Download AP Psychology Syllabus - St. Mary Parish Schools

2016-2017 Course Syllabus
Advanced Placement - Psychology
Instructor: Michelle South
Email: [email protected]
Planning Period: 3rd block
Textbook: Myers, David G. Psychology, 10th ed. New York: Worth Publishers, 2011.
Supplemental Readings and Materials : 2007 and 2004 AP Released Exam in Psychology (1999 Released Exam
is located on the course home page on AP Central); other support materials.
Numerous short articles and readings drawn from books, newspapers, magazines, and
journals are assigned. During the semester, students are required to read one work of
psychology of their own choosing from an approved list, to maintain a journal in dialectical
form as they read, and to write a critical review upon completion of their reading.
Time/Length: One Semester – 90 minute block Schedule
High School Credit: One Unit
AP Credit: Depends on AP Exam Score and individual college requirements regarding AP credit.
Course Description:
The AP Psychology course is designed to introduce students to the systematic and
scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other
animals. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena
associated with each of the major subfields within psychology. They also learn about
the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and practice.
The Advanced Placement Program offers a course and exam in psychology to qualified
students who wish to complete studies in secondary school equivalent to an introductory
college course in psychology. The exam presumes at least one semester of
college-level preparation.
Each unit will culminate with an AP-style test, which will include multiple choice questions and a Free Response
Question (FRQ). There will also be quizzes based on readings and lectures at various times during the unit of study.
Each mid- semester will culminate with an AP-style exam, complete with 80 multiple choice questions, a DBQ and two
FRQs.
Materials: blue or black pin, pencil, wide rule loose-leaf paper, binder or notebook – a binder might be better for keeping
up with handouts,
Grading: Each nine weeks’ grade will be based on but not limited to a combination of the following assessments. Point
values will vary.
 homework assignments
 free response questions (FRQ)
 in-class assignments
 document based question(s) (DBQ) – 100 points
 class discussions
 performance assessments
 quizzes
 writing assessments
 unit test(s) – 100 points
 reports / research papers – 100 points
 presentations
group assignment
Reading: Reading the assigned material is critical for
this course. Some exam and quiz questions may come
from assigned reading material that was not discussed in
class.

to make up the test. Make up tests will be given
during your class period and you will be
responsible for any material you miss that day
while you are taking your makeup.
Any missed tests that are not made up in the
allotted time frame mentioned above will be
given a 0.
Classroom Rules and Consequences:
Written Work: All written work that is turned in
should be done in blue or black ink as required on the
AP exam. All work should be written legibly.
Homework and out of class assignments: All
assignments that are to be turned in for a grade that
students have time to work on outside of class must be
typed in 12 point times new roman font, double spaced,
and have 1 inch margins unless otherwise noted. The
student’s name, class period, and date should be at the
top left corner. Additional requirements may apply to
various assignments.
Homework is due the day after it is assigned unless
otherwise noted. For each day an assignment is overdue.
The student will lose 10%. Late assignments will not be
accepted after 3 days (A “0” will be given for he grade).
AP Review: It is my goal to finish the course material
with several days remaining to review for the AP Exam.
However, any material that is not covered is still the
student’s responsibility. Students are encouraged to
keep track of their notes throughout the year and review
them periodically. There are AP review books available
that student may want to purchase and utilize.
General Procedures:
 Review the daily agenda and objectives on the
board.
 As soon as you come into class sit down, get out
your materials, and begin working on your bell
ringer.
 Sit in your assigned seat.
 Sharpen your pencil at the start of class.
 Put away all food and drinks
If Absent
 If you are absent, it is your responsibility to find
out what you missed such as bell ringers, notes,
worksheets, etc.
 Make up test and quizzes are to be completed on
your first day back to school if you only missed
the day of the test and your abscesses was not
excused. If you missed several days or the day
before a test and the absences are excused, then
you have the same number of days you missed
Rules:
1. Be responsible –
always complete
readings and
assignments by the
designated due
date
2. Be respectful to
students and
teachers
3. Be prepared –
always have your
necessary
materials
4. Arrive to class on
time
5. Follow all school
rules, district rules,
and classroom
rules / procedures.
Consequences
1. Verbal warning
2. Minor infraction
documented
warning
3. Minor infraction 1 paragraph
4. Minor infraction –
2 paragraphs
5. Sent to office with
disciplinary
referral
The teacher reserves
the right to skip
directly to being sent
to the office.
Midterm Exam
Students take a midterm exam covering the first six units. The exam is in the same
format as the AP Exam (multiple choice and short essays), but the number of multiplechoice
questions is reduced proportionately to the time available in the exam period to
maintain a similar time pressure.
Alternative Assessments/
Summer Reading and Journal
Students read one book from an approved list. As they read, they write reflective
responses to passages of their choice in a double-entry journal. They write a critical
review upon completion of the book. The journal and review are due on the first day of
classes.
Unit Journals
Students continue writing in their double-entry journals approximately twice each
week throughout the course. These journals facilitate deep processing of learning
and differentiation of instruction by encouraging critical thinking and independent
exploration. They also provide an additional forum for the teacher to give feedback to
guide individual students. Entries must be linked to the unit that is being studied and
contain the following elements:
• student reflection on readings
• class discussions and activities
• personal experiences
• recent news or television broadcasts
• Internet research
Projects/ Alternative Assessments
Naturalistic Observation
Each student completes a 15-minute observation of a human participant in a naturalistic
setting. The purpose is to familiarize students with this method, to improve their powers
of observation, and to help them distinguish between subjective and objective records.
Experimental Design
Students are given a hypothetical research problem and told to write a proposal for a
controlled experiment to solve it. The exercise serves to improve their understanding of
research methodology.
Behavior Modification
Each student designs an application of operant conditioning principles to modify a
human participant’s behavior. After receiving IRB (institutional review board) approval,
students attempt the modification over a three-week period. The project develops
firsthand experience of Skinner’s theory
Applications of Developmental Psychology
Students work in small groups to research a recent topic related to the unit on
development (e.g., the benefits of Head Start programs, effectiveness of sex or drug
education programs, effects of divorce on children) and then present their findings to
the class in an oral report of 15 to 20 minutes. The project provides an introduction to
library and online research tools in psychology as well as APA documentation.
Controlled Experiment
Students research a topic of their choice, subject to IRB approval. The final project must
incorporate a review of literature, discussion of method, presentation and evaluation of
results, and a conclusion.
Review of Literature
Students research a topic of their choice. The final paper must develop an original thesis
on a controversial topic.
Poster Presentation (Final Exam)
In lieu of a traditional final exam, students present the results of their second-semester
project to the class. The presentation is in poster form, accompanied by a 30-minute
lecture (including a question-and-answer time).
Extra Credit**
Psychology Book Review
Students wanting to do additional work for extra credit are directed to read one of the
books from the semester reading list, or another title that is satisfactory to the teacher,
and complete a critical review. The book must relate to the unit under study at that
time.
Course Outline: The course outline is subject to change. It is a guide for the students to follow.
Individual assignments will be discussed in more depth as they approach. Due dates will be
discussed in class. Time restraints and extenuating circumstances may not allow for the
completion of all unit activities.
Course Topics and Learning objectives categorized into Units and a Weekly Course Plan:
Unit 1 Topics and Learning Objectives:
I. History and Approaches (2–4%) (Week 1) Pg. 2
Psychology has evolved markedly since its inception as a discipline in 1879. There
have been significant changes in the theories that psychologists use to explain
behavior and mental processes. In addition, the methodology of psychological
research has expanded to include a diversity of approaches to data gathering.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Recognize how philosophical and physiological perspectives shaped the
development of psychological thought.
• Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior:
— structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in the early years;
— Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later;
— evolutionary, biological, cognitive, and biopsychosocial as more
contemporary approaches.
• Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior.
• Distinguish the different domains of psychology (e.g., biological, clinical,
cognitive, counseling, developmental, educational, experimental, human factors,
industrial–organizational, personality, psychometric, social).
• Identify major historical figures in psychology (e.g., Mary Whiton Calkins,
Charles Darwin, Dorothea Dix, Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, William James,
Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Carl Rogers, B. F. Skinner, Margaret Floy Washburn,
John B. Watson, Wilhelm Wundt).
Week 1
History and Approaches
Day 1 Introduction to Psychology—History; The Breadth of
Psychology
Activity: What is and isn’t psychology?—Identifying
specialties in psychology
Day 2 Psychological Perspectives
Activity: What do you believe?—Perspective points of view
Day 3 Practice with Perspectives
Activity: Personal Habit—Why do I do that?—Influence or
perspectives of explaining
behavior
Day 4 History of Psychology
Contributors: Wundt, Darwin, Hall, James, Freud, Watson
Day 5 Assessment
II. Social Psychology (8–10%) (Week 2-3) pg. 552
This part of the course focuses on how individuals relate to one another in social
situations. Social psychologists study social attitudes, social influence, and other social
phenomena. AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Apply attribution theory to explain motives (e.g., fundamental attribution error,
self-serving bias).
• Describe the structure and function of different kinds of group behavior (e.g.,
• Explain how individuals respond to expectations of others, including
groupthink,
conformity, and obedience to authority.
• Discuss attitudes and how they change (e.g., central route to persuasion).
• Predict the impact of the presence of others on individual behavior (e.g.,
bystander effect, social facilitation).
• Describe processes that contribute to differential treatment of group members
(e.g., in-group/out-group dynamics, ethnocentrism, prejudice).
• Articulate the impact of social and cultural categories (e.g., gender, race,
ethnicity) on self-concept and relations with others.
• Anticipate the impact of behavior on a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and attraction.
• Discuss attitude formation and change, including persuasion strategies and
cognitive dissonance.
• Identify important figures in social psychology (e.g., Solomon Asch, Leon
Festinger, Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo).deindividuation, group
polarization).
Week 2-3
Social Psychology
Day 1 Attitudes: Formation and Change
From where did your attitudes come?—Discussion on advertising
Day 2 Attributions: Types and Errors
Factors affecting attributions
Identifying attributions—situations
Errors and their affect on our behavior
Day 3 Conformity: Asch and Influential Factors
Demo: Conformity to upperclassmen
Observation: Break conformity and record reactions
Day 4 Obedience: Milgram and Related Research
Video: Milgram experiment
Class discussion—What would you do differently? What if the
learner were female?
Day 5 Group Influence
Short story: Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery
• Identifying presence of group influence
III. Biological Bases of Behavior (8–10%) (Week 4-5) pg. 46
An effective introduction to the relationship between physiological processes and
behavior — including the influence of neural function, the nervous system and the
brain, and genetic contributions to behavior — is an important element in the AP
course.AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Identify basic processes and systems in the biological bases of behavior,
including parts of the neuron and the process of transmission of a signal
between neurons.
• Discuss the influence of drugs on neurotransmitters (e.g., reuptake
mechanisms, agonists, antagonists).
• Discuss the effect of the endocrine system on behavior
• Describe the nervous system and its subdivisions and functions:
— central and peripheral nervous systems;
— major brain regions, lobes, and cortical areas;
— brain lateralization and hemispheric specialization.
• Discuss the role of neuroplasticity in traumatic brain injury.
• Recount historic and contemporary research strategies and technologies that
support research (e.g., case studies, split-brain research, imaging
techniques).
• Discuss psychology’s abiding interest in how heredity, environment, and
evolution work together to shape behavior.
• Predict how traits and behavior can be selected for their adaptive value.
• Identify key contributors (e.g., Paul Broca, Charles Darwin, Michael Gazzaniga,
Roger Sperry, Carl Wernicke
Biological Bases of Behavior
Week 4
Day 1 Hemisphere Specialization
Can we live with only half a brain?
Left and right hemisphere asymmetry
• Identifying left and right brain abilities
Video: The Brain Module #4—Split Brain
Day 2 The Cerebral Cortex: Lobes and Cortical Areas
Contributors: Broca, Wernicke, Fritsch and Hitzig,
Penifield, Flourens, Gail
Activity: the sensory homunculus—Are you sensitive?
• Demonstrating different sensitivities on back vs.
palm
Day 3 The Cerebral Cortex
Video: The Brain Module #3—Phineas Gage
Day 4 Brain Structures and Functions
Label structures and function
Application assignment—Where in the brain . . . ?
Day 5 Brain Structures- continue from yesterday
Week 5
Day 1 Understanding Brain Structure and Function
Imaging techniques: uses and limitations
Sample scans and identification
• Whole Brain Atlas
Day 2 Assessment
Day 3 The Nervous System
Contributors: Galvani, Muller, Cajal
Day 4 Basic Neuroanatomy
Label structures and functions
Activity: “The Neuron Dance”
• Demonstration of neural activity between types of
neurons
• Demonstration of threshold stimulation and action
potential
Day 5 Neurotransmitters and Their Influence
Neurotransmitter activity and effects on behavior
• Agnostic vs. antagonistic neurochemicals
• Involvement with illness/disorders
Day 4 The Endocrine System and Influence on
Behavior
Label structures and functions
Hormone activity and effects on behavior
Day 5 Assessment
Week 6
Day 1 The Issue of Nature and Nurture: Genes &
Evolution
Focus on evolutionary psychology
Contributors: Mendel, Darwin
Day 2 Nature and Nurture: Behavior Genetics
How genetics work—dominant and recessive genes
Genetic predispositions
Day 3 The Importance of Twin Studies
What can we learn from twins?
Research: Bouchard “Minnesota Twin Study”
• Methodology: purpose and limitations—the roles of
nature and nurture
Day 4 Nature and Nurture: Environment
Effects of culture, family, society on behavior
Day 5 Assessment
IV. Sensation and Perception (6–8%) (Week 7-9) pg. 216
Everything that organisms know about the world is first encountered when stimuli in
the environment activate sensory organs, initiating awareness of the external world.
Perception involves the interpretation of the sensory inputs as a cognitive process.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Discuss basic principles of sensory transduction, including absolute threshold,
difference threshold, signal detection, and sensory adaptation.
• Describe sensory processes (e.g., hearing, vision, touch, taste, smell, vestibular,
kinesthesis, pain), including the specific nature of energy transduction,
relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for
each of the senses.
• Explain common sensory disorders (e.g., visual and hearing impairments).
• Describe general principles of organizing and integrating sensation to promote
stable awareness of the external world (e.g., Gestalt principles, depth
perception).
• Discuss how experience and culture can influence perceptual processes (e.g.,
perceptual set, context effects).
• Explain the role of top-down processing in producing vulnerability to illusion.
• Discuss the role of attention in behavior.
• Challenge common beliefs in parapsychological phenomena.
• Identify the major historical figures in sensation and perception (e.g., Gustav
Fechner, David Hubel, Ernst Weber, Torsten Wiesel).
Week 7-8
Sensation and Perception
Day 1 Sensation vs. Perception: Differences
Activity: optical illusions: Why don’t you see what I see?
Differences in the processes
Day 2 Sensory Thresholds and Adaptation
Different thresholds for each sensory modality
Webster’s Law and the just noticeable difference
Activity: subliminal messages—back masking
• The role of top-down processing in perception
Day 3 The Sense of Vision
Anatomy of the eye
Activity: blind-spot location
Activity: location of rods and cones
Day 4 Color Vision
Visible spectrum—additive and subtractive color
Types of cones
Colorblindness
Day 5 Visual Perception
Monocular and binocular cues
Activity: magazine pictures demonstrating monocular cues
Week 8
Day 1 Visual Perception
Perceptual constancy
Afterimage effect
Day 2 Perceptual Interpretation
Day 3 The Sense of Hearing
Anatomy of the ear
Noise and deafness
Day 4 Attention
Activity: characteristics of a penny
Selective attention
Divided attention
Video: Black t-shirts vs. white t-shirts basketball
Day 5 The Sense of Touch and Pain
Video: The Mind—Girl with no pain receptors
• What would life be like without pain?
• The benefits of touch
• Phantom limb sensations
• The biological explanation
Week 9
Day 1 Taste and Smell
Anatomy of the connection
Activity: Are you a supertaster or a nontaster?
• Characteristics of each type
• Looking at our taste bud concentrations
Day 2 The Other Senses: Kinesthetic and Vesibular
Reading: The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: The
Disembodied Woman
• Loss of proprioception
Relationship between the senses
Sensory synaesthesia
Day 3 Assessment- MIDTERM EXAM
V. States of Consciousness (2–4%) (Week 9-10) pg. 84
Understanding consciousness and what it encompasses is critical to an appreciation
of what is meant by a given state of consciousness. The study of variations in
consciousness includes an examination of the sleep cycle, dreams, hypnosis, circadian
rhythms, and the effects of psychoactive drugs. AP students in psychology should be able to do
the following:
• Describe various states of consciousness and their impact on behavior.
• Discuss aspects of sleep and dreaming:
— stages and characteristics of the sleep cycle;
— theories of sleep and dreaming;
— symptoms and treatments of sleep disorders.
• Describe historic and contemporary uses of hypnosis (e.g., pain control,
psychotherapy).
• Explain hypnotic phenomena (e.g., suggestibility, dissociation).
• Identify the major psychoactive drug categories (e.g., depressants, stimulants)
and classify specific drugs, including their psychological and
physiological effects.
• Discuss drug dependence, addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal.
• Identify the major figures in consciousness research (e.g., William James,
Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hilgard).
Week 9
States of Consciousness
Day 4 Circadian Rhythms
Questionnaire: Are you an owl or a lark?
Biological Circadian Rhythms
Video: The Brain—Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
• Cave dweller effects of lack of time cues
Day 1 Need for Sleep and Sleep Disorders
Survey: sleep hygiene
National Sleep Foundation statistics on sleep
Disorders: symptoms, frequency, and treatment
Day 2 Dream Theory
Psychoanalytic vs. Biological vs. Cognitive
Day 3 Hypnosis
Activity: Barber Suggestibility Scale
• How suggestible are you?
How does hypnosis work?
• Role theory, state theory, hidden observer
Video: Discovering Psychology—hypnosis demo
Day 4 Drugs and Consciousness
Research: Olds and the “pleasure centers”
• Methodology: purpose and limitations
Video segment: The Mind—addiction
Drug categories and effects
Other behaviors that are addictive
• Gambling, shopping, eating
Day 5 Assessment
VI. Developmental Psychology (7–9%)(Week 10) pg. 166
Developmental psychology deals with the behavior of organisms from conception to
death and examines the processes that contribute to behavioral change throughout
the life span. The major areas of emphasis in the course are prenatal development,
motor development, socialization, cognitive development, adolescence, and adulthood.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Discuss the interaction of nature and nurture (including cultural variations) in
the determination of behavior.
• Explain the process of conception and gestation, including factors that influence
successful fetal development (e.g., nutrition, illness, substance abuse).
• Discuss maturation of motor skills.
• Describe the influence of temperament and other social factors on attachment
and appropriate socialization.
• Explain the maturation of cognitive abilities (e.g., Piaget’s stages, information
processing).
• Compare and contrast models of moral development (e.g., Kohlberg, Gilligan).
• Discuss maturational challenges in adolescence, including related family
conflicts.
• Explain how parenting styles influence development.
• Characterize the development of decisions related to intimacy as people mature.
• Predict the physical and cognitive changes that emerge as people age, including
steps that can be taken to maximize function.
• Describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of
development.
• Identify key contributors in developmental psychology (e.g., Mary Ainsworth,
Albert Bandura, Diana Baumrind, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Carol
Gilligan,
Harry Harlow, Lawrence Kohlberg, Konrad Lorenz, Jean Piaget, Lev
Vygotsky).
Week 10
Developmental Psychology
Day 1 Prenatal Development
Patterns of development
Teratogens
• Role of the mother
• Role of the father
Day 2 Infancy/Childhood: Physical Development Activity:
Order of Skill Development in
Infants
Maturation and learning
Day 3 Infancy/Childhood: Cognitive Development,
Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage
• Assimilation and accommodation
• Object permanence
Video: Discovering Psychology—infant object permanence
Piaget’s preoperational stage
• Egocentrism
Piaget’s concrete-operational stage
• Activity: field trip to elementary school
Conservation tasks observation
Day 4 Infancy/Childhood: Social Development
Research: Ainsworth “strange situation”
• Methodology: purpose and limitations
Attachment styles and parenting styles
Research: Harlowe “contact comfort”
• Methodology: purpose and limitations
Stranger Anxiety and Separation Anxiety
Erikson’s eight stages of man
Kohlberg’s preconventional reasoning
Day 5 Infancy: Social Development
Activity: show and tell
• Bring in child’s toy or book. How does it help the child
develop socially?
• Student presentations
Week 11
Day 1 Assessment
Day 2 Gender
Activity: John and Jane
• Baby picture with gender attributes
• Influences on gender and development
Day 3 Adolescence: Physical Development
Puberty—early and late developers
Eating disorders
Day 4 Adolescence: Cognitive Development
Piaget’s formal operational stage
Metacognition—Do you know how you think?
Day 5 Adolescence: Social Development
Erikson’s identity formation
Conformity: peers vs. parents
Week 12
Day 1 – Writing Assessment
Day 2 Gender
Activity: John and Jane
• Baby picture with gender attributes
• Influences on gender and development
Day 3 Adulthood: Cognitive Development
Crystallized vs. fluid intelligence
Maintaining a healthy brain
Alzheimer’s disease
Day 4 and 5 Adulthood: Social Development
Video: A&E Biography: Sigmund Freud
• Highlights major developments in Freud’s Psychoanalytic
Theory- Writing Assessment
VII. Personality (5–7%)(Week 13) pg. 512
In this section of the course, students explore major theories of how humans develop
enduring patterns of behavior and personal characteristics that influence how others
relate to them. The unit also addresses research methods used to assess personality.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining
personality (e.g., psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social
cognition,behavioral).
• Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case studies and surveys) that
psychologists use to investigate personality.
• Identify frequently used assessment strategies (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic
Personality Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT]), and
evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instruments.
• Speculate how cultural context can facilitate or constrain personality
development, especially as it relates to self-concept (e.g., collectivistic
versus individualistic cultures).
• Identify key contributors to personality theory (e.g., Alfred Adler, Albert
Bandura, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung,
Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers).
Week 13
Personality
Day 1 Psychoanalytic Perspective
Video: A&E Biography: Sigmund Freud
• Highlights major developments in Freud’s Psychoanalytic
Theory
Day 1 Psychoanalytic Perspective
• Levels of unconsciousness
• Psychosexual stages
• Defense mechanisms
Day 2 Trait Perspective
Big 5 Theory of Personality
• Is a personality stable or changeable?
Day 2 Trait Perspective
Day 3 Humanistic Perspective
• Hierarchy of needs
• Self-actualization
Day 3 Humanistic Perspective
Contributor: Rogers
• Unconditional positive regard
• Ideal self
• Client-centered therapy
Day 4 Social-Cognitive Perspective
Bandura: reciprocal determinism
Locus of control
Seligman: learned helplessness
Day 4 Positive Psychology Issues
Focus of positive psychology
• Positive subjective experiences
• Optimism
• Hope
Day 5 Assessment: Project- Based
VIII Learning (7–9%) (Week 14) pg. 264
This section of the course introduces students to differences between learned and
unlearned behavior. The primary focus is exploration of different kinds of learning,
including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. The
biological bases of behavior illustrate predispositions for learning.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Distinguish general differences between principles of classical conditioning,
operant conditioning, and observational learning (e.g., contingencies).
• Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena, such as acquisition,
extinction,spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination, and higher-order
learning.
• Predict the effects of operant conditioning (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative
reinforcement, punishment).
• Predict how practice, schedules of reinforcement, and motivation will influence
quality of learning.
• Interpret graphs that exhibit the results of learning experiments.
• Provide examples of how biological constraints create learning predispositions.
• Describe the essential characteristics of insight learning, latent learning, and
social learning.
• Apply learning principles to explain emotional learning, taste aversion,
superstitious behavior, and learned helplessness.
• Suggest how behavior modification, biofeedback, coping strategies, and selfcontrol can be used to address behavioral problems.
• Identify key contributors in the psychology of learning (e.g., Albert Bandura,
John Garcia, Ivan Pavlov, Robert Rescorla, B. F. Skinner, Edward
Thorndike, Edward Tolman, John B. Watson)
Week 14
Learning
Day 1 Classical Conditioning: Process
Contributors: Pavlov and Watson
Components of classical conditioning
Practice: identifying components
Video: Discovering Psychology—Pavlov and classical conditioning
Day 1 Classical Conditioning: Phenomena
Acquisition, discrimination, generalization, extinction, spontaneous
recovery
Practice: identifying components
Video: Discovering Psychology—Watson and Little Albert
Discussion—food aversions and phenomena
Day 2 Evaluating Classical Conditioning
Limitations of the perspective
Day 2 Operant Conditioning: Process
Shaping and the Skinner Box
Activity: “Hot and Cold”—shaping student behavior
Reinforcement and punishment
Practice: identifying consequences
Video: Discovering Psychology—Skinner on operant conditioning
Day 3 Schedules of Reinforcement
Schedules—fixed and variable
Practice: identifying schedules
Day 3 Evaluating Operant Conditioning
Article: Drawbacks of Reinforcement
Day 4 Social/Observational Learning
Research: Bandura and modeling aggression
• Methodology: purpose and limitations
Process of social learning
Day 4 Cognition and Learning Theory
Classical, operant, and social learning—How does thinking fit in?
Day 5 Assessment/ Writing Assessment
IX. Cognition (8–10%)(Week 15) pg. 337
In this unit students learn how humans convert sensory input into kinds of
information. They examine how humans learn, remember, and retrieve information.
This part of the course also addresses problem solving, language, and creativity.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Compare and contrast various cognitive processes:
— effortful versus automatic processing;
— deep versus shallow processing;
— focused versus divided attention.
• Describe and differentiate psychological and physiological systems of memory
(e.g., short-term memory, procedural memory).
• Outline the principles that underlie effective encoding, storage, and construction
of memories.
• Describe strategies for memory improvement.
• Synthesize how biological, cognitive, and cultural factors converge to facilitate
acquisition, development, and use of language.
• Identify problem-solving strategies as well as factors that influence their
effectiveness.
• List the characteristics of creative thought and creative thinkers.
• Identify key contributors in cognitive psychology (e.g., Noam Chomsky,
Hermann Ebbinghaus, Wolfgang Köhler, Elizabeth Loftus, George A.
Miller).
Week 15
Cognition
Day 1 Memory Systems
Atkinson and Schiffrin’s model of memory
• Sensory, short, long-term memory
• Capacity and duration of information
• Transfer of information among the system
Day 1 Encoding Information
The need for attention
Modes of encoding: visual, auditory, semantic
Day 2 Encoding: Mnemonics
What is a mnemonic?
• Examples of mnemonics
Video: Learning Tree—Improving Your Memory
Practice: creating your own mnemonics
Day 3 Storage of Memories
Deep vs. shallow processing
Influence of context, mood, state of mind
Day 3 Biology of Memory
Brain areas devoted to memory
Neurochemicals and memory
Video segment: The Mind “Search for Mind”—
Clive Wearing
• Damage to brain leads to memory deficits
Day 4 Retrieval Cues
Recall and recognition memory
Tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
Déjà vu
Day 4 Theories of Forgetting
Interference, decay, retrieval failure
Day 4 Memory Error
Activity: Telephone game
• What changes in the information?
The problem with reconstructive memory
Research: Loftus and eyewitness testimony
• Wording effects and memor
Day 5 – Assessment
Week 16
Day 1 Thinking: Concept Formation and Problem
Solving
Schemas
Algorithms and heuristics
Activity: Talk aloud while solving a problem
• Analyze your strategy
Day 2 Decision Making
Belief perseverance and belief bias
Mental set and functional fixedness
Activity: create a phonograph
Day 2 Language Structure and Acquisition
Components of language
Early exposure vs. late exposure
• Detecting language subtleties as infants
Video: Nova: Secrets of the Wild Child—Genie
Day 3 Theories of Language Development
Chomsky, Skinner, and Cognition
• Nativist, behaviorist, cognitive theories
Day 4 Animals and Cognition
Kohler: Insight learning
• Sultan
Communication with animals
Do animals have language?
• Koko
Day 5 Assessment
X. Testing and Individual Differences (5–7%)(Week 17) pg. 366
An understanding of intelligence and assessment of individual differences is
highlighted in this portion of the course. Students must understand issues related to
test construction and fair use.AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Define intelligence and list characteristics of how psychologists measure
intelligence:
— abstract versus verbal measures;
— speed of processing.
• Discuss how culture influences the definition of intelligence.
• Compare and contrast historic and contemporary theories of intelligence (e.g.,
Charles Spearman, Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg).
• Explain how psychologists design tests, including standardization strategies and
other techniques to establish reliability and validity.
• Interpret the meaning of scores in terms of the normal curve.
• Describe relevant labels related to intelligence testing (e.g., gifted,
cognitively disabled).
• Debate the appropriate testing practices, particularly in relation to culture-fair
test uses.
• Identify key contributors in intelligence research and testing (e.g., Alfred Binet,
Francis Galton, Howard Gardner, Charles Spearman, Robert Sternberg,
Louis
Testing and Individual Differences
Week 17
Day 1 History of Intelligence Testing
Binet—Paris school children
Terman and IQ
Post–World War II testing
Article: “Bias of IQ testing with immigrants”
Day 1 Definitions of Intelligence
Activity: Sample Mensa questions
• What are these questions measuring?
General intelligence vs. multiple intelligence
• Spearman, Gardner, Sternberg
Emotional intelligence
Day 2 The Biology of Intelligence
Brain size and brain function
• Correlational research
Day 2 Genetics, Environment, and Intelligence
Influence of genes and schooling on intelligence—How
much can we affect
intelligence?
Day 2 Testing Intelligence
Achievement and aptitude tests
Modern intelligence
Modern intelligence tests
Reliability and validity issues
The Flynn Effect
Activity: creating an intelligence test for your pet
Day 3 Is Intelligence Stable?
The range of intelligence
Intelligence over time
• Fluid and crystallized revisited
Beliefs about intelligence and attributions
Day 3 Intelligence and Creativity
Activity: Completing ambiguous figures
• Which are more creative?
Components of creativity
Relationship between intelligence and creativity
Day 4 Ethnicity, Gender, and Intelligence
Group differences in intelligence
Group similarities in intelligence
Sociocultural factors affecting intelligence
• Influence on girls
• Aronson’s stereotype threat
Day 4 Culture, Bias, and Intelligence
Cultural differences in definition of intelligence
The bias of intelligence tests
Day 5 Assessment
XI.. Motivation and Emotion (6–8%) (Week 18) pg. 402
In this part of the course, students explore biological and social factors that motivate
behavior and biological and cultural factors that influence emotion.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Identify and apply basic motivational concepts to understand the behavior of
humans and other animals (e.g., instincts, incentives, intrinsic versus
extrinsic motivation).
• Discuss the biological underpinnings of motivation, including needs, drives, and
homeostasis.
• Compare and contrast motivational theories (e.g., drive reduction theory, arousal
theory, general adaptation theory), including the strengths and weaknesses
of each.
• Describe classic research findings in specific motivation systems (e.g., eating,
sex, social)
• Discuss theories of stress and the effects of stress on psychological and physical
well-being.
• Compare and contrast major theories of emotion (e.g., James–Lange, Cannon–
Bard, Schachter two-factor theory).
Motivation and Emotion
Week 18
Day 1 Introducing Motivation
What motivates you?—discussion
Basic introduction to motivation theory
Day 1 Hunger as a Motive
The biology of hunger
Outside influences and hunger
• Incentives, culture, social pressure
Obesity
Day 2 Sexuality as a Motive
Arousal as a motive
• Factors affecting arousal
Adolescent sexuality
Day 2 Belonging as a Motive
Why do you belong to groups?—discussion
Benefits of “others”
• Influence on health and life span
Day 3 Achieving as a Motive
What is one major goal in your life?
Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Leadership and motivation
Day 2 Basic Emotions
Ekman’s emotion faces
• Identify the emotion displayed
• Cultural universals
When did you learn to display these emotions?
Day 3 Psychology Fair
Field trip: Explaining psychological concepts to
elementary school students
• 20 interactive booths, demonstrations, high
school student presenters
Day 3 Emotion Theories
James-Lange, Canon-Bard, Schachter-Singer
Practice: identify theory used in situations
Day 4 Emotion as a Physiological Response
Activity: “Lie Detector” in mock “crime”
• Use of biofeedback monitor to determine arousal,
lying
Day 5 Stress and Illness
Effects on the immune system
• From colds to cancer
Type A and heart disease
Day 5 Emotional Expression
Culture and expression—display rules
Gender differences in emotional display
Prepare for Final Exam
XI Research Methods (8–10%)(Week 1- 18) pg. 16
Psychology is an empirical discipline. Psychologists develop knowledge by doing
research. Research provides guidance for psychologists who develop theories to
explain behavior and who apply theories to solve problems in behavior.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey
research, naturalistic observations, case studies) with regard to purpose,
strengths, and weaknesses.
• Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be
drawn (e.g., experiments are useful for determining cause and effect; the use of
experimental controls reduces alternative explanations).
• Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in
experimental designs.
• Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in
experiments and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational
studies and surveys.
• Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research
design (e.g., confounding variables limit confidence in research conclusions).
• Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
• Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and
constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics
(e.g., measures of central tendency, standard deviation).
• Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in
behavioral research.
• Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices.
• Describe how ethical and legal guidelines (e.g., those provided by the American
Psychological Association, federal regulations, local institutional review boards)
protect research participants and promote sound ethical practice.
Week 1-18
Bell-ringers of ethical and legal guidelines, Key terms,
statistical data analysis, surveys and DBQ’s relating to
research methods and approaches in APA style.
Apply projects and Alternative Assessments
XII Abnormal Behavior (7–9%)(Week 18.5 Student Presentations and Preparation for AP
Exam) pg. 604
In this portion of the course, students examine the nature of common challenges to
adaptive functioning. This section emphasizes formal conventions that guide
psychologists’ judgments about diagnosis and problem severity.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Describe contemporary and historical conceptions of what constitutes
psychological disorders
.
• Recognize the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders
(DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association as the primary
reference for making diagnostic judgments.
• Discuss the major diagnostic categories, including anxiety and somatoform
disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, organic disturbance, personality
disorders, and dissociative disorders, and their corresponding symptoms.
• Evaluate the strengths and limitations of various approaches to explaining
psychological disorders: medical model, psychoanalytic, humanistic,
cognitive, biological, and sociocultural.
• Identify the positive and negative consequences of diagnostic labels (e.g., the
Rosenhan study).
• Discuss the intersection between psychology and the legal system (e.g.,
confidentiality, insanity defense).
Student
Presentations: To be Completed Throughout the Semester
*What Is Abnormal Behavior?
Criteria of abnormal behavior
Culture-bound syndromes
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual
• Categories of disorders
*Anxiety Disorders
Panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, phobias
• Symptoms, causes
How do you know you have a phobia?
*Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder
• Symptoms, causes
Relationship between anxiety and mood disorders
*Mood Disorders
Major depression, dysthymia
• Symptoms, causes
Video: 20/20 Special Report on Depression
*Mood Disorders
Bipolar disorder
• Symptoms and causes
Seasonal affective disorder
Postpartum Depression
* Dissociative Disorders
Amnesia, fugue, dissociative identity disorder
• Symptoms, causes
Video: The Brain—“Multiple Personalities”
*Schizophrenia
Symptoms and types
Video: The Brain—“Schizophrenia”
*Schizophrenia
Video: The Brain—“Etiology of Schizophrenia”
• Biological and genetic factors
• Social factors
*Personality Disorders
Types, symptoms, and causes
Practice: identifying characteristics of antisocial personality
disorder
• “Erika”
*Disorder Prevalence and Culture
Do these disorders occur with the same frequency around the
world?
Cultural effects on definition of disorders
Cultural effects on diagnosis of disorders
• Cultural competency in training
XIII. Treatment of Abnormal Behavior (5–7%)( Week 18.5 Student Presentations and
Prepare for AP Exam) pg. 650
This section of the course provides students with an understanding of empirically
based treatments of psychological disorders. The topic emphasizes descriptions of
treatment modalities based on various orientations in psychology.
AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:
• Describe the central characteristics of psychotherapeutic intervention.
• Describe major treatment orientations used in therapy (e.g., behavioral,
cognitive, humanistic) and how those orientations influence therapeutic
planning.
• Compare and contrast different treatment formats (e.g., individual, group).
• Summarize effectiveness of specific treatments used to address specific
problems.
• Discuss how cultural and ethnic context influence choice and success of
treatment (e.g., factors that lead to premature termination of treatment).
• Describe prevention strategies that build resilience and promote competence.
• Identify major figures in psychological treatment (e.g., Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis,
Sigmund Freud, Mary Cover Jones, Carl Rogers, B. F. Skinner, Joseph
Wolpe).
Student Presentations: to be completed
throughout the Semester
* History of Therapies
Early treatments
Pictures of contraptions
• Early beliefs
• Innovators: Pinel and Dix
*Psychoanalysis
Uncovering the unconscious
• Transference
• Free association
• Hypnosis
* Client-Centered Therapy
Providing unconditional positive regard
• Active listening/paraphrasing
* Behavior Therapies
Changing behavior
• Systematic desensitization
• Aversion therapy
• Token economies
• Virtual reality and exposure therapy
* Cognitive and Group Therapies
Changing thinking
• Cognitive therapy
• Cognitive-behavioral therapy
• Rational emotive therapy
The value of group therapies
* Biomedical Therapies
Drug therapy—effects on neurotransmitters
Light therapy
Brain surgery
Electroconvulsive therapy
* Evaluation and Effectiveness of Therapies
Practice: matching therapy with disorder
Which is the best therapy?
• A comparison
Activity: Group skit demonstrating specific
therapy( if Needed)