STUDY GUIDE: UNIT 1 – HISTORY and APPROACHES
AP Psychology
In addition to the information in this study guide, you are also
responsible for all of the content in textbook (Prologue), all information
from class notes/discussions, all handouts and graphic organizers.
It’s AP – it’s all fair game 
Terms & Concepts
1. structuralism
2. functionalism
3. behaviorism
4. humanistic psychology
5. cognitive neuroscience
6. psychology
7. nature-nurture issue
8. natural selection
9. level of analysis
10. biopsychosocial approach
11. basic research
12. applied research
13. counseling psychology
14. clinical psychology
15. psychiatry
16. SQ3R
Big Ideas
1: When and how did psychological science begin?
 Who was Wilhelm Wundt and what type of experimental studies did he conduct?
 What is structuralism? Who introduced it?
 What is introspection?
 Who wrote the first psychology textbook? When?
 Who was the first female president of the APA? (What is the APA?)
2: How did psychology develop from the 1920s through today?
 Who was Sigmund Freud? Which psychological perspective is he associated with?
 Who were Watson and Skinner? Which psychological perspective are they associated
with?
 Who were Maslow and Rogers? Which psychological perspective are they associated
with?
3: What is psychology’s historic big issue?
 Who was Charles Darwin? What does he have to do with psychology?
4: What are psychology’s levels of analysis and related perspectives?
 What is the humanist perspective? How does this perspective explain human thought
and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world scenarios.
 What is the psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective? How does this perspective
explain human thought and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world
scenarios.
 What is the biological/neuroscience perspective? How does this perspective explain
human thought and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world scenarios.
 What is the evolutionary perspective? How does this perspective explain human
thought and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world scenarios.
 What is the behavioral perspective? How does this perspective explain human thought
and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world scenarios.
 What is the cognitive perspective? How does this perspective explain human thought
and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world scenarios.
 What is the social-cultural/sociocultural perspective? How does this perspective explain
human thought and behavior? Be able to apply this perspective to real-world scenarios.
 What is the biopsychosocial approach?
5: What are psychology’s main subfields?
 What are the 5 subfields of research psychology?
 What does a biological psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world
scenarios.
 What does a developmental psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world
scenarios.
 What does a cognitive psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world
scenarios.
 What does a personality psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world
scenarios.
 What does a social psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world scenarios.
 What are the 4 subfields of applied psychology?
 What does a clinical psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world scenarios.
 What does a counseling psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world
scenarios.
 What does a educational psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to real-world
scenarios.
 What does a industrial/organizational psychologist do? Be able to apply this field to realworld scenarios.
 What is a psychiatrist? How does this profession differ from psychology?
6: How can psychological principles help you as a student?
 What is the SQ3R method?
 What is the best method in answering multiple-choice test items?