Customer Reviews

Barron's How to Prepare for the Advanced Placement Exam: AP: Psychology (Barron's AP Psychology Exam)

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Basically, there are three ap psychology review books. There are slight problems with all of them. REA is completely off topic. While REA is usually one of the best for test prep, it just doesn't cut the cake in this one. Princeton Review is usually one of the worst. It over simplifies things, give sample questions that are way too easy (which means you're screwed for the real test)and doesn't include all the info. In this case, Barrons is the best. It's concise, covered almost all the information on the test, and gives accurate sample questions. it includes a handy summary of the famous people you have to know and what they did. It's only flawed is that it failed to cover a few facts, but then again, no book can guarantee a complete coverage of everything that can possibly be covered. I strongly recommend the Barrons for anyone who intend on getting a 4 or 5 on the psych test.

Barron's begins with an overview of the AP Psychology exam, giving the areas and relative coverage of the topics one can expect to see on the AP test. The book then devotes 13 chapters to psychology review.

Chapters included are as follows:
Methods, Approaches and History
Biological Basis of Behavior
Sensation and Perception
States of Consciousness
Learning
Cognition
Motivation and Emotion
Developmental Psychology
Personality
Testing and Individual Differences
Abnormal Psychology
Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Social Psychology

At the end of each chapter you will find multiple choice questions (usually about 15 per chapter) that pertain to the topics in the chapter. Answers are provided on the pages immediately following the questions. The best part of this is that they tell you WHY the answer is correct and why the other choices are incorrect. The final chapter in the book explains how to write for the free response questions. This section is short, but helpful. In addition, there are 2 practice tests in the back of the book. I strongly recommend working these tests under timed conditions to help you improve your pacing and determine which areas you need to study most. Analysis sheets for the multiple choice sections are provided at the ends of each of the tests. These analysis sheets indicate the topic from which each multiple choice question was drawn, allowing students to quickly and easily identify their strengths and weaknesses. This can be especially helpful to students who are unsure of which topics require more attention.

AP psychology is among the three AP courses that I teach, and Barron's Prep Book is the book that I require my students to purchase. If you can purchase only one, get this one. If you can buy two, Princeton Review is worth buying simply for the test-taking and essay-writing strategies. I do agree with the other poster that indicated that the level of difficulty of the questions in PR is not on par with the AP exam. I would say that Barron's questions are of approximately the appropriate difficulty level, if not slightly harder than the actual exam. As I tell my students, purchasing the book won't instantly give you a 5 on the test, but actually using it just might.

This review book was good preparation for the AP test, but it lacked some information. It gives relatively in depth reviews of each topic, and it will prepare you sufficiently for the AP. But, if you are looking for that 5 on the AP, you better have some other material, like class notes or packets of some sort on the subject at hand. However, if you need to get a lot of studying done in a little time, it is perfect. It doesn't take long to go through and it is concise and fact packed. I thought it was a great review, but i also used my course notes to study.

I highly recommend this for anyone taking this AP exam. I didn't even take Psychology this year(I took Human Relations) but I figured I'd take a crack at the Exam. It's broken down into sections just like the Psychology textbook. It's easy to understand and gives helpful hints that allow you to process and understand the information rather than just read. The practice exams were just like the real thing, even a little harder. The essay rubric makes writing the AP essay like riding a bike(with training wheels)! Any questions email me ehatter@interactive.net. THANKS

Barron's AP Psychology is all you will need for preparation for the AP test or simply to review for tests in your AP class. The book is divided into sections with review questions after each section to make sure each concept is thoroughly understood. Careful reading and review through this short book helped me score a 5 on my AP Psychology test this past year, even though our teacher did not prepare us at all for the test. This book covers every topic for the AP test and unlike the Princeton Review or REA books, Barron's does it in a detailed enough manner without overwhelming you. I highly recommend this book for AP class tests and/or for the AP test.

I never took (in fact, my high school didn't even offer) AP psych. I had only a little background in psych when I bought this book and read it cover-to-cover. I requested a special testing session at my school and I got a 5 on the test, getting me out if intro psych at the U of M. So, if you're willing to put in some serious and concentrated study with this book, I think it will be a great help. I owe a lot to it.

I took the AP back in 2002/2003 and my AP psych teacher wasn't up to par. This book is fairly thin but don't be fooled. I read this book from cover to cover and came out with a 5 on the AP. My friend went into the AP with what the teacher taught (nothing) and came out with a 2.

This study guide was very helpful in studying for the AP test and also studying for class tests and discussions. There was some material in there that we did not cover in class and it provided a more in-depth coverage on the themes. I will probably use this book in the future for a reference for future studies that may not be in the class book. Well written, organized, and over all prepared me for the test and all the other tests in the class. It was also very helpful to be able to write notes and etc in the book, until in the text book in class.

In my junior year, I had to prepare for five AP exams. Interested only in 5's, I needed some seriously high-quality review material. Barron's provided just that. This book has everything an AP Psych student needs to know, and not much else. The book is effectively divided into 13 units that appear on the AP exam. There are 15 relevant review questions at the end of each chapter ranging from easy to difficult and they are similar to those on the AP exam. I also purchased the Princeton Review book for AP Psychology and was very disappointed-- it included a plethora of extraneous information, left out some vital information, did not provide end of chapter review questions, and was too boring. I will get my score back in about a month, and I am very confident I got a 5.

This book helped me immensely because, when you get down to it, the questions are harder than the real ones on the ap exam. Barron's offers great practice questions, and then detailed explanations for the answers. At first I was a little worried because my average scores for the practice tests were in the mid 80s (then I wasn't sure what the cutoff score was to get a 5) but when I took the real exam, the questions were a whole lot easier than the ones in the book, and i got a 5. Anyone who is striving for a good score of 4 or 5 should get this book.