CLEP Introductory Psychology Exam Prep Course
Full course with 550+ practice questions and a practice exam
Self-paced prep for the CLEP Introductory Psychology exam. 16 chapters covering all 13 content areas the exam tests, with a quiz after every subchapter. 95 questions, 90 minutes, no calculator. A score of 50 earns 3 transferable college credits.
- Backup ACE/NCCRS credit path — earn the credit even if you don't pass
- Lifetime access — no deadlines, no expiry, study at your own pace
- Credits accepted at 2,900+ U.S. colleges
Pricing
$19 for this course with lifetime access, or $29 a month for all 28 CLEP subjects. Every plan also unlocks the ACE/NCCRS course in the same subject.
- All 16 chapters and 91 lessons
- Five-question quiz after every subchapter
- Readiness score tracker
- DSM-5 aligned throughout
- Lifetime access, no expiry
- All 28 CLEP prep courses
- Every chapter, lesson and quiz
- Readiness tracker per subject
- Backup ACE/NCCRS credit path
- Cancel or pause anytime
- Lifetime access to all 28 subjects
- All current and future courses
- 12-month ACE/NCCRS backup path
- Pay once, never renew
What are ACE and NCCRS?
Two independent bodies that review online courses and recommend them for college credit. The American Council on Education (ACE) and the National College Credit Recommendation Service (NCCRS) put courses through faculty panels that assess rigor and learning outcomes, then publish a credit recommendation. When you complete one, the credentialing body issues an official transcript you send to your college — the same kind of transfer credit a student moving from another university would bring with them.
- Reviewed by faculty panels, not by the course provider
- Official transcript issued on completion
- Recognized at 2,100+ colleges, many of which also take CLEP and DSST
Both routes, one plan
Buying CLEP Introductory Psychology prep also opens the ACE/NCCRS course in the same subject — Introduction to Psychology — at no extra cost. So exam day isn't the only way through. If the score doesn't land, the course is already sitting in your account: complete it self-paced, no proctor and no 90-minute timer, and earn the three credits through coursework instead.
- Same subject, same 3 semester hours, different path
- Unlocked automatically — no extra fee, no application
- CLEP can still be retaken after three months
Each college sets its own transfer policy, so confirm yours accepts the route you plan to use.
Check your college's policy before you buy. We keep 280+ school pages listing accepted exams, required scores and credits awarded.
Check your collegeCLEP Introductory Psychology exam format and topics
The exam covers a one-semester undergraduate introductory psychology course across 13 content areas. About 95 questions in 90 minutes, some of them unscored pretest items. Questions use DSM-5 terminology and classifications. No calculator. Pass mark is 50.
| Content area | Weighting | Questions | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| History, Approaches and Methods | 11–12% | ≈10–12 | History of psychology; the biological, biopsychosocial, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic and psychodynamic approaches; experimental, clinical and correlational research; ethics in research |
| Social Psychology | 9–10% | ≈8–10 | Attitudes and attitude change; conformity, compliance and obedience; attribution processes; group dynamics; interpersonal attraction; stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and prosocial behavior; aggression |
| Biological Bases of Behavior | 8–9% | ≈7–9 | Neuroanatomy; functional organization of the nervous system; endocrine system; genetics; etiology; physiological techniques |
| Learning | 8–9% | ≈7–9 | Classical conditioning; operant conditioning; observational learning; cognitive processes in learning; biological bases |
| Cognition | 8–9% | ≈7–9 | Memory; language; intelligence and creativity; thinking and problem solving |
| Developmental Psychology Across the Lifespan | 8–9% | ≈7–9 | Physical, cognitive, social and moral development; theories of development; heredity–environment issues; gender identity and sex roles; longitudinal and cross-sectional methods |
| Psychological Disorders and Health | 8–9% | ≈7–9 | Anxiety, affective, dissociative, eating, personality and somatoform disorders; psychoses; theories of psychopathology; health, stress and coping |
| Sensation and Perception | 7–8% | ≈6–8 | Receptor processes in vision and audition; somesthesis, olfaction, gustation and the vestibular system; thresholds and adaptation; attention; perceptual development |
| Personality | 7–8% | ≈6–8 | Personality theories and approaches; assessment techniques; self-concept and self-esteem; growth and adjustment |
| Treatment of Psychological Disorders | 6–7% | ≈5–7 | Behavioral and cognitive therapies; insight therapies including psychodynamic and humanistic approaches; biological and drug therapies; community and preventive approaches |
| Motivation and Emotion | 5–6% | ≈4–6 | Theories of motivation and emotion; hunger, thirst, sex and pain; social motivation |
| States of Consciousness | 5–6% | ≈4–6 | Sleep and dreaming; hypnosis and meditation; psychoactive drug effects |
| Statistics, Tests and Measurement | 3–4% | ≈2–4 | Descriptive and inferential statistics; reliability and validity; types of tests; samples, populations and norms; measurement of intelligence |
| 13 content areas | 100% | ≈95 | 90 minutes · no calculator · score 50 for an ACE recommendation of 3 semester hours |
How hard is the exam?
It's a breadth exam rather than a depth exam. No single area is more than 12% of the questions, so the difficulty is covering all thirteen rather than mastering any one. Questions ask three things of you: knowing terminology and theory, analyzing a described situation, and applying what you know to a case you haven't seen. Recognition alone won't carry the applied questions.
- Start with History, Approaches and Methods — the largest single area
- Social Psychology is next; conformity, obedience and attribution recur
- Statistics is only 3–4% — know it, don't dwell on it
Exam fee and booking
Register with College Board for $97. Test centers may add an administration fee. You can test at a center or remotely with a proctor, year-round. Scores are reported immediately for multiple-choice exams, and you send them to your college yourself.
- Passing score 50, for 3 semester hours
- Retake permitted after three months
- Free for active-duty military via DANTES
The exam follows DSM-5 terminology, criteria and classifications, so learn disorder names and groupings under the current edition rather than older ones.
Check your collegeCourse chapters and lessons
16 chapters across 63 instructional hours. Expand any chapter to see the lessons inside it.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Psychology
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1.1 What is Psychology?
Defines the discipline, traces its historical development, and introduces the six psychological perspectives that frame the rest of the course — part of the largest content area on the exam.
- 1.2 History of Psychology
- 1.3 Contemporary Psychology
- 1.4 Careers in Psychology
- 1.5 Psychological Perspectives
Chapter 2 Psychological Research
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2.1 Introduction to Psychological Research
How psychologists design studies, analyze findings and apply ethical standards. Covers experimental, clinical and correlational methods — the research half of the highest-weighted content area on the exam.
- 2.2 Why is Research Important?
- 2.3 Approaches to Research
- 2.4 Analyzing Findings
- 2.5 Ethics in Psychological Research
Chapter 3 Biopsychology
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3.1 Human Genetics
Genetics, neurons, the structure of the nervous system, the brain and spinal cord, and the endocrine system — the biological bases of behavior, 8–9% of the exam.
- 3.2 Cells of the Nervous System
- 3.3 Parts of the Nervous System
- 3.4 The Brain and Spinal Cord
- 3.5 The Endocrine System
Chapter 4 States of Consciousness
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4.1 What is Consciousness?
Sleep stages and why we sleep, sleep disorders, substance use, and altered states including hypnosis and meditation.
- 4.2 Sleep and Why We Sleep
- 4.3 Stages of Sleep
- 4.4 Sleep Problems and Disorders
- 4.5 Substance Use and Abuse
- 4.6 Other States of Consciousness
Chapter 5 Sensation and Perception
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5.1 Sensation versus Perception
How sensation differs from perception, the visual and auditory receptor processes, the other senses, and the Gestalt principles that organise perception.
- 5.2 Waves and Wavelengths
- 5.3 Vision
- 5.4 Hearing
- 5.5 The Other Senses
- 5.6 Gestalt Principles of Perception
Chapter 6 Learning
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6.1 What is Learning?
Classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observational learning — the three mechanisms behind roughly 8–9% of the questions.
- 6.2 Classical Conditioning
- 6.3 Operant Conditioning
- 6.4 Observational Learning (Modeling)
Chapter 7 Thinking and Intelligence
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7.1 What is Cognition?
Cognition, language, problem solving and creativity, plus how intelligence is defined, measured and explained.
- 7.2 Language
- 7.3 Problem Solving
- 7.4 What Are Intelligence and Creativity?
- 7.5 Measures of Intelligence
- 7.6 The Source of Intelligence
Chapter 8 Memory
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8.1 How Memory Functions
How memory encodes, stores and retrieves information, which brain structures are involved, why memory fails, and what actually improves recall.
- 8.2 Parts of the Brain Involved with Memory
- 8.3 Problems with Memory
- 8.4 Ways to Enhance Memory
Chapter 9 Lifespan Development
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9.1 What is Lifespan Development?
Development from birth to death: the major stage theories, the physical, cognitive and emotional changes across the lifespan, and aging and dying.
- 9.2 Lifespan Theories
- 9.3 Stages of Development
- 9.4 Death and Dying
Chapter 10 Emotion and Motivation
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10.1 Motivation
What drives behavior — hunger, thirst and sexual motivation — and the competing theories of how emotion is generated and expressed.
- 10.2 About What Motivates Us
- 10.3 Hunger and Eating
- 10.4 Sexual Behavior
- 10.5 Emotion
Chapter 11 Personality
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11.1 What is Personality?
The psychodynamic, humanistic, biological, learning and trait approaches to personality, plus cultural perspectives and the assessment techniques used to measure it.
- 11.2 Freud and the Psychodynamic Perspective
- 11.3 Neo-Freudians: Adler, Erikson, Jung, and Horney
- 11.4 Learning Approaches
- 11.5 Humanistic Approaches
- 11.6 Biological Approaches
- 11.7 Trait Theorists
- 11.8 Cultural Understandings of Personality
- 11.9 Personality Assessment
Chapter 12 Social Psychology
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12.1 What is Social Psychology?
Behavior in a social context: attitudes and persuasion, conformity and obedience, prejudice, aggression and prosocial behavior — the second-largest content area on the exam.
- 12.2 Self-presentation
- 12.3 Attitudes and Persuasion
- 12.4 Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience
- 12.5 Prejudice and Discrimination
- 12.6 Aggression
- 12.7 Prosocial Behavior
Chapter 13 Industrial-Organizational Psychology
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13.1 What is Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Psychology applied to the workplace: employee selection and evaluation, the social dimension of work, and human factors in workplace design. Beyond the CLEP outline, but standard in a full introductory course.
- 13.2 Industrial Psychology: Selecting and Evaluating Employees
- 13.3 Organizational Psychology: The Social Dimension of Work
- 13.4 Human Factors Psychology and Workplace Design
Chapter 14 Stress, Lifestyle, and Health
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14.1 What is Stress?
Stressors, the link between stress and illness, regulation and coping strategies, and the psychology of wellbeing.
- 14.2 Stressors
- 14.3 Stress and Illness
- 14.4 Regulation of Stress
- 14.5 The Pursuit of Happiness
Chapter 15 Psychological Disorders
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15.1 What are Psychological Disorders?
The longest chapter in the course. How disorders are diagnosed and classified, the competing perspectives on their causes, and the major categories under current DSM-5 terminology.
- 15.2 Diagnosing and Classifying Psychological Disorders
- 15.3 Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
- 15.4 Anxiety Disorders
- 15.5 Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
- 15.6 Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
- 15.7 Mood Disorders
- 15.8 Schizophrenia
- 15.9 Dissociative Disorders
- 15.10 Personality Disorders
- 15.11 Disorders in Childhood
Chapter 16 Therapy and Treatment
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16.1 Mental Health Treatment: Past and Present
The history of mental health treatment, the main therapy types and modalities, substance-related disorders as a special case, and the sociocultural model of therapy utilization.
- 16.2 Types of Treatment
- 16.3 Treatment Modalities
- 16.4 Substance-Related and Addictive Disorders: A Special Case
- 16.5 The Sociocultural Model and Therapy Utilization
Practice exam Practice final exam
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Practice final exam — 100 multiple-choice questions
A full-length practice final that mirrors the exam's content areas and question style. Your score feeds the readiness tracker, so you know when you're ready to book the real exam.
These chapters make up the CLEP Introductory Psychology exam prep class. They cover every content area on the official exam outline, and some topics go further than the exam requires.
Take the CLEP exam for the fastest route to 3 credits. If it doesn't go your way, your plan also includes a backup course that earns the credit through coursework.
See pricingColleges that accept CLEP Introductory Psychology
CLEP is recognized at more than 2,900 U.S. colleges, but each one sets its own minimum score and decides how many credit hours to award. Check yours before you book the exam.
Browse college credit policies
Policies change. Every college page lists the date the policy was checked, and we recommend confirming minimum scores and credit awards with the Registrar before you schedule an exam. TransferCredit.org is an independent education service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the institutions listed.
Practice tests and study guides
Five questions in the style of the CLEP Introductory Psychology exam, drawn from the chapters above. No sign-up needed — see where you stand before you buy.