Ms. J. Valentine
jvalentineshs@ci.stamford.ct.us
jvalentineshs@gmail.com
(203)977-4258
AP Psychology Syllabus
Course Description: Advanced Placement Psychology (AP Psych) will introduce students to the study of
behavior and mental processes. AP Psych will be taught through a combination of lectures, class
discussions, and the review of case studies and experiments. The course will encompass the facts,
principles and phenomena associated with the various subfields of psychology. AP Psych will be taught as
if the student were enrolled at a college or university. Thus said, the level of work and corresponding
expectations of the student will far exceed those of normal high school classes. This course is designed to
prepare the student for the AP exam in early May.
Course Objectives
This course aims to help students:
 Understand the fundamental concepts and theories of psychology.
 Learn the basic skills of psychological research, and use these skills to devise research projects and
interpret research results.
 Relate psychological principles to their own lives.
 Develop introspective skills to examine their decisions and relationships more thoroughly.
 Use their growing knowledge of psychology to carefully and objectively evaluate current theories,
trends, and issues in the field of psychology.
 Prepare for successful completion of the Advanced Placement Psychology exam.
Textbook
Myers, David G. (2007) Psychology, Eighth Edition. New York: Worth Publishers.
Supplies
 2 three-ring binders for this class only – at
1.5 (everyday) and 3 inches wide (home)
 Lined paper
 1 set of 5 dividers & 2 sets of 8-tabs
 Blue/black pen
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Highlighter
A spiral notebook (for use as a vocabulary
journal) for this class only
Pencil
Grading Policies
Students should expect to have homework assignments every night of the week. Most often, homework
will consist of reading assignments from the textbook. Students are required to read the textbook
actively, updating their vocabulary journal in their spiral notebook. Their will be almost daily reading
quizzes to assess your comprehension of the material.
In addition to daily homework assignments, students are expected to complete a study guide for each
unit of study. The study guide questions will be provided, and the completed study guide will be due at
the end of the unit (on the day of the unit test). Late work will not be accepted.
In order to accurately assess your efforts and learning, there will be a wide variety of assignments. Your
quarter grade will be derived from the following:
 3-4 Formal Tests ( a unit test at the end of each unit consisting of 25 multiple choice questions,
5 terms to define and one open response essay.)
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2-3 Projects and Writing Assignments.
Almost daily reading quizzes of 5-10 questions (will cumulatively count as a test grade)
A wide variety of homework assignments: taking notes from the textbook, answering questions,
writing responses to readings or videos, or highlighting articles.
A vocabulary journal in 3 columns: term, definition, and vivid example.
Resources for Teaching AP Psychology
Duffy, Karen G., ed. Annual Editions: Psychology. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2002, 2004.
Fineburg, Amy C. Teacher’s Resource Binder (to accompany Blair-Brocker, Charles and Ernst, Randal M.:
Thinking About Psychology). New York: Worth, 2003.
Halonen, Jane, and Cynthia Gray, eds. The Critical Thinking Companion for Introductory Psychology, Second
Edition. New York: Worth, 2001.
Hock, Roger R. Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research, 4th
ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Pettijohn, Terry. Classic Edition Sources: Psychology, Fourth Edition. Dubuque: McGraw Hill Contemporary
Learning Series, 2007.
Weiten, Wayne. Psychology: Themes and Variations, Seventh Edition. Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth,
2007.
Zimbardo, Philip. Psychology: AP Edition. Boston: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, 2007.
Attendance: If students are not in class, they are not learning all of the material covered. Attendance
and participation in class are an integral part of the student’s grade. In accordance with the Stamford
High School Attendance Policy, eight absences in a quarter will result in failure for the term. Two
unexcused absences (cuts) in a quarter will result in failure for the term. Three tardies are considered an
absence, and a tardy of twenty minutes or more is considered an absence. If a student must be absent,
he/she must be accompanied by a note from a parent or physician upon their return. If there are any
questions, please consult the Stamford High School Attendance Policy. Students are responsible for
collecting all make-up work, and have a maximum of 3 days to complete missing assignments.
If a student is going to be out for an extended period of time, arrangements for work to be sent home
can be made through his/her guidance counselor or via email. If you are absent on the day of a test
or quiz, you must make it up the day you return. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the
teacher and set up a time to take the test.
Academic Responsibility: Misrepresenting others’ work as your own is intellectual dishonesty.
Because research and learning are often best done in groups, collaboration with classmates is expected.
However, all work on tests must be individual and all reports and journals must be written in your own
words. You must properly cite resources and people used in your research. You will receive a zero and
parents will be notified if any work is plagiarized.
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Extra Help: Extra help is available to all students. Please come as soon as you feel the slightest
concern: don’t wait until you are completely overwhelmed. We can schedule time during study
hall, after school, and for various review sessions to be announced. Take advantage of this
opportunity!
Confidentiality and Respect: In order to ensure a comfortable and productive class, everyone must
be responsible, accountable and respectful. Thoughts shared are to remain confidential to the class.
Course Outline
First Semester
I.
Introducing Psychology (2 weeks)
a. What is Psychology?
b. Psychology’s Perspectives
c. Psychology’s Methods
i. Description
ii. Correlation
iii. Experimentation
iv. Statistical Reasoning
d. Ethics
Sources:
Myers, Prologue and Chapter 1
Nova special—Genie: The Secrets of the Wild Child
Projects:
Naturalistic observation in the field with a partner
Design your own experiment—Write a three page ‘lab report’ with Introduction, Methods section
and Conclusion. In your conclusion, predict your results and describe modifications for future study.
Essential Questions:
 How should psychologists address the ethical dilemma presented in Genie’s case when treatment
and research conflict?
 In what cases is deceptive research justifiable?
 How could ‘thinking like a psychologist’ affect students’ lives?
II.
Biological Bases of Behavior (3 weeks)
a. The Brain
b. The Nervous System
c. Neural Communication
d. The Endocrine System
Sources:
Myers, Chapters 2 & 3
Nova special--The Secrets of the Mind
The Brain Series and The Mind Series
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Projects:
“A Silhouette with a View”—collage of brain parts and functions
Essential Questions:
 What does the current research about brain functioning suggest about optimum learning?
 What do case studies show about the interaction between neurology and personality?
 Are we ‘nothing but’ the product of nature and nurture?
 Is the recent revolution in psychopharmacology good for society?
III.
Sensation and Perception (3 weeks)
a. Sensing the World: Some basic principles
b. Vision
c. Hearing
d. The Other Senses
e. Perceptual Illusions
f. Perceptual Organization
g. Perceptual Interpretation
Sources:
Myers, Chapters 5 & 6
Projects:
Group presentations on a sense—in a small group create a visual aid and teach the class about your
assigned sense.
Virtual field trip—optical illusions
Essential Questions:
 To what extent does out mind consciously control our sensations and perceptions?
 How do unconscious perceptual biases influence our thoughts, feelings, and actions?
IV.
States of Consciousness (2 weeks)
a. Studying Consciousness
b. Sleep and Dreams
c. Hypnosis
d. Drugs and Consciousness
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 7
Guest Speaker---Clinical Psychologist hypnotizes the class
Projects:
Dream analysis using Faraday’s, Freud’s, and Jung’s methods (3-5 page paper)
Essential Questions:
 How does recent research on Buddhist monk’s meditating and professional athlete’s seeking flow
relate to students’ lives?
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What is the nature of consciousness? How can it be best studied?
V.
Personality (1.5 weeks)
a. Historical Perspectives on Personality
i. Psychoanalytic perspective
ii. Humanistic perspective
b. Contemporary Research on Personality
i. The Trait Perspective
ii. The Social-Cognitive Perspective
c. Assessment Techniques
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 15
Projects:
Take Kiersey Temperament sorter.
Personality analysis-select any person (famous, friend, family) and describe their personality. Analyze the
person’s personality using the terms and ideas from one perspective (3-5 page paper)
Essential Questions:
 What is the role of the unconscious in shaping our personalities?
 What psychoanalytical ideas are helpful in understanding family members and friends’ behaviors and
feelings?
 Is Freud ‘dead’?
 How valid and useful are personality inventories?
 Which personality theory provides the most accurate explanation for how personality develops?
VI.
Learning (1.5 weeks)
a. Classical Conditioning
b. Operant Conditioning
c. Learning by observation
d. Cognitive Processes in Learning
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 8
Discovering Psychology learning segment
Projects:
Use conditioning to modify your own or someone else’s behavior (2-3 page paper)
Essential Questions:
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Is it ethical to use aversive conditioning to eliminate maladaptive or harmful behavior?
What role does freewill play in determining individual’s thoughts and actions?
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Evaluate BF Skinner’s legacy. Do you agree with Lauren Slater’s evaluation of Skinner as an evil
manipulator?
VII.
Memory (1 week)
a. Information Processing Model
i. encoding
ii. Storage
iii. retrieval
b. Forgetting
c. Memory Construction
d. Improving Memory
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 9
Scientific Frontiers
Essential Questions:
 How is memory linked to identity?
 What is the social impact of recent research demonstrating the subjective nature of memory
construction?
 Evaluate Elizabeth Loftus’s impact on the debate about the veracity of repressed memories?
 Could you serve on a jury for a child sexual abuse case relying on recovered memories?
 How can we use recent research on memory to improve student learning?
VIII. Thinking and Language (1 week)
a. Thinking
b. Problem Solving and Creativity
c. Language
d. Thinking and Language
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 10
Projects:
Debate the relationship between language and thinking
Analyze advertisements
Essential Questions:
 Can thought exist without language?
 How does cross cultural research help to clarify the relationship between language and thought?
 How logical is an individual’s thought process?
 What impact does bias have on our decision making?
IX.
Intelligence and Testing (1 week)
a. The Origins of Intelligence Testing
b. What is Intelligence?
c. Accessing Intelligence
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d.
e.
f.
g.
The Dynamics of Intelligence
Genetic and Environmental Influences of Intelligence
Standardization and Norms
Reliability and Validity
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 11
Discovering Psychology Intelligence and Testing segment
Projects:
One page persuasive speech about an aspect of intelligence or standardization testing.
Class project—Construct an intelligence test to assess Gardner’s multiple intelligences.
Essential Questions:
 Are intelligence tests inherently culturally biased?
 Is intelligence a general mental ability or many specific abilities?
 To what extent is intelligence determined by genes? By one’s environment?
 Why does this aspect of the nature—nurture debate matter?
Review for midterms:
We will practice writing and grading open-response questions—students act as readers and
evaluate other students’ practice essays. The midterm will be structured and graded like an AP
Psychology test. It will have 100 multiple choice questions and two open response questions.
Second Semester
X.
Psychological Disorders (3 weeks)
a. Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
b. Anxiety Disorders
c. Mood Disorders
d. Schizophrenia
e. Personality Disorders
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 16
The Brain Series
Discovering Psychology psychopathology segment
Psychsim CDrom
Projects:
Case conferences (5-7 page paper): Read a novel where the main character suffers from a mental illness.
Analyze and diagnose the main character. Present your analysis to the class. Research your diagnosis and
compare your character’s course of illness with research.
Essential Questions:
 How can we develop empathy for individuals with mental illness?
 To what extent does society stigmatize mental illness?
 What are benefits and burdens of diagnostic labeling and using the DSMIV?
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XI.
Therapy (1.5 weeks)
a. Psychological Therapies
b. Evaluating Psychotherapies
c. Biomedical Therapies
d. Preventing Psychological Disorders
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 17
Guest Speaker
Projects:
Debate ECT
Psychological Therapies role-plays.
Essential Questions:
 What are rewards and challenges working as a therapist?
 Whose responsibility is treatment of the mentally ill?
 In what cases should adults have treatment imposed on them?
XII.
The Developing Person (1.5 weeks)
a. Prenatal Devilment
b. Infancy and Childhood
c. Adolescence
d. Adulthood
e. Death and Dying
f. Reflections on the Life Span
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 4
The Breakfast Club
Projects:
Apply Marcia’s, Kohlberg’s, and Erikson’s ideas to the main characters in The Breakfast Club
Baby Books
Essential Questions:
 To what extent is developmental caused by forces within the individual? By societal forces?
 Do our personality characteristics stay the same through out our life, or do we become different
people as we age?
 What is the significance of research about cognitive, social and emotional development?
 How can we best help individuals (including ourselves) who are grieving?
XIII. Motivation and Emotion (1.5 weeks)
a. Motivational Concepts
b. Hunger
c. Sexual Motivation
d. The Need to Belong
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e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
Motivation at Work
Theories of Emotion
Embodied Emotions
Expressed Emotions
Experienced Emotions
Sources:
Myers, Chapters 12 and 13
Projects:
Groups will view, discuss and analyze MIT mind conference excerpts with Buddhists Monks.
Essential Questions:
 How does the research on motivation and peak performance relate to students’ lives?
XIV. Social Psychology (2.5 weeks)
a. Social Thinking
b. Social Influence
c. Social Relations
i. Prejudice
ii. Aggression
iii. Conflict
iv. Attraction
v. Altruism
vi. Peacemaking
Sources:
Myers, Chapter 18
Candid Camera Classics
Discovering Psychology social psychology segments
Projects:
Conduct a social psychology experiment and present findings to the class
Essential Questions:
 What factors increase conformity and the possibility of deindividuation?
 To what extent does the situation determine individual thoughts, feelings and actions?
 What are the lessons derived from Milgram’s, Zimbardo’s and Jane Elliot’s research?
 What is the best way to address racism and prejudice?
Review for the AP test:
Two weeks before the test: There will be 4 after school sessions meeting time and place TBA to address
any concerns or questions about the exam. Students should plan on attending at least one study session
and are welcome to attend all.
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Students should plan upon entry into class to form “study groups” this is NOT mandatory, but highly
recommend to enhance your in-class learning and preparation for the exam.
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