AP Psychology Review

AP Psychology Review

Success on the AP Psychology Exam • Knowledge • Need to know the material of a typical Introduction to Psychology course at the college level. • Typical college course meets for 15 weeks, 3 times a week for 45 class hours. • Textbooks • Weiten Text: 714 pages • Gleitman Text: 720 pages • Bernstein Text: 627 pages • Myers Text: 794 pages

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 is the test scored? • How are the questions arranged?

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.

Success on the AP Psychology Exam

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

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 2-4% Research Methods & Appraoches 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%

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

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

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 • 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? • No! There is no penalty for guessing • Lose 1 point if the question is left blank

General Tips for Test Taking Section I: Multiple Choice __________ X 1.000 = __________ Number Correct Weighted (out of 100) Section I Score (Do not round)

General Tips for Test Taking Section II: Free Response Question 1 ______ x 3.1250 = __________ (Out of 8) (Do not round) Question 2 ______ x 3.1250 = __________ (Out of 8) (Do not round) Sum = ___________ Weighted Section II Score (Do not round) Note: The multiplier can change dependent on how many points each question is worth in a given year.

General Tips for Test Taking Composite Score _____________ + ___________ = _______________ Weighted Weighted Composite Score Section 1 Score Section 2 Score (Round to nearest whole number)

General Tips for Test Taking Section I: Multiple Choice _____ X 1.000 = __________ Number CorrectWeighted Section 1 Score Notes: If any questions are thrown out the multiplier will change to reflect that adjustment. (e.g., 1.000 may change to 1.012, etc.) 69 69

General Tips for Test Taking Composite Score ______________ + ___________ = _______________ Weighted Weighted Composite Score Section 1 Score Section 2 Score (Round to nearest whole number) 69.00

General Tips for Test Taking 18.75 Section II: Free Response Question 1 ______ x 3.1250 = __________ (Out of 8) (Do not round) Question 2 ______ x 3.1250 = __________ (Out of 8) (Do not round) Sum = ___________ Weighted Section II Score (Do not round) 6 18.75 6 33.75

General Tips for Test Taking Composite Score ______________ + ___________ = _______________ Multiple Choice Free Response Composite Score Score Score AP Score = 4 (see conversion chart on next slide) 69.00 33.75 102.75

General Tips for Test Taking AP Score Conversion Chart Psychology Composite Score Range AP Score 107-150 5 90-106 4 73-89 3 56-72 2 0-55 1

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 (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 • Are charts, graphs, drawings, etc. on the test? • Are there names on the test?

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 progress from easiest questions to hardest questions.

General Tips for Test Taking • Ask questions if you can • Unless it is explicitly forbidden, don't hesitate to ask the examiner to clarify a question when necessary. Many examiners will graciously provide a great deal of useful information. • AP Psychology test: You cannot ask any 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 on the scantron • If you were unsure of some answers, go back and reconsider them. • Change answers only if you are fairly SURE your first answer is incorrect.

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 Always read each question completely. Continue reading answer choices even if you find your anticipated answer among the options. There may be a better answer farther down the list.

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)

AP Psychology Review