AP Psychology Exam Review Questions And Answers 2025\2026
psychology - CORRECT ANSWER-the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes
critical thinking - CORRECT ANSWER-Question, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and
make judgment on information you receive
hindsight bias - CORRECT ANSWER-the tendency to believe, after learning an
outcome, that one would have foreseen it
confirmation bias - CORRECT ANSWER-a tendency to search for information that
supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
overconfidence - CORRECT ANSWER-Tendency to overestimate our ability to make
correct predictions
peer reviews - CORRECT ANSWER-The evaluation of scientific, academic, or
professional work by others in the same field to ensure its quality and validity
before publication or presentation.
Hypothesis - CORRECT ANSWER-A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
,falsifiable - CORRECT ANSWER-hypothesis tested to see if it can be proven wrong
based on scientific observation and investigation
operational definition - CORRECT ANSWER-a statement of the procedures used to
define research variables (how are the variables measured)
replication - CORRECT ANSWER-repeating the essence of a research study, usually
with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding
extends to other participants and circumstances
case study - CORRECT ANSWER-a descriptive technique in which one individual or
group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
meta-analysis - CORRECT ANSWER-a procedure for statistically combining the
results of many different research studies
naturalistic observation - CORRECT ANSWER-observing and recording behavior in
naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the
situation
survey - CORRECT ANSWER-a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported
attitudes or behaviors of a particular group
social desirability bias - CORRECT ANSWER-A tendency to give socially approved
answers to questions about oneself.
,self-report bias - CORRECT ANSWER-Inaccuracies or distortions in responses to
surveys or questionnaires due to factors such as social desirability, memory recall,
or misunderstanding of questions.
experimenter bias - CORRECT ANSWER-a phenomenon that occurs when a
researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence
the results obtained
population - CORRECT ANSWER-the group from which your participants were
drawn from
sample - CORRECT ANSWER-a subset of the population
sampling bias - CORRECT ANSWER-exists when a sample is not representative of
the population from which it was drawn
random sample - CORRECT ANSWER-a sample that fairly represents a population
because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
convenience sampling - CORRECT ANSWER-using a sample of people who are
readily available to participate
representative sample - CORRECT ANSWER-a sample that accurately reflects the
characteristics of the population as a whole
, experimental methodology - CORRECT ANSWER-Aim to determine cause and
effect relationships by manipulating, and controlling for, certain factors/variables
non-experimental methodology - CORRECT ANSWER-Is research that lacks the
manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of participants to
conditions or orders of conditions, or both
correlation - CORRECT ANSWER-Expresses the relationship between two variables.
NO cause and effect!
correlational coefficient - CORRECT ANSWER-a number between -1 and +1
expressing the degree of relationship between two variables
directionality problem - CORRECT ANSWER-a problem encountered in
correlational studies; the researchers find a relationship between two variables,
but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other
variable
scatterplot - CORRECT ANSWER-a graphed cluster of dots, each of which
represents the values of two variables
third variable problem - CORRECT ANSWER-the concept that a correlation
between two variables may stem from both being influenced by some third
variable
regression toward the mean - CORRECT ANSWER-tendency for extremely high or
low scores (outliers) to move closer to the mean with retesting over time
psychology - CORRECT ANSWER-the scientific study of behavior and mental
processes
critical thinking - CORRECT ANSWER-Question, analyze, interpret, evaluate, and
make judgment on information you receive
hindsight bias - CORRECT ANSWER-the tendency to believe, after learning an
outcome, that one would have foreseen it
confirmation bias - CORRECT ANSWER-a tendency to search for information that
supports our preconceptions and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence
overconfidence - CORRECT ANSWER-Tendency to overestimate our ability to make
correct predictions
peer reviews - CORRECT ANSWER-The evaluation of scientific, academic, or
professional work by others in the same field to ensure its quality and validity
before publication or presentation.
Hypothesis - CORRECT ANSWER-A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
,falsifiable - CORRECT ANSWER-hypothesis tested to see if it can be proven wrong
based on scientific observation and investigation
operational definition - CORRECT ANSWER-a statement of the procedures used to
define research variables (how are the variables measured)
replication - CORRECT ANSWER-repeating the essence of a research study, usually
with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding
extends to other participants and circumstances
case study - CORRECT ANSWER-a descriptive technique in which one individual or
group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
meta-analysis - CORRECT ANSWER-a procedure for statistically combining the
results of many different research studies
naturalistic observation - CORRECT ANSWER-observing and recording behavior in
naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the
situation
survey - CORRECT ANSWER-a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported
attitudes or behaviors of a particular group
social desirability bias - CORRECT ANSWER-A tendency to give socially approved
answers to questions about oneself.
,self-report bias - CORRECT ANSWER-Inaccuracies or distortions in responses to
surveys or questionnaires due to factors such as social desirability, memory recall,
or misunderstanding of questions.
experimenter bias - CORRECT ANSWER-a phenomenon that occurs when a
researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence
the results obtained
population - CORRECT ANSWER-the group from which your participants were
drawn from
sample - CORRECT ANSWER-a subset of the population
sampling bias - CORRECT ANSWER-exists when a sample is not representative of
the population from which it was drawn
random sample - CORRECT ANSWER-a sample that fairly represents a population
because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
convenience sampling - CORRECT ANSWER-using a sample of people who are
readily available to participate
representative sample - CORRECT ANSWER-a sample that accurately reflects the
characteristics of the population as a whole
, experimental methodology - CORRECT ANSWER-Aim to determine cause and
effect relationships by manipulating, and controlling for, certain factors/variables
non-experimental methodology - CORRECT ANSWER-Is research that lacks the
manipulation of an independent variable, random assignment of participants to
conditions or orders of conditions, or both
correlation - CORRECT ANSWER-Expresses the relationship between two variables.
NO cause and effect!
correlational coefficient - CORRECT ANSWER-a number between -1 and +1
expressing the degree of relationship between two variables
directionality problem - CORRECT ANSWER-a problem encountered in
correlational studies; the researchers find a relationship between two variables,
but they cannot determine which variable may have caused changes in the other
variable
scatterplot - CORRECT ANSWER-a graphed cluster of dots, each of which
represents the values of two variables
third variable problem - CORRECT ANSWER-the concept that a correlation
between two variables may stem from both being influenced by some third
variable
regression toward the mean - CORRECT ANSWER-tendency for extremely high or
low scores (outliers) to move closer to the mean with retesting over time
