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booklet so that you can easily come back to it after you’ve finished all of the other
questions. Be sure to skip the corresponding answer row on your answer sheet. You have
an average of about 45 seconds to answer each question. Perhaps a question later in the
exam will provide information or a retrieval cue that will enable you to answer the ques-
tion you originally skipped.- Don’t “overthink.” Some of the questions may be easy for you to answer. Answer them
and move on. Don’t think that they are too easy. What is easy for you may be difficult
for other people. - Should you guess? If you have absolutelyno clue which choice is correct, guessing is
a poor strategy. With five choices, your chance of getting the question wrong is 80%,
and every wrong answer costs you one-quarter of a point. In this case, leave it blank
with no penalty. Guessing becomes a much better gamble if you can eliminate even one
obviously incorrect choice. You earn a point for each question you answer correctly. If
you wildly guessed the answers to five questions, chances are that you’d get one right
and four wrong. For these five questions, your total score would be zero. If you left
these questions out, your total score for them would also be zero. But if you take an
AP Psychology course and use this book as recommended, you will probably be familiar
with all or almost all of the concepts being tested. Rather than just guessing wildly, you
will probably have some idea about the concept being tested. Chances are you’ll beat
the odds if you have an inkling of the answer. - Change an answer only if you have a good reason for the change.
- Time flies. Keep an eye on your watch as you pass the halfway point. If you are run-
ning out of time and you have a few questions left, skim them for the easy (and quick)
ones so that the rest of your scarce time can be devoted to those that need a little extra
reading or thought.
Other things to keep in mind:- Take the extra half of a second required to clearly fill in the bubbles.
- Don’t smudge anything with sloppy erasures. If your eraser is smudgy, ask the
proctor for another. - Absolutely, positively, check that you are bubbling the same line on the answer sheet
as the question you are answering. I suggest that every time you turn the page you
double check that you are still lined up correctly.
Section II: The Free-Response Questions
Free-response questions on the AP Psychology exam may differ from the essay questions
you’ve answered in other subjects. High interrater reliability, the extent to which two or
more scorers evaluate the responses in the same way, is very important on the AP exam
because you should get the same score no matter who reads your paper. Because only your
own teacher ordinarily grades your classroom tests, this is not usually of importance.
One aspect of assuring high interrater reliability is by creating questions that have specific,
correct answers that raters look for in scoring. The scoring guidelines are rubrics that are
written and followed for each free-response question.
Although there are no magic pills to enable you to answer the free-response questions
perfectly, let’s look at some possible strategies for maximizing your score:- Read bothessay questions to get a quick idea of the topics you’ll need to recall. Directly
on the question sheet, jot down some key terms that serve as retrieval cues for you.
How to Approach Each Question Type ❮ 39