AP Psychology
11th and 12 Grade

AP Psychology is a full-year elective course intended to be offered to junior and senior students at Watkins Glen High School. The course is designed to introduce students to the systematic and scientific study of the 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. Students will also learn about the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and practice. A major focus of the AP Psychology program is the AP Examination itself, which will be taken in May. With successful completion of this Exam, students will have the ability to earn college credit from various colleges and universities. This course is meant to cater to students who have demonstrated high academic achievement and, as a result, course expectations will be significantly higher than in a typical classroom environment. Students should expect more rigorous class work, homework, and assessments.

As required by the College Board, topics include the following: I.) History and Approaches, II.) Research Methods, III.) Biological Bases of Behavior, IV.) Sensation and Perception, V.) States of Consciousness, VI.) Learning, VII.) Cognition, VIII.) Motivation and Emotion, IX.) Developmental Psychology, X.) Personality, XI.) Testing and Individual Differences, XII.) Abnormal Behavior, XIII.) Treatment of Abnormal Behavior, and XIV.) Social Psychology.