AP Psychology: Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making — Drill 8

About This Drill

AP Psychology: Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making — Drill 8 is a Multiple Choice practice drill covering Unit 2: Cognition. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.

AP Psychology practice questions on thinking, problem-solving, judgments, and decision-making, covering algorithms and heuristics, availability and representativeness, framing effects, mental set, and research design for behavioral-economics studies. Five AP exam prep multiple-choice questions with full explanations.

Questions in This Drill

1. Miguel is trying to figure out the best route home during a snowstorm. Instead of mapping out every possible combination of streets, he uses the rule "take whichever road usually has the least traffic and go from there." This rule gets him home reasonably fast most evenings but occasionally leads him into a bad detour. Which cognitive strategy is Miguel using?
2. After a high-profile airplane crash dominates the news for a week, Priya cancels her flight and drives 12 hours to her destination instead, even though she knows intellectually that driving is statistically more dangerous per mile. Her decision is best explained by which cognitive bias?
3. A researcher wants to test whether framing affects medical decisions. She gives half of her participants a description of a surgery with a "90% survival rate" and the other half a description of the same surgery with a "10% mortality rate," then asks each participant whether they would choose the surgery. Which of the following correctly identifies the independent variable?
4. A chess coach gives her students a puzzle that can be solved by a well-known tactic most of them have used before. Several students stare at the board for a long time without progress because they keep trying the same unusual tactic that helped solve a previous puzzle earlier that week, even though it does not fit this one. The coach later explains that they fell into a common trap. Which concept best describes what happened?
5. A behavioral economist runs a study on decision-making. In the gain frame, participants chose between Option X ("Save 200 of 600 people") and Option Y ("1/3 chance to save all 600, 2/3 chance to save none"); 72% chose Option X. In the loss frame, participants chose between Option X ("400 of 600 people will die") and Option Y ("2/3 chance all die, 1/3 chance none die"); only 22% chose Option X. The two scenarios describe mathematically identical outcomes. Which of the following best explains the dramatic shift in choice between the gain frame and the loss frame?