AP Psychology Study Guide
All 5 units of the AP Psychology course, with the topics College Board lists for each and a short summary of what the unit covers.
Units at a glance
| Unit | Multiple-choice weighting |
|---|---|
| Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior | 15-25% |
| Unit 2: Cognition | 15-25% |
| Unit 3: Development and Learning | 15-25% |
| Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality | 15-25% |
| Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health | 15-25% |
Weightings are College Board's ranges for the multiple-choice section.
Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior
15-25% of the multiple-choice section
Unit 1 starts from the idea that every topic in psychology has a biological basis. You will study how heredity and environment interact, how the nervous system is organized, how neurons communicate, and how the brain works. The unit also covers how sleep and sensation affect behavior and mental processes.
Topics in this unit
- Interaction of Heredity and Environment
- Overview of the Nervous System
- The Neuron and Neural Firing
- The Brain
- Sleep
- Sensation
Shaky on any of these? Paste your class notes for Unit 1 into the free flashcard maker or the free quiz maker.
Unit 2: Cognition
15-25% of the multiple-choice section
This unit covers how people perceive the world, think, solve problems, and make judgments and decisions, including how expectations and biases shape perception. Memory takes up most of the unit: how memories are encoded, stored, and retrieved, why we forget, and research-based ways to remember better. It ends with how intelligence and achievement are measured and how those tests have been used both to open and to limit access to school, jobs, and the military.
Topics in this unit
- Perception
- Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making
- Introduction to Memory
- Encoding Memories
- Storing Memories
- Retrieving Memories
- Forgetting and Other Memory Challenges
- Intelligence and Achievement
Shaky on any of these? Paste your class notes for Unit 2 into the free flashcard maker or the free quiz maker.
Unit 3: Development and Learning
15-25% of the multiple-choice section
Unit 3 looks at how biological, cognitive, and environmental factors combine to shape growth across the whole lifespan, not only from birth to about age 18. You will cover physical, cognitive, language, and social-emotional development, along with gender and sexual orientation. The unit's last three topics cover learning: classical and operant conditioning, then social, cognitive, and neurological factors in learning.
Topics in this unit
- Themes and Methods in Developmental Psychology
- Physical Development Across the Lifespan
- Gender and Sexual Orientation
- Cognitive Development Across the Lifespan
- Communication and Language Development
- Social-Emotional Development Across the Lifespan
- Classical Conditioning
- Operant Conditioning
- Social, Cognitive, and Neurological Factors in Learning
Shaky on any of these? Paste your class notes for Unit 3 into the free flashcard maker or the free quiz maker.
Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality
15-25% of the multiple-choice section
Social psychology studies how other people and groups influence behavior and mental processes. You will cover how people explain behavior, how attitudes form and change, and how social situations affect what people do. The unit then turns to personality, comparing psychodynamic, humanistic, social-cognitive, and trait theories, and ends with motivation and emotion.
Topics in this unit
- Attribution Theory and Person Perception
- Attitude Formation and Attitude Change
- Psychology of Social Situations
- Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories of Personality
- Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality
- Motivation
- Emotion
Shaky on any of these? Paste your class notes for Unit 4 into the free flashcard maker or the free quiz maker.
Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health
15-25% of the multiple-choice section
The final unit covers health psychology, which looks at what helps people stay mentally and physically healthy, and positive psychology, which studies happiness and positive emotions and experiences. Most of the unit is about psychological disorders: how they are explained and classified, a selection of specific categories, and how they are treated. It draws on perspectives from the earlier units to show why psychologists use integrated, evidence-based approaches.
Topics in this unit
- Introduction to Health Psychology
- Positive Psychology
- Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders
- Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders
- Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Shaky on any of these? Paste your class notes for Unit 5 into the free flashcard maker or the free quiz maker.
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Source
Unit titles, weightings and topics are from College Board's AP Psychology Course and Exam Description (Fall 2025). The unit summaries are ours. All AP study guides and score calculators.