Midterm Essay Prep!

Dear AP Psych Scholar,

I will choose one of the three Free Response Questions below to be on your midterm.  Prepare an answer for all three and you will gain valuable info for both the essay and the multiple choice parts of the exam!

                                                                                                                                                -Mrs. H

P.S.

If you have any questions, just ask!  Also, remember the tips we discussed regarding how to answer Free Response Questions, and read carefully…

QUESTION #1

Jen and her group of friends attended the Homecoming game.  Each of them had a shirt with a different letter, so that when they stood together, it spelled out “Stranahan.”  They screamed loudly throughout the game to cheer on the football team, the cheerleaders, and the band.  Stranahan beat Fort Lauderdale, and the friends celebrated.  Explain how each of the following concepts is related to the students’ experiences at the game.

(Your actual exam question will only have 7 of the following 14 terms.)

·         Broca’s area

·         Gestalt principal of similarity

·         Sympathetic nervous system

·         Beta waves

·         Hindsight bias

·         Occipital lobes

·         Cones

·         Motor cortex

·         Cochlea

·         Episodic memory

·         Figure-ground

·         Selective attention

·         Auditory cortex

·         Hippocampus

QUESTION #2

Researchers conducted a naturalistic study of children between the ages of 5 and 7 years. The researchers visited classrooms during class party celebrations. As a measure of hyperactivity, they recorded the number of times children left their seats. The researchers found a strong positive correlation between sugary snacks offered at the parties and hyperactivity. Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that sugar causes hyperactivity.

A.      How might the following explain why people may easily accept the conclusion of the study described above?

·          Confirmation bias

·         Misunderstanding of correlational studies

B.       As a follow-up study, the researchers are designing an experiment to test whether sugar causes hyperactivity.  For the experiment, please do the following.

·          State a possible hypothesis.

·          Operationally define the dependent variable.

·         Describe how random assignment can be achieved.

C.       Based on the results of the follow-up experiment described in Part B, researchers conclude that sugar does not cause any change in hyperactivity.

·         Draw a correctly labeled bar graph depicting this result.

QUESTION #3

Time is an important variable in many psychological concepts. Describe a specific example that clearly demonstrates an understanding of each of the following concepts and how it relates to or is affected by time. Use a different example for each concept.

·         Critical period

·         Fluid intelligence

·         Refractory period in neural firing

·         Sound localization

·         Afterimage Effect

·         Proactive interferenc

-      REM rebound