ADVANCED PLACEMENT PSYCHOLOGY
Course Syllabus
2009-2010
Ms. Quarles
Instructor
Advanced Placement Psychology
Course Information
Course Description: The AP Psychology course is designed to introduce students to the systematic and
scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students are
exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields
within psychology. They also learn about the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and
practice.
Career Connections/College
The knowledge and skills acquired through this course provide a good foundation for college and or career
choices leading to careere in fields such as Governmment and Politics, History, Education, Economics, and
Public Service
Instructor Information
Name: Ms. Quarles
Textbook: David G. Myers, Psychology, eighth edition, Worth Publishers, 2006.
Supplemental Text: Richard O. Straub, Study Guide, AP Edition, Visual Concept Reviews, Worth
Publishers, 2007 to accompany David G. Myers, Psycology, eighth edition
Materials:
2 inches to 3 inches Binder
6 Dividers
Pens
Cloth Book Cover
Loose Leaf Paper
Highlighter (recommended)
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Evaluation of Student Performance: Grading Factors
Factors
Classwork
Brief Description
Includes all work begun and/or completed in class, class
discussions, group activities, student journals, warm-ups, and
other regularly assigned learning tasks. Includes written
assignments, such as Brief Constructed Responses (BCRs),
Extended Constructed Responses (ECRs) and Portfolios.
Grade Percentage
25%
Homework
Included all work that is completed outside of the class setting.
This might include Readings and/or accompanying tasks, written
assignments, such as BCRs, ECRs and Portfolios.
25%
Assessment
Entails the traditional method of assessing student learning. Tests
usually assess knowledge and processes gained at the end of a
unit of study, whereas quizzes typically assess knowledge and
processes acquired throughout the course of a unit of study. Prior
to testing, the teacher will review the format and content to be assessed.
After tests are scored and returned, the teacher will review the material
and offer an opportunity for students to ask clarifying questions about
incorrect responses. This category also included any long or short-term
projects assigned by the Teacher (Individual or group) and other
cumulative assessments.
50%
Supplemental Text: Richard O. Straub, Study Guide, AP Edition, Visual Concept Reviews, Worth
Publishers, 2007 to accompany David G. Myers, Psychology , eighth edition.
M – Meyer’s Psychology 8th edition
SG – Study Guide for Meyer’s Psychology 8th edition
VCR – Visual Concept Reviews for Meyer’s Psychology 8th edition
TRM – Teacher’s Resource Manual for Meyer’s Psychology 8th edition
TRD – Teacher’s Resource Disk for Meyer’s Psychology 8th edition
Grading Criteria:
Assessments:
Tests
= 100 points
Quizzes = 25 points
Classwork = 50 points
Homework = 50 points
Projects = 100 points
Reports = 100 points
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Advanced Placement Psychology
Core Vocabulary List
Unit One: Introduction to Psychology and the Scientific Method
Psychology
Structuralism
Humanistic psychology
Natural selection
Biopsychsocial approach
Applied research
Clinical psychology
Hindsight bias
Theory
Operational definition
Case study
False consensus effect
Random sample
Correlation
Illusory correlation
Double-blind procedure
Experimental condition
Random assignment
Dependant variable
Mean
Range
Statistical significance
Empiricism
Functionalism
Nature-nurture issue
Levels of analysis
Basic research
Counseling psychology
Psychiatry
Critical thinking
Hypothesis
Replication
Survey
Population
Naturalistic observation
Scatter plot
Experiment
Placebo effect
Control condition
Independent variable
Mode
Median
Standard deviation
Culture
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Unit Two: Biological Bases of Behavior
Biological psychology
Axon
Threshold
Acetylcholine
Central nervous system
Sensory neurons
Somatic nervous system
Parasympathetic nervous system
Endocrine system
Pituitary gland
Position Emission Tomography Scan
Brainstem
Thalamus
Amygdala
Glial cells
Occipital lobes
Sensory cortex
Broca’s area
Corpus callosum
neuron
myelin sheath
synapse
endorphins
peripheral nervous system
motor neurons
autonomic nervous system
reflex
hormones
lesion
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
medulla
cerebellum
hypothalamus
frontal lobes
temporal lobes
association areas
Wernicke’s area
split brain
dendrite
action potential
neurotransmitters
nervous system
nerves
interneurons
sympathetic nervous system
neural networks
adrenal glands
Electroencephalogram
FMRI functional MRI
reticular formation
limbic system
cerebral cortex
parietal lobes
motor cortex
aphasia
plasticity
perception
psychophysics
subliminal
Weber’s law
wavelength
pupil
accommodations
farsightedness
cones
fovea
Young-Helmholtz trichromatic
audition
middle ear
place theory
sensor neural hearing loss
sensory interaction
selective attention
gestalt
depth perception
retinal disparity
phi phenomenon
perceptual set
parapsychology
bottom-up processing
absolute threshold
priming
sensory adaptation
hue
iris
retina
rods
optic nerve
feature detectors
opponent-process theory
frequency
cochlea
frequency theory
cochlear implant
kinesthesia
inattentional blindness
figure-ground
visual cliff
convergence
perceptual constancy
human factors psychology
Unit Three: Sensation and Perception
Sensation
Top-down processing
Signal detection theory
Difference threshold
Transduction
Intensity
Lens
Acuity
Nearsightedness
Blind spot
Parallel processing
Color constancy
Pitch
Inner ear
Conduction hearing loss
Gate-control theory
Vestibular sense
Visual capture
Grouping
Binocular cues
Monocular cues
Perceptual adaptation
Extrasensory perception
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Unit Four: States of Consciousness
Consciousness
REM sleep
Hallucinations
Narcolepsy
Dream
REM rebound
Dissociation
Withdrawal
Addiction
Opiates
Methamphetamines
LSD
Dualism
biological rhythms
alpha wave
delta waves
sleep apnea
manifest content
hypnosis
psychoactive drug
physical dependence
depressants
stimulates
Ecstasy MDMA
THC
monism
circadian rhythm
sleep
insomnia
night terrors
latent content
posthypnotic suggestion
tolerance
psychological dependence
barbiturates
amphetamines
hallucinogens
near-death experience
Unit Five: Learning
Learning
Associative learning
Classical conditioning
Behaviorism
Unconditioned response
Unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned Response
Conditioned stimulus
Acquisition
Extinction
Spontaneous recovery
Generalization
Discrimination
prosocial behavior
respondent behavior
operant behavior
law of effect
operant chamber
shaping
reinforcer
positive reinforcement
negative reinforcement
primary reinforcer
conditioned reinforcer
continuous reinforcer
partial reinforcement
operant conditioning
fixed-ratio schedule
variable-ratio schedule
fixed-interval schedule
variable-interval schedule
punishment
cognitive map
latent learning
intrinsic motivation
extrinsic motivation
observational learning
modeling
mirror neurons
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Unit Six: Cognition
Memory
Flashbulb memory
Encoding
Storage
Retrieval
Sensory memory
Short-term memory
Long-term memory
Working memory
Automatic processing
Effortful Processing
Rehearsal
Spacing effect
Cognition
Concept
Prototype
Algorithm
Heuristic
Insight
Confirmation bias
Fixation
Mental set
serial position effect
visual encoding
acoustic encoding
semantic encoding
imagery
mnemonics
chunking
iconic memory
echoic memory
long-term potentiation
amnesia
implicit memory
explicit memory
functional fixedness
representativeness heuristic
availability heuristic
overconfidence
framing
belief bias
belief perseverance
language
phoneme
hippocampus
recall
recognition
relearning
priming
deja vu
mood-congruent memory
proactive interference
retroactive interference
repression
misinformation effect
source amnesia
morpheme
grammar
semantics
syntax
babbling stage
one-word stage
two- word stage
telegraphic speech
linguistic determinism
Unit Seven: Motivation and Emotion
Motivation
Instinct
Drive-reduction theory
Homeostasis
Incentive
Hierarchy of needs
Glucose
Set Point
Basal Metabolic rate
Emotion
James-Lange theory
Cannon-Bard theory
anorexia nervosa
bulimia nervosa
sexual response cycle
refractory period
sexual disorder
estrogen
testosterone
sexual orientation
Polygraph
Catharsis
feel-good
Subjective well-being
industrial-organizational psychology
personnel psychology
organizational psychology
structured interviews
achievement motivation
task leadership
social leadership
flow
Adaptation-level phenomenon
do-good phenomenon
Relative Deprivation
Two-factor theory
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Unit Eight: Developmental Psychology
Environment
DNA
Identical twins
Heritability
Evolutionary psychology
Gender
Personal space
Aggression
Testosterone
Gender identity
Gender schema theory
Embryo
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Maturation
Accommodation
Object permanence
Egocentrism
Concrete operational stage
Attachment
Basic trust
Puberty
Menarche
Menopause
Longitudinal study
Social clock
behavior genetics
genes
fraternal twins
interaction
natural selection
culture
individualism
X chromosome
role
gender-typing
developmental psychology
fetus
rooting reflex
schema
cognitive
preoperational stage
theory of mind
formal operational stage
critical period
self-concept
primary sex characteristics
identity
Alzheimer’s disease
crystallized intelligence
chromosomes
genome
temperament
molecular genetics
mutation
norm
collectivism
Y chromosome
gender role
social learning theory
zygote
teratogens
habituation
assimilation
sensorimotor stage
conservation
autism
stranger anxiety
imprinting
adolescence
secondary sex characteristics
intimacy
cross-sectional study
fluid intelligence
Unit Nine: Personality
Behavioral medicine
General adaptation syndrome
Type B
Coping problem-focused coping
Biofeedback
Health psychology
stress
coronary heart disease
Type A
psychophysiological illness
lymphocytes
emotion-focused coping
aerobic exercise
complementary and alternative medicine
Unit Ten: Testing and Individual Differences
Intelligence
Savant syndrome
Intelligence test
Intelligence quotient (IQ)
Stereotype
Reliability
Criterion
Down syndrome
factor analysis
general intelligence
motional intelligence
creativity
mental age
Stanford-Binet
aptitude test
achievement test
standardization
normal curve
validity
content validity
predictive validity
mental retardation
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)
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Unit Eleven: Abnormal Psychology and the Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Personality
free association
Unconscious
Id
Superego
psychosexual stages
Identification
fixation
Repression
regression
Projection
rationalization
Collective unconscious
projective test
Rorschach inkblot test
terror-management theory
Self-concept
trait
Empirically derived test
social-cognitive perspective
Personal control
external locus of control
Learned helplessness
positive psychology
Self-serving bias
psychological disorder
DSM-IV
anxiety disorders
panic disorder
Phobia
Post-traumatic disorder
dissociative disorder
Mood disorders
major depressive disorder
Bipolar disorder
schizophrenia
Personality disorders
antisocial personality disorder
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
psychoanalysis
ego
Oedipus complex
defense mechanisms
reaction formation
displacement
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)
self-actualization
Personality inventory
reciprocal determinism
internal locus of control
spotlight effect self-esteem
medical model
generalized anxiety disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
dissociative identity disorder (DID)
mania
delusions
unconditional positive regard
Unit Twelve: Social Psychology
Social psychology
Attitude
Conformity
Social loafing
Group think
Discrimination
Ingroup bias
Aggression
Social trap
Companionate love
Altruism
Reciprocity norm
attribution theory
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
normative social influence
deindividuation
prejudice
ingroup
scapegoat theory
frustration-aggression principle
mere exposure effect
equity
bystander effect
social-responsibility norm
fundamental attribution error
cognitive dissonance theory
social facilitation
group polarization
stereotype
outgroup
just-world phenomenon
conflict
passionate love
self-disclosure
social exchange theory
superordinate goals
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