UNIT OUTLINE/ASSIGNMENTS/TERMS TO KNOW FOR
AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT 1 – HISTORY, APPROACHES & RESEARCH,
WEITEN – CHAPTERS 1 & 2
UNIT 1 OBJECTIVES
I. History and Approaches
 Recognize how philosophical and physiological perspectives shaped the development of
psychological thought.
 Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior:
— structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in the early years;
— Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later;
— evolutionary, biological, cognitive, and biopsychosocial as more contemporary
approaches.
 Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior.
 Distinguish the different domains of psychology (e.g., biological, clinical, cognitive, counseling,
developmental, educational, experimental, human factors, industrial–organizational,
personality, psychometric, social).
 Identify major historical figures in psychology (e.g., Mary Whiton Calkins, Charles Darwin,
Dorothea Dix, Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, William James, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Carl
Rogers, B. F. Skinner, Margaret Floy Washburn, John B. Watson, Wilhelm Wundt).
II. Research Methods
 Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey research,
naturalistic observations, case studies) with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.
 Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (e.g.,
experiments are useful for determining cause and effect; the use of experimental controls
reduces alternative explanations).
 Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental designs.
 Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments and
random selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and surveys.
 Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research design (e.g.,
confounding variables limit confidence in research conclusions).
 Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
 Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and
calculating simple descriptive statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard
deviation).
 Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in behavioral
research.
 Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices.
 Describe how ethical and legal guidelines (e.g., those provided by the American Psychological
Association, federal regulations, local institutional review boards) protect research participants
and promote sound ethical practice.
DATE
WEDNESDAY,
JANUARY 21
TOPICS DISCUSSED/ASSIGNMENTS
WELCOME BACK!
SYLLABUS
CONTACT INFORMATION
THURSDAY,
UNIT 1 OUTLINE – READING & TERMS
JANUARY 22
ASSIGNED
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
PSYCHOLOGY’S EARLY HISTORY
STRUCTURALISM V. FUNCTIONALISM
FREUD, WATSON, SKINNER
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23
PSYCHOLOGY AS A PROFESSION
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY
SEVEN THEMES OF PSYCHOLOGY
SUPPLEMENTAL READING: HOW TO BE A
WISE CONSUMER OF PSYCHOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
MONDAY, JANUARY 26 QUIZ – TERMS #1-47
STEPS IN SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION
INDEPENDENT & DEPENDENT VARIABLES
EXPERIMENTAL & CONTROL GROUPS
TUESDAY, JANUARY 27 DISCUSS SUPPLEMENTAL READING
SMALL PROJECT – CORRELATIONAL
RESEARCH
ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF
RESEARCH
WEDNESDAY,
PRESENT SMALL PROJECTS
JANUARY 28
DESCRIPTIVE/CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
CONT.
STATISTICS
THURSDAY,
FLAWS IN RESEARCH
JANUARY 29
ETHICS
REVIEW FOR UNIT 1 TEST
FRIDAY, JANUARY 30
UNIT 1 TEST
UNIT 2 OUTLINE – READING & TERMS
ASSIGNED
UNIT 1 TERMS TO KNOW
1. Psychology
2. Socrates
3. Plato
4. Aristotle
5. Descartes
6. Bacon
7. Locke
8. Empiricism
9. Wundt
10. Hall
11. Structuralism
12. Titchener
13. James
14. Functionalism
15. Calkins
16. Washburn
17. Pavlov
18. Freud
19. Piaget
20. Watson
21. Skinner
22. Rogers
23. Maslow
24. Nature-Nurture Debate
25. Darwin
26. Natural Selection
27. Levels of Analysis
28. Humanistic Psychology
29. Positive psychology
30. Behavioral psychology
31. Biological psychology
32. Cognitive psychology
33. Evolutionary psychology
34. Psychodynamic psychology
35. Social-cultural psychology
36. Experimental psychology
37. Biopsychosocial Approach
38. Psychometrics
39. Developmental psychologists
40. Counseling Psychologists
41. Clinical Psychologists
42. Educational psychologists
43. Personality psychologists
44. Social psychologists
45. Industrial-organizational psychologists
46. Community psychologists
47. Psychiatrists
48. Basic Research
49. Applied Research
50. Intuition
51. Hindsight Bias
52. Overconfidence
53. Scientific Method
54. Theory
55. Hypothesis
56. Operational Definitions
57. Replication
58. Case Study
59. Survey
60. Wording Effects
61. Random Sample
62. Representative Sample
63. Biased Sample
64. Population
65. Naturalistic Observation
66. Correlation
67. Positive correlation/negative correlation
68. Correlation coefficient
69. Scatterplots
70. Causation
71. Illusory Correlation
72. Perceiving Order
73. Experiment
74. Experimental group
75. Control group
76. Blind Study
77. Double Blind Study
78. Placebo Effect
79. Experimental Condition
80. Control Condition
81. Random Assignment
82. Independent Variable/Dependent
Variable
83. Confounding variable
84. Descriptive statistics
85. Central Tendency
86. Mode
87. Mean
88. Median
89. Skewed distribution (positive and
negative)
90. Range
91. Standard Deviation
92. Normal curve
93. Inferential statistics
94. Statistical Significance
95. Culture
96. Informed consent
97. Debriefing
98. Ethics