Pacing Calendar
AP Psychology
Adlai E. Stevenson High School
Laura Brandt
Fall 2007
1 year course (50 minutes per day)

Course Schedule (time) (National Standards key)

Social Psychology (3 weeks) (VC)

Social Influence (VC-1/2/3)
Cooperation vs. Competition (VC-2.2)
Obedience (VC-3.4)
Conformity (VC-3.4)
Group processes (VC-2)
Social Cognition  (VC-3)
Attitudes (VC-3)
Social Perception (VC-1.3)
Interpersonal Attraction (VC-3.7)

History/Careers/Theories (2 weeks) (1A)

Relation to other Social Sciences (1A-6.1)
Foundations of Psychology (1A-6.3)
Historical Theories of Psychology (1A-1.1)
Evolution of Psychology (1A-6.4)
Fields within Psychology (1A-2)

Research and Statistics (2 weeks) (1A)

Methods of research (Application/Advantages/Disadvantages) (1A-3)
Conducting Experiments (1A)
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics (1A-4.1/4.4)
Reliability and Validity (1A-4.1)
Ethical guidelines to conducting good research (1A-5)

Biological Bases of Behavior (3 weeks) (IIA)

Division of the nervous system (IIA-2)
Structure and communication of neurons (IIA-1)
Endocrine system (IIA-5.1)
Midbrain/Hindbrain/Forebrain (IIA-3.1)
Plasticity (IIA-3.3)
Functions of the brain (IIA-3.1)

Sensation/Perception (3 weeks) (IIB)

Structure of the eye (IIB-1.2)
Theories of color vision (IIB-1.3)
Structure of the ear (IIB-1.2)
Olfaction and Gustation (IIB-1.2)
Absolute and Difference thresholds (IIB-1.1)
Gestalt Principles (IIB-2.1)
Depth Perception (IIB-2.2)
Visual Illusions (IIB-2.1)
Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down processing (IIB-2.3)
Attention (IIB-3)

Consciousness (1 week) (IVD)

Stages of Sleep (IVA-2)
Sleep disorders (IVA-3)
Classification of drugs (IVA-4.2)
Long and short-term effects of drugs (IVA-4.1)

Learning (1.5 weeks) (IVB)

Classical Conditioning (IVB-1)
Operant Conditioning (IVB-3)
Cognitive learning (IVB-3.1)
Observational Learning (IVA-4.1)

Memory (1.5 weeks) (IVB)

Encoding/Storage/Retrieval (IVB-1)
Recall vs. Recognition (IVB-3)
Forgetting (IVB-3.1)
Sensory/Short-Term and long-term memory (IVB-2)
Retrieval cues (IVB-3)
Interference (IVB-3.3)
 

2nd Semester

Cognition (1.5 weeks) (IVC-2)

Heuristics vs. Algorithms (IVC-2.1/2.3)
Schemas (IVC-2.1)
Problem-Solving (IVC-2.2)
History of Intelligence testing (IVE-3.2)
Good test construction (IVE-1.2)
Theories of Intelligence (IVE-3.2)
Advantages and disadvantages of I.Q. testing (IVE-4.2)
Multiple Intelligences (IVE-3.2)

Development and Language (4 weeks) IIIA/IVC-3)

Components of Language (IVC-3.1)
Grammar and Syntax (IVC-3.2)
Acquisition of Language (IVC-4.1)
Prenatal development (IIIA-1.1)
Piaget (IIIA-3.1)
Kohlberg (IIIA-3.1)
Erikson (IIIA-3.1)
Gender Roles (IIIA-3.2)
Attachment (IIIA-3.1)
Adulthood and Aging (IIIA-2.1)

Motivation/Emotion (2.5 weeks) (IIC-1/IIC-6)

Theories of Emotion (IIC-6.1)
Hunger motivation (IIC-2)
Maslow’s hierarchy (IIC-3)
Achievement motivation (IIC-4.1)
Cultural standards of emotion (IIC-4.1)
Physical attributes of emotion (IIC-4.1)

Personality and Stress (3 weeks) (IIIB)

Psychodynamic Theory (IIIB-2.2)
Trait Theory (IIIB-3.2)
Social-Cognitive Theory (IIIB-2.1)
Humanistic theory (IIIB-2.1)
Projective tests (IIIB-3.1)
Physiological stressors (IID-2.1)
Personality types (IID-1.1)
Measuring stress (IID-1.1)
Coping with stress (IID-4.1)

Disorders and Treatment (3 weeks) (VA)

Identifying illness (VA-1.1/1.4)
Anxiety Disorders (VA-3.1)
Somatoform Disorders (VA-3.1)
Mood Disorders (VA-3.1)
Personality Disorders (VA-3.1)
Dissociative Disorders (VA-3.1)
Psychotic Disorders (VA-3.1)
DSM-IV (VA1)
Psychodynamic Therapy (VB-1)
Behavioral Therapy (VB-1)
Humanistic Theory (VB-1)
Group Therapy (VB-1)
Cognitive Therapy (VB-1)
Biological Treatments (VB-1)