UC/CSU Approved

LCHS Honors Credit and Honors Credit for University Admissions Purposes

10 units (2 semesters)

 

Prerequisite: None

Daily Homework: 20 minutes

 

The AP Psychology 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 are exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the major sub-fields within psychology. They also learn about the ethics and methods psychologists use in their science and practice. The course traces the emergence of scientific psychology in the nineteenth century from its roots in philosophy and physiology and covers the development of the major “schools” of psychology, showing how these schools differed in what they viewed as the proper subject matter of psychology and the methods used to study it. This historical introduction helps students gain an understanding of the principal approaches to psychology: behavioral, biological, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, evolutionary, sociobiological, and sociocultural. 52 Students learn how these approaches differentially guide research and practice in psychology. This course receives elective credit and does not qualify to meet the social science graduation requirement.