AP Psychology Essential Test Toolkit Exam Questions and
solutions approved for credibility; Latest 2025/2026
Formal operations - correct answer One of Piaget's stages; includes the
ability to use abstract thinking
Fovea - correct answer the central focus area of the retina
Frequency - correct answer theory of hearing which states that the rate of
nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the tone's frequency
Functional fixedness - correct answer the tendency to think about things only
in terms of their usual uses; can be a hindrance to creative thinking
Functionalism - correct answer William James's school of thought that
stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors
Fundamental attribution error - correct answer tendency to attribute others'
behavior to their dispositions and our own behaviors to our situations
Ganglion cells - correct answer their axons form the optic nerve
General adaptation syndrome - correct answer Seyle's concept that the body
responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion
Generativity vs. Stagnation - correct answer Erikson's stage of social
development in which middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more
to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service
,Gene - correct answer made of DNA, it is the basic building block of heredity
Genital stage - correct answer Freud's stage of psychosexual development
when adult sexuality is prominent
Gestalt - correct answer German word for "whole", it refers to our tendency
to perceive incomplete figures as complete
Glial cell - correct answer this acts as a support system for neurons
Grammar - correct answer a system of rules in a language
Social norm - correct answer a group's determination of socially acceptable
behavior
Group polarization - correct answer tendency of group members to move to
an extreme position after discussing an issue as a group
Groupthink - correct answer tendency for group members to think alike with
certainty of correctness, biased perceptions of outgroup members, and
generally defective decision-making processes
Hallucination - correct answer a false sensory perception that seems to be
real but for which there is not an actual external stimulus
Hallucinogen - correct answer a substance capable of producing a sensory
effect in the absence of real external sensory stimuli
,Heritability - correct answer the extent to which differences in a group of a
characteristic is due to genetics, not environment
Heuristic - correct answer a useful, but unprovable, cognitive shortcut, such
as a "rule of thumb"
Hierarchy of needs - correct answer Maslow's theory of the most important
motivations people have
Hindsight bias - correct answer the tendency, after an event occurs, to
overestimate the likelihood that an event could have been predicted
Hippocampus - correct answer limbic system component associated with
memory
Homeostasis - correct answer the steady, stable state that is the body's
regulatory processes try to maintain
Hormone - correct answer chemical substance secreted by endocrine glands
that affect body processes
Humanist - correct answer perspective in psychology that stresses the
goodness of people and their possibility of reaching their fullest potential
Hunger - correct answer it is regulated by the lateral hypothalamus and the
ventromedial hypothalamus
Hypnosis - correct answer a social interaction in which one person suggests
to another that certain events or emotions will occur
, Hypochondriasis - correct answer a disorder characterized by an
unreasonable fear that one has a serious disease
Hypothalamus - correct answer limbic system component that regulates
hunger, body temperature and other functions
Hypothesis - correct answer a prediction of how the an experiment will turn
out
Iconic - correct answer term that describes the memory of images
Id - correct answer in Freud's conception, the repository of the basic urges
toward sex and agression
Identity vs. Role confusion - correct answer Erikson's stage during which
teenagers and young adults search for and become their true selves
Imprinting - correct answer evidence of critical period in some animals; they
follow the first moving thing they see after hatching
In-group bias - correct answer tendency to favor one's own group over other
groups
Incentive - correct answer an external stimulus that tends to encourage
behavior
Independent - correct answer type of variable manipulated by the
experimenter
solutions approved for credibility; Latest 2025/2026
Formal operations - correct answer One of Piaget's stages; includes the
ability to use abstract thinking
Fovea - correct answer the central focus area of the retina
Frequency - correct answer theory of hearing which states that the rate of
nerve impulses traveling up the auditory nerve matches the tone's frequency
Functional fixedness - correct answer the tendency to think about things only
in terms of their usual uses; can be a hindrance to creative thinking
Functionalism - correct answer William James's school of thought that
stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors
Fundamental attribution error - correct answer tendency to attribute others'
behavior to their dispositions and our own behaviors to our situations
Ganglion cells - correct answer their axons form the optic nerve
General adaptation syndrome - correct answer Seyle's concept that the body
responds to stress with alarm, resistance and exhaustion
Generativity vs. Stagnation - correct answer Erikson's stage of social
development in which middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more
to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service
,Gene - correct answer made of DNA, it is the basic building block of heredity
Genital stage - correct answer Freud's stage of psychosexual development
when adult sexuality is prominent
Gestalt - correct answer German word for "whole", it refers to our tendency
to perceive incomplete figures as complete
Glial cell - correct answer this acts as a support system for neurons
Grammar - correct answer a system of rules in a language
Social norm - correct answer a group's determination of socially acceptable
behavior
Group polarization - correct answer tendency of group members to move to
an extreme position after discussing an issue as a group
Groupthink - correct answer tendency for group members to think alike with
certainty of correctness, biased perceptions of outgroup members, and
generally defective decision-making processes
Hallucination - correct answer a false sensory perception that seems to be
real but for which there is not an actual external stimulus
Hallucinogen - correct answer a substance capable of producing a sensory
effect in the absence of real external sensory stimuli
,Heritability - correct answer the extent to which differences in a group of a
characteristic is due to genetics, not environment
Heuristic - correct answer a useful, but unprovable, cognitive shortcut, such
as a "rule of thumb"
Hierarchy of needs - correct answer Maslow's theory of the most important
motivations people have
Hindsight bias - correct answer the tendency, after an event occurs, to
overestimate the likelihood that an event could have been predicted
Hippocampus - correct answer limbic system component associated with
memory
Homeostasis - correct answer the steady, stable state that is the body's
regulatory processes try to maintain
Hormone - correct answer chemical substance secreted by endocrine glands
that affect body processes
Humanist - correct answer perspective in psychology that stresses the
goodness of people and their possibility of reaching their fullest potential
Hunger - correct answer it is regulated by the lateral hypothalamus and the
ventromedial hypothalamus
Hypnosis - correct answer a social interaction in which one person suggests
to another that certain events or emotions will occur
, Hypochondriasis - correct answer a disorder characterized by an
unreasonable fear that one has a serious disease
Hypothalamus - correct answer limbic system component that regulates
hunger, body temperature and other functions
Hypothesis - correct answer a prediction of how the an experiment will turn
out
Iconic - correct answer term that describes the memory of images
Id - correct answer in Freud's conception, the repository of the basic urges
toward sex and agression
Identity vs. Role confusion - correct answer Erikson's stage during which
teenagers and young adults search for and become their true selves
Imprinting - correct answer evidence of critical period in some animals; they
follow the first moving thing they see after hatching
In-group bias - correct answer tendency to favor one's own group over other
groups
Incentive - correct answer an external stimulus that tends to encourage
behavior
Independent - correct answer type of variable manipulated by the
experimenter
