student essay. But you aren’t doing yourself or the AP reader any favors by going out of order. The readers
are using a scoring rubric that is written in the order provided by the question, and you make their lives
easier by going in order, and there is a slight chance they may miss a scorable part of your essay by going
out of order.
The points this (fictional) student essay scores and doesn’t score are:
POINT 1
Definition of Selective Attention
Scores when student says in the fifth paragraph: “Selective attention is when you pay
attention to something so you remember it better later.” This definition matches the rubric
definition. Notice that the student gives what might be incorrect information in the next sentence: “We all
choose to pay attention to certain things and then those things get encoded into
memory a lot better.” The point is already awarded, so the reader doesn’t worry about whether this
next sentence indicates that the student thinks that selective attention is always under our control.
POINT 2
Description, Selective Attention
Scores in the fifth paragraph when the students says: “Sometimes you don’t even know why you
pay attention to something (like a loud bang or someone saying your name), but
because of selective attention you are going to remember those things better.” This
statement and example indicates that the student understands that selective attention is not always under
our conscious control, and meets the rubric requirement.
POINT 3
Definition, Cognitive Dissonance
Does NOT score. The student tries to define cognitive dissonance in the fourth paragraph, but the
definition “Cognitive dissonance are things that really bother us about what we think”
does not meet the rubric requirement that it must be a dissonance between our attitudes and behaviors.
POINT 4
Description, Cognitive Dissonance
Does NOT score. The example provided about stereotyping is not specific enough to cognitive
dissonance to match the rubric or score the point.
POINT 5
Definition, Fundamental Attribution Error
Does NOT score. The student defines fundamental attribution error in paragraph seven as “when you
attribute something to someone without being consciously aware of it.” This definition
is not specific enough to score the point. The rubric requires that a definition of this concept address
situational factors and dispositional factors in some way, and the definition the student provided does not
address these factors.
POINT 6
Description, Fundamental Attribution Error
Does NOT score. The student may be trying to address this point with the example in paragraph seven,