AP Psychology Syllabus
Gretna High School
Mr. C Williams
https://mrwilliamsworld.wikispaces.com/
~ The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best ~ Paul Valery
Instructor Information
Mr. Chris Williams
B.S. Social Sciences – Secondary Education, Liberty University, 2000
M.S. Social Science – Syracuse University
COURSE DESCRIPTION: The purpose of this course in AP Psychology is to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of humans and animals.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: This course is not a “filler” elective class. Many students who take this class have a genuine desire to learn about Psychology and plan to major in the subject in college. This being said, this class has as part of the objectives a rigorous study of the human mind and behavior. Students are expected to take the AP Psychology test in May. There will be study sessions during the second semester after school. While these sessions are voluntary, they are essential for successful completion of the AP exam.
TEXT:
Psychology Myers
UNITS OF STUDY:
The following is a description of the major content areas covered in this course.
I. Methods, Approaches, and History – Prologue and Chapter 1
II. Social Psychology – Chapter 18
III. Sensation and Perception – Chapter 5 and 6
IV. Learning – Chapter 8, 9, and 10
V. Developmental – Chapter 4 and 11
VI. Personality – Chapter 15
VII. Motivation and Emotion – Chapter 12, 13, and 14
VIII. Abnormal Psychology – Chapter 16 and 17
IX. States of Consciousness – Chapter 7
X. Biological Bases of Behavior – Chapter 2 and 3
Student Evaluation
Your grade will be determined by your performance on tests, quizzes, projects, and outside assignments. In general, students have found the course to be very difficult at first, but have done better as the semester progresses. Setting a high standard has several tangible benefits for students: you will learn a great deal of psychology and you will be better prepared for college.
Tests = 50%; Projects = 20%; and Homework/Classwork/Quizzes = 30%
1. Grading procedure: 6-weeks grades will be determined by averaging quiz, homework, and test scores.
2. Attendance: Attendance is required. See your Student Handbook for policy.
3. Make-up Work: Make-up work is YOUR responsibility. See me about missed work before or after class (NOT DURING CLASS!). Make-up tests will be given on Tuesdays from 3:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. PRIOR ARRANGEMENTS MUST BE MADE.
4. Homework: You will have written and/or reading assignments. Your homework assignments will be to prepare for quizzes and tests.
5. Quizzes: You should expect and prepare for quizzes. Quiz questions will come from homework assignments and information covered in class discussions.
6. Tests: Tests will be given on assigned reading, homework, and material covered in class. The testing format is primarily multiple choice. There may also be matching, fill in the blank, identification, short answer, and essay questions as well.
7. Notebook: You must have a notebook in which you will keep ALL assignments, handouts, returned tests, and quizzes.
8. Appropriate Behavior:
Follow the school tardy policy.
Always bring required materials to class.
Make positive and pertinent contributions to class discussions.
Listen.
Be respectful to everyone in the classroom.
Do not write on desks, bulletin boards, walls, etc.
Do not talk or leave your seat without permission.
Do not bring food or drinks into the classroom.
Do not wear hats, sunglasses, or other apparel inconsistent with school policy.
As a courtesy to myself and others, there will be no application of lotions, perfumes, lip gloss, or make up in class. This also applies to the styling of hair. Violation of this rule will be an automatic referral to BMC.
9. Videos: Movies and instructional videos will be shown. I select these carefully and I expect you to learn from them. Therefore, if you are inattentive during these showings, you will be given a zero for your class participation grade.
10. Extracurricular activities are not a valid excuse for anything! This includes trying to sleep in class, being unprepared for tests and/or quizzes, and not making up work on time. Trying to sleep in class will bring immediate disciplinary action.
Tips for Students
Take complete class notes and date them. Put them in your own words. Don’t write down something you don’t understand without asking about it. Leave some blank space on each page to make additions and clarifications. It is very important to review your notes each day while they are still fresh in your mind. Expand them, clarify them and add examples so that they will make sense when you go back to study from them later.Learn to read more effectively. You can read more effectively by doing the following:
1.Read actively; don’t just look at the words. If you spend a half-hour “reading” but are unable to recall anything when you are done, you have wasted your time.
2.Preview a chapter quickly before you begin and review the material frequently. Pause at the end of each paragraph and summarize mentally, in your own words, what you just read.
3.Do not try to read an entire chapter at once. Each chapter of your text is divided into several major sections. These sections are presented in bold print in the summary outline on the chapter’s first page. Limit your reading to one of these sections at a sitting.
4.Do not ignore pictures, diagrams, tables, and sidebars in your textbook. These features make the text more interesting and may include important information.
5.Take notes as you read. If you can condense a 30-page chapter to a few pages of good notes, it’s going to be much easier to review. Perhaps most important: keep a list of questions about the reading.
Half of the battle is vocabulary. I strongly suggest you do one of the following:Make a set of vocabulary flashcards on 3-by-5inch index cards for the “Terms and Concepts to Remember” section at the end of each chapter.
Or…you can make a tri-fold list to help you study. Either way, studying the vocabulary is a must.
As you do these things, you are already beginning to learn the vocabulary. These study helps provide an excellent means of review.
Form a study group
DON’T MISS CLASS!!! Absenteeism will destroy your grade. You cannot learn if you are not present.
Methods, Approaches, and History Vocabulary
2. Structuralism
3. Gestalt
4. Functionalism
5. Psychoanalytic perspective
6. Behaviorist perspective
7. Humanistic perspective
8. Psychological perspective
9. Cognitive perspective
10. Biological perspective
11. Socio-cultural perspective
12. Behavior genetics
13. Positive psychology
14. Basic research
15. Applied research
16. Wilhelm Wundt
17. E B Titchener
18. William James
19. Sigmund Freud
20. Ivan Pavlov
21. John B Watson
22. B F Skinner
23. Abraham Maslow
24. Carl Rogers
25. Jean Piaget
26. G Stanley Hall
27. Mary Whiton Calkins
28. Margaret Floy Washburn
29. Francis Cecil Sumner
30. Inez Beverly Prosser
31. Behavioral school
32. Humanistic school
33. Psychodynamic school
34. scientific method
35. researcher bias
36. critical thinking
37. participant bias
38. naturalistic observation
39. case study
40. correlational study
41. survey method
42. population
43. random sample / 44. longitudinal study
45. cross-sectional study
46. experiment
47. hypothesis
48. operational definition
49. independent variable
50. dependent variable
51. experimental group
52. control group
53. random assignment
54. confounding variable
55. double-blind procedure
56. placebo
57. replication
58. behavior genetics
59. genes
60. environment
61. chromosones
62. DNA
63. genome
64. mutation
65. evolutionary psychology
66. natural selection
67. identical twins
68. fraternal twins
69. heritability
70. culture
71. norms
72. individualism
73. collectivism
74. frequency distribution
75. mode
76. mean
77. median
78. skewed
79. range
80. standard deviation
81. normal distribution
82. percentage
83. percentile rank
84. correlation coefficient
85. inferential statistics
86. statistical significance
Biological Bases of Behavior Vocabulary
2. dendrite
3. soma
4. axon
5. axon terminal
6. action potential
7. refractory period
8. resting potential
9. all-or-none principle
10. synapse
11. neurotransmitter
12. excitatory effect
13. inhibitory effect
14. receptor cells
15. sensory nerves
16. interneurons
17. motor nerves
18. acetycholine
19. antagonist
20. agonist
21. dopamine
22. serotonin
23. central nervous system
24. peripheral nervous system
25. somatic nervous system
26. autonomic nervous system
27. sympathetic division
28. parasympathetic division
29. endocrine system
30. hormone / 31. pituitary gland
32. thyroid gland
33. adrenal gland
34. brainstem
35. medulla
36. reticular formation
37. thalamus
38. cerebellum
39. CAT scan
40. MRI
41. fMRI
42. EEG
43. PET
44. limbic system
45. hypothalamus
46. hippocanthus
47. amygdale
48. cerebral cortex
49. longitudinal fissure
50. corpus callosum
51. frontal lobes
52. parietal lobes
53. occipital lobes
54. temporal lobes
55. motor cortex
56. somatosensory cortex
57. Broca’s area
58. Wernicke’s area
59. plasticity
States of Consciousness Vocabulary
2. pseudoscientific claim
3. biological rhythms
4. circadian rhythms
5. ultradian rhythms
6. infradian rhythms
7. melatonin
8. spindles
9. delta sleep
10. N-REM sleep
11. REM sleep
12. insomnia
13. sleep apnea
14. narcolepsy
15. somnambulism
16. night terrors
17. hypnosis
18. social influence theory
19. divided consciousness theory
20. hypnotic induction
21. posthypnotic suggestion
22. posthypnotic amnesia
23. psychoactive drugs
24. dependence
25. withdrawal
26. tolerance
27. depressants
28. barbiturates
29. benzodiazepines
30. opiates
31. morphine
32. endorphins
33. stimulants / 34. caffeine
35. nicotine
36. cocaine
37. amphetamines
38. hallucinogens
39. LSD
40. ecstasy
41. marijuana
42. sensation
43. perception
44. absolute threshold
45. difference threshold
46. receptors
47. sensory adaptation
48. habituation
49. rods
50. cones
51. hue
52. brightness
53. saturation
54. auditory
55. taste
56. pheromones
57. kinesthesis
58. vestibular sense
59. selective attention
60. divided attention
61. figure-ground perception
62. constancy
63. feature analysis theory
64. prototype matching
65. bottom-up processing
66. top-down processing
Personality Vocabulary
2. unconscious
3. repression
4. manifest
5. latency
6. psychoanalysis
7. neurosis
8. free association
9. Anna Freud
10. phobias
11. addiction
12. id
13. ego / 14. superego
15. Eros
16. Thanatos
17. developmental stages
18. Carl Jung
19. Archetypes
20. personal unconscious
21. collective unconscious
22. introvert
23. extrovert
24. Erik Erikson
25. crises
Developmental and Learning Vocabulary
2. maturation
3. cognition
4. assimilation
5. accommodation
6. Sensorimotor stage
7. object permanence
8. preoperational stage
9. conservation
10. egocentrism
11. concrete operational stage
12. formal operational stage
13. stranger anxiety
14. imprinting
15. authoritarian parenting
16. permissive parenting
17. authoritative parenting
18. Jean Piaget
19. inferiority complex
20. humanistic psychology
21. self-actualization
22. unconditional positive regard
23. self-concept
24. Alfred Adler
25. Abraham Maslow
26. Standardization
27. Reliability
28. Validity
29. General intelligence
30. Creativity
31. Howard Gardner / 32. Carl Rogers
33. client-centered therapy
34. B F Skinner
35. operant conditioning
36. reinforcement
37. punishment
38. positive reinforcement
39. negative reinforcement
40. primary reinforcement
41. secondary reinforcement
42. extinction
43. continuous reinforcement
44. latent learning
45. cognitive map
46. Ivan Pavlov
47. John Watson
48. learning
49. classic conditioning
50. stimulus
51. response
52. unconditioned stimulus
53. conditioned stimulus
54. conditioned response
55. acquisition
56. unconditioned response
57. Aptitude
58. Achievement
59. Alfred Binet
60. Mental age
61. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale
Abnormal Psychology Vocabulary
2. psychodynamic
3. humanistic
4. cognitive
5. behavioral
6. psycho physiological
7. DSM-IV
8. Axis I
9. Axis II
10. Axis III
11. Axis IV
12. Axis V
13. anxiety / 14. phobia
15. panic attack
16. OCD
17. Post-traumatic Stress
18. somatoform
19. hysteria
20. hypochodriasis
21. factitious
22. depression
23. bipolar
24. dissociative disorder
25. amnesia
26. schizophrenia