5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition - Laura Lincoln Maitland [19]
On the other hand, Sigmund Freud proposed his stage theory of psychosexual development. In each stage, the center of pleasure is different, and the child needs to resolve a different conflict to be well adjusted and avoid fixation. For example, if a baby is not successfully weaned from the breast or bottle, he/she may develop an oral aggressive personality or an oral dependent personality. Someone who is oral aggressive can be sarcastic and make biting comments or get into arguments easily.
STEP 3
Develop Strategies for Success
CHAPTER 4 How to Approach Each Question Type
CHAPTER 4
How to Approach Each Question Type
IN THIS CHAPTER
Summary: Knowing and applying question-answering strategies helps you succeed on tests. This chapter provides you with many test-taking tips to help you earn a 5 on the AP Psychology exam.
Key Ideas
Multiple-Choice Questions
Read the question carefully.
Try to answer the question yourself before reading the answer choices.
Guess if you can eliminate one or more answer choices.
Drawing a picture may help you.
Don’t spend too much time on any one question.
Free-Response Questions
Write clearly and legibly.
Answer the question!
Segment the question into parts that will earn a credit.
Leave out complex introductions and summary paragraphs.
Allot about 20 minutes to each question.
Section I: Multiple-Choice Questions
You’ve undoubtedly taken final exams before. What did you do that enabled you to succeed on the exams where you earned your highest scores? Probably doing similar preparation for your AP Psychology exam will pay off. If you relaxed the night before the exams, watched TV, or spent time with friends, that may be most productive for you. I always found it most productive for me to review note cards I made with important definitions, important themes, major issues, key research studies, and notable names written in small letters on them. As you use this review book, you may want to make your own note cards—or not!
Every multiple-choice question has three important parts:
1. The stem is the basis for the actual question. Sometimes this comes in the form of a fill-in-the-blank statement, rather than a question.
Example: Psychometricians are psychologists who:
Example: How do SSRIs work?
2. The correct answer option. Obviously, this is the one selection that best completes the statement, or responds to the question in the stem. Making good use of this book will help you choose lots of correct answer options.
3. Distractor options. Just as it sounds, these are the four incorrect answers intended to distract the person who doesn’t know the concepts being assessed.
Students who do well on multiple-choice exams are so well prepared that they can easily find the correct answer, but other students do well because they are savvy enough to identify and avoid the distractors. Much research has been done on how to best study for, and complete, multiple-choice questions. There are no foolproof rules for taking the exam, but here are some heuristics (“rules of thumb”) that are usually helpful:
1. Carefully read the question. This sounds pretty obvious, but you would be surprised how often test takers miss words that can change the meaning of a question, such as not, all, always, never, except, least or least likely, and rarely.
Example: Which of the following is least likely to be part of a reflex arc?
(A) an afferent neuron
(B) a sensory receptor
(C) a voluntary muscle
(D) cells of the adrenal glands
(E) cells from the occipital cortex
Someone who misses the word least might choose the first answer without looking any further. Over half the students who answered this question on a class test got it wrong because they did just that.
2. Words like “never