AP Psychology Unit 5 practice questions
Try 10 multiple-choice questions from Unit 5 here. Pick an answer to see why it's right or wrong, then take the timed test above for a full AP-style set.
Question 1
Source:Adapted from PloS one. Molina-Cantero et al. (2025). Evaluating the effectiveness of integrating biofeedback in the treatment of aggressive outbursts (BRET-IA2): A study protocol.
Researchers recruited 70 children and adolescents who experience aggressive episodes for a study on emotional regulation. All participants received therapy across three sessions where therapists deliberately provoked aggressive reactions using video clips of the participants' own outbursts recorded at home. During these sessions, physiological signals including heart rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance level were measured in real time. Half of the participants were randomly assigned to a control group that received standard therapy, while the other half were assigned to an intervention group that received the same therapy plus biofeedback training. Biofeedback training involved showing participants their own physiological responses on a display screen while they practiced relaxation techniques.
Group Number of Participants Received Biofeedback Training Control 35 No Intervention 35 Yes Which modification to the control group's condition would best address a primary threat to the study's internal validity?
Providing a sham display screen that shows simulated physiological data
Allowing participants to choose whether they want to practice relaxation
Using standardized video clips of other children displaying aggression
Eliminating the standard therapy component to isolate biofeedback effects
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Answer: (A)
Internal validity depends on ensuring that the independent variable (biofeedback) is the sole cause of changes in the dependent variable. Because the intervention group receives an additional physical component (a display screen), a sham screen for the control group is necessary to rule out the placebo effect or the impact of mere visual distraction.
Question 2
A health psychologist investigates the relationship between chronic work stress and cardiovascular health by recruiting 200 employees from a single large corporation. Participants complete a self-report stress questionnaire and provide blood pressure readings taken once during a company health screening. Analysis reveals a significant positive correlation (r = 0.44, p < .01) between stress scores and systolic blood pressure. The researcher concludes that workplace stress directly causes elevated blood pressure in employees. Which of the following best evaluates a limitation of this conclusion given the study's non-experimental design?
The correlational design cannot establish causality; reverse causality or unmeasured third variables such as caffeine consumption or sleep deprivation may explain the association.
The sample size of 200 is too small to detect meaningful relationships between stress and blood pressure in a working population.
Self-report stress measurement lacks reliability because employees may not accurately remember or report their stress levels.
The single blood pressure measurement cannot account for natural daily fluctuations, making it impossible to draw any conclusions about the stress-blood pressure relationship.
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Answer: (A)
Evaluating causal inference from correlational data requires recognizing that association does not imply direction or causation. The study measures both variables at one time point, making it impossible to determine whether stress causes blood pressure elevation, elevated blood pressure causes stress, or a third variable influences both. This directly addresses the fundamental limitation of correlational designs for establishing causality.
Question 3
Researchers study the relationship between sleep duration and immune function by recruiting 100 college students from a single introductory psychology course. Participants wear actigraphy devices to objectively measure sleep for two weeks and provide blood samples to assess immune markers. Analysis reveals a significant positive correlation (r = 0.41, p < .01) between sleep hours and immune function. Which design element most threatens the external validity of these findings?
Recruitment from a single introductory psychology course creates a convenience sample of college students, limiting generalizability to other age groups, populations, and educational contexts.
Recruitment from a single introductory psychology course creates a convenience sample of college students, limiting the internal validity by introducing selection bias that confounds the relationship between sleep and immune function.
Recruitment from a single introductory psychology course provides an adequate sample size of 100 students, but this number is insufficient to generalize findings to broader populations beyond this educational context.
Recruitment from a single introductory psychology course creates a homogeneous sample of college students, which strengthens generalizability by reducing variability and establishing clear population parameters for this demographic.
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Answer: (A)
Evaluating external validity requires identifying how sampling strategy constrains generalizability. Convenience sampling from one course produces a homogeneous sample (college students, likely similar age and socioeconomic status) that may not represent broader populations. Sleep-immune relationships may differ across age groups, health status, or occupational contexts, making it unclear whether findings apply beyond this specific sample.
Question 4
A health psychologist studies stress and cardiovascular health by recruiting 110 participants from a hospital cardiac rehabilitation program. Participants complete measures of perceived stress and life satisfaction, and researchers obtain medical records documenting blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and medication use. Analysis reveals that participants reporting higher stress show higher blood pressure and cholesterol (r = 0.46, p < .01). However, all participants have existing cardiovascular disease, and the researcher did not measure other health behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, or physical activity. Which validity concern most limits the generalizability of these findings?
Recruitment from a cardiac rehabilitation program creates a sample of individuals with existing cardiovascular disease, limiting generalizability to healthy populations or individuals with different disease types.
Recruitment from a cardiac rehabilitation program creates a sample of individuals with existing cardiovascular disease, limiting generalizability to other cardiac patient populations with different treatment histories.
The sample size of 110 participants from a cardiac rehabilitation program is insufficient for generalizing findings to healthy populations or individuals with different disease types.
Recruitment from a cardiac rehabilitation program creates a sample of individuals with existing cardiovascular disease, limiting the ability to establish causal relationships between stress and cardiovascular outcomes.
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Answer: (A)
Evaluating external validity requires identifying how sampling restricts the population to which findings generalize. Participants are selected based on having cardiovascular disease and being in rehabilitation, making them unrepresentative of the general population or even of individuals with other chronic conditions. Stress-cardiovascular relationships may differ in healthy individuals or those with different health conditions, limiting the applicability of findings beyond this specific clinical population.
Question 5
Researchers investigate coping strategies and stress outcomes in 30 individuals who experienced recent job loss by conducting in-depth interviews and analyzing narrative accounts of their coping experiences. Interviews are coded for problem-focused coping (seeking new employment, skill development) and emotion-focused coping (acceptance, seeking support). The researcher identifies that individuals using primarily emotion-focused coping report greater psychological adjustment. However, the researcher did not use member checking or have a second coder verify the coding. Which design element most threatens the credibility of these qualitative findings?
Lack of member checking and inter-rater reliability procedures threatens credibility because findings may reflect the researcher's interpretations rather than participants' actual experiences, and coding bias cannot be detected.
Lack of member checking and inter-rater reliability procedures threatens credibility because the researcher may have applied coding categories inconsistently across the 30 interviews due to fatigue or drift in interpretation standards.
Lack of member checking and inter-rater reliability procedures threatens transferability because findings may reflect the researcher's interpretations rather than participants' actual experiences, limiting generalization to other job loss contexts.
Conducting only a single interview session with each participant threatens credibility because findings may reflect the researcher's interpretations rather than participants' actual experiences, and coding bias cannot be detected.
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Answer: (A)
Trustworthiness in qualitative research depends on procedures that verify interpretations and reduce researcher bias. Member checking lets participants confirm findings match their experiences, and inter-rater reliability lets a second coder confirm codes are applied consistently; without either, the reported link between emotion-focused coping and adjustment could simply reflect the researcher's own biased reading of the narratives rather than what participants actually experienced.
Question 6
A health psychologist interviews 20 adults after major stressors, codes coping from transcripts (inter-rater reliability = 0.87), and has participants complete a stress symptom questionnaire. Those reporting more problem-focused coping report fewer symptoms. Which design element most threatens the internal validity of this conclusion?
Concurrent measurement prevents establishing temporal precedence and causal direction.
Small sample size limits generalizability and reduces statistical power.
Inter-rater reliability of 0.87 indicates consistent coding and is not primary threat.
Self-reported symptoms risk reporting bias but do not fix temporal ambiguity.
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Answer: (A)
Measuring coping and symptoms at the same time leaves the causal order unknown so causality cannot be inferred. Participants with fewer symptoms might engage more problem-focused coping or the coping could reduce symptoms.
Question 7
A researcher observes stress behaviors in 25 patients waiting for medical appointments. Two observers independently code behavior with inter-rater reliability of 0.91. Patients know they are being observed and sometimes minimize stress displays. Which design modification best reduces reactivity while preserving naturalistic observation?
Use habituation sessions and unobtrusive video recording during waiting room observations.
Move observations to a laboratory where stress can be standardized and controlled.
Use self-report questionnaires about appointment stress instead of behavioral observation.
Increase the sample to 50 to improve power while not addressing reactivity.
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Answer: (A)
Habituation lowers participants' awareness and unobtrusive video removes visible observer presence. Both methods preserve the real waiting room context while reducing reactivity and demand characteristics.
Question 8
A clinical health psychologist administers a pain severity scale (0–100) to 10 patients with chronic back pain before and after cognitive-behavioral therapy. Pre-treatment scores range from 45 to 92 with a mean of 68. Post-treatment scores range from 22 to 58 with a mean of 38. What does the change in range suggest about the treatment's effect on pain variability across the patient population?
Treatment reduced both average pain and the spread of pain scores, indicating more consistent pain management across patients
Treatment reduced the spread of pain scores, indicating that patients with higher initial pain levels experienced greater improvement than those with lower initial pain
Treatment reduced average pain from 68 to 38, indicating more consistent pain management across patients
Treatment reduced both average pain and the spread of pain scores, indicating that all patients experienced approximately equal reductions in pain severity
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Answer: (A)
Comparing ranges: pre-treatment range is 47 (92–45), post-treatment range is 36 (58–22). The reduction in range indicates that patients' pain scores became more clustered together after therapy, suggesting that cognitive-behavioral coping strategies produced more uniform pain reduction. This demonstrates how health psychology interventions address physical health by standardizing outcomes.
Question 9
A wellness program tracks sleep duration (in hours) for 15 employees over one week: 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10. What is the mode of sleep duration, and what does this indicate about the typical sleep pattern in this workplace?
7 hours; most employees achieved the recommended sleep duration for cognitive and physical health
7 hours; most employees met the minimum acceptable sleep duration for maintaining basic health
7 hours; the middle value of sleep duration indicates employees achieved balanced sleep patterns for health
7 hours; most employees obtained insufficient sleep duration for optimal workplace cognitive performance
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Answer: (A)
The value 7 appears five times, more than any other value, making it the mode. Since 7 hours falls within the commonly recommended range for adult sleep, this shows that most employees typically achieved a healthy amount of sleep.
Question 10
A health psychologist tracks physical activity levels (minutes per week) in 16 adults participating in a wellness program: 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, 120, 120, 135, 150, 150, 150, 165, 180, 195, 210, 225. What is the range of physical activity, and what does this suggest about adherence variability to the wellness program?
180 minutes per week; participants show highly variable adherence, from minimal to substantial exercise engagement
165 minutes per week; participants show highly variable adherence, from minimal to substantial exercise engagement
180 minutes per week; participants show consistent adherence, with most engaging in moderate levels of exercise
180 minutes per week; this represents the average activity level, suggesting typical adherence to the program
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Answer: (A)
Range = 225 − 45 = 180 minutes. This large range indicates that some participants exercise minimally while others engage substantially, reflecting diverse adherence levels. In health psychology, this variability is clinically important because physical activity directly influences cardiovascular health, stress resilience, and immune function—outcomes that vary based on exercise engagement.
What's on the AP Psychology Unit 5 practice test
The standard version takes about 94 minutes and follows the timing and directions of the AP exam, sized to one unit:
- 20 Multiple Choice Questions (24 minutes)
- 1 FRQ – FRQ 1 – Article Analysis Question (AAQ) (35 minutes)
- 1 FRQ – FRQ 2 – Evidence Based Question (EBQ) (35 minutes)
Questions are drawn from 2836 multiple-choice questions and 36 FRQs written for Unit 5, Mental and Physical Health.
Practice AP Psychology Unit 5 FRQs
Answer the unit's free-response questions one at a time and get a score on every part.
- FRQ 1 – Article Analysis Question (AAQ) (16 questions)
- FRQ 2 – Evidence Based Question (EBQ) (20 questions)
Review Unit 5 before you start
- 5.1 Introduction to Health Psychology
- 5.2 Positive Psychology
- 5.3 Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders
- 5.4 Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders
- 5.5 Treatment of Psychological Disorders