AP Psychology

AP Reading for several days in June to assess the papers. Each of these faculty consultants

spends a day or so getting trained on one question and one question only. Because each

Reader becomes an expert on a single question, and because each essay booklet is anonymous,

this process provides a very consistent (reliable) and unbiased scoring of that question.

During a typical day of grading, a random sample of each consultant’s scored papers is

selected and crosschecked by other experienced “Table Leaders” to ensure that consistency

is maintained across all scorers throughout the Reading. Each Reader’s scores on a given

question are also statistically analyzed to make sure that he/she is not giving scores that are

significantly higher or lower than the mean scores given by other Readers of that question.

All measures are taken to maintain consistency and fairness for your benefit. Your answers

to the two questions will be scored by at least two different consultants.

AP Psychology Exams are administered to college psychology students at the end

of their introductory psychology course, so that their performance on the AP Exam can

be compared to their performance in the college course (as measured by their test and

course grades). This information is used to guide the assignment of the AP Exam grades

1 - 5 to raw scores.

Will My Exam Remain Anonymous?

Absolutely. Even if your high school teacher were to randomly rate one of your

free-response questions at the Reading, there is virtually no way he/she would recognize

that the paper belongs to you. To a faculty consultant, each student is a number and to the

computer, each student is a bar code.

What About That Permission Box on the Back?

The College Board uses some exams to help train high school teachers so that they can help

the next generation of psychology students to avoid common mistakes. If you check this

box, you simply give permission to use your exam in this way. Even if you give permission,

your anonymity is still maintained.

How Is My Multiple-Choice Answer Sheet Scored?

The multiple-choice section of the psychology exam is 100 questions and is worth

two-thirds of your final score. Your answer sheet is run through the computer, which adds

up your correct responses and subtracts a fraction for each incorrect response. For every

incorrect answer that you give, one-quarter of a point is deducted. The total is a raw score

as follows:

Section I Raw Score =Nright−0.25Nwrong

How Is My Free-Response Exam Scored?

Your performance on the free-response section is worth one-third of your final score. Two

required essays comprise this section. Although the two questions are typically given equal

weight ( 25 each), they may be scored on different point scales. As a result, if Essay # 1 has

nine points that are scored, the number of points earned toward the total exam score for

that essay would be Score # 1 x 2. 778. The multiplier for each free-response question is

determined by dividing 25 by the maximum number of points in the scoring rubric or scor-

ing guide. The table that follows indicates multipliers for essay questions with different

point maximums.

6 ❯ STEP 1. Set Up Your Study Plan