The AP Exam

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The AP Exam

• Tuesday, May 12, 2009

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Overview of Course Content
I. History and Approaches (24) II. Research
Methods (68) III. Biological Bases of Behavior
(810) IV. Sensation and Perception (79) V.
States of Consciousness (24) VI. Learning
(79) VII. Cognition (810) VIII. Motivation
and Emotion (79) IX. Developmental Psychology
(79) X. Personality (68) XI. Testing and
Individual Differences (57) XII. Abnormal
Psychology (79) XIII. Treatment of
Psychological Disorders (57) XIV. Social
Psychology (79)
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2006 AP Psychology Scores

• Four classes of AP Psychology (I taught two and
  another teacher taught two)
• 43 students out of 84 students took the AP
  Psychology Exam
• Our average was a 3.28 and the national average
  was a 3.14

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2007 AP Psychology Scores

• Three classes of AP Psychology (Mrs. Smith taught
  all three)
• 50 students out of 59 students took the AP
  Psychology Exam
• Our average was a 4.12 and the national average
  was a 3.09

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2008 AP Psychology Scores

• Four classes of AP Psychology (I taught two and
  another teacher taught two)
• 83 students out of 96 students took the AP
  Psychology Exam
• Our average was a 3.904 and the national average
  was a 3.13

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The AP EXAM

• Tuesday, May 13 (sign ups are usually in March
  through the Guidance Department)
• TWO-PART EXAM
• 70 minutes to complete 100 multiple choice
  questions
• 50 minutes to complete 2 free response questions

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The Scoring of the Exam

• Multiple Choice counts for 2/3 of your score
• Free-Response (FRQ) counts 1/3 of your score

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Multiple Choice

• 100 questions
• 70 minutes TIMED
• Questions arranged easy to very difficult

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TIPS for MC portion

• Read the question, think about your answer, THEN
  read the answer choices
• Read ALL of the answer choices
• Use ACTIVE READING strategies (write on the test!)

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Should I GUESS?

• If you can eliminate a choice from the list, then
  guess.
• Are you penalized for wrong answers, YES1/4 of a
  point. You can get 4 wrong before it adds up to
  a point.
• Each question answered correctly is worth 1 point
• VOCAB knowledge will assist you in times of
  doubtknow your vocabulary!

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So how many points on the MC do I need to get at
least a 3?

• According to Barrons How to Review for the AP
  Psychology Exam, you would need to get about 60
  questions on the MC correct and have average
  essays to get a score of 3. EASY
• I know you can do much better than that!!!

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FRQs (THE ESSAYS)

• 2 FRQs
• 50 minutes to answer both questions
• Each question is worth a certain number of POINTS
• You can figure out how many points the question
  is worth by what the question is asking (more
  later)

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FRQs

• AP Readers (psychology teachers, professors, etc)
  score your responses
• In order to be objective, they utilize a rubric
  specific to the question youve been asked
• They are looking for CONTENT knowledge and
  APPLICATION of this knowledge rather than style
  of writing

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TIPS for FRQs

• Answer the question in the order it was askeduse
  the College Boards implied organization
• Answer ALL PARTS of the question. It will help
  you to underline your use of the terms in the
  question in your answer.
• Dont ADD EXTRA informationif it doesnt relate
  directly to the question, you may be wasting your
  time and you wont get any extra points for the
  information

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Is there a penalty for incorrect information in a
response to a FRQ?

• No. (unless you contradict yourself later in the
  response)
• Readers are trained to look for the CORRECT
  information. They award points based on your
  CORRECT info.

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TIPS for FRQs

• Use organization of question
• Address ALL of parts of a question
• Be CLEAR in your answer
• Include only information RELEVANT to the question
• Underline when you address a term or part of a
  question
• Write legibly
• Watch your time (you have 50 minutes for two
  questions)

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Sample MC questions

• The ability to choose specific stimuli to learn
  about, while filtering out or ignoring other
  information is called
• Selective attention
• Subliminal perception
• Time-sharing
• Masking
• shadowing

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• Neurosurgeons cut the corpus callosum in the
  brain disrupting communication between the right
  and left hemispheres to
• Prevent the spread of epileptic seizures
• Reduce anxiety attacks and phobic reactions
• Reduce the incidence of violent behaviors
• Treat schizophrenia
• Reduce mood swings

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• John B. Watson was a pioneer in which of the
  following perspectives of psychology?
• Biological
• Functionalism
• Psychoanalytic
• Structuralism
• Behaviorism

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1995 FRQ 2

• Define each of the following concepts and explain
  how each contributes to the phenomenon of
  prejudice.
• Stereotyping
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Fundamental attribution error
• Projection
• schema

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1995 FRQ 2

• Define each of the following concepts and explain
  how each contributes to the phenomenon of
  prejudice.
• Stereotyping
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Fundamental attribution error
• Projection
• schema

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WHO CAN.???? DIRECTIONS Find a different
person who can help you fill in each box. Put
your answers in your notebook and/or on the
board.
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• 2002 AP Psychology FRQ
• Question 2
• 2. Five-year old Jessie went to a fire station
  with her kindergarten class. When she got home,
  Jessie, who is in the preoperational stage of
  cognitive development, eagerly told the story of
  her adventure to her older brother. Describe how
  the following factors might have influenced the
  story she told. Be sure to define and provide an
  appropriate example of EACH factor.
• Egocentrism
• Observational learning
• Overregularization overgeneralization in language
• Reconstructive memory
• Schema

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Scoring Guidelines Sample Responses

• Scoring Guidelines
• http//apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repos
  itory/sg_psych_02_11560.pdf
• Sample Responses to Q2 from 2002
• http//apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repos
  itory/sample_psych_q2_18305.pdf
• Scoring Commentary for Q2 from 2002go to page 3
• http//apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/repos
  itory/comment_psych_02_18497.pdf