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Ap Psychology

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AP Psychology
Free Response Questions Sample

The following questions are samples of the free response questions from past AP Psychology exams. The free response sections are worth 33 1/3 percent of the total grade. Students have 50 minutes to answer two questions. The key to successfully answering these questions is to: completely define the terms using appropriate psychological terminology and then critically apply each term. Many students concentrate their efforts on the multiple-choice sections. However, the free response section is extremely important. While grammar and spelling do not count, students should make a serious effort at producing a quality piece of writing to ensure their points are completely understood by the …show more content…

3. A. Statistics are often used to describe and interpret the results of intelligence testing.
• Describe three measures of central tendency (mean, median, and mode).
• Describe a skewed distribution.
• Relate the three measures of central tendency to a normal distribution
• Relate the three measures of central tendency to a positively skewed distribution.
• An intelligence test for which the scores are normally distributed has a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15. Use this information to describe how the scores are distributed.
• In two normal distributions, the means are 100 for group I, and 115 for group II. Can an individual in group I have a higher score than the mean score for group II? Explain.

B. Apply knowledge of psychological research in answering the following questions about intelligence scores.
• Explain why norms for standardized intelligence tests are periodically updated.
• Describe how to determine whether an intelligence test is biased.

Question #4 is also from the 2003 AP Exam produced by The College Board and Educational Testing Service.

4. A. Define the following psychological concepts.
• Cognitive dissonance
• Conformity
• Incentive motivation
• Negative reinforcement
• Physiological addiction
B. Use one specific example for each of the concepts in part A to explain how the concept might relate to either the development of or the continuation of a smoking habit. It is

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