AP Psychology FRQ: the AAQ and the EBQ, 7 points each.

The format at a glance

Both questions are typed in Bluebook, and the 70 minutes are split unevenly between them.

The same published-rubric logic runs through every subject’s AP free response questions.

The two question types

Both ask you to reason about research rather than define terms. What separates them is how much you are handed and what you have to do with it.

The Article Analysis Question (AAQ)

You get 25 minutes for this one, 10 of them a reading period, and a single summarized peer-reviewed study to work from. Your answer runs in six parts, A to F, and every part is a scored row.

The AAQ assesses Science Practices 2, 3 and 4, which are research methods and design, then data interpretation, then argumentation.

The Evidence-Based Question (EBQ)

Here you get three summarized sources on one topic and 45 minutes, the first 15 a reading period. College Board describes the question as having three parts, but five rows are scored.

Two constraints decide most of these points. Part C(i) has to draw its evidence from a different source than part B(i), and part C(ii) has to apply a different psychological concept than part B(ii). You also have to cite the source you use, either in brackets or in the sentence. Three sources are provided and two have to be used, so working a third one in earns nothing by itself. The EBQ assesses Science Practices 1 and 4.

What it tests

College Board builds the exam on four science practices: concept application (Practice 1), research methods and design (2), data interpretation (3), and argumentation (4). Three of the four are assessed on the multiple-choice section, at roughly 65%, 25% and 10% of it. Argumentation is assessed only in the free response, and on both questions it is the last part you write.

Either question can be set on any of the five course units. The AP Psychology units and the multiple-choice section are covered in the review guide.

Where points actually go

College Board publishes how often each row was earned. These are the figures from the first of the two 2025 forms, and they do not match the exam most guides tell you to prepare for.

So the hard part is not finding evidence or writing a claim. It is the second explanation. On both 2025 forms the C(ii) row was earned less often than B(ii), and the gap widens on the second point of each: C(ii) 14% against B(ii) 22% on the first form, and C(ii) 34% against B(ii) 54% on the second. That second point is the one that requires a different concept from the one already used, and it is where the EBQ falls behind the AAQ overall, averaging 4.07 and 4.91 out of 7 against the AAQ’s 4.97 and 5.10.

How to practice

College Board has released two exam years of AP Psychology free-response questions in the current format: 2025, in two sets, and 2026. Both come with scoring guidelines, and the 2025 pair also has Chief Reader Reports and scoring statistics, which is where the figures above come from. The 2024 papers and everything before them are the previous exam, and College Board flags on that page that the older material does not fully align with the current one.

Read the task verb before you write. College Board uses six across the free response, and it defines each one in the Course and Exam Description: Describe, Explain, Identify or State, Propose, Support or Refute, and Use evidence. A part that says explain is asking for a how or a why, and a part that says identify is not.

Build the vocabulary you will need with the AP Psych vocab guides, then turn a practice raw score into a 1–5 with the AP Psych score calculator.

Sources: AP Psychology Course and Exam Description, Effective Fall 2025 (printed pages 147, 149 and 169–178); the 2025 Chief Reader Reports and Scoring Statistics for both sets; and College Board’s AP Psychology exam and calculator policy pages. Written by Mahmudul Hasan.