AP Psychology › Unit 2
How do we perceive, think, remember, and forget? Unit 2 covers perception, problem-solving and decision-making, the stages of memory, forgetting, and how intelligence is measured. Exam scenarios ask you to apply concepts like heuristics, schemas, or retrieval cues, and research questions ask you to spot variables and evaluate a study's design. Students often mix up proactive and retroactive interference, so ask which memory is blocking which. Another common error is treating memory as a perfect recording, when it is rebuilt each time and easily distorted.
These are taken from the Regular set, with the answer and explanation shown.
Hypothetical study written for practice. The numbers are invented.
Researchers randomly assigned 200 adults to read one of two versions of a business story. In both versions, a company could spend $1 million to finish a new product, but a competitor had just released a better, cheaper product. In the past-spending version, readers were told the company had already spent $9 million on the project. In the no-past-spending version, nothing had been spent yet. Each reader recommended whether the company should spend the $1 million to finish.
| Version | Recommended finishing | Recommended stopping |
|---|---|---|
| Past spending ($9 million) | 78% | 22% |
| No past spending | 21% | 79% |
1. What are the independent and dependent variables in this study?
Answer: D. The researchers decided which version each reader got, so mentioning past spending (or not) is the independent variable. They measured each reader's recommendation to finish or stop, which is the dependent variable.
Common trap: Reversing the two. The recommendation is what readers produced, so it is the outcome (DV), not something the researchers set.
Hypothetical study written for practice. The numbers are invented.
On each trial, participants saw three consonants (such as K Q F). They then read random numbers aloud for a set delay, which kept them from rehearsing, and finally tried to recall the three letters in order.
| Delay before recall | Trials with all three letters recalled |
|---|---|
| 0 seconds | 95% |
| 3 seconds | 76% |
| 6 seconds | 52% |
| 9 seconds | 36% |
| 12 seconds | 22% |
| 18 seconds | 10% |
2. What do the data suggest about short-term memory?
Answer: B. With rehearsal blocked, recall fell from 95% to 10% in 18 seconds. Short-term memory holds information only briefly, roughly 20 seconds, unless it is rehearsed.
Common trap: Picking the capacity option. Every trial used three letters, so the study cannot show a capacity limit. Only the delay changed.
3. A district gives the same reading test at two schools. At School A, students get 60 minutes in a quiet library. At School B, students get 40 minutes in a noisy cafeteria. The district then compares the schools' average scores. What is the main problem?
Answer: A. A test is standardized when everyone takes it with the same procedures and conditions. Different time limits and settings mean score differences could come from the conditions, not reading ability.
Common trap: Picking the sampling problem. The district wants to compare these two schools, not the whole country. The flaw is the unequal testing conditions.