Felix Varela Sr. High
AP Psychology Syllabus
2006-07
Course Description
Purpose
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 other
animals. Students will be 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.
An
introductory college course in psychology is generally one semester, with some
variation among colleges. The AP Psychology course aims to provide the student
with a learning experience equivalent to that obtained in most college
introductory psychology courses. In addition, the course aims to instill
knowledge, skills, and attitudes to apply to our own lives. You should also
plan to enjoy the learning experience.
Please
understand from the onset that you are the person of utmost importance in the
learning process. Acting as a college student, you are expected to seek, find,
and internalize knowledge on your own.
You must be the main agent in the educational process.
The
instructor’s job is to facilitate your drive and accomplishment by structuring
learning situations and selecting learning tools to help you attain your goals:
a successful score on the AP Psychology Exam, an enrichment of your life
through the acquisition of psychological knowledge, and enjoyment of the
course.
The
historical introduction helps students gain an understanding of the principal
approaches to psychology: behavioral, biological, cognitive, humanistic,
psychodynamic, evolutionary/sociobiological, and sociocultural.
The
scientific nature of psychology is made clear through coverage of the methods
psychologists use to answer behavioral questions. Emphasis is given to the
experimental method and issues of appropriate experimental sampling and
control, as well as the correlational methods, naturalistic observation, and
the survey is also covered.
Students
need to understand the relationship between biology and behavior. Students
study the brain as a key part of the body’s nervous system, paying particular
attention to the anatomical and functional relationships among the central,
somatic, and autonomic nervous systems.
The
study of sensation and perception begins with the concept of threshold.
Students learn about the measurement of absolute and difference thresholds and
the physical, physiological, and psychological variables affecting
measurements. Coverage includes anatomy and function of the eye and ear, color
theories of vision, audition, perceptual acuity, sensory adaptation, and sensory
disorders such as deafness and color blindness. Of major importance is the role
played by experience and culture in perception and the way in which perception
can be improved by learning.
Students
are introduced to research information on different states of consciousness,
ranging from normal occurrences in people’s everyday lives to those that are
markedly different from the experience of most people. The study of variations
in consciousness frequently includes an examination of hypnosis, meditation,
and daydreaming, as well as a discussion of the effects on consciousness of
such drugs as narcotics, depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.
This
section of the course introduces students to the differences between learned
and unlearned behavior. It covers the basic learning processes of classical
conditioning and operant conditioning and makes clear their similarities and
differences. Students learn about the basic phenomena of learning, such as
acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination,
and higher-order conditioning. They study the effects of reinforcement and
punishment in different, specific learning paradigms: reinforcement and
omission training, behavior modification, and active and passive avoidance.
Cognitive
psychology is concerned with the process involved in the transformation,
reduction, elaboration, storage, recovery, and use of sensory input. Cognition
includes the different kinds of knowledge and types of processing.
Psychological views of different modes of thinking, including concept formation
are also considered.
In
studying motivation, students learn about the forces that influence the
strength and direction of behavior including homeostasis. The concepts of
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are also examined. The study of emotion
centers on the complex interactions between cognition and physiological
mechanisms that are associated with feelings of love, hate, fear, and jealousy.
Students
will examine from a life-span perspective the major dimensions in which
development takes place and the role gender plays within each dimension. These
dimensions are physical, cognitive, social and moral. Students will learn about
the different theories of development, for example, those of Erik Erikson,
Carol Gilligan, Lawrence Kohlberg, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, Jean Piaget, and Lev
Vygotsky.
In
this section of the course, students come to understand the major theories and
approaches to personality: psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive,
trait, and behaviorist. In the process, they learn about the background and
thought of some of the major contributors to the domain of personality, such as
Alfred Adler, Gordon Allport, Albert Bandura, Raymond Cattell, Hans Eysenck,
Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Walter Mischel, and Carl Rogers.
This
section of the course deals with the assessment of human differences in
aptitudes, intelligence, interests and personality. It details the various
types of tests used to assess these traits and the methods by which the tests
are constructed. It describes the measures obtained from tests and the process
of standardizing these measures.
Students
will discuss the definition and diagnosis of abnormal behavior. Criteria that
identify behavior as abnormal could be statistical comparisons, sociological
norms, or adaptive behavior. Specific attention will be given to etiology and
diagnostic criteria for the following disorders: mood, personality,
dissociative, somatoform, anxiety, organic, and psychotic.
Students
are introduced to the treatment of psychological disorders through an overview
of the approaches used by therapists of different treatment orientations.
Behavioral, humanistic, psychoanalytical/psychodynamic, Gestalt,
cognitive-behavioral, and pharmacological approaches to treatment are
discussed. Therapy may be administered on a one-on-one basis or within the
context of a group. Students are exposed to prevention and intervention
techniques offered at the community level. Such services include educational
programs, crisis intervention, and counseling.
Students
first learn how the structure and function of a given group may affect the
behavior of the group as a unit or the behavior of the individual group member.
Students then learn the basic concepts of social cognition. Students will also
be exposed to classic studies dealing with the concepts of conformity,
compliance, and obedience and learn how findings in the laboratory can help
explain situations in everyday life.
The
nine-week grade will be based on assignments and tests placed in 5 categories:
1. Current Events
2. Assignments
3. Projects
4. Tests/Quizzes
5. Quarterly Exams
GRADING STUDENT PERFORMANCE
|
|||
|
A |
90-100% |
OUTSTANDING |
4 pts. |
|
B |
80-89% |
Good |
3 pts. |
|
C |
70-79% |
Satisfactory |
2 pts. |
|
D |
60-69% |
Minimal |
1 pts. |
|
F |
0-50% |
Unsatisfactory |
0 pts. |
|
I |
0% |
Incomplete |
0 pts. |
A student
accumulating 10 or more unexcused class absences in an annual course or 5 or
more unexcused absences in a semester course will be subject to the withholding
of a final credit. Check the Curriculum Bulletin for more information.
Appropriate
behavior is essential for the learning environment. Any student behaving inappropriately will be
given a verbal reprimand, if the behavior continues a written verbal warning
will be placed in his/her record.
Further reprimands will be followed by a phone call to a parent and a
possible parent/teacher conference.
Anything beyond this will be handled by the school administration.
A
syllabus outlining this course by semester and quarter is available on the
class website www.geocities.com/ms_heilman
You are responsible for keeping pace with this schedule. Because of unforeseen circumstances there may
be instances in which certain topics may not be fully covered through lectures,
notes or class assignments this DOES NOT indicate you are not responsible for
the assigned reading. It is your
responsibility to make sure that you have completed all the reading, whether or
not you were directly instructed to do so.
There is a nightly reading assignment based on your syllabus. NO LATE
WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, other than an excused
absence.
Will be
given at the beginning of class and returned graded and returned promptly.
Quizzes will usually be no more than five short answer questions. These
questions will be based on the reading assigned for homework.
There will be a quarterly
test given one week before the end of each quarter. It will be in the AP format
with 50-75 multiple-choice questions and 2 free response questions. This test
will count for approximately 25-30% of your quarter grade.
A quiz
usually will be given after each textbook chapter. The format will be
multiple-choice and free-response, depending upon the chapter content. They
will follow the format of the AP Psychology Exam.
The number
of papers and projects per quarter will vary, as will the length, duration and
depth of the papers and projects assigned. As a result of these differences the
weight given to each assignment is not constant.
All
assignments are due on the date specified, unless prior arrangements have been
made with the instructor.
AP
PSYCHOLOGY CALENDAR
SEMESTER 1
Quarter
1: August 14 - October 19
Chapter 1: The Evolution of
Psychology
·
From
Speculation to Science: How Psychology Developed
·
Psychology
Today: Vigorous and Diversified
·
Putting
it in Perspective: Seven Key Themes
Chapter 2: The Research
·
Scientific
Approach
·
Experimental
Research
·
Descriptive/Correlation
Research
·
Statistics
·
Ethics:
Do the Ends Justify the Means?
Chapter 6: Learning
·
Classical
Conditioning
·
Operant
Conditioning
·
Changing
Directions in the Study of Conditioning
·
Observational
Learning
Chapter 7: Memory
·
Encoding
·
Storage
·
Retrieval
·
Forgetting
·
Physiology
of Memory
·
Multiple
Memory Systems
Chapter 3: Biological Bases of
Behavior
·
Nervous
System
·
The
Brain
·
The
Brain and Behavior
·
Heredity
and Behavior
·
Evolutionary
Bases of Behavior
Quarter 2: October 23
– December 21
Chapter 4: Sensation & Perception
·
Psychophysics:
Concepts and Issues
·
The
“Five” Senses
·
Other
Senses
Chapter 5: Variations in Consciousness
·
Nature
of Consciousness
·
Biological
Rhythms
·
Sleep,
Dreams, and Hypnosis
·
Altered
States of Consciousness
Chapter 10: Motivation & Emotion
·
Motivational
Theories and Concepts
·
Motivation
of Hunger and Eating
·
Sexual
Motivation and Behavior
·
Affiliation
and Achievement
·
Elements
of Emotion/Theories of Emotion
Chapter 11: Human Development
·
Prenatal
Development
·
Childhood
·
The
Transition of Adolescence
·
The
Expanse of Adulthood
SEMESTER 2
Quarter
3: January 8 – March 15
Chapter 13: Stress, Coping, and Health
·
Nature
of Stress
·
Types
of Stress
·
Responding
to Stress
·
Effects
of Stress
·
Factors
Moderating the Impact of Stress
·
Health-Impairing
Behavior/ Reactions to Illness
Chapter 12: Personality
·
The
Nature of Personality
·
Psychodynamic/Behavioral
Perspectives
·
Humanistic/Biological
Perspectives
·
Contemporary
Empirical Approaches
·
Culture
and Personality
Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders
·
Abnormal
Behavior
·
Anxiety/Somatoform/Dissociative
Disorders
·
Mood/Schizophrenic/Personality
Disorders
·
Psychological
Disorders and the Law
·
Culture
and Pathology
Quarter 4: March 19 –
May 30
Chapter 15: Treatment of Psychological Disorders
·
Elements
of Treatment Process
·
Therapies
·
Current
Trends and Issues in Treatment
·
Institutional
Treatment in Transition
Chapter
8: Language and Thought
·
Language:
Turning Thoughts into Words
·
Problem
Solving
·
Decision
Making: Choices and Chances
Chapter 9: Intelligence & Psychological Testing
·
Key
Concepts in Psychological Testing
·
The
Evolution of Intelligence Testing
·
Heredity
and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
·
New
Directions in the Assessment and Study of Intelligence
Chapter 16: Social Behavior
·
Person
Perception: Forming Impressions of Others
·
Attribution
Process
·
Close
Relationships: Liking and Loving
·
Attitudes
·
Conformity
and Obedience
·
Behavior
in Groups
Review for AP Exam
***AP EXAMS – May 1-12