic to ensure you have a deep understanding of everything covered on the AP Exam 🤗

There are tons of different ways to learn AP Psych, and every single one of these ways are effective!

👉Best Textbooks and Prep Books for AP Psychology

Don't be afraid to try out all of these and use a mixture of these resources. Find the way that works for you! You got this!

After knowing the content, practice, practice, practice! It's essential 😉

You could honestly find practice questions anywhere, but official AP questions are more difficult to find. Unfortunately, the College Board only releases previous exams' 

. Multiple-choice questions are only accessible by teachers 👩‍🏫 👨‍🏫, so you may want to ask them if you could have a few for practice. However, you must destroy the MCQ packets after you complete it for confidentiality.

Otherwise, textbooks, prep books, and online resources have a lot of AP style multiple-choice questions and free-response questions. Make sure to take advantage of these! You not only want to know the content, but you also want to know how to apply it to ace this exam 💯

When you are taking a practice exam, set a timer, and create the conditions of the real AP exam. Try to make yourself comfortable, and do it without your notes beside you ❌. Creating the atmosphere of the AP exam multiple times will relieve your stress and make you feel more confident 😅. That is what we want!

Hm... once I take the practice exam, what do I do?

First off, while you take the practice exam, circle questions you struggled with 🥴 and star questions you completely guessed on. This gives you an idea of your areas of weakness and will allow you to improve 😊

Once you grade yourself and check the answer key, make a spreadsheet and note every question you got wrong ❌, the unit the question belongs to, why you got it wrong, and why the right answer is correct. Identifying your weaknesses helps you in the long run.

If you have another method that works for you, go ahead and do it. As long as you keep track of your progress, the practice tests will remain effective.

First things first, does your school offer the AP course?

Trying to keep yourself on track may seem difficult, but once you get into it, it'll be part of your everyday schedule 🗓️

Set a daily or weekly goal for yourself and treat yourself for completing it. Have fun with the class!

If you ever feel overwhelmed or stressed, take a mental health day. You got this, we believe in you. Good luck 🍀 😊

AP Psychology Self-Study and Homeschool

*Just a heads up, the following list of resources contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, Fiveable will receive a small commission. This helps support our content creation and allows us to continue to make resources like this. Thank you for the support!


So you want a 5 on your AP Psych exam? Duh! Of course you do! Whether you want to study psychology in college or not at all, the credits you can earn from AP Psychology will come in handy. You’ll get credit for an intro to psychology course that can save you time with your general requirements and/or jump ahead to higher level psych classes.


Last year, only 21% of students that took the AP Psych exam scored a 5. You’ll need to surround yourself with the absolute best resources if you are headed toward a high score.



Although there are thousands of teacher websites and other free content across the internet, these five resources are proven to help students pass the exam with flying colors. Some of them are free, some cost as much as $40, but when you consider the amount of college credit you can earn, it’s a worthy investment to pass this exam.


 Kind of like tutoring, but in a group and all online. Every Tuesday night at 8pm, experienced teacher Megan Revello hosts a live review to discuss topics and write practice FRQs live. You can rewatch any of the live sessions as many times as you want!


The key feature that Fiveable has that you won’t find in any of the other listed resource is a live, real teacher to answer your questions whenever you have them. If you attend sessions live, you can submit questions for the teacher to discuss. The replay will get time-stamped with the answered questions, which makes it really easy to go back and review that answer



The cool thing about Fiveable is that even though the live reviews are at the core of this resource, there are several other key features like trivia games that members play live! There are thousands of members across the world and you can see how you stack up against them!


Cracking the AP Psychology Exam, Princeton Review

 For AP PSych, the Princeton Review prep book is a great resource because of the practice exams it includes. Although the content explanations are a bit long for a prep book, they are also written in a way that is easy to follow. 


 There are two full-length practice exams with answer keys that are incredibly useful to use. One of the best ways to study for AP Psych is to take as many practice multiple choice questions as you can because it’s 2/3 of your score on the exam.


There are test-taking strategies outlined in the beginning and we can’t stress enough how useful this is. Although you may be tempted to only focus on the content, it’s so important that you understand the skills so you can master the FRQs.


David Duez is a dedicated and experienced AP Psychology teacher from Texas. He has been building his website for years and it has become a massive resource for students around the world as they study for the exams. He is a page for each of the units and so many awesome materials embedded throughout.


Mr. Duez is a current AP Psych teacher and this site was primarily built for his own students, which is what makes it so helpful. There are videos, lectures, helpful links, and study guides throughout and it’s all hyper-focused on exactly what you need to know.


If you are self-studying for AP Psych, he has all of his agendas for class posted as well, so you can essentially follow along with his class!


 It’s an app! Actually, it’s a super useful app and super affordable ($4.99). There are tons of questions on here that cover all of the topics in a really straightforward way to help you study terms. These practice questions are not stimulus-based like the exam, but rather quick recall so you can play it a whole bunch of times.


 Vocabulary is such a big part of any AP exam and this app was created by teachers who truly understand the value of studying key terms. You can play the whole deck or focus just on a time period. Either way, if you play this a few times a week, you’ll be golden.


The entire app is designed as a massive trivia game for AP Psych students. there is a running leaderboard to see how you do against other students!


AMSCO Psychology: Preparing for the Advanced Placement Exam

 It’s a bit more than your average prep book, but way less than a textbook. A lot of teachers just use this as the textbook because it is so much more condensed in a good way! Each chapter is 10 pages or less and just gets to what’s important.


 It’s super easy to read and if you get it soon, you could definitely read the whole thing.


Every chapter has practice questions at the end, which are amazing! There are multiple-choice, short-answer, long-essay, and document-based questions that you can practice throughout. The only downside is the answer key is super secure and for teachers only, so you won’t have a quick way to check if you were right.

-----

???????? Bonus Resource: Facebook group for AP Psych students!

https://facebook.com/groups/appsychstudents


What resources do you use? Tweet us at 

5 AP Psych Resources for Students Who Want a 5 

If there was a holy trinity for AP study sites, Quizlet would most certainly be in it. Its easy to use interface combined with its multi-purpose functionality helps students of all different learning styles in endless subject areas. However, it can sometimes be challenging to find the best vocab sets. 

Fiveable’s AP Psych teachers & students have compiled the best quizlet study decks for each unit. The AP Psych exam is very vocabulary heavy, so make sure you take the time to learn these terms. 

Bookmark this page to use throughout the year!

AP Psychology Unit 1 revolves around the different branches/approaches of psychology, important figures in the field of psychology, and the scientific processes and methods used to develop ethical research. This first unit is a foundation for the rest of the course, so you’ll want to make sure you are super familiar with these 79 key terms.

Unit 1 AP Psychology (Scientific Foundations of Psychology) by Erica_Roberts270

 – A psychological approach based around experimentation and scientific studies.

 – Focuses on the celebratory aspects of individuals, such as personal growth and potential for improvement. One of the more optimistic approaches.

 – Analyzes the different levels of consciousness and the components of the personality (id, ego, and superego) to determine how they affect aspects of behavior.

 – Uses introspection to discover structural elements behind the human mind and thought.

 – The foundation of knowledge should revolve around experience opposed to theories. 

 – Each part of the brain serves a function to fulfill primary desires such as reproduction and survival. If it has no function, it adapts or becomes extinct.

The second unit of AP Psychology introduces the biological approach of psychology through the brain’s structure and chemistry. A good quizlet for this unit will have visuals due to the large amount of brain anatomy. 

 – A chemical substance released by neurons to send signals to various parts of the body. Transmitted by neurons, hence the name.

 – The brain has the ability to change and is molded by damage, experience, trauma, and aging.

 – Connects the left and right brain hemisphere, permitting communication between the two. These fibers can be cut during surgery, resulting in a split brain.

 – A nerve cell capable of communicating and transferring information to other parts of the body. An important part of the nervous system. 

In unit 3, the key focuses are sensation and perception. Sensations are the responses to certain stimuli, while perception is our interpretations of what we experience with the 5 senses. 

Remember that despite this unit being worth less on the AP exam than others, it still has several important key terms that you must know.

AP Psychology Sensation and Perception by Alejandro_Lozano1

 – Oftentimes, we may not pay attention to a conversation (auditory stimuli) until we hear our names. Ties into selective attention.

 – Lowest level of stimulation necessary for the detection of a stimulus half of the time.

 – Processing the “raw” information collected from a stimulus before the brain’s analysis.

 – Interpretation is made only after the brain connects the stimulus to existing information.

Unit 4 is all about something that all students should have plenty of experience with: learning! This unit is not only important because of the AP Psychology exam, but also because it can be applied to real world situations to assist in learning.

AP Psychology Learning by Kelly_Taylor182

 (UR/CR) – The response to stimuli, which can either be naturally occurring (unconditioned), or learned (conditioned).

 (US/CS) – A stimulus that naturally provokes a response (unconditioned), or one that has gone through conditioning to provoke an unnatural response.

 (NS) – During conditioning, the NS and US are combined to provoke a UR. Eventually, the NS is associated with the US and becomes a CS.

 – Demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov’s famous dog experiment. The US leads to a UR, and the NS leads to no response. Conditioning occurs, which results in the NS and US provoking a UR. The NS becomes a CS, provoking the CR.

 – Positive and negative reinforcement both serve the purpose of increasing behavior, but through different methods. Positive stimuli is presented in positive reinforcement, while negative stimuli is increased or decreased depending on the intended result in negative reinforcement.

 – Discovered by Martin Seligman during his famous 

experiment using dogs, animals can be conditioned into complete helplessness.

Weighted at a staggering 13-17% of questions on the multiple choice section, learning about cognitive psychology is of utmost importance for the AP Psychology exam. Cognition is a mental process used to acquire and comprehend knowledge. This is done through sensations, perceptions, and empirical data.

 – Incorrect information is capable of influencing memories and even creating false (implanted) memories.

 – Events related to an individual’s life. Can be remembered by thinking of your life in terms of episodes.

 – Specific details about something, the 

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Unit 1

Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Unit 2

Biological Bases of Behavior

Unit 3

Sensation and Perception

Unit 4

Learning

Unit 5

Cognitive Psychology

Unit 6

Developmental Psychology

Unit 7

Motivation, Emotion, & Personality

Unit 8

Clinical Psychology

Unit 9

Social Psychology

Free Reviews 2020

Course Overview

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

Free Response Questions (FRQ)

Blogs

John Mohl

Jenni MacLean

Allison Powell

Megan Revello

Mary Valdez

Kris Clancy

Darin Roodman

Dalia Savy

Anika Allen

Ashley Rossi

Emily Pedrazzi

Sadiyya Holsey

John Le

Sumi Vora

Victoria Kendall

Madeline Shober

Skyler Basco

Michael Sandler

l elise