AP Psychology Summer Assignments

Mrs. A. Borges - 2010-2011

 Read Chapter 5, History & Approaches, and Chapter 6, Research Methods (Pgs. 43-60) of 5 Steps to a
5: AP Psychology, and complete outline notes on the 2 chapters. Outlines should be neatly
handwritten on college ruled notebook paper. No typed papers will be accepted. The chapter outlines
are due on the first day of class- NO EXCUSES.

 Read the following (20) selections from 40 Studies that Changed Psychology:

One Brain or Two?, pg 1

Are You a “Natural”?, pg 18
Watch Out for the Visual Cliff, pg 26
Unromancing the Dream, pg 48
It’s Not Just About Salivating Dogs, pg 64
Little Emotional Albert, pg 71
Knock Wood!, pg 77
See Agression … Do…, pg 84
Thanks for the Memories!, pg 116
Discovering Love, pg 126
How Moral are You?, pg 142
Are you the Master…?, pg 192
The One; the Many…, pg 217
Who’s Crazy Here, …?, pg 226
You’re Getting Defensive Again!, pg 234
Projections of Who You Are, pg 272
Picture This!, pg 279
The Power of Conformity, pg 295
To Help or Not to Help, pg 300
Obey at Any Cost?, pg 308

 Summarize each of the studies in 2-3 paragraphs, each. Be sure to mention the name of the scientist or
researcher, the purpose of the study, the set-up, and the significant outcomes. Summaries must be
neatly handwritten on college ruled notebook paper. No typed papers will be accepted. This
compilation of summaries is due on the first day of class – NO EXCUSES.

 Using your textbook website or another source, define each of the bolded terms below and give an
original example of each term (do not use the examples from the text!). There are 54 terms here and
close to 600 to know by the AP exam. Please number each term and keep them in order. Terms must
be neatly handwritten on college ruled notebook paper. Typed definitions will not be accepted and
are due on the first day of class, as well. Again, NO EXCUSES!

You must be intrinsically motivated to be in this class for there are very few extrinsic motivators. Hopefully
you’ll get in the flow even before class begins. I’m certain that all of you did not miss the critical period,
therefore you should be able to use both fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence to find answers.
Additionally, you will be using your Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area to communicate with everyone in our
class while using correct grammar, proper syntax, morphemes, and phonemes. There will be all sorts of
transduction and parallel processing happening in our brains
as we journey into the world of Psychology. Our hippocampi will be very busy as we encode and find storage
for information. You’ll be asked to recall and retrieve for the unit tests without the use of artificial intelligence
or other assistance. Instead you can use mnemonics, chunking, imagery, and acronyms. Even though your
hormones may be raging, hopefully no one in our class will be suffering from narcolepsy, sleep apnea,
insomnia, night terrors, split brain, or a lobotomy, as that will make learning very difficult to say the least! I
AP Psychology Summer Assignments
Mrs. A. Borges - 2010-2011

can guarantee that this class will test your ideas of what is and is not a norm. I can also guarantee that this
class will at times upset you, forcing you into critical thinking, self disclosure, and into belief perseverance. At
the same time, this class will enlighten you about those of us who may have psychological disorders, autism,
or mental retardation, and help to remove our fixations (non-Freudian definition here please), functional
fixedness, prejudices, and stereotypes. But fear not, even though we enter the world of the abnormal, we
head right into therapy to help us solve some problems and may inspire us to be more altruistic. Your
creativity will be valued in this class. Your attitude is critical for success and social loafing, slacking,
procrastinating, copying or cheating are never good ideas. Working together to pass the AP Exam is one of our
superordinate goals. So, have a wonderful summer. Keep your neural networks going and be certain to
protect your brainstem, limbic system, and cerebral cortex safe as our brains have only so much plasticity.

 You will be tested on the material from 40 Studies That Changed Psychology and the defined terms at
the end of the first week of school. Since we cannot go over all the material in three days, much of the
first test will measure your desire and discipline to conduct the summer study, as well as how well you
can absorb and critically apply information on your own.

A final word is in order about the nature of this course and what I expect of you. First and foremost, you must
realize that I am just your guide through your first course in psychology. It is you, and you alone, who is
responsible for your success in this class. You must set out to own the knowledge through your own sweat and
desire.

I will set a high standard of expectation, and I expect you to keep up the work and to meet that standard. As
with most college courses, there is no way to expect all the information to be discussed in class. Excuses such
as “We never went over this stuff,” or “You weren’t specific about what we were supposed to know” are to be
left outside the door. If I tell you that you are responsible for all the information in a chapter, then I should not
have to spell out the tiniest details contained therein.

I expect you to pace yourself while completing these assignments over the summer. None of this work should
be difficult to complete, but it does require time. I look forward to meeting and working with you next school
year.

All Assignments due: August 23, 2010 (First day of school, or first day of class)

- Chapter 5 & 6 Handwritten Outline Notes

- 20 Studies Handwritten Summaries
- Handwritten Definitions & Examples of Terms