Charlotte Country Day School
Charlotte Country Day School
Illustration by Saeromi Kim
AP PSYCHOLOGY - COURSE OUTLINE
I. Introduction
Text, terms, perspectives
II. The Biological Perspective
Genetics, neurons, hormones and the brain
III. The Learning Perspective
Conditioning, social and cognitive learning
IV. The Cognitive Perspective
Thinking, reasoning and memory
V. The Sociocultural Perspective
Societal and cultural influences
VI. The Psychodynamic Perspective
Freud and beyond
VII. Psychological Research
Descriptive, correlational, experimental and ethical
VIII. Evaluating the Perspectives
Contributions, limitations and misuses
IX. Mental Disorders and Treatment Options
Nonpsychotic/psychotic disorders and therapy
X. Evaluating the Perspectives
Contributions, limitations and misuses
Course Expectations
AP Psychology is an introductory, college level course. All students are expected to take the AP exam next spring, and it is therefore important for everyone to stay on top of the course work. While the material is typically of interest to most students, it requires some fairly intense studying. It is essential that you read, in depth, the assigned pages in the textbook Psychology in Perspective. You will need to take notes on the reading to help you understand the material and to be able to participate in class discussions. In order to help you stay on task, there will be frequent, unannounced quizzes on the previous night's reading. The grades on these quizzes will count as your homework grade and comprise 10% of your final grade.
There will be one major test at the end of every chapter. It will follow the AP format and will include multiple choice and essay questions. The first semester exam will count 20% of your semester grade. During the second semester, you will receive additional grades for a simple experiment and for a group project.
Academic honesty and respect for one another are important expectations of this class. All tests and projects must be pledged in full in order to receive a grade.
I am happy to have you in my class and look forward to a wonderful school year.
Erica U. Deshaies