AP Psychology FRQ Practice

🧠AP Psychology

Practice FRQ 1 of 211/21

Using the source provided, respond to all parts of the question.

1. Your response to the question should be provided in six parts: A, B, C, D, E, and F. Write the response to each part of the question in complete sentences. Use appropriate psychological terminology in your response.

A. Identify the research method used in the study.

B. State the operational definition of motor reaction speed in the study.

C. Describe what the mean indicates for the reaction time between the Total Deprivation Group and the Control Group.

D. Identify at least one ethical guideline applied by the researchers.

E. Explain the extent to which the research findings may or may not be generalizable using specific and relevant evidence from the study.

F. Explain how the research findings support or refute the restorative theory of sleep.

Introduction

AI generated

This study investigated whether reducing or eliminating sleep the night before testing would impair participants' ability to respond quickly to visual stimuli. The research was designed to test predictions derived from the Restorative Theory of Sleep, which posits that sleep serves a critical biological function in restoring neural and cognitive resources depleted during waking hours.

Total N: 90
Recruitment: Participants were recruited from the introductory psychology research pool at a large Midwestern public university during the Fall 2022 semester.
Gender: 51.1% women (n = 46), 46.7% men (n = 42), 2.2% non-binary or other gender identity (n = 2)
Race/Ethnicity: 64.4% White (n = 58), 17.8% Asian (n = 16), 8.9% Black or African American¹ (n = 8), 6.7% Hispanic or Latino (n = 6), 2.2% multiracial or other (n = 2)
Age Range: 18-24 years
Age Mean: 19.8
Age SD: 1.4
Compensation: Participants received 2 hours of research credit toward their introductory psychology course requirement and a $15 gift card for completing the overnight portion of the study.

A standardized sleep laboratory with individual sleeping rooms equipped with beds, blackout curtains, and temperature control set to 68°F
A desktop computer running PsychoPy software (version 2022.2.4) to present visual stimuli and record reaction times with millisecond precision
A standard computer keyboard with a designated response key (spacebar) for participant responses
A bright yellow circle (5 cm diameter) presented on a black background as the visual stimulus
Actigraphy wristbands to verify participants' sleep duration during the experimental night
The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) administered pre-screening to exclude participants with existing sleep disorders

Prior to participation, all individuals completed an informed consent process in which researchers explained the study procedures, potential risks of sleep deprivation (including fatigue and temporary cognitive impairment), the voluntary nature of participation, and their right to withdraw at any time without penalty. Participants signed the consent form before any data collection began.
Participants completed a pre-screening questionnaire that included the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and questions about caffeine use, sleep disorders, and current medications. Those with scores indicating excessive daytime sleepiness (ESS > 10) or who reported diagnosed sleep disorders were excluded from participation.
Eligible participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions using a computer-generated randomization sequence: the Control Group (n = 30), the Partial Deprivation Group (n = 30), or the Total Deprivation Group (n = 30).
All participants arrived at the sleep laboratory at 9:00 PM on the evening of testing. They were instructed to abstain from caffeine and alcohol for 24 hours prior to arrival, which was verified through self-report.
Control Group participants were permitted to sleep for 8 hours in the sleep lab (11:00 PM to 7:00 AM). Partial Deprivation Group participants remained awake in a comfortable lounge area with access to books, magazines, and board games until 3:00 AM, then slept for 4 hours (3:00 AM to 7:00 AM). Total Deprivation Group participants were kept awake for the entire night (0 hours of sleep) under continuous supervision by research assistants who engaged them in low-stimulation activities.
At 8:00 AM, all participants consumed a standardized light breakfast and were given 30 minutes to prepare for testing. No caffeine was provided.
At 8:30 AM, participants completed the reaction time task. They were seated 60 cm from the computer monitor and instructed to press the spacebar as quickly as possible each time the yellow circle appeared on the screen. The task consisted of 50 trials with randomized inter-stimulus intervals² ranging from 2 to 5 seconds to prevent anticipatory responses.
Reaction time was recorded in milliseconds (ms) from stimulus onset to key press for each trial. Responses faster than 100 ms were classified as anticipatory errors and excluded from analysis, and responses slower than 1500 ms were classified as lapses.
Following testing, all participants were debriefed about the study hypotheses and provided with a comfortable space to rest before leaving the laboratory. Participants in the deprivation conditions were advised not to drive and were offered transportation home.

Control Group: Participants slept for 8 hours (11:00 PM to 7:00 AM) in the sleep lab under normal conditions.

Partial Deprivation Group: Participants slept for 4 hours (3:00 AM to 7:00 AM) in the sleep lab after remaining awake during the early night hours.

Total Deprivation Group: Participants were kept awake for the entire night (0 hours of sleep) under continuous supervision by research staff.

Reaction time was operationally defined as the duration in milliseconds (ms) between the onset of a visual stimulus (yellow circle appearing on the computer screen) and the participant's key press response (pressing the spacebar). For each participant, the mean reaction time was calculated across all 50 valid trials, excluding anticipatory responses (< 100 ms) and lapses (> 1500 ms).

Informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to their involvement in the study. The consent process included a detailed explanation of the study procedures, potential risks associated with sleep deprivation (such as fatigue, irritability, and temporary cognitive impairment), the voluntary nature of participation, and participants' right to withdraw from the study at any time without penalty or loss of compensation.

The results revealed a clear pattern: as sleep duration decreased, reaction times increased substantially. Participants in the Control Group (8 hours of sleep) demonstrated the fastest mean reaction time at 247.3 ms, while the Partial Deprivation Group (4 hours of sleep) showed a 51.3 ms increase with a mean of 298.6 ms. The Total Deprivation Group (0 hours of sleep) exhibited the slowest performance with a mean reaction time of 364.2 ms—representing a 116.9 ms increase compared to well-rested participants. Additionally, the percentage of lapse trials increased dramatically from 1.2% in the Control Group to 11.3% in the Total Deprivation Group, indicating that sleep-deprived participants experienced more frequent attentional failures during the task.

Control Group (8 hours sleep)	Partial Deprivation Group (4 hours sleep)	Total Deprivation Group (0 hours sleep)
Mean Reaction Time (ms)	247.3	298.6	364.2
Standard Deviation (ms)	32.1	45.8	71.4
Percentage of Lapse Trials (> 1500 ms)	1.2%	4.7%	11.3%
Mean Self-Reported Fatigue (1-10 scale)	2.8	5.4	8.1

These findings demonstrate that sleep deprivation significantly impairs motor reaction speed and increases response variability, with greater sleep loss producing more pronounced deficits in performance. The results provide strong support for the Restorative Theory of Sleep, which proposes that sleep is essential for restoring cognitive and neural resources that become depleted during periods of wakefulness. According to this theory, the accumulation of adenosine and other metabolic byproducts during waking hours impairs neural processing efficiency, and sleep allows the brain to clear these substances and restore optimal functioning. The progressive decline in reaction time performance observed across conditions—from full sleep to partial deprivation to total deprivation—is consistent with the prediction that longer periods without sleep result in greater depletion of neural resources and correspondingly greater impairment in cognitive-motor performance.

Thornton, R. M., Chen, A. L., & Balderas, J. F. (2023). Sleep deprivation and psychomotor vigilance: Evidence for restorative neural mechanisms in reaction time performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Performance and Cognition, 49(3), 412-428. https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001087

1. Demographic categories for race and ethnicity were based on participant self-identification using categories consistent with current NIH reporting standards. The terminology used reflects the language provided by participants and standard classifications in psychological research at the time of data collection.

2. Inter-stimulus interval (ISI) refers to the duration of time between the end of one stimulus presentation and the beginning of the next. Randomizing the ISI prevents participants from predicting when the next stimulus will appear, ensuring that measured reaction times reflect genuine perceptual-motor processing rather than anticipatory timing strategies.