Barrons AP Psychology 7th edition

PART II—FREE-RESPONSE QUESTIONS

TIME: 50 MINUTES

Directions: You have    50  minutes to  answer  the TWO questions   that    follow. Your    answer  should

present an  argument    rather  than    a   list    of  facts.  Make    sure    to  incorporate psychological   terminology

into    your    answers whenever    possible.

1. Many different kinds of psychological researchers spend their careers studying the process of
   attitude formation.
   (A) Explain how the following psychological principles influence attitudes:
   ■ Cognitive dissonance
   ■ Schema
   ■ Reciprocal determinism
   ■ Locus of control
   ■ Belief bias
   ■ Fundamental attribution error
   (B) Describe two interventions a psychologist might use to change a prejudiced attitude. One
   intervention should be based on the behaviorist perspective and one intervention should use
   the cognitive perspective.


2. Professor Kester, a developmental psychologist, is investigating the long-term effects of different
   parenting styles. Her hypothesis is: Children of parents who use the permissive parenting style will
   be more independent as adults than children of authoritarian or authoritative parents.
   (A) Describe how Professor Kester could test this hypothesis. Include the following elements in
   your description:
   ■ Identify the two key variables in this hypothesis and explain a possible operational
   definition for each variable.
   ■ Briefly describe two studies that could test this hypothesis, one using the cross-sectional
   method and one using the longitudinal method.
   ■ Explain how Professor Kester could ensure that her study will meet at least 3 of the 5
   ethical requirements for research involving human participants.
   (B) Predict what Professor Kester might discover based on your knowledge of parenting style
   research.

Multiple-Choice Error Analysis Sheet

After checking your answers on the practice test, you might want to gauge your areas of relative strength
and weakness. This sheet will help you to classify your errors by topic area. By circling the numbers of
the questions you answered incorrectly, you can get a picture of which areas you need to study the most.