World Geography Honors 2013-2014



AICE Psychology Syllabus 2019-2020Somerset Academy CanyonsMr. Ricardo Piazza – rpiazza@ Course Description Welcome to AICE Psychology. This challenging, college-level course is intended to provide an introduction to psychological concepts, theories, research findings, and applications. Furthermore, it seeks to create an understanding of the range and limitations of psychological theory and practice. These criteria encourages candidates to explore and understand the relationship between psychological findings and everyday life. It also emphasizes the development of analytical skills, interpretation, application, and evaluation. This promotes an appreciation and understanding of individual, social, and cultural diversity. Which will lead the student to develop an understanding of ethical issues in psychology, including the moral and ethical implications of psychological research. Such an exploration will create an understanding of the relationship between psychological findings and social, cultural, and contemporary issues. The study of psychological principles, perspectives, and applications provides a benefit in ameliorating communication skills. The growth of the subject over the last hundred years has continually widened the areas of interest and the body of knowledge. This means that candidates must either specialize before they have an overview of the subject, or else deal with all the areas in a superficial way. This course tackles this problem by requiring the candidate to cover all the major areas of psychology, and to do this by sampling the research rather than overviewing it all. Therefore, the syllabus prescribes the studies that must be covered during the course. This design allows the subject to be studied in depth while retaining breadth and balance.Students will take AICE Psychology Papers 1 and 2 for college credit in May.The Cambridge AICE syllabus can be found on our class page in the school’s website.Course Learning Objectives The core studies have been chosen to allow candidates to demonstrate: knowledge and understanding of approaches to the solution of problems; an ability to analyze and to evaluate some of the cultural, social, and ethical implications of psychology; and an ability to apply psychological concepts to practical problems and to everyday life. Each core receives approximately equal attention. Course Themes ? Methodology – Candidates should be able to: describe a range of psychological methods; be able to consider the strengths and weaknesses (evaluate) and compare and contrast the methods and consider their practical and theoretical implications; and be able to discuss methodological issues such as design, sampling, and control.? Approaches – Candidates should: be aware of the range and assumptions of approaches and perspectives in psychology: biological, cognitive, learning, and social. Candidates should also be able to consider strengths and weaknesses (evaluate) and compare and contrast the approaches. ? Issues and Debates – Candidates should: be aware of the issues and debates that structure psychological research; be able to evaluate the issues and debates; and be able to consider the moral and ethical implications of psychological research.Course Curriculum Biological PsychologyThe main assumptions of the biological approach are: behavior, cognitions and emotions can be explained in terms of the working of the brain and the effect of hormones; similarities and differences between people can be understood in terms of biological factors and their interaction with other factors.The Core Studies ? Canli, T., Zhao, Z., Brewer, J., Gabrieli, J.D.E. and Cahill, L. (2000), Event-Related Activation in the Human Amygdala Associates with Later Memory for Individual Emotional Experience. The Journal of Neuroscience. 20, RC99. ? Dement, W and Kleitman, N (1957), The Relation of Eye Movements During Sleep to Dream Activity. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 53(5). pp. 339–346.? Schachter, S and Singer, J E (1962), Cognitive, Social and Physiological Determinants of Emotional State. Psychological Review. 69(5). pp. 379–399.Cognitive Psychology The main assumptions of the cognitive approach are: behavior and emotions can be explained in terms of the role of cognitive processes such as attention, language, thinking and memory; similarities and differences between people can be understood in terms of individual patterns of cognition. The Core Studies ? Andrade, J. (2010), What Does Doodling do? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24: 100–106.? Baron-Cohen, S, Wheelwright, S, Hill, J, Raste, Y and Plumb, I (2001), The 'Reading the Mind in the Eyes' Test Revised Version: A Study with Normal Adults, and Adults with Asperger Syndrome or High-functioning Autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 42(2). pp. 241–251.? Laney, C., Morris, E.K., Bernstein, D.M., Wakefield, B.M., and Loftus, E.F. (2008), Asparagus, a Love Story. Healthier Eating Could Be Just a False Memory Away. Experimental Psychology, 55(5): 291–300. Learning Psychology The main assumptions of the learning approach are: conditioning helps to explain changes in behavior; social learning helps to explain changes in behavior. The Core Studies ? Bandura, A, Ross, D and Ross, S A (1961), Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 63(3). pp. 575–582. ? Saavedra, L.M. and Silverman, W.K. (2002), Case Study: Disgust and a Specific Phobia of Buttons. Journal of the American Academy and Adolescent Psychiatry, 41(11): 1376–1379. ? Pepperberg, I.M. (1987), Acquisition of the same/different concept by an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus): Learning with respect to categories of color, shape, and material. Animal Learning & Behavior, 15(4): 423–432. Social PsychologyThe main assumptions of the social approach are: behavior, cognitions and emotions can be influenced by other individuals; behavior, cognitions and emotions can be influenced by groups or social contexts. The Core Studies ? Milgram, S (1963), Behavioral Study of Obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology. 67(4). pp. 371–378.? Piliavin, I M, Rodin, J and Piliavin, J (1969), Good Samaritanism: An Underground Phenomenon? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 13(4). pp. 289–299.? Yamamoto, S., Humle, T. and Tanaka, M. (2012) Chimpanzees’ flexible targeted helping based on an understanding of conspecifics’ goals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(9): 3588–3592. Teaching Philosophy The AICE Psychology themes, learning objectives, and curriculum influence the design of instructional strategies and content selection throughout the course. In addition, class discussion and activities incorporate and reinforce the themes as well as engage the methodology and approaches of each unit studied.Once the course begins, motivating students to become responsible for their own reading is the first priority, along with intense focus on the basic skills needed to be successful in AICE Psychology. Daily activities that rely heavily on student participation are utilized in order to encourage them to be responsible for reading at home. There will be frequent, unannounced notebook checks and quizzes throughout the school year. My goal is to encourage my students to try new reading and note-taking strategies and to see how these strategies may help them. Many students find AICE Psychology to be either their first or another challenging course, as they did not necessarily need sound study habits and skills in order to be successful in previous classes. I encourage my students to remain motivated, and not to quit. Everyone has a strong chance of success on the AICE exam, as long as they put forth effort and do not take any shortcuts. Early on, I focus on the habits of mind by introducing the skills related to the free response questions. By week four, students answer exam-style questions, utilizing several analytical skills required at the university level. My objective is that students are accustomed to the pace and expectations of the course and can utilize the basic skills of identify, describing, explaining, and other higher-level thinking to answer questions. Learning these basic skills early in the course allots time for practice, improvement, and implementation to the essay-format questions. In terms of the daily class structure, I strive to use the 90-minute period to: begin with an activity and/or discussion, lecture on new course content, and conclude with an activity orwriting skills workshop. Lectures typically expand on material in their readings and are centered towards content they will be tested on in the AICE exam. To build their skills, I try to incorporate visual and physical applications of ideas to appeal to a variety of learning styles. Furthermore, the course’s quick pace has been crafted to provide ample time for mock exam drilling. This has been designed to ensure the students practice and learn the exam’s structure, question-types, and previous patterns. Course Materials? Case Studies: PDF versions are in my home page’s class folder to download and print-out. ? Textbook (School Provided): Russell, Julia, Lintern, Fiona, Gauntlett, Lizzie, and Davies, Jaime. Cambridge International AS and A Level Psychology Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016. ? Revision Guide (Student Purchase): Clarke, David. Cambridge International AS and A Level Psychology. 2nd Edition. London: Hodder Education, 2017. ? Three or Five-Subject Notebook or Binder (Flashcards are optional). ? Pens, Pencils, and Highlighters. Grades Exams (45%) All exam material will come from the readings, lecture, and class discussions. There will also be a midterm exam in December and a final project in May. Quizzes (25%) All quizzes on the assigned readings will be unannounced. It is imperative to be up-to-date with the reading schedule. Notebook (20%) Notebook checks will be unannounced, and graded on entry content. Classwork/Participation (10%) Students are responsible for coming to class on time and prepared to participate in both activities and discussion.Grade Weighting Because of the rigor of this college-level course, GPAs are weighted 2 points on a 6.0 HPA scale. Hence, a C (or 2.0) becomes a 4.0, a B (or 3.0) becomes a 5.0, and an A (or 4.0) becomes a 6.0. Neither Ds nor Fs receive any weighting.Classroom Rules and Consequences?Rules1. Each student must arrive to class on time and prepared. 2. The 20/20 Rule will be enforced: students cannot leave the classroom in the first or last 20 minutes of class. 3. There is to be no late work. If there is an issue, the student must email me before the assignment is due. 4. If a student misses an exam, he or she has one week from exam’s issue date to make it up. Otherwise, the student will receive a 0.5. Each student must act in a manner that does not interfere with the educational process.6. Students must have mutual respect for both the teacher and fellow classmates. 7. Electronic devices may not be used in class. Any electronic devices displayed during class will be confiscated, and returned to the student at the conclusion of school. Consequences1. Verbal Warning2. An Automatic 0 Grade (Instructor’s Discretion) 3. Parent Contact4. One-Hour Detention5. Administrator Detention/Saturday School Plagiarism & Cheating PolicyPlagiarism will not be tolerated under any circumstances!?Plagiarism also includes copying another student’s work or giving your work to another student to copy.?If a student is caught plagiarizing, they will receive an F for that assignment and a 1 in conduct for the nine weeks.?They will receive a written notice and parent contact will be made immediately.?The conduct grade cannot be improved upon for that 9-week grading period. A referral by the teacher can be submitted to administration?depending?on the severity and/or frequency of the offense,?whereas?administration will determine if any further punishment is deemed necessary. This is a social studies department policy. Cheating is also an unacceptable offense, and not tolerated under any circumstances! Cheating includes (but is not limited to) copying off another student’s work, allowing another student to copy your work, using any unapproved aides such as cell phones or other electronic devices, written materials, "cheat sheets", and anything that may unfairly provide a student with an answer other than their own brain. If a student is caught cheating, they will receive an F for that assignment and a 1 in conduct for the nine weeks. They will receive a written notice and parent contact will be made immediately after the infraction.?The conduct grade cannot be improved upon for that 9-week grading period. A referral by the teacher can be submitted to administration?depending?on the severity and/or frequency of the offense,?whereas?administration will determine if any further punishment is deemed necessary. This is a social studies department policy. Student’s Name Printed____________________________I have read Mr. Piazza’s syllabus, and his rules/procedures have been explained to me. I accept responsibility for my work and actions in the classroom. I will work hard and strive for excellence at all times. Student Signature ____________________________Date _______________Parent Signature____________________________Date _______________Parent Contact information – Parents please write clearly; thanks very much. Names _________________________________________Email address ___________________________________Email address ___________________________________Cell Phone # _________________________Cell Phone # _________________________The best and fastest way to contact me is through email at: rpiazza@ I am fully committed to providing every student with a safe and productive learning environment in which all will be held to high expectations. I look forward to a wonderful school year. Sincerely,Mr. Piazza ................
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