AP Psychology Course and Exam Description Notes

What AP Stands For

  • AP stands for clarity and transparency: Teachers and students need clear expectations. AP makes public its course frameworks and sample assessments.

  • AP is an unflinching encounter with evidence: AP courses help students develop as independent thinkers. Evidence and the scientific method are the starting points.

  • AP opposes censorship: AP respects the intellectual freedom of teachers and students. Banning required topics leads to removal of the AP designation.

  • AP opposes indoctrination: AP students analyze different perspectives. No points are awarded for agreeing with a specific viewpoint. Students are not required to feel certain ways about the content.

  • AP courses foster an open-minded approach to histories and cultures: Studying diverse nationalities, cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities is essential.

  • Every AP student who engages with evidence is listened to and respected: Students evaluate arguments, not each other. AP classrooms respect diversity.

  • AP is a choice for parents and students: Parents and students choose to enroll in AP courses. Course descriptions are online. AP materials are created by expert educators and validated by the American Council on Education.

Contents

  • Acknowledgments

  • About AP

  • AP Resources and Supports

  • Instructional Model

  • About the AP Psychology Course

  • College Course Equivalent

  • Prerequisites

Course Framework

  • Introduction

  • Course Framework Components

  • Science Practices

  • Course Content

  • Course at a Glance

  • Unit Guides

  • Using the Unit Guides

  • UNIT 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

  • UNIT 2: Cognition

  • UNIT 3: Development and Learning

  • UNIT 4: Social Psychology and Personality

  • UNIT 5: Mental and Physical Health

Instructional Approaches

  • Selecting and Using Course Materials

  • Developing the Science Practices

  • Instructional Strategies

Exam Information

  • Exam Overview

  • Sample Exam Questions

Acknowledgments

  • Lists committee members, consultants, and reviewers who contributed to the course development.

About AP

  • Advanced Placement (AP): Enables willing, academically prepared students to pursue college-level studies while in high school.

    • Offers opportunity to earn college credit, advanced placement, or both.

    • AP courses in 40 subjects, each culminating in a challenging exam.

    • Students develop critical thinking and argumentation skills.

  • Benefits of AP: Demonstrates challenging curriculum to college admissions officers.

    • Students scoring 3+ on AP Exams typically experience greater academic success in college.

    • More likely to earn a college degree than non-AP students.

  • AP Course Development: Emphasizes challenging, research-based curricula aligned with higher education expectations.
    *Individual teachers design their own curriculum.

  • Course and Exam Description: Presents content and skills for the course.

    • Organizes content/skills into units representing a sequence in college textbooks.

    • Provides a roadmap that teachers can modify.

    • Offers free formative assessments (Progress Checks) to measure student progress.

  • Enrolling Students: Equity and Access: AP Program encourages equitable access, giving all willing/prepared students the opportunity to participate.

    • Aims to eliminate barriers restricting access for traditionally underserved groups.

    • Advocates for academically challenging coursework before AP enrollment.

  • Offering AP Courses: The AP Course Audit: Schools implement their own curriculum to develop content understandings/skills.

    • AP Program has curricular/resource requirements to label a course "Advanced Placement" or "AP."

    • Schools participate in the AP Course Audit, where AP teachers' materials are reviewed by college faculty.

    • The AP Course Audit provides guidelines and helps colleges validate AP courses on transcripts.

How the AP Program Is Developed

  • An AP course scope is based on the analysis of college syllabi and course offerings.

  • College faculty and AP teachers articulate what students should know and be able to do.

  • The course framework is the blueprint for the AP Exam.

  • AP Test Development Committees develop each AP Exam, ensuring alignment to the course framework.

  • AP Exams undergo extensive review, revision, piloting, and analysis.

  • Committee members represent diverse perspectives and institutions.

  • College Board gathers feedback from stakeholders in secondary schools and higher education.

How AP Exams Are Scored

  • AP teachers and college faculty score AP Exams.

  • Multiple-choice questions are machine-scored, while free-response questions and performance assessments are scored by expert AP teachers and college faculty.

  • AP Readers are thoroughly trained and monitored for fairness and consistency.

  • A college faculty member serves as Chief Faculty Consultant and maintains scoring standards.

  • Free-response questions/performance assessments are weighted and combined with computer-scored multiple-choice questions.

  • Raw score is converted to a composite AP score on a 1–5 scale.

  • AP Exams are criterion-referenced, not norm-referenced.

  • Criteria for scores of 3, 4, or 5 include:

    • Points earned by successful college students on AP Exam questions.

    • Performance predicting success in subsequent higher-level college courses.

    • Points college faculty expect are necessary to achieve each AP grade level.

Using and Interpreting AP Scores

  • AP Exam scores accurately represent students’ achievement in equivalent college courses.

  • Research studies validate AP scores.

  • Colleges/universities set their own credit/placement policies.

  • Most private colleges/universities award credit and/or advanced placement for AP scores of 3+.

  • Most states have statewide credit policies for scores of 3+ at public institutions. A search engine is available at apstudent.org/creditpolicies.

Becoming an AP Reader

  • Thousands of AP teachers and college faculty evaluate and score free-response sections of AP Exams each June.

  • Ninety-eight percent of surveyed educators report a positive experience at the AP Reading.

  • Opportunities include:

    • Bringing positive changes to the classroom.

    • Gaining in-depth understanding of AP Exam/scoring standards.

    • Receiving compensation; expenses, lodging, and meals covered for travel.

    • Scoring from hone.

    • Earning Continuing Education Units (CEUs).

AP Resources and Supports

  • Teachers and students gain access to classroom resources through class selection.

  • AP Classroom: A dedicated online platform for teachers and students.

AP Classroom Features

  • Unit Guides: Outlines course content/skills, suggests sequence/pacing, scaffolds skill instruction, organizes content into topics, and provides AP Exam tips.

  • Progress Checks: Formative AP questions with rationales for answers and scoring information.

  • Reports: Provides teachers with student results on assignments and Progress Checks.

  • Question Bank:Searchable library of AP questions for teachers to build custom practice.

Class Section Setup and Enrollment

  • Teachers and students sign in/create College Board accounts.

  • Teachers confirm course addition to AP Course Audit account and administrator approval.

  • Teachers/AP coordinators set up class sections for student access and exam orders.

  • Students join class sections with join code.

Instructional Model

  • Integrate AP resources throughout the course.

  • Plan: Review unit overviews, use pacing guides, identify strategies.

  • Teach: Use topic pages, integrate content with skills, employ instructional strategies, and utilize AP Daily resources.

  • Assess: Use AP Classroom for Topic Questions and Progress Checks, provide feedback, and create custom practice with Question Bank.

About the AP Psychology Course

  • AP Psychology introduces students to the systematic and scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.

  • Students explore psychological theories, key concepts, and phenomena related to major units of study.

    • Biological bases of behavior, cognition, development, learning, social psychology, personality, and mental/physical health.

  • Students apply psychological concepts and research methods to evaluate claims and consider evidence.

  • College Course Equivalent: Equivalent to an introductory college-level psychology course.

  • Prerequisites: No prerequisites, but students should be able to read a college-level textbook and express themselves clearly in writing.

Course Framework Components

  1. SCIENCE PRACTICES: Skills students should develop during the AP Psychology course. The unit guides embed and spiral these skills throughout the course.

  2. COURSE CONTENT: Organized into units of study suggesting a sequence for the course. Units are comprised of content and conceptual understandings that colleges and universities typically expect as AP qualification. The intention of this publication to respect the teachers’ time and expertise by providing can modify and adapt to their needs.

AP Psychology Science Practices:

The table presents the science practices that students should develop during the AP Psychology course; these practices form the basis of tasks on the AP Psychology Exam. Practice 1: Concept Application: Apply psychological perspectives, theories, concepts, and research findings. Practice 2: Research Methods and Design: Evaluate qualitative and quantitative research methods and study designs. Practice 3: Data Interpretation: Evaluate representations of psychological concepts in quantitative and qualitative research, including tables, graphs, charts, figures, and diagrams. Practice 4: Argumentation: Develop and justify psychological arguments using evidence. Provides examples of each practice.

Units Of Instruction and Exam Weighting

Lists the five units in AP Psychology and their weighting on the multiple-choice section of the AP Exam.

  • Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior 15-25%

  • Unit 2: Cognition 15-25%

  • Unit 3: Development and Learning 15-25%

  • Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality 15-25%

  • Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health 15-25%

Each unit is broken down into teachable segments called topics. The topic pages (starting on page 27) contain the required content for each topic.

AP Psychology Unit Guides Introduction

Designed with input from the community of AP Psychology educators. The unit guides offer teachers helpful guidance in building students’ skills and knowledge. The suggested sequence was identified through a thorough analysis of the syllabi of highly effective AP teachers and the organization of typical college textbooks. Provides list of all five Units. Each Unit includes: developing understanding, building science practice, preparing for the AP exam, unit at a glance, sample instructional activities, topic pages.

Biological Bases of Behavior

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. All psychological phenomena studied throughout AP Psychology have a biological basis. Essential Knowledge. How does knowledge of the connection between biological systems and mental processes help us live healthier lives? How much of who you are is determined by what’s in your brain?