AP Psychology — sleep and the senses

The second half of Unit 1 in AP Psychology moves from the brain to two things it does every day: sleeping and sensing. Both topics are full of paired terms that differ by one feature, and exam questions are built around exactly those pairs: rods and cones, conduction and sensorineural deafness, REM sleep behavior disorder and sleepwalking, the vestibular sense and kinesthesis.

This material covers topic 1.5 on sleep: the sleep-wake cycle as a circadian rhythm of about 24 hours and how jet lag and shift work disrupt it; the stages identified by their EEG patterns, from the hypnagogic sensations of Stage 1 to deep Stage 3 and paradoxical REM sleep, with REM rebound; the two dream theories the course keeps, activation-synthesis and consolidation; the memory-consolidation and restoration explanations of why we sleep; and the five sleep disorders the framework lists (insomnia, narcolepsy, REM sleep behavior disorder, sleep apnea and somnambulism).

From topic 1.6 it covers the absolute threshold and sensory adaptation; transduction; rods and cones, the blind spot and accommodation; prosopagnosia and blindsight; pitch perception through place, frequency and volley theories; sound localization and the two kinds of hearing loss; the chemical senses, with the six basic tastes including umami and oleogustus, supertasters and the way smell shapes taste; pain, gate control theory and phantom limb sensation; and the vestibular sense and kinesthesis.

Topics already covered in the category's biological bases material, such as how REM changes across the night, Weber's law and color afterimages, are not repeated here.

Four formats are offered. The quiz has twelve questions built on invented cases, like a traveler awake at the wrong hours after a long flight or a man rubbing a bruised knee, and each explanation says why the neighboring term does not fit. The flashcards cover the sleep and sensation vocabulary. The oral exam opens with a nurse moving to night shifts and continues one question at a time across sleep and the senses, ending with brief feedback. The written work is a printable sheet of eight open questions, including comparing the two dream theories and explaining why food tastes bland with a cold.

The material is based on the published AP Psychology course framework, Unit 1, topics 1.5 and 1.6. The psychoanalytic theory of dreams is not included, because the framework places it outside the exam.

• Explain circadian rhythms and how jet lag and shift work disrupt them
• Identify sleep stages, REM rebound, the two dream theories and the five listed sleep disorders
• Distinguish absolute threshold from sensory adaptation and rods from cones
• Compare place, frequency and volley theories and conduction versus sensorineural deafness
• Explain taste and smell interaction, gate control theory, the vestibular sense and kinesthesis

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the College Board AP Psychology Course and Exam Description (effective fall 2024, with the October 2025 clarifications), Unit 1, topics 1.5 Sleep and 1.6 Sensation. The list of sleep disorders follows that framework; the psychoanalytic theory of dreams is excluded as it states. All cases are invented.