AP Psych Barrons

Introduction: Using This Book
The purpose of this book is to provide you with the best-possible preparation for the AP Psychology
exam. Becoming familiar with the structure of the test is an essential part of your preparation.
Therefore, this book begins with an overview of the exam.
The book begins with a diagnostic test to help you gauge how best to prepare for the exam. You
may wish to take this test after you have been exposed to all the information through your class but
before you begin to study. The Multiple-Choice Error Analysis Sheet is intended to help you identify
your areas of relative strength and weakness. For each of the 14 topic areas, compute the percentage of
questions you answered correctly. In this test, the number of questions on a topic is indicative of the
amount of attention it typically receives on the exam. Therefore, you should spend the most time
studying the areas on which many questions were asked and you got a relatively low percentage of
them correct.
In addition, we have included two full-length practice exams at the end of the book. Keep in mind
that taking a practice exam under actual testing conditions (all at once and within the time limit) is
always best. Every exam includes an explanation of the correct answers as well as an Error Analysis
Sheet.
We devoted most of the book to a topical review of the main areas of psychology. The content is
organized in such a way that it mirrors the format of the exam. These areas and their relative coverage
on the AP exam are listed below:
History and Approaches
2–4 percent
Methods
8–10 percent
Biological Bases of Behavior 8–10 percent
Sensation and Perception
6–8 percent
States of Consciousness
2–4 percent
Learning
7–9 percent
Cognition
8–10 percent
Motivation and Emotion
6–8 percent
Developmental Psychology 7–9 percent
Personality
5–7 percent
Testing and Individual Differences 5–7 percent
Abnormal Psychology
7–9 percent
Treatment of Psychological Disorders 5–7 percent
Social Psychology
8–10 percent