AP Psychology Course Syllabus
2015-2016
Period 6
Room 321
Mr. Tortomasi
262-495-7101 ext 2321
jtortomasi@peasd.org
jtortomasi@palmyra.k12.wi.us
Course Description:
This course follows the general outline provided by the Educational Testing
Service, which creates the Advanced Placement examination. Although many other
curricular materials are incorporated into the course, and the individual needs of
students remain paramount, the major thrust of the course is to prepare students to take
the national Advanced Placement Psychology Examination in May.
This is a college-level psychology course (as opposed to the semester length
“general” Psychology course offered at this school) taught to highly motivated high
school students. The expectation is that students will assume responsibility for
completing heavy reading and writing assignments. Students will continually engage in
the intellectual processes that parallel those of the researchers we study: gathering,
analyzing, and interpreting evidence in a disciplined way.
AP Psychology is a challenging course that is meant to be the equivalent of a
introductory college course and can earn students college credit. It is a two-semester
survey of psychology from the historical roots of the discipline to the emerging fields of
neuroscience and imaging techniques. Solid reading and writing skills, along with a
willingness to devote considerable time to homework and study, are necessary to
succeed. Emphasis is placed on critical and evaluative thinking skills, essay writing,
interpretation of research findings and application of acquired skills and concepts.
Within the framework of a challenging course in psychology, every attempt is
made to instill in the students a shared enthusiasm for the study of the discipline and a
shared pride in the achievement of completing the difficult academic tasks that lie
ahead. Another major goal is that this course becomes a memorable experience for
students, a turning point in their intellectual and personal growth.
Course Objectives
Students will:
- demonstrate an understanding of psychology’s basic concepts and vocabulary
- master a broad body of psychology-related theories
- use critical thinking skills when interpreting research findings
- differentiate between psychological schools of thought
- interpret and apply data from research studies, experiments, etc.
- effectively use analytical skills of evaluation, cause and effect, compare and contrast
- realize psychology’s continued importance in our global society
- work effectively with others to produce products and solve problems
- understand the rigors of college classes
- prepare for and successfully pass the Advanced Placement Exam
Course Texts and Readings
Student Bibliography:
Main Text * - Myers, David G. (2010). Psychology (9th ed.).New York: Worth Publishers.
* PLEASE NOTE: Students will be provided additional materials to ensure
currency in the curriculum.
Other Student Resources:
Student Activity CD-ROM for Psychology (6th ed.)
Contents: Chapter Reviews, Web Links, Flashcards, “In the News,” Close-Up Sections,
Thinking Critically, Quizzes, Simulations and Demonstrations, Drag and Drop Term
Reviews, PsychSim Modules, PsychQuest Modules
Straub, Richard O. (2001) Study Guide to accompany Myers Psychology (9th ed.)
Scientific American Psychology Reader (2000)
Teacher Bibliography:
Gerrig, R. & Zimbardo, P. (2005). Psychology and Life (17th ed.). Boston: Pearson.
Myers, D. (2001). Psychology (6th ed.). New York: Worth.
Myers, D. (2007). Psychology (8th ed.). New York: Worth.
Weiten, W. (1998). Psychology: Themes and Variations (4th ed.). Pacific Grove: Brooks
and Cole.
Organization: This course will include daily reading assignments and note taking. Class
time will be a combination of lecture, group work, partner work, discussions of major
research findings, simulations, demonstrations, replication of landmark studies, viewing
topical videos and answering student questions. Periodically, student essays, reports, or
presentations will be required. (These will be scored using rubrics that are provided with
the assignments.)
Tests: Tests will consist of a combination of objective and essay questions. In
conformance with the AP Exam, tests will be composed of 2/3 multiple choice questions
and an essay weighted 1/3 of the total point value.
The Key to Success: The most important factors that will lead to your success in this
class are consistent effort, being engaged in class activities, and striving for personal
improvement. Do not be discouraged if your grades seem low at first. (If you knew the
material already, you wouldn’t need this course.) What you will learn in terms of writing,
thinking, and study skills will be worth the effort!
GRADING AND ACADEMIC STANDARDS – My grading standards directly reflect the
policy designated by the High School Administration.
93-100 = A
86-92 = B
77-85 = C
70-76 = D
69 and lower = F
This scale applies to tests, quizzes, and all assignments.
Major Assignments and Assessments:
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100 Question Multiple Choice Pre-Test
Note-Taking Skills
Writing APA-style
Proper Outline Format
Key Term Flashcards
Chapter Outlines
Classroom Demonstrations
Classroom Experiments
Videos
Diagrams (labeling parts of a neuron, the brain, an eye, the ear, etc.)
Partner and Group Work
Guest Speaker (had brain surgery for an AVM; discussion of paralysis, physical
therapy, and ongoing rehabilitation efforts)
Sheep Brain Dissection Lab
Field Trip
Psychology Today article analysis
Action Research Project Design
Designing and Conducting an Experiment (then written as a Term Paper)
Academic Portfolio
WebSearches: APA/APS, What Happened in Psychology on my Birthday?
PsychSim
PsychQuest
Quizzes
Unit Tests
Unit tests, chapter quizzes, class activities, PsychSims and PsychQuests, research
papers, lab assignments, portfolio binders, chapter outlines or flashcards and homework
assignments will all be counted toward your final grade.
Attendance: Attendance in this class is essential. Much of the material for success is
provided through lecture/discussion. Missing class can create serious and long term
problems.
Advanced Placement Exam: The AP Exam is given in May. Registration for the exam
takes place in February. Although the exam is not required, it is highly recommended
and students may earn college credit and/or advanced placement. We will discuss this
at numerous times during the semester.
Comprehensive Class Exam: At the end of the first semester, all students will take a
semester exam covering all of the chapters we have completed. This will count toward
15% of the First semester grade.
At the end of the second semester, students will take a number
of pre-AP exam preparation assessments, that will count toward
50% of the final exam grade. The other 50% will be a compilation
of scores from various activities in the weeks following the AP
Psychology exam in May.
AP Psychology Course Outline
Unit 1: Methods, Approaches, and History (Introduction and Ch.1)
Prologue –
The Story of Psychology
History of Psychology
 Major Contributors to Psychology
 Minorities and Women in Psychology
 Major Schools of Thought in Psychology
 Psychology’s Big Issues
 Perspectives in Psychology
 Sub-Fields/Careers in Psychology
Chapter 1 – Thinking Critically with Psychological Science
 The Scientific Method
 Critical Thinking
 Types of Bias
 Research Methods and Design
 Methods of Observation
 Correlational Studies
 Types of Correlation
 Experimentation
 APA Ethical Guidelines
 Ethical Considerations/Experiments with Animals
 Statistics: Descriptive and Inferential
 Methods of Central Tendency
 Frequency Distributions
 Types of Graphs and Charts
 Measures of Variance
 Probability and Chance
Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior (Ch.2)
Chapter 2 – Neuroscience and Behavior
 Parts of a Neuron
 Neural Communication
 Neurotransmitters
 Nervous System Abnormalities (i.e. MS, paralysis, Phantom Limbs)
 Location and Functions of Brain Structures
 Lower-Level Brain Structures
 The Limbic System
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The Lobes of the Brain
Cerebral Cortex/Fissures
Association Areas
Hemispheric Specialization/Handedness
Gender Differences in the Brain
Language Production/Broca’s and Wernicke’s Aphasia
Neuroimaging Techniques
Brain Abnormalities (i.e. stroke, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s)
The Endocrine System
Unit 3: Sensation and Perception (Ch.6)
Chapter 6 – Sensation
 Thresholds
 Transduction
 Structure and Function of Parts of the Eye
 Human Visual System
 Sightedness
 The Color Spectrum
 Theories of Color Vision
 Color Blindness
 Structure and Function of Parts of the Ear
 Human Auditory System
 Sound Localization
 Subliminal Messages
 Other Senses (taste, smell, touch, kinesthesis, vestibular sense)
Chapter 6 – Perception
 Selective Attention
 Monocular and Binocular Cues
 Perceptual Organization
 Perceptual Constancy
 Perceptual Set
 Optical Illusions
 Backmasking
 ESP (i.e. Telepathy, Precognition, Psychokinesis)
Unit 4: States of Consciousness (Ch.3)
Chapter 3– States of Consciousness (Independent Study)
 Levels of Consciousness
 Sleep and Sleep Cycles
 Dreaming
 Hypnosis
 Meditation
 Biofeedback
 Psychoactive Drug Use/Effects
Unit 5: Learning (Ch.7)
Chapter 7– Learning
 Defining Learning
 Learning and Brain Activity
 Habits and Preferences
 Biological Factors
 Classical Conditioning
 Pavlov's Experiments
 Thorndike and Instrumental Conditioning
 Conditioned Taste Aversion
 Operant Conditioning
 Types of Reinforcement
 Schedules of Reinforcement
 Skinner's Experiments
 Punishment and Its Effects
 Behavior Modification and Token Economies
 Cognitive Processes in Learning
 Kohler and Insight
 Observational Learning
 Bandura's Experiments
Unit 6: Cognition (Ch.8 Ch.9 and pp. 408-409 of Ch.11)
Chapter 8– Memory
 The Phenomenon of Memory
 Information Processing
 Encoding: Getting Information In
 Types of Encoding
 Mnemonic Devices
 Serial Position Effect/Primacy Effect/Recency Effect
 Storage: Retaining Information
 Three Stages of Memory (Sensory, Short-Term, Long-Term)
 How We Store Memories in the Brain
 Parallel Distributed Processing
 Retrieval: Getting Information Out
 Retrieval Cues
 Forgetting (Encoding Failure, Storage Decay, Retrieval Failure)
 Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon
 Memory Construction
 The Physiology of Memory
 Misinformation and Imagination Effects
 Amnesia/Source Amnesia
 Discerning True and False Memories/Confabulation
 Forgetting
 Eyewitness Testimony
 Repressed Memories
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Improving Memory
Chapter 9– Thinking and Language
 Defining Thinking
 Types of Heuristics
 When Statistics Clash With Heuristics
 Concepts
 Problem-Solving/Insight
 Barriers to Effective Problem-Solving
 Reasoning/Logic
 Making Decisions/Forming Judgments
 Risky Decision-Making
 Belief Bias
 Artificial Intelligence
 The Structure of Language
 Language Acquisition
 Four Stages of Language
 Four Rules of Language
 Language Development
 Thinking and Language
 Mental Imagery
 How Language Influences Thinking
 Thinking Without Language
 Do Animals Think?
 Do Animals Exhibit Language?
Chapter 10 – Creativity (pp. 410-412 only)
 Defining Creativity
 Assessing Creativity
 IQ and Creativity
Unit 7: Motivation and Emotion (Ch.11, and Ch.12)
Chapter 11 – Motivation
 Motivational Concepts
 Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology
 Drives and Incentives
 Optimum Arousal
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 The Physiology and the Psychology of Hunger
 Eating Disorders
 Sexual Motivation
 The Physiology and the Psychology of Sex
 Sexual Disorders and Therapy
 Adolescent Sexuality
 Sexual Orientation
 Sex and Human Values
 Aiding Survival
 The Need to Belong
 Affiliation
 Ostracism
 Acting to Increase Social Acceptance
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Maintaining Relationships
Achievement Motivation
Fear of Failure
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Motivating People
Leadership and Management Styles
Chapter 12 – Emotion, Stress and Health
 Theories of Emotion
 James-Lange Theory
 Cannon-Bard Theory
 Schachter’s Two-Factor Theory
 Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion
 Cognition and Emotion
 Two Dimensions of Emotion: Valence and Arousal
 Physiological States Accompanying Specific Emotions
 Lie Detectors
 Fear/Anger/Happiness
 Sensation-Seeking
 Expressing Emotion
 Nonverbal Communication
 Effects of Facial Expressions
 Culture and Emotional Expression
 Stress and Illness
 Types of Stressors
 Stress and Susceptibility to Disease/Heart Disease
 Mind-Body Interaction
 Promoting/Fortifying Health
 Coping With Stress
 Alternative Medicine
 Modifying Illness-Related Behaviors: Quitting Smoking/Losing Weight
Unit 8: Developmental Psychology (Ch.5 and Ch.4)
Chapter 5 – The Developing Person
 Research Strategies in Developmental Psychology
 Longitudinal vs. Cross-Sectional Studies
 Conception
 Prenatal Development
 What Can Go Wrong?
 The Competent Newborn
 Physical Changes over the Lifespan
 Infancy and Childhood
 Gender Roles and Gender Differences
 Cognitive Changes over the Lifespan
 Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development
 Moral Bases of Behavior over the Lifespan
 Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development
 Adolescence
 Social Changes over the Lifespan
 Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development
 Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development
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Marcia’s Theory of Ego Identity Status
Adulthood
Work and Family Patterns in the Adult Years
Aging and Intelligence
Memory and Aging
Diseases of Old Age
Death and Dying
Kubler-Ross’ Stages of Grief
Medical Directives
Assisted Suicide
Continuity vs. Stages
Stability vs. Change
Chapter 4 – The Nature and Nurture of Behavior
 Evolutionary Psychology
 Genes
 Behavior Genetics: Explaining Individual Differences
 Recessive vs. Dominant Traits
 Phenotype vs. Genotype
 Universal Behaviors
 Natural Selection
 Twin Studies
 Adoption Studies
 Temperament Studies
 Heritability
 Gene-Environment Interaction
 Molecular Genetics
 Environmental Influences
 Parental vs. Peer Influence
 Prenatal Environment
 Experience and Brain Development
 Culture
 The Nature and Nurture of Gender
 Gender Stereotypes
Unit 9: Personality (Ch.13)
Chapter 13 – Personality
 The Psychoanalytic Perspective
 Exploring and Assessing the Unconscious
 Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective
 The Trait Perspective
 Assessing Personality Traits
 Evaluating the Trait Perspective
 Objective vs. Projective Personality Tests
 The MMPI/MMPI-2 and CPI
 TAT’s and Rorschach Inkblots
 Sentence Completion and Word Association Tests
 The Behavioral Perspective
 The Humanistic Perspective
 Exploring and Assessing the Self
 Evaluating the Humanistic Perspective
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The Social-Cognitive Perspective
Exploring and Assessing Behaviors in Various Situations
Evaluating the Social-Cognitive Perspective
The Biological Approach to Personality
Seligman’s Positive Psychology Movement
Unit 10: Testing and Individual Differences (Ch.10)
Chapter 10 – Intelligence
 The Origins of Intelligence Testing
 Contributions of Alfred Binet and Lewis Terman
 Defining Intelligence
 Theories of Intelligence
 Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable?
 Assessing Intelligence
 Modern Tests of Mental Abilities
 Aptitude and Achievement Tests
 Stanford-Binet vs. Wechsler Scales
 Principles of Test Construction
 Standardization and Norms
 The Bell Curve
 Reliability and Validity
 The Dynamics of Intelligence
 Stability vs. Change (in reference to intelligence)
 Extremes of Intelligence
 Mental Retardation and Down’s Syndrome
 Savant Syndrome
 Giftedness and Genius
 Mensa
 Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
 Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
 The Question of Bias
Unit 11: Abnormal Psychology (Ch.14)
Chapter 14 – Psychological Disorders
 Multiple Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
 What is Abnormal Behavior?
 Classifying Psychological Disorders
 The DSM-IV
 Anxiety Disorders
 Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Panic Disorder
 Phobias
 Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
 Tourette’s Syndrome
 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
 Affective Disorders
 Major Depressive Disorder
 Suicide
 Bipolar Disorder
 Somatoform Disorders
 Dissociative Disorders
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Schizophrenia
Symptoms of Schizophrenia
Types of Hallucinations and Delusions
Causes of Schizophrenia
Personality Disorders
Rates of Psychopathology
Preventing Psychological Disorders
Insanity and the Law
Unit 12: Treatments of Psychological Disorders (Ch.15)
Chapter 15 – Therapy
 Goals of Therapy
 Comparing Techniques of Various Treatments
 Insight Therapies/Psychoanalysis
 Humanistic Therapies
 Behavior Therapies
 Cognitive Therapies
 Group and Family Therapies
 Community Approaches to Treatment
 Evaluating the Relative Effectiveness of Different Therapies
 Alternative Therapies
 Culture and Values in Psychotherapy
 The Biomedical Therapies
 Drug Therapies
 Electroconvulsive Therapy
 Psychosurgery
 The Trend Toward Deinstitutionalization
Unit 13: Social Psychology (Ch.16)
Chapter 16 – Social Psychology
 Social Thinking
 Attribution Theory: the Person vs. the Situation
 First Impressions
 Attitudes and Behaviors
 Social Influence/Persuasion
 Conformity and Obedience
 The Research of Asch and Milgram
 Group Influence and Group Norms
 Diffusion of Responsibility and the Bystander Effect
 Group Dynamics
 Group Productivity and Group Decision-Making
 Social Relations
 Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviors
 Prejudice
 Aggression
 Video Games and Violence?
 Conflict
 Peacemaking
 Theories of Love
 Factors Involved in Attraction
- Altruism