Can You Score a 5 in AP Psychology?

By: Allison Lips
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
Can You Score a 5 in AP Psychology?
Image: Chris Madden/Moment/Getty Images

About This Quiz

If you've ever taken a psychology courses, odds are you've  become acquainted with Sigmund Freud, B.F. Skinner, Ivan Pavolv, Mary Ainsworth, Carl Jung, and Stanley Milgram. You've analyzed their experiments and theories. You also know whose experiments no longer hold up, which were flawed, which are now considered unethical, and whose theories are currently en vogue. 

While those who have taken AP psychology will be familiar with all the topics covered in the following questions, anyone with an interest in psychology should be able to answer most of the questions correctly. Even if you only have a little knowledge about various disorder, theories, drugs used to treat disorders, and the experiments, you will probably find someone questions to be very easy. After all, you probably have a phobia, have suffered a hallucination, or know someone has dealt with some type of mental illness. 

Psychology is also more than just mental illnesses, treatments, and a list of symptoms. It deals with how images are processed in the brain, how memories are stored, and how various hormones and enzymes affect your well-being. 

Do you think you can answer all these questions correctly? If you have a strong interest in psychology or biology, you may get 100 percent. There's only one way to find out! 

What are two examples of anxiety disorders?
Phobias and panic disturbances
Bipolar and schizophrenia
Dementia and amnesia
Autism and behavioral
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

People with anxiety disorders excessively worry about everyday situations. Symptoms of anxiety disorders include sweating, trembling, trouble sleeping, and having trouble concentrating on things that aren't related to your current fear.

Advertisement

Which variable in an experiment is measured by the experimenter?
Control
Independent
Dependent
Stimulus
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Independent variables are often represented by the letter x. Changes in other variables do not have an effect on them.

Advertisement

When making decisions, which part of the brain is most active?
Cerebral cortex
Hyothalamus
Pituitary Gland
Pineal gland
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The cerebral cortex is the surface of the cerebrum. It contains 15 billion neurons.

Advertisement

What are perceptions of nonexistent sensory stimulations called?
Delusions
Hallucinations
Paraphilias
Figments of the imagination
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hallucinations can be auditory, visual, olfactory, gustatory, or tactile. That means you can hear, see, smell, taste, or feel things that aren't there.

Advertisement

If someone has clear memories of events that occurred before an accident, but difficulty remembering events after any accident, they are showing signs of what?
Retrograde amnesia
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Anterograde amnesia
Dissociative identity disorder
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

People with anterograde amnesia lose the ability to create new memories. Research suggests that anterograde amnesia sufferers process information normally, but immediately forget it.

Advertisement

The information-processing view of memory states that what is the first stage in memory processing?
Encoding
Storage
Transfer
Retrieval
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Encoding takes information received and processes it in a way that can be stored in the brain. It is used to form short-term and long-term memories.

Advertisement

What is a type of autobiographical memory?
Semantic
Procedural
Flashbulb
Declarative
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Traumatic events are more likely to be recalled as flashbulb memories. Flashbulb memories are vivid and people tend to be confident in their accuracy.

Advertisement

What are Rorschach tests used to test?
Projective personality
Verbal intelligence
Cognitive reasoning
Emotional intelligence
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In 1921, Hermann Rorschach's original images were published. When taking an inkblot test, there are no wrong answers. However, unusual answers may be a sign of psychological issues.

Advertisement

For which disorder is intense artificial light considered the most successful therapy?
Panic disorder
Hypochondria
Seasonal affective disorder
Bipolar disorder
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Seasonal affective disorder is considered a type of depression. Suffers experience the symptoms around the same time each year.

Advertisement

When a group of people are present at an incident, the likelihood that someone will intervene to help decreases. What is this called?
Not my problem
Diffusion of responsibility
Biological instinct
Situational ambiguity
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The diffusion of responsibility is one of the causes of the bystander effect. Studies have shown that people take into account how much other people know about a situation before deciding to take action.

Advertisement

What is dopamine an example of?
Hormone responsible for puberty
Mood stabilizers
Neurotransmitters that control neural signals across synapses
Enzymes responsible for hunger
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Dopamine regulates attention, learning, movement, and emotional responses. Other neurotransmitters include norepinephrine and acetylocholine.

Advertisement

Which barrier is serotonin unable to cross?
Ocular barrier
Skin barrier
Hear-lung barrier
Blood-brain barrier
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Some materials can cross the blood-brain barrier. However, large molecules and fats do not pass the blood-brain barrier under normal circumstances.

Advertisement

What are Gestalt principles used to explain in psychology?
Hunger impulses
Memory processes
Perceptual organization
Mood disorders
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The Gestalt principles that involve visual perception were first discovered in the 1920. Gestalt psychology believes that the whole is not the same as the sum of its parts.

Advertisement

Which personality disorder is characterized by the following: constant trouble with authority, lack of remorse, and dishonesty?
Boderline
Passive-aggressive
Narcissistic
Antisocial
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

People with antisocial personality disorder often antagonize or manipulate others. They also disregard what's right and wrong and can wind up in abusive relationships.

Advertisement

What is the painful experience that often occurs when someone stops taking an addictive substance?
Withdrawal
Discontinuance
Removal
Termination
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The mental withdrawal symptoms are cognitive, trouble sleeping, depression, and anxiety. Physical manifestations of withdrawal are headaches, chest tightness, palpitations, nausea, muscle tension, and sweating.

Advertisement

If a patient has distrust of others, what are they showing signs of?
Amnesia
Depression
Delusions
Paranoia
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Paranoid personality disorder, delusional disorder, and paranoid schizophrenia are the three main types of paranoia. The main treatment focuses on reducing the feeling of paranoia.

Advertisement

If someone refuses to accept their diagnosis, which defense mechanism are they using?
Displacement
Lashing out
Projection
Denial
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Denial is one defense mechanism. Other defense mechanisms include regression, acting out, dissociation, reaction formation, compartmentalization, dissociation, and projection.

Advertisement

What do psychologists call a species-specific complex pattern of organized, unlearned behavior?
A need
A habit
An instinct
A desire
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Instincts are genetically hardwired behaviors. They are meant to help us cope with environmental changes.

Advertisement

If someone wants to work on their fear of spiders, what behavior-therapy technique would be used?
Acceptance
Systematic desensitization
Self-monitoring
Aversion therapy
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In the 1950s, Joseph Wolpe developed systematic desensitization as a type of behavioral therapy. It is used to treat anxiety disorders, such as phobias.

Advertisement

What function do endorphins in the brain serve?
To kill pain
To make pain worse
To help rationalize a situation
To help with memory
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Endorphins are released when you exercise. They reduce and improve stress, help with anxiety and depression, and improve your overall well-being.

Advertisement

Which drug category does alcohol fit into based on the effect it has on the central nervous system?
Hallucinogen
Stimulant
Narcotic
Depressant
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Depressants slow down the central nervous system. Examples include alcohol, sedatives, opiates, and marijuana.

Advertisement

Which symptom is strongly associated with chronic schizophrenia?
Disordered thinking
Memory loss
Severe mood swings
Extreme depression
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Schizophrenia affects approximately one percent of Americans. In men, it is usually diagnosed in the late teens to early 20s. Women tend to be diagnosed in their late 20s to early 30s.

Advertisement

If someone is asked to recall their high school graduation, which type of memory would they be mostly likely to use?
Semantic
Eidetic
Episodic
Flashbulb
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Episodic memory is used for recent and past events. To remember events stored as episodic memories, you rely on encoding, consolidation, and retrieval processes.

Advertisement

What is the primary function of the hypothalamus?
To regulate impulse control
To regulate hunger and eating
To express emotion
To regulate sleep
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The hypothalamus connects the nervous system to the endocrine system. While its main role is controlling hunger, it also plays a role in body temperature, blood pressure, sleep cycle, and emotions.

Advertisement

Deficiencies in which system is responsible for the most common form of color blindness?
Tear duct
Cataract
Red-green system
Blue-yellow system
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

There are three kinds of color blindness: red-green, blue-yellow, and complete absence of color vision. However, the last one is extremely rare.

Advertisement

Ivan Pavlov's experiments involved what type of conditioning?
Classical
Operant
Observational
Educational
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

In 1904, Ivan Pavlov received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Most of his work was done between 1981 and 1900 at the Institute of Experimental Medicine.

Advertisement

An individual with which disorder may find hypnosis to be helpful?
Paranoia
Autism
Dementia
Pain
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Hypnosis is a state of highly focused attention. People who are hypnotized are in complete control of their actions.

Advertisement

Someone with persistent repetitive thoughts that they cannot control is having what?
Phobias
Hallucinations
Delusions
Obsessions
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

About two percent of the population experiences the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. In the United States, approximately 2.2 people have the disorder.

Advertisement

What is an example of a dissociative disorder?
Bipolar disorder
Multiple personality
Obsessive compulsive disorder
Autism
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Multiple personality disorder is now called dissociative identity disorder. It is thought to be a result of trauma.

Advertisement

Which condition has electroconvulsive therapy been most successful in treating?
Clinical depression
Dementia
Amnesia
Hypochondria
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Electroconvulsive therapy uses small electric currents that go through the brain to intentionally cause a brief seizure. Today, it is performed under general anesthesia.

Advertisement

Bipolar disorder can be treated with lithium carbonate and what other type of drug?
Stimulants
Hallucinogens
Tricyclic antidepressants
Beta-blockers
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Tricyclic antidepressants were some of the first antidepressants created. Some examples are amoxapine, doxepin, protriptyline, and amitriptyline.

Advertisement

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross believes that people facing death experiences 5 stages. Which of the following is not one of those stages?
Denial
Bargaining
Projection
Depression
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Elasabeth Kubler-Ross wrote a book called "On Death and Dying." In the book she outlined the five stages a dying patient experiences, which are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Advertisement

In what type of therapy does a therapist help their clients by confronting their faulty logic?
Rational-emotive therapy
Existential therapy
Operant conditioning
Classical conditioning
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Rational emotive behavior therapy is used to deal with self-defeating thoughts. The goal is to replace them with healthier and more productive thoughts.

Advertisement

In the majority of people, speech functions are localized in which part of the brain?
Frontal lobe
Brain Stem
Cerebellum
Left cerebral hemisphere
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Right-side motor coordination is controlled by the left cerebral hemisphere. Emotion is controlled by the right cerebral hemisphere.

Advertisement

Which area of psychology was the first to be studied as a science?
Psychophysics
Behavioral neuroscience
Phrenology
Experimental psychology
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Psychophysics studies the relationship between physical stimuli and mental responses. German scientist Gustav Theodor Fechner created the field.

Advertisement

You Got:
/35
Featured