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AP Psychology Course Objectives: -­‐ Students will be introduced to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings. -­‐ Students learn the history and approaches – including discoveries -­‐ made by psychologists over the past century. -­‐ Students assess some of the differing approaches adopted by psychologists, including the biological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, and sociocultural perspectives. -­‐ Further, I hope to bring attention to how psychologists use language to further allow a person to open up to analysis of their emotions. This may certainly be invaluable knowledge to young adults. Text: Myers, David G. Myers’ Psychology for AP. New York: Worth, 2011. Includes instructor’s resources, study guides, test banks, etc. Note: Students are expected to take the AP Psychology Exam in May. We will discuss this further in class. Course Grading: Tests (Cumulative – Multiple Choice and Essay) 35% Projects (Unit) 20% Quizzes (Unit) 25% Homework / Classwork 20% Since this is a senior-­‐level AP course, it is assumed that you will be prepared for class discussion and quizzes. Supplemental Reading: Numerous short articles and readings drawn from newspapers, magazines, and books are assigned. Students are also required to find and bring in two articles a month that highlight psychological principles or ideas. We will have a group discussion of these articles to use vocabulary and instill the sense that this subject is indeed all around us. Course Outline: Fall Trimester (Units 1-­‐5): I.
History and Approaches *Which perspective / approach makes the most instinctive sense to you?” -­‐ Historical Schools: Functionalism vs. Structuralism -­‐ Modern Approaches: Psychodynamic, Behaviorist, Cognitive, Humanistic, Evolutionary, Neuroscience -­‐ Nature of Scientific Inquiry: Sources of bias and error II. Research Methods *Are all results good useful results?” -­‐ Introspection, observation, survey, psychological testing, controlled experiments o Control the participant / researcher bias o Research, Design and sampling -­‐ Statistics: Central tendency, variance, significance, correlation o Standard Deviation o Frequency Graphs o What is statistically significant? -­‐ Ethics in Research o Human participants o Animal subjects o The Internal Review Board (IRB) Student Project -­‐ Experimental Design Students are given a hypothetical research problem and must write a proposal for a controlled experiment to solve it. The exercise serves to improve their understanding of research methodology. III. Biological Bases of Behavior “If we map your brain will it help understand your behavior?” -­‐ Historical Background and Philosophy of Radical Behaviorism -­‐ Classical Conditioning: Pavlov, Watson, applications, biological critique, cognitivist challenge -­‐ Operant Conditioning: Thorndike, Skinner, Bandura, behavior modification, biological critique, cognitivist challenge -­‐ Neuron: Neuronal and synaptic transmission, psychopharmacology, drug abuse -­‐ Brain: Research methodology, neuroanatomy, brain development and aging, hemispheric specialization o Phineas Gage -­‐ Nervous System: Structural and functional organization -­‐
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Endocrine System: Anatomy, HPA-­‐axis, and immune system Genetics and Heritability – “Twins” in National Geographic Evolutionary Psychology Student Project -­‐ Behavior Modification: Each student will use the principles of operant conditioning and attempt to modify their own behavior, a family member’s behavior, or a fellow classmates behavior. We will follow progress for three weeks and then report on it back to our class. IV. Sensation and Perception “Why is subliminal messaging in advertising illegal?” -­‐
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V. Thresholds (absolute, difference, Weber’s constants) o signal detection theory Sensory Organs and Transduction: o Visual (including color vision and feature detection), o Auditory – Anatomy of Your Ear o Olfactory – Why does Green Tea deodorant remind me of Europe? o gustatory, o proprioceptive (including kinesthetic and vestibular)  Reading: “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat; The Disembodied Woman” Attention – including selective attention and inattention Perception: Attention, processing, illusions (including Gestalt psychology), and camouflage States of Consciousness “What can you learn from your dreams?” -­‐
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Sleep and dreaming o Are you sleep deprived? o Dreams: Is their meaning? Hypnosis o Efficacy – Barber Suggestibility Scale  How suggestible are you? Altered states, including Psychoactive Drug Effects Student Project – Psychology in Hollywood Each student will watch one movie that deals with psychological theory, biology, learning, or perception and review the movie based upon the strength of theories we have learned. Psychological vocabulary must be used. 2 pages, please. Winter Trimester (Units 6-­‐11): VI. Learning “What is the commonality between classical, operant, and social learning? -­‐ Classical Conditioning o Pavlov o Watson and little Albert -­‐ Operant Conditioning o Skinner and his Skinner Box -­‐ Cognitive Processes -­‐ Biological Factors -­‐ Social Learning o Bandura, watching children learn VII. Cognition “Are your memories really your memories?” -­‐ Memory, and Language -­‐ Memory: Information processing, storage, retrieval o Tip of the tongue; Deja Vu -­‐ Accuracy of Memory: Loftus and Schacter o Eyewitness Testimony  Cafeteria Experiment -­‐ Cognition: Problem solving and heuristics -­‐ Language: Skinner and Chomsky VIII. Motivation and Emotion “What motivates you the most?” -­‐ Instincts, drives, optimal arousal, Maslow’s hierarchy -­‐ Biological Bases o The Human “Animal” -­‐ Theories of Motivation o Achievement Motivation: McClelland and the TAT o intrinsic versus extrinsic motivators -­‐ Expression of Emotion: Darwin and Ekman -­‐ Hunger, Thirst, Sex and Pain o The Hunger Studies at U of MN o The Gambit: From Anorexia to Obesity -­‐ Social Motives o Middle School -­‐ Theories of Emotion: James-­‐Lange, Cannon-­‐Bard, Schachter-­‐Singer -­‐ Stress o Why is stress a trigger in most chronic conditions? IX. Developmental Psychology “How have our experiences made us who we are?” -­‐
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Life span approach -­‐ Infancy, Childhood, Adolescence, and Adulthood Methodology: Longitudinal and cross-­‐sectional studies Nature vs. Nurture (maturation versus learning) Influential Theories: o Piaget and cognitive development, o Freud and psychosocial development, o Kohlberg and moral development, o Gilligan and gender differentiation Development Theories and Dimensions Sex Roles and Gender Roles o Articles on Sex Roles and Gender Assignment Student Project: Applications of Developmental Psychology Students will shadow a fellow Senior interacting with a group of Sixth grade students. During this time, they will observe the students and improve their own powers of observation and help them work towards understanding motive and intent. Further, they will try to understand how and why students act the way they do through individual interviews with the senior and the sixth grade students. X. XI. Personality “Is your personality fixed or mutable?” -­‐ Theories and Approaches o Psychoanalytic Perspective  Adler, Horney, Jung -­‐ Assessment Techniques -­‐ Growth and Adjustment -­‐ Trait Perspective -­‐ Allport, factor analysis and the five-­‐factor model, assessment (Myers-­‐Briggs, MMPI) -­‐ Humanistic Perspective: Maslow and Rogers -­‐ Social-­‐Cognitive Perspective: Bandura and Seligman Intelligence and Psychological Testing “Do the tests in this class measure whether you’re smart or not?” -­‐
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Psychological Testing: Methodology, norms, reliability, validity o What is a fair and equitable test? Types o Stanford-­‐Binet o Terman and IQ Ethics and Standards -­‐
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o Sociocultural factors affecting intelligence General Intelligence v. Multiple Intelligence Tests o Gardner  Emotional Tests Intelligence: Defining intelligence, history of intelligence and aptitude testing, nature-­‐nurture issues o Do we qualify for Mensa? Take the test! Student Project -­‐ Psychology in Literature Students will each read an additional outside work of fiction, which uses psychological principles, concepts, attitudes, and / or behavior modification as a center plot device. Students will write a two-­‐page paper on their book as well as present their findings to class. Spring Trimester (units 12-­‐14; prepare for exam): XII. Abnormal Psychology “Just what is abnormal behavior?” -­‐ Approaches to Abnormality: The Rosenhan study, historical approaches (deviance), the medical model, the biopsychosocial model -­‐ Classifying Disorders: Evolution of the DSM-­‐IV-­‐TR -­‐ Major Categories of Disorders: o Anxiety disorders (OSD; PTSD); o dissociative disorders (Amnesia); o mood disorders (Depression, SAD); o schizophrenia, o personality disorders (Antisocial Personality Disorder) XIII. Treatment of Abnormal Psychology What is the best way to help those who need it?” -­‐ Major Approaches to Psychotherapy: o Psychoanalysis – unconscious holds the key; o Behavioristic – changing behavior; o Humanistic – interaction works with them; o Cognitive – change thinking; o Group – learn from others; o Pharmacological – drug, light therapies; -­‐ Does Therapy Work? o Outcome studies o Relapse rates XIV. Social Psychology “Where do your attitudes come from?” -­‐
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Attitudes and Behavior: Fundamental attribution error, roles, Festinger and cognitive dissonance Group Influence: o Asch and conformity, o Milgram and obedience, facilitation and loafing, o Janis and groupthink Prejudice and Scapegoating Altruism o Darley and Latané  “Kitty Genovese” and the Bystander Effect