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 10 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 Score you change an answer, be sure that the previous mark is erased completely. Here is a sample
66.6% 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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Practice Test 1 | 13
 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. When she was in elementary school, Matilda became 5. Every time you buy ice cream from the Yellow Brick
quite good at playing the recorder. She is a teenager now Road ice cream parlor, you get your over-the-rainbow
and has not picked up a recorder in many years. When card stamped. Once you purchase ten items, you get
she tries to resume playing the instrument, she finds it your next item free. The Yellow Brick Road ice cream
very difficult to find the correct finger positions. This is parlor has you on which of the following reinforcement
an example of schedules?
(A) constructive memory (A) Variable-ratio
(B) retroactive interference (B) Variable-interval
(C) pruning of neural networks (C) Fixed-ratio
(D) proactive interference (D) Fixed-interval
(E) source monitoring errors (E) Continuous

2. Pruning refers to 6. Which of the following neurotransmitters is most

explicitly associated with the experience of pleasure?
(A) loss of hippocampus activity due to Alzheimer’s
disease (A) GABA
(B) reduced sensory organ stimulation in response to an (B) Acetylcholine
unchanging stimulus (C) Serotonin
(C) activation of the ventromedial hypothalamus when (D) Dopamine
someone is full (E) Adrenaline
(D) cutting back of unused neural networks during
adolescence 7. As he was passing out math tests to his class, the teacher
(E) heightened metabolism due to malfunction of the mentioned that, traditionally, females had done worse on
thyroid this test than males. When he looked at the results of this
test, not only had the females done worse than males,
3. Which of the following types of scientists were the first to they had done worse than their performance on recent
contend that an individual’s ways of thinking are shaped assessments. The teacher may have contributed to these
primarily by cultural values and ideas? results by way of
(A) Structuralists (A) cross-section bias
(B) Ethologists (B) availability heuristic
(C) Sociobiologists (C) stereotype boost
(D) Behaviorists (D) stereotype threat
(E) Anthropologists (E) representativeness heuristic

4. Which of the following is the best example of an

attribute that is culturally based rather than primarily
psychologically based?
(A) Caring for one’s children
(B) Arriving on time for work
(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. As a result of a blasting cap accident, Phineas Gage had
(A) The psychologist is comparing two different a metal rod pass through his head, damaging his frontal
schools. lobes. Which of the following was NOT a problem he
(B) The psychologist is comparing the same grade in experienced in the aftermath of this accident?
each school.
(C) The psychologist is testing the students in the two (A) He could not adequately regulate his emotions.
schools at two different times. (B) He could no longer adequately supervise workers on
(D) The psychologist is testing the students in the two his railroad gang.
schools on the same day. (C) He could not plan activities as expected of a railroad
(E) The psychologist is administering a basic skills foreman.
exam. (D) He could not remember anything about the
circumstances of the accident.
(E) He had occasions when he could not control his
9. The primary research method used by developmental
anger.
psychologists is
(A) case study 14. A person who sustains major injuries that involve the
(B) cross-sectional research destruction of the medulla oblongata will
(C) naturalistic observation
(D) experimentation (A) be paralyzed
(E) correlational research (B) fall into a coma
(C) suffer severe speech impairment
(D) experience total loss of vision
10. Narcotics work because they are chemically very similar
(E) die
to
(A) endorphins 15. In a crisis, the adrenal glands of the body secrete
(B) hormones “emergency” hormones, while the body prepares for fight
(C) secretions or flight, directed by
(D) GABA
(E) acetylcholine (A) the central nervous system
(B) the somatic nervous system
(C) the sensorimotor nervous system
11. Research indicates that a test participant exposed to a list
(D) the sympathetic nervous system
of positive words and then asked to recall the words from
(E) the parasympathetic nervous system
that list a week later will be more likely to remember
those words if he
16. In the Harlow study of emotional attachment, infant
(A) is tested by a researcher who deliberately exhibits a monkeys were placed in a cage and given both a “wire”
positive attitude mother and a “cloth” mother. Researchers then moved
(B) is in a positive mood when initially exposed to the a bottle of milk from one mother to the other while
words introducing various stimuli to see if the monkeys would
(C) considers himself a “positive” person, regardless of form an attachment to either of the “mothers.” In this
his mood during the experience experiment, the independent variable is
(D) considers the initial testing experience positive
(E) perceives the list of words as positive, regardless of (A) with which “mother” the bottle of milk is placed
the true meaning of the words (B) the “wire” mother versus the “cloth” mother
(C) the preference of the infants for the source of milk
(D) the preference of the infants for the “wire” mother
(E) the preference of the infants for the “cloth” mother

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Practice Test 1 | 15
 Section I

17. As an experiment, a group of newborn kittens was 21. Which of the following best summarizes the
allowed to see through only one eye at a time. Each day psychoanalytic perspective’s view of behavior?
one of the eyes would be covered, switching between the
(A) Behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces.
two eyes on subsequent days. Which of the following
(B) Behavior is a response to external reward and
best describes the visual limitations experienced by these
punishment.
cats as adults?
(C) Behavior is a product of genetic programming and
(A) They were unable to make use of interposition depth evolution.
perception. (D) Behavior is a compilation of the ways in which
(B) They were unable to maintain perceptual constancy. people think and interact.
(C) They were unable to distinguish left from right (E) Behavior is each person’s striving to reach his or her
monocular cues. full potential.
(D) They were unable to use binocular cues for depth
perception. 22. Which of the following is the best example of a
(E) They were unable to extinguish their visual blind categorical variable?
spot.
(A) Intelligence
(B) Disposition
Questions 18-19 refer to the situation described below.
(C) Optimism
(D) Gender
A researcher wished to study the impact of classical music on (E) Personality
memory in children. She therefore randomly selected two groups
of children. One group was asked to read and later to recall lists
23. Donia was soaked by an unexpected cloudburst while
of words while soft classical music played in the background. The
walking to her car from the office. The fact that she failed
second group was asked to read and recall lists of words with no
to realize that the newspaper she was carrying would
background music playing.
have made a great makeshift umbrella is an example of
(A) confirmation bias
18. The control group in this experiment is the group that
(B) limited visualization
(A) the researcher expected to demonstrate greater (C) functional fixedness
memory (D) conceptual constriction
(B) demonstrated greater memory through recalling (E) negative variation
more words
(C) demonstrated lesser memory through recalling
24. While driving to school, Elise hears about a concert
fewer words
ticket giveaway on the radio. She has to be the seventh
(D) read the lists of words while classical music played
caller to win. While pulling over so that she can call in,
in the background
she repeats the number to herself several times. Elise
(E) read the lists of words with no background music
was using which of the following to remember the
playing
phone number?
(A) Iconic memory
19. The dependent variable in this experiment is the
(B) Elaborative rehearsal
(A) number of words recalled by the children (C) Chunking
(B) amount of time each child needs to recall the words (D) Maintenance rehearsal
(C) amount of music each child can recall (E) Retrieval
(D) classical music playing in the background
(E) lack of classical music playing in the background
25. A participant in a single-trial free-recall task is presented
with a list of words, one at a time, in the following order:
20. Students diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity house, flower, dog, table, license, water, computer, salad.
disorder (ADHD) are four to nine times more likely to be In accord with the serial position curve, which of the
following words is the participant most likely to forget?
(A) females than males
(B) males than females (A) House
(C) children than adults (B) Computer
(D) Caucasian children than African American children (C) Flower
(E) urban area children than rural area children (D) Salad
(E) License
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 Section I

26. The smallest units of meaning in a language are 31. Jonathan’s IQ score is in the 97th percentile. Of the
following, which score is most likely his?
(A) phonemes
(B) phenotypes (A) 85
(C) semantics (B) 100
(D) morphemes (C) 130
(E) syntactical rules (D) 150
(E) 170
27. Which of the following psychological disorders is
characterized by an abnormally elevated or expansive 32. Which one of the following best states Ivan Pavlov’s
mood? accidental discovery?
(A) Depression (A) While experimenting with rats, Pavlov discovered
(B) Schizophrenia that if he repeatedly placed pellets of food in one
(C) Euphoria side of a “T-maze,” the rats would automatically
(D) Dysthymia run to that side of the maze.
(E) Mania (B) While experimenting with dogs, Pavlov discovered
that once his dogs became accustomed to seeing
28. During periods of darkness, the pineal gland in the and hearing the attendant who brought them food
middle of the brain produces which of the following at mealtime, they would salivate in response to
hormones that is essential to sleep regulation? the sight and sound of the attendant.
(C) While experimenting with cats, Pavlov discovered
(A) Estrogen that if he placed a hungry cat inside a box and
(B) Adrenaline food outside the box, the cat could “learn” to
(C) Testosterone press a lever to open the door of the box.
(D) Melatonin (D) While experimenting with pigeons, Pavlov
(E) Dopamine discovered that if he placed a pigeon in a box, he
could condition it to recognize that if it pecked at
29. Jacob cries uncontrollably every time his mother takes a particular key, it would receive a food pellet.
him down the candy aisle in the supermarket and refuses (E) While experimenting with dogs, Pavlov discovered
to let him buy anything. Eventually, Jacob’s mother gives that if he fed the dogs the same type of food each
in and lets him choose one candy item to buy if he stops day, the dogs would salivate whenever they ate that
crying. Jacob’s crying behavior is __________________ type of food.
by his mother.
(A) punished 33. Grounding a child for two weeks after the child has
(B) associated misbehaved is an example of
(C) reinforced (A) avoidant attachment
(D) extinguished (B) negative punishment
(E) shaped (C) compliance learning
(D) negative reinforcement
30. Which of the following scientists was among the first (E) attentional neglect
to study the relationship between reinforcement and
learning?
(A) Sigmund Freud
(B) B. F. Skinner
(C) Carl Rogers
(D) Mary Ainsworth
(E) Charles Darwin

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Practice Test 1 | 17
 Section I

34. Which of the following best summarizes why people tend 39. Carlotta is a well-adjusted, socially competent adolescent.
to stay in a slightly elevated state of arousal after a crisis Which of the following most likely represents her
has occurred? family’s parenting style?
(A) Their neurons remain in a state of graded (A) Minimal supervision
potentiality even after they have fired. (B) Permissive
(B) Their neurons continue to keep the body in an alert (C) Authoritarian
state. (D) Authoritative
(C) Their adrenal glands continue to secrete epinephrine (E) Indulgent
even after the crisis is over.
(D) Their parasympathetic nervous system remains in a 40. The semicircular canals of the inner ear are important for
state of fight or flight. helping a person to maintain
(E) Their bloodstream continues to contain elevated
levels of adrenaline. (A) tone quality
(B) melatonin
(C) balance
35. Which of the following subsystems of the autonomic
(D) olfaction
nervous system help the body return to “­ business-as-
(E) transduction
usual” after an emergency?
(A) Somatic nervous system 41. The ability to perceive your front door as a rectangle even
(B) Peripheral nervous system when it is open, displaying a different retinal image is
(C) Sympathetic nervous system known as
(D) Parasympathetic nervous system
(E) Central nervous system (A) color constancy
(B) closure
(C) shape constancy
36. Tina is a very good student: Her grades are high, she is
(D) size constancy
involved in extracurricular activities, and she typically
(E) sensory adaptation
excels at anything she tries. Therefore, when she caused
an accident her second day of driver’s ed., her instructor
was shocked. The instructor’s disbelief is most probably 42. Stimulation of norepinephrine receptors appears to
a result of produce
(A) modeling (A) euphoria
(B) accommodation (B) increased motor activity
(C) a halo effect (C) alertness
(D) convergence (D) anxiety
(E) behavioral dissonance (E) hypertension

37. The organ in the auditory process where transducing 43. Research using the visual cliff suggests that human
takes place is the infants
(A) tympanic membrane (A) would go “over the cliff” if their mothers called
(B) malleus them
(C) cochlea (B) had learned by experience in crawling to perceive
(D) pinna depth
(E) stapes (C) were not able to use any visual depth cues
(D) use monocular but not binocular cues for vision
(E) have innate depth perception at birth
38. You enter a bakery and are delighted by the aroma. After
a short time, however, you no longer notice the odors
because of sensory
(A) perception
(B) adaptation
(C) transduction
(D) detection
(E) attrition

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18 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 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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Practice Test 1 | 19
 Section I

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. Jose is talkative and likes to engage in pretend play.
(E) Correlation coefficients When offered two identical balls of putty, he insists on
having the one that has been rolled out into a long snake
54. REM sleep is often referred to as a “paradox” because instead of the one that remains in the shape of a ball.
He is probably in which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive
(A) as people age and sleep less, they actually spend
development?
more time in REM
(B) people’s eyes are moving, but they are generally (A) Sensorimotor
unable to dream (B) Preoperational
(C) people’s metabolism slows down, much like animal (C) Conservation
hibernation (D) Conventional
(D) people dream and are aroused, but they generally (E) Formal operations
are paralyzed
(E) people are most active mentally while in the deepest 60. Georgia works in the local hospital because she wishes to
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. Vivian is watching her college’s football team play on
television. Suddenly, she spots her friend Rudy among
57. To demonstrate causation, a researcher must the spectators. Rudy is usually mild-mannered and
obedient. However, Vivian sees him screaming at the
(A) manipulate the way a participant responds to some
other team’s mascot during the game; then, she sees him
aspect of a situation
join several others in rushing onto the field at the end
(B) operationalize dependent and independent variables
of the game and tearing down the goalposts. This is an
(C) develop a hypothesis that predicts the relationship
example of
between variables
(D) show that the manipulation of one variable (A) deindividuation
invariably leads to predicted changes in another (B) group polarization
(E) demonstrate a positive rather than a negative (C) groupthink
correlation between variables (D) social facilitation
(E) mere exposure effect

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 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 71. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include which of
(A) discussing the role of genetics in levels of the following?
intelligence (A) Visual hallucinations
(B) measuring intelligence levels in children (B) Auditory hallucinations
(C) measuring personality in children (C) Blunted emotional responses
(D) measuring personality in adults (D) Delusions
(E) showing how adult personality can be modified (E) Excessive motor activity

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Practice Test 1 | 21
 Section I

72. Three students are going in to take the SAT. Felice is 76. Which of the following is an example of a person who
not sure that she wants to go to college, is lackadaisical suffers from anterograde amnesia?
about the test, and is half asleep as she enters the test
(A) A six-year-old child who can’t remember events
center. Skip is very concerned about the test; he sees his
related to her second birthday party
score as determining his entire future and he can be seen
(B) A twenty-year-old woman who can’t remember
pacing nervously as he prepares to enter the test center.
the details of a traumatic event that occurred six
Armando takes the test seriously, but he knows that he
months ago
will have additional chances to take it and that there are
(C) A thirty-six-year-old man who experiences damage
other factors that affect college admission. He has a mild
to his hippocampus and can’t transfer information
case of nerves as he enters the test center. When Armando
into his long-term memory
outperforms Felice and Skip, this supports which of the
(D) A fifteen-year-old boy who fell off his bicycle
following?
without his helmet and can’t remember the events
(A) Cannon Bard theory right before his accident
(B) Piaget’s Formal Operations stage (E) A forty-year-old woman who is recounting a story
(C) Yerkes-Dodson law but can’t remember where she first heard the story
(D) Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome
(E) Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences 77. Which of the following responses was most likely
acquired through classical conditioning?
73. Jim and Tim are identical (monozygotic) twins that
(A) The anxiety reaction of a woman who is driving on
were reared together. Scott and Michael are fraternal
the highway for the first time after being involved
(dizygotic) twins that were reared together. Given the
in a major accident on that highway
results of heritability studies of intelligence, which of the
(B) The frightened cry of a baby who is
following outcomes are most likely to emerge?
disoriented upon waking up from a nap
(A) Jim and Tim will have very similar IQs. (C) The uncontrollable blinking of a contact lens wearer
(B) Scott and Michael will have very similar IQs. who has just gotten something in his eye
(C) Both pairs will have very similar IQs. (D) The startled cry of a child who has just been
(D) Neither pair will have similar IQs. awakened in the middle of the night by a loud
(E) Jim and Michael will have similar IQs. clap of thunder
(E) The salivation of a laboratory rat who has begun
74. For which of the following would drive-reduction to eat the treat that awaited her at the end of a
theories not provide a reasonable explanation? T-maze

(A) In the middle of his five-mile race, Jerome grabs

78. Which of the following would be most useful in
water from the water station to quench his thirst.
understanding a neighbor’s interpretation of a certain
(B) Ernest gobbles a few cookies on his way to class
family’s recent crisis as being due to extreme financial
because he did not have time for lunch.
distress?
(C) Tish decides to skip lunch because she is still full
from eating a very large breakfast. (A) Reinforcement theory
(D) Cameron drives ten minutes out of her way to a fast- (B) Classical behaviorism
food place because she is hungry and has only (C) Attribution theory
two dollars. (D) Hierarchy of needs
(E) Kezia is very full after eating dinner but decides to (E) Cognitive dissonance
order the strawberry cheesecake anyway.
79. Children develop internal representational systems that
75. Abraham Maslow proposed the idea that some motives allow them verbally to describe people, events, and
are more imperative to survival than others. Which of the feelings during which of Piaget’s stages of cognitive
following approaches expresses this? development?
(A) Homeostatic regulation (A) Sensorimotor
(B) Goal-setting (B) Preoperational
(C) Expectancy-value (C) Symbolic
(D) Cognitive dissonance (D) Concrete operational
(E) Hierarchy of needs (E) Formal operational

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22 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 Section I

80. According to Kohlberg, at the third (postconventional) 84. Which of the following clinicians most likely follows
level of moral development, individuals Carl Rogers’s approach to psychotherapy?
(A) follow rules in order to obtain reward (A) Dr. Jones, who emphasizes the need for
(B) follow rules in order to avoid punishment modification of undesirable behaviors in his
(C) define what is right by what they have learned from patients
others, especially authority figures (B) Terence Springer, who counsels individuals to
(D) justify their moral action based on the need to find their inner spirituality and develop their
maintain law and order relationship with a supreme being
(E) self-define principles that may or may not match the (C) Cathy Cooper, who is an empathic counselor who
dominant morals of the times encourages clients through unconditional support
to find their own path to better health and growth
81. Which of the following represents the correct order of (D) Utrese Leed, who creates a framework for her
auditory transmission from the time the sound is first patients that defines ideal psychological growth
heard to when it is processed in the brain? and development and who supports their efforts
toward professional achievement
(A) Oval window→ cochlea→ tympanic membrane→ (E) Ute Shrom, who takes a physiological approach to
auditory nerve→ auditory canal recovery through strenuous physical challenges
(B) Auditory canal→ auditory nerve→ cochlea→ that break down and subsequently build up one’s
tympanic membrane→ ossicles character
(C) Tympanic membrane→ oval window→ cochlea→
auditory nerve→ auditory canal
85. An obese individual with a breathing-related sleep
(D) Auditory canal→ ossicles→ oval window→
disorder most likely suffers from which of the following?
cochlea→ auditory nerve
(E) Cochlea→ ossicles→ oval window→ auditory (A) Narcolepsy
canal→ auditory nerve (B) Hypersomnia
(C) Insomnia
82. A tribe has been found that has no past tense in its (D) Sleep apnea
language. Researchers also found that the members of (E) Hypnotic susceptibility
this tribe spend less time thinking about the past than
other people. This finding is consistent with which 86. Certain cross-cultural studies have suggested that six
theory? facial expressions are recognized by people of virtually
every culture. Which of the following correctly lists these
(A) The Behaviorist model for language development
expressions?
(B) Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device
(C) Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (A) Happiness, sadness, anger, loathing, lust, and
(D) Schachter’s two-factor theory surprise
(E) Whorf’s linguistic relativity (B) Happiness, sadness, indifference, fright, surprise,
and dislike
83. Heidi and Claus are in their 60’s. They recently retired (C) Happiness, sadness, desire, repulsion, fear, and
from their jobs and are planning to spend their time surprise
traveling and seeing their grandchildren. They enjoy (D) Happiness, sadness, fight, flight, indifference, and
looking back on their lives and counting their blessings. anger
They are in Erikson’s stage of (E) Happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and
disgust
(A) intimacy versus isolation
(B) initiative versus guilt
87. Which of the following is primarily a chemical sense?
(C) integrity versus despair
(D) autonomy versus shame (A) Touch
(E) generativity versus stagnation (B) Vision
(C) Taste
(D) Hearing
(E) Kinesthesis

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Practice Test 1 | 23
 Section I

88. Anorexia nervosa is a life-threatening illness that can 92. REM sleep is considered to be paradoxical sleep because
lead to permanent physiological changes (such as
(A) brain patterns change from alpha waves to delta
brittle bones) and even death. Which of the following
waves over the course of a night’s sleep
individuals would be the most likely to develop this
(B) people can always act out the content of their
illness?
dreams
(A) Maria, a 16-year-old Caucasian female, who is an A (C) people will try to increase REM sleep if deprived of
student and talented musician, but who feels that REM sleep for a period of time
her life is out of control (D) sleep cycles may change with age
(B) Leticia, a 15-year-old African American female, (E) the mind is very active, but the body is in a state of
who is an A student and exceptional athlete, plus paralysis
an avid reader
(C) Rosa, a 26-year old Hispanic female, who has 93. Carmella has experienced a stroke. She now needs to use
just received her law degree, is struggling with a communication board because her speech is difficult to
debt from school, and having difficulty finding understand. Carmella has probably sustained damage to
employment her
(D) Virginia, a 14-year-old Caucasian female, who
is a C student, is sexually promiscuous, and is (A) Wernicke’s area
experimenting with drugs (B) hippocampus
(E) Jaeling, a 29-year-old Asian American female, who (C) amygdala
is a stay-at-home mother of two and has a very (D) Broca’s area
tight budget to maintain (E) medulla oblongata

89. Individuals in which of the following occupations will 94. Probabilistic reasoning from specific observations to
be potentially LEAST likely to be susceptible to health general propositions is known as
problems as a result of disrupted circadian rhythms? (A) deductive reasoning
(A) Shift nurse (B) inductive reasoning
(B) Police officer (C) intuitive reasoning
(C) Flight attendant (D) statistical reasoning
(D) Medical resident (E) observational reasoning
(E) College professor
95. Claudio lives in an area with a few college students and
90. When Cordelia was a child, she was abused and several retirement communities. He is trying to start a
she has been angry about it ever since. She is now a computer consulting business that will make home visits
choreographer. When she creates dance routines for to deal with customers’ technology problems. He does all
theatrical productions, critics and audiences often praise of his marketing for the business in a hip coffeehouse and
her realistic portrayals of anger and aggression. This on a dating website because he assumes that the elderly
would fit under the Freudian defense mechanism of are relatively uninterested in technology. His business
is not doing well. What obstacle to effective problem-
(A) projection solving may be interfering with his success?
(B) reaction formation
(C) repression (A) Availability heuristic
(D) denial (B) Representativeness heuristic
(E) sublimation (C) Functional fixedness
(D) Optimism bias
(E) Confirmation bias
91. While visiting a museum, you study a statue by walking
around it and examining it from many different places
in the room. The retinal images of the statue change, but
you do not perceive these changes because of
(A) convergence
(B) motion parallax
(C) perceptual constancy
(D) interpositioning
(E) perceptual acuity

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24 | Cracking the AP Psychology Exam

 Section I

96. Which of the following accurately states the order of the 99. Which of the following best explains why babies have poor
transmission of visual information? vision for the first few weeks of life?
(A) Optic nerve; ganglion cells; bipolar cells; rods and (A) The nodes of Ranvier have not yet formed.
cones (B) The neural connections to the primary visual cortex
(B) Bipolar cells; ganglion cells; fovea; optic nerve are not fully connected.
(C) Rods and cones; retina; optic nerve; ganglion cells (C) The axons are covered in tight coats of lipids, which
(D) Bipolar cells; rods and cones; fovea; optic disk impede neural firing.
(E) Rods and cones; bipolar cells; ganglion cells; optic (D) The synaptic cleft of the neuron is filled with an
nerve aqueous humor.
(E) The glial cells are absent at birth.
97. Which of the following best summarizes Carl Rogers’s
view of personality? 100. Scientists have long sought a physical manifestation of
learning and memory in the brain. Perhaps the closest
(A) Personality traits such as inhibition, extroversion,
they have come is in identifying strengthened synaptic
and conscientiousness are constant over time.
connections. This is referred to as
(B) People’s personality traits are overwhelmingly
positive and goal-directed. (A) long-term potentiation (LTP)
(C) Personality is mainly formed by behavioral (B) tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
expectations. (C) cortical conditioning
(D) Individual personalities vary based on differences in (D) myelinization
traits, emotions, and thought processes. (E) reuptake
(E) Situational variables are more important in
determining the way a person will act than are
broad personality dispositions.

98. Research has shown a possible connection between

the neurotransmitter acetylcholine and which of the
following mental disorders?
(A) Parkinson’s disease
(B) Alzheimer’s disease
(C) Schizophrenia
(D) Mania
(E) Depression

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 II

PSYCHOLOGY
Section II
Time—50 minutes
1
Percent of total score—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. Kai is the field goal kicker for his high school’s football team and he has been invited to a college evaluation clinic where
coaches will watch him perform along with other kickers looking for scholarship opportunities. Two things that have made
Kai a good kicker are great self-confidence and careful preparation for whatever conditions he will face in a game. However,
he has concerns about this clinic because of three things:
• Only his teammates who snap and hold the ball will be on the field with him.
All of the evaluators will be in the press box and he will not see them.
• The field is an artificial surface and he has never played or practiced on such
a field.
• Several days ago, he sustained an eye injury and he will be wearing a patch
over his left eye. He has been unable to practice since this accident.

Explain how each of the following factors could influence Kai’s performance at the clinic:
• The “Big Five” trait of Openness to Experience
• Convergence (depth perception)
• Cognitive dissonance
• Social facilitation
• Sympathetic nervous system
• Non-declarative memory
• Self-efficacy

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 then explain how it could be used to reform a
convicted thief.

STOP

END OF EXAM

26 | 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
 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 8) (Do not round) AP Score
Conversion Chart
Question 2: × 3.5714 = Psychology
(out of 8) (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