Advanced Placement Psychology

        AP Psychology

Course Syllabus

Richard M. Roby

rroby@blanchard.k12.ok.us

(405) 485-1443

Room 118

1.  Textbooks:

  Myers. David G.  Myers' Psychology for the AP Course, 3rd Edition New York, NY. Worth Publishers, 2018.

  Myers, David G. Psychology, 10th Edition New York, NY. Worth Publishers, 2013.

  Meyers, David G. Study Guide Psychology, 10th Edition New York, NY.

  Worth Publishers, 2013.

2.  Supplementary Materials:

 Academic journals, case studies, online media, and other resources used for topic enrichment.

AP Support & Resources

 By completing a simple activation process at the start of the school year, students will receive access to a robust set of resources. AP Classroom is a dedicated online platform designed to support students throughout their AP experience. The platform provides a variety of powerful resources and tools to provide yearlong support and enable students to receive meaningful feedback on their progress.

* Unit Guides

*Personal Progress Checks

*Progress Dashboard

* AP Question Bank

Student Practice

 Throughout each unit, Topic Questions will be provided to help students check their understanding. The Topic Questions are especially useful for confirming understanding of difficult or foundational topics before moving on to new content or skills that build upon prior topics. Topic Questions can be assigned before, during, or after a lesson, and as in-class work or homework. Students will get rationales for each Topic Question that will help them understand why an answer is correct or incorrect, and their results will reveal misunderstandings to help them target the content and skills needed for additional practice.

 At the end of each unit or at key points within a unit, Personal Progress Checks will be provided in class or as homework assignments in AP Classroom. Students will get a personal report with feedback on every topic, skill, and question that they can use to chart their progress and their results will come with rationales that explain every question’s answer. One to two class periods are set aside to re-teach skills based on the results of the Personal Progress Checks.

Purpose

The purpose of the Advanced Placement course in Psychology is to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of behavior and mental processes of the human brain.   This class will prepare students for the AP Psychology Exam in May.

Psychology attempts to identify biological, social, and environmental factors which help to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principals, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology.

Students in this course will:

Understand the historical and contemporary psychological perspectives.

Examine the methods psychologist use in their science and practice.

Develop an understanding of social interaction.

Explore the brain and nervous system impact on behavior and mental processes.

Analyze major theories of sensation, perception, learning, memory, motivation, and emotion.

Explore the life span of human development.

Examine the development of personality

Analyze psychological disorders and current treatment methods.

This course will follow the curriculum recommended by the National College Board of Education. Students will learn about the field of psychology through in-depth study, discussion, and hands-on activities. The course is taught at a significantly higher level and students electing to take it should be strong readers, self -motivated, and expect academic rigor. Additionally, students will be prepared for the Advanced Placement exam and should expect to take it in May.

 Expectations

 There are several requirements that all AP classes have in common: high expectations of the students, a high level of rigor, and the expectation that students will engage in self-learning outside the classroom. There are many topics on the AP Exam in May. We will learn a great deal in class with rigorous learning activities. However, as in college, it will be necessary for all students to complete work and research topics at home that we may not discuss in class.

Important

Psychology is a course that includes a number of sensitive topics that you may feel uncomfortable talking or hearing about in class. I will discuss with you the nature of the movies and documentaries I am going to show you so that you can decide if you are comfortable with the topic. I may send home permission slips for a signature from your parent or guardian if I feel that a documentary I plan to show may be of a particularly powerful nature.

Assignments

 For each unit, students must complete these regular assignments to the instructor’s satisfaction:

*Vocabulary notecards (Definition, Example, Picture)

*Reading questions (from the text and other sources)

 *Demonstration and case study analyses

*Free Response Questions

*Personal Progress Checks

Each unit will require the completion of vocabulary notecards, reading questions, and projects:

Vocabulary- from a list of terms and commonly used psychological vocabulary, the student is expected to not only define the term, but also create an example and choose a visual representation of the term (can be physical or electronic).

 FRQs (Free Response Questions) - each topic will be accompanied by a free response question. As the topic is learned, the student will be prepared to answer the question fully and critically.

Reading Questions- Reading is a large part of this class. Students are required to read the text and other supplemental readings, and they must answer questions on the readings.

Personal Progress Checks- Research shows that testing your own knowledge helps with retention and retrieval. Students are required to complete a Personal Progress Check (PPC) on AP Classroom with each unit.

Assessments

Traditional assessments include unit tests, research papers, and exams. Tests and exams will model the format of the AP Psychology Exam, with a combination of multiple choice and free-response essays. Other assessments consist of psychology simulations, experiments, class presentations, collaborative/individual research projects, and online activities, such as assessments on AP Classroom.

Course Outline: Skills

The AP Psychology skills describe what a student should be able to do while exploring course concepts. The table that follows presents the skills that students should develop during the AP Psychology course. These skills form the basis of tasks on the AP Exam.

1. Concept Understanding – Students will define, explain, and apply concepts, behavior, theories, and perspectives.

 a. Activity: Students will create developmentally appropriate toys for each of Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development and explain how they will help the child accomplish the stage’s main task. (Skill 1)

 b. Activity: Students will watch the movie Mockingbird Don’t Sing and debate the concept of the “critical period” within language acquisition. (Skill 1)

 2. Data Analysis – Students will analyze and interpret quantitative data.

a. Activity: Students will look at current health data from Moore Co., identify the most concerning issues within the data, and present solutions on how to help improve the problem in the community. (Skill 2)

b. Activity: Students will be given the opportunity to analyze a normal curve as it relates to modern intelligence testing (e.g., WAIS and WISC). Students will be given the opportunity to interpret the normal curve with respect to mean, standard deviation, and percentiles for the given intelligence test data. (Skill 2) 3.

Scientific Investigation – Students will analyze psychological research studies.

 a. Activity: Students will formulate a hypothesis about social loafing or social facilitation. They will then gather data. Students will compare their results with published research studies of the same topic and analyze the results of these studies as they compare to their results. (Skill 3)

b. Activity: Students will analyze research from the developmental theorists (Piaget, Erikson, etc.) and consider the methodology, results, ethics, and criticisms. (Skill 3)

COURSE OUTLINE AS PRESENTED IN THE AP PSYCHOLOGY COURSE AND EXAM DESCRIPTION:

  Unit #:Name                                                                             % Tested on AP Exam

Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology                       10%–14%

Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior                                    8%–10%

Unit 3: Sensation and Perception                                                6%–8%

Unit 4: Learning                                                                          7%–9%

Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology                                                     13%–17%

Unit 6: Developmental Psychology                                             7%–9%

Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality                            11%–15%

Unit 8: Clinical Psychology                                                        12%–16%

Unit 9: Social Psychology                                                           8%–10%

Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology                     10–14%

Topics:

1.1 Introducing Psychology - Skill 1.C

 1.2 Research Methods in Psychology - Skill Category 3.0

1.3 The Experimental Method - Skill Category 3.0

1.4 Selecting a Research Method - Skill Category 3.0

1.5 Statistical Analysis in Psychology - Skill Category 2.0

1.6 Ethical Guidelines in Psychology - Skill 1.A

Unit 1 MCQ Personal Progress Check Unit 1 FRQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior                                           8%–10%

Topics:

2.1 Interaction of Heredity and Environment - Skill 1.B

 2.2 The Endocrine System - Skill 1.A

2.3 Overview of the Nervous System and the Neuron - Skill 1.A

2.4 Neural Firing - Skill 1.A

 2.5 Influence of Drugs on Neural Firing - Skill 1.A

2.6 The Brain - Skill 1.A

2.7 Tools for Examining Brain Structure and Function - Skill Category 2.0

2.8 The Adaptable Brain - Skill 1.A

2.9 Sleeping and Dreaming - Skill 1.A

Unit 2 MCQ Personal Progress Check

 Unit 2 FRQ Personal Progress

Unit 3: Sensation and Perception                                            6%–8%

Topics:

3.1 Principles of Sensation - Skill 1.A

 3.2 Principles of Perception - Skill 1.B

 3.3 Visual Anatomy - Skill 1.A

3.4 Visual Perception - Skill 1.B

 3.5 Auditory Sensation and Perception - Skill 1.B

3.6 Chemical Senses - Skill Category 3.0

3.7 Body Senses - Skill 1.A

Unit 3 MCQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 3 FRQ Personal Progress Check

 Unit 4: Learning                                                                             7%–9%

Topics:

4.1 Introduction to Learning - Skill 1.B

4.2 Classical Conditioning - Skill 1.B

4.3 Operant Conditioning - Skill 1.B

4.4 Social and Cognitive Factors in Learning - Skill 1.B

Unit 4 MCQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 4 FRQ Personal Progress Check

 Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology                                                    13%–17%

Topics:

5.1 Introduction to Memory - Skill 1.A

5.2 Encoding - Skill 1.B

 5.3 Storing - Skill 1.B

5.4 Retrieving - Skill 1.B

5.5 Forgetting and Memory Distortion - Skill 1.B

5.6 Biological Bases of Memory - Skill 1.A

 5.7 Introduction to Thinking and Problem Solving - Skill 1.A

5.8 Biases and Errors in Thinking - Skill 1.B

 5.9 Introduction to Intelligence - Skill 1.C

5.10 Psychometric Principles and Intelligence Testing - Skill Category 3.0

5.11 Components of Language and Language Acquisition - Skill 1.C

Unit 5 MCQ Personal Progress Check

 Unit 5 FRQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 6: Developmental Psychology                                            7%–9%

Topics:

6.1 The Lifespan and Physical Development in Childhood - Skill Category 3.0

 6.2 Social Development in Childhood - Skill 1.C

6.3 Cognitive Development in Childhood - Skill 1.C

 6.4 Adolescent Development - Skill 1.B

 6.5 Adulthood and Aging - Skill 1.C

 6.6 Moral Development - Skill Category 3.0

6.7 Gender and Sexual Orientation - Skill 1.A

 Unit 6 MCQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 6 FRQ Personal Progress Check

 Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality                       11%–15%

Topics:

7.1 Theories of Motivation - Skill Category 3.0

7.2 Specific Topics in Motivation - Skill 1.A

7.3 Theories of Emotion - Skill 1.C

7.4 Stress and Coping - Skill 1.A

7.5 Introduction to Personality - Skill Category 3.0

7.6 Psychoanalytic Theories of Personality - Skill 1.C

 7.7 Behaviorism and Social Cognitive Theories of Personality - Skill 1.C

 7.8 Humanistic Theories of Personality - Skill 1.C

7.9 Trait Theories of Personality - Skill 1.C

7.10 Measuring Personality - Skill 1.C

Unit 7 MCQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 7 FRQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 8: Clinical Psychology                                                       12%–16%

Topics:

 8.1 Introduction to Psychological Disorders - Skill 1.A

8.2 Psychological Perspectives and Etiology of Disorders - Skill 1.C

 8.3 Neurodevelopmental and Schizophrenic Spectrum Disorders - Skill 1.B

 8.4 Bipolar, Depressive, Anxiety, and Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders - Skill 1.B 8.5 Trauma- and Stressor-Related, Dissociative, and Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders - Skill 1.B

8.6 Feeding, Eating, Substance and Addictive, and Personality Disorders - Skill 1.

B 8.7 Introduction to Treatment of Psychological Disorders - Skill 1.A

8.8 Psychological Perspectives and Treatment of Disorders - Skill 1.C

8.9 Treatment of Disorders from the Biological Perspective - Skill Category 3.0

8.10 Evaluating Strengths, Weaknesses, and Empirical Support for Treatments of Disorders - Skill Category 3.0

 Unit 8 MCQ Personal Progress Check

 Unit 8 FRQ Personal Progress

 Check Unit 9: Social Psychology                                          8%–10%

Topics:

 9.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception - Skill 1.C

 9.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change - Skill Category 3.0

9.3 Conformity, Compliance, and Obedience - Skill Category 3.0

9.4 Group Influences on Behavior and Mental Processes - Skill 1.B

 9.5 Bias, Prejudice, and Discrimination - Skill 1.B

 9.6 Altruism and Aggression - Skill 1.B

9.7 Interpersonal Attraction - Skill 1.B

Unit 9 MCQ Personal Progress Check

Unit 9 FRQ Personal Progress Check

Course Objectives:

In my experience, most students come to a course with all the expectancy of a first date. They hope that the match is an excellent one. At a minimum, they hope that their time will not be wasted. If they are lucky, the enthusiasm of the professor can open new doors and the students can extract from the course large life lessons that even the content can purvey.

-Jane Halonen, The Teaching of Psychology

Most people are overconfident about what they can complete or accomplish in any given day. However, most people underestimate how much they could accomplish in a week, month, or year. Small, regular, and systematic steps can lead to very comprehensive results.

-David B. Myers, The Pursuit of Happiness

• • 1. Course Description:

The purpose of the Advanced Placement course in Psychology is to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of behavior and mental processes of human beings and animals. Psychology attempts to identify biological, social, and environmental factors which help to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior. Students are exposed to the psychological facts, principals, and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields within psychology.

Students in this course will:

Understand the historical and contemporary psychological perspectives.

Examine the methods psychologist use in their science and practice.

Develop an understanding of social interaction.

Explore the brain and nervous system impact on behavior and mental processes.

Analyze major theories of sensation, perception, learning, memory, motivation, and emotion.

Explore the life span of human development.

Examine the development of personality

Analyze psychological disorders and current treatment methods.

This course will follow the curriculum recommended by the National College Board of Education. Students will learn about the field of psychology through in-depth study, discussion, and hands-on activities. The course is taught at a significantly higher level and students electing to take it should be strong readers, self -motivated, and expect academic rigor. Additionally, students will be prepared for the Advanced Placement exam and should expect to take it in May.

      2. Grade weights

Grading of tests, quizzes, assignments and research papers/projects is determined on a percentage basis of 100%.

Participation/Focus/Engagement                10%

Quizzes and Classroom Assignments         30%

Chapter(s) Exams                                       40%

Research Papers/Projects                            20%

(Scheduled during 2nd and 4th 9 weeks)

Semester Exam                                             X

(worth two exams if required)

3.  Grading

Grades describe levels of achievement. This course will mirror the expectations of an introductory psychology class at a university. Therefore, no late work will be accepted and there will not be opportunities for extra credit.

A Achievement outstanding relative to the level necessary to meet course requirements

B Achievement significantly above to the level necessary to meet course

C Achievement meeting the basic course requirements in every respect

D Achievement worthy of credit even though it does not fully meet the basic course requirements in every respect

F Performance failing to meet the basic course requirements