JOE SWOPE: Hello, and welcome to AP Daily review session,
I'm Dr. Swope.
I'm from Northwest High School in Germantown, Maryland.
This video is going to be about jumping into FRQs.
We're going to give some hints, and we're also
going to walk through one, deconstruct it, and walk you
through it, and how to do well on it.
Before we jump into those kind of specific hints,
I want to call your attention to the link that's
at the top of the screen.
That link is to a PDF.
And that is going to have all of the material on here.
And I suggest, it might be a good idea,
to get that link get, that PDF, and look at it before.
Challenge yourself.
Maybe even try to rewrite this FRQ
before I give you all the answers.
OK, well, how do we answer an FRQ on the AP Psychology exam?
Well, I've got a couple of hints.
I'm sure there's an infinite number of hints,
but hopefully, you're going to find these pretty useful.
First, take three deep breaths.
Seriously.
Do it.
I've been doing this for a long time,
and I know that when people get nervous-- heck,
when I get nervous, when I'm doing something
I'm excited about or I knew it was important,
you get a little bit excited.
And then what happens when your adrenaline and cortisol,
your prefrontal cortex isn't the focus anymore.
So slow down, refocus your mind.
We're going to use psychology to learn psychology.
Second thing-- read the question.
What does it want you to do?
This is important.
I bet you've practiced many FRQs, and many of them
are very similar, but some of them are not.
Some of them are going to throw you a curveball.
Read the question.
What does it want you to do?
Now, this, I think, is important.
Plan what you're going to write.
You're going to have enough time.
50 minutes to do two FRQs.
Just 25 minutes per FRQ.
If you've done these a lot and if you haven't, you still
have time to practice.
You're going to find you can bang out one of these FRQs
pretty quickly.
The temptation is to rush and get it over with.
Please don't do that.
Plan what you write.
You've got enough paper.
Jot down your notes.
Make a quick outline so you don't leave anything out.
And then the next thing.
Does your plan, which you jotted down,
actually answer the question?
Some questions are going to ask you to compare.
Some are going to contrast.
Some want an example.
And so it's important to know what the question wants.
The next thing, make it easier for the reader
to give you a point.
Who are the reader?
It's an under-caffeinated psychology teacher or professor
that might have read hundreds, or even thousands,
before they got to your FRQ.
So make it easy for them to give you points.
And here's the acronym, SODA--
Spacing, Order, Definition, Apply.
Let's talk about spacing.
You probably know there's going to be seven terms on each
of the FRQs.
Each term, you're going to probably write
a small paragraph about or a couple of sentences.
So your first term, you're going to write a couple of sentences.
Then skip a line.
Give some space there so these answers aren't jumbled
and it's easy for the reader to find it.
Second thing, go in order.
Answer the first term, answer the second term.
Oh my goodness, what if you don't know the third term?
Mind, you're a blank.
Never heard it before.
That's fine.
Go in order.
Leave a half page in your answer book.
Then go on to the fourth one.
Answer the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh,
come back to the third, keep it in order.
Definition.
While virtually no questions are ever
going to ask you for a definition,
it can't hurt for you to explicitly state
the definition.
Then you're going to apply it and answer the question.
That's the A in SODA, apply and answer.
So here we go, let's dig in.
We're going to look at a two-part concept application
FRQ.
All right, that's a lot even in the title.
First, it's two parts.
That means that this FRQ is actually
asking two different questions.
Remember I said, read and reread.
What is the question asking you?
Concept application.
This video is going to talk about concept application.
Which really means they're going to give seven random vocabulary
words, and you need to demonstrate
that you know what they are-- but not
just spit out a definition, and you apply it to the scenario.
And then FRQ, you probably know what that is.
Everyone knows what FRQ stands for.
It stands for fun response question.
I couldn't resist.
Awful teacher joke.
OK, let's dig into Micah.
"Micah is running for senior class
president at his high school.
He wants to make himself stand out as the top candidate.
He will have two weeks to campaign.
Each candidate will present a speech
to the senior class the day before the election
as part of the campaign.
Explain how each of the following
might hinder Micah from being successful in conducting
his campaign or in presenting his speech."
You've got approach-avoidance conflict.
You've got Erikson's stages of identity
versus role confusion, the sympathetic nervous system.
And then we have to explain how each of the following concepts
might relate to Micah after he loses the election.
You've got positive punishment, defense mechanism
of displacement, insomnia, and then
exhaustion stage of Hans Selye's general adaptive syndrome.
OK.
Now, I want to call your attention
back to the importance of reading the question.
This is actually two parts.
My strong advice is when you're writing
this, write the word "hinder" in your response,
in for each term.
Now, the next thing is when you're
talking about explaining how each of the final costs that
might relate to Micah after he loses the election,
use the words "after he loses the election."
That's my strong hint for you.
OK.
Well, for each of these seven terms, what I'm going to do
is give you two sample answers.
And we're going to pause.
And I want you to think, which one's going to score?
So for approach-avoidance conflict,
the first sample is "The approach avoidance conflict
is when a person has a conflict between their thoughts
and actions so Micah would be nervous during his speech."
Does that score?
Next one.
"Approach avoidance is when you want something but also don't
want it.
Micah wants to do his speech but doesn't
want to practice so he would not do well."
OK, I'm going to pause, count to 3,
and then I'm going to do the big reveal.
Pause 1, 2, 3.
Well, let's look at the right answer.
It's going to be the one on the right.
Why, right?
Let's figure out why.
This response, the wrong one, mentions Micah,
so it has the application part.
It hints at the idea of that being nervous would hinder him,
but the definition's wrong.
This definition is actually pointing us
to the term of cognitive dissonance, not
approach-avoidance conflict.
OK.
Now we know the right one, why?
This response correctly defines the term.
It relates to the prompt by mentioning Micah's name
and it answers the "hinder" part.
That's what we want to know, that next step.
OK.
Well, let's keep going.
Erikson's stage of identity versus role confusion.
Again, I'm going to give you two samples.
I'm going to pause.
I want you to try to piece it out in your own.
Think like a reader.
Here we go.
"Identity versus role confusion is
when an adolescent like Micah is unconsciously
trying to figure out their self-concept, or sense
of self."
The next sample--
"Identity versus role confusion is when a teen is figuring out
who he is.
This would hinder him because he doesn't
know what he believes in, so a speech would not be good.
Pause, 1, 2, 3.
And now we're back.
Here's the big reveal.
What's going to be the one on the right.
And again, if you got it wrong, that's OK.
But let's look at why.
This response does a great job of showing that student knows
what Erikson fifth stage is.
But the student doesn't address how it might hinder Micah.
It doesn't say why it's going to harm him, or prevent him
from doing well.
So the one on the right, this response
identifies the main part of Erikson's fifth stage.
It applies to the scenario and addresses the hinder aspect
of the question.
I hope you're getting the hang of it.
Let's keep going, OK?
So the next one, sympathetic nervous system.
Well, "the sympathetic nervous system
is like the fight or flight response.
Cortisol levels and adrenaline levels
increase as the amygdala becomes more active."
Sample 2, "Micah is very nervous which triggered
his sympathetic nervous system.
With an increased heart and other stress reactions,
he could not remember his speech."
OK.
Pause, 3, 2, 1, and we're back, which one is the right answer?
Going to be the one on the right.
Why?
Well, look that one in the red, in a few short sentences,
that student related a lot of information.
And related a lot, the student really
knows what the sympathetic nervous system is.
But he didn't relate them to Micah or his campaign speech.
Now, the one on the right, those who wrote this response,
showed the sympathetic nervous system is
related to the stress response.
It gave specific examples such as heart rate,
and it mentioned how it would hinder his performance
on the speech.
So that's a pretty good response.
Now we're going to look we're transitioning the first three
terms they were looking for the hindering.
Now, it's the second part.
And if you want to pause and go back to the question,
that's perfectly fine.
Or refer to the PDF that I know you referred to
at the beginning that link at the top of the screen.
OK.
So explain how each of the following
might relate to Micah after he loses the election.
Same thing, I'm going to give you two responses,
pause, and let's do the reveal.
"Because Micah lost the election, his over-involved,
and possibly unbalanced parents gave him
more chores as a result of not winning the election."
I kind of feel bad for Micah if those are his parents.
And then let's look at this.
"Micah feels horrible after his loss because as a result,
he lost some of his friends and is
less popular after the speech than when he started."
Pause 3, 2, 1, and we're back for the big reveal,
and it's the one on the left.
Why?
Well, it's certainly not because of-- well,
maybe it is because of his parents.
Let's dig in.
The key words are "gave more."
His parents added unpleasantness to him
after an event which is positive punishment.
It's important to know the difference
between positive punishment.
And positive punishment isn't good.
Nobody wants a punishment.
Positive punishment means you're adding unpleasantness.
And then let's look at the other, side
and we'll feel what that is.
Why?
It mentions Micah, it mentions after and losing the election,
and it clearly shows an unpleasant consequence.
But it is describing negative punishment.
Positive punishment adds unpleasantness,
negative punishment takes away pleasantness.
I hope that makes sense to you.
Let's keep going with this.
So we want to relate this term to Micah
after he loses the election.
Defense mechanism of displacement.
"After Micah loses the election, he snapped at his mother."
Oh, dear.
Micah, Micah, Micah-- "who he loves and loves him back.
He said, you expect too much of me.
And he told her to leave me alone."
Well, does that score?
I don't know, let's compare it to this one.
"Micah is so mad at losing that he decides to get even
with the person who won.
He starts a social media rumor and then
tries to pick a fight with the bigger student."
Well, I'm going to pause, 3, 2, 1, let's reveal this thing.
Let's see which one's going to score.
Well, it's this one.
Why?
Well, the important part here is that he put his anger
and frustration onto a safe place,
onto a different place, such as his mother.
Well, what is the other one have to do?
Well, there are two reasons why this might score.
First is the conscious awareness part.
Defense mechanisms are unconscious.
Second is the idea that he's not picking a safe target
to put his anger on.
He's picking a bigger student, that's
not displacement aggression.
Well, Micah, he's so distraught, doesn't
know what to do with himself.
OK.
So now we're on to insomnia.
How does insomnia relate to Micah
after he loses the election?
Well, "Micah couldn't sleep.
Even if he did sleep, he couldn't
get into NREM 3, which is where delta waves dominant
and the brain slows down.
Let's look at the next one.
"Micah was so upset at losing, he
had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep,
which are the main symptoms of insomnia."
OK, I'm going to pause.
You know what, instead of saying 3, 2, 1, because I am a rebel,
I'm going to go 4, 5, 6.
How do you like me now?
And we're back.
Well, let's look at the one on the left
and figure out why it doesn't score?
The response shows a lot of good specifics about sleep.
It's got a stage in the sleep, it's got delta waves.
Because it mentions Micah, it applies to the question
but doesn't talk about him after he loses the election.
Remember, we have to answer the question.
It's not enough to just blurt out
everything you know and answer the question.
Let's look at why it does score on the right.
This response talks about Micah.
It relates to losing the election,
and clearly shows an understanding
of the concept of insomnia.
And then our last one.
Exhaustion stage of Han Selye's general adaptive syndrome.
"The exhaustion stage is when a person
has been under stress for such a long time
that the immune system is weakened,
and a person like Micah gets the flu after he lost."
Let's compare it with this one.
"Micah stayed up late for weeks and barely ate
as he worked on his campaign.
His loss added to the stress and his body
didn't have the resources to keep him healthy."
OK, let's pause, 1, 2, 7.
And we're back.
Which one is it?
Are you torn?
Well, did I mention that I was a rebel?
Heck, yeah, I am.
Because I threw you a curveball, both of them score.
Why?
The response shows that a long-term stress caused
the immune system to be weakened thereby
demonstrating understanding of the term
and the response applies knowledge
to the scenario and talks about Micah
after he lost the election.
Now, the second one, the other, we get the word applies, right?
And then this one, the risk this response
gives a specific examples that show understanding
of the vocabulary of the GAS, it also
talks about Micah losing the campaign.
OK.
You're going to do fine on this.
If you went through this video, and it was too much, OK,
slow down.
You can find FRQs to practice this.
It's not whether you got something right or wrong.
First, it's the process.
Do you understand the content?
Second, do you understand how to answer?
And if you don't, go back to the first screen
and look at those tips.
OK, so hopefully, this is going to show you
how to answer an FRQ.
Be sure to watch more of these videos.
And if these videos aren't enough, go back in time,
go to AP Classroom, look at the reviews from 2022 and 2021
Thank you for watching, and keep watching the other videos, too.