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AP Psychology Exam 2026/2027 A+
AP Exam with Questions & Verified Answers
2026/2027
Official-Style Objective Assessment | STUVIAACTUALEXAM
A+ QUESTIONS 4 SECTIONS 100% RATIONALES
VERIFIED COVERED INCLUDED
CATEGORIES
■ Section 1: Scientific Foundations & Biological Bases
■ Section 2: Developmental, Learning, & Cognition
■ Section 3: Motivation, Emotion, Personality
■ Section 4: Clinical & Social Psychology
STUVIAACTUALEXAM
Passing Score: ~70% (scaled 1–5; 3+ typically qualifying) | 1 Mark per Question | Application / Analysis
,Section 1: Scientific Foundations & Biological Bases
Q1.
A researcher wants to determine whether caffeine improves reaction time. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either
caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, then complete a timed task. The primary reason for random assignment is to:
A. Guarantee that every participant likes coffee
B. Minimize pre-existing differences between groups so that results can be attributed to the independent variable
C. Ensure that the study uses only college students
D. Eliminate the need for any statistical analysis
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Random assignment distributes participant characteristics roughly equally across conditions, supporting causal inference about the
independent variable (caffeine).
Q2.
In a study on sleep and memory, the number of hours slept is manipulated and memory-test scores are measured. Hours slept is the:
A. Placebo condition
B. Dependent variable
C. Independent variable
D. Confounding variable that cannot be controlled
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The independent variable is what the experimenter manipulates; the dependent variable is the measured outcome (memory scores).
Q3.
A correlation of r = −0.72 between hours of social media use and self-reported happiness indicates:
A. No relationship between the two variables
B. A perfect positive relationship
C. Social media use causes unhappiness in every case
D. A strong negative relationship in which higher social media use is associated with lower happiness scores
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The sign shows direction (negative) and the magnitude near 1.0 shows strength. Correlation does not prove causation.
Q4.
When participants in a drug trial are unaware of whether they received the active drug or a placebo, and the researchers measuring
outcomes are also unaware, the design is called:
A. A double-blind procedure
B. An open-label observational study
C. A case study of one individual
D. A single-blind study only
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Double-blind designs control both participant expectancy and experimenter bias by keeping both parties unaware of condition assignment.
Q5.
A psychologist reviews the literature and notices that published studies almost always report statistically significant results. This pattern is
most consistent with:
A. The complete reliability of all psychological research
B. Perfect absence of any publication bias
C. Publication bias (file-drawer problem) in which null results are less likely to be published
D. Guaranteed replication of every finding
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Publication bias occurs when significant findings are preferentially published, inflating the apparent strength of effects in the literature.
AP Psychology Exam 2026/2027 | Page 2 | STUVIAACTUALEXAM
, Q6.
An action potential travels down the axon. The temporary reversal of membrane potential that allows this signal to propagate is primarily
due to:
A. The continuous pumping of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft only
B. Rapid influx of sodium ions followed by efflux of potassium ions
C. Permanent destruction of the myelin sheath
D. Complete cessation of all ion movement
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Depolarization is driven by Na+ influx; repolarization by K+ efflux. This sequence constitutes the action potential.
Q7.
A patient after a stroke has difficulty understanding spoken language but can still produce fluent (though often meaningless) speech. The
damage is most likely in:
A. The primary motor cortex only
B. The cerebellum exclusively
C. Broca’s area in the frontal lobe
D. Wernicke’s area in the temporal lobe
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Wernicke’s aphasia involves impaired comprehension with relatively fluent speech production; Broca’s aphasia primarily impairs production.
Q8.
The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is most active when a person:
A. Has completely lost all neural activity
B. Is deeply relaxed and digesting a meal
C. Faces an acute threat and needs to mobilize energy for fight-or-flight
D. Is in slow-wave sleep throughout the night
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Sympathetic activation prepares the body for rapid action—increased heart rate, glucose release, and redirected blood flow.
Q9.
A researcher uses an fMRI scanner to observe which brain regions become more active while participants solve math problems. This
method primarily measures:
A. Permanent structural lesions only
B. Direct electrical firing of individual neurons
C. Changes in blood oxygenation and flow associated with neural activity
D. The exact chemical composition of every synapse
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: fMRI detects BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) signals that correlate with regional neural activity.
Q10.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase the availability of serotonin in the synapse primarily by:
A. Blocking the reabsorption of serotonin into the presynaptic neuron
B. Preventing any neurotransmitter release
C. Increasing the physical size of the synaptic cleft
D. Destroying all serotonin receptors
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: SSRIs inhibit the serotonin transporter, leaving more serotonin in the synaptic cleft to bind postsynaptic receptors.
Q11.
After sitting in a silent room for several minutes, a person no longer notices the faint hum of a fluorescent light. This experience
illustrates:
A. Perceptual set based on culture only
B. Weber’s law applied to pain
C. Absolute threshold remaining constant forever
D. Sensory adaptation
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Sensory adaptation is the diminished sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time.
AP Psychology Exam 2026/2027 | Page 3 | STUVIAACTUALEXAM
AP Psychology Exam 2026/2027 A+
AP Exam with Questions & Verified Answers
2026/2027
Official-Style Objective Assessment | STUVIAACTUALEXAM
A+ QUESTIONS 4 SECTIONS 100% RATIONALES
VERIFIED COVERED INCLUDED
CATEGORIES
■ Section 1: Scientific Foundations & Biological Bases
■ Section 2: Developmental, Learning, & Cognition
■ Section 3: Motivation, Emotion, Personality
■ Section 4: Clinical & Social Psychology
STUVIAACTUALEXAM
Passing Score: ~70% (scaled 1–5; 3+ typically qualifying) | 1 Mark per Question | Application / Analysis
,Section 1: Scientific Foundations & Biological Bases
Q1.
A researcher wants to determine whether caffeine improves reaction time. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either
caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, then complete a timed task. The primary reason for random assignment is to:
A. Guarantee that every participant likes coffee
B. Minimize pre-existing differences between groups so that results can be attributed to the independent variable
C. Ensure that the study uses only college students
D. Eliminate the need for any statistical analysis
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Random assignment distributes participant characteristics roughly equally across conditions, supporting causal inference about the
independent variable (caffeine).
Q2.
In a study on sleep and memory, the number of hours slept is manipulated and memory-test scores are measured. Hours slept is the:
A. Placebo condition
B. Dependent variable
C. Independent variable
D. Confounding variable that cannot be controlled
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The independent variable is what the experimenter manipulates; the dependent variable is the measured outcome (memory scores).
Q3.
A correlation of r = −0.72 between hours of social media use and self-reported happiness indicates:
A. No relationship between the two variables
B. A perfect positive relationship
C. Social media use causes unhappiness in every case
D. A strong negative relationship in which higher social media use is associated with lower happiness scores
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The sign shows direction (negative) and the magnitude near 1.0 shows strength. Correlation does not prove causation.
Q4.
When participants in a drug trial are unaware of whether they received the active drug or a placebo, and the researchers measuring
outcomes are also unaware, the design is called:
A. A double-blind procedure
B. An open-label observational study
C. A case study of one individual
D. A single-blind study only
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Double-blind designs control both participant expectancy and experimenter bias by keeping both parties unaware of condition assignment.
Q5.
A psychologist reviews the literature and notices that published studies almost always report statistically significant results. This pattern is
most consistent with:
A. The complete reliability of all psychological research
B. Perfect absence of any publication bias
C. Publication bias (file-drawer problem) in which null results are less likely to be published
D. Guaranteed replication of every finding
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Publication bias occurs when significant findings are preferentially published, inflating the apparent strength of effects in the literature.
AP Psychology Exam 2026/2027 | Page 2 | STUVIAACTUALEXAM
, Q6.
An action potential travels down the axon. The temporary reversal of membrane potential that allows this signal to propagate is primarily
due to:
A. The continuous pumping of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft only
B. Rapid influx of sodium ions followed by efflux of potassium ions
C. Permanent destruction of the myelin sheath
D. Complete cessation of all ion movement
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Depolarization is driven by Na+ influx; repolarization by K+ efflux. This sequence constitutes the action potential.
Q7.
A patient after a stroke has difficulty understanding spoken language but can still produce fluent (though often meaningless) speech. The
damage is most likely in:
A. The primary motor cortex only
B. The cerebellum exclusively
C. Broca’s area in the frontal lobe
D. Wernicke’s area in the temporal lobe
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Wernicke’s aphasia involves impaired comprehension with relatively fluent speech production; Broca’s aphasia primarily impairs production.
Q8.
The sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system is most active when a person:
A. Has completely lost all neural activity
B. Is deeply relaxed and digesting a meal
C. Faces an acute threat and needs to mobilize energy for fight-or-flight
D. Is in slow-wave sleep throughout the night
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Sympathetic activation prepares the body for rapid action—increased heart rate, glucose release, and redirected blood flow.
Q9.
A researcher uses an fMRI scanner to observe which brain regions become more active while participants solve math problems. This
method primarily measures:
A. Permanent structural lesions only
B. Direct electrical firing of individual neurons
C. Changes in blood oxygenation and flow associated with neural activity
D. The exact chemical composition of every synapse
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: fMRI detects BOLD (blood-oxygen-level-dependent) signals that correlate with regional neural activity.
Q10.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) increase the availability of serotonin in the synapse primarily by:
A. Blocking the reabsorption of serotonin into the presynaptic neuron
B. Preventing any neurotransmitter release
C. Increasing the physical size of the synaptic cleft
D. Destroying all serotonin receptors
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: SSRIs inhibit the serotonin transporter, leaving more serotonin in the synaptic cleft to bind postsynaptic receptors.
Q11.
After sitting in a silent room for several minutes, a person no longer notices the faint hum of a fluorescent light. This experience
illustrates:
A. Perceptual set based on culture only
B. Weber’s law applied to pain
C. Absolute threshold remaining constant forever
D. Sensory adaptation
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Sensory adaptation is the diminished sensitivity to a constant stimulus over time.
AP Psychology Exam 2026/2027 | Page 3 | STUVIAACTUALEXAM
