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Ap Psychology Course Objectives I. Methonds AP PSYCHOLOGY COURSE OBJECTIVES I. METHONDS, APPROACHES, HISTORY A. Introduction: The Origins of Psychology a. Define psychology and discuss the issues that shaped psychology’s evolution over the past century and a half, including the influence of philosophy and physiology. b. Describe the roles played by Wilhelm Wundt and William James in the establishment of psychology as a separate scientific discipline. c. Identify the founders of structuralism and functionalism, and compare and contrast their key ideas and goals. d. Identify three early American psychologists who were students of William James or Edward Titchener, and list their contributions to the development of psychology. e. Identify the founder and describe the key ideas of psychoanalysis. f. List three key scientists in the development of behaviorism, and describe behaviorism’s basic assumptions and goals. g. Identify two advocates of humanistic psychology, and note how humanistic psychology differs from behaviorism and psychoanalysis. B. Contemporary Psychology a. List and describe the seven major perspectives in contemporary psychology. b. Explain the importance of cross-cultural psychology, and distinguish between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. c. Explain the basic assumptions of the evolutionary perspective. d. List the specialty areas in contemporary psychology, describe the focus of each, and distinguish between psychology and psychiatry. C. The Scientific Method a. List the four goals of psychology, explain the scientific assumptions and attitudes of psychologists, and describe critical thinking. b. Describe the scientific method, note the difference between a hypothesis and a theory, and explain the importance of operational definitions, replication, and statistics. D. Descriptive Research Methods a. Define descriptive research methods, and describe how naturalistic observation and case studies are conducted. b. Define a pseudoscience and explain how to recognize and evaluate pseudoscientific claims. c. Describe survey research and list the criteria that must be met for survey results to be valid. d. Define correlation coefficient, and explain the difference between positive and negative correlations, and describe the functions and limitations of correlational research. E. The Experimental Method a. Define and explain the function of the hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, random assignment, experimental group, and control group in an experiment. b. Identify the hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, experimental group, and control group in the experiment testing the relationship between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior, and critically evaluate the results of the experiment. c. Explain the purpose of the placebo-control groups, defining expectancy effects, double-blind study, practice effects, and demand characteristics. F. Statistics a. Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. b. Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics, including mean, mode, median, standard deviation, and central tendency. 1 G. Ethics in Psychological Research a. Describe the major provisions of the APA’s code of ethics for research with human and nonhuman animal subjects. H. Application: Evaluating Media Reports About Psychology a. List criteria that should be used to evaluate media reports about psychological findings and topics. II. BIOLOGICAL BASES OF BEHAVIOR A. Introduction: Neuroscience and Behavior a. Define biological psychology and neuroscience, and explain why psychologists study the biological basis of behavior. B. The Neuron: The Basic Unit of Communication a. Describe the functions of neurons and glial cells, and distinguish among the three types of neurons. b. Identify the basic components of the neuron, describe the action potential, and explain the processes that take place within the neuron when it is activated. c. Explain how information is communicated between neurons, and distinguish between excitatory and inhibitory messages. d. Describe how information is communicated between neurons, and distinguish between excitatory and inhibitory messages. e. Describe how neurotransmitters affect synaptic transmission, identify six important neurotransmitters, and explain their effects on behavior. f. Identify and explain several ways in which drugs can affect the brain activity by interfering with synaptic transmission. C. The Nervous System and the Endocrine System: Communication Throughout the Body a. Describe the functions of the two major parts of the central nervous system, and explain how spinal reflexes work. b. Identify the divisions and subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system, and describe their functions. c. Describe the general functions of the endocrine system, and explain the role hormones play. d. Identify the functions of the major endocrine glands, and explain the relationship between the hypothalamus and the endocrine glands. D. A Guided Tour of the Brain a. Explain how case studies, lesion techniques, and electrical stimulation have been used to study the brain. b. Summarize the results of research on Einstein’s brain tissue, including criticisms of that research. c. Discuss how the pseudoscience called phrenology evolved, and how it ultimately helped advance the idea of cortical localization. d. Describe the basic sequence of the prenatal brain development and the evidence for neurogenesis throughout life. e. Explain how brain-imagining techniques are used to study the brain, and identify some of the limitations of brain-imaging research. f. Identify the structures of the brainstem, and describe their functions. g. Describe the forebrain’s cerebral cortex, and explain the functions of its four lobes and association areas. h. Describe the limbic system and the functions of the brain structures that comprise it. E. Specialization in the Cerebral Hemispheres a. Explain how the findings of Broca and Wernicke provided early clinical evidence for lateralization of function. b. Identify and discuss two popular misconceptions about the human brain. 2 c. Explain how the brain organization of left-handed people can differ from that of right-handed people, and what factors might be involved in causing left-handedness. d. Discuss the split-brain operation and explain how it provided evidence for the differing abilities of left and right hemispheres. F. Plasticity: The Malleable Brain a. Discuss the evolution of the ideas of brain localization and lateralization b. Distinguish between functional plasticity and structural plasticity, and briefly summarize a recent study that demonstrated how learning a new motor skill affects the brain. G. Application: Pumping Neurons: Maximizing Your Brain’s Potential a. Describe the research evidence for structural and functional plasticity in the human and nonhuman brain, and discuss some practical applications of this research. III. STRESS, HEALTH, AND COPING A. Introduction: What is Stress? a. Define stress and discuss the role of cognitive appraisal in the experience of stress. b. Identify the focus of health psychology, and explain how health psychologists are guided by the biopsychosocial model. c. Contrast the life events approach and the daily hassles approach as explanations of the causes of stress. d. Define conflict, and describe how different types of conflict produce different degrees of stress. e. Describe the four patterns of acculturation, noting the level of acculturative stress likely to be produced by each pattern. B. Physical Effects of Stress: The Mind-Body Connection a. Discuss Walter Cannon’s contributions to the understanding of the physical effects of stress, and describe the sequence of physiological changes involved in the fight-or-flight response. b. Describe the stages of Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome and the physiological mechanisms involved in the prolonged stress. c. Define placebo effect, and summarize brain-imaging research findings about the response to real versus fake painkillers. d. Define psychoneuroimmunology, and describe how the work of Robert Ader and Nicholas Cohen challenged the view that the immune system was independent of other body systems. e. Explain how the immune system, the nervous system, and the endocrine system each influence one another. f. Discuss the range of stressors that can adversely affect immune system functioning and the health risk implications of those findings, including susceptibility to the common cold and other infections. C. Individual Factors That Influence Our Response to Stress a. Discuss how psychological factors such as feelings of control, explanatory style, and chronic negative emotions can affect our response to stress. b. Describe the Type A behavior pattern, identifying the component that has the greatest impact on physical health. c. Critically evaluate the notion that personality factors cause disease, noting the advantages and disadvantages of correlational studies and prospective studies. d. Define social support and discuss the impact of relationships on stress and health, noting gender differences. e. Describe the different types of social support, and contrast helpful and unhelpful support behaviors. D. Coping: How People Deal with Stress a. List problem-focused coping strategies and emotion-focused coping strategies, and give an example of each strategy. 3 b. Discuss gender differences in responding to stress, contrasting the
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