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AP Psychology 4.1: Attribution and Person Perception

Practice AP Psychology 4.1 questions on locus of control, mere exposure, prototypes, self-fulfilling prophecy, and social comparison.

Syllabus
Effective Fall 2025
Course
AP Psychology

Exam points

  • Distinguish internal and external locus of control and apply perceived control to explain behavior and outcomes.
  • Explain how attribution errors, mere exposure, prototypes and self-fulfilling prophecy shape person perception.
  • Apply social cognition concepts to analyze judgments, biases and explanations of behavior in context.

Covered syllabus points

4.1.A—Explain how attribution theory applies to behavior and mental processes4.1.B—Explain how locus of control (internal and external) applies to behavior and mental processes4.1.C—Explain how person perception applies to behavior and mental processes. UNIT 4 Social Psychology and Personality

4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception question 1

[Maximum number: 1]

Ruth is bored at home alone, so she decides to watch a scary movie. At the most tense part of the movie, when

a large, scary-looking creature is being chased through the village by an angry mob, Ruth's roommate Lynn

comes home unexpectedly and flips on the lights. Ruth is startled and spills her hot chocolate on herself.

Part B

As they are cleaning up, Ruth tells Lynn the plot of the movie she was watching. While the creature

was large and scary-looking, he was actually quite gentle and friendly. The villagers discussed the

situation and concluded that the creature was going to hurt them, so they grabbed their torches and

pitchforks and chased him out of town. As the creature tried to escape, he tripped over a rock and

knocked down a villager.

Explain how each of the following concepts relates to the villagers' perceptions during this scene in the

movie.

- Out-group homogeneity bias

- Fundamental attribution error

Fundamental attribution error

4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception question 2

[Maximum number: 1]

Dr. Germanotta hypothesized that the more witnesses there are to a crime, the less likely any one witness will

help. She collected data on the number of people who helped someone in distress and the number of people

walking by at that particular time. Dr. Germanotta found the following statistically significant results.

Figure for Question 4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception question 2 — AP Psychology

Part C

Explain how each of the following is related to helping behavior.

- Internal locus of control

- Modeling

Internal locus of control

4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception question 3

[Maximum number: 1]

Dr. Knowles is interested in exploring the relationship between garment cost and perceptions of clothing

quality. She predicts that higher-priced clothing will be perceived as being of higher quality. She creates a Web

site that presents floral shirts listed at a variety of prices. Participants are directed to the Web site, where they

are asked to rate the quality of each shirt (on a 1 to 10 scale, with higher numbers meaning better quality). The

data collected are presented in the scatterplot.

Figure for Question 4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception question 3 — AP Psychology

Part B

Explain how each of the following could affect participants' perceptions of the floral shirts on the Web

site.

- Mere-exposure effect

- Cones of the retina

Mere-exposure effect

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