Download Advanced Placement Psychology Backward Design Curriculum with

Teaching Introductory Psychology “Backwards”
Daniel Motta
Avila University
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Preface
Best practices are those techniques that are described as “what works” in a given educational situation or setting. More often than not they are
specific activities, models of instruction, or specific behaviors. Backward design is an evidence-based best practice for something a little different,
designing a course curriculum. Traditional curriculum design centers on the textbook as a curricular guide, creating lessons for that content, and then
deciding what the students should “know” on some assessment. Backward design takes a different approach geared toward enduring understanding
not just knowledge. Not only is the design of the curriculum important, but so is assessment of the curriculum. Formative assessments are “checks
for understanding” that occur throughout the learning process to ensure students are achieving understanding. Curriculum based on backward design
and formative assessments should then lead to greater and more enduring understanding of content by turning students into life-long learners.
Backward design (also known as Universal understanding by design, UbD) was chosen in this instance to develop a curriculum guide for
Advanced Placement psychology based upon its philosophical underpinnings which are based in cognitive research on student learning. In a 2005
study done by Lynn Kelting-Gibson of Montana State University, it was found that preservice (students at the university level preparing for teaching
careers) teachers who used backward design when creating curriculum, units, and lessons outperformed their counterparts who did not use backward
design on all six components of Danielson’s Framework for Professional Practice. The study utilized 153 units and lessons created by 59 junior and
senior education students enrolled in a curriculum design course. A blind review was done of the units and lessons using Danielson’s Framework for
Professional Practice domain one: planning and preparation. The scale is comprised of six components: (1) demonstrating knowledge of content and
pedagogy, (2) demonstrating knowledge of students, (3) selecting instructional goals, (4) demonstrating knowledge of resources, (5) designing
coherent instruction, and (6) assessing student learning.
Those students who had been instructed and used backward design in the unit and lesson
designs attained higher levels of performance in all six areas at the p<.01 level (Kelting-Gibson, 2005). This illustrates the usefulness of the
backward design approach. Most significant is the fact that the use of backward design not only was beneficial for content knowledge, but was
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significantly greater when student learning is assessed, which is the primary goal of education. What is striking about this study is that these
differences are seen in preservice teachers, those without well established classroom experience. It is widely understood that many teachers become
increasingly effective the longer they teach. It would reason that if teachers who are just beginning to hone their craft benefit from backward design,
how much more effective would those established teachers become with this added tool? It is this hypothesis that served as the inspiration for this
paper.
Backward design starts by identifying the enduring understandings and essential questions of the content which can then be used for creating
assessments, and serves as a guide in the creation of day-to-day lessons, activities, and instruction. Backward design hinges on the teacher
recognizing the difference between student knowledge and understanding. Student understanding goes beyond the mere memorization and
recognition of facts or information to being able to explain the concept and its application to the real world. To begin with a backward design
curriculum one must identify what the students should understand, what are called the enduring understandings. A curriculum should be based upon
knowing what the students need to understand, then developing how to assess that understanding and then creating the activities to scaffold student
understanding (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006). There are four major steps in the development of a backward design curriculum: identify your learners,
identify curricular priorities, design assessment framework, and create learning activities. The majority of this paper will deal with attempting to
improve the teaching of introductory psychology by using the backward design approach by setting curricular priorities and enduring understandings,
designing assessments to measure those understandings, and create learning activities that could be universally used in teaching introductory
psychology for Advanced Placement and college level courses.
Identifying curricular priorities begins with identifying state and local standards already in place for the content areas. These standards
should serve as the basis for creating the enduring understandings. The enduring understandings are the elements of the unit that the teacher believes
to be the most important and conceptualized as the understandings students will have five, ten, or twenty years in the future. In this curriculum, the
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enduring understandings were conceptualized much like thesis statements, knowledge based statements that require explanation and defense. Once
the enduring understandings are decided upon, the crux of the backward design model, the essential questions for that unit are developed. Essential
questions stem from the enduring understandings, but should hook and engage students to make meaning of the concepts and content. The essential
questions should drive the student learning and help students to make meaning out of the enduring understandings. Essential questions should be
stated at the beginning of a unit, throughout the unit, and at the end of the unit to assess student learning. The main reason for reiterating the
questions many times throughout instruction is that they serve to help students focus on the main ideas being presented (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006).
The last part of identifying curricular priorities is to identify what prerequisite knowledge and skills are required for that unit. In order for students to
be successful during the course of a unit it may be necessary to spend time on prerequisite content knowledge; however, it may be more important to
recognize the required skills (e.g., debate, writing, reading, research, etc.) that students may perform poorly at, not as a result of a lack in
understanding, but because they lack those skills (Wiggins & McTighe, 2006). Identifying the enduring understandings, essential questions, and
skills necessary for success in a unit provides a backbone with which to build around. As the teacher understands what the end goal should be they
can then build assessments and scaffolding activities to help students reach those goals.
Assessment of student learning is of primary concern in education in order to provide information as to how well the system is working.
Traditionally assessment is summative and occurs at the end of a unit to assess what learning has “occurred during instructional time.” Backward
design does not discount summative assessment, but it adds formative assessment as a tool to gauge student understanding as the unit progresses. A
couple of key differences in formative assessment is that it is done during the process of learning in order to provide feedback toward the learning
objectives and it does not have to be done solely by the teacher, but can be done by the student themselves (Nicol, & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). This
is why backward design emphasizes assessment design. Formative assessments provide students feedback on their progress before the pressure of
summative assessments “determine” their grade. Many forms of assessment can be done mid-lesson and the end of a lesson to determine student
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understanding, and more importantly to help the student recognize their own level of understanding before proceeding to the next lesson or unit.
Nicol and Macfarlance-Dick (2006) found that effective feedback (via formative assessments) influences learning gained if done properly. As a
result of the study they found seven principles of feedback that lead to greater self-regulated learning: feedback (1) helps clarify what good
performance is, (2) facilitates the development of self-assessment, (3) delivers high quality information to students about their learning, (4)
encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning, (5) encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem about learning, (6) provides
opportunities to close the gap between current and desired performance, and (7) provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape
teaching. This is the basic reasoning behind which formative assessments were included in each and every one of the units in this curriculum. The
aim is to use the formative assessments to provide feedback to help students become more self-regulated in their own learning. This is not to say that
summative assessments will not be a part of the course (as they will be used on a unit basis); however, the infusion of formative assessments will
help the student and teacher fill in gaps in understanding prior to those summative assessments.
The last aspect of backward design addressed in this curriculum is that of learning activities. This is the final step in the backward design
model. Learning activities should be specifically designed to engage students with the essential questions and vocabulary of the unit, break
instruction into manageable parts, and weave assessment throughout the unit. Using the learning activities to manage instructional time, with active
learning elements, and reflection helps provide time to work with the content as well as keep students engaged (Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009). The
learning activities provide opportunities to infuse formative assessments that can guide instruction toward the summative assessments. The learning
activities can also be used to differentiate instruction based upon accommodations and needs of various students. The same activity can be enhanced
for a more advanced student, while scaled-back for a student with special needs; however, the same formative assessment could be used to gauge the
understanding of the content by each student.
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The curriculum that follows was developed using backward design as its framework. The curriculum follows the goals and objectives for the
Advanced Placement (AP) psychology course established by the College Board. From those objectives, enduring understandings, essential
questions, formative assessments, concepts or vocabulary, examples of instructional activities, and instructional resources have been created and
compiled to address the AP psychology curriculum, which has been deemed by College Board to be equivalent to a collegiate introductory
psychology course. Activities and resources are not exhaustive, but should serve as a basis for which a beginning or experienced psychology teacher
could use to form the basis for teaching. The use of backward design for the AP psychology curriculum is intended to help teach students
psychology, while helping them to become self-regulated, life-long learners.
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References
Childre, A., Sands, J.R., & Tanner Pope, S. (2009). Backward design. Teaching Exceptional Children, 41(5), 6-14.
Kelting-Gibson, L.M. (2005). Comparison of curriculum development practices. Education Research Quarterly, 29(1), 26-36.
Nicol, D.J., & Macfarlance-Dick, D. (2006, April). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: A model and seven principles of good
feedback practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2006). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
I.
AP Psychology Teaching Resources
II.
Sample AP Psychology Course Outline
III.
AP Psychology Backward Design Units
i.
History and Approaches
ii.
Research Methods Unit
iii.
Biological Bases of Behavior
iv.
Sensation and Perception
v.
States of Consciousness
vi.
Learning
vii.
Cognition
viii.
Motivation and Emotion
ix.
Developmental Psychology
x.
Personality
xi.
Testing and Individual Differences
xii.
Abnormal Behavior
xiii.
Treatment of Abnormal Behavior
xiv.
Social Psychology
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AP Psychology Teaching Resources
Books
Blair-Broeker, C.T., & Ernst, R.M. (2007). Teaching tips for general psychology to accompany: Thinking about psychology the science of mind and
behavior (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Butler-Bowdon, T. (2007). Fifty psychology classics: Who we are, how we think, what we do: Insight and inspiration from 50 key books. Boston,
MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.
Carter, R., Aldridge, S., Page, M., & Parker, S. (2009). The human brain book: An illustrated guide to its structure, function, and disorders.
London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley Ltd.
Dearie, K., Halaska, J., & Kroesch, G. (2004). The write path II: An advanced college preparatory reading and writing program for high schools:
Teacher guide for history/social studies high school level. San Diego, CA: AVID Center.
Gernsbacher, M. A., Pew, R.W., Hough, L.M., & Pomerantz, J.R. (Eds.). (2011). Psychology and the real world: Essays illustrating fundamental
contributions to society. New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Halonen, J., & Gray, C. (2001). The critical thinking companion for introductory psychology (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Worth Publishers.
Hock, R.R. (2009). Forty studies that changed psychology: Explorations into the history of psychological research (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
LeMaster, J. (2009). Critical reading: Deep reading strategies for expository texts teacher guide 7-12. San Diego, CA: AVID Center.
Lilienfeld, S.O., Lynn, S.J., Ruscio, J., & Beyerstein, B.L. (2010). Fifty great myths of popular psychology: Shattering widespread misconceptions
about human behavior. West Sussex, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.
Price, W.F., & Crapo, R.H. (2002). Cross-cultural perspectives in introductory psychology (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.
Websites
4-Shared Psych Files - http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/10555367/29577282/sharing.html?&
Online drop box for psychology teachers to share activities, curriculum guides, lesson plans, and more.
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AP Central - http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/Controller.jpf
Main website for all Advanced Placement information from the College Board. Contains course descriptions, information, and even
professional development opportunities.
Clips for Class: The best psychology videos for lesson planning and studying - http://www.clipsforclass.com/
Collection of short online videos that have psychological relevance sorted by unit.
CNN – Why do I do That? - http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/why.do.i.do.that/archive/
Collection of articles on the CNN website that all have to do with psychological concepts and research.
Discovering Psychology: Updated Edition - http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html
Streaming video series that covers most introductory psychology content narrated by Philip Zimbardo.
Hippocampus - http://www.hippocampus.org/
Online “psychology” course that can be used for students who need to make-up lectures or need review on any part of psychology.
Iowa Teachers of Psychology Teaching Resources - http://www.uni.edu/walsh/teachresources.html
Online database of web based psychology teaching resources that include teacher related publications, organizations, listservs, conferences,
and lesson plans with activities for every area of psychology.
MIT Open Courseware - http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
Great site by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that has a database of all offered online courses and their coursework, resources, and
expectations. The Brain and Cognitive Sciences courses have a wide range of good information for many areas of psychology. This is more
likely going to be helpful for the teacher, or the very advanced student.
PBS Frontline - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/
TV series with many programs that are related to psychology, including: The Medicated Child, Growing up Online, Living Old, The Meth
Epidemic, The New Asylums, Medicating Kids, and Inside the Teenage Brain.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL): APA Formatting and Style Guide - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/13/
Great resource for helping students write in APA format.
Scientific American: Mind - http://www.scientificamerican.com/sciammind/
Periodical with current psychological research.
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Society for the Teaching of Psychology (STP) - http://teachpsych.org/
Organization for psychology teachers, with membership can have access to teaching resources and professional development opportunities.
Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) - http://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/topss/index.aspx
Branch of APA for high school teachers. Requires membership, but includes teaching resources and professional development opportunities.
Teaching High School Psychology: Blog - http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/
Great blog that focuses on the teaching of psychology in high schools. Provides lesson and activity ideas, as well as professional
development opportunities, and advances in current psychological research.
The Brain: Teaching Modules - http://www.learner.org/resources/series142.html
Streaming video series that focus on specific concepts in psychology with a focus on the specific organ of the brain.
The Mind: Teaching Modules - http://www.learner.org/resources/series150.html
Streaming video series that features specific ideas from the broad psychology units.
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Sample AP Psychology Course Outline
This is just one proposed version of how to go about teaching the various units in the AP Psychology curriculum in terms of sequencing. In
parenthesis at the ends of the units is the percentage of that the unit makes up on the AP Psychology exam.
Unit 1: Introduction: History & Approaches of Psychology
 Timeframe: 3 hours (2-4% )
Review and MIDTERM
Unit 9: Cognition: Language, Thinking, & Intelligence
 Timeframe: 7.5 hours (8-10% & 5-7%)
Unit 2: Memory
 Timeframe: 4.5 hours (2-4% )
Unit 10: Developmental Psychology
 Timeframe: 10 hours (7-9%)
Unit 3: Research Methodology & Statistics
 Timeframe: 6 hours (8-10%)
Unit 11: Personality
 Timeframe: 6 hours (5-7%)
Unit 4: Social Psychology
 Timeframe: 7.5 hours (8-10%)
Unit 12: Motivation & Emotion, Stress & Health
 Timeframe: 10 hours (6-8%)
Unit 5: Biology and Behavior
 Timeframe: 9 hours (8-10%)
Unit 13: Abnormal Psychology & Therapy
 Timeframe: 12 hours (7-9% & 5-7%)
Unit 6: States of Consciousness
 Timeframe: 4.5 hours (2-4%)
Review and FINAL (revisit pre-test taken on first day of
school)
Unit 7: Sensation and Perception
 Timeframe: 10.5 hours (6-8%)
*********************************************************
*********************************************************
ADVANCED PLACEMENT PSYCHOLOGY EXAM
MONDAY, MAY 7th, 2012 – NOON
*********************************************************
*********************************************************
Unit 8: Behavioral Psychology: Learning
 Timeframe: 7 hours (7-9%)
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AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: History and Approaches
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: History and Approaches
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of psychological thought.
 Describe and compare different theoretical approaches explaining behavior:
 Structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in the early years;
 Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later;
 Evolutionary, biological, and cognitive as more contemporary approaches.
 Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior.
 Distinguish the different domains of psychology:
 Biological, clinical, cognitive, counseling, developmental, educational, experimental, human factors, industrial-organizational, personality, psychometric, and 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the
concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate
they can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Philosophy serves as the foundation for psychological
science.
1.
How do monist and dualist philosophies attempt to
explain the mind-body problem?
1.
2.
The explanation of behavior requires multiple theoretical
approaches, each contributing some insight into behavior.
2.
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the
theoretical approaches to explaining behavior?
Debriefing: Students write a short essay on
which side of the mind-body problem they fall
on, monist or dualist and why. Give only 10
minutes to write.
2.
Classifying main ideas and details graphic
organizer: Create a graphic organizer for the
strengths and weaknesses of the approaches.
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards)
 Students will indentify, analyze and compare the institutions, traditions and art forms of past and present societies. (MO G1.9)
 Students will evaluate the extent to which a strategy addresses the problem. (MO G3.7)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Behaviorism
Biological perspective
Cognitive psychology
Clinical psychology
Functionalism
Gestalt psychology
Humanism
Introspection
Psychology
Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
Socio-cultural perspective
Structuralism
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Evolutionary psychology
Psychiatry
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Psychological Historical Figures Trading Cards
 Describing in Psychology Scenario
 Six Perspectives on-one-hand
 Classifying main ideas and details graphic organizer: Using the template have students create a graphic organizer for the strengths and weaknesses of each of the six
perspectives.
 Identifying the Perspective: practice identifying perspectives through scenarios
Instructional Resources:
 Discovering Psychology – History of Psychology homepage - http://www.learner.org/discoveringpsychology/history/index.html
 Perspectives in Psychology Interactive Website - http://www.wisc-online.com/objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=I2P2702
Table of Contents
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AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Research Methods
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Research Methods
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey research, naturalistic observations, and 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 or 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 studies).
 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 behavior 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.
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
1.
Psychological science is based upon scientific
thinking, methodology, and reporting of data.
1.
What elements of the research design drive a study’s
ability to report reasonable conclusions?
2.
Statistics in psychology serve as the foundation for
making inferences in explaining behavior.
2.
How can statistics be used to illustrate the important
finding of a study and clarify confusion in the public?
3.
Ethical research practices are instrumental in
protecting participants.
3.
What safeguards are there for participants of
psychological research?
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Psychological Study: Design and conduct a simple
research study on a school related behavior.
a. Evidence of scientific method (e.g.,
question, hypothesis method design,
variables, groups, etc.)
b. Statistical analysis of data
c. Ethical considerations that must be
accounted for
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will acquire a solid foundation which includes knowledge of the processes of scientific inquiry (such as formulating and testing hypotheses). (MOScience 7)
 Students will acquire a solid founding which includes knowledge of the use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps, documents). (MOSocial Studies 7)
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



Students will develop questions and ideas to initiate and refine research. (MO G1.1)
Students will conduct research to answer questions and evaluate information and ideas. (MO G1.2)
Students will design and conduct field and laboratory investigations to study nature and society. (MO G1.3)
Students will organize data, information and ideas into useful forms (including charts, graphs, outlines) for analysis or presentation. (MOG1.8)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Case study
Control group
Correlation coefficient
Dependent variable
Descriptive statistics
Double blind study
Experiment
Experimental group
Hypothesis
Independent variable
Inferential statistics
Informed consent
Mean
Median
Mode
Naturalistic observation
Normal distribution
Operational definition
Placebo effect
Population
Random assignment
Range
Replication
Sample
Scientific method
Standard deviation
Statistically significant
Survey
Theory
Variables
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Dice and the bell curve activity
 Statistics and the bell curve demonstration
 Operational definitions activity
 Practice identifying confounding variables activity
 Chocolate chip cookie statistics lab
 Correlation or Experiment practice
 Correlational research interpretation practice
 Correlation or Causation activity
 Independent versus Dependent variable practice
Instructional Resources:
 Cyberlab for Psychological Research - http://faculty.frostburg.edu/mbradley/cyberlab.html
 National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science - http://sciencecases.lib.buffalo.edu/cs/
 Online Psychology Laboratory - http://opl.apa.org/Main.aspx
 Pearson: MyPsychLab - http://www.mypsychlab.com/
 Psychology Research Methods - http://www.nvcc.edu/home/elanthier/methods/index.htm
 Practice Identifying Variables website - http://web.sau.edu/andersonrobina/intro/intro%20assignments/ivdv2answers.htm
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AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Biological Bases of Behavior
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Biological Bases of Behavior
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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).
 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.
 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
The neuron and neurotransmission are responsible for
all behavior.
1.
How does neurotransmission enable behavior?
1.
2.
2.
The brain, nervous system, and endocrine system all
work together to ensure all behavior occurs and that it
occurs seamlessly.
To what extent do different parts of the brain control
divisions in the nervous system and endocrine
system?
Index card Summary/Question: One (Side 1) of the
index card list a big idea that you understand and
word it as a summary statement. On (Side 2) identify
something about the topic that you do not yet fully
understand and word it as a question.
3.
Genetics and heredity interact with nurturing to
create the whole “person.”
How are the various biological systems (brain,
nervous, and endocrine) similar and different?
2.
3.
4.
4.
The evolution of the brain and methods to study it are
continually teaching psychologists about the
interaction between nature and nurture.
What is meant by “nature versus nurture” and how
does this influence our understanding of behavior?
Biological Bases Diagram: Full body diagram
(including sagittal view of brain and lateral view of
brain) of brain, nervous system, and endocrine
system.
3.
5.
How have and how do psychologists investigate the
workings of the brain?
Socratic Seminar – Fishbowl: Student led and
directed discussions on nature and nurture.
4.
One-minute essay: what is the best way to study the
functions of various parts of the brain and why?
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Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will have knowledge of structures of, functions of, and relationships among human body systems. (MO-Health/PE 1)
 Students will participate in formal and informal presentations and discussions of issues and ideas. (MO-Comm Arts 6)
 Students will exchange information, questions and ideas while recognizing the perspectives of others. (MO G2.3)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Acetylcholine (Ach)
Action potential
All-or-none law
Amygdala
Association areas
Autonomic nervous system
Axon
Behavioral genetics
Cell body (soma)
Central nervous system (CNS)
Cerebellum
Cerebral cortex
Chromosomes
Corpus callosum
CT scan
Dendrites
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Endocrine system
Endorphins
Forebrain
Fraternal twins (dizygotic)
Frontal lobes
Functional MRI (fMRI)
Gene
Genotype
Heritability
Hindbrain
Hippocampus
Homeostasis
Hormone
Hypothalamus
Identical twins (monozygotic)
Interneurons
Limbic system
Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI)
Medulla
Midbrain
Motor cortex
Motor neurons (efferent)
Myelin sheath
Natural selection
Neurons
Neurotransmitters
Occipital lobes
Parasympathetic nervous system
Parietal lobes
Peripheral nervous system
Phenotype
Pituitary gland
Pons
PET Scan
Resting potential
Reticular formation
Sensory neuron (afferent)
Somatic nervous system
Spinal cord
Sympathetic nervous system
Synapse
Temporal lobes
Thalamus
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Neuron and toilet demonstration/simile
 Neuron dance
 Brain and Nervous System model
 Brain Damage scenario activity
 Childhood Games and your Brain activity
 AP Psychology Biological Metaphors
Instructional Resources:
 The Dana Foundation - http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/default.aspx
 NHC Anatomy and Physiology Interactive Tutorials - http://nhscience.lonestar.edu/biol/ap1int.htm#brain
 Lundbeck Institute Brain Explorer - http://www.brainexplorer.org/neurological_control/Neurological_Neurotransmission.shtml
 The Center of Excellence for Medical Multimedia Interactive Brain - http://www.traumaticbraininjuryatoz.org/Interactive-Brain.aspx
 Kilik, J. (Producer), & Schnabel, J. (Director). (2008). The Diving Bell and the Butterfly [Motion Picture]. France: Miramax Films.
o Great film about a man who has a stroke and suffers locked-in syndrome (useful for brain damage and pons talking points).
 Discovering Psychology – Part 3: The Behaving Brain & Part 4: The Responsive Brain - http://www.learner.org/resources/series138.html
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18
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Sensation and Perception
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Sensation and Perception
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Attention significantly influences the conscious
sensation and perception of environmental stimuli.
1.
How can sensory and perceptual differences and
errors be explained through attentional processes?
1.
One-Sentence Summary: Students are asked to
write a summary sentence that answers the question
using psychological terminology.
2.
Transduction of energy is the foundation of all
sensation.
2.
How does transduction occur differently in each of
the sensory modalities and lead to sensation in the
brain?
2.
Sensory Chart: Students create a chart for five
major senses including specific receptor cells, energy
to be transduced, and three positive and negative
consequences of “turning off” that sense.
3.
Journal: Students discuss the prompt – “You have
suffered some accident/ illness that has caused you to
lose one of your senses, describe which of the senses
you would want to lose and why along with how an
accident/illness could cause you to lose one of your
senses.”
4.
3-Minute Pause: Students should answer the
following prompts about perception:
a. I was surprised about…
b. I still don’t understand…
c. I am confident…
3.
4.
Our body uses intricate sensory processes to filter the
information that it is constantly bombarded with from
the environment.
Perception of the environment varies from the actual
sensory data collected by the body as a result of
different experiences.
3.
4.
How can a single error in the course of any of the
sensory processes lead to significant sensory
disorders?
How do the sensory processes of the body interact
with cognitive processes of the brain to create
differing perceptions of the same stimuli?
19
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will have knowledge of structures of, functions of, and relationships among human body systems. (MO-Health/PE 1)
 Students will discover and evaluate patterns and relationships in information, ideas and structures. (MO G1.6)
 Students will explain reasoning and identify information used to support decisions. (MO 4.1)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Absolute threshold
Accommodation (perceptual)
Basilar membrane
Binocular cues
Bottom-up processing
Cochlea
Cones
Convergence
Cornea
Difference threshold
Ear drum
Feature detector
Fovea
Frequency theory
Gate control theory
Habituation
Hue
Iris
Lens
Monocular cues
Olfaction
Opponent process theory (color)
Optic nerve
Perception
Perceptual constancy
Pheromones
Pitch
Place theory
Psychophysics
Pupil
Retina
Retinal disparity
Rods
Sensation
Sensory adaptation
Shape constancy
Signal detection theory
Size constancy
Subliminal perception
Taste buds
Top down processing
Transduction
Trichromatic theory
Vestibular sense
Weber’s law
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Socratic Seminar: Is the world we experience just an illusion?
 Virtual Barbershop Experience and Explanation
o Audio Files:
Virtual Barbershop Matchbox Barking Dogs Woman’s Voice Falling Bells Shepards Tones
 Can it really be that sweet? Taste Activity
 Sensory Experiments: Touch, Taste, & Smell
 Analyzing Perceptual Clues in M.C. Escher Art Activity
 Threshold Demonstration: Can you tell the difference?
 Selective Attention: Did you miss the moon-walking bear? Or the Monkey-business Illusion
 Human eye internet webquest
 Inversion and Perceptual Change Goggles Demonstration – Activities provided by psychkits.com include:
o Playing catch with a tennis ball
o Rolling the ball
o Sitting in a chair across the room
o Attempt to complete a maze on paper
o Color in a coloring book
Instructional Resources:
 Psych Kits – www.psychkits.com Great site for lots of psychology related activities, but this is where you can get perception goggles and inversion goggles.
 The Blind Spot Test - http://www.blindspottest.com/
 Exploratorium: Cow’s eye dissection - http://www.exploratorium.edu/learning_studio/cow_eye/step01.html
 Free Hearing Test - http://www.freehearingtest.com/test3.shtml (interesting demonstrations using sounds and simulate hearing loss.)
 Hearing Through Noise Test - http://www.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=5224
 Signal Detection Demo - http://www.cogs.indiana.edu/software/SigDetJ2/index.html
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20
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: States of Consciousness
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: States of Consciousness
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Sleep and dreaming play a vital role in the
psychological well-being of a person.
1.
How does the circadian rhythm and sleep cycle
ensure both physical and psychological health?
1.
A-B-C Summary: Each student in the class is
assigned a letter of the alphabet and they must select
a word starting with that letter that is related to sleep.
2.
Altered states of consciousness can have both
psychological and physical impacts.
2.
Why and how is dreaming related to good
psychological health?
2.
Exit Card: Students write their response to the
question: “Why and how is dreaming related to good
psychological health?” on a note card in order to
leave class.
3.
Index card Summary/Question: One (Side 1) of the
index card list a big idea that you understand and
word it as a summary statement. On (Side 2) identify
something about the topic that you do not yet fully
understand and word it as a question.
3.
How do biological and sociocultural influences affect
a person’s attitude and response to altered states of
consciousness?
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will review and revise communications to improve accuracy and clarity. (MO G2.2)
 Students will reason inductively from a set of specific facts and deductively from general premises. (MO G3.5)
21
Core Concepts/Terminology
Activation synthesis hypothesis
Circadian rhythms
Consciousness
Depressants
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
Hallucinogens
Hypnosis
Insomnia
Latent content
Manifest content
Meditation
Narcolepsy
Opiate
Physical dependence
Psychoactive drugs
REM sleep
Sleep apnea
Stimulants
Tolerance
Withdrawal
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 IceKube Addiction Simulation – see the Teaching Tips for General Psychology in teaching resources page.
 Mouse Party (University of Utah)
 Guided Meditation: A peaceful walk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjc1kGFxu4 Great guided meditation that can allow for discussion.
 Socratic Seminar: Addiction – more than just substances?
 Nova: What are dreams?
 Drug Detectives Activity
Instructional Resources:
 Rees, P. (Producer) (April 11, 2007). Voice Flame Extinguisher [Television Series Episode]. Mythbusters. San Francisco, CA: Discovery Communications. – Episode
with hypnosis myths raises interesting questions about the “science” of hypnosis and allows for discussion.
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22
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Learning
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Learning
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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, schedules of reinforcement).
 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 self-control can be used to address behavior 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and
observational learning serve as the backbone for
which learning occurs.
1.
Explain how can classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, or observational learning occur on a
“daily” basis?
1.
2.
Biological, cognitive, and sociocultural factors
influence quality of learning.
2.
How do nature and nurture influence the process of
conditioning and learning?
Inside-Outside Circle: Students write their own
classical and operant conditioning scenarios, then
inside and outside circles of students face each other
and quiz one another. Outside circle moves to create
new pairs.
2.
3.
Behaviorist principles can be used to address
maladaptive behaviors.
3.
What is the role of motivation in learning?
One-minute essay: Students are given one minute to
answer the following prompt: “How does nature and
nurture influence the quality of learning?”
4.
How can conditioning and observational learning be
used to modify behavior?
3.
Oral Questioning: Use oral questions to gauge
understanding of the role of motivation in learning.
Examples:
a. How is motivation different from learning?
b. How does motivation relate to learning?
c. When does your best learning occur? Why?
d. Can learning take place without motivation?
23
4.
Self-assessment: Using practice scenarios, quizzes,
etc., students collect information about their own
learning, analyze what it reveals about their progress
towards their understanding of the essential
questions, and plan the next steps in their learning.
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will develop, monitor and revise plans of action to meet deadlines and accomplish goals. (MO G4.5)
 Students will acquire knowledge of relationships of the individuals and groups to institution and cultural traditions. (MO-Social Studies 6)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Aversion therapy
Biofeedback
Classical conditioning
Cognitive map
Conditioned response (CR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Continuous reinforcement
Discriminative stimulus
Extinction (classical)
Extinction (operant)
Fixed-interval schedule
Fixed-ratio schedule
Latent learning
Law of effect
Learned helplessness
Learning
Negative reinforcement
Observational learning
Operant conditioning
Partial reinforcement
Primary reinforcers
Punishment
Reflex
Reinforcement
Schedule of reinforcement
Secondary reinforcers
Shaping
Spontaneous recovery
Stimulus discrimination
Stimulus generalization
Unconditioned response (UCR)
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
Variable-interval schedule
Variable ratio-schedule
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Lemonade Classical Conditioning Demonstration
 Stick Tapping Classical Conditioning/Biofeedback Activity
 Operant Conditioning in Class Demonstration
 Silent Debate or Socratic Seminar: Media Violence and Social Lerning
Instructional Resources:
 Aronsohn, L., & Rosentsock, R. (Writers), & Cendrowski, M. (Director). (2009, October 5). The Gothowitz Deviation [Television series episode]. Lorre, C., & Prady, B.
The Big Bang Theory. Burbank, CA: Warner Brothers Studios.
o Sheldon uses operant conditioning to manipulate Penny.
 Williams, C. (Writer), & Wittingham, K. (Director). (2007, February 8). Phyllis’s Wedding [Television series episode]. The Office. Los Angeles, CA: Reveille
Productions.
o Jim uses classical conditioning to condition Dwight.
Table of Contents
24
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Cognition
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Cognition
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 Compare and contrast various cognitive processes including:
- 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
1. Attention plays a significant role in how a memory is
processed, stored, and encoded.
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
1. How is “attention” the sensory gateway to our brain?
2.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The effort spent on encoding information will
directly affect the depth of understanding and
retrieval.
The biological and psychological systems of memory
are supported by effective encoding, storage, and
constructive techniques.
Language acquisition, development, and use are
directly influenced by both nature and nurture, while
having a reciprocally dependent relationship with
cognition.
How is effort directly related to processing
information?
3.
How do encoding and construction influence memory
both psychologically and biologically in the brain?
4.
How do the acquiring, development, and use of
language influence cognitions of a person throughout
life?
5.
What cognitive problem solving strategies do humans
use that make creative thinkers the envy of society?
Cognitions provide the basis for problem-solving and
creative solutions.
25
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1. Analogy Prompt: Attention is like _________
because ________________.
2.
Acrostic Poem: Using the word Processing students
come up with 10 related concepts that must include
each of the letters in processing somewhere from the
cognitive unit.
3.
Index card Summary/Question: One (Side 1) of the
index card list a big idea that you understand and
word it as a summary statement. On (Side 2) identify
something about cognition that you do not yet fully
understand and word it as a question.
4.
3-Minute Pause: Give students 3 minutes to reflect
on the relationship between cognitions, language, and
memory using the following prompts:
a. I was surprised about…
b. I changed my attitude about…
c. I still am struggling with…
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will apply acquired information, ideas and skills to different contexts as students, workers, citizens, and consumers. (MO G1.10)
 Students will develop and apply strategies based on one’s own experience in preventing or solving problems. (MO G3.3)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Algorithms
Anterograde amnesia
Availability heuristic
Cognition
Concept
Confirmation bias
Declarative memory
Encoding
Functional fixedness
Heuristic
Implicit memory
Insight
Language
Long term memory
Long term potentiation
Mental set
Morpheme
Phoneme
Proactive interference
Procedural memory
Prototypes
Representativeness heuristic
Retrieval
Retroactive interference
Retrograde amnesia
Semantics
Sensory memory
Short term memory
Storage
Syntax
Telegraphic speech
Working memory
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Recall vs. Recognition Activity: Identify the celebrity from their high school picture (PowerPoint)
 Baddeley’s Three Systems of Working Memory Activity
 Information Processing Model of memory flow chart/diagram
 Selective Attention “Monkey Business” video (also good in Sensation & Perception)
 Reconstructive memory activity (PowerPoint)
 Socratic Seminar: How does language shape thinking? Or does it?
 Silent Debate: Do Animals have language?
 Problem solving puzzles and demonstrations
 Creativity Test by C.H. Lawshe and D.H. Harris. (1957) by Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, IN.
Instructional Resources:
 Sporcle Trivia Website – www.sporcle.com Good site with lots of “tests of memory” and problem solving word problems.
 Clive Wearing – The Mind: Life without memory: The case of Clive wearing part 1, Clive Wearing Part 2: Living without memory
 Todd, S., Todd, J. (Producers), & Nolan C. (Director). (2001). Memento [Motion Picture]. United States: Summit Entertainment.
o Film with the main character who is afflicted with Anterograde amnesia. Great to combine with video of Clive Wearing for discussion of legitimacy of
Hollywood’s portrayal of psychological phenomenon.
 60 Minutes: Endless Memory – Part 1 & Part 2
 60 Minutes: Eye Witness Testimony – Part 1 & Part 2
 BBC Explore your memory - www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/memory/
 Charles Limb: Your brain on Improv – TED.com - http://www.ted.com/talks/charles_limb_your_brain_on_improv.html
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26
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Motivation and Emotion
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Motivation and Emotion
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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 weakness 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).
 Describe how cultural influences shape emotional expression, including variations in body language.
 Identify key contributors in the psychology of motivation and emotion (e.g., William James, Alfred Kinsey, Abraham Maslow, Stanley Schachter, Hans Selye).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Biological and cognitive forces push and pull a
person toward specific behaviors (e.g., eating, sex,
social).
1.
How can intrinsic and extrinsic motivation be
influenced by, and influence behaviors that result
from needs and drives?
1.
2.
Emotions are biological phenomenon that are
influenced and interpreted through cognitions and
social norms.
2.
Why is intrinsic motivation inherently better for
future success than extrinsic motivation?
Create Your Own Example: Students are asked to
create their own example for a real-life experience of
the interactions between:
a. Intrinsic motivation & drive
b. Extrinsic motivation & drive
2.
3.
How do cultural norms and cognitions influence the
emotion felt by the biological arousal that produced
it?
Journal Entry: Students write on the prompt: “Why
is intrinsic motivation inherently better for future
success than extrinsic motivation?”
3.
4.
What are the long term physiological effects that
result from psychological stress?
Concept Map: Students create concept maps
showing interaction between:
a. James-Lange Theory
b. Cannon-Bard Theory
c. Two-factor Theory
d. Sympathetic arousal
e. Parasympathetic arousal
f. Experience of emotion
g. Cognitive labeling
h. Social cues
i. Gender/Ethnic norms
3.
Stress is a psychological phenomenon that has many
physiological and psychological effects.
27
4.
3-Minute Pause: Give students 3 minutes to reflect
on and briefly respond to one of the following
prompts as it relates to unitasking versus
multitasking:
a. I changed my attitude about…
b. I became more aware of…
c. I was surprised about…
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will have knowledge of structures of principles and practices of physical and mental health (such as stress management) (MO-Health/PE 2)
 Students will identify and apply practices that preserve and enhance the safety and health of self and others. (MO G4.7)
 Students will evaluate the extent to which a strategy addresses the problem. (MO G3.7)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Anorexia nervosa
Bulimia nervosa
Cannon-Bard theory
Drive
Emotion
Extrinsic motivation
Hierarchy of needs
Incentive
Instinct
Intrinsic motivation
James-Lange theory
Motivation
Need for achievement
Polygraph
Set point (weight)
Sexual orientation
Two-Factor theory
Biopsychosocial model
General adaptation syndrome
Health psychology
Psychoneuroimmunology
Social support
Stress
Stressors
Type A behavior pattern
Type B behavior pattern
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Fried Green Tomatoes & Anger assessment
 Spot the “fake” smile activity – BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/index_surveys.shtml
 Guided Meditation: A peaceful walk - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkjc1kGFxu4 Great guided meditation that can allow for discussion.
 Lie Detectors activity
 Deserted Island & Maslow’s Hierarchy Activity
 Stress Test & Perceived Stress Test
o Stress Test 1 Stress Test 2 Perceived Stress Test
 Scary Baby(Video) & Reaction Journal
 Unitasking activity
Instructional Resources:
 Randy Pausch – Last Lecture - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
 RSA Animate: Drive – The truth about what motivates us http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc&feature=channel&safety_mode=true&persist_safety_mode=1
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28
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Developmental Psychology
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Developmental Psychology
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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.
 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
1. The development of a human being requires the
influence of both nature and nurture as it relates to
physical, brain, cognitive, moral, social, and
personality growth.
2.
3.
The acquisition of healthy attachment styles
significantly effects social, adolescent, and adulthood
development.
Gender plays a significant role in social, cognitive,
and personality development.
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
1. How do nature and nurture affect the physical and
brain development of a human being?
2.
3.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1. Chart: Students chart the physical and brain
development of a human from gestation through
young adulthood.
How are cognitive and moral development intimately
linked?
2.
What changes occur as a person transitions from
adolescence through adulthood into old age
physically, cognitively, and socially?
Socratic Seminar: Socratic style discussion
regarding moral development and the cognitive and
social influences on morality.
3.
Reflection: Students reflect upon and write a brief
description about one of their most significant
relationships attachment style and evidence for that
style.
4.
Acrostic Poem: Gender (6 related concepts that must
include each of the letters in gender somewhere in the
concept)
4.
What role does attachment play in the development
of a person cognitively and socially during
adolescence and during adulthood?
5.
How do sex and gender influence the social,
cognitive, and personality development of a human
being?
29
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will exchange information, questions and ideas while recognizing the perspectives of others. (MO G2.3)
 Students will explain reasoning and identify information used to support decisions. (MO G4.1)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Accommodation (Piagetian)
Adolescence
Alzheimer’s disease
Assimilation
Attachment
Concrete operational stage
Conservation
Critical period
Cross-sectional study
Developmental psychology
Egocentrism
Embryo
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetus
Formal operational stage
Gender
Gender identity
Imprinting
Longitudinal study
Maturation
Menarche
Menopause
Object permanence
Preoperational stage
Puberty
Schemas
Sensorimotor stage
Teratogens
Zygote
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Soundtrack of your life activity
 Personal developmental history book – Teaching tips for General Psychology
 Moral dilemma activity
Instructional Resources:
 Spidell, K. (Producer), & Thalenberg, E. (Director). (2007). The baby human [Television Series]. Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada: BFS Entertainment & Multimedia
Limited.
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AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Personality
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Personality
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining personality: psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social learning, and behavioral.
 Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case studies and surveys) that psychologists use to investigate personality.
 Identify frequently uses 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
1. The concept of personality varies dependent upon the
theory that is attempting to explain it.
2.
3.
The research and assessment of personality is
contentious because of the indistinct theories of
personality.
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
1. How do the psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive,
trait, social learning, and behavioral theories of
personality illustrate personality’s complexity?
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1. Concept Map: Students create a concept map/web
connecting the personality theories’ common
elements and highlighting their differences.
2.
How can a psychologist study personality?
2.
3.
How is the difficulty of assessing personality
compounded by issues of reliability and validity?
Hand Signals: students provide a “thumbs up” if
they understand and can explain the study of
personality, “thumbs down” if they do not yet
understand, and “wave hand” if they are not
completely sure.
4.
How does a person’s concept of self change in light
of the culture in which they live?
3.
Misconception Check: Present students with
common or predictable misconceptions about the
reliability and validity of personality tests and ask
them to agree or disagree and explain.
4.
Oral Questioning:
a. How do collectivist cultures differ from
individualist cultures in personality?
b. What traits would be more common in
collectivist/individualistic cultures?
c. Give an example of a collectivist trait you
possess? An example of an individualistic
trait?
The understanding of personality is influenced and
colored by the cultural context in which it is viewed.
31
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will plan and make written, oral, and visual presentations for a variety of purposes and audiences. (MO G2.1)
 Students will review and revise communications to improve accuracy and clarity (MO G2.2)
 Students will have a solid foundation in writing formally (such as reports, narratives, essays). (MO Communication Arts 4)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Collective unconscious
Defense mechanism
Displacement (def mech)
Ego
Fixation (Freudian)
Genital stage
Humanistic psychology
Id
Latency stage
Locus of control
Oedipus complex
Oral stage
Personality
Phallic stage
Pleasure principle
Projection
Projective test
Psychosexual stages
Rationalization
Reaction formation
Reality principle
Reciprocal determinism
Repression
Rorschach inkblot test
Self-actualization
Self-concept
Self-efficacy
Superego
Temperament
Thematic Apperception Test
Trait
Transference
Unconscious
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Personality slips Activity
 Personality Reflection Paper
 IPIP-NEO Personality Test – http://www.personal.psu.edu/j5j/IPIP/
 Jungian Archetypes – A walk in the woods Activity
 Defense Mechanisms skit Activity
Instructional Resources:
 Nixon, A. (Writer). (1995). Biography: Sigmund Freud analysis of a mind [Television series documentary]. New York, NY: A&E Television Networks.
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AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Testing and Individual Differences
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Testing and Individual Differences
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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
Terman, David Wechsler).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
during and end of the unit.
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
2.
3.
The concept of intelligence varies dependent upon
the theory, the culture, and the type of test that is
attempting to explain it.
Standardization of intelligence tests ensures greater
reliability, validity, and interpretation of the scores
based on the normal curve.
Intelligence testing and scores can be used to provide
information about cognitive ability when culturally
unbiased.
1.
What are the characteristics of an intelligent person?
2.
How has culture and time changed the concept of
intelligence?
3.
How do standardization, reliability, and validity
combine to provide information that can be used to
make inferences concerning an intelligence test’s
scores and their interpretation on the normal curve?
4.
Why does controversy surround the interpretation of
intelligence scores, intelligence tests, and their used
in labeling cognitive ability?
33
1.
Misconception Check: Present students with
common or predictable misconceptions about
intelligence and ask them whether they agree or
disagree and why.
2.
Classifying main ideas and details graphic
organizer: Create a graphic organizer with
intelligence in the center, theories branching out,
elements of each theory, and lastly weaknesses of the
theories.
3.
Index card Summary/Question: Side 1 of the index
card list a big idea that you understand and word it as
a summary statement. On Side 2 identify something
about the topic that you do not yet fully understand
and word it as a question.
4.
Socratic Seminar: Socratic style discussion
regarding the definition, testing, and use of
intelligence and scores.
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will have a solid foundation in the use of tools of social science inquiry (such as surveys, statistics, maps, documents). MO Social Studies 7
 Students will discover and evaluate patterns and relationships in information, ideas, and structures. (MO G1.6)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Creativity
Crystallized intelligence
Divergent thinking
Emotional intelligence
Factor analysis
Fluid intelligence
“g” factor
Intelligence
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
Mental age
Mental retardation
Norm (testing)
Reliability
Standardization
Triarchic theory of intelligence
Validity
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Chitling Intelligence Test Activity/Discussion
 Intelligence test comparison activity
Instructional Resources:
 Mensa.org - http://www.mensa.org/ (the Mensa workout is a really good intelligence testing discussion starter)
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34
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Abnormal Behavior
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Abnormal Behavior
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
1.
How has the concept of abnormal evolved throughout
history?
1.
2.
What role has the DSM played in defining abnormal
behavior?
Timeline: Students create a timeline using images
and no more than 5 words to illustrate the evolving
understanding of abnormal behavior throughout
history.
2.
3.
What affect do diagnostic labels have on a person’s
social and cognitive well-being?
Quiz: Students respond to multiple choice and
matching questions specific to disorders and their
diagnostic categories.
4.
In what way do the legal system and the world of
psychology intermingle?
3.
Socratic Seminar: Students discuss the positive and
negative effects of diagnostic labels.
5.
How has the biopsychosocial approach to the
explanation of abnormal behavior evolved from
earlier theories?
4.
Misconception Check: Present students with
common or predictable misconceptions involving the
legal system and abnormal behavior asking them to
agree or disagree and explain.
5.
Acrostic Poem: Biopsychosocial (15 related
concepts that must include each of the letters in
biopsychosocial somewhere in the concept)
2.
3.
The various editions of the DSM attempt to describe
specific abnormal behaviors that have been agreed
upon today, while illustrating how the definition of
abnormal has evolved throughout time.
As a result of the DSM and attempts to identify and
help those who are abnormal, diagnostic labels have
changed the lives of those diagnosed with mental
disorders personally, publicly, and legally.
The definition of what abnormal really is depends
greatly upon what approach to explaining abnormal
behavior one exercises.
35
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will plan and make a written, oral and visual presentation for a variety of purposes and audiences. (MO G2.1)
 Students will develop, monitor, and revise plans of action to meet deadlines and accomplish goals. (MO G4.5)
 Students will identify tasks that require a coordinated effort and work with others to complete those tasks. (MO G4.6)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Agoraphobia
Antisocial personality disorder
Anxiety disorders
Bipolar disorder
Delusions
Dissociative amnesia
Dissociative disorders
Dissociative fugue
DSM-IV
Mood disorders
Hallucinations
Obsessive compulsive disorder
(OCD)
Schizophrenia
Hypochondriasis
Panic disorder
Major depressive disorder
Personality disorders
Conversion disorder
Dissociative identity disorder
(DID)
Mania
Phobia
Posttraumatic stress disorder
Somatoform disorders
Specific phobia
(PTSD)
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Multiple Causation Demonstration
 Abnormal Psychology Glossary Activity
 Abnormal Psychology Disorder Presentation
 Virtual Hallucination Activity/Schizophrenia Simulation
o Janssen Pharmaceuticals Schizophrenia simulation video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEXyqe85cuA
 Learning Disability Simulation (Dyslexia and Dysgraphia)
 ADHD Simulation – PBS: Misunderstood Minds - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/attention.html
o Audio Demonstration
o Visual Demonstration
Instructional Resources:
 American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (Revised 4th ed.). Washington DC: Author.
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36
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Treatment of Abnormal Behavior
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Treatment of Abnormal Behavior
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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 is psychological treatment (e.g., Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, Sigmund Freud, Mary Cover Jones, Carl Rogers, B.F. Skinner, Joseph Wolpe).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
Psychotherapy is an effective tool for raising a
person’s quality of life that is experiencing abnormal
behavior.
1.
What are the different goals for effective
psychotherapy?
1.
2.
2.
Efficacy of therapy varies with the abnormal
behavior being treated, the therapist’s orientation,
treatment format, and the sociocultural factors
affecting the client.
How does the relationship between client and
therapist determine the effectiveness of therapy?
Concept Map: Students create a concept map/web
connecting the different orientations of therapy with
their common elements and distinguishing their
differences.
2.
3.
How is a treatment method’s efficacy measured?
One-minute essay: How does the relationship
between client and therapist determine the
effectiveness of therapy?
4.
How does a client’s social world help determine the
effectiveness of therapy?
3.
5.
Why and how is positive psychology trying to change
the role of therapy?
Hand Signals: students provide a “thumbs up” if
they understand and can explain the study of
personality, “thumbs down” if they do not yet
understand, and “wave hand” if they are not
completely sure.
4.
One-Sentence Summary: Students write a summary
sentence that answers the question, “how does a
client’s social world help determine the effectiveness
of therapy?”
5.
Think-Pair-Share: Students think about how
positive psychology is changing ideas on therapy,
and then share with a partner, then with the class.
3.
Positive psychology is changing psychotherapy from
being reactive to being proactive in sustaining quality
of life.
37
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will develop and apply strategies based on ways others have prevented or solved problems. (MO G3.2)
 Students will identify and apply practices that preserve and enhance the safety and health of self and others. (MO G4.7)
 Students will apply acquired information, ideas, and skills to different contexts as students, workers, citizens and consumers. (MO G1.10)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Antidepressant drugs
Antipsychotic drugs
Behavior therapy
Client centered therapy
Cognitive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
Family therapy
Free association
Group therapy
Meta analysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychotherapy
Rational emotive behavior therapy
Resistance
Systematic desensitization
(REBT)
Token economy
Unconditional positive regard
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Eliza – Computer Therapist Activity - http://bcs.worthpublishers.com/psychsim5/computer%20therapist/psychsim_shell.html
 Three Approaches to Psychotherapy Comparison Activity
Instructional Resources:
 Rogers, C.R., Perls, F.S., Ellis, A., Shostrom, E.L., & Yould, R. (Producers). (1986). Three approaches to psychotherapy [Video Series]. Corona del Mar, CA:
Psychological & Educational Films.
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38
AP Psychology Backward Design Curriculum: Social Psychology
Table of Contents
Course/Subject: AP Psychology
Unit Title: Social Psychology
College Board Advanced Placement Psychology Learning Objectives
*Students will:
 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., deindividuation, group polarization).
 Explain how individual 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, Phillip Zimbardo).
Enduring Conceptual Understandings (Acquisition)
Written statement containing the concept and its value for
understanding the concept often hidden in the GLE
Essential Questions (Making meaning of the concept)
Question that drives student inquiry; used beginning,
during and end of the unit.
Formative Assessment Strategies (Transfer)
In a given situation, students directly demonstrate they
can transfer their understanding of the concept.
1.
The presence of other humans and groups
significantly alters the way a person behaves, thinks,
and reacts to other behaviors and situations.
1.
How do attribution theory, group behavior,
conformity, and obedience fundamentally change a
person’s behavior?
1.
2.
Social affiliations and culture dramatically influence
attitudes, the treatment of others, and a person’s own
self-concept.
2.
What processes cause attitudes to form and change?
Think-Pair-Share: Have students think individually
about a time where they experienced situational or
dispositional attributions, pressures of conformity,
and/or obedience, then have then share
with a partner, and then with the class.
3.
How can attributions and attitudes interact with social
and cultural elements to create categories used to
impact the treatment of others and self-perceptions?
2.
4.
What situational factors lead to prosocial behavior
(such as altruism or attraction) versus antisocial
behaviors (aggression)?
Idea Spinner: The teacher creates a spinner marked
into 4 quadrants (Predict, Explain, Summarize,
Evaluate). After presentation of new material on
attitudes, teacher spins the spinner and asks students
to answer a question based on the location of the
spinner.
3.
Index card Summary/Question: One (Side 1) of the
index card list a big idea that you understand and
word it as a summary statement. On (Side 2) identify
something about the topic that you do not yet fully
understand and word it as a question.
3.
There are more variables that lead to prosocial
behavior than antisocial behavior.
39
4.
Exit Card: Written student response to the question:
“Why is it harder to good (prosocial behavior) than to
do bad (antisocial behavior) or nothing at all?” and
turn it in at the end of class before leaving.
Skills…..What do we want students to do? (Missouri Knowledge and Performance Standards- Only select essential items)
 Students will have knowledge of relationships of the individual and groups to institutions and cultural traditions. (MO-Social Studies 6)
 Students will evaluate the processes used in recognizing and solving problems. (MO G3.4)
 Students will analyze the duties and responsibilities of individuals in societies. (MO G4.3)
Core Concepts/Terminology
Aggression
Altruism
Attitude
Attribution
Cognitive dissonance
Conformity
Deindividuation
Diffusion of responsibility
Discrimination (social behavior)
Facial feedback hypothesis
Frustration aggression hypothesis Fundamental attribution error
Gender roles
Group polarization
Groupthink
Obedience
Prejudice
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Self-serving bias
Social facilitation
Social loafing
Social norms
Social phobia
Social psychology
Stereotype
Examples of Instructional Methods/Activities teacher can use to provide students with background knowledge and targeted practice of concepts and targeted outcomes
structured to help students acquire knowledge and make meaning of the content and prepare students to successfully respond to the essential questions independently:
 Social Norms and Elevators Activity
 Breaking Social Norms Activity
 Solomon Asch Conformity Activity – Instructions & PowerPoint
 Win as much as you can: An Intergroup Competition
 Belief in a Just World/Scapegoating/Fundamental Attribution Error Demonstration
Instructional Resources:
 Cleese, J. (Writer & Producer). (2001). The human face [Video Series]. United Kingdom: British Broadcasting Corporation.
 What would you do? - ABC News - http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/
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