The Evidence-Based Question is the second free-response question on the redesigned AP Psychology exam. You get summaries of three research sources and a prompt, and your job is to make a defensible claim and back it with evidence from the sources — connected by actual psychological reasoning. Think of it as a mini-DBQ for psychology.
What Earns Points on the EBQ
- A defensible claim that answers the prompt — specific enough to be supported, not a restatement of the question.
- Evidence from at least two different sources — a specific finding, statistic, or design detail from each. Naming the source ("Source B found that…") keeps you organized and makes the reader's job easy.
- Reasoning that connects each piece of evidence to your claim — the "because" sentence that explains WHY the finding supports your position, using a correctly applied psychology concept.
The Mistakes That Cost the Most Points
- Evidence without connection. Quoting a source and moving on earns the evidence point at best. The reasoning point requires you to explicitly link it: "this supports my claim because…"
- Vague evidence. "Source A supports this" is not evidence. "Source A's participants who studied in spaced sessions recalled 30% more items" is.
- Concept misapplication. Dropping in a vocabulary term that doesn't fit costs credibility — a correctly applied everyday explanation beats a misused technical one.
- Ignoring a source that complicates your claim. The strongest responses acknowledge and handle it; a claim can be defensible without pretending the third source doesn't exist.
A Simple EBQ Structure That Works
One sentence of claim. Then for each of two sources: one sentence of specific evidence, one sentence of reasoning tying it to the claim with a psych concept. Five to seven sentences total can earn full credit — the EBQ rewards precision, not length.
How the EBQ Is Scored
The EBQ is worth 7 points, awarded across parts A–C: a defensible claim, evidence drawn from the sources, and the psychological reasoning that connects them. You are given three source summaries and must use at least two different ones — leaning on a single source caps your evidence credit. Citing the source by letter ("Source B found…") is the simplest way to make sure the reader sees you used two.
A Worked EBQ Example
Practice prompt (AimFive example): "Using the sources, make and defend a claim about whether spacing out study sessions improves long-term retention."
- Source A (experiment): students who studied vocabulary in spaced 3-day sessions recalled 30% more after two weeks than students who crammed it in one session.
- Source B (correlational): a survey of 500 students found a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.4) between self-reported spacing and final-exam scores.
- Source C (meta-analysis): the benefit of spacing shrinks when the gaps grow too long (months apart), implying an optimal window.
A full-credit response:
- A — Claim: "Spacing study sessions improves long-term retention, as long as the gaps stay within a reasonable window." ✓ Defensible and specific — not a restatement of the prompt.
- B — Evidence from two sources: "Source A found spaced-session students recalled 30% more after two weeks than crammers, and Source B found a moderate positive correlation (r = 0.4) between spacing and exam scores." ✓ Two different sources, each with a specific detail.
- C — Reasoning: "From a cognitive perspective, spacing works because retrieving the material across days strengthens consolidation each time it's re-accessed. Source C qualifies this — gaps that are too long reduce the benefit — so the claim holds for moderate spacing, not indefinite delay." ✓ Explains why with a psych concept and handles the complicating source instead of ignoring it.
How to Practice
AimFive grades EBQ responses on exactly these criteria — claim, source evidence, and reasoning — with published calibration data. The fastest improvement loop is write → see which point you missed → rewrite the same response to earn it.
AP Psychology practice · AAQ Guide · AAQ vs EBQ · AP Psych Study Guide
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