AP PSYCHOLOGY

1. What are the major areas of study in AP Psychology?
2. How much emphasis is placed on each area of study on the AP exam?

What are the major areas of study in AP Psychology?

 Content Area:
            Course Outline 
1. Prologue
     a. History
     b. Contemporary Psychology
2. Thinking Critically
     a. Types of Research
     b. Correlation
     c. Experimentation
     d. Statistical Reasoning
3. Neuroscience and Behavior
     a. Neural Communication
     b. The Nervous System
     c. The Brain
     d. The Endocrine System
4. The Developing Person
     a. Prenatal Development
     b. Stage Theories
     c. Infancy and Childhood
     d. Adolescence
     e. Adulthood
5. Sensation
     a. Basic Principles
     b. Vision
     c. Hearing 
     d. Touch, Taste and Smell
6. Perception
     a. Selective Attention
     b. Perceptual Organization
     c. Perceptual Interpretation
7. States of Consciousness
     a. Waking Consciousness
     b. Sleep and Dreams
     c. Hypnosis
     d. Drugs and Consciousness
8. Learning
     a. Classical Conditioning
     b. Operant Conditioning
     c. Learning by Observation
9. Memory
     a. The Phenomenon of Memory
     b. Encoding 
     c. Storage
     d. Retrieval
     e. Forgetting
     f. Memory Construction
     g. Improving Memory
10. Thinking and Language
     a. Thinking
     b. Language
11. Intelligence
     a. The Origins of Intelligence Testing
     b. What is Intelligence
     c. Assessing Intelligence
     d. The Dynamics of Intelligence
     e. Genetic & Environmental Influences
12. Motivation and Work
     a. Motivational Concepts
     b. Hunger
     c. Sex
     d. Belonging
     e. Motivation at Work
13. Emotion
     a. Theories of Emotion
     b. Embodied Emotions
     c. Expressed Emotions
     d. Experienced Emotions
14. Stress and Health
     a. Stress and Illness
     b. Promoting Health
15. Personality
     a. Historic Perspectives on Personality
     b. Contemporary Research
16. Psychological Disorders
     a. Perspectives on Psychological
         Disorders
     b. Anxiety Disorders
     c. Mood Disorders
     d. Schizophrenia
     e. Personality Disorders
17. Therapy
     a. The Psychological Therapies
     b. Evaluating Therapies
     c. Biomedical Therapies
18. Social Psychology
     a. Social Thinking
     b. Social Influence
     c. Social Relations

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How much emphasis is placed on each area of study on the AP exam?

						
I.  Introduction to Psychology 		(8-12%)			
	A.  Logic, Philosophy, and History of Science
	B.  Subfields of Psychology
	C.  Major Approaches to the study of Psychology:
	(Biological, Behavioral, Psychodynamic, Cognitive, Humanistic, Socio-
cultural, Evolutionary)
D.	Methods of Research
a.	Correlational (Naturalistic observation, survey, clinical/case study)
b.	Experimental
	E.  Statistics (Descriptive and Inferential)
	F.  Ethics in Psychological Research	
		
II. Biological Bases of Behavior  	(8-10%)			
	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.  States of Consciousness	(2-4%)				
		1.  Sleep and Dreaming
		2.  Hypnosis
3.	Psychoactive Drug Effects

III. Sensation and Perception		(7-9%)			 
	A.  Thresholds
	B.  Sensory Mechanisms
	C.  Sensory Adaptation
	D.  Attention
	E.  Perceptual Processes

IV. Learning & Memory			(10-14%)			 
	A.  Classical Conditioning
	B.  Operant Conditioning
	C.  Cognitive Processes in Learning
	D.  Biological Factors
	E.  Social Learning
F.	Memory

V. Cognition & Intelligence		(10-12%)			 
	A.  Language, Thinking, Problem Solving, and Creativity
	B.  Intelligence; Heredity/Environment in Intelligence
	C.  Testing and Individual Differences; Human Diversity
1.  standardization and norms
		2.  reliability and validity
		3.  types of tests
4.  ethics and standards in testing

VI.   Motivation and Emotion		(7-9%)			 
	A.  Biological Bases
	B.  Theories of Motivation and Emotion
	C.  Hunger, Thirst, Sex, and Pain
	D.  Social Motives

VII. Personality, Stress and Health		(7-9%)		 
A.	Personality Theories and Approaches
B.	Assessment Techniques
C.	Self-concept, Self-Esteem
D.	Growth and Adjustment
E.	Stress and Health (Chapter 14)

VIII.  Developmental Psychology		(7-9%)		 
	A.  Life Span Approach
	B.  Research Methods (e.g., longitudinal, cross-sectional)
	C.  Heredity-Environment Issues (nature vs. nurture)
	D.  Developmental Theories
	E.  Dimensions of Development: (physical, cognitive, social, moral)
F.	Gender roles, Gender differences

IX. Abnormal Psychology		(7-9%)			 
	A.  Definitions of Abnormality
	B.  Theories of Psychopathology
	C.  Diagnosis, Classification, and Characteristics of Psychological 
Disorders
		1.  Anxiety Disorders
		2.  Somatoform Disorders
		3.  Mood Disorders
		4.  Schizophrenic Disorders
		5.  Organic Disorders
		6.  Personality Disorders
		7.  Dissociative Disorders
	D.  Treatment 			(6-8%)
		1.  Insight therapies (Psychodynamic & Humanistic approaches)
		2.  Behavioral and Cognitive approaches
		3.  Biological Approaches (pharmacology, psychosurgery, ECT)
		4.  Modes of Therapy (e.g., individual, group)
5.	Community and Preventive Approaches

X.  Social Psychology			(7-9%)				 
	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

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