AP Psychology — Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality
Practice questions, answers, and key terms for Unit 4, aligned to the College Board CED.
Exam weighting: Unit 4 is 13-17% of the AP Psychology exam.
What AP Psychology Unit 4 covers
The College Board Course and Exam Description breaks Unit 4 into 4 topics:
- 4.1 Attribution Theory
- 4.2 Social Influence
- 4.3 Social Relations
- 4.4 Personality Theory and Assessment
AP Psychology Unit 4 practice questions
You ace a test and think 'I studied hard.' Your friend fails the same test and you think 'they're just not that smart.' Which attribution bias explains this double standard?
The self-serving bias. You attribute your own success to internal factors but your failures to external ones.
Someone cuts you off in traffic and you immediately think 'what a jerk' — ignoring that they might be rushing to an emergency. This snap judgment has a name. What is it?
Fundamental attribution error. It overestimates internal causes and underrates the situation for others' behavior.
When YOU show up late to class, it's because traffic was bad. When a CLASSMATE shows up late, it's because they're irresponsible. This isn't FAE — it's something more specific. Why?
Actor-observer bias. As the actor you blame the situation; observing others, you blame their traits.
Two students both fail a class. One says 'I didn't work hard enough.' The other says 'The professor hates me.' Which student is more likely to try harder next time — and why?
The first student, with an internal locus of control. Believing outcomes depend on your actions drives more effort.
A song comes on that you've heard a hundred times and you somehow like it more than a song you just heard once, even though the new one is objectively better. What psychological effect explains this?
Mere exposure effect. Repeated exposure to something increases liking, even without conscious evaluation.
A teacher believes a student is gifted and gives them more attention and challenging tasks. The student thrives. The teacher's belief was only partly true at first — so what actually caused the outcome?
Self-fulfilling prophecy. The teacher's belief changed their behavior, which made the student fulfill it.
Someone swears they have no racial bias, yet an implicit association test shows they respond faster to pairing certain groups with negative words. What does this reveal about their attitudes?
Implicit attitudes. These are unconscious evaluations you may not acknowledge that still sway behavior.
Someone who considers themselves environmentally conscious drives a gas-guzzling car every day. Rather than change their behavior, they start telling themselves 'one person can't make a difference anyway.' What's happening?
Cognitive dissonance. When actions clash with attitudes, people rationalize instead of changing behavior.
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Key terms in Unit 4
These 12 terms show up in the Unit 4 cards. Each one links to its definition in the AP Psychology key-term reference.
Drill all of Unit 4 with spaced repetition
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