Greetings, 2022-23 In-person Nighthawks!

This year I am teaching all Psychology, all day!  AP Psych and Psych I/II (which is the same content as AP but without the college credit option)

2022-23 Syllabus AP Psych and Psych I/II

Psych I/II students will officially use a mustard-colored book called Understanding Psychology, but the content they receive in class will be more comprehensive. If they take a Psych 101 class in college, they will be more than prepared if they come to class, dial in and give it the mental attention required. All quizzes are open-note.

AP Psych students will be using a brand-new purple textbook called Myer's Psychology for the AP Course, but unfortunately not enough books were ordered last year and 45% of my students don't have one. They have been issued the old red AP Psych book (by the same author) until new books arrive. I do not know when that will be. In the meantime, no one will be at a disadvantage because I have updated the curriculum every year with my outlines. See "Course Materials."

Finally, the AP Psych test is scheduled for Tuesday, May 2nd at noon. I am steering the ship toward that  goal and if students put their mental oars in the water and row, I would strongly advise that they consider plunking down $95 to take the test and earn college credit. I make no judgement about taking it or not, but if their college/university accepts AP scores, why not save time any money? I totally understand if students don't want to do it or their selected college/university doesn't accept AP score, why waste money doing something rather unpleasant? I'd buy Crocs with my saved money!

Nuts & Academic Bolts:

There are 9 specific topics for high school students in psychology. 

Scientific Foundations of Psychology

History of psych, the different perspectives we use to explain behavior (called "Approaches") and research in psychology

Biological Bases of Behavior

The structure and function of the brain, neurons, neuroanatomy, neurotransmitters, brain scans

Evolutionary psychology (the behaviors humans engage in to keep the species alive)

"States of Consciousness" (sleep, dreaming and drugs and how they affect behavior)

Sensation & Perception

The SENSES with the primary focus of vision and audition 

Perception- how our brains interpret information from our senses, how we make sense of the world around us

 Learning

Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning and Social Learning...Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, etc...

Cognitive Psychology

Memory and PRoblem-Solving

 Developmental Psychology

The Human Lifespan- from the prenatal environment to birth to death and every age in between

Motivation, Emotion and Personality

Why we do what we do and how we express it: theories of motivation and emotion

Personality traits and theories

Clinical Psychology

The study of psychological disorders, aka "abnormal psychology" aka "mental illness" 

Treatment of those disorders

Social Psychology

How others influence individual behavior and the behavior of groups