What’s Tested on the AP Psychology Exam?

The AP Psychology exam has two parts: a multiple-choice section and a free-response section. You will have 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete the whole test. The multiple-choice portion of the exam contains 75 five-choice (A to D) questions. You will have 90 minutes to complete this section. 

The score for the multiple-choice section of the AP exam is based on the number of questions answered correctly. No points are deducted for questions answered incorrectly or left blank. Since there is no “guessing penalty,” you should make sure you answer every multiple- choice question on the exam. 

The free-response section of the test consists of two questions, and you must answer them both. Unlike most other AP exams, you will not be given a choice of topics. You will have 70 minutes to complete this portion of the exam. Some students find writing two full essays in such a short amount of time to be difficult. 

Your overall composite score (ranging from 1 to 5) on the exam will take into account your performance on both the multiple-choice and free-response sections, with the multiple- choice section counting for twice as much. This means that two-thirds of your score depends on your performance on the multiple-choice questions, and the other one-third of your score is based on the quality of your essays. 

Each year, the exact breakdown of the percentage of people who earn each score differs. More information on score breakdowns in past years is available from the College Board.

Get ahead of the AP game! Our flexible, expert-led AP Psychology Review Course will help you build up your score by breaking down the exam.

AP Psychology Exam Skills to Master

Starting with the 2025 AP Psychology test, the College Board wil begin “keying” multiple choice items to one of 4 Science Practices, in addition to which content area the item is addressing. 

• Science Practice 1: Content Application
• Science Practice 2: Research Methods and Design
• Science Practice 3 :Data Interpretation 
• Science Practice 4: Argumentation

Science Practice 1: Concept Application

This skill simply refers to your ability to USE the concepts, theories, terms, perspectives, and other ideas in the AP Psychology curriculum. All the multiple choice and short answer questions on the exam will require you to USE your knowledge rather than just recall it. For instance, you are likely to be asked about concepts as they relate to specific scenarios and to compare concepts with one another. Being able to define the terms in this book is a good first step but remember that you need to understand how to use and apply these terms, not just repeat their definitions. We always emphasize examples and applications in this book, and you should do the same as you study these terms. Creating your own examples and applications of these terms will help you more on the test than memorizing definitions. About 65% of the multiple-choice items on the test (about 49 of the 75 items) will be keyed as “concept application” items, in addition to being keyed to one of the 5 content units. 

Science Practice 2: Research Methods and Design 

This skill refers to your understanding of how psychological researchers design research studies. In this book, we call this content Unit Zero: Research Methods. In that unit you will learn about the unique research methods psychologists use to try to answer the complex research questions posed by psychological research. About 25% of the multiple-choice items on the test (about 18 of the 75 items) will be keyed as “research methods'' items, in addition to being keyed to one of the 5 content units. 

Science Practice 3: Data Interpretation

This skill refers to analyzing quantitative data - numbers! You will learn in Chapter 2: Research Methods that psychological researchers usually try to measure psychological variables numerically. Then researchers use statistical methods in order to analyze what these measurements might mean about thinking and behavior. You will learn about a few basic statistical techniques researchers use in psychology, and then you can use the Data Interpretation multiple choice questions to measure your ability to use those statistical techniques in specific examples. About 10% of the multiple-choice items on the test (7 or 8 of the 75 items) will be keyed as “data interpretation” items, in addition to being keyed to one of the 5 content units. 

 Science Practice 4: Argumentation

This skill is only measured by one of the free-response questions, not the multiple-choice questions.

Psychologists Tested on the AP Psychology Exam

Although the official AP Psychology course description includes the names of many famous psychologists, we want to highlight the individuals you are most likely to be asked about on the AP exam. They are listed in the table below, along with their major contributions to the field.