ap psychology frq on research methods

AP Psychology Exam Questions

Free-response questions and scoring information.

Download free-response questions from past exams along with scoring guidelines, sample responses from exam takers, and scoring distributions.

If you are using assistive technology and need help accessing these PDFs in another format, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 212-713-8333 or by email at [email protected] .

In light of the 2024-25 AP Psychology course and exam revisions , the questions and scoring information on this page do not completely align with the current AP Psychology Exam. We’re keeping these older questions available because AP teachers have told us that even imperfectly aligned questions can still be valuable instructional resources. 

2024: Free Response Questions

2024: free-response questions.

2023: Free-Response Questions

2022: Free-Response Questions

2021: Free-Response Questions

2020: Free-Response Questions

The 2020 free-response questions are available in the  AP Classroom question bank .

2019: Free-Response Questions

2018: Free-Response Questions

2017: Free-Response Questions

2016: Free-Response Questions

2015: Free-Response Questions

2014: Free-Response Questions

2013: Free-Response Questions

2012: Free-Response Questions

2011: Free-Response Questions

2010: Free-Response Questions

2009: Free-Response Questions

2008: Free-Response Questions

2007: Free-Response Questions

2006: Free-Response Questions

2005: Free-Response Questions

2004: Free-Response Questions

2003: Free-Response Questions

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2001: Free-Response Questions

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How to Ace AP Psychology FRQs

Advanced Placement (AP)

The AP Psychology exam has one of the lower average scores of all AP exams. However, if you know how to prepare, it can actually be one of the easier AP exams to take. Reading this guide will make you an expert on the AP Psych free-response section. By the end of this article, you'll know exactly what the format of the free-response section is, what types of questions you'll be asked, what graders will be looking for in your answers, and the best tips for studying for AP Psych FRQ. 

What’s the Format of the AP Psychology FRQ Section?

The AP Psychology free-response section is the second and final section of the AP Psych exam. You'll answer free-response questions after the multiple-choice section ends. The AP Psych FRQ section lasts 50 minutes and consists of two questions.

The first AP Psych FRQ is known as a Concept Application question. It often focuses on terminology and explaining examples of different psychological concepts. The second is known as a Research Design question and typically includes a chart or graph you need to analyze.

On the official AP Psychology exam website , it states that you'll be asked to do two main things during the free-response section:

• Explain behavior and apply theories using concepts from different theoretical frameworks or subdomains in the field of psychology.
• Analyze psychological research studies, including analyzing and interpreting quantitative data.

Each free-response question is worth 7 points. When you take the AP exam, your scores will be multiplied by 3.57 so that, in total, the free-response section makes up ⅓ of your total raw AP Psychology exam score. (Your raw score is then compared with the curve calculated by the College Board to see what score you'll get on the final 1-5 AP scale. ) You can learn more about the test format by reading our in-depth guide to the AP Psychology exam.

AP Psychology FRQ Examples

Below are two examples of the types of free-response questions you'll see on the AP Psych exam. For each of these AP Psychology FRQ examples we'll go through the answers so you can see exactly how points are earned. Both sample questions come from the second sitting of the 2021 AP Psych exam .

Question 1: Concept Application

As we mentioned above, this question, like all AP Psychology free-response questions, is worth seven points. You might notice there are seven bullet points to answer which makes it easy to see just where you can earn each point!

Let's go through each bullet point to see what you need to include to earn the point. Answers come from the official College Board answer explanations . 

Explain how each of the following psychological concepts applies to Damian’s gaming behavior.

Motor Cortex: The answer must state the motor cortex is responsible for some part of Damian's voluntary movement while gaming.

• Ex. Damian uses his motor cortex when playing games because it helps him push the controller buttons.
• Ex. Damian’s motor cortex has a larger area devoted to his fingers because he uses them so much when gaming. This gives him finer motor control over his fingers than most other people.
• NOTE: Can't refer to reflexive or involuntary movements such as, "Damian’s motor cortex would make him jump if he was startled by a sudden noise."

Algorithm: Must indicate a step-by-step procedure  (such as a formula, equation, etc.) used when Damian is gaming.

• Ex. Damian applies a step-by-step procedure he learned on the internet to advance through the game.
• NOTE: The response can't refer to heuristics, such as "Damian uses a shortcut rule he learned from his buddy to beat the hardest level
• in the game."

Reciprocity Norm: Answer must state that Damian or another gamer did something helpful for the other because they received or expected to receive something in return from the other.

• Ex. Damian knows that if he shares his best gaming tips with his online friends, they will help him when he needs it.
• Ex. Damian helped one of his online friends who was having trouble with gaming addiction because that friend helped him when he was struggling earlier. 
• NOTE: You won't earn the point if you don't mention reciprocity. For example, the response "Damian agreed to give his friend gaming tips" wouldn't earn you the point because there's no mention of reciprocity.

Monocular Depth Cue of Interposition: Your answer must state that Damian, while he is playing a video game, perceives objects that are partially blocked as being further away than the objects blocking them.

• Damian knows a character is farther away from him than a tree due to the monocular depth cue of interposition because the character is partially hidden by that tree. 

Mental Set: Your answer must state that Damian continues using the same video game strategies that have previously been successful for him OR Damian needs to modify a strategy that had been successful but no longer is.

• Ex. Damian has been successful in the game so far, so he keeps using the same strategies for every level. 
• Ex. Damian had been using the same strategy for every level, but when he reached level 10 the strategy no longer worked so he had to adjust his mental set about his game play to defeat the level. 

Explain how Damian’s parents could use a behavioral approach to get him to apply to college using a fixed-ratio schedule: Your answer must state that Damian's behavior will be reinforced after he completes a specific number of application-related behaviors.

• Ex. Damian’s parents let him game for one hour if he writes three essays for his college applications.
• NOTE: Answers that refer to a variable or interval reinforcement schedule, such as "Damian’s parents reward him at the end of each week that he completes a college application."

Explain how a psychoanalyst would use free association with Damian: Your answer must state that the psychoanalyst would encourage Damian to express his thoughts and feelings freely.

• Ex. Damian’s therapist tells him to say everything that comes to mind without censoring to help him figure out his problems
• NOTE: Answers that refer to dream analysis or word association are incorrect and won't earn the point.

Question 2: Research Design

Identify the independent variable presented in the study: Your answer must state that the independent variable is the use of mental imagery or instruction to use mental imagery

• Ex. The independent variable is the students being told to form a mental image.

Identify the control group: Your answer must state that the control group is the group that was not told to use mental imagery OR that the group that didn't receive the independent variable was Group B. 

Explain why the type of research design being used is appropriate for this study: Your answer must state that the design is appropriate because it is an experiment AND that the design is appropriate because it is trying to show cause and effect.

• Ex. The only research design that shows a cause-and-effect relationship is an experiment, so that is why the researcher chose this.

Explain what the different standard deviations indicate about the data from the two groups: Your answer must state that the scores in Group B varied more than the scores in Group A OR that the scores in Group A varied less than the scores in Group B.

• Ex. The standard deviation from Group B is higher than in Group A, so the scores in Group B were more different from each other than those in Group A
• Ex. Group A had scores that were more similar to each other than Group B.

Explain the ethical flaw that is explicitly presented in the scenario: Your answer must state that that the researcher required the students to participate.

• Ex. The researcher failed to obtain informed consent.

Explain how the primacy effect could apply to this research: Your answer must state that if the primacy effect took place, the students would remember more of the words they heard at the beginning of the list than they did from other parts of the list.

• Ex. If students remember more words at the beginning of the list, then they have demonstrated the primacy effect.
• NOTE: Describing primacy and recency without accurately identifying primacy will not earn you the point, such as "The students remembered the words better if they studied them earlier."

Explain how levels of processing are related to this research: Your answer must state that students who did better/Group A used deep processing or that students who did worse/Group B used shallow processing OR that the response must correctly relate mental imagery to deep processing.

• Ex. Students used mental imagery which allowed them to process the words deeply.
• Ex. The students who had no instructions did worse because they used shallow processing.

Tips for Answering Free-Response Questions

The AP Psych free-response questions often trip students up. For the two sample questions above, the mean scores were a 2.21/7 and a 2.96/7, respectively. That's quite a bit less than 50% for each of them. But studying can help you make significant progress. Below are three tips to keep in mind while studying as well as when you’re taking the test to help you improve your chances of scoring well on this section.

#1: Know Your Vocab

You basically can't do well on the AP Psych exam if you don't have a good grasp of psychology vocabulary. And you'll need to do some studying to keep all the terms straight. Some definitions are relatively intuitive, but others are almost impossible to figure out if you haven't studied them directly.

Be meticulous about going over all the terms covered in your class so that you don't second-guess yourself on the test. This is especially important for the Concept Application free-response question for which you will be asked to describe how terms relate to certain situations. You need to understand the terms beyond just the ability to pick their correct definitions out of a multiple-choice lineup. Flashcards are a particularly useful study tool for AP Psychology.

#2: Write in Complete Sentences, Not Complete Paragraphs

A lot of students are confused about how in-depth their free-response answers should be. If you write too much, you'll lose precious time, but if you write too little, you can lose points. The trick to getting the balance correct is to write in complete sentences, but not to write entire paragraphs. Psychology is about your grasp of science—not English—so don't bother with introductions, conclusions, or any other fluff in your answers to the free-response questions. But also don't think that one word answers will cut it.

One of the best ways to get a feel for how much to write is to look over the scoring guidelines after you complete a set of practice problems. Here are the scoring guidelines for the two AP Psych FRQ above. You'll see that most answers are 1-2 sentences. That's all you need to earn a high score on the AP Psych FRQ section.

#3: Connect Your Answer Back to the Question

Right in the official scoring guidelines for the AP Psychology free-response questions is the following statement: "The response must apply the concept to the prompt; a definition alone will not earn the point." This is a key point that many AP Psych students overlook. For example, for the first sample question above, simply stating the definitions of motor cortex, algorithm, reciprocity norm, etc. won't earn you any points. You must always relate them back to the question and, in this case, how they relate to Damian and his behavior. The AP Psych FRQs require more than just regurgitating vocab definitions; you must always connect it back to the question itself.

How to Practice AP Psych FRQ 

You can know all about the format and types of questions you'll see on AP Psychology FRQ, but the way to really test and improve your skills is by answering practice problems. Doing so helps you become even more familiar with free response types and helps you see more clearly which types of questions are easy for you and which you need to study more.

Choosing high-quality practice questions is key to ensuring you're really practicing what you'll be seeing on the exam. Fortunately, the College Board (who designs AP exams) has dozens of old, official AP Psych free-response questions easily available.

Currently, the College Board has AP Psychology FRQ from 2021 as well as 1999-2019 . That's dozens of free-response questions for you to review and try out! The AP Psych exam was updated in 2019, so we recommend focusing on the most recent FRQ, but the free-response question format and topics didn't change all that much, so even older AP Psych FRQ answers and sample questions are still valuable.

Because there are so many free-response problems, you can begin completing practice problems a few months into your class (say, around November) and continuing up until the AP exam in May.

At the beginning of the school year, when you're still learning a lot of the main course material, you can read through the questions to find the ones that focus on topics you've already covered. In order to get the most out of these practice problems, make sure to use a timer and give yourself the same timing limitations the real exam will have.

Summary: AP Psychology FRQ

AP Psychology free-response questions are often the most challenging part of the AP exam. However, by knowing what to expect from this section, you'll give yourself a great shot at getting a high score. The free-response section contains two questions:

• 1 Concept Application question (worth 7 points)
• 1 Research Design question (worth 7 points)

You’ll have 50 minutes to complete this section, and it’s worth 33% of your total exam score. To maximize your chances of doing well keep these three tips in mind:

• Know your vocab
• Write in complete sentences, not complete paragraphs
• Connect your answer back to the question 

Taking practice tests is one of the best ways to prepare for AP Psychology FRQ, and you should absolutely take advantage of the many official AP Psychology FRQ examples that the College Board has released.

What's Next?

Are you concerned about the AP Psychology test? Read this article to decide whether AP Psych will be especially challenging for you (or not!) .

How should you prepare for AP Psychology?  We've come up with the absolute best study plan for the AP Psych exam. Check out the five steps you need to follow!

Want some more study resources?  We've found the 4 best AP Psych books you should be using as you study.

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• AP-CLASSROOM

Monday, November 9, 2020

Research methods frq practice.

On Thursday, Nov. 19th you will need to write out one FRQ answer . 

The topic is "Research Methods" and I have a few examples that you can practice to prepare. 

You will need to write out the answer to one of these questions on Schoology using a separate sheet of paper & a black/dark blue ink pen. Upload your photo of the written work to gain credit. 

The question will be determined for you randomly before the test. 

Remember our HINTS :

Do not use an intro or conclusion. 

S.O.D.A.S. - S pace out your answer in paragraph form, O rder the answer in the same order as the prompt, D efine all terms, A pply all terms to the prompt, & use S ynonyms to avoid being redundant. 

I.D.E.A.S. - I dentify, D efine, E laborate & A pply... Even though sometimes they don't ask for a definition... You may get the point when defining the term or applying it.

USE THE FRQ TAB on the website to help prepare

2014 FRQ Questions Research Methods #1

Actual 2014 Scoring Guidelines for Research Methods #1 - FRQ

2015 FRQ Question #1  

Actual 2015 Scoring Guidelines for Research Methods #2 - FRQ

2019 Scoring Guidelines for Research Methods #2 - FRQ

Actual 2011 FRQ Questions

FRQ Question - Research Methods TUTORIAL / Examples

Frq - research methods, 2020 ap exam question 2 will be similar in structure to a traditional research methods questions, and will have 6 tasks - 15 minutes, key takeaways: research methods.

• The study of psychology relies on a diverse array of qualitative and quantitative research methods, including observations, case studies, surveys, and controlled experiments.
• Psychological research is carefully designed so that researchers can be confident about using results to draw conclusions about real-life phenomena. This is done by controlling variables, creating representative samples, controlling for internal and external validity, and operationalizing definitions and measurements.
• Researchers use statistics to analyze and make sense of the data gathered in a research study. This involves the use of descriptive statistics like measures of central tendency and dispersion, as well as inferential statistics for making generalizations based on the data.
• Because psychological study often involves the participation of human subjects, researchers must abide by established ethical principles and practices as well as legal guidelines while conducting research.

TYPES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH

• Quantitative research: Research that uses operational measurements and statistical techniques to reach conclusions on the basis of numerical data, such as correlational studies and experiments.
• Qualitative research: Research that does not rely on numerical representations of data, such as naturalistic observations, unstructured interviews, and case studies.
• Correlation coefficient: A number (symbolized by r ) between −1 and +1, which represents the strength and direction of the correlation between two variables. The closer the coefficient is to −1 or +1, the stronger the correlation between the variables.
• Positive correlation: An r value above 0, which indicates that two variables have a direct relationship: when one variable increases, the other also increases.
• Negative correlation: An r value below 0, which indicates that two variables have an inverse relationship: when one variable increases, the other decreases.
• Naturalistic observation: A research method, typically qualitative in nature and usually covert and undisclosed, that attempts to document behavior as it spontaneously occurs in a real world setting.
• Structured observation: A type of observational research typically conducted in a laboratory setting, where the researcher can control some aspects of the environment.
• Coding: The classification of behaviors into discrete categories, used especially in structured observations to achieve a level of consistency in recording and describing observations.
• Inter-rater reliability: A statistical measure of the degree of agreement between different codings of the same phenomena.
• Participant observation: A mostly qualitative research method in which the researcher becomes a member of a studied group, either overtly or covertly.
• Hawthorne effect: A phenomenon in which research subjects tend to alter their behavior in response to knowledge of being observed.
• Longitudinal study: A research design that examines how individuals develop by studying the same sample over a long period of time.
• Cross-sectional study: A research design conducted at a single point in time, comparing groups of differing ages to arrive at conclusions about development.
• Case study: A research design involving an in-depth and detailed examination of a single subject, or case, usually an individual or a small group.
• Survey: A mostly quantitative research method involving a list of questions filled out by a group of people to assess attitudes or opinions.
• Nonresponse bias: A distortion of data that can occur in surveys with a low response rate.
• Surveyor bias: A distortion of data that can occur when survey questions are written in a way that prompts respondents to answer a certain way.
• Experiments: Deliberately designed procedures used to test research hypotheses.
• Hypothesis: A proposed, testable explanation for a phenomenon, often constructed in the form of a statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
• Controlled experiment: A research design for testing a causal hypothesis, in which all aspects of the study are deliberately controlled and only independent variables are manipulated to isolate their effects on dependent variables.
• Field experiment: Experiments conducted out in the real world, with fewer controls than would be found in a lab.

FRQ - RESEARCH Methods - VIDEO TUTORIALS

2018 ap psychology test frq - research methods - positive correlation.

Unit 1 Progress Check Research Methods FRQ Review

2013 AP Psychology EXAM - FRQ Research methods tutorial

TYPES of GRAPHS ON THE AP PSYCHOLOGY EXAM - PDF WorksheeT

Sample research design practice frq's - google doc.

Students must log in with their Wm S. Hart District Google account to view this Google Document

AP® Psychology

How to answer ap® psychology free response questions.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

One of the unique characteristics of AP® Psychology is the fact that the FRQ section accounts for just a third of a student’s score. While the free response may not be as greater weighted as the FRQs of other Advanced Placement classes, the two questions posted are still very important to a student’s ability to score a 3, 4, or 5. In this post, we’re going to review the best tips and tricks for answering AP® Psychology free response questions so you can feel confident about your FRQs.

Keep reading to get the scoop on everything you need to make the most of your AP® Psychology exam review. 

What We Review

5 Steps on How to Write Effective AP® Psychology Free Responses

There are a few vital steps when it comes to putting your best foot forward in your AP® Psychology free response section.

1. Understand the difference between the concept application question and the research question.

The concept application and the research question are the two types of questions you’ll find on the AP® Psychology free response section. 

For the concept application question, you’ll be presented with a scenario in which you will need to apply concepts to the scenario to demonstrate your content mastery. The intent of this question is to assess what the College Board calls Skill Category 1: Concept Understanding. 

Concept Understanding is the ability to define, explain, and apply concepts, behavior, theories, and perspectives. 

For the research question, you’ll often be given data from some form of research (i.e. experiment, survey, etc) and you’ll be assessed on your mastery of analyzing research studies.

The two skill categories assessed here are Data Analysis and Scientific Investigation. 

Data Analysis is as you can imagine, the ability to read and interpret quantitative data. 

Scientific Investigation is the ability to analyze psychological research studies. 

A few years ago, it wasn’t always guaranteed that students would receive a research question; however, the College Board in recent years has made this more explicit that students should expect one of the two FRQs to be research questions. 

Here are two examples of concept application questions from the 2019 and 2018 AP® Psychology exams:

Source: College Board

Notice how the key directive for students in these concept application questions is to explain and apply concepts you learned in class. 

Here are two examples of research questions from 2019 and 2017: 

Notice how in these research questions, one part is dedicated to assessing your ability to analyze the set up of the research study, while the other part is more similar to a concept application question and requires explanation of how certain concepts relate to the scenario. 

Here is a link for AP® Psychology past released exams

These past exams include scoring guidelines PDFs which outline how points were distributed for each respective question. 

2. Learn from the mistakes of students from the past exams.

The nice thing about AP® Psychology is that it hasn’t changed all that much in the last decade. This means referencing past released exams can be a way to gain more insight than you might be able to get from other places. 

You can learn a lot from these scoring guidelines. For example, if you read through the 2017-2019 guidelines, you’ll notice the College Board emphasizes a few general rules of thumb regarding the concept application question:

• Answers need to be complete sentences (but spelling or grammatical mistakes are not penalized).
• Just defining concepts or repeating terms given in the prompt is not enough to earn the point. 
• You can’t lose points for misinformation unless it directly contradicts correct information that would have scored a point. 

When it comes to the research question:

• Answering the wrong question won’t score you points (this shouldn’t be a big surprise).
• Wishy washy answers do not score points. For example, if you’re asked whether or not the data supports the hypothesis, a response that falls into “it depends on how you view it” would not score points. 
• Connecting the concept to the behavior addressed in the question was one of the most common student mistakes. Students knew the general idea of a concept but couldn’t apply it. 
• Correlation does not equal causation. 
• Just knowing methods of research is not enough; you need to be able to compare and contrast related research methods and psychology concepts with each other. 

Work your way through the last three year’s worth of scoring guidelines and read about the mistakes of past students. This will help familiarize you understand what to be mindful of when you start answering your own FRQs. 

3. Underline or circle what each question part is asking you.

The bulk of the time, you will be asked to identify, describe, or explain. 

To properly identify , you must provide 1-2 sentences where you directly answer the question. You will need to name the particular concept and connect it to the question prompt. 

To describe , you’ll need to characterize something. This will typically take 2-3 sentences since after you characterize it, you’ll want to apply it back to the prompt. Similar directives more occasionally used could be expressed as show or illustrate .

When asked to explain , these responses often will be three sentences. One sentence to directly respond to the question, followed by 2-3 supporting and specific facts that support your answer. You’ll need to go into depth about how the particular concept or theory connects back to the prompt. Teachers often refer to these questions as ones where you want to “show the why”. Similar directives could be expressed as discuss or relate .

Aside from the directives, build the habit of also marking key vocabulary words or influential people brought up. 

4. Plan out your response BEFORE you start writing.

Taking just a couple minutes to think about your response to each part of the AP® Psychology free response questions can make a huge difference in the thoroughness of your answers.

Consider what studies from your class you can bring in; citing past studies you’ve been exposed to is a stronger response than giving a personal life example when responding to an FRQ. Think about how clear it is as to why you’re bringing up an example or study. 

Finally, consider what your topic sentence will be in each explanation of yours. Writing one can help bring clarity to your thoughts as you mold your response to the question. 

Remember, the College Board uses the free response of the AP® Psychology exam to assess your ability to apply concepts, read and interpret data, and analyze psychological research studies. 

This means this section just recalling definitions is not enough to earn you points. You must be able to apply what you know to the situations described to you.

5. Practice, practice, and then practice some more.

There is no better way to build your AP® Psychology free response test-taking confidence than through practicing. 

You need to practice in order to gain exposure to enough past AP® Psych FRQs to better understand what sorts of questions will be asked of you. 

For example, when it comes to the research question, you’ll be tested to demonstrate you know what is a hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, random sample, potential biases, and more. 

The College Board provides a plethora of past released exams to help you navigate the preparation process, so use them! 

We recommend teaming up with a friend or two to work on the same year together. Then, use the scoring guidelines to review the sample responses, and then to grade each other’s work. This will help you understand how a peer may have responded to the same question you answered, as well as what would and would not score you points. 

20 AP® Psychology FRQ Tips to Scoring a 4 or 5

Now that we’ve gone over five steps to writing effective AP® Psychology free response questions, we can dig into test taking tips and strategies to help with approaching the concept application and research question. 

We recommend you read through a few of these every time you start and end your AP® Psychology FRQ practice. Then, in the days leading up to your exam, read the entire list so they stay fresh in your mind. 

7 AP® Psychology Concept Application Question Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Be mindful of your time spent for the concept application question. The research question typically takes more time so you need to allocate time accordingly. 
• Always define your term before you provide an example that relates back to the prompt. This helps serve as backup and demonstrates what you know.
• Remember to apply the term. Defining the term alone is not enough. 
• Some teachers have told their students to underline the term in their responses; this is up to you, but could be a nice way to cue your reader in when they’re looking for whether or not you understand the definition of the term. 
• One way to remember the last time is UDA: underline the term or concept being tested, define the term without using the term itself in the definition, and apply the term to an example. 
• Use synonyms when elaborating on your definition of a term. Don’t use the term itself with its definition. 
• Leave a line break or space after each part of your response. This makes it easier for your reader to follow along vs. a long block of text. 

3 AP® Psychology Research Question Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Review your definitions every day in the two weeks leading up to the exam. Make sure you’re confident in identifying the operational definition of different variables, what is a hypothesis, independent variable vs. dependent variable, etc. Here is a link to a series of operational definition flashcards.
• Include topic sentences when you’re explaining. They help give your responses direction as you translate the question for yourself. 
• When providing supporting examples or studies, clearly state the purpose of you doing so. Avoid abstract references. 

10 General AP® Psychology Free Response Tips and Test Taking Strategies

• Write in complete sentences. You should not outline or bullet your AP® Psychology free response answers.
• Outline your responses before you begin writing by using your question sheet. 
• Be concise and direct. Don’t skirt around in your responses. 
• This is not an AP® History class. There is no need for an introduction or conclusion paragraph. 
• Don’t make diagrams or lists; you only get points for responses that use sentences.  
• Use the appropriate psychological terms when responding to the FRQs. Same goes for the proper names of theories and theorists. 
• Remember you can’t lose points for incorrect answers unless they contradict part of a correct response. 
• Answer what you know first. Leave space for the things you don’t know or need more time to think about to go back to that part later. 
• If you’re low on time and need to squeeze out a response, feel free to scratch out what you don’t want your reader to read. An erasable pen can also be helpful. 
• Watch YouTube videos to refresh your memory on key concepts and theories. Crash Course has a great playlist that is a little dated but still helpful here .

Wrapping Things Up: How to Write AP® Psychology FRQs

We’ve gone over a lot in this AP® Psychology study guide. At this point, you should have everything you need to begin practicing writing your concept application and research question responses. 

As we wrap things up, here are a few takeaways to remember:

• It’s important to always define the term, and then apply the term to an example. One cannot happen without the other. 
• Create a system for yourself on how you’ll respond to each part of both questions. Consider using the UDA method for term-based questions. This is where you’ll underline the term, define the term, and then apply it.
• Plan your responses before you start writing by using your question sheet. Make sure your response is concise and direct, and structured in a way that is easy to grade.
• Master all your key psychological terms. Go through at least three years of past exams to familiarize yourself with the sorts of questions asked on the research question.
• Budget your time accordingly. Make sure you do not spend too much time on one question that you’re left with insufficient time to fully address the other question. 

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Unit 1 FRQ (Problems in Research) with Feedback

6 min read • july 11, 2024

AP Psych Free Response Question for Problems in Research

These questions are modeled after Free Response Questions (FRQs) of the AP Psychology Exam. Below would most likely represent one of two questions that could appear on the FRQ.

The instructions on the most recent FRQs have included the following:  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 questions posed, using appropriate psychological terminology.

Use the items below to assess your mastery of knowledge of the topics below, but also how you might apply your knowledge to present your “cogent argument.”

Psychologists who conduct research studies encounter difficulties that can threaten the validity or ethical aspects of their work. Describe how each of the following potential problems in research can best be prevented. 

• Poor External Validity
• Framing Effect
• Correlation-Causation Fallacy
• Placebo Effect

Sample Answers and Feedback

Frq practice submission 1.

(a) Poor external validity is having a study that can generalized outside the context of the study. To avoid low external validity, researchers must use random selection so everyone has an equal chance of being in the study and it’s a representative sample.

(b) Coercion means getting a person to do a study through force. This can be avoided as ethics in psychological studies require no coercion to be used in studies and that it must be voluntary, and studies with coercion cannot be approved by the IRB.

(c) Framing effect happens when options or questions have a negative or positive connotation to them and create bias. This can be avoided by researchers making sure questions or options present no positive or negative effect to them. For instance instead of saying “Since smoking kills people everyday, how do you feel about smoking” change it to “How do you feel about smoking?”

(d) Correlation-Causation Fallacy is the tendency to think that correlation causes causation, but actually correlation doesn’t imply causation. This can be avoided by not using any spurious correlations in the study such as connecting ice cream process to forest fires increasing.

(e) The Placebo effect happens when participants believe they have had or show benefits due to the placebo they took. To minimize this effect, researchers can use double-blind studies, this will make sure researchers don’t give any hints to the participants on whether they have the placebo or the actual pill.

Teacher FRQ Feedback

Part (a) is correct. Random selection can help maintain external validity. For part in (b), stressing that a study is voluntary reduces the threat of perceived coercion. For part (c), the example of rephrasing the question is an effective way of ensuring that the point will be scored. Part (d) is a tough question. Spurious correlations are likely to be found if you search for them in data. How can we avoid making that mistake? Part (e) would not score. Consider what the placebo effect is. Is it avoidable?

FRQ Practice Submission 2

(a) Poor External Validity means the research cannot be replicated in other situations. In order to prevent this, you can have fellow researchers skim through your experiment plan, before you start, and determine whether or not they would be able to replicate it.

(b) Coercion means forcing people to participate in your research study. This can be prevented if you get word out for your research early and have your volunteers ready. Also, it is unethical to force people to participate, so the study would not be approved.

(c) The framing effect is a principle that influences people’s decisions based on how the options were presented (tone, diction, etc). To prevent this, make sure your voice is neutral while presenting the various options, so that bias is not formed.

(d) The Correlation-Causation Fallacy emphasizes that the IV may not be the sole reason of the change in the DV. To prevent this, make sure you account for the other variables like confounding, external, etc before you start, so that you can figure out a way to prevent them from influencing your study,

(e) The placebo effect states that the expectations and biases of the participants could influence their behavior in the study. To prevent this, researchers should use a double blind study, so that neither the psychologist nor the participants are influenced by anything. Also, researchers can tell the participants as minimal as possible, so that they don’t know what is supposed to happen to them if they do not receive the placebo.

Part (a) would not score. External validity and procedures are not too closely related. For part (b), how would having them ready early reduce coercion? For part (c), tone of voice is possible, but I would also stress wording as well. In part (d), the definition is incorrect but the application will likely score. For part (e), double blind by itself would not address the placebo effect. To what are you comparing placebo?

FRQ Practice Submission 3

(a) Poor External Validity is the inability of a research study to generally apply to the targeted population. This potential problem is best prevented by using random selection and random assignment in the conducted research study.

(b) Coercion is when a participant in a study is forced into participating using threats or other forms of pressure. This can be avoided by having a random selection of participants, and if participants choose not to volunteer, others who are randomly selected who do choose to participate will help keep the study ethical and maintain its validity.

(c) Framing Effect is the usage of diction to manipulate a positive or negative correlation to something–resulting in a bias in the research study. This is best prevented by ensuring that there is no preset bias in the experiment by looking at the way questions and phrases are worded.

(d) The Correlation-Causation Fallacy is the false belief that two variables that are correlated were caused by one or the other. This can be prevented by ensuring the claim in a research study frames only the information that was found, and does not assume any information that was not found or backed up by the study.

(e) The Placebo Effect is a false belief that a participant taking a placebo has felt a difference. This results in bias from researchers as they are already aware that they are taking the placebo, and is best prevented by having a double-blind study take place.

Teacher FRQ Response

For part (a), random selection scores the point, but not random assignment. For part (b), random selection would not help avoid the threat of coercion. Part time (c) would score. Part time (d) is lacking some detail that would score the point. Part (e) needs more detail to score the point; placebo compared to what?

FRQ Practice Submission 4

(a) Poor external validity is when outside factors are heavily influencing the experiment. This can best be prevented by random selection, which will allow participants to be representatives of their population without the worry of other factors. Coercion is when participants are forced into the study.

(b) Coercion can best be prevented by giving individuals the option to participate in an experiment/survey (without the use of a reward if they decide to go ahead with participating).

(c) The Framing Effect is when a participant reacts to something the experimenter says based on how it’s presented in front of them. This can be prevented by giving just the amount of information a participant needs without going too far in depth in order to prevent unnecessary skewing of results.

(d) The Correlation-Causation Fallacy is when two or more things are believed to be correlated to each other, but are not. This can be prevented by making some sort of scatter plot after conducting an experiment showing how one variable may influence the likes of another.

(e) The placebo effect is when a drug doesn’t have any effect on the participant/test subject. This can be prevented by conducting an experiment and administering the drug without telling the participants there is a drug at all (single-blind studies).

In part (a), the definition is not correct but the application scores the point. Part (b) would score the point. Part (c) likely scores the point because the definition gives context. Part (d) likely would not score: a scatterplot tells you whether there is a correlation. I don’t think part (e) would score. What you describe would still result in a placebo effect.

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RESEARCH METHODS FRQ

If you haven’t yet, practice Question 2 on this Sample FRQ Exam to make sure you know how to do the research portion of the exam today because it’s on the exam

Question https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/pdf/ap-2020exam-sample-questions-psychology.pdf

https://secure-media.collegeboard.org/apc/sg_psych_00.pdf

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