AP Psychology Review

AP Psychology Review

Success on the AP Psychology Exam • Understanding of the AP Psychology Test • Knowing the basic elements of the AP Psychology test including: • Number of questions in the total test • Number of questions from each individual unit • Types of questions possible • How the questions are arranged? • How is the test scored? • Penalty for guessing

Success on the AP Psychology Exam • Motivation • Drive to do well on the test • Reasons for a 5 • Time/Work • Willingness to put in the time and effort needed to succeed • Confidence • Feeling you are prepared and have the skills needed to pass the test.

Test Taking Strategies • General Tips for Test Taking • Multiple Choice Section • Free Response Questions (FRQ)

General Tips for Test Taking • Know the structure of the test • Multiple Choice Section - 100 questions • A-E • Column format • Questions taken from every unit on a percentage basis

AP Psychology Exam Structure History and Approaches 2-4% Research Methods 8-10% Biological Bases of Behavior 8-10% Sensation and Perception 6-8% States of Consciousness 2-4% Learning 7-9% Cognition 8-10% Motivation and Emotion 6-8% Developmental Psychology 7-9% Personality 5-7% Testing and Individual Differences 5-7% Abnormal Psychology 7-9% Treatment of Psychological Disorders 5-7% Social Psychology 8-10%

AP Psychology Exam Structure Research Methods 8-10% Biological Bases of Behavior 8-10% Cognition 8-10% Social Psychology 8-10% Abnormal Psychology 7-9% Developmental Psychology 7-9% Learning 7-9% Motivation and Emotion 6-8% Sensation and Perception 6-8% Personality 5-7% Testing and Individual Differences 5-7% Treatment of Psychological Disorders 5-7% History and Approaches 2-4% States of Consciousness 2-4%

AP Psychology Exam Structure History, Approaches and Research Methods 10-14% Biological Bases of Behavior 8-10% Cognition 8-10% Social Psychology 8-10% Abnormal Psychology 7-9% Developmental Psychology 7-9% Learning 7-9% Motivation and Emotion 6-8% Sensation and Perception 6-8% Personality 5-7% Testing and Individual Differences 5-7% Treatment of Psychological Disorders 5-7% States of Consciousness 2-4%

General Tips for Test Taking • Make good use of your time and be aware of time restraints • Multiple Choice - 70 minutes (100 questions) • Free Response - 50 minutes (2 questions) • Bring a watch to the test • Directions on exam (see next slide)

General Tips for Test Taking • Know the structure of the test • Free Response Section - 2 questions • No choice • Multiple parts

General Tips for Test Taking • Make good use of your time and know your time restraints • “Use your time effectively, working as quickly as you can without losing accuracy. Do not spend too much time on any one question. Go on to other questions and come back to the ones you have not answered if you have time. It is not expected that everyone will know the answers to all of the multiple-choice questions.”

General Tips for Test Taking • Read the directions carefully • “Mark the one best answer” • “Mark all correct answers” • AP Psychology test says: • “Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five suggested answers or completions. Select the one that is best in each case and then fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.”

General Tips for Test Taking • Know how the test is graded • Multiple Choice • 2/3 of overall grade • 100 Points • Free Response • 1/3 of overall grade • 50 Points • 150 Total Points

General Tips for Test Taking • Is there an adjustment for guessing? • 1 point off for each incorrect answer… NO • 1 point off if the question is left blank… NO

General Tips for Test Taking • Don’t waste time with extremely difficult questions • Don't waste time pondering difficult-to-answer questions excessively. If you have no idea at all, just guess since there is no penalty for doing so and go on. If you need to devote a good deal of time to the question, skip it, and mark it so you can return to it later if time permits.

General Tips for Test Taking • Keep to the level of the test • Adopt the appropriate level of sophistication for the test. Don't read things into questions. Sometimes students make things more complex that they were intended to be. Often, simple-looking questions are just what they appear to be. • AP Psychology test appears to go from easiest questions to the hardest questions.

General Tips for Test Taking • If possible, review your answers • If you complete all of the questions and still have some time remaining, review the test. Make sure that you have recorded your answers correctly, especially when using a scanner sheet. If you were unsure of some answers, go back and reconsider them.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Multiple Choice Question Structure Stem 1.Which of the following is responsible for focusing the image on the retina? Decoys/distracters A. cornea B. optic nerve C. rods D. cones Correct Answer E. lens

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Anticipate the answer As you read the stem of each multiple choice question, anticipate the answer if you can, before looking at the options. If the answer you anticipated is among the options, it is likely to be the correct one.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Anticipate the answer When Shelly first had cable television service installed, Public Broadcasting (PBS) was on channel 9. Her cable company then switched PBS to channel 16. Shelly now has trouble remembering that PBS is on channel 16 and not on channel 9. This memory problem represents (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #86)

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Anticipate the answer When Shelly first had cable television service installed, Public Broadcasting (PBS) was on channel 9. Her cable company then switched PBS to channel 16. Shelly now has trouble remembering that PBS is on channel 16 and not on channel 9. This memory problem represents (A) memory decay (B) retrograde amnesia (C) reconstruction errors (D) retroactive interference (E) proactive interference (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #86)

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Completely read each question and every answer Which of the following is evidence of the reliability of a new intelligence test? (A) A correlation of +0.90 exists between scores on the new test and scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children. (B) The test predicts students’ ability to succeed in college. (C) The correlation between scores for identical twins taking the test is +0.90. (D) Baseline data for test norming are obtained from a diverse sample of several thousand participants. (E) The correlation between scores of participants who take two forms of the test is +0.90. (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #70)

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Re-phrase complicated questions If the question is too complex try to re-phrase it into a form you can understand. “In their deliberations and discussions regarding the process of developmental maturation, the advocates of the importance of nurture in the nature/nurture controversy emphasize which of the following concepts?” Which of the following do those who believe in nurture believe?

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Completely read each question and every answer Always read each question completely. Continue reading even if you find your anticipated answer among the options. There may be a more complete option farther down the list.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Stick to the subject matter Watch for answers that have nothing to do with the subject matter of the course or have nothing to do with the subject matter of the particular unit the question is testing.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Stick to the subject matter Alfred Binet’s most important contribution to psychology was in the area of (A) intelligence testing (B) visual perception (C) psychopathology (D) comparative psychology (E) classical conditioning (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #34)

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Watch for help Look for answers or help within other questions of the test.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Watch for help Which of the following theoretical frameworks would argue most strongly that a healthy child will choose what is good for his or her growth? (A) Social learning theory (B) Psychoanalytic (C) Behavioral (D) Humanistic (E) Psychodynamic (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #05)

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Watch for help The humanistic perspective in psychology suggests that (A) most behavior can be explained by operant conditioning principles (B) all humans have peak experiences (C) all humans are by nature good (D) humans are doomed to a life of neurosis and suffering (E) self-actualization can happen only through therapy (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #49)

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Use “all of the above” to your advantage On items that have "all of the above" as an option, if you know that just two of the options are correct, you should choose "all of the above." If you are confident that one of the options is incorrect, you should eliminate this option and "all of the above" and choose from the remaining options. AP Psychology exam has not had any “all of the above” or “none of the above” questions

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Use qualifiers and 100% words Qualifiers: often, sometimes, perhaps, may, generally, some, seldom, usually, ordinarily, etc. Options that use qualifiers tend to be correct. 100% words: never, none, no, every, always, all, only, entirely, necessarily, completely, totally, etc. Options that represent broad, sweeping generalizations tend to be incorrect.

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Use flaws within the test to your advantage Many writers of test questions make mistakes that you can use to help determine the correct answer.

Common Flaws in Multiple Choice Items Flaw #1 - The incorrect options are highly implausible Flaw #2 - Equivalence and/or contradictions among options allow one to eliminate the incorrect options. Flaw #3 - Content information in other items provides the answer. Flaw #4 - The correct option is more detailed and/or more specific than all the other options. Flaw #5 - The correct option is longer than all the other options. Flaw #6 - There is grammatical inconsistency between the stem and the incorrect options but not the correct option. Flaw #7 - The incorrect options include certain key words that tend to appear in false statements (i.e. always, must, never, and so on). Flaw #8 - There is a resemblance between the stem and correct option but not the incorrect options.

Common Flaws in Multiple Choice Items • Flaw #1 • The incorrect options are highly implausible The part of the brain responsible for higher order thinking is the: A. cerebrum B. pupil C. repression D. pituitary gland E. mania

Common Flaws in Multiple Choice Items • Flaw #2 • Equivalence and/or contradictions among options allow one to eliminate the incorrect options. Which of the following is a anxiety disorder? A. manic depression B. bipolar disorder C. phobia D. dissociative amnesia E. psychogenic amnesia

Common Flaws in Multiple Choice Items • Flaw #3 • Content information in other items provides the answer. • Flaw #4 • The correct option is more detailed and/or more specific than all the other options. • Flaw #5 • The correct option is longer than all the other options.

Common Flaws in Multiple Choice Items • Flaw #6 • There is grammatical inconsistency between the stem and the incorrect options but not the correct option. • Flaw #7 • The incorrect options include certain key words that tend to appear in false statements (i.e. always, must, never, and so on).

Common Flaws in Multiple Choice Items • Flaw #8 • There is a resemblance between the stem and correct option but not the incorrect options. Skinner and the other behaviorists would promote which of the following therapies? A. psychoanalysis B. humanistic therapy C. behavioral therapy D. Gestalt therapy E. cognitive therapy

Tips for Multiple Choice Questions Eliminate implausible answers A college student experiences a lost of sensation in her right arm before exams. Doctors can find no physiological basis for her condition. This student is most likely experiencing which of the following kinds of disorders? (A) Somatoform (B) Dissociative (C) Anxiety (D) Mood (E) Personality (AP Psychology Exam 2004 #64)

Free Response Question 2009 #1 1. Dimitri and Linda are trying to learn a new routine to compete successfully in a dance competition. Give an example of how each of the following could affect their performance. Definitions without application do not score. • Extrinsic motivation • Punishment • Proactive interference • Endorphins • Vestibular system • Divergent thinking • Introversion

Free Response Question 2009 #2 2. James is in a driver’s education course preparing to take his driving test. The course includes both book work and driving on the road to prepare students for a written test and a road test. (a) Describe how each of the following might influence his ability to drive a car during the road test. Definitions without application do not score. • Cognitive map • Cerebellum • Observational learning • Human factors (b) Describe how each of the following are related to the results of the written test. Definitions without application do not score. • Reticular formation • Predictive validity • Semantic memory

Free Response Section Test Structure • 2 Free Response (Essay) Questions • Required to do both

AP Psychology Review