Studying for the AP Psychology exam? We’ve pulled together a list of study guides for every unit so you can focus your time on studying and not looking for resources!If you need more explanations, drop your questions in thecommunity chator join us for this week’scram session.
All of these study guides were created by AP Psychology teachers and students who have passed the exam. They include everything you need to know to get a 5 on the exam.We’re publishing more every day, so check back or send us a message with any immediate requests!Please note! Due to the COVID outbreak, the 2020 exam only covers units 1-7. Find the 2020 exam schedule, learn tips & tricks, and get your frequently asked questions answered on Fiveable's Guide to the 2020 AP Exam Updates.
🔎Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology
🔥Quick Tip: This unit involves a lot of statistics, famous psychologists, and different subfields in psychology. Don’t get too worried about memorizing every specific subfield, as long as you know the main ones covered in future units, you’ll be all good! However, the history of psychology is a little more relevant and the ethical guidelines are essential! Debriefing and other ethical guidelines were often in FRQs and it’s good to remember those.1.0 –Unit 1 Overview
1.1 - Introducing Psychology: The Historical Progression of Psychology1.2 –Research Methods in Psychology1.3 –The Experimental Method1.4 –Selecting a Research Method1.5 –Statistical Analysis in Psychology1.6 –Ethical Guidelines in Psychology
🧠Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior
🔥Quick Tip: Many often freak out when they see the amount of information they need to memorize for this unit. It may seem difficult but after reviewing a few times with flashcards or evenQuizlet, you’ll have most of it down! Make sure you memorize how each sleep stage differs as well as the effects of drugs on neural firing! Memorizing the function of neurotransmitters would also be really helpful for this exam. Have fun with this! I personally find it really interesting to learn about the biology behind our behaviors.
2.0 –Unit 2 Overview2.1 –Interaction of Heredity and Environment2.2 –The Endocrine System2.3 –Overview of the Nervous System and the Neuron2.4 –Neural Firing2.5 –Influence of Drugs on Neural Firing2.6 –The Brain2.7 –Tools for Examining Brain Structure and Function2.8 –The Adaptable Brain: Neural Fluidity2.9 –Sleep and Dreaming-----
👀Unit 3: Sensation and Perception
🔥Quick Tip: This unit covers a lot of step by step memorization. It is important to know how light travels, how sound travels, and the difference between chemical senses and body senses. Focus more on the ear and the eye, as well as pain, for this unit! It may be really helpful to draw out diagrams or create a list of the main parts of the ear/eye with their functions.3.0 –Unit 3 Overview3.1 –Principles of Sensation3.2 –Principles of Perception3.3 –Visual Anatomy3.4 –Visual Perception3.5 –Auditory Sensation and Perception3.6 –Chemical Senses3.7 –Body Senses
📚Unit 4: Learning
🔥Quick Tip: This unit consists more of understanding conditioning, rather than memorizing it! Practice makes perfect with this unit, especially when identifying the unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, neutral stimulus, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response. These may seem confusing at first but remembering Pavlov’s dog and comparing it to the question you’re tackling often helps. With operant conditioning, memorize the difference between reinforcement and punishment and you’re good to go!4.0 –Unit 4 Overview4.1 –Introduction to Learning4.2 –Classical Conditioning4.3 –Operant Conditioning4.4 –Social and Cognitive Factors in Learning-----
🤔Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology
🔥Quick Tip: This unit connects to Unit 2 a lot in which it incorporates different parts of your brain and goes into greater detail with them. It’d be good to remember the different types of memory, amnesia, ways of thinking, and biases. Again, useQuizletif you can! It’s a very good way to test your knowledge of vocabulary.5.0 –Unit 5 Overview5.1 –Introduction to Memory5.2 –Encoding5.3 –Storing5.4 –Retrieving5.5 –Forgetting and Memory Distortion5.6 –Biological Bases of Memory5.7 –Introduction to Thinking and Problem Solving5.8 –Biases and Errors in Thinking5.9 –Introduction to Intelligence5.10 –Psychometric Principles and Intelligence Testing5.11 –Components of Language and Language Acquisition-----
👶Unit 6: Developmental Psychology
🔥Quick Tip: This unit consists of many different psychologists and their theories of development. Making a mini study guide a bunch of tables that are each dedicated to a theory would be really helpful! For example, list each stage of Piaget’s cognitive development theory and read it over a few times a day. Writing these over and over again also helps solidify each key term and theory.
6.0 –Unit 6 Overview6.1 –The Lifespan and Physical Development in Childhood6.2 –Social Development in Childhood6.3 –Cognitive Development in Childhood6.4 –Adolescent Development6.5 –Adulthood and Aging6.6 –Moral Development6.7 –Gender and Sexual Orientation-----
🤪Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality
🔥Quick Tip: This unit consists of a lot of different subfields of psychology and what their theories of personality are. It is important to stay focused on one subfield at a time so you don’t mix the theories up. To have some fun with it, maybe you can take one of the personality tests!
7.0 –Unit 7 Overview7.1 –Theories of Motivation7.2 –Specific Topics in Motivation7.3 –Theories of Emotion7.4 –Stress and Coping7.5 –Introduction to Personality7.6 –Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality7.7 –Behaviorism and Social Cognitive Theories of Personality7.8 –Humanistic Theories of Personality7.9 –Trait Theories of Personality7.10 –Measuring Personality-----
🛋Unit 8: Clinical Psychology
🔥Quick Tip: This unit connects back to the chemistry of your brain and goes in depth with psychological disorders. It’s a lot to memorize since this unit combines all psychological approaches and focuses on the disorders and their symptoms as a whole.
8.0 –Unit 8 Overview8.1 –Introduction to Psychological Disorders8.2 –Psychological Perspectives and Etiology of Disorders8.3 –Neurodevelopmental and Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders8.4 –Bipolar, Depressive, Anxiety, and Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders8.5 –Trauma- and Stressor Related, Dissociative, and Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders8.6 –Feeding and Eating, Substance and Addictive, and Personality Disorders8.7 –Introduction to Treatment of Psychological Disorders8.8 –Psychological Perspectives and Treatment of Disorders8.9 –Treatment of Disorders from the Biological Perspective8.10 –Evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, and Empirical Support for Treatment of Disorders
👫Unit 9: Social Psychology
🔥Quick Tip: This unit connects us, individuals, to the community and greater world around us. In this unit, you may learn the psychological phenomenons behind historical decisions, such as the Bay of Pigs Fiasco (an example of groupthink). You may even be able to apply these concepts to situations you’ve seen first hand!9.0 –Unit 9 Overview9.1 –Attribution Theory and Person Perception9.2 –Attitude Formation and Attitude Change9.3 –Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience9.4 –Group Influences on Behavior and Mental Processes9.5 –Bias, Prejudice, and Discrimination9.6 –Altruism and Aggression9.7 –Interpersonal Attraction-----
