2014-2015-syllabus

Laramie Senior High School
Course Syllabus
Teacher: Cory Scimeca
Department: Social Studies
Course Name: AP Psychology
Location: 108
Schedule: Periods 1, 5 and 7
Contact Information: Planning hours are 3rd and 6th. Email: [email protected]
Course Description: The AP Psychology course is designed to introduce the students to the systematic
and scientific study of behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students will
be 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.
Standards Addressed: Social Studies Standards 2 and 5.
Concurrent Enrollment Info: Students may receive college credit from many Universities by earning at
least a 3 on the exam.
Curriculum Outcomes: Our goal is to learn about the field of Psychology through an intense study.
Discussion and projects will aid in our study. This class is designed to prepare students for the AP
Psychology Exam. Students will not only have an understanding of key themes in Psychology but they
will be able to think critically about these topics. They will be able to understand current research in
Psychology.
Course Pathways: Students who are successful on the AP Exam can usually skip the Intro to Psychology
course required by most Universities. I will also treat this class as a college course. You will benefit from
gaining useful information and it will also help you with the intellectual challenges you will face in
college. It will be an intense experience and I hope you are ready for a challenge. Intro to Psychology is
not a requirement for this class. Many students have taken AP Psychology without taking Intro and have
been very successful.
Careers: There are many possible careers with a degree in Psychology.
Materials and Supplies: Students will check out a textbook that is to be returned at the end of the year.
Students are also expected to bring a binder, writing utensil and paper to class.
Fees: N/A
Text Resources and Supplemental Resources: Meyers, David G. Psychology AP Edition, 9th ed. New
York: Worth Publishers, 200
Topics: The topics on the AP exam are as follows (the percentage listed is the frequency that this topic
will appear on the multiple choice section of the AP Exam):
History and Approaches
2-4%
Research Methods
8-10%
Biological Basis of Behavior
8-10%
Sensation and Perception
6-8%
States of Consciousness
2-4%
Learning
7-9%
Cognition
8-10%
Motivation and Emotion
6-8%
Developmental Psychology
7-9%
Personality
5-7%
Testing and Individual Differences
5-7%
Abnormal Psychology
7-9%
Treatment for Psychological Disorders 5-7%
Social Psychology
8-10%
Calendar and/or schedule: (see attached pages)
Academic and Behavior Expectations: Students are expected to participate in class and keep up with
the workload. The AP course is designed to prepare students for college. Reading assignments will be
given on a daily basis. Students should read and take notes on the material. Students should come to
class with questions about the readings. Students will also need to study outside of class for the exams.
The exams are challenging and test corrections are allowed for half credit. These must be turned in and
done correctly a week after the exam.
Safety: During a fire alarm, students should turn right out of the classroom and go out the door at the
end of the hallway. Students should assemble as a class once outside. During a tornado, students
should assemble in the hallway outside the classroom. They should sit against the lockers and wait
further instructions. During a lockdown, students should assemble in the front corner of the classroom.
All the windows need to be shut and the door needs to be locked. Students need to remain quiet and
away from doors and windows until an announcement is made.
Guests: After the AP exam, I schedule a variety of guest speakers. If you would like more information
please ask!
Unit 1 – History and Approaches of Psychology (Prologue)
Overarching Questions: How did Psychology continue to develop from the 1920’s through today? How and when did Psychology begin? What
ways does psychology approach the study of human and animal behavior? How has psychology changed the study of human and animal
behavior? How do the different perspectives in psychology compare and contrast? Who were the influential people in the evolution of
psychology as a science? What events defined the founding of Scientific Psychology? What are the different schools of psychology? How does
Psychology have roots in philosophy and physiology?
Time
3 days
Topic
Resources
Terms
History and Approaches

Text (Pages 1-13)
and supplemental reading

Discovering Psychology videos
Empiricism, Structuralism, Functionalism,
Psychology, Nature-Nurture issue, Natural
Selection, Basic Research, Applied Research,
Clinical Psychology, Psychiatry, Psychology’s
current perspectives (Neuroscience,
Evolutionary, Behavior genetics,
Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Cognitive, SocialCultural
People: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener,
William James, Mary Whiton Calkins,
Margaret Floy Washburn, John B. Watson,
Rosaie Rayner, BF Skinner,
Unit 2 – Research Methods (Chapter 1)
Overarching Questions: How do psychologists use the scientific method to study behavior and mental processes? Which methods of research
are appropriate for the study of different behaviors? How do psychologists draw appropriate conclusions about behavior and research? How
do psychologists make ethical decisions about researching behavior with human and animal subjects? What are the limits of each type of
research? Can laboratory experiments reliably tell us about behavior? Does behavior depend on one’s culture? Does behavior vary with
gender? Why do psychologists study animals? Is it ethical to experiment on animals? Is it ethical to experiment on people? Is psychology free
of value judgments? How could psychology be dangerous? How do psychologists use statistics?
Time
Topic
11 days
Research Methods
Resources




Text (pages 15-45) and supplemental
reading
Design your own research project
guidelines
Discovering Psychology Videos
Stat practice
Terms
Hindsight bias, Critical Thinking, Theory,
Hypothesis, Operational definition, Replication,
Case study, Survey, False consensus effect,
Population, Random Sample, Naturalistic
Observation, Correlation coefficient, scatterplot,
Illusory Correlation, Experiment, double-blind
procedure, Placebo effect, Experimental condition,
Control Condition, Random assignment,
Independent variable, Dependent variable, mode,
mean median, range, standard deviation,
statistical significance, culture
Unit 3 - Biological Basis of Behavior (Chapter 2)
Overarching Questions: How do biological processes relate to behavior? How do the biological processes work to create and sustain behavior?
How does damage to a biological process or part affect behavior? How does the process of neural communication work? How do
neurotransmitters work? What are the different steps of the neural chain? How do drugs and other chemicals alter Neurotransmission? What
are the differences between the neural system and the hormonal system? What are the different parts of the brain and what do they do?
What are the methods of studying the brain? What role do genetics play in influencing human behavior? What is hemispheric specialization
and can we live with only one half of our brain? What are the issues with nature and nurture? What are kinship studies? Explain the
relationship among chromosomes, DNA, genes, genome and nucleotides? What are some current trends in the research of the brain? What is
evolutionary psychology and how is it related to our biological basis?
Time
Topic
11 days
Biological Basis
of Behavior
Resources





Text (pages 47-83)
Supplemental Readings
Brain/Mind Videos
The Secret Life of the Brain
Discovering Psychology
Terms
Biological psychology, neuron, dendrite, axon, myelin sheath,
action potential, threshold, synapse, neurotransmitters,
acetylcholine, endorphins, nervous system, central nervous
system, peripheral nervous system, nerves, sensory neurons,
interneuron, motor neurons, somatic nervous system, autonomic
nervous system, sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic
nervous system, reflex, neural networks, lesion,
electroencephalogram, CT scan, Pet scan, MRI, brainstem,
medulla, reticular formation, thalamus, cerebellum, limbic system,
amygdale, hypothalamus, cerebral cortex, glial cells, frontal lobes,
parietal lobes, occipital lobes, temporal lobes, motor cortex,
sensory cortex, association areas, aphasia, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s
area, plasticity, corpus callosum, split brain, endocrine, hormones,
adrenal glands, pituitary gland, chromosomes, DNA, genes,
genome, natural selection, mutation, evolutionary psychology,
gender, behavior genetics, environment, identical twins,
temperament, heritability, interaction, molecular genetics, culture,
norm, personal space, memes, x chromosome, y chromosome,
testosterone, role, gender role, gender identity, gender-typing,
social learning theory, gender schema theory
Unit 4 – Sensation and Perception (Chapter 6)
Overarching Questions: How do the five senses receive and translate signals to the brain for processing? How does each of the senses affect
behavior? What are the limitations of each sense and how do those limitations affect behavior? How do sensation and perception differ? How
does the brain process sensory signals accurately? Inaccurately? How do the visual and auditory systems work? How does Gestalt psychology
relate to perceptual phenomena? How does depth perception influence behavior? What are thresholds and what is the signal detection
theory? What are the differences in attention? What are the “Other Senses”? What is the anatomy and function of the eye and the ear? How
is a three dimensional world constructed from a two dimensional retinal image? What conditions are required for perception of motion? How
are familiar and unfamiliar patterns perceived? How important are experience and culture in perception?
Time
Topic
6 days
Sensation
and
Perception
Resources






Text(pages 229-289)
The Man Who Mistook His
Wife for a Hat; The
Disembodied Woman
Supplemental readings
Brain Minds series
Discovering Psychology
Sensation and perception labs
Terms
Sensation, perception, bottom-up processing, top-down processing,
psychophysics, absolute threshold, signal detection theory,
subliminal, difference threshold, Weber’s law, sensory adaptation,
transduction, wavelength, hue intensity pupil, iris, lens,
accommodation, retina, acuity, nearsightedness, farsightedness,
rods, cones, optic nerve, blind spot, fovea, feature detectors, parallel
processing, Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory, opponent process
theory, color constancy, audition, frequency, pitch, middle ear, inner
ear, cochlea, place theory, frequency theory, conduction hearing
loss, sensorineural hearing loss, gate-control theory, sensory
interaction, kinesthesis, vestibular sense, selective attention, visual
capture, gestalt, figure-ground, grouping, depth perception, visual
cliff, binocular cues, monocular cues, retinal disparity, convergence,
phi phenomenon, perceptual constancy, perceptual adaptation,
perceptual set, human factors psychology, extra sensory perception
(ESP), parapsychology
Unit 5 – States of Consciousness (Chapter 3)
Overarching Questions: How do psychologists define consciousness? What happens during the sleep cycle? What roles do REM and NREM
sleep play in behavior? How does lack of sleep affect behavior? How do psychoactive drugs affect behavior? How do we know whether
hypnosis is a real psychological phenomenon? What are the different theories of dreaming? What are the common sleep disorders and their
consequences? What are the consequences of addiction, tolerance and withdrawal? What are the variations of consciousness? What is an owl
and a lark? What is the circadian rhythm and what can disrupt it? What is addiction and what are some misconceptions? What are the
different categories of drugs and how do they affect our brain and behavior?
Resources
Time
Topic
4 days
States of Consciousness





Terms
Text (pages 85-31)
Supplemental readings
Brain mind series
Discovering Psychology
Secret Life of the Brain
Consciousness, biological rhythms, circadian
rhythms, REM sleep, alpha waves, sleep,
hallucinations, delta waves, insomnia, narcolepsy,
sleep apnea, night terrors, dream, manifest
content, latent content, REM rebound, hypnosis,
posthypnotic amnesia, dissociation, hidden
observer, psychoactive drug, tolerance,
withdrawal, physical dependence, psychological
dependence, depressants, stimulants,
hallucinogens, barbiturates, opiates,
amphetamines, ecstasy, LSD, THC, near-death
experiences, dualism, monism
Unit 6 – Learning (Chapter 7)
Overarching questions: How do psychologists define learning? How do principles of classical conditioning work to create learning? In what
ways does classical conditioning work in human contexts? How do principles of operant conditioning work to create learning? In what ways
does operant conditioning work in human contexts? How do principles of observational learning work to create learning? In what ways does
observational learning work in human contexts? How are the various principles discussed different and similar? What are the elements of
classical and operant conditioning? What are the various forms of reinforcement and punishment? How do biology and cognition influence
learning? Who are the important people in learning psychology? How would data from learning experiments be shown? How is learning
related to emotions, taste aversion, helplessness, biofeedback and self control? What are some biological constraints of learning? What is
social learning?
Time
Topic
9 days
Learning
Resources




Text (pages 291-325)
Supplemental Reading
Discovering Psychology
Learning labs
Terms
Learning, associative learning, classical conditioning, behaviorism,
unconditioned response, unconditioned stimulus, conditioned
response, conditioned stimulus, acquisition, extinction, spontaneous
recovery, generalization, discrimination, operant conditioning,
respondent behavior, operant behavior, law of effect, operant
chamber, shaping, reinforce, primary reinforce, conditioned
reinforce, continuous reinforcer, partial reinforcement, fixed-ratio
schedule, variable- ratio schedule, fixed- interval schedule, variable
interval schedule, punishment, cognitive map, latent learning, over
justification effect, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation,
observational learning, modeling, mirror neurons, pro-social
behavior
People: Pavlov, Skinner, Thorndike, Bandura, Watson
Unit 7 – Cognition (Chapter 8 and 9)
Overarching questions: How do humans encode, store and retrieve information from memory? How can humans enhance memory encoding,
storage and retrieval? How do humans think? In what ways is thinking flawed or constrained? How can people avoid falling for these errors in
thinking? How do humans acquire language? How do humans use language to communicate ideas? How is language flawed or constrained?
How can people avoid falling for these errors in language? What is the difference between algorithms and heuristics? How do fixation,
confirmation bias, heuristics, overconfidence, framing and belief perseverance influence our ability to solve problems? What is the difference
between procedural and declarative knowledge? What are other types of knowledge and processing? What are the different types of
memories? What is meta-cognition? What role does creativity play in problem solving and thinking? What are some ways biological, cognitive
and cultural constraints can affect language acquisition?
Time
Topic
11 days
Cognition
Memory
Thought
Language
Intelligence
Resources




Terms
Text (pages 327-403)
Supplemental Readings
NOVA: Secrets of a Wild
Child
Memory lab
Memory, flashbulb memory, encoding, storage, retrieval, sensory memory,
short-term memory, long-term memory, automatic processing, effortful
processing, rehearsal, spacing effect, serial position effect, visual encoding,
semantic encoding, imagery, mnemonics, chunking, iconic memory, echoic
memory, long-term potentiation, amnesia, implicit memory, explicit
memory, hippocampus, recall recognition, relearning, priming, déjà vu,
mood-congruent memory, proactive interference, retroactive interference,
repression, misinformation effect, source amnesia, cognition, concept,
prototype, algorithm, heuristic, insight, confirmation bias, fixation, mental
set, functional fixedness, representativeness heuristic, availability heuristic,
overconfidence, framing, belief bias, belief perseverance, artificial
intelligence, computer neural networks, language, phoneme, morpheme,
grammar, semantics, syntax, babbling stage, one-word stage, two-word
stage, telegraphic speech, linguistic determinism
People: Skinner, Chomsky, Loftus, Schacter, Atkinson, Schiffrin, Kohler
Unit 8 – Motivation and Emotion (Chapter 11 and 12)
Overarching questions: In what ways are humans motivated to behave? What methods of motivation are more effective than others? How can
one increase their motivation to behave in various ways? What is the role of hunger in motivating behavior? How do maladaptive eating
patterns affect behavior? What role do emotions play in behavior? How do cognitions affect emotions? What are the differences between the
instinct theory, the drive theory and homeostasis? What are the benefits and drawbacks of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation? What are the
differences between the historical and modern cognitive theories of emotion? What are the criteria for assessing gender differences in
emotional expression? What is the difference between primary and secondary motives and what mechanisms are associated with them? How
can personality characteristics relate to physical function? What are the contemporary cognitive views on stress and coping? How does stress
influence health and behavior? How can people reduce stress? In what ways can stress be beneficial? How do social factors affect the
influence of stress on health and behavior?
Time
Topic
7 days
Motivation and
Emotion
Stress and Health
Resources




Text (pages 443551)
Supplemental
reading
Discovering
Psychology
“Lie” Detector
activity
Terms
Motivation, instinct, drive-reduction theory, homeostasis, incentive,
hierarchy of needs, glucose, set point, basal metabolic rate, anorexia
nervosa, bulimia nervosa, sexual response cycle, refractory period, sexual
disorder, estrogen, sexual orientation, flow, industrial-organizational
psychology, personnel psychology, organizational psychology, structured
interviews, achievement motivation, task-leadership, social-leadership,
theory X, Theory Y, emotion, James-Lange Theory, Cannon-Bard Theory,
two-factory theory, polygraph, catharsis, feel-good, do –good
phenomenon, subjective well being, adaptation-level phenomenon,
relative deprivation, behavioral medicine, health psychology, stress,
general adaptation syndrome, coronary heart disease, Type A, Type B,
psycho physiological illness, lymphocytes, aerobic exercise, biofeedback,
complementary and alternative medicine
People: James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schacter-Singer, Darwin, Ekman,
Maslow
Unit 9 – Developmental Psychology (Chapter 4 and 5)
Overarching Questions: How do people grow and develop physically, intellectually, socially and morally throughout the lifespan? How do
people develop personalities throughout the lifespan? How do developmental psychologists research? How do sex roles influence individual
and social behavior throughout the lifespan? What roles do nature and nurture play in development? Who are the influential theorists in
developmental psychology? What are the different perspectives of developmental psychology? Is development continuous or discontinuous?
What are the interactions of physiology, genetics, culture and external environments on genetics? How do sex roles and gender roles affect our
development?
Time
Topic
9 days
Development
Resources




Terms
Text (pages 133-227)
Supplemental reading
Discovering Psychology
NOVA: “Life’s Greatest Miracle”
Developmental psychology, zygote, embryo, fetus, teratogens,
FAS, rooting, habituation, maturation, schema, assimilation,
accommodation, cognition, sensorimotor stage, object
permanence, preoperational stage, conservation, egocentrism,
theory of mind, autism, concrete operation stage, formal
operational stage, stranger anxiety, attachment, critical period,
imprinting, basic trust, self-concept, adolescence, puberty,
primary sex characteristics, secondary sex characteristics,
menarche, identity, intimacy, menopause, Alzheimer’s disease,
cross-sectional study, longitudinal study, crystallized
intelligence, fluid intelligence, social clock
People: Piaget, Freud, Kohlberg, Gilligan, Ainsworth, Harlow,
Seligman, Bandura, Vygotsky,
Unit 10 – Personality (Chapter 13)
Overarching Questions: How do psychologists define and study personality? What advantages and limitations exist for each theory’s
description of personality? How do psychologists reliably measure personality and interpret personality’s role in behavior? What are the
different perspectives in personality psychology? What are the advantages and drawbacks of each theory of personality? How do
psychologists assess personality? What are defense mechanisms? What are the most commonly used assessments of personality? How does
our culture and experiences affect personality? What role does nature and nurture have in personality? What assessment techniques are used
when studying personality? How is he self developed?
Time
Topic
8 days
Personality
Resources




Text (pages 553-591)
Supplemental Readings
Discovering Psychology
Terms
Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Trait, Cognitive, Social learning,
Behaviorism, personality, free association, unconscious, id, ego,
superego, psychosexual stages, Oedipus complex, identification,
fixation, defense mechanisms, repression, regression, reaction
formation, projection, rationalization, displacement, projective test,
Thematic Apperception Test, Rorschach inkblot test, collective
unconscious, self-actualization, unconditional positive regard, selfconcept, trait, personality inventory, Minnesota Multi-phasic
Personality Inventory, empirically derived test, social-cognitive
perspective, reciprocal determinism, personal control, external locus
of control, internal locus of control, learned helplessness, positive
psychology, spotlight effect, self-serving bias, individualism,
collectivism, terror-management theory
People: Freud, Jung, Adler, Allport, Maslow, Rogers, Bandura, Seligman,
Horney, Cattell, Eysenck, Mischel
Unit 11 – Testing and Individual Differences (Chapter 10)
Overarching Questions: How do psychologists define and study intelligence? How did the use of intelligence tests evolve throughout the last
two centuries? How do testing scores differ between group administrations and individual administrations of intelligence tests? Between
genders? Races? Socioeconomic groups? How do psychologists know whether a test is reliable and/or valid? Why are these qualities of tests
important? How do group tests differ from individual tests? What is the difference between aptitude and achievement? Is intelligence stable?
What is the biology of intelligence? What role do nature and nurture play in development? What are some of the ethical and confidentiality
issues involved with testing? What are some of the social effects of testing? What is the difference between a trait theory and a type theory of
personality? What are the general and specific-factor views of intellect? What are the extremes of intelligence?
Resources
Time
Topic
8 days
Testing and Individual Differences




Terms
Text (pages 405-441)
Supplemental Reading
Various intelligence test examples
Discovering psychology
Intelligence test, mental age, StanfordBinet, intelligence quotient, intelligence,
factor analysis, general intelligence,
savant syndrome, emotional intelligence,
creativity, aptitude test, achievement
test, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale,
standardization, normal curve, reliability,
validity, content validity, criterion,
predictive validity, mental retardation,
Down Syndrome, Stereotype threat
People: Gardner, Sternberg, Binet,
Terman, Weschler,
Unit 12 – Abnormal Psychology (Chapter 14)
Overarching Questions: How do psychologists measure and define abnormal behavior? How are the various psychological disorders identified
and studied? What impact do these psychological disorders have on individuals, families, communities and society? What are the different
perspectives psychologists take to understand psychological disorders? What are the characteristics (etiology and symptoms) of various
disorders (mood, anxiety, somatoform, dissociative, schizophrenia, personality, brain-based)? What are culture-bound syndromes? What is
the prevalence of psychological disorders? What is the DSM and what is the history behind it?
Resources
Time
Topic
9 days
Abnormal Psychology






Terms
Text ( 593-635)
Supplemental readings
Brain/Mind Series
The Secret Life of the Brain
Discovering Psychology
Abnormal Psychology Series
Psychological disorder, medical model, bio-psychosocial perspective, DSM-IV, neurotic disorder, psychotic
disorder, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety
disorder, panic disorder, phobia, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, mood disorder, major depressive disorder,
manic episode, bipolar disorder, dissociative disorders,
dissociative identity disorder, schizophrenia, delusions,
personality disorder
Unit 13 – Treatment of Psychological Disorders (Chapter 15)
Overarching Questions: What are the different treatment options for the various types of psychological disorders? What are the major
approaches to Psychotherapy (Psychoanalysis, Behaviorist, Humanistic, Cognitive, Group and pharmacological)? Is therapy effective? What is
some of the current research on the treatment of disorders? What is the history of therapy and early treatments? What are the different
methods of administering therapy? What are some ways the community gets involved in the treatment of disorders? What are some
preventative approaches?
Time
Topic
8 days
Treatment of
Psychological
Disorders
Resources




Text (pages 637-671)
Supplemental reading
Discovering Psychology
Abnormal Psychology
series
Terms
Psychotherapy, eclectic approach, psychoanalysis, resistance,
interpretation, transference, client-centered therapy, active listening,
behavior therapy, counter conditioning, exposure therapies, systematic
desensitization, aversive conditioning, token economy, cognitive
therapy, cognitive- behavior therapy, family therapy, regression toward
the mean, meta-analysis, psychopharmacology, lithium,
electroconvulsive therapy, psychosurgery, lobotomy
Unit 14 – Social Psychology (Chapter 16)
Overarching Questions: How do people explain (or attribute) the behavior of others? What impact do these attributions have on individuals
and society as a whole? How are individuals affected by groups? Under what conditions do people obey, conform, make friendships, find love
and help others? How do attitudes and actions influence individual and group behavior? How do psychologists define culture? What influence
does culture have on individuals or groups? What are the differences in the types of attribution? What are the biological and social
contributors to aggressive behavior? What is culture and how does it develop? What is pro-social behavior and give some examples? Where do
our attitudes come from? What is the etiology and expression of aggressive and anti-social behavior and its impact on the aggressor and the
victims of the aggressor? What methods have psychologists developed to reduce aggression?
Time
Topic
11 days
Social
Psychology
Resources



Text (page 673-721)
Supplemental readings
Discovering Psychology
Terms
Social psychology, attribution theory, fundamental attribution error,
attitude, foot-in-the-door phenomenon, cognitive dissonance theory,
conformity, normative social influence, informational social influence,
social facilitation, social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization,
groupthink, prejudice, stereotype, in-group, out-group, in-group bias,
scapegoat theory, just-world phenomenon, aggression, of frustrationaggression principle, conflict, social trap, mere exposure effect,
passionate love, companionate love, equity, self-disclosure, altruism,
bystander effect, social exchange theory, super-ordinate goals, GRIT
People: Asch, Kitty Genovese, Milgram, Bandura,
Review
5-10 Days will be dedicated to an intense review of the material. Students will be expected to keep up
with the fast pace of the class to ensure all topics are covered for the exam. A variety of review
materials will be handed out during the review. It is highly recommended students keep their study
guides from each chapter to use during review.
Exam: The AP Psychology Exam includes a 70 minute multiple choice section that accounts for twothirds of the exam grade and a 50 minute free-response section made up of two questions that accounts
for one-third of the exam grade. Students are no longer penalized for incorrect answer choices, so
guessing is to your advantage. The free-response question will evaluate your mastery of scientific
research principles and ability to make connections among constructs from different psychological
domains. You may be asked to identify a general problem in psychology using concepts from different
theoretical frameworks or sub domains in the field, or to design, analyze, or critique a research study. –
The College Board The exam is Monday, May 4th at noon.
AP Grades: You will earn a letter grade in the class for Laramie High School. You AP Exam will also be
scored by AP teachers around the nation. The multiple choice section and the essay scores are
combined and the results are converted to a composite score on the AP 5 point scale.
AP Grade
Qualification
5
Extremely well qualified
4
Well qualified
3
Qualified
2
Possibly Qualified
1
No recommendation
Class Grading
Exams:
 All students in AP Psychology are expected to take the AP exam. The exam will be Monday
May 4th at noon. Room assignments will be given later.
 An exam will be given after each unit.
 A mid-term and a final will be given in addition to the AP exam.
 Test corrections are allowed and are due one week after the exam. Test correction policy
will be handed out on the first day of class.
 If you miss an exam, it needs to be made up within 2 days of returning to class.
Reading Quizzes:
 Quizzes will be given periodically over the reading material. I suggest you read and comprehend
the reading assignments each night.
Projects/Other assignments:
 Assignments will be given throughout the year. This will include an assignment after the AP
exam which will be worth a significant amount of points.
 A reading guide will be due on the day of the unit test.
 Reading assignments will be distributed almost daily. You are expected to read the entire
chapter before the chapter test. I will divide these up into nightly assignments for you.
 ABSOLUTELY NO LATE WORK WILL BE ACCEPTED!!!!!!!!!!!! Please keep up with reading
assignments, reading guides and test corrections. Test corrections can SAVE your grade.
Remember… I am here to help you but you need to do your part. It is so important to keep up with the
readings and the study guides for the class.
Email: [email protected]
LHS Vision
LHS will empower students to meet life’s challenges.
LHS Motto
To inspire every students to think, to learn, to achieve, and to care
LHS Mission Statement
Laramie High School prepares and empowers all students for success in an ever-changing world through
a balanced offering of challenging, high quality educational opportunities.
Laramie Senior High School
1275 North 11th Street Laramie, WY 82072
Telephone: 307-721-4420 Attendance Office: 307-721-4499 Counseling Office: 307-721-4488
Web: http://lhs.acsd1.org/