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AP Psychology Course Syllabus 2017 – 2018Teacher: Mrs. CoffingEmail Address: bcoffing@Room: D110Phone Number: 909-421-7500 Course Description: The Advanced Placement 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 are 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. The Advanced Placement Psychology course will offer students the opportunities to learn about the explorations and discoveries made by psychologists over the past century. Students will get the chance to assess some of the differing approaches adopted by psychologists, including biological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, and sociocultural perspectives. Students will also learn the basic skills of psychology research and develop critical thinking skills. The Advanced Placement Psychology course aims to provide students with a learning experience equivalent to that of most college introductory psychology courses. This course will prepare students to successfully conquer the AP Psychology Exam. Textbook: Myers, David G. Myers’ Psychology for AP, 2nd Edition, New York, Worth, 2014. Textbooks will be assigned during the first week of class. Reading assignments in the textbook will be given out nightly.My Expectations:Be honestBe on timeBe organizedBe preparedBe respectfulAbsences: The Rialto High School Attendance Policy will be followed. If you know you will be absent ahead of time, or for a considerable amount of time, please let me as soon as you know so we can discuss what you will be missing. Attendance is especially important in an Advanced Placement class. Excessive absences will have a negative effect on your grade and your success on the AP Psychology Exam. Makeup Work Policy: Google Classroom is a valuable resource in finding out what you missed if you are absent. At the beginning of class on the day you return, you will be expected to turn in any assignments that were collected while you were out. Schedule with me before school, during lunch, or after school to make up an exam or quiz – these cannot be made up during class time. Remember, making up work is your responsibility! Late Work Policy: This is an AP College level course. This means that I expect you to turn in assignments on time! It is a disservice to your learning and education when you turn in work late. The deadline for an assignment to be turned in is at the unit exam for which it was assigned. For all work turned in past the deadline, the assignment will automatically be reduced 10%. Please note: for paperless assignments, I prefer to accept assignments turned in via Google Classroom as opposed to emailing an attachment unless there is a special circumstance. Please make sure you submit your assignment under the correct assignment and your completed work is attached / linked. Handing In and Taking Back Assignments: Students are responsible for handing in all assignments, unless otherwise announced by teacher, on the counter in the assigned bin within the first 3 minutes of the class period. Any assignments not submitted at the beginning of the class period on the due date are considered late. Work submitted will then be graded and placed in the appropriate outbox for your period to be handed back. Paper-based assignments will be handed back regularly with feedback. Paperless assignments submitted through Google Classroom, will require you to go back and check your feedback. It is also your responsibility to check your grade frequently through your StudentVue Account.Plagiarism:Plagiarism is not tolerated in any way, shape, or form, under any circumstance. Students who have plagiarized an assignment will automatically fail the assignment, and be required to do the assignment over in my presence either before school or during lunch, with the additional penalty of earning a grade no higher than a "C".Bathroom Privileges:Students are encouraged to utilize passing periods to use the bathroom. However, I understand that emergencies do occur. Students get 3 passes per quarter for such emergencies. Students may use the pass as long as I am not lecturing or giving instructions. If students exceed 3 restroom trips per quarter, each must be made up by staying after class, during lunch, or school for 5 minutes to make up the time they missed.In addition, only one student will be allowed to leave the classroom at a time. Lastly, according to RHS policy, passes will not be given the first 15 minutes and the last 15 minutes of class.Tardies:For the first 3 tardies to class, the student will receive a warning. On the 4th tardy, parent contact will be made by phone or letter. The 5th tardy will result in a 30 minute detention. Each following tardy receives a tardy referral, which will be handled by administration. Cell Phones/Other Electronic Devices:Per RHS policy, cell phones/electronic devices are not to be SEEN or HEARD during school hours. Violation will result in immediate confiscation, turned in to security, where it will be held for parent pick-up. No crying or whining! You have been warned! *Electronic devices may be used on rare occasion with the expressed permission of the teacher.Grading Policy: Grades are based on the following scale: A = 100 - 90% B = 89 – 80% C = 79 - 70% D = 69 - 60% F = 59% and below in this classGrade WeightingAssignments are broken down in the following way: ? Summative Assessments (exams and projects) = 50% ? Formative Assessments (apply & practice activities, classwork, reading quizzes, etc.) = 40% ? Homework (vocabulary and reading questions) = 10% Materials and Supplies: It is highly recommended that you bring the following to class everyday: ? A three-ring binder (preferably a 2” with dividers) ? Lined loose leaf paper (100-200 sheets) ? Pencils and blue / black pens ? Highlighters (optional - great when taking notes) Assessment Practices: ? Unit Exams - These exams are modeled after the AP Exam, with 30+ multiple-choice questions (answer choices A-E) and one FRQ in one class period. Although unit tests will focus on the present unit of study, some questions will be cumulative. Unit Exams will be counted as summative assessments. ? Projects / Presentations – Students can expect to be assigned projects and presentations (group and individual) during each unit of this course. These summative projects and presentations will be assessed through rubrics for content, grammar, organization, structure, and creativity. ? Reading Quizzes - These are scheduled at least once each unit and use the AP Exam multiple-choice format. These will be counted as formative assessments.? Unit Reading Questions - Each unit will have a set of reading questions that students are expected to answer while they are completing the module readings. These reading questions are crucial to learning the content in order to be successful on the AP Psychology exam and in this class. Reading questions will be due on the day of the Unit Exam.. ? Unit Vocabulary - Each unit will have a set of vocabulary words. Students are expected to define these vocabulary concepts in their own words, either on flash cards, typed, written, or using various web applications, such as Quizlet. The unit vocabulary will be due on the day of the Unit Exam. * Please note that all dates in the syllabus are tentative and are subject to change. Semester Unit Title AP Exam Topics and Weighting of PercentagesFallUnit 1: History and Approaches 2 - 4% Unit 2: Research Methods 8 - 10% Unit 3: Biological Bases of Behavior 8 - 10% Unit 4: Sensation and Perception 6 - 8% Unit 5: States of Consciousness 2 - 4% Unit 6: Learning 7 - 9% Unit 7: Cognition 8 - 10% Unit 8: Motivation and Emotion 6 - 8% SpringUnit 9: Developmental Psychology 7 - 9% Unit 10: Personality 5 - 7% Unit 11: Testing and Individual Differences 5 - 7%Unit 12: Social Psychology 8 - 10% Unit 13: Abnormal Behavior 7 - 9% Unit 14: Treatment of Abnormal Behavior 5 - 7% The AP Psychology Exam is on The AP Psychology Exam is Monday, May 7, 2018! Noon, Afternoon Session * Multiple Choice Section: 100 questions, 70 minutes total* Free Response Section: 2 essay questions, 50 minutes totalReview for AP Psychology Exam will be __________________________________________.Final Project / Presentations will be _____________________________________________.Exam Grades: 5 = Extremely well qualified4 = Well qualified3 = Qualified--------------------------------------2 = Possibly qualified1= No recommendationReview for AP ExamWe will review for the AP Exam using a selected number of activities: various collaborative review activities, after school review sessions, using posted review materials on the Google classroom page, using released AP Psychology practice tests (both multiple choice and FRQ), and working in small groups to complete various review activities.I am very excited to be sharing this learning experience with you. Please remember that I am here to support you and teach you to be the best students you can be. I am available during my lunch office hours, as well as before and after school. You can also email me at bcoffing@ or message me via our Google Classroom. Let’s make this an amazing school year and GET READY TO LEARN!!!Course OutlineUnit 1: History, Approaches, and Research Methods (3 weeks)Aug. 6th – August 24thTextbook Reading: Chapter 1Logic, philosophy, and history of scienceApproaches/PerspectivesExperimental, correlational, and clinical researchStatisticsEthics in ResearchObjectivesDefine psychology and identify early milestones in the fieldCompare and contrast the psychological perspectivesIdentify subfields of psychologyIdentify elements of an experiment (e.g., variables, groups, sampling, population)Compare and contrast research methods (e.g., case, survey, naturalistic observation)Explain correlational studiesDescribe the three measures of central tendency and measures of variationDiscuss the ethics of animal and human researchProject: “Psychological Perspectives“group presentations Test: Chapter 1Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior (3 weeks)Aug. 27th – Sept. 14thTextbook Reading: Chapters 2 and 3Physiological techniques (e.g. imaging, surgical)NeuroanatomyFunctional organization of the nervous systemNeural transmissionEndocrine systemGeneticsEvolutionary psychologyObjectivesDescribe the structure of a neuron and explain neural impulsesDescribe neural communication and discuss the impact of neurotransmittersClassify and explain major divisions of the nervous systemIdentify and describe the functions of brain structures (e.g. hypothalamus, cerebellum, limbic system)Describe the four lobes of the cerebral cortex and their functionsDiscuss the association areasExplain split-brain studiesDescribe the endocrine systemProject: Brain Book” projectTest: Chapters 2 and 3Unit 3: Developmental Psychology (3 weeks)Sept. 17 – Oct. 5Textbook Reading: Chapter 4Life-span approachResearch methodsHeredity-environment issuesDevelopmental theoriesDimensions of developmentSex roles and gender rolesObjectivesDescribe the course of prenatal developmentDiscuss Piaget’s theory of cognitive developmentDiscuss the effect of social development (body contact, familiarity, and parenting styles)Describe the early development changes in physical, cognitive, moral, and social areasDescribe the early development of self-conceptIdentify Kohlberg’s moral development stages and apply to scenariosDescribe Erikson’s psychosocial development stagesDistinguish between longitudinal versus cross-sectional studies and crystallized versus fluid intelligenceTest: Chapter 4Unit 4: States of Consciousness (2 weeks)October 8th - October 19thSleep and dreamingHypnosisPsychoactive drug effectsObjectivesDescribe the sleep cycle and identify what occurs in each stageCompare difference between NREM and REMDescribe the major sleep disordersExplain the purpose of dreamsDiscuss hypnosis and describe the characteristics of those more likely to be hypnotizedDiscuss dependence, tolerances, and withdrawal in relation to drug useChart names and effects of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogenic drugsDescribe the effects of depressants, stimulant, and hallucinogenic drugsTest: Chapter 7Unit 5: Sensation and Perception (3 weeks)October 22nd – Nov. 2ndTextbook Reading: Chapters 5 and 6Thresholds and signal detection theorySensory mechanismsAttentionPerceptual processesObjectivesContrast the processes of sensation and perceptionDistinguish between thresholds (absolute, difference, Weber’s law)Label a diagram of the parts of the eye and the earDescribe the operation of the sensory systems (the five sense)Differentiate the Young-Helmholtz and opponent process theory of color visionExplain the place and frequency theories of pitchDescribe Gestalt principles, figure-ground, and depth perceptionDiscuss monocular and binocular cuesProject: “Senses” group presentationsTest: Chapters 5 and 6Unit 6: Learning (3 weeks)Nov. 5 – Nov. 16/Break/- Nov. 30thTextbook Reading: Chapter 8Classical conditioningOperant conditioningCognitive processesBiological factorsSocial learningObjectivesDescribe classical conditioning (Pavlov’s experiments)Explain acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination in conditioningDescribe operant conditioning (Skinner’s experiments)Identify the different types of reinforcers (positive, negative, partial, continuous, primary, and secondary)Describe the schedules of reinforcementExplain cognitive process and biological predispositions in conditioningDiscuss the effects of punishment on behaviorDescribe the process of observational learning (Bandura’s experiments)Test: Chapter 8Unit 7: Memory (2.5 weeks)Dec. 3rd – Dec. 14thTextbook Reading: Chapter 9Describe sensory memory, short-term memory, and long-term memoryDistinguish between automatic and effortful processingExplain the encoding process (e.g., imagery, chunking, hierarchies)Differentiate between implicit and explicit memoryDescribe the impact of retrieval cues on memoryDiscuss the effects of interference and motivated forgetting on retrievalDescribe Loftus’s research on memory reconstructionIdentify mnemonic devices (e.g., acronyms, method of loci, peg-word, narrative chaining)First Semester Final Exam Week (1 week) -cumulative, multiple-choice final examUnit 8: Thinking and Language (2 weeks)Jan. 8th – Jan. 18thTextbook Reading: Chapter 10LanguageThinkingProblem solving and creativityObjectivesDefine concepts and prototypesDifferentiate algorithms and heuristics when solving problemsExplain how the representativeness and availability heuristics are used to make decisionsDescribe the structure of language (phonemes, morphemes, grammar)Identify language developmental stages (e.g. babbling, one word)Explain the nature-nurture debate for language acquisition (Chomsky vs. Skinner)Discuss Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesisDescribe the research on animal communicationTest: Chapter 10Unit 9: Intelligence: Testing and Individual Differences (2 weeks)Jan. 22nd-Feb. 1stTextbook Reading: Chapter 11Standardization and normsReliability and validityTypes of testsEthics and standards in testingIntelligenceObjectivesDiscuss the origins of intelligence testingDescribe the nature of intelligenceDifferentiate intelligence theories (Spearman, Thurstone, Gardner, Sternberg)Distinguish between aptitude and achievement testsDescribe the importance of standardizationDistinguish between the reliability and validity of intelligence testsDescribe extremes of intelligenceDiscuss genetic and environmental influences on intelligenceTest: Chapter 11Unit 10: Motivation and Emotion (2 weeks)Feb. 4th – Feb. 15thTextbook Readings: Chapters 12, 13, and 14Biological basesTheories of motivationHunger, thirst, sex, and painSocial motivesTheories of emotionStressObjectivesDescribe motivation and identify motivational theoriesExplain Maslow’s hierarchy of needsDescribe the symptoms of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosaDefine achievement motivation, including intrinsic and extrinsic motivationDescribe the three theories of emotion (James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer)Identify physiological changes that occur during emotional arousalDiscuss the catharsis hypothesisDescribe the biological response to stressTest: Chapters 12, 13, and 14Unit 11: Personality (3 weeks)Feb. 19th – March 1stTextbook Reading: Chapter 15Personality theories and approachesAssessment techniquesGrowth and adjustmentObjectivesDescribe Freud’s iceberg theory (id, ego, and superego)Explain how defense mechanisms protect the egoDescribe the contributions of the neo-Freudians (Jung, Adler, Horney)Describe the humanistic perspective on personality (Maslow’s self-actualization and Roger’s self-concept)Identify how personality inventories are used to assess traitsDiscuss the social-cognitive perspective on personality (Bandura’s reciprocal determinism)Identify locus of control, learned helplessness, and optimismCompare and contrast the psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, and social-cognitive perspectives on personalityUnit 12: Abnormal Psychology (3 weeks) March 4 – 13/Break/March 25th-29thTextbook Reading: Chapter 16Definitions of abnormalityTheories of psychopathologyDiagnosis of psychopathologyTypes of disordersObjectivesDiscuss the purpose of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR)Explain the impact of Rosenhan’s study on diagnostic labelsDescribe 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 disordersDifferentiate mood disorders (major depression versus bipolar)Differentiate hallucinations and delusions, and identify subtypes of schizophreniaDescribe the three clusters of personality disorders (anxiety, eccentric, impulsive)Test: Chapter 16 Unit 13: Treatment of Psychological Disorders (1.5 weeks) Mon, April 1st – Fri, April 12th Textbook Reading: Chapter 17Treatment approachesModes of therapy (e.g. individual, group)Community and preventative approachesObjectivesDescribe psychoanalytic therapeutic techniques (e.g., free association, interpretation)Discuss Roger’s client-centered therapyIdentify counterconditioning techniquesDescribe the goals of the cognitive therapiesDiscuss the benefits of group therapy and family therapyDifferentiate between antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic medicationsDescribe electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomiesDiscuss the effectiveness of the psychotherapiesTest: Chapter 17Unit 14: Social Psychology (2 weeks)Mon, April 15 -26thTextbook Reading: Chapter 18Group dynamicsAttribution processesInterpersonal perceptionConformity, compliance, obedienceAttitudes and attitude changeOrganizational behaviorAggression/antisocial behaviorCultural influencesObjectivesDescribe the fundamental attribution errorDescribe Zimbardo’s prison guard experiment and the effects of role-playing on attitudesDiscuss the results of Asch’s experiment on conformityDiscuss Milgram’s experiments on obedienceExplain social facilitation, social loafing, and deindividuationDifferentiate group polar and groupthinkDefine and give examples of prejudiceDiscuss the issues related to aggression and attractionTest: Chapter 18Second Semester Final Exam WeekCumulative, multiple-choice final exam (2 days)Mon, April 28-Tues, April 29th*AP Exam Review(1st semester) Wed, May 1 – Mon, May 6thPost – AP Exam WorkTo be announced I have read Mrs. Coffing's syllabus and understand the above information:Student Name (Printed)________________________________________ Date__________________ Period___________*Student Signature___________________________________________ *Parent Signature_____________________________________________ Contact #___________________________________________________ Email_______________________________________________________ ................
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