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2021, Set 1, Question 2 · Research Methodology · 7 points

2021 AP Psychology FRQ 2 (Set 1) answers

Math teacher's problem-solving tips study, from a table

Using a table of quiz grades for two groups of sixth graders, name the dependent variable, say how to turn the study into a true experiment, compare modes, pick the needed central tendency measure, find the ethics problem, and connect metacognition and levels of processing.

Skip to the worked answer and scoring (try the question first if you can)

This exam had two free-response questions to answer in 50 minutes, one applying psychology concepts to a scenario and one on research methodology, each scored out of 7 points. The current exam has 2 free-response questions in 70 minutes. The skills these questions practice still count.

Lessons this question draws on

1 Read the question

The question is College Board's, from the 2021, Set 1 exam. It starts on page 3 of the PDF. College Board no longer posts this exam, so it opens from the copy of College Board's PDF that the Internet Archive saved on December 12, 2025.

Open Question 2 (PDF, page 3)

2 Write your answer

Answer each part the way you would on the exam, in full sentences, with your work shown. Your writing saves as you type.

3 Score it

Score your answer against College Board's scoring guidelines, one point at a time. Give yourself a point only when your answer says what the guideline asks for.

Scoring guidelines (PDF, page 6) What the exam readers saw (Chief Reader report)

4 Worked answer and scoring

Here is how a response that earns full credit could read, part by part, and what College Board's scoring guidelines look for, put in our own words. Open a part once you have written your own answer to it. The scoring guidelines PDF above is the official word on every point.

Mr. Gomez's study looks like an experiment but is not one: the students sorted themselves into groups by when they arrived. Read the table before writing. Group 1 scores 4, 5, 3, 3, 7, 6, 3, 6, so its mode is 3; Group 2 scores 3, 4, 1, 1, 5, 4, 2, 4, so its mode is 4. Each of the seven bullets is one point, scored on its own.

The answer 7 points

Model answer

Dependent variable: each student's score on the quiz given the following week.

Making it an experiment: Mr. Gomez should randomly assign students to receive the problem-solving tips or not, instead of letting arrival time decide. Early arrivers may differ in motivation, so random assignment is what lets him credit the tips for any difference.

Modes: Group 1's most frequent score is 3 and Group 2's is 4, so Group 1's mode is lower than Group 2's.

Central tendency for the standard deviation: the mean, because the standard deviation measures how far scores fall from the mean.

Ethical flaw: he posted every student's name next to their quiz grade on his classroom door, so he did not keep the participants' results confidential.

Metacognition: a student in the class notices that she is not sure how to start a word problem, recognizes that her current approach is not working, and switches to one of the strategies she was given. She is thinking about her own thinking and adjusting it.

Levels of processing: the tips push students to work through what the problems mean rather than just memorizing steps. That deeper processing would leave stronger memories, which fits Group 1's higher scores, while Group 2, without the tips, processed the material more shallowly and scored lower.

What earns each point

  1. The dependent variable is the score on the quiz. The dependent variable is what the researcher measures after the treatment. The tips are what he varied, so they are the independent variable, not this one.
  2. Randomly assign the students to the tips group and the no tips group. Arrival time chose the groups, so the groups may differ before any tips are given. Only random assignment turns this into an experiment; saying he manipulated the tips, or that he should sample randomly, does not.
  3. Group 1's mode is lower than Group 2's (3 against 4). Three students in Group 1 scored 3, more than any other score in that group, and three in Group 2 scored 4. Either the two values or the comparison earns it.
  4. The mean. Standard deviation is built from each score's distance from the mean, so the mean has to be found first. The median and mode play no part in that formula.
  5. Posting students' names with their grades broke confidentiality. Participants' results must be kept private. The study gives no sign of physical or emotional harm beyond this, so the flaw the question means is the posted grade list.
  6. A person in the study reflects on their own thought processes, such as monitoring their understanding or choosing a strategy to improve their quiz score. Metacognition is awareness and control of one's own thought processes. Working harder or studying more, with no reflection on how one thinks, does not show it.
  7. The tips led to deep processing and higher scores, or the group without tips used shallow processing and scored lower. Levels of processing holds that deeper, meaning-based encoding is remembered better. The answer must use deep or shallow processing; saying long-term memory beats short-term memory is a different model.

Common mistakes

The Chief Reader report for 2021 lists no common mistakes for this question.

Question, scoring guidelines and Chief Reader report: College Board, from the Internet Archive. The title, summary and worked answer are ours.