AP Psychology Syllabus
Advanced Placement Psychology is a course in which students learn the systematic and scientific study of
behavior and mental processes. This is a yearlong course in which students will acquire knowledge about
history and approaches, research methods, biological bases of behavior, sensation and perception, states
of consciousness, testing and individual differences, abnormal behavior and treatments, social
psychology, learning, cognition, motivation and emotion, developmental psychology and personality.
This course is a homework intensive class in which students are expected to meet, bring information and
be able to discuss topics and issues, read, review and study for the final exam taken in May.
Course Objectives:
1. Students will analyze the importance of the scientific method and will learn how the method is
implemented.
2. Students will evaluate the basic principles of psychology along with the past theories, beliefs and
experiments.
3. Students will develop effective study skills, communication skills and critical thinking skills.
Textbook:
Schacter, Daniel, Daniel Gilbert, Daniel Wegner. Psychology, 1st edition. Worth Publishers, 2009.
Including teachers resource manual, mastery tests, lecture guides, visual aids, and classroom experiments.
Teacher Resources:
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Brink, John, Robert McEntarffer. Test Bank for Myers’ Psychology for AP. Worth Publishers,
2011.
Myers, David G. Exploring Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers, 2011. With study guide.
Passer, Michael W., and Ronald E. Smith. Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior 2nd
edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2004.
The 1994 and 1999 AP Released Exam in Psychology and other materials given by the College
Board- curriculum modules, tips and materials from the teacher community.
Homework Expectations:
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Homework: students will be required to read sections every week and they will have section
quizzes after each unit- every 2-3 weeks depending on the unit. Students will receive a variety of
assignments throughout the units consisting of research, presentations, and analysis.
Discussions: every student will be required to participate in classroom discussions on the topics
by the nights reading.
Study guides: students will be given study guides which will highlight vocabulary and important
people, beliefs, and theories.
Unit Exams: A unit exam will be given at the end of each quarter. These unit exams will be
comprehensive and will reflect the AP exam. These exams will consist of 100 multiple choice in
70 minutes, with two free response questions to be answered in 50 minutes. 150pts.
Course- Long Plan:
Unit I: Psychology the Evolution of Science
Sept. 2-12
1.5 weeks
A. Psychology’s Roots-philosophers, French, Germany, Structuralism, Functional approach
B. Error and Illusions- Gestalt, mental disorders, Freud and psychoanalytic theory, humanistic
approach
C. Psychology Expands-Cognitive Psychology, neuroscience, and evolutionary psychology
D. Social and Cultural perspectives
E. Profession of Psychology- APA and careers
Objectives:
1. Define psychology, and distinguish between the mind and behavior.
2. Offer several examples of the topics psychologists study, such as perception, thought, mental
functioning, and the breakdown of mental functioning.
3. Explain what a ―mindbug‖ is as described in the text, and give some examples from daily life.
4. Distinguish between nativism and philosophical empiricism.
5. Summarize the contributions of René Descartes, Franz Gall, Pierre Flourens, and Paul Broca to the
early development of the science of psychology.
6. Explain how the study of physiology contributed to the development of psychology, noting
especially the work of Helmholtz on reaction time.
7. Define structuralism, and describe how Wundt used the concept of introspection to support the
basic claims of structuralism.
8. Define functionalism, and describe how James incorporated ideas from Darwin into this school of
thought.
9. Give some examples of illusions, and discuss how errors and illusions can reveal the normal
operations of mind and behavior.
10. Summarize the approach of Gestalt psychologists, and note how it differs from the approach
advocated by structuralists.
11. Discuss the development of psychoanalytic theory and how it formed the basis for
psychoanalysis.
12. Describe the basic tenets of behaviorism, focusing on its insistence on studying objectively
observable behavior.
13. Describe Watson’s approach to behaviorism, noting how it built on the work of Pavlov.
14. Describe Skinner’s approach to behaviorism, noting how it reflects a particular view of
humankind.
15. Explain how the approach that cognitive psychologists take to the study of behavior differs from
that taken by behaviorists.
16. Summarize the contributions of Frederic Bartlett, Jean Piaget, and Kurt Lewin to the early
development of cognitive psychology. Discuss the influence of computer scientists and linguists.
17. Define behavioral neuroscience and cognitive neuroscience, and note some of the techniques
these approaches use for studying the mind and behavior.
18. Explain how Darwin’s ideas about evolution can be applied to psychology.
19. Compare social psychology and cultural psychology, and describe some of the areas studied by
each approach.
20. Describe how women and members of underrepresented groups developed an increasing presence
in professional organizations, applied settings, and departments of psychology.
21. Discuss some of the careers available to those who have studied psychology.
Unit II: Research Methods and Testing
A.
B.
C.
D.
Sept. 15-25
1.5 weeks
Empiricism
Science of Observation- measurement, samples
Explanations-Correlation and Causation
Ethics
Objectives:
1. Define empiricism and describe how it contributes to a scientific method.
2. Explain how complexity, variability, and reactivity make the study of human behavior difficult;
provide an example of each attribute.
3. Distinguish between definition and detection as used in the scientific process, and explain what an
operational definition is.
4. Explain what a measure is and why measures must be both valid and reliable.
5. Define construct validity, predictive validity, reliability, and power.
6. Distinguish between a population and a sample, and describe how the two are related by the law of
large numbers.
7. Discuss how averages and frequency distributions tell us different things about the composition of
a set of measurements; describe a normal distribution.
8. Explain the different ways in which measures of central tendency and measures of variability each
contribute to our understanding of data.
9. Define demand characteristics and explain how naturalistic observation and double-blind
observation may be used to diminish the problems they present.
10. Distinguish the processes of observation and explanation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------11. Explain why correlation—a pattern of variability between two things that are measured—is a
valuable research technique.
12. Define correlation coefficient and explain what correlations of 1.00, –1.00, and 0 signify.
13. Discuss the distinction between correlation and causation, and explain how the third-variable
problem limits our ability to infer causation from correlational data.
14. Describe manipulation and randomization, the two main features that define an experiment, and
discuss how experimentation allows the establishment of causal relationships between variables.
15. Explain why manipulation is critical to experimentation.
16. Define independent variable and dependent variable.
17. Explain why randomization is critical to the conduct of an experiment and how it is superior to
self-selection.
18. Describe significance, and explain how it relates to inferential statistics and descriptive statistics.
19. Describe the characteristics of an internally valid experiment.
20. Define external validity, and explain how it relates to representative variables used in an
experiment.
21. Distinguish between a theory and a hypothesis.
22. Explain the process of random sampling, and note how it differs from randomization.
23. Discuss three reasons why generalizing from nonrandom samples is not a lethal problem for
psychology.
24. Explain each of the following ethical guidelines: informed consent, freedom from coercion,
protection from harm, risk-benefit analysis, and debriefing.
25. Discuss some pros and cons of experiments involving animals.
Unit III: Neuroscience and Behavior
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
Sept. 29-Oct. 17
3 weeks
Neurons
Electric signaling-resting and action potential
Chemical signaling- Neurotransmitters
Nervous System
Development and Evolution of Nervous System
The Brain
Objectives:
1. Identify the components of a neuron.
2. Distinguish among different types of neurons and support cells in the brain.
3. Define the components of a neuron’s electrical properties.
4. Explain how neurons send electrical signals over long distances.
5. Describe how neurons communicate with one another through chemical signals.
6. Identify several major neurotransmitters.
7. Explain how some drugs mimic neurotransmitters and others block normal neurotransmission.
8. Describe the basic organization of the nervous system.
9. Distinguish the functional differences between major parts of the central and peripheral nervous
systems.
10. Explain how the nervous system develops from a few relatively similar cells to a complex
network of differentiated cells and pathways.
11. Describe the differences between the central nervous system of an animal other than a human and
that of a human.
12. Identify some of the anatomical results of the evolution of the human nervous system.
13. Discuss, in general terms, how the genes of an individual interact with the environment to
produce physiology and behavior that are unique.
14. Describe some of the important findings about brain anatomy and function that have resulted
from studies of people and animals with brain damage.
15. Identify some of the techniques used to monitor the nervous system.
16. Explain why it is important to measure brain function both at very basic levels (considering single
neurons, neurotransmitters, and receptors) and holistically (considering entire areas and systems) in
order to understand the connection between the brain and behavior.
Unit IV: Sensation and Perception
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Oct. 20-Nov. 7
3 weeks
Doorway to Psychology- psychophysics, measuring thresholds, signal detection, sensory
adaptation.
Vision—sensing light, perceiving color, visual brain, recognizing, depth and size, motion
Audition- sensing sound, human ear, pitch, localizing sound sources,
Body Senses- touch pain, position, balance and movement
Gustatory and Olfactory Senses
Objectives:
1.
Define synesthesia, and discuss how the phenomenon may reveal different, and otherwise
normal, ways of brain organization of sensation and perception.
2. Distinguish between sensation and perception, noting where in the body each process occurs, and
explain why these processes are separable.
3. Discuss how psychophysics laid the foundation for the psychological study of sensation and
perception.
4. Contrast the absolute threshold and the difference threshold, noting how the just noticeable
difference and Weber’s law contribute to our understanding of these processes.
5. Describe the principles of signal detection theory.
6. Discuss why sensory adaptation is a good thing for humans, focusing on how and why it is
beneficial for us to reduce our level of response to a stimulus over time.
7. Compare the physical dimensions of wavelength, amplitude, and purity with their psychological
counterparts hue, brightness, and saturation.
8. Describe the path that light follows through the human eye from the pupil to the optic nerve.
9. Distinguish between rods and cones, and discuss how their relative concentrations around the
fovea contribute to vision.
10. Describe how receptive fields and lateral inhibition work in vision.
11. Discuss how color vision takes place, and compare additive and subtractive color mixing and the
trichromatic and opponent-process explanations of color vision.
12. Discuss visual processing in the brain, noting how area V1, feature detector cells, and ventral and
dorsal streams all contribute.
13. Compare the modular view and the distributed representation view of object recognition. How do
these explanations apply to the perception of faces?
14. Outline the basic principles of Gestalt perception, including simplicity, closure, continuity,
similarity, proximity, common fate, and the figure/ground distinction.
15. Compare monocular depth cues, binocular depth cues, and motion-based depth cues in vision,
and discuss how illusions illustrate the otherwise typical process of perceiving depth, motion, or
size.
16. Compare the physical dimensions of sound wave frequency, amplitude, and complexity with
their psychological counterparts pitch, loudness, and timbre.
17. Describe the path that sound follows through the human ear from the pinna to the auditory nerve.
18. Describe the components of the inner ear, and discuss how the cochlea, basilar membrane, and
hair cells work together in hearing.
19. Discuss how auditory processing takes place in the brain, noting how area A1, place codes, and
temporal codes all contribute.
20. Describe the basic operations of the body senses, discussing how touch, pain, and the senses of
balance and movement occur.
21. Outline the principles of gate-control theory.
22. Describe the components of the olfactory system, and discuss how the olfactory bulb, ORNs, and
the glomerulus work together in olfaction.
23. Describe the components of the gustatory system, and discuss how taste buds, papillae, and
microvilli work together in taste.
Unit V: Memory
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Nov. 10-Nov. 21
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Forms of Memory- implicit, explicit, semantic, episodic
Memory Failures
2 weeks
Objectives:
1. Provides accurate and appropriate definition of memory, encoding, storage, and retrieval.
2. Identify areas of the brain that are associated with various aspects of memory.
3. Discuss the distinctions among elaborative encoding, visual imagery encoding, and organizational
encoding.
4. Describe the sensory memory store and distinguish iconic memory from echoic memory.
5. Distinguish between short-term memory store and working memory.
6. Describe how rehearsal and chunking contribute to the success of retaining information in shortterm memory.
7. Define the long-term memory store.
8. Contrast anterograde amnesia and retrograde amnesia.
9. Describe the process of long-term potentiation (LTP) and how it contributes to the formation of
memories.
10. Discuss why and how the encoding specificity principle, state-dependent retrieval, and transferappropriate processing are all aspects of retrieving information from memory.
11. Compare implicit memory and explicit memory, and provide an example of each.
12. Compare semantic memory and episodic memory, and provide an example of each.
13. Describe how the memory ―sins‖ of transience, absentmindedness, and blocking all involve
elements of forgetting.
14. Discuss the curve of forgetting and how retroactive interference and proactive interference each
contribute to the loss of information
over time.
15. Describe how the memory ―sins‖ of misattribution, suggestibility, and bias all involve elements
of distorting remembered information.
16. Discuss how source memory and false recognition might contribute to faulty eyewitness
accuracy.
17. Compare the consistency bias, change bias, and egocentric bias in memory distortion.
18. Explain why persistence is considered a failure of memory, even when it involves an enhanced
memory for some events.
19. Discuss whether the seven sins of memory are virtues or vices.
Unit VI: Learning
Dec. 1-Dec. 12
2 weeks
A. Defining Learning- habituation, learning and behaviorism
B. Classical conditioning-Pavlov, basic principles, emotional responses (Little Albert),
understanding conditioning
C. Operant Conditioning- reinforcement, punishment, and development, basic principles
D. Observational Learning
E. Implicit Learning
Objectives:
1. Define learning and discuss how learning can take a variety of forms, including habituation.
2. Make connections between the overall behaviorist approach and specific research on learning
processes.
3. Describe classical conditioning.
4. Distinguish between an unconditioned stimulus (US), unconditioned response (UR), conditioned
stimulus (CS), and conditioned response (CR) in classical conditioning.
5. Compare acquisition, second-order conditioning, extinction, and spontaneous recovery.
6. Discuss how stimulus generalization and stimulus discrimination occur in classical conditioning.
7. Describe the events surrounding the experience of Little Albert, noting in particular how this case
appeared to bolster the behaviorist view of conditioned emotional responses.
8. Identify the neural elements of classical conditioning, especially the involvement of the amygdala.
9. Identify the cognitive elements of classical conditioning, especially the principles identified in the
Rescorla-Wagner model.
10. Identify the evolutionary elements of classical conditioning, especially conditioned food
aversions and preferences and the concept of biological preparedness.
11. State the law of effect, and explain how it contributes to operant conditioning.
12. Distinguish between reinforcers and punishers in operant conditioning, and explain how the
presentation or removal of a stimulus affects the likelihood of a given subsequent behavior.
13. Describe types of primary and secondary reinforcers and punishers, and discuss the neutrality of
reinforcers according to the Premack principle.
14. Discuss how extinction, stimulus generalization, and stimulus discrimination occur in operant
conditioning.
15. Explain how schedules of reinforcement affect learning; include examples of fixed interval, fixed
ratio, variable interval, and variable ratio schedules.
16. Explain how the shaping of successive approximations to a desired behavior can eventually
produce that behavior.
17. Identify the neural elements of operant conditioning, especially the involvement of structures in
the ―pleasure center‖ of the brain.
18. Identify the cognitive elements of operant conditioning, especially the concepts of latent learning
and cognitive maps identified by Edward Chace Tolman.
19. Identify the evolutionary elements of operant conditioning, especially the ―misbehavior‖ of
organisms that was first identified by Marion and Kellar Breland.
20. Explain how observational learning can occur in humans, noting especially the research on
learning aggressive responses; explain how observational learning can occur in animals.
21. Define implicit learning, provide examples of how it differs from explicit learning, and discuss
whether or not different neural mechanisms are implicated in these different types of learning.
Unit VII: Language and Thought
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Dec. 15-Jan. 9
2 weeks
Language and Communication- structure, development, theories of development, neurological
specialization, relation
Concepts and Categories-How we think, theories of concepts and categories
Judging, Valuing, and Deciding- decision making, rational and optimal
Problem Solving- means-ends analysis, analogical problem solving, creativity and insight.
Reaching Conclusions
Objectives:
1. Describe how phonemes, morphemes, phonological rules, and grammatical rules interact with
one another to form a system of human language.
2. Compare the deep structure and surface structure of language, and note how language milestones
are achieved over the course of development.
3. Compare the behaviorist, nativist, and interactionist explanations of language development.
4. Discuss the neurological specializations that allow language to develop.
5. Describe research findings that support the acquisition of human language by other species and
also research findings that question that ability.
6. State the linguistic relativity hypothesis, and note some of the ways that language and thought
interact with one another.
7. Describe what a category-specific deficit is, and provide an example.
8. Discuss the family resemblance theory of category formation, and describe how
it led to the prototype theory of
categorization.
9. Describe the prototype theory of categorization, noting the main points and providing examples
of how it works.
10. Discuss the exemplar theory of categorization, noting the main points and providing examples of
how it works.
11. Compare rational choice theory with how most real-world decisions actually get made.
12. Describe the availability bias and the representativeness heuristic, and provide an example of
each.
13. Describe the conjunction fallacy, and provide an example.
14. Discuss framing effects, especially the sunk-cost effect.
15. Describe the basic tenets of prospect theory.
16. Discuss some of the reasons why humans may have evolved to be better at judging frequency
than probability.
17. Describe the basic principles of means-ends analysis, noting how analogical problem solving is a
component of that overall system.
18. Discuss findings regarding insight and how it develops.
19. Define functional fixedness, and illustrate how it hampers problem solving.
20. Define and compare practical reasoning, theoretical reasoning, and syllogistic reasoning.
Unit VIII: Consciousness
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Jan. 12-16
1 week
Conscious and Unconscious- Mysteries of consciousness, the nature of consciousness, the
unconscious mind
Sleep and Dreaming
Drugs and Consciousness- Drug use and abuse, types of Psychoactive Drugs
Hypnosis- induction and susceptibility
Meditation and religious experiences
Objectives:
1. Define consciousness, noting how the metaphor of the Cartesian Theater applies to our
phenomenological experience of consciousness.
2. Explain the problem of other minds, noting the dilemma we face when trying to perceive the
consciousness of others.
3. Explain the mind/body problem, examining various views of how the mind and brain are linked.
4. Describe the intentionality of consciousness, explaining how consciousness is directed toward
some object of attention.
5. Describe the unity of consciousness, noting how divided-attention tasks reveal the resistance of
consciousness to division.
6. Describe the selectivity of consciousness, explaining how dichotic listening tasks and the cocktail
party phenomenon illustrate this property.
7. Describe the transience of consciousness, commenting on the metaphor of a stream of
consciousness.
8. Contrast minimal consciousness, full consciousness, and self-consciousness, discussing the
evidence for each state of awareness.
9. Explain how the experience sampling technique and the notion of current concerns illustrate
conscious contents.
10. Discuss the research evidence on thought suppression, with particular attention to the rebound
effect and the ironic processes of mental control.
11. Contrast Freud’s idea of the dynamic unconscious with the more modern idea of the cognitive
unconscious, and discuss the work on subliminal perception in regard to the general concept of
consciousness below the surface.
12. Describe the stages of sleep over the course of a typical night, and discuss how sleep and wakefulness are part of the cycle of circadian rhythm.
13. List some of the benefits of a good night’s sleep and some of the consequences of sleep
deprivation.
14. Describe insomnia, sleep apnea, somnambulism, narcolepsy, sleep paralysis, and night terrors.
15. Describe the five major characteristics of dream consciousness that distinguish it from the typical
waking state.
16. Compare the psychoanalytic theory of dreams with the activation-synthesis model.
17. Explain how drug tolerance, physical dependence, and psychological dependence occur in the
ingestion of psychoactive substances.
18. Compare the categories of psychoactive substances, noting how depressants, stimulants,
narcotics, hallucinogens, and marijuana differ in their potentials for overdose, physical
dependence, and psychological dependence.
19. Explain why hypnosis qualifies as an altered state of consciousness.
20. Describe research findings on the effects of hypnosis, with particular attention to age regression,
lost memory, posthypnotic amnesia, and hypnotic analgesia.
21. Explain how practices such as meditation and ecstatic religious experiences can produce altered
states of consciousness.
Unit IX: Intelligence and Testing
A.
B.
C.
D.
Jan. 26-30
1 week
Measurements of Testing
intelligence-quotient, logic of testing, consequential behaviors
Nature of Intelligence-General and specific abilities, middle level
Origins of Intelligence- Genes and groups
Future of Intelligence- changing, and improving
Objectives:
1. Describe the origins of intelligence testing in the French school system, noting the contributions of
Alfred Binet, Théophile Simon, and William Stern to the development of the ratio IQ, and
explain how the deviation IQ was eventually adopted.
2. Explain how responses, consequential behaviors, and hypothetical properties interact with one
another in the logic of intelligence testing.
3. Summarize the research evidence showing that intelligence test scores predict a range of
outcomes, such as educational level, job performance, and life outcomes (such as divorce,
incarceration, or unemployment).
4. Describe the evidence that led Charles Spearman to conclude that a two-factor theory was
appropriate for describing the nature of intellectual performance.
5. Describe the evidence that led Louis Thurstone to conclude that a multiple-factor theory was
appropriate for describing the nature of intellectual performance.
6 Describe how a three-level hierarchy offers the most compelling account of intelligence test data.
7. Contrast the bottom-up and top-down approaches to determining middle-level intellectual
abilities.
8. Briefly describe the eight independent middle-level intellectual abilities suggested by the bottomup approach.
9. Compare fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence.
10. Discuss the three factors of analytic intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence
suggested by Robert Sternberg’s top-down approach to intellectual performance.
11. Discuss the eight factors suggested by Howard Gardner’s top-down approach to intellectual
performance.
12. Offer a definition of intelligence that considers multiple approaches to intelligence testing and
multiple approaches to rating levels of intellectual performance.
13. Explain the genetic difference between identical twins and fraternal twins.
14. Explain the significance of a heritability coefficient, and discuss how it contributes to our
understanding of the genetic basis of intelligence.
15. Contrast the shared environment and the nonshared environment, and comment on how this
distinction relates to understanding the role of heritability in intelligence.
16. Distinguish between group differences in intelligence test scores and group differences in
intelligence, and discuss why differences in test scores may not necessarily indicate differences in
intellectual ability.
17. Explain why relative intelligence is likely to remain stable over time, but absolute intelligence
typically changes over the course of a lifetime.
18. Define the Flynn effect.
19. Describe research evidence that indicates that education enhances IQ.
20. Describe the current state of research on drugs to enhance mouse intelligence or genetic
manipulations to produce ―smart mice.‖
Unit X: Emotion and Motivation
Feb. 2-13
2 weeks
A. Emotional Experience- what is emotion, the body and brain, regulation of emotion
B. Communication- communicative and deceptive expression
C. Motivation- function, conceptualization, eating and mating, kinds of motivation
Objectives:
1. Explain how emotions can be mapped along the two dimensions of valence and arousal and how
this mapping helps us to define an emotion.
2. Compare the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, and two-factor theories of emotion, noting their major
similarities and differences.
3. Offer four reasons why Cannon and Bard thought their view of emotional experience was more
appropriate than the James-Lange theory.
4. Describe the two factors in the two-factor theory of emotion, and note how the theory has been
both supported and refuted by subsequent research.
5. Explain how the amygdala is involved in the appraisal of emotion, noting the fast pathway and
slow pathway that emotional information can take through the brain.
6. Define the process of emotion regulation, and explain how reappraisal is a primary means of
regulating our emotional states.
7. Explain why facial expressions of emotion, compared to other channels of communication, are
capable of communicating the greatest degree of specificity regarding emotional experiences.
8. Describe two lines of evidence supporting the universality of facial expressions of emotion, and
list emotions that have been shown to have a universal, cross-cultural quality.
9. Discuss evidence for the facial feedback hypothesis, and describe how the ―pathway‖ of
emotional experience can be bidirectional.
10. Define affective forecasting, and give examples of how and why we are often mistaken in
predicting our emotional reactions.
11. Describe display rules, and give examples of four different types.
12. List four features of facial expressions that allow a trained observer to detect whether the
expression is sincere or not.
13. Define motivation, and describe its linguistic and functional connections to emotion.
14. Describe the hedonic principle, and note how it is an example of emotions serving to motivate
behavior.
15. Discuss why instinct theory and drive theory enjoyed initial success in explaining motivated
behavior.
16. Explain how hunger arises, noting the functions of orexigenic signals, anorexigenic signals,
ghrelin, the lateral hypothalamus, and the ventromedial hypothalamus.
17. Discuss some of the forces that produce anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, and some of the
reasons why overeating and obesity can occur; define metabolism and describe its implications.
18. Discuss the factors that contribute to sexual interest.
19. Describe the stages of the human sexual response cycle.
20. Compare intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, noting some of the factors that can enhance or detract
from these types of motivation.
21. Compare conscious and unconscious motives, and comment on the role of need for achievement
in these types of motivation.
22. Compare approach and avoidance motives, noting how each type of motivation can direct our
behavior.
Unit XI: Development
A.
B.
C.
D.
Feb. 16-March 6
Prenatal Development and Environment
Infancy and Childhood-perceptual, motor, cognitive, moral and social development
Adolescence- protraction, sexuality, parents and peers
Adulthood- changing abilities, orientations and roles
3 weeks
Objectives:
1. Offer a definition of developmental psychology that encompasses the notions of continuity and
change.
2. Outline the stages of development that take place prenatally, including the zygote, germinal stage,
embryonic stage, and fetal stage.
3. Discuss how teratogens and conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome can affect a developing
fetus.
4. Describe the major achievements of motor development that take place during infancy (from 0 to
24 months).
5. Describe the cephalocaudal rule and the proximodistal rule, and note how they apply to motor
development during infancy.
6. Outline Jean Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, noting the major milestones that
characterize each stage.
7. Compare the processes of assimilation and accommodation and discuss how they relate to object
permanence.
8. Describe the principle of conservation, and provide two examples of how a child in the concrete
operational stage might misapply that principle.
9. Describe how children make the cognitive journey from egocentrism to developing a
theory of mind and discuss whether the process is the same or different for deaf or autistic
children.
10. Compare the ways in which children discover other minds with the ways in which they discover
their own culture.
11. Describe the four different attachment styles that can develop between an infant and a primary
caregiver.
12. Contrast Jean Piaget’s and Lawrence Kohlberg’s views of moral development.
13. Explain how children act as moral intuitionists and discuss the ways in which children
distinguish between similar moral judgments with subtle differences.
14. Discuss the primary and secondary sex characteristics that girls and boys evidence during
adolescence.
15. Consider some of the myths and realities associated with protracted adolescence, such as the
onset of puberty, moodiness, and raging hormones.
16. Discuss sexuality among adolescents, particularly noting the role that sex education can play in
informing adolescents about the causes and consequences of sexual activity.
17. Discuss some of the explanations for the development of sexual orientation.
18. Comment on the relative influence of parents and peers on adolescent development.
19. List the abilities that change during adulthood, noting both the gains and the losses that take
place.
20. Explain why changes in orientation to information—thinking more or less about past, present, or
future—occur during adulthood.
21. Discuss whether or not events that most of us think will make us happy as adults, such as
marriage or children, actually contribute to psychological well-being.
Unit XII: Personality
March 9-13
1 week
A. Measuring Personality- describing and explaining, measuring personality
B. Traits and Patterns- behavioral dispositions and motives, core traits, biological building blocks
C. Psychodynamic approach- unconscious motives, structure (Id, Ego, and Superego), inner conflict
psychosexual stages and development of personality.
D. Humanistic-Existential approach- needs and self-actualization, conditions and personality of
existence
E. Social cognitive Approach- consistency of personality, constructs, goals and expectations
F. The Self- self-concept, self esteem
Objectives:
1. Define personality, noting how it involves thought, feeling, and behavior.
2. Explain the difference between describing what people are like and why people are the way they
are.
3. Compare self-report measures of personality and projective measures of personality, note some
strengths and weaknesses of both approaches, and provide examples of each type of personality
measure.
4. Describe the trait approach to studying personality, and discuss some of the issues that arose
during the search for core traits.
5. List the Big Five personality dimensions, and provide examples of each.
6. Discuss the evidence regarding the heritability of personality traits, noting the contributions of both
genes and environment to the development of personality traits.
7. Compare the behavioral activation system and the behavioral inhibition system.
8. Describe the properties of the conscious, preconscious, and unconscious mind from a
psychodynamic perspective.
9. Describe the psychodynamic structure of the mind, explaining the functions and properties of the
id, ego, and superego.
10. Compare the pleasure principle and the reality principle, and note how each helps guide behavior
according to the psychodynamic perspective.
11. Describe seven defense mechanisms, provide an example of each, and explain how each helps
reduce anxiety for an individual.
12. Describe the five stages of psychosexual development, provide an example of the conflicts that
occur during each stage, and discuss how fixation is a possibility at each stage.
13. Explain the Oedipus conflict, and note how it plays a central role in the psychodynamic view of
personality.
14. Explain the basic approach to personality adopted by the humanists. Include a description of the
processes of self-actualization, peak experiences, and unconditional positive regard.
15. Explain the basic tenets of the social cognitive approach to personality. How do the notions of
person-situation consistency, personal constructs, and locus of control illustrate aspects of this
general approach?
16. Describe how the self-concept is organized, including concepts of self-narrative, self-schemas,
and self-verification.
17. List some sources of self-esteem, and note why self-esteem is not synonymous with self-concept.
18. Define the self-serving bias, and draw parallels between it and the trait of narcissism.
Unit XII: Psychological Disorders
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
March16-26
2 weeks
Identifying what Abnormal is- Classifications, labeling and consequences, causation
Anxiety Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Mood Disorders
Schizophrenia
Personality Disorders
Objectives:
1. Discuss problems associated with the definition of abnormality, and explain why a medical model
of psychological abnormalities was eventually adopted.
2. Discuss why disturbance, personal distress, and internal dysfunction are important but limited
considerations in drawing the line between normality and abnormality.
3. Describe how the DSM-V is used to diagnose and classify mental disorders.
4. Explain how the diathesis-stress model contributes to our overall understanding of the
classification and causes of psychological disorders.
5. Describe the central features of anxiety disorders, and discuss the main differences among
generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
6. Contrast specific phobias with social phobia, and comment on how preparedness theory may
apply to phobic disorders.
7. Describe the central features of dissociative disorders, and discuss the main differences among
dissociative identity disorder, dissociative amnesia, and dissociative fugue.
8. Describe the central features of mood disorders, and discuss the main differences between
depression and bipolar disorder.
9. Compare major depressive disorder, dysthymia, double depression, seasonal affective disorder,
and postpartum depression.
10. Summarize the research evidence that implicates biological factors in depression and bipolar
disorder.
11. Summarize the research evidence that implicates psychological factors in depression and bipolar
disorder.
12. Describe the central features of schizophrenia and the main differences between the subtypes of
schizophrenia.
13. Describe five common symptoms of schizophrenia, providing an example of each.
14. Discuss research evidence for the role of biological factors in schizophrenia, including findings
from genetics, prenatal factors, biochemical factors, and neuroanatomy.
15. Describe the central features of personality disorders, and describe the main differences among
the three clusters of personality disorders.
16. Describe the features of antisocial personality disorder.
Unit XIV: Treatment for Psychological Disorders
March 30-April 10
2 weeks
A. Getting Help- why people need treatment, why some do not or cannot seek treatment, approaches
to treatment
B. Psychological Therapies: Psychodynamic therapy, Behavioral, Cognitive, Humanistic, and
Existential therapies, Group Therapy.
C. Medical and Biological Treatments- medications, stabilizers, antidepressants, herbal and natural
products, perspectives.
D. Effectiveness- evaluating treatments, what works.
Objectives:
1. Summarize the benefits of receiving treatment for psychological disorders and the reasons we
often cannot or will not seek treatment.
2. Compare the central features of psychological and biological approaches to treatment.
3. Describe the differences between psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and counselors.
4. Describe the eclectic approach to psychotherapy.
5. Describe the principles of psychoanalysis, drawing on the origins of psychoanalysis in the
psychodynamic perspective on personality.
6. Discuss why the development of insight is a central goal of psychoanalysis, and explain how free
association, dream analysis, interpretation, and analysis of resistance each contribute to that overall
goal.
7. Summarize the main departures from traditional psychoanalysis that were developed by Carl
Jung, Alfred Adler, Melanie Klein, Karen Horney, Harry Stack Sullivan, and Heinz Kohut.
8. Describe the tenets of interpersonal psychotherapy.
9. Compare the techniques of aversion therapy, token economy, exposure therapy, and systematic
desensitization, noting their similarities and differences as aspects of behavior therapies.
10. Describe the ways in which cognitive therapies and behavior therapies differ and ways in which
they are similar.
11. Describe the techniques of cognitive restructuring and mindfulness meditation.
12. Summarize the methods of cognitive behavioral therapy.
13. Explain how humanistic and existential therapies differ from psychodynamic and behavioral
therapies.
14. Describe the features of couples and family therapy, group therapy, and self-help groups.
15. Describe how antipsychotic medications, antianxiety medications, and antidepressant
medications work at a biological level.
16. Discuss research evidence on the respective effectiveness of medication, psychotherapy, or a
combination of the two approaches in treating psychological disorders.
17. Describe these biological treatments, which do not involve medication: electroconvulsive
therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, phototherapy, and psychosurgery.
18. Explain why treatment illusions can cloud someone’s ability to determine the effectiveness of
treatment for psychological disorders.
19. Compare outcome studies and process studies of treatment effectiveness, and summarize what
has been learned from each approach.
20. Identify some empirically supported psychological treatments and the disorders to which they
apply.
21. List some of the dangers associated with the treatment of psychological disorders.
Unit XV: Social Psychology
April 13-24
2 weeks
A. Social Behavior
B. Social Influence- hedonic motive, approval motive, accuracy motive
C. Social Cognition- stereotyping an attribution
Objectives:
1. Describe the tasks involved in the processes of social behavior, social influence, and social
cognition.
2. Describe how and why much of our social behavior stems from the fundamental tasks of survival
and reproduction.
3. Define aggression, and give examples of different forms of aggression.
4. Discuss some of the benefits and pitfalls of cooperation, and describe ways in which cooperation
has been scientifically studied.
5. Define altruism, and discuss how evolution may have shaped altruistic behaviors.
6. Contrast prejudice and discrimination, and discuss how these processes grow from the formation
of in-groups and out-groups.
7. Offer three reasons why the often dreadful behavior of groups would rarely be shown by
individual members acting alone.
8. Define deindividuation, and describe how it results from membership in a group.
9. Discuss how social loafing, bystander intervention, and diffusion of responsibility each illustrate
the diminished sense of responsibility we feel as members of a group.
10. Describe some of the pitfalls of group decision-making and group behavior, especially the
problem of group polarization and how it arises.
11. Explain how women and men differ in their criteria for the selection of a mate, and describe what
those differences are.
12. Identify the situational, physical, and psychological factors that contribute to attraction.
13. Explain the mere exposure effect, and provide an example of its operation in a real-world
situation.
14. Discuss why physical attributes are of primary importance in interpersonal attraction, and
describe characteristics of women and men that are generally considered attractive.
15. Distinguish passionate love and companionate love, and describe the development of each in a
close relationship.
16. Explain how social exchange, cost-benefit ratios, comparison levels, and equity each play a role
in maintaining a close relationship.
17. Compare the hedonic, approval, and accuracy motives and their relation to susceptibility to social
influence.
18. Define normative influence, noting how the norm of reciprocity is involved in the door-in-theface technique of social influence.
19. Compare conformity and obedience, and describe a classic experiment in each area.
20. Compare systematic persuasion and heuristic persuasion, and give an example of each.
21. Describe the desire for consistency most people feel, noting how the foot-in-the-door technique
and cognitive dissonance each stem from this desire.
22. Describe four ways in which stereotypes are a useful process that sometimes produces harmful
consequences.
23. Explain the attribution process, and distinguish between situational attributions and dispositional
attributions.
24. Define the correspondence bias, and discuss two reasons why it occurs.
25. Define the actor-observer effect, and show how it results from the overall processes of
attribution.
April 27th-May1st: Will be Review for the exam.
Test Date: May 4th!! Let the countdown begin…
The test is May 4th, at noon at the high school- the classroom is yet to be determined. We will have a
study session together at 7:30-8am that morning and I will provide breakfast. The AP Psychology
Exam includes a 70-minute multiple-choice (100 questions) section that accounts for two-thirds of
the exam grade and a 50-minute free-response section made up of two questions that accounts for
one-third of the exam grade.
Remember- the following percentage shows how much the test centers on the following topics:
History and Approaches
2-4%
*Research Methods
8-10%
*Biological Bases of Behavior
8-10%
Sensation and Perception
6-8%
States of Consciousness
2-4%
Learning
7-9%
*Cognition
8-10%
Motivation and Emotion
6-8%
Developmental Psychology
7-9%
Personality
5-7%
Testing and Individual Differences
5-7%
Abnormal Behavior
7-9%
Treatment of Abnormal Behavior
5-7%
*Social Psychology
8-10%
The Most Tested Subjects are:
1. Research Methods
2. Learning
3. Abnormal Behavior
4. Treatment of Abnormal
Behavior