AP® Psychology
2008-2009 Academic Year
Course Description:
The College Board Advanced Placement Program describes Advanced
Placement Psychology “as a course that is designed to introduce students
to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental
processes of human beings and other animals” (Psychology Course
Description, May 2006/07). In addition to this description, I feel that the
AP Psychology Program at Henry Ford II High School has been designed to
provide students with the information and skills necessary to be
successful in a challenging curriculum by teaching critical thinking skills,
and to prepare students for the demands of college level courses. This will
be done by challenging what students know about their own mental
capacities and perceptions of the world.
Course Objective:
The course objective is to present each and every student with the
learning opportunity and the informational material that can be compared
to an introductory college Psychology course at most universities and
colleges. My goal is that each student not only come out of this class with
a greater understanding of Psychology as a course, but how to understand
its interconnection to all aspects of human life. In all areas of study, our
goal will be to focus on ethics in research methods that are common place
in psychological science and practice.
Required Text:
◘ David Myers, Psychology (New York: Worth, 2003)
◘ Teacher will provide supplemental reading for each unit
◘ Support material provided by the College Board
Course Evaluation:
94%
88%
85%
82%
78%
-
100% A
91% A 87% B +
84% B
81% B -
75%
72%
68%
62%
58%
57%
- 77%
- 74%
- 71%
- 67%
- 61%
and below
C+
C
CD+
DF
Homework:
Homework will be a regular occurrence in AP Psychology. Over half of all
assignments will be reading assignments. Each reading assignment must
be completed in a timely manner, due to the fact that each week there is
the possibility of either a test or a quiz.
Free-Response Questions:
In order to prepare for the AP Psychology test, there will be free-response
essay questions on a bi-weekly basis. This is to familiarize students with
the type and format of essays on the AP Psychology Test.
Tests:
Each topic covered in class (see course schedule) will have a
corresponding test. The tests will be comprehensive and include all of the
class lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and the required reading.
Tests will be multiple choice and free response. All class tests will follow
the AP Psychology Exam format.
Quizzes:
Quizzes will be an integral part of this course. They will appear on a
regular basis, and students should expect a quiz on any given day. This
makes the assigned nightly reading valuable to not only the
understanding of Psychology, but students’ overall academic success.
Late Assignments:
NO LATE ASSIGNMETS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Students are responsible for
completing all of the assigned course work by the assigned due date.
Attendance:
Regular attendance is crucial to success in this course. Each class period
will be a collection of lecture, experiments, discussion, and
demonstrations. A student who misses class will be allowed to make up all
missed work in a timely fashion. One extra day will be given for each
absent day. A student who misses a day before a quiz or test will be
required to take the quiz/test on the scheduled day.
Extra Credit:
Do not expect extra credit, but occasionally I will offer small amounts of
extra credit for various assignments or academic research. Extra credit is
only an option for those students who have no missing work, and it is not
available in the last two weeks of a marking period. Further information on
extra credit will be discussed later in the course.
Additional Time:
Each Thursday we will be meeting in my room after school to have a
review session. The session will be a review of the weekly material, the
assigned readings, and for test prep. This will be completely voluntary,
but students are encouraged to attend. Times will vary depending on the
week, but students should expect the session to last about an hour.
Course Outline: (Schedule)
12)
(Units 1-
This list only outlines major units of study. During the course we will use
this as a guideline for more developed discussion and thought. We will
spend approximately 1-2 weeks with each unit.
1. Scope, History, and Research Methods (1 week)
◘ Historical schools and philosophy
◘ Modern approaches
● Biological, Behavioral, Cognitive, Humanistic,
Psychodynamic, Sociocultural, Evolutionary, Sociobiological
◘ Research methods
● Experimental, correlation, clinical research
● Methods of research
◘ Statistics
● Differential and inferential
◘ Ethics guidelines in research
2. Biological Bases of Behavior (2 weeks)
◘ Neuroanatomy
● Division of Nervous System and organization
● Neurons
● Brain communication
● Brain development
◘ Endocrine System
◘ Genetics
3. Sensation and Perception (1-1.5 weeks)
◘ Sensation
● Sensory organs (eye and ear)
● Thresholds (Absolute and Difference)
● Adaptation
◘ Perception
● Attention
● Processing
● Illusions
◘ Gestalt Principals
4. States of Consciousness (1 week)
◘ Sleep and dreaming
◘ Sleep disorders
◘ Psychoactive drugs and effects
5. Learning (1 week)
◘ Conditioning
● Classical
● Operant
◘ Cognitive Learning
◘ Observational Learning
6. Memory (1 week)
◘ Encoding, storage and retrieval
◘ Forgetting, recall and recognition
◘ Short and long term memory
7. Cognition (2-weeks)
◘ Problem solving
● Algorithms
● Heuristics
● Impediments
◘ Intelligence
● Defining
● Testing
●History
● Theories
◘ Multiple Intelligences
◘ Language
● Language and cognition
● Language acquisition
◘ Creativity
8. Motivation and Emotion (1 week)
◘ Theories of motivation
◘ Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
◘ Stress
◘ Biological impact of motivation
● Hunger, thirst, pain, sex
◘ Theories of emotion
● Physiology of emotion
9. Developmental Psychology (1-1.5 weeks)
◘ Influential theories of development
● Piaget, Freud, Kohlberg, Erikson
◘ Sex roles
◘ Nature v. Nurture
◘ Stages of development
● Infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
10. Social Psychology (1 week)
◘ Attitudes and behavior (antisocial behavior)
◘ Group influence
◘ Social perception
◘ Attribution process
● Evolutionary perspective
● Stereotypes
◘ Conformity and obedience
◘ Behavior in groups
● Decision making
11. Personality (1.5 weeks)
◘ The nature of personality
● Defining and assessment
◘ Personality perspectives
● Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Humanistic, Biological,
Contemporary Empirical approach
◘ Self-concept and self-esteem
◘ Culture and personality
12. Abnormal Psychology (1.5 weeks)
◘ Approaches to abnormal psychology
● Definitions and theories
◘ Diagnosis
◘ Disorders
● Anxiety, mood, organic, personality, dissociative,
somatoform
◘ Treatment
● Treatment approaches
● Modes of therapy
AP Psychology
2009
Unit 5: Learning
2008-
Unit Outline
Student Responsibility:
Students will be given a unit outline at the beginning of each unit.
Students are expected to use each outline as a template for each chapter
in the text, and as a study guide to correspond with lecture notes and
class demonstrations. Each unit outline is not a complete list of every
vocabulary term from the unit, but a starting point. Students should add
information to each outline as we complete each unit.
1. Classical Conditioning
◘ Pavlov’s Experiment (demonstration)
- Cognitive processes
- Biological predispositions
◘ Applications of Classical Conditioning
- Conditioned fears
- Emotional responses
- Physiological responses
◘ Basic terminology and procedures
- Acquisition
- Extinction and spontaneous recovery
- High-order conditioning
- Unconditioned stimulus, conditioned stimulus, conditioned
response, elicited, trial
◘ Watson and Classical Conditioning
- Stimulus generalization
- Stimulus discrimination
2. Operant Conditioning
◘ Thorndike
- Law of Effect
◘ Skinner’s Demonstration
- Reinforcement
◘ Basic terminology and procedures
- Operant Chamber (Skinner Box)
- Reinforcement contingencies
- Cumulative recorder
- Shaping
- Acquisition
- Extinction and resistance
◘ Reinforcement schedules
- Continuous
- Intermittent
- Ratio schedules/Interval schedules
◘ Positive/Negative Reinforcement
- Escape learning
- Avoidance learning
◘ Punishment
3. Learning by Observation
◘ Bandura
- Attention
- Retention
- Reproduction
- Motivation
◘ Controversy
4. Cognitive Learning
◘ Latent Learning
- Cognitive maps
AP Psychology
2009
Unit 5: Learning
Formal Assessment
2008-
Student Responsibility:
Write a response to the question. A valid response needs more than just
listing the correct terminology; however, make sure you include all
necessary terminology to support you answers.
Question #1
You have been given the opportunity to be a part of a research team that
is studying the possibility of impacting the behaviors of children who wet
the bed. Your research task is to develop a method which will stop the
action of wetting the bed using the principles of learning. You must give
your research team leaders your initial information on the stopping the
action, using both classical conditioning and operant conditioning. After
comprising the correct models for both types of conditioning, you must
decide on, and defend, your position on which model of learning is the
best to stop the children’s action of wetting the bed. Each model must
show an explanation of the following items.
Classical Conditioning
Conditioned fears
Emotional responses
Spontaneous recovery
Generalization
Extinction
2nd Spontaneous recovery
Stimulus discrimination
AP Psychology
2009
Unit 5: Learning
Operant Conditioning
Positive and negative reinforcement
Punishment
Stimulus control
Schedules of reinforcement
(ratio/intervals)
Escape/Avoidance learning
2008-
Topic: Observational & Social Learning
Independent reading and assessment
Student Responsibility:
Your first homework assignment for unit 5 is to read Kurt Vonnegut’s story
“Harrison Bergeron.” You will be given a copy of the story and will be
required to answer the following questions.
“Harrison Bergeron” was first published in October 1961 in The Magazine
of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Questions:
1. What effect does the elimination of advantages, differences and
competition have on the concept of observational or social learning?
Make sure that you include the role of the model in your answer.
2. Take what you know about observational/social learning and answer
what Bandura’s perspective would be on the elimination of
advantages, differences and competition?
3. Vonnegut describes a world without basic human tendencies. How
did the establishment of the removal of human tendencies relate to
the evolutional perspective on learning? How could observational
and social learning still take place with the lack of human
tendencies?
Assignment Criteria:
Please type your responses. Use your text for additional information on
observational and social learning. A valid response needs more than just
listing the correct terminology; however, make sure you include all
necessary terminology to support your answers.