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AP Psychology Study Guide — Review by Unit (2026)

Comprehensive AP Psychology study guide covering all 5 units of the redesigned course. Key concepts, vocabulary, and exam tips for the new AAQ and EBQ format — free and updated for 2026.

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AP Psychology was redesigned in 2023. This study guide is built for the current 2026 exam format — including the Article Analysis Question (AAQ) and Evidence-Based Question (EBQ) that replaced the old free-response format.

The New AP Psychology Exam Format (2026)

Section I: 70 multiple-choice questions in 70 minutes (66% of score). Section II: 2 free-response questions in 50 minutes (34% of score) — one AAQ and one EBQ. The old essay format is gone. If you're using study materials from before 2024, check whether they reflect the new format.

AP Psychology Units and Key Concepts

The 2025 redesign reorganized the course into five units (the "five pillars"), each worth 15–25% of the multiple-choice section. Research methods and statistics are no longer a standalone unit — they're woven through every unit and tested on the AAQ.

  1. Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior — Neurons, neurotransmitters, brain structures, the endocrine system, and genetics, plus sensation, perception, sleep, and consciousness. Key terms: action potential, synapse, hippocampus, signal detection, Gestalt principles.
  2. Unit 2: Cognition — Memory models, encoding and retrieval, forgetting, thinking, problem solving, language, and intelligence. Key terms: working memory, long-term potentiation, schema, heuristic, framing.
  3. Unit 3: Development and Learning — Classical conditioning (Pavlov), operant conditioning (Skinner), observational learning (Bandura), and development across the lifespan (Piaget, attachment, adolescence). Confusing the conditioning types is the #1 AP Psych MCQ mistake.
  4. Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality — Attribution, conformity (Asch), obedience (Milgram), group dynamics, prejudice, attitudes, motivation, emotion, and personality theories (trait, psychodynamic, humanistic). Highly tested — these scenarios appear constantly on the EBQ.
  5. Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health — Psychological disorders (DSM-5-TR categories), therapy approaches, stress, and health and well-being. Key terms: cognitive behavioral therapy, biomedical treatment, PTSD, stress response.

How to Use This for the New Exam Format

For AAQ questions: practice identifying the independent variable, dependent variable, control group, and confound in any study description — these research-methods skills are now woven through every unit. For EBQ questions: practice applying psychological concepts (especially from Cognition and Social Psychology & Personality) to novel scenarios you've never seen. The formula: name the concept → define it → apply it specifically to the scenario.

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