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Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How are attitudes formed and changed, and how do actions and attitudes influence each other?

Topic 4.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change: explain how attitudes form and change, including cognitive dissonance, the foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques, the central and peripheral routes to persuasion, and the link between attitudes and behavior.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.2, covering how attitudes form, the attitude-behavior link, cognitive dissonance theory, the foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques, the central and peripheral routes of persuasion, stereotypes, belief perseverance, and the halo effect.
11 min answer →

How do we explain other people's behavior, and what biases distort those explanations?

Topic 4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception: explain attribution theory, the dispositional and situational attributions, the fundamental attribution error, self-serving and actor-observer biases, and person-perception effects such as the mere exposure effect.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.1, covering attribution theory, dispositional versus situational attributions, the fundamental attribution error, the actor-observer and self-serving biases, explanatory style, the mere exposure effect, the self-fulfilling prophecy, and social comparison.
11 min answer →

What is an emotion, and how do the major theories explain the link between arousal, cognition, and feeling?

Topic 4.7 Emotion: explain the major theories of emotion (James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer two-factor, and cognitive appraisal), the role of physiological arousal, and the expression and universality of emotion.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.7, covering the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer two-factor, and cognitive appraisal theories of emotion, the role of physiological arousal and the autonomic nervous system, the facial feedback hypothesis, and the universality of basic emotional expressions.
11 min answer →

What drives behavior, and how do biological and psychological theories explain motivation?

Topic 4.6 Motivation: explain the major theories of motivation, including drive-reduction, arousal, Maslow's hierarchy, incentive, and self-determination theory, and apply them to hunger and other motivated behaviors.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.6, covering drive-reduction theory and homeostasis, arousal theory and the Yerkes-Dodson law, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, incentive theory, self-determination theory with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and the biology of hunger and eating.
11 min answer →

How do psychodynamic and humanistic theories explain the structure and growth of personality?

Topic 4.4 Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories of Personality: explain Freud's psychodynamic theory, including the id, ego, and superego and the ego defense mechanisms, and the humanistic theories of Maslow and Rogers, including self-actualization and unconditional positive regard.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.4, covering Freud's psychodynamic theory of the unconscious, the id, ego, and superego, ego defense mechanisms such as repression and projection, and the humanistic theories of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and self-actualization and Rogers's unconditional positive regard and self-concept.
11 min answer →

How do groups and social situations change how individuals think, feel, and act?

Topic 4.3 Psychology of Social Situations: explain conformity, obedience, and group influences such as social facilitation, social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization, and groupthink, and describe prosocial behavior and the bystander effect.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.3, covering Asch's conformity research, Milgram's obedience study, normative and informational social influence, social facilitation, social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization, groupthink, the bystander effect, diffusion of responsibility, and prosocial behavior.
13 min answer →

How do trait and social-cognitive theories explain and measure personality?

Topic 4.5 Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality: explain the trait approach and the Big Five factors, the social-cognitive theory including reciprocal determinism and self-efficacy, and the methods used to assess personality.
A focused answer to AP Psychology Topic 4.5, covering the trait approach and the Big Five (OCEAN) factors, Bandura's social-cognitive theory with reciprocal determinism and self-efficacy, the concepts of self-concept and locus of control, and personality assessment methods including self-report inventories and projective tests.
11 min answer →