• 66 questions

AP Psych Motivation and Emotion Practice Test

Unofficial multiple-choice practice on motivation and emotion, topics 4.6 and 4.7 of Unit 4 in AP Psychology.

On a cold morning a hiker starts to shiver and reaches for her jacket. Which term names the stable internal balance that these responses protect?

Pick an answer, then press Check answer. Then you see Correct or Not quite, with the reason. Keys: A to D pick, Enter checks.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the College Board. Bank checked October 10, 2026.

Next step The rest of Unit 4: AP Psych practiceNext unit: health and disorders

All 66 questions

Topic 4.6: Drives, arousal and instincts 12

  • A newly hatched sea turtle crawls toward the ocean, though it has never seen another turtle do so. What is this kind of behavior called? Wikipedia, "Instinct"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.3
  • A researcher randomly assigns students to a caffeinated or a caffeine-free drink, then times each of them on a maze puzzle. What is the independent variable? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "independent variable" and "dependent variable"; course topic 4.6, suggested skill 2.B
  • A student with nothing to do on a quiet Sunday goes looking for something exciting. How does arousal theory explain this? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.1; course topic 4.6
  • A study reports mean quiz scores of 62 for students at low arousal, 85 at moderate arousal and 60 at high arousal. What pattern do the data show? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "inverted-U hypothesis"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.1
  • Drive-reduction theory explains why a hungry person eats. Which behavior does it explain least well? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "sensation seeking"; College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, EK 4.6.A.1; course topic 4.6
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Topic 4.6: Drives, arousal and instincts, continued

  • In drive-reduction theory, what is the goal of motivated behavior? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "drive-reduction theory"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.1
  • In motivation theory, what most often creates a drive? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "drive"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.1
  • On a cold morning a hiker starts to shiver and reaches for her jacket. Which term names the stable internal balance that these responses protect? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "homeostasis"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.1
  • On a graph of performance against arousal, what shape does the Yerkes-Dodson law predict? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "Yerkes-Dodson law"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.1
  • Two pianists are equally nervous before a recital. One plays a piece she has known for years; the other plays a hard piece learned last week. Whose playing is the nervousness more likely to hurt? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "inverted-U hypothesis"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.1
  • What does the course description say about instincts in humans? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.3; course topic 4.6
  • Which description fits an instinct as the course description uses the word? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.3; course topic 4.6

Topic 4.6: Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation 8

  • A girl who loves to draw is paid a dollar for each picture. When the payments stop, she draws less than she did before they began. What happened? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "overjustification effect"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.2
  • A sales team works late all month because the top seller wins a paid trip. Which theory studies the pull of that prize? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.2; course topic 4.6
  • According to self-determination theory, what tends to follow when people feel driven mainly by outside forces and rewards? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "self-determination theory"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.2
  • In the study of motivation, what is an incentive? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "incentive"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.2
  • Self-determination theory places the regulation of behavior on a continuum. What lies at its two ends? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "self-determination theory"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.2
  • Which of these is an extrinsic motivator for returning a library book? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "extrinsic motivation"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.2
  • Which student shows intrinsic motivation? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "intrinsic motivation"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.2
  • Which theory holds that intrinsic or extrinsic motivations move people? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.2; course topic 4.6

Topic 4.6: Conflicts and sensation seeking 14

  • A man is offered a promotion with a large raise, but taking it means moving far from his family. Which description fits his conflict? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "approach-avoidance conflict"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.4
  • A man seeks out unfamiliar music, unusual food and friends whose lives are nothing like his own. None of it is dangerous. Which type of sensation seeking is this? Wikipedia, "Sensation seeking"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.5
  • A psychologist gives 300 adults a sensation-seeking questionnaire and records how many speeding tickets each has had. Higher scores go with more tickets. What can she conclude? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "correlational research"; course topic 4.6, suggested skill 2.C
  • A senior is admitted to her two favorite colleges and can attend only one. Which kind of conflict is this? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "approach-approach conflict"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.4
  • A student is drawn to loud gatherings where people drop their usual restraint. Which type of sensation seeking is this? Wikipedia, "Sensation seeking"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.5
  • A woman takes up hang gliding and white-water kayaking for the rush of physical risk. Which type of sensation seeking is this? Wikipedia, "Sensation seeking"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.5
  • A worker grows restless whenever a task repeats and cannot sit through a slow meeting. Which type of sensation seeking does this show? Wikipedia, "Sensation seeking"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.5
  • According to sensation-seeking theory, what is the basis of motivation? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.5; course topic 4.6
  • In an approach-avoidance conflict, what tends to happen as the person gets closer to the goal? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "approach-avoidance conflict"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.4
  • In Lewin's motivational conflicts theory, what is the basis of motivation? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.4; course topic 4.6
  • Is risk an essential part of sensation seeking? Wikipedia, "Sensation seeking"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.5
  • Which list gives the four types of sensation seeking named in the course description? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.A.5; course topic 4.6
  • Which of the three motivational conflicts involves only one goal or option? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "approach-avoidance conflict" and "approach-approach conflict"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.4
  • Which situation is an avoidance-avoidance conflict? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "avoidance-avoidance conflict"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.A.4

Topic 4.6: Hunger, eating and belonging 10

  • A man who ate a full lunch an hour ago has two slices of cake when a coworker brings one to an office party. Which influence on eating does this show? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.B.1.ii; course topic 4.6
  • A new student eats lunch alone for weeks, then joins the robotics club mainly to have people to sit with. Which motive best explains joining? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "belonging"; course topic 4.6, objective 4.6.B
  • A student is not hungry, but she eats at noon every day because noon is lunchtime. Which external factor is at work? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.B.1.ii; course topic 4.6
  • Classmates pointedly ignore a student while standing right beside her. What is this form of rejection called, and which need does it thwart? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "ostracism"; course topic 4.6, objective 4.6.B
  • In the course description, which brain structure regulates the hormones of hunger and satiety, by way of the pituitary gland? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.B.1.i; course topic 4.6
  • What does leptin tell the brain? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "leptin"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.B.1.i
  • What is satiety? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "satiety"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.B.1.i
  • What is the need to belong? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "need to belong"; course topic 4.6, objective 4.6.B
  • Which hormone, secreted by cells in the stomach, stimulates appetite? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "ghrelin"; course topic 4.6, EK 4.6.B.1.i
  • Why does the course description call eating a complex motivated behavior? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.6.B.1; course topic 4.6

Topic 4.7: How an emotion arises 13

  • A man runs up four flights of stairs, meets a stranger at the top and feels strongly drawn to her. What would a theory in which arousal needs a label say has happened? Wikipedia, "Two-factor theory of emotion"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.1
  • A researcher studying fear shows volunteers an upsetting film. She did not tell them beforehand what it held or that they could leave. Which ethical procedure was skipped? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "informed consent"; course topic 4.7, suggested skill 2.D
  • A second early theory said that the pounding heart and the feeling of fear do not cause one another. What did it propose about their timing? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "Cannon-Bard theory"; Wikipedia, "Cannon-Bard theory"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.1
  • A third theory holds that a racing heart becomes fear or excitement only once the person interprets it. What does this theory require for an emotion? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "Schachter-Singer theory"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.1
  • According to the broaden-and-build theory, what do positive emotional experiences tend to do? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.A.2; course topic 4.7
  • After a week of feeling joyful and curious, a student tries a new sport, talks to people she does not know and has fresh ideas for a project. Which theory predicts this? Wikipedia, "Broaden-and-build"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.2
  • The facial-feedback hypothesis lends support to theories that place which experience first? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.A.1; course topic 4.7
  • How does the course description define emotion, or affect? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.A.1; course topic 4.7
  • In a 1988 study, people holding a pen between their teeth, which forces a smile, rated cartoons as funnier than people holding it between their lips. In 2016, seventeen labs repeated the study. What did they find? Wikipedia, "Facial feedback hypothesis"; College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, EK 4.7.A.1; course topic 4.7
  • In the broaden-and-build theory, what do negative emotions tend to do? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.A.2; course topic 4.7
  • In the broaden-and-build theory, what is built over time? Wikipedia, "Broaden-and-build"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.2
  • One early theory held that a hiker who meets a bear first trembles and only then, from sensing the trembling, feels afraid. What order does this theory propose? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "James-Lange theory"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.1
  • Psychologists describe both a passing mood and a sudden emotion as states of which kind? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "affect"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.A.1

Topic 4.7: Emotion across cultures 9

  • A blogger writes that science has proved everyone on Earth shows fear with the same face. Going by the course description, how should the claim be revised? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.B.1; course topic 4.7
  • A girl is thrilled to win a race, but she has been taught not to gloat, so she only smiles a little. What is she following? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "display rule"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.B.2
  • A guest who dislikes a gift thanks the giver with a polite smile. What is he doing with his disappointment? Wikipedia, "Display rules"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.B.2
  • According to the course description, which two things about emotional expression can differ among cultures? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.B.2; APA Dictionary of Psychology, "elicitation"; course topic 4.7
  • Certain facial expressions appear across many cultures. According to cross-cultural research, what can still modify or even hide them? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "facial expression"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.B.2
  • The finding that certain emotional expressions are the same or highly similar across societies has which name? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "universality of emotions"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.B.1
  • Which six emotions does the course description say may be commonly experienced across cultures? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.B.1; course topic 4.7
  • Why do lists of primary, or basic, emotions differ from one textbook to the next? APA Dictionary of Psychology, "primary emotion"; course topic 4.7, EK 4.7.B.1
  • Within a single culture, for which groups may display rules differ, according to the course description? College Board, AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, essential knowledge 4.7.B.2; course topic 4.7

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to topics 4.6 (Motivation) and 4.7 (Emotion) in Unit 4 (Social Psychology and Personality) of the College Board's AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-psychology-course-and-exam-description.pdf, read 2026-10-10. Each fact was read on 2026-10-10 in the public page named under its question: an entry of the APA Dictionary of Psychology (American Psychological Association, https://dictionary.apa.org), an essential knowledge statement of the course description, or a Wikipedia article. Licence: Own work. Short quotations from the public documents named under each question.

How it works

This AP Psych motivation and emotion practice test has 66 questions of our own on topics 4.6 and 4.7. It is unofficial and not affiliated with or endorsed by the College Board, which owns AP.

Read the full guide

What the questions cover

The College Board's course description, effective fall 2025 and read October 10, 2026, puts both topics in Unit 4, Social Psychology and Personality. Topic 4.6, Motivation, has 44 questions here: drives and arousal, intrinsic and extrinsic motives, conflicts and sensation seeking, hunger and belonging. Topic 4.7, Emotion, has 22. The description gives topics no weights, so the spread is ours.

Sources you can open

Most answers link to an entry of the APA Dictionary of Psychology. The rest cite an essential knowledge statement of the course description or a Wikipedia article.

  • Sort every conflict by its options: two wanted, two unwanted, or one option with a good side and a bad side.
  • Read each scenario for the source of the push: a need of the body, a reward from outside, or the activity itself.
  • For each account of emotion, fix the order of body response, thought and feeling.

Questions and answers

What unit is motivation and emotion in AP Psychology?

Unit 4, Social Psychology and Personality, as topics 4.6 and 4.7. The unit carries 15 to 25% of the multiple-choice section, by the course description.

Do I need to know James-Lange and Cannon-Bard for the AP Psych exam?

Not by name. The course description says the exam does not cover the specific names of theories of emotion. It expects the ideas: body response and feeling in succession, both at once, or joined by a cognitive label.

What does an AP Psychology motivation practice test need to cover?

Drive-reduction and arousal theory with the Yerkes-Dodson law, self-determination and incentive theory, instincts, Lewin's motivational conflicts, sensation seeking, and eating as a motivated behavior, with ghrelin, leptin and the hypothalamus. Topic 4.6 names all of these.

Is stress part of motivation and emotion in AP Psychology?

Not in the current course description. Stress belongs to topic 5.1, Introduction to Health Psychology, in Unit 5. The Unit 5 practice test on this site covers it.

Are these real AP Psychology exam questions?

No. The College Board owns the real questions, and none appears here, even in other words. Every question was written for this page from the two topics of the course description.

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