(Course content copied as it is from AP university description from net - details to be added .....)
Chapter 1 : History and evolution
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. A students in psychology should know following:
- Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped
the development of psychological thought.
- Describe and compare different theoretical
approaches in explaining behavior:
- structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in
the early years;
- Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and
humanism emerging later;
- evolutionary, biological, and cognitive as more
contemporary approaches.
- Recognize the strengths and limitations of
applying theories to explain behavior.
- Distinguish the different domains of psychology:
- biological, clinical, cognitive, counseling,
developmental, educational, experimental, human factors,
industrial–organizational, personality, psychometric, and social.
- Identify the major historical figures in
psychology (e.g., Mary Whiton Calkins, Charles Darwin, Dorothea Dix, Sigmund
Freud, G. Stanley Hall, William James, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Carl Rogers,
B. F. Skinner, Margaret Floy Washburn, John B. Watson, Wilhelm Wundt).
Chapter 2: Research Methods
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. A students in psychology should be able
to do the following:
- Differentiate types of research (e.g.,
experiments, correlational studies, survey research, naturalistic observations,
and case studies) with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.
- Describe how research design drives the
reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (e.g., experiments are useful for
determining cause and effect; the use of experimental controls reduces
alternative explanations).
- 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 (e.g., confounding variables limit
confidence in research conclusions).
- Distinguish the purposes of descriptive
statistics and inferential statistics.
- Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts,
including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple
descriptive statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard
deviation).
- 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 (e.g.,
those provided by the American Psychological Association, federal regulations,
local institutional review boards) protect research participants and promote
sound ethical practice.
Chapter 3: Biological Bases of Behavior
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 course.AP students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- 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 (e.g., reuptake mechanisms).
- Discuss the effect of the endocrine system on
behavior.
- Describe the nervous system
and its subdivisions and functions:
- central and peripheral nervous systems;
- major brain regions, lobes, and cortical areas;
- brain lateralization and hemispheric
specialization.
- Recount historic and contemporary research
strategies and technologies that support research (e.g., case studies,
split-brain research, imaging techniques).
- 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 (e.g., Paul Broca,
Charles Darwin, Michael Gazzaniga, Roger Sperry, Carl Wernicke).
Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception
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.A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Discuss basic principles of sensory transduction,
including absolute threshold, difference threshold, signal detection, and
sensory adaptation.
- Describe sensory processes (e.g., hearing,
vision, touch, taste, smell, vestibular,kinesthesis, pain), 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 (e.g., visual
and hearing impairments).
- Describe general principles of organizing and
integrating sensation to promote stable awareness of the external world (e.g.,
Gestalt principles, depth perception).
- Discuss how experience and culture can influence
perceptual processes (e.g., perceptual set, context effects).
- 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 (e.g., Gustav Fechner, David Hubel, Ernst Weber,
Torsten Wiesel).
Chapter 5: States of Consciousness
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. A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Describe various states of consciousness and
their impact on behavior.
- Discuss aspects of sleep and dreaming:
- — stages and characteristics of the sleep cycle;
- — theories of sleep and dreaming;
- — symptoms and treatments of sleep disorders.
- Describe historic and contemporary uses of
hypnosis (e.g., pain control,
- psychotherapy).
- Explain hypnotic phenomena (e.g., suggestibility,
dissociation).
- Identify the major psychoactive drug categories
(e.g., depressants, stimulants)
- and classify specific drugs, including their
psychological and physiological
- effects.
- Discuss drug dependence, addiction, tolerance,
and withdrawal.
- Identify the major figures in consciousness research
(e.g., William James,
- Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hilgard).
Chapter 6: Learning
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.A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Distinguish general differences between principles
of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning
(e.g., contingencies).
- Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena,
such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization,
discrimination, and higher-order learning.
- Predict the effects of operant
conditioning (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment,
schedules of reinforcement).
- 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 selfcontrol can be used to address behavioral problems.
- Identify key contributors in the psychology of
learning (e.g., Albert Bandura, John Garcia, Ivan Pavlov, Robert Rescorla, B.
F. Skinner, Edward Thorndike, Edward Tolman, John B. Watson).
Chapter 7: Cognition
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. A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Compare and contrast various cognitive processes:
- effortful versus automatic processing;
- deep versus shallow processing;
- focused versus divided attention.
- Describe and differentiate psychological and
physiological systems of memory (e.g., short-term memory, procedural 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
(e.g., Noam Chomsky, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Wolfgang Köhler, Elizabeth Loftus,
George A. Miller).
Chapter 8: Motivation and Emotion
In this part of the course, students explore
biological and social factors that motivate behavior and biological and cultural
factors that influence emotion. A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Identify and apply basic motivational concepts to
understand the behavior of humans and other animals (e.g., instincts,
incentives, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation).
- Discuss the biological underpinnings of
motivation, including needs, drives, and homeostasis.
- Compare and contrast motivational theories (e.g.,
drive reduction theory, arousal theory, general adaptation theory), including the
strengths and weaknesses of each.
- Describe classic research findings in specific
motivation systems (e.g., eating, sex, social)
- Discuss theories of stress and the effects of
stress on psychological and physical well-being.
- Compare and contrast major theories of emotion
(e.g., James–Lange, Cannon– Bard, Schachter two-factor
theory).
- Describe how cultural influences shape emotional
expression, including variations in body language.
- Identify key contributors in the psychology of
motivation and emotion (e.g., William James, Alfred Kinsey, Abraham Maslow,
Stanley Schachter, Hans Selye).
Chapter 9: Developmental Psychology
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.A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- 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 (e.g., nutrition,
illness, substance abuse).
- 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
(e.g., Piaget’s stages, information processing).
- Compare and contrast models of moral development
(e.g., Kohlberg, Gilligan).
- 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
(e.g., Mary Ainsworth, Albert Bandura, Diana Baumrind, Erik Erikson,
Sigmund Freud, Carol Gilligan, Harry Harlow, Lawrence Kohlberg, Konrad Lorenz,
Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky).
Chapter 10: Personality
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.A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Compare and contrast the major theories and
approaches to explaining personality: psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive,
trait, social learning, and behavioral.
- Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case
studies and surveys) that psychologists use to
investigate personality.
- Identify frequently used assessment strategies
(e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic
Apperception Test [TAT]), 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 (e.g., collectivistic versus individualistic cultures).
- Identify key contributors to personality theory
(e.g., Alfred Adler, Albert Bandura, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, Sigmund
Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers).
Chapter 11: Testing and Individual Differences
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. A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Define intelligence and list characteristics of
how psychologists measure intelligence:
- — abstract versus verbal measures;
- — speed of processing.
- Discuss how culture influences the definition of
intelligence.
- Compare and contrast historic and contemporary
theories of intelligence (e.g., Charles Spearman, Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg).
- 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 (e.g., gifted, cognitively disabled).
- Debate the appropriate testing practices,
particularly in relation to culture-fair test uses.
- Identify key contributors in intelligence
research and testing (e.g., Alfred Binet, Francis Galton, Howard Gardner, Charles Spearman,
Robert Sternberg, Louis Terman, David Wechsler).
Chapter 12: Abnormal Behavior
In this portion of the course, students examine the
nature of common challenges toadaptive functioning. This section emphasizes
formal conventions that guidepsychologists’ judgments about diagnosis and
problem severity.A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- 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 (e.g., the Rosenhan study).
- Discuss the intersection between psychology and
the legal system (e.g., confidentiality, insanity defense).
Chapter 13: Treatment of Abnormal Behavior
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.A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Describe the central characteristics of
psychotherapeutic intervention.
- Describe major treatment orientations used in
therapy (e.g., behavioral, cognitive, humanistic) and how those orientations
influence therapeutic planning.
- Compare and contrast different treatment formats
(e.g., individual, group).
- Summarize effectiveness of specific treatments
used to address specific problems.
- Discuss how cultural and ethnic context influence
choice and success of treatment (e.g., factors that lead to premature
termination of treatment).
- Describe prevention strategies that build
resilience and promote competence.
- Identify major figures in psychological treatment
(e.g., Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, Sigmund Freud, Mary Cover Jones, Carl Rogers, B. F.
Skinner, Joseph Wolpe).
Chapter 14: Social Psychology
This part of the course focuses on how individuals
relate to one another in socialsituations. Social psychologists study social
attitudes, social influence, and other social phenomena. A students in psychology should be able to do the
following:
- Apply attribution theory to explain motives
(e.g., fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias).
- Describe the structure and function of different
kinds of group behavior (e.g., deindividuation, group
polarization).
- Explain how individuals respond to expectations
of others, including groupthink, conformity, and obedience to authority.
- Discuss attitudes and how they change (e.g.,
central route to persuasion).
- Predict the impact of the presence of others on
individual behavior (e.g., bystander effect, social facilitation).
- Describe processes that contribute to
differential treatment of group members (e.g., in-group/out-group dynamics, ethnocentrism,
prejudice).
- Articulate the impact of social and cultural
categories (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity) 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
(e.g., Solomon Asch, Leon Festinger, Stanley Milgram,
Philip Zimbardo).
