Dear Future ASFG AP Psychology students: Welcome to one of the greatest intellectual and personal adventures of your high school years...the AP Psychology course at the American School Foundation of Guadalajara!!! You are now on board because you have decided to push yourself beyond normal prep school course work and I commend you for it. You are sending the message that you are ready to tackle the rigors of a demanding college level introductory course in the important field of the Humanities and Liberal Arts. You will be the fourth group of AP Psychology students at ASFG and I am thrilled because of your enthusiasm and willingness to learn about the scientific study of human and animal behavior and mental processes. This email outlines the sequence of activities that must be done over the summer in order for you to be ready to start the course in August. You are in for quite a ride!!! Adherence to the AP Psychology Honor Code and inclusion of the HC Statement is expected in every assignment. Please see below for variations of the AP Psy Honor Code for specific types of assignments. I also encourage you to speak to former students for a broader perspective on the subject. I will be happy to provide student references for the course. Pre-Summer Activities A. Pick up a Psychology Textbook at the book store and sign it out.. Psychology by David Myers. B. Acknowledge receiving Summer Assignment in this message and its attachments. C. Open up a www.gmail.com address. You will need gmail for large files I send. Gmail gives you a huge mailbox and, trust me, you will need it. Gmail also allows you to automatically save all mail that you send me, you will need that file so please proceed to get gmail and send me your new address. The other plus to gmail is that we can chat through its IM and video chat system at different points during the year. Summer Assignment This summer assignment is estimated to take no more than 10 hours of focused work for students who read at a normal pace. Please be sure you organize your time wisely and create a distraction-free environment. A. Read attached AP Psychology Course Syllabus. B. Summarize Chapters 2, 5 and 6 of the textbook. Please include the major ideas, technical terms and things you find essential and/or interesting in the three chapters assigned. The Summer Assignment elements will count as your first set of homework grades.
Assignments not turned in on the first day of class will be granted partial credit only. Work Expected to Be Turned In on the First Day of Class. Handwritten Summaries of Chapters 2, 5 and 6 in flashcards. Please include the major ideas, technical terms and things you find essential and/or interesting. Please pick the size of flashcards you are most comfortable working with. You will be working with a lot of these during the year. There will be a series of small tests, quizzes and discussions during the first few days of class in August and a test on Chapter 2 on the first day of class. The TEST ON THE FIRST DAY OF CLASS will be on basic concepts found in Chapter 2: Biology of Behavior. Please feel free to email me any questions or concerns regarding the course, the summer assignment or anything that's on your mind that you want to share with me at this point. I really look forward to working and learning with all of you in the fall and can almost promise the world will never be the same after AP Psy! Peace and a marvelous, restful and intellectually stimulating summer break! Leo
AP Psychology Syllabus COURSE OBJECTIVES 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 animals. The course provides students with a learning experience equivalent to that of an introductory college course in psychology. Students learn about some of the explorations and discoveries made by psychologists since the birth of psychology as a separate scientific discipline in the 19 th century as well as exploring and assessing some of the different modern theoretical approaches adopted by psychologists, including the biological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, and socio-cultural perspectives. Most important, students come to an appreciation of psychology in their own lives and social context as well as an appreciation of how psychologists think as men and women of science. Upon completion of the AP Psychology course, the student will be able to: 1. Describe common knowledge in the field of Psychology and use the basic vocabulary of psychology in an appropriate fashion. 2. Design an experiment, employ collection techniques of empirical data, interpret the data, and evaluate the results. 3. Understand the relationship between mind and body and its influence on behavior. 4. Analyze and evaluate current theories and research in the field of psychology. 5. Discuss the ethical concerns of psychological testing, observation, and experimentation. 6. Complete the Advanced Placement Exam in Psychology. Textbook Psychology (7 th edition) by David G. Myers, Worth Publishers, 2010. Online textbook/course website: www.worthpublishers.com/myers The school provides each student a college-level psychology textbook for individual use inside and outside of the classroom. We are also very fortunate to have a well-stocked Psychology section in our Secondary School Library to enable students to read classical authors in the field and a myriad of college level introductory textbooks.
Additional Teacher and Student Resources: AP Released Exams in Psychology and other support materials provided by the College Board and Prep Books available in the market. Numerous short articles and additional readings drawn from books, newspapers, magazines, and journals are assigned. Numerous Internet sites such as the American Psychological Association and relevant Psychology web sites available. Test preparation sites will be visited often to drill for exam day from the very start and become familiarized with the types of questions on the AP Psychology exam. COURSE OUTLINE Throughout history, people have been inquisitive about the underlying reasons for emotions, thought, and behavior. Psychology is a science developed in an attempt to explain the behavior and thinking patterns of humans. This course seeks to investigate various families of theories about behavior and cognition, to participate in the research process, and to study the current practice of psychology in various contexts. The course will incorporate an overview of contemporary psychological perspectives on behavioral neuroscience, learning, memory, language, emotion, personality, development, and abnormal and cognitive psychology at the college level. This course will follow a lecture/class activities/correspondence/email format. There will be student-centered activities including reading the text, writing lots of essays and working with study guides, Internet research, library research and interactive activities. The students will prepare for the AP Exam by completing various practice exams throughout the school year. It is expected that the student will use the computer reviews to his/her benefit. There are entertaining and exciting activities as well as valuable reviews for each chapter and section. Occasionally, there will be television specials or movies related to topics covered during this course. It is expected that an AP student be aware of these psychological specials. The instructor will apprise the students of these programs as well as forwarding any additional assignments relating to the shows or movies. The course provides instruction in each of the following 14 content areas outlined in the College Board s AP Psychology Course Description: History and Approaches Research Methods Biological Bases of Behavior Sensation and Perception States of Consciousness Learning Cognition Motivation and Emotion Developmental Psychology Personality Testing and Individual Differences Abnormal Psychology Treatment of Psychological Disorders Social Psychology As relevant to each content area, the course provides instruction in empirically supported psychological facts, research findings, terminology, associated phenomena, major figures, perspectives, and psychological experiments. The course teaches ethics and
research methods used in psychological science and practice across the different fields of the discipline. Unit 1: What is Psychology? - Definition of Psychology - Psychology as a Science - Goals of Psychology - The Many Viewpoints in Psychology and Their Origins - Nature of Conscious Experience Wilhelm Wundt and Structuralism - Functions of the Conscious Mind William James and Functionalism - Psychometrics: Alfred Binet and Sir Francis Galton - Behaviorism and Social Learning Theory John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner and Albert Bandura - The Nature of the "Unconscious Mind" Sigmund Freud - Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology - Neuroscience Perspective - Sociocultural Perspective - Evolutionary Perspective - Positive Psychology Martin Seligman - Specialty Areas of Modern Psychology - Basic Areas of Modern Psychology - Applied Areas of Modern Psychology - Relationship Between Psychology and Psychiatry Unit 2: Research Methods in Psychology - Basic Concepts of Research - Empirical Evidence and Operational Definitions - Theories and Hypotheses - Representativeness of Samples - Importance of Replication in Research - Research Methods - Descriptive Studies - Formal Experiments - Ethical Principles of Research - Ethics of Research with Human Participants - Ethics of Research with Nonhuman Animals Unit 3: Biological Foundations of Behavior - Nervous System: Biological Control Center - Neurons: The Units of the Nervous System - Divisions of the Nervous System - Divisions of the Peripheral Nervous System - Divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System
- Structures and Functions of the Brain - Images of the Brain at Work - Hindbrain and Midbrain: Housekeeping Chores and Reflexes - Forebrain: Cognition, Motivation, Emotion, and Action - Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex - Functions of the Hemispheres of the Cerebral Cortex - The Brain Is a Developing System - The Brain is an Interacting System - Endocrine System: Chemical Messengers of the Body - Pituitary Gland - Adrenal Glands - Islets of Langerhans - Gonads - Thyroid Gland - Parathyroid Glands - Pineal Gland - Genetic Influences on Behavior - What is Inherited? - Biological Mechanisms of Inheritance: Genetic Codes - Research on Inheritance in Humans Unit 4: Sensation and Perception - Sensation: Receiving Messages About the World - Stimuli: What Messages Can Be Received? - Transduction: Translating Messages for the Brain - Sensory Limits: How Strong Must Messages Be? - Vision: Your Human Camera - Light: What is it? - The Eye: How Does It Work? - Dark and Light Adaptation - Color Vision - Hearing: Sensing Sound Waves - Sound: What is it? - The Ear: How Does It Work? - Body Senses: Messages From Myself - Orientation and Movement - Skin Senses - Pain - Chemical Senses: The Flavors and Aromas of Life - Taste - Smell - Pheromone Detection - Perception: Interpreting Sensory Messages - Visual Perception - Individual and Cultural Influences on Perception
Unit 5: States of Consciousness - Wide Awake: Normal Waking Consciousness - Daydreams - Divided Consciousness: Being Two Places (Mentally) at the Same Time - The Concept of the Unconscious Mind - Sleep and Dreams: Conscious While Asleep - Stages of Sleep - REM Sleep and Dreams - Non-REM Sleep and Dreams - Circadian Rhythms - Content of Dreams - Meaning of Dreams - Reasons for Sleep and Dreams - Nightmares and Other Sleep Phenomena - Sleep Disorders - Altered States of Consciousness - Meditation - Hypnosis - Depersonalization - Drugs and Altered Consciousness - Psychotropic Drugs Unit 6: Basic Principles of Learning - Definition of Learning - Classical Conditioning: Learning By Association - Association: The Key Element in Classical Conditioning - Terminology of Classical Conditioning - Definition of Classical Conditioning - Importance of Classical Conditioning - Operant Conditioning: Learning From the Consequences of Your Behavior - Positive Reinforcement - Negative Reinforcement - Punishment - Contrasting Classical and Operant Conditioning - Stimulus Discrimination and Generalization - Extinction: Learning When to Quit - Removing the Source of Learning - Spontaneous Recovery and Disinhibition - Theoretical Interpretations of Learning - Cognition or Connection? - Modeling: Learning by Watching Others - Biological Factors in Learning
Unit 7: Memory - Three Stages of Memory: An Information-Processing View - Sensory Register - Short-Term Memory - Long-Term Memory - Levels of Processing: An Alternative to the Stage Model - Forgetting and Why It Occurs - Decay Theory - Interference Theory - Reconstruction (Schema) Theory - Motivated Forgetting - Biological Basis of Memory - Synaptic Theories of Memory: Search for the Engram - Stages of Memory and the Brain - Amnesia: Disorders of Memory Unit 8: Cognition, Language, and Intelligence - Definition of Cognition - Concepts: The Basic Units of Thinking - Simple and Complex Concepts - Natural Concepts - Thinking and Problem Solving: Using Information to Reach Goals - Cognitive Operations in Problem Solving - Understanding and Organizing the Elements of the Problem - Heuristic Thinking - Artificial Intelligence - Creative Problem Solving: Convergent and Divergent Thinking - Language: Symbolic Communication - Semantics: The Meaning of What Is Said - Generative Property of Language: Elements and Rules - Language and Thought: The Whorfian Hypothesis - Animal Languages: Can We Talk to the Animals? - Intelligence: The Sum Total of Cognition - Differing Views of Intelligence - Measures of Intelligence: The IQ Test - Tacit Intelligence - Individual Differences in Intelligence: Contributing Factors - The Importance of Intelligence Scores in Modern Society - Race-Ethnic-Gender Differences in Intelligence and Achievement - Extremes in Intelligence: Mental Retardation and Giftedness
Unit 9: Developmental Psychology - Basic Processes of Development - Nature or Nurture? - Maturation - Early Experience and Critical Periods - Variations in Development: Getting There at Different Times - Stage Theories of Development - Piaget's Stage Theory of Cognitive Development - Stage Theories of Moral Development - Erikson's Stage Theory of Personality Development - The Concept of Development Across the Life Span - Development in Infancy and Childhood - Neonatal Period: The Newborn - Infancy: 2 Weeks to 2 Years - Early Childhood: 2 to 7 Years - Middle Childhood: 7 to 11 Years - Adolescent Development - Physical Development - Cognitive Development (Formal Operational Stage) - Emotional and Social Development - Adulthood: Young Adulthood Through Older Adulthood - Physical Development - Cognitive Development - Emotional and Social Development - Death and Dying: The Final "Stage" Elizabeth Kubler-Ross Unit 10: Motivation and Emotion - Definitions of Motivation and Emotion - Primary Motives: Biological Needs - Homeostasis: Biological Thermostats - Hunger: The Regulation of Food Intake - Thirst: The Regulation of Water Intake - Psychological Motives - Stimulus Motivation: Seeking Novel Stimulation - Affiliation Motivation - Achievement Motivation - Solomon's Opponent-Process Theory of Acquired Motives - Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation - Maslow's Hierarchy of Motives - Emotions - Three Theories of Emotion - The Physiology of Emotion and Lie Detectors
- Role of Learning and Culture in Emotions - Aggression: Emotional and Motivational Aspects - Freud's Instinct Theory: The Release of Aggressive Energy - Frustration-Aggression Theory - Social Learning Theory Unit 11: Gender and Sexuality - Gender and Sexual Orientation - Gender Identity and Gender Roles - Gender Similarities and Gender Differences - Development of Gender Identity and Roles - Sexual Orientation - Biological and Psychological Aspects of Sexuality - Sexual Anatomy and Functioning - Sexual Motivation - Hormones and Sexual Behavior - Patterns of Sexual Behavior Unit 12: Personality Theories and Assessment - Definition of Personality - Trait Theory: Describing the Consistencies of Personality - Allport's Trait Theory - Five-Factor Trait Theory - Validation of Personality Trait Theory - Psychoanalytic Theory: Sigmund Freud - Freud's Mind: Three Levels of Consciousness - Freud's Mind: Id, Ego, and Superego - Displacement and Identification: Becoming a Member of Society - Growing Up: The Stages of Psychosexual Development - Theories Derived from Psychoanalysis - Social Learning Theory: Albert Bandura - Role of Learning in Personality - Role of Cognition in Personality - Situationism and Interactionism - Humanistic Theory: Maslow and Rogers - Inner-Directedness and Subjectivity - The Self-Concept - Self-Actualization - Humanism Compared with Classic Psychoanalysis and Social Learning Theory - Contemporary Merging of the Major Theories of Personality - Personality Assessment: Taking a Measure of the Person - Interviews and Observational Methods - Projective Personality Tests
- Objective Personality Tests - Evaluation of Personality Tests Unit 13: Stress and Health - Stress: Challenges to Coping - Sources of Stress - Stress Reactions - Factors that Influence Reactions to Stress - Prior Experience with the Stress - Developmental Factors - Predictability and Control - Social Support - Person Variables in Reactions to Stress: Cognition and Personality - Person Variables in Reactions to Stress: Gender and Ethnicity - Coping with Stress - Effective Coping - Ineffective Coping - Changing Health-Related Behavior Patterns - Learning to Relax Unit 14: Abnormal Behavior - Definition of Abnormal Behavior - Historical Views of Abnormal Behavior - Contemporary Views of Abnormal Behavior - The Concept of Insanity - Anxiety Disorders - Phobias - Generalized and Panic Anxiety Disorders - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders - Somatoform Disorders - Somatization Disorders and Hypochondriasis - Conversion Disorders and Somatoform Pain Disorders Dissociative Disorders - Depersonalization - Dissociative Amnesia and Fugue - Dissociative Identity Disorder (Multiple Personality) Mood Disorders - Major Depression - Bipolar Disorder - Schizophrenia and Delusional Disorder - Schizophrenia - Delusional Disorder - Personality Disorders - Schizoid Personality Disorder - Antisocial Personality Disorder
- Other Personality Disorders - Atypical and Abnormal Sexual Behavior - Transvestism and Transsexualism - Fetishism - Sexual Sadism and Masochism - Sexual Dysfunction - Dysfunctions of Sexual Desire - Dysfunctions of Sexual Arousal - Orgasm Dysfunctions Unit 15: Therapies - Definition of Psychotherapy - Ethical Standards for Psychotherapy - Psychoanalysis - Techniques of Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy - Catharsis - Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Depression - Humanistic Psychotherapy - Client-Centered Psychotherapy - Gestalt Psychotherapy - Behavior Therapy - Fear Reduction Methods - Social Skills Training - Cognitive Therapy - Relationship Between Cognition and Behavior - Maladaptive Cognitions - Other Approaches and Models of Therapy - Feminist Psychotherapy - Group Therapy - Family Therapy - Medical (Biological) Therapies Unit 16: Social Psychology - Definition of Social Psychology - Groups and Social Influence - Attribution Theory - Lynch Mobs - Uninvolved Bystanders - Working and Solving Problems in Groups - Conformity, Social Roles, and Obedience - The Positive Side of Groups - Attitudes and Persuasion - Origins of Attitudes - Persuasion and Attitude Change
- Behavior and Attitude Change: Cognitive Dissonance Theory - Prejudice and Stereotypes - Interpersonal Attraction: Friendship and Love - Person Perception - General Determinants of Interpersonal Attraction - Maintaining Relationships Friendship, Marriage and Work Relations Course Work Expectations Students will be given work that averages about 6-8 hours a week. Upon completion of the assignments for each chapter, students should send their work via email to the instructor. Current events, which relate to the subject may be included during the course to help relate psychology topics to the real world we live in. There are eight AP Practice Exams. These are for practical purposes only, so that students get a sense of what the AP feels like and looks like. They are counted towards the students grade and are a valuable form of self-evaluation and preparation for the student. Grading Policy: The course grade is a weighted average (quarter and final exams) consisting of the following elements for quarter grades: Preparation (daily homework assignments, article reviews and quizzes) 40% Evaluations (tests, essays, journals, projects, research papers, and oral presentations) 60% Grading Scale: 90-100% A 80-89 % B 70-79 % C 65-69 % D 0-64.49 % F The ASFG Honor Code The ASFG Learning Goals and our expectations of honorable behavior are the basis upon which we construct our lives in this learning community. These goals and expectations inform our actions and our policies in fulfilling our educational mission. We abide democratically by values that frame our lives together in our school to accomplish those goals and that is also the case for the AP Psychology course.
Honor Code Embedded in ASFG s Behavioral Expectations and an important part of our course s ethos is the ASFG Honor Code. The code is a clear statement of fundamental expectations that provide the foundation of academic and personal integrity. Compliance with the Honor Code is a fundamental expectation for all community members and for AP Psychology students. The Honor Code states: As a proud member of the ASFG community I will be respectful, responsible and kind to all people. I will not lie, I will not cheat, I will not steal, nor will I tolerate those who do. In view of all of the above, any type of cheating on tests and quizzes or plagiarism on essays/papers is unacceptable. Cheating in any form is unacceptable and dishonorable behavior. Please cite your sources in your written work using APA format. Due to the extent of the material that must be covered in this course, independent work is often assigned and each student is expected to do their own work and contribute his or her fair share of work in group assignment. We do not embrace what Social Psychologists call social loafing. Study groups are encouraged for the purpose of discussions and enrichment. Important Note We spend a good deal of time analyzing controversial themes in psychology because they reflect the diverse perspectives on behavior, cultural differences and alternative ways of interpreting behavior and thinking realities. AP Psychology students, as all students, are expected to be respectful of others, their opinions and hypothesis to explain behavioral phenomena. The AP Psychology Exam Content and Format The exam is two hours long. In Section I, students are given one hour and 10 minutes to answer 100 multiple-choice questions; in Section II, they must answer two free-response questions in 50 minutes. % of Grade Number of Questions Time Allotted Section I 66% 2/3 100 1 hour and 10 minutes Section II 33% 1/3 2 essays 50 minutes
The AP Psychology Exam, which debuted in 1992, is a relative newcomer among AP Exams. The exam tests knowledge of topics included in a one-semester introductory college course in psychology. The following table reflects the approximate percentage of the multiple-choice section of the exam devoted to each content area: Topic Percentage of MC Questions History 2-4% Methods and Approaches 6-8% Biological Bases of Behavior 8-10% Sensation and Perception 7-9% States of Consciousness 2-4% Learning 7-9% Cognition 8-10% Motivation and Emotion 7-9% Developmental Psychology 7-9% Personality 6-8% Testing and Individual Differences 5-7% Abnormal Psychology 7-9% Treatment of Psychological Disorders 5-7% Social Psychology 7-9% The free-response questions evaluate students' mastery of scientific research principles and their ability to make connections among constructs from different psychological domains. Students may be asked to analyze a general problem in psychology (e.g., depression, adaptation) using concepts from different theoretical frameworks or subdomains in the field, or they may be asked to design, analyze, or critique a research study. COURSE ASSESSMENT PRACTICES Traditional Assessments Unit Tests - These tests are modeled on the AP Exam. Quizzes -These are randomly scheduled at least once each unit and use the multiplechoice format to prepare for the multiple choice part of the exam. Midterm Exam - Students take a midterm exam covering the first eight to ten chapters of the book. The exam is in the same format as the AP Exam (multiple-choice and short essays). ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS Critical Reading Exercises and Nature-Nurture Research Paper Students are assigned readings and, as they read, they write reflective responses in an Article Review specified format and turn those in to the instructor. They will also write a critical review of their research findings on the Nature-Nurture debate.
Unit Journals/Discussions - Students write journals or discuss thematic items approximately twice each week throughout the course. These journals facilitate processing of learning and differentiation of instruction by encouraging critical thinking and independent exploration. They also provide an additional forum for the teacher to give feedback to guide individual students. Entries must be linked to the unit that is being studied and contain the following elements: student reflection on readings class discussions and activities personal experiences recent news or television broadcasts, or Internet research Possible Projects Naturalistic Observation - Each student completes a 15-minute observation of a human participant in a naturalistic setting. The purpose is to familiarize students with this method, to improve their powers of observation, and to help them distinguish between subjective and objective records. We will link this to Developmental Psychology by observing children in our Elementary School. Experimental Design - Students are given a hypothetical research problem and told to write a proposal for a controlled experiment to solve it. The exercise serves to improve their understanding of research methodology. Behavior Modification - Each student designs an application of operant conditioning principles to modify a human participant s behavior. The construction of this project and its working hypothesis develops firsthand experience of Skinner s theory. Applications of Developmental Psychology - Students work in small groups to research a recent topic related to the unit on development and then present their findings to the class in an oral report of 15 to 20 minutes. Experiments - Students research a topic of their choice, subject to instructor/administrative (IRB) approval. The final project must incorporate a review of literature, discussion of method, presentation and evaluation of results, and a conclusion. Review of Literature - Students research a topic of their choice previous approval from the instructor. The final paper must develop an original thesis on a controversial topic. Poster or Power Point Presentation As a mechanism for reviewing for the AP Exam students present on an assigned topic or field of psychology to the class. Presentation is in poster or Power Point form accompanied by a 20-minute lecture (including a questionand-answer time).
Additional Student Materials Required 1- Notebook 2- Three Ring Binder for Handouts 3- Handouts, readings and newspaper/magazine articles 4- Electronic Email Account (gmail.com) 5- AP Psychology Prep Book Barron s or Princeton Review