Psychology Study Guides

Quick access: free psychology study guides

This page collects 20 free psychology study guides and notes as downloadable PDFs. They cover AP Psychology, the major branches of psychology, clinical topics, research methods and statistics, and are written for high school, intro psych (Psych 101) and early college students. Each guide links naturally to the fuller articles on this site, so you can revise from the PDF and read deeper where you need to.

• AP Psychology (4 guides, including a practice exam)
• Cognitive psychology (memory, attention, decision making, language)
• Social psychology (influence, attitudes, groups)
• Developmental psychology (childhood, adolescence, aging)
• Clinical psychology (DSM-5-TR, therapies, assessment)
• Research methods and statistics (design, statistics, APA style)

AP Psychology study guides

These materials follow the AP Psychology course the College Board introduced for the 2024-25 school year: five content units (Biological Bases of Behavior; Cognition; Development and Learning; Social Psychology and Personality; Mental and Physical Health) plus science practices that run through the whole course. The exam has multiple-choice questions and two free-response questions, the Article Analysis Question (AAQ) and the Evidence-Based Question (EBQ). For a full overview of the course and exam strategy, see our AP Psychology guide.

Cognitive psychology study guides

Memory, attention, perception and thinking, with diagrams and worked examples. Background reading: cognitive psychology, the psychology of memory and cognitive biases.

Social psychology study guides

Group dynamics, social influence, attitudes and relationships. Background reading: social psychology, the Milgram experiment and the Asch conformity experiment.

Developmental psychology study guides

Human development across the lifespan, including physical, cognitive and social change. Background reading: developmental psychology and Piaget's stages.

Clinical psychology study guides

Mental health conditions, assessment and evidence-based treatments, written for study rather than self-diagnosis. Background reading: clinical psychology and our DSM-5 guide.

Research methods and statistics study guides

Experimental design, statistical analysis and research ethics. These are the best place to start for a Psych 101 research methods unit, because methods questions appear on almost every intro psychology exam. Background reading: research methods in psychology.

Study tips for psychology students

Psychology has studied how people learn, so it makes sense to use its findings. A major 2013 review by John Dunlosky and colleagues rated common study techniques by the strength of evidence. Practice testing and distributed (spaced) practice came out on top; highlighting and rereading were rated low utility.

1. Active learning strategies

• Retrieval practice: test yourself instead of rereading. Close the guide and write down everything you remember, then check. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that students who practiced recall remembered far more a week later than those who restudied.
• Spaced repetition: spread review over days and weeks rather than cramming, for example after 1 day, 3 days, 1 week and 2 weeks.
• Elaboration: ask "why" and "how" questions and connect new ideas to what you already know or to your own life.
• Interleaving: mix topics or question types in one session instead of practicing one type in a block.
• Teach it: explaining a concept aloud, to a study partner or to yourself, quickly reveals gaps.

2. Note-taking methods

• Cornell method: divide the page into cues, notes and a summary, then use the cue column for self-testing.
• Concept maps: draw connections between ideas, such as how different memory models relate.
• Comparison charts: tables are ideal for theories and studies (researcher, year, method, finding, criticism).

3. Memory techniques

• Mnemonics: acronyms such as OCEAN for the Big Five personality traits.
• Method of loci: link items to places along a familiar route.
• Chunking: group information into meaningful units, the way phone numbers are split.
• Dual coding: combine words with diagrams or timelines. (This is different from the "learning styles" idea, which research does not support.)

4. Exam preparation

• Practice under exam conditions: timed questions, including free-response practice, are more useful than extra reading.
• Learn the studies, not just the terms: for each landmark study, know the aim, method, key result and a limitation.
• Start early: spacing needs time, so begin reviewing several weeks before a major exam.
• Protect sleep: sleep supports memory consolidation, so all-night cramming tends to backfire. See sleep hygiene.

If exams cause intense worry, our article on test anxiety explains why it happens and what research suggests can help.

Need more help?

Explore the psychology basics hub, try the cognitive bias test as a revision exercise for the decision-making unit, or read psychology book summaries for wider reading.

Note: All study guides are free for personal and classroom educational use. They summarize established psychology for learning purposes and are not official College Board materials or clinical resources.