AP Psychology Summer Assignment

2016-2017 School Year

Dear AP Psychology students,

Welcome to AP Psych! Attached is your work for the summer which needs to be completed by the first

day of classes. Please feel free to email me with any questions.

Best,

Mrs. Kerley

skerley@holychild.org

What to do first –

Sign the Student/Parent Agreement (attached)

You will be responsible for returning this form signed on the first day of class. If you or your parents

have any questions, please feel free to email me at skerley@holychild.org.

Purchase your class materials

There are three required materials you must purchase for AP Psychology before you begin your summer

assignment. Each are available for purchase through Holy Child/MBS.

1. Psychology, Ap Edition. Ciccarelli, White. 4th Edition. ISBN: 9780133855012

2. MyPsychLab with Pearson eText (1-year access). ISBN: 9780133856040

Note: Purchasing the eText in addition to the physical textbook is optional.

3. Test Prep Series Booklet for AP Psychology. Ciccarelli, White. 4th Edition. ISBN: 9780133856088

There are three summer assignments – the first and second require you to read

Chapter 1 in your textbook and complete the reading checks & workbook pages,

and the third provides you with the opportunity to read and analyze articles and

apply your knowledge of the psychological perspectives from the first chapter.

All assignments are due on the first day of class.

(Note: When you complete assignments #2 & #3, make sure you have

completed assignment #1 FIRST.)

Assignment #1: Read Chapter 1 and complete the reading checks

Read Chapter 1 in your textbook. As you read, be aware of how the text helps you. The section is

diagramed out at the end, and the objectives are listed and described at the beginning of each chapter.

Additionally, complete the attached “reading check” worksheets on each group of sections as you read.

These reading checks will be assigned throughout the year for each chapter. Use them as a guide - it is

recommended that you chunk your reading of Chapter 1 since there are 19 sections (for example –

sections 1-5, 6-12, 13-19).

Assignment #2: Read Chapter 1 in your test prep booklet

Read pages 1-5 in your test prep booklet. The Rapid Review is a great way to quickly learn the specifics

of the chapter, or to review for an upcoming test (or exam!). Complete study hints #1 & #2 after reading

and taking notes on the chapter to check for understanding. If you browse through the rest of the

chapter 1 materials, you will find that each chapter consists of a rapid review, study hints, learning

objectives, a chapter glossary, and a practice test. We will be using the test prep booklet as a companion

text as we progress through each chapter in your regular textbook.

Assignment #3: Article Analysis

Read three of the five articles below on the theme of teenagers and behavior. After reading each article,

you will analyze the article and complete four guided review questions. The questions must be

answered in complete sentences for each of the three articles. The answers for each article must be

submitted on a separate piece of paper with the name of the journal, title of the article, author, and the

publication date at the top of the page.

1. The Teenage Brain: Spock vs. Captain Kirk (NPR Ed, Mar. 11, 2015)

http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/03/11/391864852/the-teenage-brain-spock-vs-captain-

kirk

2. Partying on Facebook May Spur Teens’ Risky Behavior (Psych Central, Sept. 4, 2013)

http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/09/04/partying-on-facebook-may-spur-teens-risky-

behavior/59175.html

3. Why the Teen Brain is Drawn to Risk (Time, Oct. 8, 2012)

http://healthland.time.com/2012/10/02/why-the-teen-brain-is-drawn-to-risk/

4. Teens and risky behavior: More complicated than it seems? (Los Angeles Times, Oct. 2, 2012)

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/oct/02/news/la-heb-teens-risk-averse-20121001

5. Teenager, Friends, and Bad Decisions (New York Times, Feb. 3, 2011)

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/teenagers-friends-and-bad-decisions/

For each article you read, answer the following questions. Each of your responses should be thoughtful

and thorough to receive full credit.

1. What does the author attribute to risky/bad teenage behavior? Please explain your answer in

detail.

2. Does the author use research to support their claims about where the risky behavior comes

from? If so, describe the research. If not, do you believe that the information in this article is

reliable or valid? Why or why not?

3. Which of the eight psychological perspectives does this author use to present their case? This

may be implied, so be ready to make inferences if necessary.

4. Do you agree with the author’s opinion about where risky teenage behavior comes from? Why

or why not?

Note: You can find information about each of these perspectives in Chapter 1, Section 4 of the

textbook and additional information from researching the psychology perspectives or “approaches.”

Optional assignment: Sign up for the online textbook

If you choose to order online access to your textbook (MyPsychLab), you will receive a code. Send me an

email (skerley@holychild.org) after you receive this code so I can set you up in the online class. You

must have access to the online text even if you do not anticipate using it in place of your physical

textbook during the school year. It is a valuable source of supplemental resources, such as movies,

interactive diagrams, and notecards. You should complete this assignment BEFORE the first day of class.

Student/Parent Agreement to Classroom Policies

I ______________________________________ (student name) understand that AP psychology

is a college level course. I understand that my work in this class is expected to be at a college

level.

Initial each of the following:

STUDENT | PARENT

_______|_______ I understand there may be clips from rated R movies used in the classroom to

promote student understanding of a specific topic. If an entire R-rated movie will be watched, I

understand separate parental consent will be required, even if my child is 18.

_______|_______ I understand excessive absences may negatively affect my grade, even if the

absences are excused.

_______|_______ I understand there is a lot of work done outside of the classroom, and I am up

for this challenge.

_______|_______ I understand that taking the AP exam in May is required.

Please feel free to contact me throughout the school year by emailing me at

skerley@holychild.org. Students, thank you for your effort; parents, thank you for your

support!

____________________________________________

(Student signature)

____________________________________________

(Parent signature)

AP Psychology Chapter 1 – The Science of Psychology

Reading Check – 1.1-1.5

1. Briefly describe each of the four goals of psychology:

2. Who was Wilhelm Wundt and what did he believe in?

3. Compare and contrast these two psychological viewpoints:

Viewpoint Main objective/belief Psychologist(s) associated with this viewpoint

Structuralism

Functionalism

4. What is Gestalt psychology?

5. Who was Sigmund Freud and why is he significant?

6. What is behaviorism? Name two behavioral psychologists.

7. Which of the following early psychologists would have been most likely to agree with the

statement, “The study of the mind should focus on how it allows us to adapt to our

surroundings?

a. Wilhelm Wundt

b. William James

c. John Watson

d. Sigmund Freud

e. Ivan Pavlov

8. Watson wanted to prove that all behavior was a result of ___________________.

a. A person’s desire

b. A stimulus-response model

c. A longing for Gestalt

d. Cognition

e. The human need to belong

9. Briefly describe each of the eight perspectives of psychology:

a. Psychodynamic

b. Behavioral

c. Humanistic

d. Cognitive

e. Sociocultural

f. Biological

g. Biopsychosocial

h. Evolutionary

10. Explain the difference between a psychologist, psychiatrist, and a psychiatric social worker.

11. Explain the difference between basic and applied research.

AP Psychology Chapter 1 – The Science of Psychology

Reading Check – 1.6-1.12

1. What are the five steps of the scientific method?

2. Why is being able to replicate your research important?

3. Complete the following chart:

Research Method Advantages Disadvantages

Naturalistic observation

Laboratory observation

Case studies

Survey

4. A researcher wants to determine whether drives tend to slow down or speed up when the

traffic light in front of them switches from green to yellow. Which of the following research

methods would be the most appropriate for this study?

a. Survey

b. Case study

c. Laboratory observation

d. Naturalistic observation

e. Anonymous questionnaire

5. Which of the following is the best example of a representative sample?

a. You ask your fellow students to be participants in a study of memory

b. You ask your relatives to participate in a cognitive psychology experiment

c. You ask people from your religious group to participate in a study of values

d. You choose people shopping in an expensive store to respond to your survey

e. You choose people randomly from the telephone book to respond to your survey

6. What is a correlation? Correlation coefficient?

7. What is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING to remember regarding correlation?

8. Which of the following correlational coefficients would indicate the strongest relationship

between two variables?

a. +0.75

b. +0.50

c. 0

d. -0.25

e. -0.90

9. Explain each of the following parts/variables of an experiment.

Part of an experiment Description

Operational definition

Independent variable

Dependent variable

Experimental group

Control group

Random assignment

Confounding variables

Placebo effect

Experimenter effect

10. Which of the following could be an operational definition of “excitement”?

a. Enthusiasm

b. An emotion

c. An increased heart rate

d. A feeling of anticipation

e. An emotion experienced by someone who is looking forward to something

11. What is the difference between a single-blind and a double-blind study?

12. In an experiment to test the effects of a new drug designed to enhance memory, the

experimented gives orange juice mixed with the drug to one group of subjects and orange juice

mixed with a placebo to the other group. She then measures the memory skills of both groups

by means of a memory test. In this study, the independent variable would be _______________.

a. The placebo

b. The presence or absence of the drug in the orange juice

c. The experimenter

d. The participants’ scores on the memory test

e. The participants

13. Dr. MacInerney is conducting a research study that explores the relationship between the

temperature of a room in which an exam is taken and the students’ performance on that exam.

50 students take the exam in a 50-degree room, 50 students take the exam in a 70-degree

room, and 50 students take the exam in a 90-degree room. When the test is over, he compares

the results of each group of students. Which of the following is the dependent variable in this

study?

a. The students’ exam scores

b. The amount of studying each student did in preparation for the exam

c. The temperature of the rooms

d. The distribution of men and women in each of the exam rooms

e. The amount of natural light found in each exam room

AP Psychology Chapter 1 – The Science of Psychology

Reading Check – 1.13-1.19

1. What are descriptive statistics? How do they differ from inferential statistics?

2. _________________ is a way of organizing numbers and summarizing them so that they can be

understood, whereas ___________________ allows researchers to draw conclusions about the

result of research?

a. Descriptive statistics; inferential statistics

b. Inferential statistics; descriptive statistics

c. Correlational research; mean statistics

d. Inferential statistics; mean, median, and mode

e. Summarization; statistics

3. What are frequency distributions?

4. What is a normal curve or “bell curve”?

5. What is the difference between a skewed and a biomodal distribution?

6. Complete the following chart:

Type of Descriptive Statistics Description Example(s)

Measures of Central Tendency

Measures of Variability

7. What is informed consent? Debriefing?

8. What is the main ethical restriction placed on animal research?

9. Your psychology instructor posts the results of the midterm on a histogram chart. On the chart,

you see a high frequency of Bs and a high frequency of Ds. How else might you describe the

results?

a. This is a normal curve

b. This chart is skewed and bimodal

c. This chart is a typical bell-shaped chart

d. This chart is incapable of expressing an accurate picture of the results

e. The chart is positively skewed