AP Psychology 2015-2016
Emily Johnson
High School Main Building
emily.johnson@littlerockchristian.com
Dear students,
I’m excited that you have chosen to take AP Psychology! This course will teach you about
humanity in basically every area of functioning: together, we will examine answers to
questions like, how do our brains work? How do you learn? What motivates us? How do we
interact with others? Why do people act abnormally, and what do we do when we experience
that? Importantly, we will remember and discuss where our faith fits into the experimentation
and theorization done in the name of psychology: after all, who can explain the interworking of
humanity better than the Creator himself?
This summer project is designed to give you a foundation for psychological study. Psychology
is a field marked by multiple different perspectives that underlie research. This assignment
requires you to learn about those perspectives and utilize each one in producing an explanation
of abnormal human behavior. Throughout the year, you will see how these various
perspectives are used to explain all types of mental and behavioral processes, including
personality, causes and treatments for abnormal behavior, learning, etc.
This project will have two distinct parts and will be due on the first day of class. Please pay
close attention to the requirements detailed in the descriptions of each part of the project.
Feel free to contact me at any point this summer if you need clarification or assistance.
Enjoy your summer!
Emily Johnson
Summer Projects are to be turned in on the first day of class, August 20. Late projects will
receive a 10% reduction in points per day up to three days. Projects more than three days late
will not be accepted. Extenuating circumstances will be appropriately considered.
NOTE: Students that miss the first deadline and the three days allowed for late projects will
be removed from the course.
Part 1: Using the scanned copy of chapter one of your text, complete the attached outline for the
chapter. You will need to use this attached outline as a model for outlining chapters throughout the
course. Additionally, you must bring a copy of your outline to class on the first full day of class to
use for an open-note quiz.
Part 2: Using the knowledge that you now have about the seven psychological perspectives, explain
the odd behavior of a celebrity of your choice, utilizing each of the seven main psychological
perspectives: humanism, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, behaviorism, biological, evolutionary,
cognitive, and socio-cultural.
Choose a celebrity that you feel is notable for his/her odd behavior. Make a Word
Document that includes the name of the celebrity, a picture of the celebrity that you feel exemplifies
his/her odd behavior, a brief description of his/her odd behavior, and text boxes with the title of
the perspective and your explanation of the behavior from that perspective. See attached example
of Dennis Rodman for guidance in formatting.
Please note: your explanations can (and most likely will) be creative! The main point is not
that the explanations are accurate necessarily but that they accurately reflect each perspective.
Unit 1, Module 1: Psychology’s History
I. Prescientific Psychology
Question to be able to answer: How did psychology develop from its prescientific roots in early
understandings of mind and body to the beginnings of modern science?
A. Ancient Greece
1. Socrates and Plato:
2. Aristotle:
B. 17th century
1. Rene Descartes:
2. Francis Bacon:
3. John Locke:
- tabula rasa:
- Empiricism:
II. Psychological Science is Born
Question to be able to answer: What are some important milestones in psychology’s early
development?
A. Key Figures
1. Wilhelm Wundt
2. G. Stanley Hall
B. Edward B. Titchener and Structuralism
- structuralism:
- Introspection:
- Limitations?
C. William James and Functionalism
- functionalism:
- Women and Psychology

Mary Whiton Calkins:

Margaret Floy Washburn:
III. Psychological Science Develops
Question to be able to answer: How did psychology continue to develop from the 1920s through
today?
A. The 1920s
1. Until the 1920s, psychology was defined as __________________________________.
- ______________________ focused on inner sensations, images, and feelings.
- ______________________ focused on introspective examination of the stream of
consciousness and of emotion.
- ______________________ focused on the ways emotional responses to childhood
experiences and unconscious thought processes affect our behavior.
2. John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner redefined psychology to be
___________________________________.
3. This new definition gave rise to behaviorism.
- behaviorism:
B. Other New Definitions (1960s)
1. Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow: behaviorism and Freudian psychology is too limiting.
- humanistic psychology:
2. The Cognitive Revolution
- cognitive neuroscience:
C. Today’s Definition
1. psychology:
- Behavior:
- Mental processes:
Unit 1, Module 2: Psychology’s Big Issues and Approaches
I. Psychology’s Biggest Question
Question to be able to answer: What is psychology’s historic big issue?
A. The Nature-Nurture Debate
1. nature-nurture issue:
2. Answer: Nature works on __________________________.
II. Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
Question to be able to answer: What are psychology’s levels of analysis and related perspectives?
A. Levels of Analysis:
1. Biopsychosocial approach:
- What are biological influences?
- What are psychological influences?
- What are socio-cultural influences?
B. The Perspectives (**If I were you, I’d keep a copy of page 12 in my binder all year.)
1. Behavioral:
2. Biological:
3. Cognitive:
4. Evolutionary:
5. Humanistic (see notes for Unit 1, Module 1)
6. Psychodynamic:
7. Socio-cultural:
III. Psychology’s Subfields
Question to be able to answer: What are psychology’s main subfields?
- What is the common and unifying quest of all subfields on psychology?
- psychometrics:
A. Basic Research:
1. Biological Psychologists: explore links between brain and mind
2. Developmental Psychologists:
3. Cognitive Psychologists: experiment with how we think, perceive, and solve problems
4. Educational psychologists:
5. Personality psychologists:
6. Social psychologists:
B. Applied Research:
1. Industrial/Organizational Psychologists:
2. Human Factors Psychologists:
C. Interventionists
1. Counseling Psychologists:
2. Clinical Psychologists:
3. Psychiatrists:
D. Miscellaneous
1. Positive Psychology:
2. Community Psychologists:
Unit 1, Module 3: Careers in Psychology
Question to be able to answer: What do psychologists in various professions do, and where do they
work?
** Please note: you do not need to complete an outline for this module. However, you are
responsible for reading this module and being aware of the responsibilities of the different subfields
of psychology.