AP Psychology practice questions and exam guide

Shaping involves:

1. Punishing every wrong answer
2. Conditioning by association of two stimuli
3. Ignoring all behavior until perfect performance
4. Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior

Answer: D — Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior

D) Skinner's shaping. A/C) Inefficient/inappropriate. B) Classical conditioning.

Working memory has a typical capacity of:

1. 7 ± 2 chunks (Miller's 'magic number'); modern research suggests it may be closer to 4 ± 1 chunks
2. 1-2 chunks
3. 100+ items
4. Unlimited

Answer: A — 7 ± 2 chunks (Miller's 'magic number'); modern research suggests it may be closer to 4 ± 1 chunks

George Miller (1956): 'The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two.' Short-term/working memory capacity. Chunking (grouping into meaningful units) extends capacity. Modern Cowan (2001) estimates closer to 4 ± 1. Used in user-experience design.

Piaget's preoperational stage (ages ~2-7) is characterized by:

1. Logical reasoning
2. Formal hypothesis testing
3. Object permanence emerging
4. Symbolic thinking, language explosion, egocentrism, lack of conservation (e.g., taller glass = more water)

Answer: D — Symbolic thinking, language explosion, egocentrism, lack of conservation (e.g., taller glass = more water)

Piaget's 4 stages: (1) Sensorimotor (0-2): object permanence develops. (2) Preoperational (2-7): symbols, egocentrism, no conservation. (3) Concrete operational (7-11): logic on concrete events, conservation. (4) Formal operational (12+): abstract reasoning.

A 4-year-old insists a tall, narrow glass holds 'more' juice than a short, wide one, even after seeing them poured equal. This child is in Piaget's:

1. Sensorimotor stage
2. Preoperational stage, lacking conservation
3. Concrete-operational stage
4. Formal-operational stage

Answer: B — Preoperational stage, lacking conservation

B) Preoperational (2–7), no conservation. A) 0–2. C) 7–11 (conservation present). D) 12+.

Fluid intelligence differs from crystallized intelligence in that:

1. Fluid intelligence reflects the ability to reason and solve novel problems and tends to decline in late adulthood, while crystallized intelligence reflects accumulated knowledge and tends to be stable or grow
2. Fluid intelligence grows with age; crystallized intelligence declines
3. The two are identical
4. Only crystallized intelligence is measurable

Answer: A — Fluid intelligence reflects the ability to reason and solve novel problems and tends to decline in late adulthood, while crystallized intelligence reflects accumulated knowledge and tends to be stable or grow

A) Cattell's distinction. B/C/D) Each contradicts the theory.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to:

1. Seek information that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs and to under-weight disconfirming evidence
2. Accept any new evidence equally
3. Make decisions only by base rates
4. Confirm every hypothesis statistically

Answer: A — Seek information that confirms one's pre-existing beliefs and to under-weight disconfirming evidence

A) Confirmation bias. B–D) Each contradicts.

Carl Rogers's humanistic concept of UNCONDITIONAL POSITIVE REGARD refers to:

1. Acceptance and support of a person regardless of behavior, considered essential for healthy self-concept
2. Reinforcement of every behavior
3. Punishment-based parenting
4. Cognitive restructuring

Answer: A — Acceptance and support of a person regardless of behavior, considered essential for healthy self-concept

A) Rogers. B–D) Each is a different construct.

The hindsight bias is:

1. The 'I-knew-it-all-along' phenomenon — judging past events as more predictable AFTER they occurred than they actually were beforehand
2. Forgetting the past
3. Misperceiving distance
4. An optical illusion

Answer: A — The 'I-knew-it-all-along' phenomenon — judging past events as more predictable AFTER they occurred than they actually were beforehand

Hindsight bias makes psychology seem like 'common sense' (it isn't). Combats: ask predictions BEFORE outcomes are known. Related: overconfidence. Why we need empirical research, not just intuition.

Solomon Asch's conformity experiments showed:

1. ~33% of people conformed to a clearly wrong group answer (line judgment) on critical trials, and 75% conformed at least once
2. People always think independently
3. No conformity
4. Children conformed more than adults

Answer: A — ~33% of people conformed to a clearly wrong group answer (line judgment) on critical trials, and 75% conformed at least once

Asch (1951): tested social conformity on simple perceptual task. Normative influence (fitting in) vs informational (others might be right). Conformity higher with larger groups, unanimous majority, in-group, ambiguous task. Cultural differences (collectivistic > individualistic).

The just-noticeable difference (JND) between two stimuli, per Weber's law, is:

1. A fixed absolute amount across all intensities
2. Independent of the original stimulus
3. A constant proportion of the original stimulus magnitude
4. Larger for weaker stimuli than for stronger ones

Answer: C — A constant proportion of the original stimulus magnitude

C) Weber's law. A/B/D) Each contradicts Weber.

The 'fight-or-flight' response is mediated by:

1. The sympathetic nervous system, releasing adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine — preparing body for action
2. The parasympathetic nervous system
3. The somatic nervous system only
4. The peripheral nervous system alone

Answer: A — The sympathetic nervous system, releasing adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine — preparing body for action

Sympathetic NS = arousal/fight-or-flight (heart rate up, pupils dilate, digestion paused, glucose released). Parasympathetic = rest-and-digest (heart rate down, digestion resumed). The autonomic nervous system balances these. Chronic sympathetic activation → stress-related health problems.

The autonomic nervous system divides into:

1. Cerebral and spinal branches
2. Somatic and motor branches
3. Sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest) branches
4. Central and peripheral systems

Answer: C — Sympathetic (fight/flight) and parasympathetic (rest/digest) branches

C) Standard autonomic divisions. A/B/D) Each is a different distinction.

What is retrieval?

Getting stored information back out. Recall or recognition.

What is proactive interference?

Old memories interfering with new (calling new partner by old's name).

What is bottom-up processing?

Building perception from sensory input.

What are Piaget's four stages?

Sensorimotor (0-2), Preoperational (2-7), Concrete operational (7-11), Formal operational (11+).

What is a placebo?

Inert substance/treatment given to control group to isolate true treatment effect.

What is taste aversion?

Conditioned aversion to a food after one pairing with illness — biological preparedness (Garcia effect).