AP Psychology One of life s greatest mysteries is how the boy who wasn t good enough to marry your daughter can be the father of the smartest grandchild in the world. ~ Jewish Proverb Instructor: Mr. Shaen Polasky Email: shaen.polasky@indianola.k12.ia.us Website: www.polaskyonline.weebly.com Phone: 515.961.9510 x.2168
Indianola High School s Mission Statement: Indianola High School will provide students with a safe environment and challenging educational opportunities which will enable to them to be contributing members of our diverse society. Indianola High School Core Expectations for Students: Students will exhibit regular attendance. Students will strive to achieve their academic potential. Students will treat people with dignity and respect. Students will use effective communication. Students will display appropriate and responsible behavior. Course Description: The Advanced Placement 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. College Board Key Concepts & Skills: Give students a working knowledge of the theories and key concepts of each of the major subfields within psychology. Expose students to many of the contributing psychologists and significant research studies, both historical and current, that have shaped our understanding of behavior and mental processes. Train students to apply psychological principles and understand connections between ideas and theories. Leave students with an appreciation of the scientific methods and ethical procedures that produce such knowledge. Iowa Core Curriculum Behavioral Sciences (9-12) Essential Concepts & Skills Students will understand the historical development of the behavioral sciences and the changing nature of society. Students will understand the influences on individual and group behavior and group decision making. Students will understand the appropriate research procedures and skills of the behavioral scientists. Students will understand current social issues to determine how the individual is able to formulate opinions and responds to those issues. Students will understand how social status, social groups, social change, and social institutions influence individual and group behaviors. Students will understand the process of how humans develop, learn, adapt to their environment, and internalize their culture. Students will understand how personality and agents of socialization impact the individual. Indianola High School Psychology I & II Standards & Benchmarks: Students will explain the most important characteristics of a good citizen being a critical thinker regarding current social issues, following the laws of society, being actively involved in the political process, being reasonably kind and empathetic toward others, and being altruistic. Students will identify major subfields and career opportunities that comprise psychology. Students will outline the development of psychology as an empirical science. Students will describe contemporary perspectives used by psychologists to understand behavior and mental processes in context. Students will explain and evaluate the pros and cons of research strategies used by psychologists to explore behavior and mental processes in context. Students will understand and apply the ethical issues in conducting research with humans and animals. Students will discuss the biological bases of behavior. Students will articulate the nature/nurture debate with pros and cons of each position. Students will examine and analyze the nature of physical, social, cognitive, and moral changes over the life span and apply life span principles to personal experience. Students will discuss learning, memory, thinking and language, states of consciousness, and individual differences from a psychological viewpoint. Students will understand the various theories of the development of the self and personality and analyzes how various factors can impact an individual s personality development. Students will describe characteristics and origins of abnormal behavior and explain prominent methods used to treat individuals with disorders. Students will describe effects of the presence of others on individual behavior. Students will identify basic social and cultural categories and discuss how these categories affect behavior. Students will analyze the process of internalizing culture as a complex lifelong process.
Topics and Learning Objectives The following is a description of learning objectives for the major content areas covered in the AP Psychology Exam, as well as the approximate percentages of the multiple-choice section devoted to each area according to the College Board. This listing is not intended to be an exhaustive list of topics and units are not necessarily sequential. Unit #1: History and Approaches (2 4%) Psychology has evolved markedly since its inception as a discipline in 1879. There have been significant changes in the theories that psychologists use to explain behavior and mental processes. In addition, the methodology of psychological research has expanded to include a diversity of approaches to data gathering. Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of psychological thought. Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior. Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior. Distinguish the different domains of psychology. Identify the major historical figures in psychology Unit #2: Research Methods (8 10%) Psychology is an empirical discipline. Psychologists develop knowledge by doing research. Research provides guidance for psychologists who develop theories to explain behavior and who apply theories to solve problems in behavior. Differentiate types of research. Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn. Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental designs. Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and surveys. Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research design. Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics. Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in behavioral research. Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices. Describe how ethical and legal guidelines protect research participants and promote sound ethical practice. Unit #3: Biological Bases of Behavior (8 10%) An effective introduction to the relationship between physiological processes and behavior including the influence of neural function, the nervous system and the brain, and genetic contributions to behavior is an important element in the AP course. Identify basic processes and systems in the biological bases of behavior, including parts of the neuron and the process of transmission of a signal between neurons. Discuss the influence of drugs on neurotransmitters. Discuss the effect of the endocrine system on behavior. Describe the nervous system and its subdivisions and functions. Recount historic and contemporary research strategies and technologies that support research. Discuss psychology s abiding interest in how heredity, environment, and evolution work together to shape behavior. Predict how traits and behavior can be selected for their adaptive value. Identify key contributors. Unit #4: Sensation and Perception (6 8%) Everything that organisms know about the world is first encountered when stimuli in the environment activate sensory organs, initiating awareness of the external world. Perception involves the interpretation of the sensory inputs as a cognitive process. Discuss basic principles of sensory transduction, including absolute threshold, difference threshold, signal detection, and sensory adaptation. Describe sensory processes including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the senses. Explain common sensory disorders. Describe general principles of organizing and integrating sensation to promote stable awareness of the external world. Discuss how experience and culture can influence perceptual processes. Explain the role of top-down processing in producing vulnerability to illusion. Discuss the role of attention in behavior. Challenge common beliefs in parapsychological phenomena. Identify the major historical figures in sensation and perception. Unit #5: States of Consciousness (2 4%) Understanding consciousness and what it encompasses is critical to an appreciation of what is meant by a given state of consciousness. The study of variations in consciousness includes an examination of the sleep cycle, dreams, hypnosis, and the effects of psychoactive drugs. Describe various states of consciousness and their impact on behavior. Discuss aspects of sleep and dreaming. Describe historic and contemporary uses of hypnosis. Explain hypnotic phenomena. Identify the major psychoactive drug categories and classify specific drugs, including their effects. Discuss drug dependence, addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal. Identify the major figures in consciousness research.
Topics and Learning Objectives-continued: Unit #6: Learning (7 9%) This section of the course introduces students to differences between learned and unlearned behavior. The primary focus is exploration of different kinds of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. The biological bases of behavior illustrate predispositions for learning. Distinguish general differences between principles of classical and operant conditioning, and observational learning. Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena, such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination, and higher-order learning. Predict the effects of operant conditioning. Predict how practice, schedules of reinforcement, and motivation will influence quality of learning. Interpret graphs that exhibit the results of learning experiments. Provide examples of how biological constraints create learning predispositions. Describe the essential characteristics of insight learning, latent learning, and social learning. Apply learning principles to explain emotional learning, taste aversion, superstitious behavior, and learned helplessness. Suggest how behavior modification, biofeedback, coping strategies, and self control can be used to address behavioral problems. Identify key contributors in the psychology of learning. Unit #7: Cognition (8 10%) In this unit students learn how humans convert sensory input into kinds of information. They examine how humans learn, remember, and retrieve information. This part of the course also addresses problem solving, language, and creativity. Compare and contrast various cognitive processes. Describe and differentiate psychological and physiological systems of memory. Outline the principles that underlie effective encoding, storage, and construction of memories. Describe strategies for memory improvement. Synthesize how biological, cognitive, and cultural factors converge to facilitate acquisition, development, and use of language. Identify problem-solving strategies as well as factors that influence their effectiveness. List the characteristics of creative thought and creative thinkers. Identify key contributors in cognitive psychology. Unit #8: Motivation and Emotion (6 8%) In this part of the course, students explore biological and social factors that motivate behavior and biological and cultural factors that influence emotion. Identify and apply basic motivational concepts to understand the behavior of humans and other animals. Discuss the biological underpinnings of motivation, including needs, drives, and homeostasis. Compare and contrast motivational theories including the strengths and weaknesses of each. Describe classic research findings in specific motivation systems. Discuss theories of stress and the effects of stress on psychological and physical well-being. Compare and contrast major theories of emotion. Describe how cultural influences shape emotional expression, including variations in body language. Identify key contributors in the psychology of motivation and emotion. Unit #9: Developmental Psychology (7 9%) Developmental psychology deals with the behavior of organisms from conception to death and examines the processes that contribute to behavioral change throughout the life span. The major areas of emphasis in the course are prenatal development, motor development, socialization, cognitive development, adolescence, and adulthood. Discuss the interaction of nature and nurture (including cultural variations) in the determination of behavior. Explain the process of conception and gestation, including factors that influence successful fetal development. Discuss maturation of motor skills. Describe the influence of temperament and other social factors on attachment and appropriate socialization. Explain the maturation of cognitive abilities. Compare and contrast models of moral development. Discuss maturational challenges in adolescence, including related family conflicts. Characterize the development of decisions related to intimacy as people mature. Predict the physical and cognitive changes that emerge as people age, including steps that can be taken to maximize function. Describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development. Identify key contributors in developmental psychology. Unit #10: Personality (5 7%) In this section of the course, students explore major theories of how humans develop enduring patterns of behavior and personal characteristics that influence how others relate to them. The unit also addresses research methods used to assess personality. Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining personality: psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social learning, and behavioral. Describe and compare research methods that psychologists use to investigate personality. Identify frequently used assessment strategies and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instruments. Speculate how cultural context can facilitate or constrain personality development, especially as it relates to self-concept. Identify key contributors to personality theory.
Topics and Learning Objectives-continued: Unit #11: Testing and Individual Differences (5 7%) An understanding of intelligence and assessment of individual differences is highlighted in this portion of the course. Students must understand issues related to test construction and fair use. Define intelligence and list characteristics of how psychologists measure intelligence: Discuss how culture influences the definition of intelligence. Compare and contrast historic and contemporary theories of intelligence. Explain how psychologists design tests, including standardization strategies and other techniques to establish reliability and validity. Interpret the meaning of scores in terms of the normal curve. Describe relevant labels related to intelligence testing. Debate the appropriate testing practices, particularly in relation to culture-fair test uses. Identify key contributors in intelligence research and testing. Unit #12: Abnormal Behavior (7 9%) In this portion of the course, students examine the nature of common challenges to adaptive functioning. This section emphasizes formal conventions that guide psychologists judgments about diagnosis and problem severity. Describe contemporary and historical conceptions of what constitutes psychological disorders. Recognize the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association as the primary reference for making diagnostic judgments. Discuss the major diagnostic categories, including anxiety and somatoform disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, organic disturbance, personality disorders, and dissociative disorders, and their corresponding symptoms. Evaluate the strengths and limitations of various approaches to explaining psychological disorders: medical model, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, biological, and sociocultural. Identify the positive and negative consequences of diagnostic labels. Discuss the intersection between psychology and the legal system. Unit #13: Treatment of Abnormal Behavior (5 7%) This section of the course provides students with an understanding of empirically based treatments of psychological disorders. The topic emphasizes descriptions of treatment modalities based on various orientations in psychology. Describe the central characteristics of psychotherapeutic intervention. Describe major treatment orientations used in therapy and how those orientations influence therapeutic planning. Compare and contrast different treatment formats. Summarize effectiveness of specific treatments used to address specific problems. Discuss how cultural and ethnic context influence choice and success of treatment. Describe prevention strategies that build resilience and promote competence. Identify major figures in psychological treatment. Unit #14: Social Psychology (8 10%) This part of the course focuses on how individuals relate to one another in social situations. Social psychologists study social attitudes, social influence, and other social phenomena. Apply attribution theory to explain motives. Describe the structure and function of different kinds of group behavior. Explain how individuals respond to expectations of others, including groupthink, conformity, and obedience to authority. Discuss attitudes and how they change. Predict the impact of the presence of others on individual behavior. Describe processes that contribute to differential treatment of group members. Articulate the impact of social and cultural categories on self-concept and relations with others. Anticipate the impact of behavior on a self-fulfilling prophecy. Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and attraction. Discuss attitude formation and change, including persuasion strategies and cognitive dissonance. Identify important figures in social psychology. Text: Myers, D.G. (2007). Psychology, 8 th edition. New York, NY: Worth Publishers. Attendance: Attendance is mandatory and vital to class performance. The student who does not attend cannot participate; failure to fulfill this responsibility will diminish the quality of a student s academic success. Students will not be admitted if they are more than five (5) minutes late to class. First (1 st ) tardy (in a semester) will result in a warning. Second (2 nd ) tardy will result in a warning. Third (3 rd ) tardy will result in a 30 minute detention. Parents will be notified from the attendance office. Fourth (4 th ) tardy will result in the student being referred to the building principal, and parents will be notified by telephone as well as in writing. Fifth (5 th ) tardy will result in the student being referred to the building principal, and parents will be notified by telephone as well as in writing. The student may be suspended out-of-school from 1-3 days. Sixth (6th) tardy will result in the student being dropped from the class with a failing grade and an immediate declaration of ineligibility resulting in the inability to participate in any co-curricular or extra-curricular public performance until the next review period.
Grading: Make-up Work: A 100-93 B+ 89-87 C+ 79-77 D+ 69-67 F 59-0 A- 92-90 B 86-83 C 76-73 D 66-63 B- 82-80 C- 72-70 D- 62-60 Daily assignments, quizzes, projects and all other graded coursework will be weighted. ü Tests = 40%, Individual Higher Order thinking = 20%, Peer Higher Order Thinking = 15%, Individual Knowledge and Skill development = 12.5%, Peer Knowledge and Skill Development = 12.5%. s Quarter grades will represent 42.5% of the semester grade. s The semester test will comprise 15% of the semester grade. Projects & Papers ü All projects and papers will be due by the end of the day of the assigned due date. ü Any project/paper not turned on the due date will result in a 10% deduction per class day that they are late. s Example: A 100 point project due Monday, was not turned in until Tuesday, it will be worth a maximum of 90 points. s Example: A 100 point project due Monday, was not turned in until Wednesday, it will be worth a maximum of 80 points. ü All projects and papers must be turned in. If they are not the student will not pass the course. ü A student s lowest project/paper score per quarter will be dropped from the quarter grade. All make-up work, prior to/following an absence (excused or unexcused), will be the responsibility of the student. The student should consult Mr. Polasky s website (www.polaskyonline.weebly.com) to obtain notes, handouts, and/or assignments that were missed and speak to Mr. Polasky on the day of return to clarify any questions related to missed material. Daily work can be accessed via the internet by going to www.polaskyonline.weebly.com Make-up quizzes/tests ü Students who are absent (excused) on the day of a quiz/test will have one week from the original date of the scheduled exam to make-up the quiz/test that they missed. For more information, please refer to the Student Handbook for all other attendance / make up work guidelines. Classroom Expectations: 1. The student should be seated when the tardy bell chimes. a. All supplies, writing utensil, binder, and textbook, should be brought to class each day. 2. Locker and Restroom passes will be administered at Mr. Polasky s discretion. a. Only one student will be allowed to outside of the room at any one time. 3. Each student is to exhibit integrity during class, the following list of unacceptable behaviors will result in the associated consequence: a. Cheating / Plagiarism i. Score of zero (0) for all work associated with the assignment/quiz/project/test. ii. Referral to the Principal and a phone call to parent/guardian. iii. Assignment to be redone using documentation to prove personal accountability. b. Use of profanity, obscenities, &/or immoral acts i. One (1) detention (30 minutes) served the day of the act or the morning of the next school day following the act. 1) If the detention is not served, it doubles (60 minutes) and must be served the next school day. 2) If the detention is not served the following day, the student will be referred to the Principal. c. Inappropriate conversation: topics regarding sex, drugs, alcohol, &/or tasteless behavior i. 1 st offense verbal reminder of expectation. ii. 2 nd offense one (1) detention (30 minutes) served the day of or the morning of the next school day following the act. iii. 3 rd offense referral to the Principal. d. Bullying and/or harassment: i. Immediate removal from class and referral to the Principal. e. Intentional destruction of classroom materials i. Immediate removal from class and referral to the Principal. f. Use of electronic devices i. Students are highly encouraged to bring/use a laptop/ipad/or other electronic devices during class. ii. Misuse of any electronic device (e.g. laptop, ipad, iphone, cell phone, MP3 player) will result in the following consequences: 1) 1 st Offense: verbal reminder of appropriate use expectation 2) 2 nd Offense: confiscation, device held by Mr. Polasky until the end of the school day (3:05) 3) 3 rd Offense: confiscation, device delivered to the Principal g. Inappropriate dress i. Immediate removal from class and referral to the Principal. ii. To regain admittance, the student must find appropriate clothing as described in the Student Handbook. h. Gum and water is allowed, but can be banned at any time by Mr. Polasky i. No other food or drink will be allowed, unless approved by Mr. Polasky.