United Grade 11 AP Psychology

Chapters: 5

1. Biological Bases of Behavior

Interaction of Heredity and Environment · Overview of the Nervous System · The Neuron and Neural Firing · The Brain · Sleep · Sensation

Biological Bases of Behaviour – Behaviour and thinking come from a living body. Genes and environment work together to shape us. The nervous system has a central part (brain and spinal cord) and a peripheral part (all other nerves, including the autonomic system). Neurons send messages as electrical action potentials (all-or-none) and pass them on with chemical neurotransmitters at synapses; hormones from the endocrine system act more slowly. Different brain regions do different main jobs, and the brain can rewire itself (plasticity).
Sleep and Consciousness – Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and our surroundings. A 24-hour body clock (circadian rhythm), steered by light and the hormone melatonin, tells us when to sleep. Sleep is not 'switched off': the brain moves through NREM stages N1, N2 and deep N3, then REM sleep with vivid dreams, in cycles of about 90 minutes. Sleep restores the body, builds memories and supports growth; too little sleep harms attention, mood and health. Common disorders include insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnoea and sleepwalking.
Senses and Attention – A stimulus is any change we can pick up. Each sense organ (sense modality) picks one kind of stimulus, but only within limits: a stimulus must cross the absolute threshold to be noticed, and a change must cross the difference threshold. Attention then chooses. Selective attention picks a few stimuli from many, pulled by outside factors (size, loudness, movement, newness) and inside factors (needs, interests). Sustained attention keeps focus on one task for a long time, and it drops as time passes.

2. Cognition

Perception · Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making · Introduction to Memory · Encoding Memories · Storing Memories · Retrieving Memories · Forgetting and Other Memory Challenges · Intelligence and Achievement

Perception: How the Brain Makes Sense – Perception is giving meaning to what the senses bring. We work bottom-up (parts to whole) and top-down (ideas guide what we see). The perceiver's needs, interests, expectations and mood shape it. Gestalt principles (figure-ground, proximity, similarity, closure, continuity) organise parts into wholes. Monocular and binocular cues give depth. Constancies keep size, shape and brightness stable. Illusions are perceptions that do not match reality, and culture changes how strongly we fall for them.
Thinking, Problem Solving and Reasoning – Thinking means working on information in the mind to reach a goal. Its building blocks are mental images and concepts. We use thinking to solve problems (step by step, watching out for mental set and functional fixedness), to reason (deductive: rule to case; inductive: cases to rule) and to make judgements and decisions.
Human Memory: How We Keep Information – Memory keeps information over time. It works in three steps: encoding, storage and retrieval. The stage model says information passes from sensory memory (huge, about a second) to short-term memory (about 7 items, about 20 seconds) and, with rehearsal, to long-term memory (unlimited, years). Short-term memory works as working memory. The levels of processing view says deeper, meaning-based processing gives longer memory. Long-term memory has declarative memory (episodic and semantic) and procedural memory.
Forgetting and How to Remember Better – Forgetting is fast at first and then slow (Ebbinghaus curve). Three main reasons: trace decay (unused traces fade), interference (old and new learning block each other: proactive and retroactive) and retrieval failure (the memory is there but the right cue is missing). We can improve memory with mnemonics using images (keyword method, method of loci) and organisation (chunking, first-letter technique, categories), plus deep processing, less interference, spaced revision and the PQRST method.
Intelligence: Theories, IQ and Emotional Intelligence – Intelligence is the ability to understand the world, think clearly and use resources well to meet challenges. Psychometric theories break it into factors: Spearman's g and s, Thurstone's seven primary abilities, Guilford's many abilities. Gardner lists eight separate intelligences. Sternberg's triarchic theory has componential, experiential and contextual parts. The PASS model sees intelligence as planning, attention-arousal and simultaneous-successive processing. IQ = mental age ÷ chronological age × 100; most people score 90-110. Culture shapes what counts as intelligent. Emotional intelligence is the skill of knowing and handling feelings.

3. Development and Learning

Themes and Methods in Developmental Psychology · Physical Development Across the Lifespan · Gender and Sexual Orientation · Cognitive Development Across the Lifespan · Communication and Language Development · Social-Emotional Development Across the Lifespan · Classical Conditioning · Operant Conditioning · Social, Cognitive, and Neurological Factors in Learning

Human Development: Meaning, Life-Span View and Influences – Development is the pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the whole life. It includes growth (increase in size), maturation (changes that unfold on a biological timetable) and learning from experience. The life-span view says development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, shaped by history, studied by many disciplines and contextual. It involves biological, cognitive and socio-emotional processes that affect each other. Development results from heredity (genotype) and environment working together to produce what we see (phenotype). Contexts matter: Bronfenbrenner described nested systems (micro, meso, exo, macro and chrono), and Durganand Sinha described the Indian child's ecology as inner and outer layers that change over time.
Stages of Human Development: From Before Birth to Old Age – The prenatal stage runs from conception to birth in three periods: germinal (first two weeks), embryonic (2–8 weeks) and fetal (9 weeks to birth); harmful agents called teratogens (alcohol, smoking, drugs, infections like rubella) and the mother's nutrition and stress affect the baby. Infancy (0–2 years) begins with reflexes, then motor milestones, attachment and object permanence (Piaget's sensorimotor stage). In early childhood (2–6) children use symbols and pretend play but think egocentrically and fail conservation (pre-operational); in middle childhood (6–11) they think logically about concrete things. Adolescence brings puberty, abstract thinking, the search for identity and challenges such as peer pressure, delinquency, substance use and eating disorders. Adulthood brings career, marriage and parenthood; old age brings retirement, loss and wisdom.
Gender Development and Sexual Orientation – Biological sex is about the body (chromosomes, hormones, anatomy). Gender is the set of roles, traits and identity that a culture and a person link with being male, female or other. Children name their own gender by about 2–3 years and reach gender constancy by about 5–7. Gender develops through biology, social learning (copying and rewards) and gender schemas (mental categories), and roles differ across cultures. Gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation are separate dimensions. Research finds sexual orientation is lasting, is not chosen and is not caused by parenting; biological factors contribute.
Creative Thinking, Thought and Language – Creative thinking produces ideas that are new and useful. It passes through preparation, incubation, illumination and verification, and mixes divergent (many ideas) with convergent (one best answer) thinking. Thought and language are closely linked (Whorf, Piaget, Vygotsky). Children develop language in fixed stages, helped by learning and by an inborn readiness.
Learning by Conditioning – Learning is a fairly lasting change in behaviour that comes from practice or experience. In classical conditioning (Pavlov), a neutral stimulus paired with one that naturally causes a response starts to cause that response by itself. In operant conditioning (Skinner), behaviour is shaped by its consequences: reinforcement makes it more likely, punishment less likely. Timing, strength and type of stimuli, and the amount, delay and schedule of reinforcement decide how well learning happens. Key processes are acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalisation and discrimination.
Other Forms of Learning – Not all learning is conditioning. In observational learning we copy models after watching what happens to them. In cognitive learning we learn by thinking: insight is a sudden solution, and latent learning stays hidden until needed. Verbal learning is learning words and lists (paired-associate, serial, free recall). Skill learning moves through cognitive, associative and autonomous phases. Motivation, preparedness and the right reinforcement help learning. Learning disabilities are difficulties in reading, writing, attention or maths in children of normal intelligence, and they respond to special teaching.

4. Social Psychology and Personality

Attribution Theory and Person Perception · Attitude Formation and Attitude Change · Psychology of Social Situations · Psychodynamic and Humanistic Theories of Personality · Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality · Motivation · Emotion

Attribution Theory and Person Perception – When we see someone act, we guess why. We either blame the person (internal attribution) or the situation (external attribution). Our guesses are often biased: we blame other people's character too much (fundamental attribution error), excuse ourselves (actor–observer bias, self-serving bias) and let first impressions colour everything (halo and primacy effects). Kelley's covariation model gives a fairer way to decide.
Social Psychology: How Other People Shape Us – Social psychology studies how other people change our thoughts, feelings and actions. Behaviour depends on both the person and the situation. In groups we often conform to the majority or obey authority. Stereotypes (thoughts), prejudice (feelings) and discrimination (actions) harm groups. When many people watch, each feels less responsible to help. Competition breeds conflict, while shared goals build cooperation.
Groups: How They Form and How They Change Us – A group is two or more people who interact, share a goal, follow norms and feel 'we'. People join groups for security, status, self-esteem, needs and goals. Groups grow through stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning. Their structure has roles, norms, status and cohesiveness. Types: primary/secondary, formal/informal, in-group/out-group. Groups also change our behaviour: in social loafing each person tries less in a shared task; in group polarisation the group's view becomes more extreme after discussion.
Personality: Approaches and Assessment – Personality is a person's steady, typical way of thinking, feeling and acting across situations. Type approaches sort people into groups (Type A and B, introvert and extravert). Trait approaches describe people on many dimensions (Allport, Cattell, Eysenck, Big Five). Freud's psychodynamic approach looks at the unconscious, id, ego, superego and defence mechanisms; post-Freudians (Jung, Horney, Adler, Fromm, Erikson) stress social and goal-seeking forces. The behavioural approach says personality is learned. The cultural approach links it to ecology and way of life. Humanistic approaches (Rogers, Maslow) stress growth and self-actualisation. Personality is assessed through self-report tests, projective techniques and behavioural methods.
Motivation, Motives and Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs – Motivation is the force that starts, directs and keeps up behaviour towards a goal. It works as a cycle: need → drive → action → goal → relief. Motives are biological (hunger, thirst, sleep, sex; kept in balance by homeostasis) or psychosocial (affiliation, power, achievement, curiosity). Maslow arranged needs in a pyramid from body needs up to self-actualisation.
Emotions: Nature, Expression, Culture and Management – An emotion is a strong feeling with three parts: body arousal, a thought or appraisal of the event, and an outward expression. There are a few basic emotions that vary in intensity and can mix. Emotions are shown by face, voice and body; basic facial expressions are widely shared, but culture sets display rules. Negative emotions can be managed (awareness, reappraisal, relaxation, exercise, support) and positive ones built (gratitude, hope, kindness, friends, flow).

5. Mental and Physical Health

Introduction to Health Psychology · Positive Psychology · Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders · Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders · Treatment of Psychological Disorders

Health Psychology and Positive Psychology – Health psychology studies how the mind, behaviour and social life affect physical health. The biopsychosocial model says body, mind and social world work together. Stress depends on how we appraise a stressor; long stress follows the General Adaptation Syndrome and can harm the immune system. Coping and healthy habits protect us. Positive psychology studies what makes life go well: positive emotion, engagement (flow), relationships, meaning and achievement (PERMA), plus resilience and character strengths.
Abnormality and Classification of Psychological Disorders – Behaviour is called abnormal when it shows the 4 Ds: deviance (very unusual), distress (it hurts the person), dysfunction (daily life breaks down) and sometimes danger. Long ago people blamed spirits; the Greeks blamed the body; later reformers brought kind care; today we use the biopsychosocial view. Experts classify disorders with two manuals: DSM-5-TR (American Psychiatric Association) and ICD-11 (World Health Organization). Disorders come from biological, psychological and sociocultural factors together. The diathesis-stress model says an inborn weakness plus enough stress can trigger a disorder.
Mental Health: Feelings, Stress and Support – Mental health is how we think, feel, cope and get along with others. Like physical health, everyone has it and it moves up and down. Emotions are useful signals. Stress adds up like water in a bucket; healthy coping (sleep, movement, talking, calm breathing, planning) lets it drain. Self-esteem and good relationships protect us. If feelings stay very heavy for two weeks or more, or stop daily life, talk to a trusted adult or a professional — asking for help is a sign of strength.