Course Number(s): H457301
Length: 1 Semester (2 Credits)
Prerequisites: Psychology
Grade: 10-12

AP Psychology introduces students to the systematic and scientific study of behavior and mental processes. It introduces the psychological facts, principles and phenomena associated with each of the major subfields. Topics covered include research methods, sensation and perception, states of consciousness, learning and memory, motivation and emotion, developmental psychology, theories of personality, and abnormal psychology. Students will use observation and theory to study human interaction, learning, or development, methods and techniques of primary research, and legal and ethical procedures related to research. Students will refine a topic into a research problem and will create a plan for data collection and for gathering and analyzing data. They will compare the findings to theories of human interaction, develop conclusions based on the findings, and identify implications for further study.

The content and critical thinking and studying skills taught in this course are required in all upper level Advanced Placement courses. Students learn to study efficiently but critically, read a large amount of written material, practice rigorous methods for understanding and learning facts, creating and testing hypotheses, organizing, debating, and evaluating concepts and theories and explaining and using statistical data. Students will be expected to take the AP Test in Psychology.