AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Instructor: Ms. Susan Ferguson

Rm: 230

Contact Info:
sdf2586@lausd.net,
susan.ferguson@gmail.com
cell #: 323 253-7768

Course Overview
The purpose of this course reflects the intent stated in the AP Psychology
Course Description, to introduce students to the systematic and scientific
study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other
animals.
The course objectives are:
Students will be able to state, define, and apply psychological concepts.
Students will be able to compare and contrast the psychological
perspectives.
Students will be prepared to succeed on the AP Psychology Exam, scoring a 3
or higher.
Students will learn psychological critical thinking, problem-solving, and
communication skills that may be applied to everyday life.
Course Materials
The textbook for the course is the eighth edition of Psychology by
David G. Myers. You will be required to carry it every day to and from
school.
Each student must use a spiral-bound notebook or part of a binder and
four colored pens for taking notes.
Note-taking Procedure
1. Students first take each bolded subsection from the chapter and, with
their red pens, turn it into a question in the top center of a page in their
notebooks. For example, the heading of a subsection in the research
methods chapter might be Measures of Central Tendency. Students rewrite
this as, What is the measure of central tendency?
2. In the left margin of that page, students write in blue each of the
vocabulary words from the list of key concepts. For example, key terms from
this list might include mode, mean, and median.
3. Next, in the center of the page and under the question written in red,
students use a green pen to write an accurate definition for each term. For
example, they would write in green, Mode: the most frequently occurring
score.
4. In the right margin, students use a purple pen to add reflections,
comments, or questions in order to personally connect to the material.

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Students must really reflect on the material; a simple, Thats neat! does
not suffice.
5. Finally, students write a complete summary in paragraph form. For example,
Measures of central tendency are descriptive statistics that allow
researchers to see how data gather around the center. The mode [and so
on].
Quizzes and Tests
Expect a quiz at the beginning of each class period, based upon the reading,
and a multiple-choice test with a Free Response Question after every unit.
Common Core Activities
In addition to lectures, readings, and discussions accompanying each unit,
students will be engaged in various activities/projects/assignments that align
with the Reading/Writing ELA Common Core Standards for Social Studies.
These assignments will better prepare the students for the AP exam and help
students engage in more critical thinking and writing.
Student Evaluation
All of the work in this course is assigned a point value based on its relative
importance and the amount of time and effort the work requires. Unit tests
are worth approximately 100 points; the other assessments have weights
that vary widely depending on the particular assignment. At the end of each
semester, students take a cumulative final exam that is worth approximately
20 percent of their final grade. I calculate grades by considering the total
points available compared to the total points earned.
Assessment
Grade
Quizzes and Unit Tests
Homework (application papers, responses to textbook
questions, notes)
Semester Final Exams
Projects and Presentations

Percent of Total
45%
20%
20%
15%

Total

100%

Grades are based on the following scale:

90100% A
Below 60% F

8089% B

7079% C

6069% D

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

I require my students to turn in their homework at the beginning of the
period on the day it is due. Homework that is turned in after the period has
started is considered late and loses half credit. I do not accept homework
that is more than two days late.
I give frequent quizzes. The quizzes include fill-in-the-blank, short-answer,
and/or multiple-choice questions. Tests occur approximately every two to
three weeks at the end of each unit. I try to mimic the AP Exam as much as
possible by writing tests that consist of 45 multiple-choice questions and 1
free-response question and giving students the entire class period to
complete a test. If student arrives to class after the quiz has been
distributed, they cannot take it, and get a zero for that quiz grade.

Course Organization
Unit I
Textbook Reading: Prologue and Chapter 1
2 weeks
(8/168/30)
History, Approaches and Research Methods
How has psychology evolved as a discipline?
What are the approaches that psychologists use to explain
behavior?
How do psychologists gather data?
How does research design drive conclusions that can be
drawn?
A. Logic, philosophy, and history of science
B. Approaches/perspectives
C. Experimental, correlational, and clinical research
D. Statistics
E. Ethics in research
Objectives
Define psychology and identify early milestones in the field
Compare and contrast the psychological perspectives
Identify subfields of psychology
Identify elements of an experiment (e.g., variables, groups, sampling,
population)
Compare and contrast research methods (e.g., case, survey, naturalistic
observation)
Explain correlational studies
Describe the three measures of central tendency and measures of variation
Discuss the ethics of animal and human research
16. College Board, 2008, 2009 AP Psychology Course Description (New York:
College Board, 2007), 3.

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Unit II
Textbook Readings: Chapters 2 and 3
3 weeks
(9/19/23)
Biological Basis of Behavior
What is the relationship between physiological processes and
behavior?
A. Physiological techniques (e.g., imaging, surgical)
B. Neuroanatomy
C. Functional organization of the nervous system
D. Neural transmission
E. Endocrine system
F. Genetics
G. Evolutionary psychology
Objectives
Describe the structure of a neuron and explain neural impulses
Describe neural communication and discuss the impact of
neurotransmitters
Classify and explain major divisions of the nervous system
Identify and describe the functions of brain structures (e.g., thalamus,
cerebellum, limbic system)
Describe the four lobes of the cerebral cortex and their functions
Discuss the association areas
Explain split-brain studies
Describe the endocrine system
Unit III
Textbook Reading: Chapter 4
2 weeks
(9/2310/10)
Developmental Psychology
What are the processes that contribute to behavioral change
throughout the life span?
A. Life-span approach
B. Research methods
C. Heredityenvironment issues
D. Developmental theories
E. Dimensions of development
F. Sex roles and gender roles
Objectives
Describe the course of prenatal development
Discuss Piagets theory of cognitive development
Discuss the effect of social development (body contact, familiarity, and
parenting styles)
Illustrate development changes in physical, cognitive, moral, and social
areas
Describe the early development of self-concept

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Identify Kohlbergs moral development stages and apply to scenarios
Describe Eriksons psychosocial development stages
Distinguish between longitudinal versus cross-sectional studies and
crystallized versus fluid intelligence
Unit IV
Textbook Reading: Chapter 7
1 week
(10/1010/18)
States of Consciousness
What is consciousness and what does it encompass?
What is included in the studies of variations of consciousness?
A. Sleep and dreaming
B. Hypnosis
C. Psychoactive drug effects
Objectives
Describe the sleep cycle and identify what occurs in each stage
Compare differences between NREM and REM
Describe the major sleep disorders
Explain the purpose of dreams
Discuss hypnosis and describe the characteristics of those more likely to be
hypnotized
Discuss dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal in relation to drug use
Chart names and effects of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogenic
drugs
Describe the effects of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens
Unit V
Textbook Readings: Chapters 5 and 6
2.5 weeks
(10/1811/03)
Sensation and Perception
What are the basic principles of sensory transduction?
What are the sensory processes and how do they work?
A. Thresholds and signal detection theory
B. Sensory mechanisms
C. Attention
D. Perceptual processes
Objectives
Contrast the processes of sensation and perception
Distinguish between thresholds (absolute, difference, Webers law)
Label a diagram of the parts of the eye and the ear
Describe the operation of the sensory systems (the five senses)
Differentiate the YoungHelmholtz and opponent-process theories of color
vision
Explain the place and frequency theories of pitch
Describe Gestalt principles, figure-ground, and depth perception

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Discuss monocular and binocular cues
Unit VI
Textbook Reading: Chapter 8
2 weeks
(11/311/15)
Learning
What is the difference between learned and unlearned
behavior?
What are the different kinds of learning?
A. Classical conditioning
B. Operant conditioning
C. Cognitive processes
D. Biological factors
E. Social learning
Objectives
Describe classical conditioning (Pavlovs experiments)
Explain acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and
discrimination in conditioning
Describe operant conditioning (Skinners experiments)
Identify the different types of reinforcers (positive, negative, partial,
continuous, primary, and secondary)
Describe the schedules of reinforcement
Explain cognitive processes and biological predispositions in conditioning
Discuss the effects of punishment on behavior
Describe the process of observational learning (Banduras experiments)
Unit VII
Textbook Reading: Chapter 9
2 weeks
(11/1512/5)
Memory
How do humans learn, remember and retrieve information?
Objectives
Describe sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory
Distinguish between automatic and effortful processing
Explain the encoding process (e.g., imagery, chunking, hierarchies)
Differentiate between implicit and explicit memory
Describe the impact of retrieval cues on memory
Discuss the effects of interference and motivated forgetting on retrieval
Describe Loftuss research on memory reconstruction
Identify mnemonic devices (e.g., acronyms, method of loci, peg-word,
narrative chaining)
Unit VIII

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Textbook Reading: Chapter 10
1.5 weeks
(12/512/15)
Thinking and Language
How do humans convert sensory input into kinds of
information?
How do humans problem-solve?
How do people learn language?
A. Language
B. Thinking
C. Problem solving and creativity
Objectives
Define concepts and prototypes
Differentiate algorithms and heuristics when solving problems
Explain how the representativeness and availability heuristics are used to
make decisions
Describe the structure of language (phonemes, morphemes, grammar)
Identify language developmental stages (e.g., babbling, one word)
Explain the naturenurture debate for language acquisition (Chomsky
versus Skinner)
Discuss Whorfs linguistic relativity hypothesis
Describe the research on animal communication
Winter Break First Semester Ends 12/16
Unit IX
Textbook Reading: Chapter 11
1.5 weeks
(1/131/23)
Intelligence: Testing and Individual Differences
What is intelligence and how do psychologists measure
intelligence?
How does culture influence the definition of intelligence?
What are issues related to test construction and fair use?
A. Standardization and norms
B. Reliability and validity
C. Types of tests
D. Ethics and standards in testing
E. Intelligence
Objectives
Discuss the origins of intelligence testing
Describe the nature of intelligence
Differentiate intelligence theories (Spearman, Thurstone, Gardner,
Sternberg)
Distinguish between aptitude and achievement tests

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Describe the importance of standardization
Distinguish between the reliability and validity of intelligence tests
Describe extremes of intelligence
Discuss genetic and environmental influences on intelligence

Unit X
Textbook Readings: Chapters 12, 13, and 14
3.5 weeks
(1/232/16)
Motivation and Emotion

What are the biological and social factors that motivate

behavior?
What are the biological and cultural factors that influence
emotions?
What are the theories of stress and the effects of stress on
psychological and physical well-being?
A. Biological bases
B. Theories of motivation
C. Hunger, thirst, sex, and pain
D. Social motives
E. Theories of emotion
F. Stress
Objectives
Define motivation and identify motivational theories
Explain Maslows hierarchy of needs
Describe the symptoms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa
Define achievement motivation, including intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Describe the three theories of emotion (JamesLange, CannonBard,
SchachterSinger)
Identify physiological changes that occur during emotional arousal
Discuss the catharsis hypothesis
Describe the biological response to stress
Unit XI
Textbook Reading: Chapter 15
1.5 weeks
(2/162/27)
Personality
What are major theories of how humans develop enduring
patterns of behavior and personal characteristics that influence
how others relate to them?
What research methods are used to assess personality?
A. Personality theories and approaches
B. Assessment techniques
C. Growth and adjustment
Objectives
Describe Freuds iceberg theory (id, ego, and superego)

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Explain how defense mechanisms protect the ego
Describe the contributions of the neo-Freudians (Jung, Adler, Horney)
Describe the humanistic perspective on personality (Maslows selfactualization and Rogerss self-concept)
Identify how personality inventories are used to assess traits
Discuss the social-cognitive perspective on personality (Banduras
reciprocal determinism)
Identify locus of control, learned helplessness, and optimism
Compare and contrast the psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, and socialcognitive perspectives on personality
Unit XII
Textbook Reading: Chapter 16
3 weeks
(2/273/9)
Abnormal Psychology
What are the formal conventions that guide psychologists
judgments about diagnosis and problem severity?
A. Definitions of abnormality
B. Theories of psychopathology
C. Diagnosis of psychopathology
D. Types of disorders
Objectives
Discuss the purpose of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)
Explain the impact of Rosenhans study on diagnostic labels
Describe and identify symptoms of anxiety disorders (generalized, panic,
phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder)
Discuss dissociative disorders (amnesia, fugue, dissociative identity
disorder)
Describe and explain the development of somatoform disorders
Differentiate mood disorders (major depression versus bipolar)
Differentiate hallucinations and delusions, and identify subtypes of
schizophrenia
Describe the three clusters of personality disorders (anxiety, eccentric,
impulsive)
Unit XIII
Textbook Reading: Chapter 17
1 week (3/9
3/16)
Treatment of Psychological Disorders
What are empirically-based treatments of psychological
disorders?
A. Treatment approaches
B. Modes of therapy (e.g., individual, group)
C. Community and preventive approaches

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017

Objectives
Describe psychoanalytic therapeutic techniques (e.g., free association,
interpretation)
Discuss Rogerss client-centered therapy
Identify counterconditioning techniques
Describe the goals of the cognitive therapies
Discuss the benefits of group therapy and family therapy
Differentiate between antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic
medications
Describe electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomies
Discuss the effectiveness of the psychotherapies
Unit XIV
Textbook Reading: Chapter 18
2 weeks
(3/163/30)
Social Psychology
How do individuals relate to one another in social situations?
A. Group dynamics
B. Attribution processes
C. Interpersonal perception
D. Conformity, compliance, obedience
E. Attitudes and attitude change
F. Organizational behavior
G. Aggression/antisocial behavior
H. Cultural influences
Objectives
Describe the fundamental attribution error
Describe Zimbardos prison guard experiment and the effects of roleplaying on attitudes
Discuss the results of Aschs experiment on conformity
Discuss Milgrams experiments on obedience
Explain social facilitation, social loafing, and deindividuation
Differentiate group polarization and groupthink
Define and give examples of prejudice
Discuss the issues related to aggression and attraction
April - AP Exam Review
In-class review before the administration of the AP Psychology Exam (May
1st, 2017)
Cumulative, multiple-choice final exam 1 week
PostAP Exam Work - To be announced

AP Psychology Syllabus 2016/2017