Practice Test 1

Section I

The Exam

AP® Psychology Exam

SECTION I: Multiple-Choice Questions

DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

Instructions

Section I of this exam contains 100 multiple-choice questions. Fill in only the ovals for
At a Glance numbers 1 through 100 on your answer sheet.

Total Time Indicate all of your answers to the multiple-choice questions on the answer sheet. No credit
1 hour and ten minutes will be given for anything written in this exam booklet, but you may use the booklet for notes
Number of Questions or scratch work. After you have decided which of the suggested answers is best, completely
100 fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet. Give only one answer to each question. If
Percent of Total Grade you change an answer, be sure that the previous mark is erased completely. Here is a sample
66 2/3% question and answer.
Writing Instrument
Sample
Pencil required Question Sample Answer

Omaha is a A B C D E
(A) state
(B) city
(C) country
(D) continent
(E) village

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.

About Guessing

Many candidates wonder whether or not to guess the answers to questions about which
they are not certain. Multiple-choice scores are based on the number of questions answered
correctly. Points are not deducted for incorrect answers, and no points are awarded for
unanswered questions. Because points are not deducted for incorrect answers, you are
encouraged to answer all multiple-choice questions. On any questions you do not know the
answer to, you should eliminate as many choices as you can, and then select the best answer
among the remaining choices.

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 Section I

PSYCHOLOGY
Section I
Time—1 hour and 10 minutes
100 Questions

Directions: Each of the questions or incomplete statements below is followed by five answer choices. Select the one that is best in
each case and then completely fill in the corresponding oval on the answer sheet.
1. Areas of the brain that are damaged are referred to as 5. Every time you buy ice cream from the Yellow Brick
having Road ice cream parlor, you get your over-the-rainbow
card stamped. Once you purchase ten items, you get
(A) brain lesions
your next item free. The Yellow Brick Road ice cream
(B) hemispheres
parlor has you on which of the following reinforcement
(C) brain lobes
schedules?
(D) cortical adhesions
(E) basal ganglia (A) Variable-ratio
(B) Variable-interval
2. The scientific investigation of mental processes and (C) Fixed-ratio
behavior is called (D) Fixed-interval
(E) Continuous
(A) biology
(B) psychology
6. Which of the following neurotransmitters is most
(C) cognition
explicitly associated with the experience of pleasure?
(D) scientific method
(E) research (A) GABA
(B) Acetylcholine
3. Which of the following types of scientists were the first to (C) Serotonin
contend that an individual’s ways of thinking are shaped (D) Dopamine
primarily by cultural values and ideas? (E) Adrenaline

(A) Structuralists
7. A psychologist, wishing to study the behavior of
(B) Ethologists
prisoners, arranges to dress as a prison guard so that
(C) Sociobiologists
he can stand in the recreation area and unobtrusively
(D) Behaviorists
study the actions and interactions of the inmates. The
(E) Anthropologists
psychologist is employing which of the following
research tools?
4. Which of the following is the best example of an
attribute that is culturally-based rather than primarily (A) Quasi-experimental
psychologically-based? (B) Naturalistic observation
(C) Correlational research
(A) Caring for one’s children (D) Random sampling
(B) Arriving on time for work (E) Case study
(C) Having the desire to reproduce
(D) Seeking food and water
(E) Smiling

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 Section I

8. An educational psychologist is administering a basic 12. The minimum amount of physical energy needed for a
skills exam to second-graders of two different schools person to notice a stimulus is called a(n)
in order to compare the students’ performance. The
(A) JND
researcher administers the exam to the students of the
(B) difference threshold
Antrim School on a Wednesday morning and then
(C) absolute threshold
administers the same exam in exactly the same fashion on
(D) median difference
that same Wednesday afternoon to the second-graders of
(E) hit threshold
the Barton School. Which of the following best identifies
a confounding variable in the psychologist’s research?
13. An individual with brain lesions in the hippocampus will
(A) The psychologist is comparing two different most likely experience impairment to her
schools.
(B) The psychologist is comparing the same grade in (A) emotional regulation
each school. (B) motor coordination
(C) The psychologist is testing the students in the two (C) speech production
schools at two different times. (D) learning
(D) The psychologist is testing the students in the two (E) perception
schools on the same day.
(E) The psychologist is administering a basic skills 14. A person who sustains major injuries that involve the
exam. destruction of the medulla oblongata will
(A) be paralyzed
9. The primary research method used by developmental (B) fall into a coma
psychologists is (C) suffer severe speech impairment
(A) case study (D) experience total loss of vision
(B) cross-sectional research (E) die
(C) naturalistic observation
(D) experimentation 15. In a crisis, the adrenal glands of the body secrete
(E) correlational research “emergency” hormones, while the body prepares for
fight-or-flight, directed by
10. Narcotics work because they are chemically very similar (A) the central nervous system
to (B) the somatic nervous system
(A) endorphins (C) the sensorimotor nervous system
(B) hormones (D) the sympathetic nervous system
(C) secretions (E) the parasympathetic nervous system
(D) GABA
(E) acetylcholine

11. Research indicates that a test participant exposed to a list

of positive words and then asked to recall the words from
that list a week later will be more likely to remember
those words if he
(A) is tested by a researcher who deliberately exhibits a
positive attitude
(B) is in a positive mood when initially exposed to the
words
(C) considers himself a “positive” person, regardless of
his mood during the experience
(D) considers the initial testing experience positive
(E) perceives the list of words as positive, regardless of
the true meaning of the words

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Practice Test 1 | 13
 Section I

16. In the Harlow study of emotional attachment, infant Questions 18-19 refer to the situation described below.
monkeys were placed in a cage and given both a “wire”
mother and a “cloth” mother. Researchers then moved
A researcher wished to study the impact of classical music on
a bottle of milk from one mother to the other while
memory in children. She therefore randomly selected two groups
introducing various stimuli to see if the monkeys would
of children. One group was asked to read and later to recall lists
form an attachment to either of the “mothers.” In this
of words while soft classical music played in the background. The
experiment, the independent variable is
second group was asked to read and recall lists of words with no
(A) with which “mother” the bottle of milk is placed background music playing.
(B) the “wire” mother versus the “cloth” mother
(C) the preference of the infants for the source of milk 18. The control group in this experiment is the group that
(D) the preference of the infants for the “wire” mother
(E) the preference of the infants for the “cloth” mother (A) the researcher expected to demonstrate greater
memory
(B) demonstrated greater memory through recalling
17. As an experiment, a group of newborn kittens was
more words
allowed to see through only one eye at a time. Each day
(C) demonstrated lesser memory through recalling
one of the eyes would be covered, switching between the
fewer words
two eyes on subsequent days. Which of the following best
(D) read the lists of words while classical music played
describes the visual limitations experienced by these cats
in the background
as adults?
(E) read the lists of words with no background music
(A) They were unable to make use of interposition depth playing
perception.
(B) They were unable to maintain perceptual constancy. 19. The dependent variable in this experiment is the
(C) They were unable to distinguish left from right
monocular cues. (A) number of words recalled by the children
(D) They were unable to use binocular cues for depth (B) amount of time each child needs to recall the words
perception. (C) amount of music each child can recall
(E) They were unable to extinguish their visual blind (D) classical music playing in the background
spot. (E) lack of classical music playing in the background

20. Students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder (ADHD) are four to nine times more likely to be
(A) females than males
(B) males than females
(C) children than adults
(D) Caucasian children than African American children
(E) urban area children than rural area children

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21. Which of the following best summarizes the 25. A participant in a single-trial free-recall task is presented
psychoanalytic perspective’s view of behavior? with a list of words, one at a time, in the following order:
house, flower, dog, table, license, water, computer, salad.
(A) Behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces.
In accord with the serial position curve, which of the
(B) Behavior is a response to external reward and
following words is the participant most likely to forget?
punishment.
(C) Behavior is a product of genetic programming and (A) House
evolution. (B) Computer
(D) Behavior is a compilation of the ways in which (C) Flower
people think and interact. (D) Salad
(E) Behavior is each person’s striving to reach his or her (E) License
full potential.
26. The smallest units of meaning in a language are
22. Which of the following is the best example of a
(A) phonemes
categorical variable?
(B) phenotypes
(A) Intelligence (C) semantics
(B) Disposition (D) morphemes
(C) Optimism (E) syntactical rules
(D) Gender
(E) Personality 27. Which of the following psychological disorders is
characterized by an abnormally elevated or expansive
23. Donia was soaked by an unexpected cloudburst while mood?
walking to her car from the office. The fact that she failed
(A) Depression
to realize that the newspaper she was carrying would have
(B) Schizophrenia
made a great makeshift umbrella is an example of
(C) Euphoria
(A) confirmation bias (D) Dysthymia
(B) limited visualization (E) Mania
(C) functional fixedness
(D) conceptual constriction 28. During periods of darkness, the pineal gland in the
(E) negative variation middle of the brain produces which of the following
hormones that is essential to sleep regulation?
24. While driving to school, Elise hears about a concert
(A) Estrogen
ticket giveaway on the radio. She has to be the seventh
(B) Adrenaline
caller to win. While pulling over so that she can call in,
(C) Testosterone
she repeats the number to herself several times. Elise
(D) Melatonin
was using which of the following to remember the
(E) Dopamine
phone number?
(A) Iconic memory
(B) Elaborative rehearsal
(C) Chunking
(D) Maintenance rehearsal
(E) Retrieval

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Practice Test 1 | 15
 Section I

29. Jacob cries uncontrollably every time his mother takes 32. Which one of the following best states Ivan Pavlov’s
him down the candy isle in the supermarket and refuses accidental discovery?
to let him buy anything. Eventually, Jacob’s mother gives
(A) While experimenting with rats, Pavlov discovered
in and lets him choose one candy item to buy if he stops
that if he repeatedly placed pellets of food in one
crying. Jacob’s crying behavior is __________________
side of a “T-maze,” the rats would automatically
by his mother.
run to that side of the maze.
(A) punished (B) While experimenting with dogs, Pavlov discovered
(B) associated that once his dogs became accustomed to seeing
(C) reinforced and hearing the attendant who brought them food
(D) extinguished at mealtime, they would salivate in response to
(E) shaped the sight and sound of the attendant.
(C) While experimenting with cats, Pavlov discovered
30. Which of the following scientists was among the first that if he placed a hungry cat inside a box and
to study the relationship between reinforcement and food outside the box, the cat could “learn” to
learning? press a lever to open the door of the box.
(D) While experimenting with pigeons, Pavlov
(A) Sigmund Freud discovered that if he placed a pigeon in a box, he
(B) B. F. Skinner could condition it to recognize that if it pecked at
(C) Carl Rogers a particular key, it would receive a food pellet.
(D) Mary Ainsworth (E) While experimenting with dogs, Pavlov discovered
(E) Charles Darwin that if he fed the dogs the same type of food each
day, the dogs would salivate whenever they ate that
31. Jonathan’s IQ score is in the 97th percentile. Of the type of food.
following, which score is most likely his?
(A) 85 33. Grounding a child for two weeks after the child has
(B) 100 misbehaved is an example of
(C) 130 (A) avoidant attachment
(D) 150 (B) negative punishment
(E) 170 (C) compliance learning
(D) negative reinforcement
(E) attentional neglect

34. Which of the following best summarizes why people tend

to stay in a slightly elevated state of arousal after a crisis
has occurred?
(A) Their neurons remain in a state of graded
potentiality even after they have fired.
(B) Their neurons continue to keep the body in an alert
state.
(C) Their adrenal glands continue to secrete epinephrine
even after the crisis is over.
(D) Their parasympathetic nervous system remains in a
state of fight or flight.
(E) Their bloodstream continues to contain elevated
levels of adrenaline.

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35. Which of the following subsystems of the autonomic 40. The semicircular canals of the inner ear are important for
nervous system help the body return to ­“business-as- helping a person to maintain
usual” after an emergency?
(A) tone quality
(A) Somatic nervous system (B) melatonin
(B) Peripheral nervous system (C) balance
(C) Sympathetic nervous system (D) olfaction
(D) Parasympathetic nervous system (E) transduction
(E) Central nervous system
41. The ability to perceive your front door as a rectangle even
36. Tina is a very good student: Her grades are high, she is when it is open, displaying a different retinal image is
involved in extracurricular activities, and typically she known as
excels at anything she tries. Therefore, when she caused
(A) color constancy
an accident her second day of driver’s ed., her instructor
(B) closure
was shocked. The instructor’s disbelief is most probably a
(C) shape constancy
result of
(D) size constancy
(A) modeling (E) sensory adaptation
(B) accommodation
(C) a halo effect 42. Stimulation of norepinephrine receptors appears to
(D) convergence produce
(E) behavioral dissonance
(A) euphoria
(B) increased motor activity
37. Which of the following transduces visual images?
(C) alertness
(A) The cornea (D) anxiety
(B) The pupils (E) hypertension
(C) The cochlea
(D) The retina 43. Research using the visual cliff suggests that human
(E) The ossicles infants
(A) would go “over the cliff” if their mothers called
38. You enter a bakery and are delighted by the aroma. After
them
a short time, however, you no longer notice the odors
(B) had learned by experience in crawling to perceive
because of sensory
depth
(A) perception (C) were not able to use any visual depth cues
(B) adaptation (D) use monocular but not binocular cues for vision
(C) transduction (E) have innate depth perception at birth
(D) detection
(E) attrition

39. Carlotta is a well-adjusted, socially competent adolescent.

Which of the following most likely represents her
family’s parenting style?
(A) Minimal supervision
(B) Permissive
(C) Authoritarian
(D) Authoritative
(E) Indulgent

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Practice Test 1 | 17
 Section I

44. All of the following are conditions sanctioned by the APA 48. The study of cognitive, behavioral, and social changes
regarding the use of deception in a study EXCEPT across the life span are most directly studied by which of
the following?
(A) the research is of great importance and cannot be
conducted without the use of deception (A) Psychometricians
(B) participants are expected to find the procedures (B) Occupational psychologists
reasonable upon being informed of them (C) Developmental psychologists
(C) participants must be allowed to withdraw from the (D) Social psychologists
experiment at any time (E) Cognitive behaviorists
(D) the research must be conducted as a double-blind
study 49. One’s ability to make inferences about the behavior
(E) experimenters must debrief the participants after the of a population from the behavior of a sample of that
study is concluded population is referred to as
(A) reliability
45. The examination of the connection between mental states
(B) external validity
and physical states is referred to as
(C) internal validity
(A) tabula rasa (D) inter-rater reliability
(B) the mind-body problem (E) correlational statistical inference
(C) nature vs. nurture
(D) parallel processing 50. A study designed to investigate the friendship patterns
(E) correlational conditioning of abused children was conducted by filming the
interactions of the children and later having three raters
46. Which of the following best summarizes a view of view the footage and rate each child’s pattern of behavior
classical behaviorism? on a conflictual-behavior scale with values ranging from
“constant conflict” to “minimal conflict.” Which of the
(A) Behavior is under the control of external stimuli
following kinds of reliability is most critical to this study,
that either reinforce or punish actions, thereby
given the methodology used to measure the variables?
affecting the likelihood of the occurrence of these
behaviors. (A) Coefficient-alpha reliability
(B) Behavior can be controlled by introspection. (B) Alternate-forms reliability
(C) Behavior is the result of competing motives that (C) Inter-rater reliability
result from mental events that occur outside of (D) Test-retest reliability
one’s awareness. (E) Correlational statistical reliability
(D) Behavior is influenced by internal drives and
motivation. 51. Hunger and eating are primarily regulated by the
(E) Although behavior can be influenced by
environmental factors, most actions and reactions (A) somatosensory cortex
occur as a result of genetic inference. (B) hypothalamus
(C) medulla oblongata
(D) occipital lobes
47. To which perspective are the roles of knowledge,
(E) amygdala
information processing, and their interactions most
central?
52. The method of loci is a memory aid that employs which
(A) Psychoanalytic of the following?
(B) Cognitive
(C) Behaviorist (A) Semantic encoding
(D) Evolutionary (B) Visual imagery
(E) Biopsychological (C) Auditory cues
(D) Echoic memory
(E) Read, recite, review

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53. Which of the following are most directly designed to 58. Learned helplessness is an example of the power of
help determine whether the findings of a study reflect a
(A) expectation
truly replicable phenomenon rather than the outcomes of
(B) positive reinforcement
chance processes?
(C) negative reinforcement
(A) Inferential statistics (D) classical conditioning
(B) Descriptive statistics (E) prepared learning
(C) Standard deviation
(D) Extraneous variables 59. According to cognitive theorist Jean Piaget, children in
(E) Correlation coefficients which of the following stages of cognitive development
are egocentric, or unable to understand another person’s
54. In a sleep study, a researcher observes that the perspective?
participant’s eyes are beginning to dart as if he were
(A) Sensorimotor
watching a sporting event. The researcher notes that the
(B) Preoperational
participant has entered
(C) Concrete operational
(A) stage 3 sleep (D) Formal operational
(B) beta sleep (E) Preconventional
(C) REM sleep
(D) NREM sleep 60. Georgia works in the local hospital because she wishes to
(E) delta-wave sleep help others, while Kathy works in the hospital strictly to
make money. Their individual motivations demonstrate
55. The gland sometimes referred to as the “master gland,” the difference between
which regulates much of the action of the other endocrine
(A) primary and secondary drives
glands is called the
(B) positive and negative loci of control
(A) thyroid gland (C) sympathetic and autonomic motivation
(B) pancreas (D) instinctive and derived drives
(C) pituitary gland (E) intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
(D) adrenal gland
(E) lymph system 61. People who struggle with depression often have trouble
sleeping in part because of
56. The tendency of young children learning language to
(A) elevated endorphin levels
overuse the rules of syntax is referred to as
(B) decreased GABA levels
(A) overconfidence (C) depleted epinephrine levels
(B) confirmation bias (D) increased dopamine levels
(C) overgeneralization (E) low serotonin levels
(D) overjustification
(E) the two-factor theory 62. An emergency room employs four nurses. Sometimes,
all four are working. Other times, only two are working.
57. To demonstrate causation, a researcher must Regardless of how many nurses are working, it always
takes about two hours for them to prepare an emergency
(A) manipulate the way a participant responds to some
room for the day. Which concept best accounts for this
aspect of a situation
fact?
(B) operationalize dependent and independent variables
(C) develop a hypothesis that predicts the relationship (A) group polarization
between variables (B) role convergence
(D) show that the manipulation of one variable (C) social loafing
invariably leads to predicted changes in another (D) deindividuation
(E) demonstrate a positive rather than a negative (E) bystander effect
correlation between variables

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Practice Test 1 | 19
 Section I

63. Through reinforcement, pigeons are taught to peck at 68. Hunter, a high school senior, excels at music, art, reading,
paintings by a particular artist. The fact that pigeons do problem-solving, and soccer. Which of these strengths
not peck at the paintings of other artists represents most clearly demonstrates his fluid intelligence?
(A) modeling response (A) Music
(B) reflexive response (B) Art
(C) distinctive stimulus (C) Reading
(D) stimulus generalization (D) Problem-solving
(E) stimulus discrimination (E) Soccer

64. While browsing in a bookstore, Vhamala is drawn to a 69. In psychoanalytic theory, which of the following
particular book title. After a moment, she realizes that statements most accurately explains the purpose of
this book is one that a friend had been talking about at repression?
lunch the other day. The fact that Vhamala remembers
(A) It allows individuals to indirectly express their anger
that the book was mentioned at a recent lunch is an
toward others.
example of which of the following types of memory?
(B) It encourages clients to shift difficult feelings about
(A) Phonemic loved ones onto their therapists.
(B) Systemic (C) It is a means of dealing with thoughts that are very
(C) Semantic anxiety-provoking.
(D) Structural (D) It allows individuals to explain away acts to avoid
(E) Episodic uncomfortable feelings.
(E) It is an unconscious model that allows people to
65. The process of converting physical energy from the describe the way things work.
environment into neural impulses is known as
70. If genetic factors play an important role in the
(A) sensation
development of intelligence as measured by an IQ test,
(B) priming
then which of the following statements is most likely to
(C) transduction
be true?
(D) encoding
(E) detection (A) The IQ scores of parents and their offspring will be
more nearly alike than the IQ scores of fraternal
66. An experiment that presents participants with a twins reared together.
stimulus and then, at a later interval, presents them (B) The IQ scores of fraternal twins reared together
with incomplete perceptual information related to the will be more nearly alike than the IQ scores of
initial stimulus to see if they recognize the incomplete identical twins reared together.
information more quickly is most likely studying the (C) The IQ scores of fraternal twins reared together
effects of will be more nearly alike than the IQ scores of
identical twins reared apart.
(A) retroactivity (D) The IQ scores of fraternal twins will be equivalent
(B) mnemonic devices in similarity to the IQ scores of identical twins.
(C) declarative memory (E) The IQ scores of identical twins reared apart will be
(D) iconic memory more nearly alike than the IQ scores of fraternal
(E) priming twins reared together.

67. Alfred Binet was primarily concerned with

(A) discussing the role of genetics in levels of
intelligence
(B) measuring intelligence levels in children
(C) measuring personality in children
(D) measuring personality in adults
(E) showing how adult personality can be modified

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71. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include which of 75. Abraham Maslow proposed the idea that some motives
the following? are more imperative to survival than others. Which of the
following approaches expresses this?
(A) Visual hallucinations
(B) Auditory hallucinations (A) Homeostatic regulation
(C) Blunted emotional responses (B) Goal-setting
(D) Delusions (C) Expectancy-value
(E) Excessive motor activity (D) Cognitive dissonance
(E) Hierarchy of needs
72. A major contribution of Howard Gardner’s theory of
intelligence is that it 76. Which of the following is an example of a person who
suffers from anterograde amnesia?
(A) broadens the definition of intelligence
(B) adds substantial support to the accuracy of the IQ (A) A six-year-old child who can’t remember events
test related to her second birthday party
(C) relates the Gf-Gc theory of intelligence with (B) A twenty-year-old woman who can’t remember
environmental factors the details of a traumatic event that occurred six
(D) simplifies the ways in which intelligence is months ago
measured (C) A thirty-six-year-old man who experiences damage
(E) substantiates works such as The Bell Curve to his hippocampus and can’t transfer information
into his long-term memory
73. Jim and Tim are identical (monozygotic) twins that (D) A fifteen-year-old boy who fell off his bicycle
were reared together. Scott and Michael are fraternal without his helmet and can’t remember the events
(dizygotic) twins that were reared together. Given the right before his accident
results of heritability studies of intelligence, which of the (E) A forty-year-old woman who is recounting a story
following outcomes are most likely to emerge? but can’t remember where she first heard the story

(A) Jim and Tim will have very similar IQs.

77. Which of the following responses was most likely
(B) Scott and Michael will have very similar IQs.
acquired through classical conditioning?
(C) Both pairs will have very similar IQs.
(D) Neither pair will have similar IQs. (A) The anxiety reaction of a woman who is driving on
(E) Jim and Michael will have similar IQs. the highway for the first time after being involved
in a major accident on that highway
74. For which of the following would drive-reduction (B) The frightened cry of a baby who is
theories not provide a reasonable explanation? disoriented upon waking up from a nap
(C) The uncontrollable blinking of a contact lens wearer
(A) In the middle of his five-mile race, Jerome grabs who has just gotten something in his eye
water from the water station to quench his thirst. (D) The startled cry of a child who has just been
(B) Ernest gobbles a few cookies on his way to class awakened in the middle of the night by a loud
because he did not have time for lunch. clap of thunder
(C) Tish decides to skip lunch because she is still full (E) The salivation of a laboratory rat who has begun
from eating a very large breakfast. to eat the treat that awaited her at the end of a
(D) Cameron drives ten minutes out of her way to a fast- T-maze
food place because she is hungry and only has
two dollars.
(E) Kezia is very full after eating dinner but decides to
order the strawberry cheesecake anyway.

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Practice Test 1 | 21
 Section I

78. Which of the following would be most useful in 82. The Whorfian hypothesis of linguistic relativity helps
understanding a neighbor’s interpretation of a certain explain why
family’s recent crisis as being due to extreme financial
(A) Eskimos have many words relating to snow
distress?
(B) parents use a high-pitched voice when speaking to
(A) Reinforcement theory infants
(B) Classical behaviorism (C) phonemes are not interchangeable with morphemes
(C) Attribution theory (D) cultures have developed different languages
(D) Hierarchy of needs (E) some societies do not have a written language
(E) Cognitive dissonance
83. Many experts on parenting recommend different
79. Children develop internal representational systems that approaches to responding to an infant’s needs. Some
allow them verbally to describe people, events, and emphasize responding promptly to a newborn’s cries to
feelings during which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive instill a sense of security, whereas others suggest letting
development? the baby “cry it out.” Which of the following accounts
of development would be most relevant when weighing
(A) Sensorimotor
these different approaches?
(B) Preoperational
(C) Symbolic (A) Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
(D) Concrete operational (B) Whorf’s hypothesis of linguistic relativity
(E) Formal operational (C) Erikson’s model of psychosocial stages
(D) Descartes’s theory of Cartesian dualism
80. According to Kohlberg, at the third (postconventional) (E) Wundt’s theory of structuralism
level of moral development, individuals
84. Which of the following clinicians most likely follows
(A) follow rules in order to obtain reward
Carl Rogers’s approach to psychotherapy?
(B) follow rules in order to avoid punishment
(C) define what is right by what they have learned from (A) Dr. Jones, who emphasizes the need for
others, especially authority figures modification of undesirable behaviors in his
(D) justify their moral action based on the need to patients
maintain law and order (B) Terence Springer, who counsels individuals to
(E) self-define principles that may or may not match the find their inner spirituality and develop their
dominant morals of the times relationship with a supreme being
(C) Cathy Cooper, who is an empathic counselor who
81. Which of the following represents the correct order of encourages clients through unconditional support
auditory transmission from the time the sound is first to find their own path to better health and growth
heard to when it is processed in the brain? (D) Utrese Leed, who creates a framework for her
patients that defines ideal psychological growth
(A) Oval window→ cochlea→ tympanic membrane→ and development and who supports their efforts
auditory nerve→ auditory canal toward professional achievement
(B) Auditory canal→ auditory nerve→ cochlea→ (E) Ute Shrom, who takes a physiological approach to
tympanic membrane→ ossicles recovery through strenuous physical challenges
(C) Tympanic membrane→ oval window→ cochlea→ that break down and subsequently build up one’s
auditory nerve→ auditory canal character
(D) Auditory canal→ ossicles→ oval window→
cochlea→ auditory nerve
(E) Cochlea→ ossicles→ oval window→ auditory
canal→ auditory nerve

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22 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 Section I

85. An obese individual with a breathing-related sleep 88. Anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening illness that can
disorder most likely suffers from which of the following? lead to permanent physiological changes (such as
brittle bones) and even death. Which of the following
(A) Narcolepsy
individuals would be the most likely to develop this
(B) Hypersomnia
illness?
(C) Insomnia
(D) Sleep apnea (A) Maria, a 16-year-old Caucasian female, who is an A
(E) Hypnotic susceptibility student and talented musician, but who feels that
her life is out of control
86. Certain cross-cultural studies have suggested that six (B) Leticia, a 15-year-old African American female,
facial expressions are recognized by people of virtually who is an A student and exceptional athlete, plus
every culture. Which of the following correctly lists these an avid reader
expressions? (C) Rosa, a 26-year old Hispanic female, who has
just received her law degree, is struggling with
(A) Happiness, sadness, anger, loathing, lust, and debt from school, and having difficulty finding
surprise employment
(B) Happiness, sadness, indifference, fright, surprise, (D) Virginia, a 14-year-old Caucasian female, who
and dislike is a C student, is sexually promiscuous, and is
(C) Happiness, sadness, desire, repulsion, fear, and experimenting with drugs
surprise (E) Jaeling, a 29-year-old Asian American female, who
(D) Happiness, sadness, fight, flight, indifference, and is a stay-at-home mother of two and has a very
anger tight budget to maintain
(E) Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and
disgust
89. Individuals in which of the following occupations will
be potentially LEAST likely to be susceptible to health
87. Which of the following is primarily a chemical sense? problems as a result of disrupted circadian rhythms?
(A) Touch (A) Shift nurse
(B) Vision (B) Police officer
(C) Taste (C) Flight attendant
(D) Hearing (D) Medical resident
(E) Kinesthesis (E) College professor

90. Janice often has feelings of hostility and contempt for her
husband of forty years. However, instead of expressing
these feelings, Janice goes overboard to dote on her
husband. Janice is using which of the following defense
mechanisms?
(A) Rational philosophy
(B) Reaction formation
(C) Repression
(D) Sublimation
(E) Passive aggression

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Practice Test 1 | 23
 Section I

91. While visiting a museum, you study a statue by walking 96. Which of the following accurately states the order of the
around it and examining it from many different places transmission of visual information?
in the room. The retinal images of the statue change, but
(A) Optic nerve; ganglion cells; bipolar cells; rods and
you do not perceive these changes because of
cones
(A) convergence (B) Bipolar cells; ganglion cells; fovea; optic nerve
(B) motion parallax (C) Rods and cones; retina; optic nerve; ganglion cells
(C) perceptual constancy (D) Bipolar cells; rods and cones; fovea; optic disk
(D) interpositioning (E) Rods and cones; bipolar cells; ganglion cells; optic
(E) perceptual acuity nerve

92. REM sleep is considered to be paradoxical sleep because 97. Which of the following best summarizes Carl Rogers’
view of personality?
(A) brain patterns change from alpha waves to delta
waves over the course of a night’s sleep (A) Personality traits such as inhibition, extroversion,
(B) people can always act out the content of their and conscientiousness are constant over time.
dreams (B) People’s personality traits are overwhelmingly
(C) people will try to increase REM sleep if deprived of positive and goal-directed.
REM sleep for a period of time (C) Personality is mainly formed by behavioral
(D) sleep cycles may change with age expectations.
(E) the mind is very active, but the body is in a state of (D) Individual personalities vary based on differences in
paralysis traits, emotions, and thought processes.
(E) Situational variables are more important in
93. Which of the following is not one of the stages in the determining the way a person will act than are
development of language that children of virtually every broad personality dispositions.
culture go through?
98. Research has shown a possible connection between
(A) Babbling
the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and which of the
(B) Holophrastic speech
following mental disorders?
(C) Telegraphic speech
(D) Introductive speech (A) Parkinson’s disease
(E) Grammatical speech (B) Alzheimer’s disease
(C) Schizophrenia
94. Probabilistic reasoning from specific observations to (D) Mania
general propositions is known as (E) Depression

(A) deductive reasoning

(B) inductive reasoning
(C) intuitive reasoning
(D) statistical reasoning
(E) observational reasoning

95. Two “cognitive shortcuts” that can lead to errors in

information processing are
(A) the representativeness heuristic and the availability
heuristic
(B) inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning
(C) morphemic processing and phonemic processing
(D) prototypic development and fuzzy concept
development
(E) top-down processing and bottom-up processing

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24 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 Section I

99. Which of the following best explains why babies have poor 100. In a study of brain development, two groups of rats were
vision for the first few weeks of life? reared in a laboratory setting. In Group I, each rat was
raised in isolation with no toys, while in Group II, rats
(A) The nodes of Ranvier have not yet formed.
were divided into small groups and given toys to play
(B) The neural connections to the primary visual cortex
with. Which of the following statements most accurately
are not fully connected.
reflects the probable findings of this study?
(C) The axons are covered in tight coats of lipids, which
impede neural firing. (A) The rats raised in Group I will have forebrains that
(D) The synaptic cleft of the neuron is filled with an weigh more than those of the rats raised in Group
aqueous humor. II.
(E) The glial cells are absent at birth. (B) The rats raised in Group I will have forebrains that
weigh less than those of the rats raised in Group
II.
(C) The brains of the rats raised in Group I will not be
noticeably different from the brains of the rats
raised in Group II.
(D) The brains of the rats raised in Group I will consist
of more white matter, while the brains of the
rats raised in Group II will consist of more gray
matter.
(E) The brains of the rats raised in Group I will consist
of more gray matter, while the brains of the rats
raised in Group II will consist of more white
matter.

END OF SECTION I

IF YOU FINISH BEFORE TIME IS CALLED, YOU MAY CHECK YOUR WORK ON THIS
SECTION. DO NOT GO ON TO SECTION II UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.

Practice Test 1 | 25
 Section
Section II
I

PSYCHOLOGY
Section II
Time—50 minutes
1
Percent of total grade—33 3

Directions: You have 50 minutes to answer BOTH of the following questions. 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 question posed, using appropriate
psychological terminology.

1. Psychology differs from other fields of science in that it does not have a single paradigm upon which most scientists agree.

A. Based on your knowledge of psychology, explain why the field of psychology has multiple perspectives
rather than a single paradigm upon which most psychologists agree. Then, compare and contrast
any TWO of the following perspectives in psychology to illustrate why multiple perspectives
remain in psychology:
• Biological
• Humanistic
• Psychoanalytic
• Behaviorist
• Cognitive

B. How would psychologists of the two perspectives you chose work with Margot, a sixteen-year-old
girl with anorexia nervosa?

2. Many people are concerned with the seeming inability of the prison system to rehabilitate criminals.

A. Based on your knowledge of learning, argue against the traditional prison system by explaining how
each of the following could be used in a rehabilitation program:
• Operant conditioning
• Positive and negative reinforcement
• Shaping

B. Choose ONE of the above methods of learning and the explain how it could be used to reform a
convicted thief.

STOP

END OF EXAM

26 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 HOW TO SCORE PRACTICE TEST 1

Section I: Multiple Choice

× 1.0000 =
Number Correct Weighted
(out of 100) Section I Score
(Do not round)

Section II: Free Response

Question 1: × 2.7777 =
(out of 9) (Do not round) AP Score
Conversion Chart
Question 2: × 3.5714 = Psychology
(out of 7) (Do not round) Composite
Score Range AP Score
107–150 5
90–106 4
73–89 3
56–72 2
0–55 1

Sum =
Weighted
Section II Score
(Do not round)

Composite Score + =
Weighted Weighted Composite Score
Section I Score Section II Score (Round to nearest
whole number)

46 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 Completely darken bubbles with a No. 2 pencil. If you
make a mistake, be sure to erase mark completely.
Erase all stray marks.

5. YOUR NAME
1. YOUR NAME: First 4 letters of last name FIRST MID
(Print) Last First M.I. INIT INIT

SIGNATURE: DATE:

HOME ADDRESS: A A A A A A
(Print) Number and Street B B B B B B
E-MAIL: C C C C C C
City State Zip
D D D D D D
PHONE NO.: SCHOOL: CLASS OF:
(Print) E E E E E E
OpScan iNSIGHT™ forms by Pearson NCS EM-255325-1:654321 F F F F F F
IMPORTANT: Please fill in these boxes exactly as Printed in U.S.A.
shown on the back cover of your test book. G G G G G G
©TPR Education IP Holdings, LLC
H H H H H H

2. TEST FORM 3. TEST CODE 4. PHONE NUMBER I I I I I I

J J J J J J
K K K K K K

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 L L L L L L

6. DATE OF BIRTH 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 M M M M M M

MONTH DAY YEAR 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 N N N N N N

JAN 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 O O O O O O

FEB 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 P P P P P P

MAR 0 0 0 0 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 Q Q Q Q Q Q

APR 1 1 1 1 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 R R R R R R

MAY 2 2 2 2 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 S S S S S S

JUN 3 3 3 3 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 T T T T T T

JUL 4 4 4 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 U U U U U U

AUG 5 5 5 V V V V V V

SEP 6 6 6 8. OTHER W W W W W W

OCT 7 7 7 7. SEX 1 A B C D E X X X X X X

NOV 8 8 8 MALE 2 A B C D E Y Y Y Y Y Y

DEC 9 9 9 FEMALE 3 A B C D E Z Z Z Z Z Z

Begin with number 1 for each new section of the test. Leave blank any extra answer spaces.

SECTION 1

1 A B C D E 26 A B C D E 51 A B C D E 76 A B C D E

2 A B C D E 27 A B C D E 52 A B C D E 77 A B C D E

3 A B C D E 28 A B C D E 53 A B C D E 78 A B C D E

4 A B C D E 29 A B C D E 54 A B C D E 79 A B C D E

5 A B C D E 30 A B C D E 55 A B C D E 80 A B C D E

6 A B C D E 31 A B C D E 56 A B C D E 81 A B C D E

7 A B C D E 32 A B C D E 57 A B C D E 82 A B C D E

8 A B C D E 33 A B C D E 58 A B C D E 83 A B C D E

9 A B C D E 34 A B C D E 59 A B C D E 84 A B C D E

10 A B C D E 35 A B C D E 60 A B C D E 85 A B C D E

11 A B C D E 36 A B C D E 61 A B C D E 86 A B C D E

12 A B C D E 37 A B C D E 62 A B C D E 87 A B C D E

13 A B C D E 38 A B C D E 63 A B C D E 88 A B C D E

14 A B C D E 39 A B C D E 64 A B C D E 89 A B C D E

15 A B C D E 40 A B C D E 65 A B C D E 90 A B C D E

16 A B C D E 41 A B C D E 66 A B C D E 91 A B C D E

17 A B C D E 42 A B C D E 67 A B C D E 92 A B C D E

18 A B C D E 43 A B C D E 68 A B C D E 93 A B C D E

19 A B C D E 44 A B C D E 69 A B C D E 94 A B C D E

20 A B C D E 45 A B C D E 70 A B C D E 95 A B C D E

21 A B C D E 46 A B C D E 71 A B C D E 96 A B C D E

22 A B C D E 47 A B C D E 72 A B C D E 97 A B C D E

23 A B C D E 48 A B C D E 73 A B C D E 98 A B C D E

24 A B C D E 49 A B C D E 74 A B C D E 99 A B C D E

25 A B C D E 50 A B C D E 75 A B C D E 100 A B C D E