Advanced Placement Psychology
2014-2015 Course Syllabus
Quaker Valley High School
Instructor: Mr. Michael Pastor
This class meets for 60 minutes each day for 24 weeks in accordance with Quaker
Valley High School’s B/C trimester schedule.
Course Description & Objectives
The AP Psychology course is designed to be the equivalent of a college psychology
course and 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. Students will also learn about the ethics
and methods psychologists use in their science and practice. The primary areas of
course study will follow the APA National Standards for High School Psychology
including; psychological methods, biopsychology, cognitive psychology,
developmental psychology, social psychology, and abnormal psychology.
1. To gain a thorough understanding of psychological science from its’
beginnings to present day.
2. To develop an understanding of the approaches and perspectives by which
one can approach psychology.
3. To become familiar with the branches of psychology and their applications.
4. To apply knowledge gained in class to real-life situations.
Resources for Teaching AP Psychology
1. Text: Myer’s Psychology for AP by David G. Myers (New York: Worth, 2011)
with accompanying ancillaries, resource manual, test bank, powerpoint, and
various other text resources.
2. Released AP multiple choice exams and all of the free response questions and
rubrics.
3. Activities Handbook for the Teaching of Psychology, Vol. 4. (APA, 1999).
Prerequisites
Successful completion of Introduction to Psychology.
Summer & Supplemental Readings
1. The 40 Studies That Changed Psychology 5th ed. By Roger Hock (New Jersey:
Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2005).
2. Various readings from Myer’s Psychology for AP.
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Course Outline
Unit 1: Psychology’s History and Approaches
o What is Psychology
o Psychology’s Roots
o Psychological Science Develops
o Contemporary Psychology
o Psychology’s Biggest Question
o Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
o Psychology’s Subfields
Unit 2: Research Methods
o The Need for Psychological Science
o Hindsight Bias
o Overconfidence
o The Scientific Attitude
o Critical Thinking
o How Do Psychologists Ask and Answer Questions
o The Scientific Method
o Description
o Correlation
o Experimentation
o Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life
o Describing Data
o Making Inferences
o Frequently Asked Questions About Psychology
o Psychology Applied
o Ethics in Research
Unit 3A: Neural Processing and the Endocrine System
o Neural Communication
o Neurons
o How Neurons Communicate
o How Neurotransmitters Influence Us
o The Nervous System
o The Peripheral Nervous System
o The Central Nervous System
o The Endocrine System
Unit 3B: The Brain
o The Tools of Discovery: Having Our Head Examined
o Recording the Brain’s Electrical Activity
o Neuroimaging Techniques
o Older Brain Structures
o The Brainstem
o The Thalamus
o The Cerebellum
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o The Limbic System
o The Cerebral Cortex
o Structure of the Cortex
o Functions of the Cortex
o Language
o The Brain’s Plasticity
o Our Divided Brain
o Splitting the Brain
o The Brain and Consciousness
o Cognitive Neuroscience
o Dual Processing
o The Two-Track Mind
Unit 3C: Genetics, Evolutionary Psychology, and Behavior
o Behavior Genetics: Predicting Individual Differences
o Genes: Our Codes for Life
o Twin and Adoption Studies
o Heritability
o Gene-Environment Interaction
o The New Frontier: Molecular Genetics
o Evolutionary Psychology: Understanding Human Nature
o Natural Selection and Adaptation
o Evolutionary Success Helps Explain Similarities
o An Evolutionary Explanation of Human Sexuality
o Critiquing the Evolutionary Perspectives
o Reflections on Nature and Nurture
Unit 4: Sensation and Perception
o Seeing the World: Some Basic Principles
o Selective Attention
o Thresholds
o Sensory Adaptation
o Vision
o The Stimulus Input: Light Energy
o The Eye
o Visual Information Processing
o Color Vision
o Hearing
o The Stimulus Input: Sound Waves
o The Ear
o Hearing Loss and Deaf Culture
o Other Senses
o Touch
o Pain
o Taste
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o Smell
o Perceptual Organization
o Form Perception
o Depth Perception
o Motion Perception
o Perceptual Constancy
o Perceptual Interpretation
o Sensory Deprivation and Restored Vision
o Perceptual Adaptation
o Perceptual Set
o Is There Extrasensory Perception?
o Claims of ESP
o Premonitions or Pretension?
o Putting ESP to Experimental Test
Unit 5: States of Consciousness
o Sleep and Dreams
o Biological Rhythms and Sleep
o Why We Sleep
o Sleep Disorders
o Dreams
o Hypnosis
o Facts and Falsehoods
o Explaining the Hypnotized State
o Drugs and Consciousness
o Dependence and Addiction
o Psychoactive Drugs
o Influences on Drug Use
Unit 6: Learning
o How Do We Learn
o Classical Conditioning
o Pavlov’s Experiments
o Extending Pavlov’s Understanding
o Pavlov’s Legacy
o Operant Conditioning
o Skinner Experiments
o Extending Skinner’s Understanding
o Skinner’s Legacy
o Contrasting Classical and Operant Conditioning
o Learning by Observation
o Mirrors in the Brain
o Bandura’s Experiments
o Applications of Observational Learning
Unit 7A: Memory
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o The Phenomenon of Memory
o Information Processing
o Encoding: Getting Information In
o Storage: Retaining Information
o Retrieval: Getting Information Out
o Forgetting
o Encoding Failure
o Storage Decay
o Retrieval Failure
o Memory Construction
o Misinformation and Imagination Effects
o Source Amnesia
o Discerning True and False Memories
o Children’s Eyewitness Recall
o Repressed or Constructed Memories of Abuse
o Improving Memory
Unit 7B: Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity, and Language
o Thinking
o Concepts
o Problem Solving
o Making Decisions and Forming Judgments
o Language
o Language Structure
o Language Development
o Thinking and Language
o Language Influences Thinking
o Thinking in Images
Unit 8A: Motivation
o Motivational Concepts
o Instincts and Evolutionary Psychology
o Drives and Incentives
o Optimum Arousal
o A Hierarchy of Motives
o Hunger
o The Physiology of Hunger
o The Psychology of Hunger
o Obesity and Weight Control
o Sexual Motivation
o The Physiology of Sex
o The Psychology of Sex
o Adolescent Sexuality
o Sexual Orientation
o The Need to Belong
Unit 8B: Emotions, Stress, and Health
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o Theories of Emotion
o Embodied Emotions
o Emotions and the Autonomic Nervous System
o Physiological Similarities Among Specific Emotions
o Physiological Differences Among Specific Emotions
o Cognition and Emotion
o Expressed Emotion
o Detecting Emotion
o Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior
o Culture and Emotional Expression
o The Effects of Facial Expressions
o Experienced Emotion
o Fear
o Anger
o Happiness
o Stress and Health
o Stress and Illness
o Stress and the Heart
o Stress and Susceptibility to Disease
Unit 9: Developmental Psychology
o Prenatal Development and the Newborn
o Conception
o Prenatal Development
o The Competent Newborn
o Infancy and Childhood
o Physical Development
o Cognitive Development
o Social Development
o Gender Development
o Parents and Peers
o Parents and Early Experiences
o Peer Influence
o Adolescence
o Physical Development
o Cognitive Development
o Social Development
o Emerging Adulthood
o Adulthood
o Physical Development
o Cognitive Development
o Social Development
o Reflections on Three Major Developmental Issues
o Nature and Nurture
o Continuity and Stages
o Stability and Change
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Unit 10: Personality
o The Psychoanalytic Perspective
o Exploring the Unconscious
o The Neo-Freudian and Psychodynamic Theorists
o Assessing Unconscious Processes
o Evaluating the Psychoanalytic Perspective
o The Humanistic Perspective
o Abraham Maslow’s Self-Actualizing Person
o Carol Rogers’ Person-Centered Perspective
o Assessing the Self
o Evaluating the Human Perspective
o The Trait Perspective
o Exploring Traits
o Assessing Traits
o The Big Five Factors
o Evaluating the Trait Perspective
o The Social-Cognitive Perspective
o Reciprocal Influences
o Personal Control
o Assessing the Behavior in Situations
o Evaluating the Social-Cognitive Perspective
o Exploring the Self
o The Benefits of Self-Esteem
o Self-Serving Bias
o Culture and the Self
Unit 11: Testing and Individual Differences
o What is Intelligence
o Is Intelligence One General Mental Ability or Several Specific Abilities
o Emotional Intelligence
o Is Intelligence Neurologically Measurable
o Assessing Intelligence
o The Origins of Intelligence Testing
o Modern Tests of Mental Abilities
o Principles of Test Construction
o They Dynamics of Intelligence
o Stability or Change
o Extremes of Intelligence
o Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
o Twin and Adoption Studies
o Heritability
o Environmental Influences
o Group Differences in Intelligence Scores
o The Question of Bias
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Unit 12: Abnormal Psychology
o Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
o Defining Psychological Disorders
o Understanding Psychological Disorders
o Classifying Psychological Disorders
o Labeling Psychological Disorders
o Anxiety Disorders
o Generalized Anxiety Disorder
o Panic Disorder
o Phobias
o Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
o Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
o Understanding Anxiety Disorders
o Somatoform Disorders
o Dissociate Disorders
o Dissociative Identify Disorder
o Understanding Dissociative Identify Disorder
o Mood Disorder
o Major Depressive Disorder
o Bipolar Disorder
o Understanding Mood Disorders
o Schizophrenia
o Symptoms of Schizophrenia
o Onset and Development of Schizophrenia
o Understanding Schizophrenia
o Personality Disorders
o Antisocial Personality Disorder
o Understanding Antisocial Personality Disorder
o Rates of Psychological Disorders
Unit 13: Treatment of Psychological Disorders
o The Psychological Therapies
o Psychoanalysis
o Humanistic Therapies
o Behavior Therapies
o Cognitive Therapies
o Group and Family Therapies
o Evaluating Psychotherapies
o Is Psychotherapy Effective
o The Relative Effectiveness of Different Therapies
o Evaluating Alternative Therapies
o Commonalities Among Psychotherapies
o Culture and Values in Psychotherapy
o The Biomedical Therapies
o Drug Therapies
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o Brain Stimulation
o Psychosurgery
o Therapeutic Life-Style Change
o Preventing Psychological Disorders
Unit 14: Social Psychology
o Social Thinking
o Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations
o Attitudes and Actions
o Social Influence
o Conformity and Obedience
o Group Influence
o Cultural Influence
o The Power of Individuals
o Social Relations
o Prejudice
o Aggression
o Attraction
o Altruism
o Conflict and Peacemaking
Grading Policy
Grading for this course will remain consistent with the Quaker Valley High School
Student Handbook. Assessments for learning (practice) will represent no more than
20% of a student’s 6 week grade; the remainder of the grade will come from
assessments of learning (mastery of the content).
Grading Scale
98 – 100 = A+
93 – 97 = A
90 – 92 = A87 – 89 = B+
83 – 86 = B
80 – 82 = B77 – 79 = C+
73 – 76 = C
70 – 72 = C65 – 69 = D
0 – 64 = F
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Assessments
*Please note, it is required that all students take the AP Exam in order to receive
credit for this course.
Grading for this course will follow Quaker Valley’s 80% 20% policy.
Type of Assessment
Summative (Assessment of Learning)
Formative (Assessment for Learning)
Value
80%
20%
Vocabulary Quizzes (Summative)
On the last day of study for each unit, students will take a vocabulary quiz on all
operative terms from the unit. This quiz will be given on the day before the Unit
Exam.
40 Studies Quizzes (Formative)
The quizzes, based off of “The 40 Studies that Changed Psychology,” will be given
frequently throughout the course ad will consist of roughly 5 questions.
Psych Lab (Formative)
Psych Lab assignments will be given in class in responses to topic of study. These
labs will ask the student to analyze, evaluate, and expand their understanding of the
course content. Psych Labs may be individual or group based. These assignments
may consist of in class work and homework.
Unit Exams (Summative)
Unit Exams will consist of a vocabulary section (day 1), a multiple-choice section
(day 2), and a free response section (day 2). These exams will cover the content
from the preceding unit.
Final Exam (Summative)
The Final Exam will assess the content from the entire course and will mimic the
structure of an AP Exam.
Summer Assignment (Summative)
The summer portfolio assignment is required work that is due on the first day of
school. This assignment will require a compilation of a portfolio of structured
assignments in order to prepare students for the rigorous content of an AP course.
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Standards from the American Psychological Association
Scientific Inquiry Domain
Standard Area: Perspectives in Psychological Science
Standard Area: Research Methods, Measurement, and Statistics
Biopsychological Domain
Standards Area: Biological Bases of Behavior
Standard Area: Sensation and Perception
Standard Area: Consciousness
Development and Learning Domain
Standard Area: Life Span Development
Standard Area: Learning
Standard Area: Language Development
Sociocultural Context Domain
Standard Area: Social Interactions
Standard Area: Sociocultural Diversity
Cognition Domain
Standard Area: Memory
Standard Area: Thinking
Standard Area: Intelligence
Individual Variation Domain
Standard Area: Motivation
Standard Area: Emotion
Standard Area: Personality
Standards Area: Psychological Disorders
Applications of Psychological Science Domain
Standard Area: Treatment of Psychological Disorders
Standard Area: Health
Standard Area: Vocational Applications
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