1

*******************************************************
AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT NINE
PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTING
********************************************************

Book References: Module 17 and 18, Barrons AP9

It takes a village, the title of Hillarys book about West Africa.

Well, I wouldve helped him raise his daughter, but Ill be darned if Ill help him
raise his wife, a line from a 40ss comedy.

General Objective
B09: Understand some of the major theories of how humans develop

AP Reference Points:
SC11 The course provides instruction in developmental psychology
SC1 The course provides instruction in history and approaches.
SC17 As relevant to each content area, the course provides instruction in empirically
supported psychological facts, research findings, terminology and associated phenomena,
perspectives, and major figures.

CA REFERENCE POINTS

CA3 Development and learning domain

CA3A1: Methods and issues in life span development

1.1 Explain the interaction of environmental and biological factors in development,
including the role of the brain in all aspects of development
1.2 Explain issues of continuity/discontinuity and stability/change
1.3 Distinguish methods used to study development
1.4 Describe the role of sensitive and critical periods in development
1.5 Discuss issues related to the end of life

CA3A2: Theories of life span development Students are able to (performance standards):
2.1 Discuss theories of cognitive development
2.2 Discuss theories of moral development
2.3 Discuss theories of social development

CA3A3: Prenatal development and the newborn

3.1 Describe physical development from conception through birth and identify influences
on prenatal development
3.2 Describe newborns reflexes, temperament, and abilities

CA3A4: Infancy (i.e., the first two years of life)

4.1 Describe physical and motor development
4.2 Describe how infant perceptual abilities and intelligence develop
 2

4.3 Describe the development of attachment and the role of the caregiver
4.4 Describe the development of communication and language

CA3A5: Childhood
5.1 Describe physical and motor development
5.2 Describe how memory and thinking ability develops
5.3 Describe social, cultural, and emotional development through childhood

CA3A6: Adolescence
6.1 Identify major physical changes
6.2 Describe the development of reasoning and morality
6.3 Describe identity formation
6.4 Discuss the role of family and peers in adolescent development

CA3A7: Adulthood and aging Students are able to (performance standards):

7.1 Identify major physical changes associated with adulthood and aging
7.2 Describe cognitive changes in adulthood and aging
7.3 Discuss social, cultural, and emotional issues in aging Standard area: learning

Content Objectives:

9A Understand how developmental psychologists seek to answer the nature/nurture

controversy and the potential implications
9B Students will understand some of the sources of influence for case studies, especially
twins studies, cross sectional, longitudinal, and case studies.
9C Understand how genetics (nature) and pre-natal variables (tetragons-like alcohol,
pollutants) can effect babies?
9D Students will understand the newborn's (a) reflexes): rooting (into mouth), sucking,
grasping, Moro (foot splaying), Babinski (toe splaying) good hearing, bad eyes, and how
they constitute survival instincts.
9E Students will review Harlow's famous monkey study and how it found monkey
attached to warm and suffered lack of parenting.
9F Students will study Mary Ainsworth attachment study that differentiated 3 styles:
secure, avoidant, and anxious/resistant as infants reaction to being left alone.
9G Students will learn to differentiate authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative
standard-setting] parenting style and the implied superiority of the third.
9H Students will study Freud's sexual stage theory: oral, analyses, phallic (Oedipus and
Electra complex), and genital describes sexual development and see some criticisms.
9I Students will explore Erick's psycho-social stage theory with its emphasis on resolving
conflicts: (1) trust v mistrust (2) autonomy, vs shame ("No."_, (3) initiative vs guilt, (4)
identify vs role confusion (JHS-HS), (5) intimacy vs isolation, (6) generativist vs
stagnation, and (7) integrity vs despair.
9J Students will study Piaget's stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor-no object
permanence; pre-operation (egocentric); concrete operational (know volume, area, #),
formal operational (hypothesis testing)
9K Understand Kohlberg's attempts to describe stages of moral development:
 3

preconventional (avoid punishment); conventional (follow the rules) and

postconventional (abstract principles) and the controversy, esp. culturally based about his
stages.
9L Understand that while both men and women develop some gender differences remain
including biophysical (corpus allodium) differences; psychodynamic (Freud's
Oedipus/Electra); and gender-schema (society's expectations of the genders).

Tentative Outline of events

Day 1: Overview and Newborns; Beginnings of Life
Day 2: Explanation of the unit project; Unit Project-Stages
Day 3: Imprinting, Attaching, Parenting How Babies Grow
Day 4: Parenting (day 2) Rotting Childhood
Day 5: Stage Theories, Freud; Stages of Freud
Day 6: Ericksons stages; Ericksons 8 Stages of Life
Day 6: Piagets Cognitive Development
Day 7: Piaget continued; Conserving Piaget
Day 8: Kohlbergs Moral Development, Maslow; The Moral of Kohlbergs story
Day 9: Gender and Gender Development
Day 10: Review
Day 11: Presentation of research findings
Day 12: Unit Test

UNIT NOTES

A. Overview and research methods

1. Applied psychology ______________________
a. nature ___________________________________
b. nurture ________________________________________
2. Research methods
a. cross-sectional_________________________________________
-but the cohort effect _______________________________
b. longitudinal ________________________________________

B. Newborns
1. From concept to birth
a. genetics _______________________________________________
b. teratogens [note: sounds like _____]___________________________
c. fetal alcohol syndrome ___________________________________________
d. fetal alcohol effect ____________________________________________
e. baby addicts _____________________________________________________
2. Basic instincts [gets the breast more]
c. Grasping _______________________________________________________
b. Sucking ____________________________________________________
e. Babinski ____________________________________
a. Rooting [sounds like roof] of the mouth _____________________________
d. Moro (cat) ________________________________________________________
 4

-note how adaptive this seems _________________________________

3. senses
a. sound is _____________________________________________
b. craves __________________(for nutritional object)
c. bad vision but extends ________________ drawn to ________________
- Obviously this has development
4. Motor development
a. neurons become _______________ as they attach [see p. 382]
b. 5-months roll over
c. 8-9 stand
d. crawling 10 months
d. 15 walk

C. Imprinting, Attachment, and Parenting

1. Imprinting (Lorenz)_____________________________________________
a. Lorenzs ______________________
2. Kinds of babies (p. 385)
a. easy, slow to warm up, difficult, NA babies
b. But how much of this due to _____________________________
c. Kagans study fearless vs fearful infants ___________________ p. 387
- but ________________________________________________
3. Harlows monkeys
a. cloth monkey __________________________________________________
b. wire monkey ___________________________________________________
c. proves ___________________________________
d. next generation males ______________________________________
e. next generation females ____________ but showed ______________________
. Ainsworths attachment
-separation anxiety ______________________________________________
a. secure attachment (67%) _________________________________
b. avoidant detachment (21%) ______________________________________
c. anxious/ambivalent attachment (12%) ____________________________________
d. and day care _____________________________________________________
-Note how this measures the EFFECT, not the CAUSE of this
e. does Sunrise suffer separation anxiety? _________________________________
5. Parenting styles
a. authoritarian ________________________________________________
b. permissive ______________________________________________________
- school effect, the parent as enabler __________________________________
c. authoritative ______________________________________________________
d. good, good, good parenting is _____________________________________
-note how this relates to Freuds/Erickson

D. Stage theories and their discontents

1. Gysell There are no stages ________________________________________
2. Stages theories may ____________________________________________
 5

E. Freuds Psychosexual
1. Oral ____________________________________________________
2. Anal _____________________________________________________
a. fixations ___________________________________________
3. Phallic _________________________________________________
a. Oedipus and Electra __________________________________
b. latency ______________________________________________
4. Genital _______________________________________________

F. Ericksons Psychosocial
a. each stage has its ____________________________________________
b. failure to resolve may lead to _____________________________
1. Trust versus mistrust (0-2) babies learn to _____________________________
a. relates to ________________________
2. Autonomy versus shame doubt (2-3)
a. relates to Freuds _________________________
3. Initiative versus guilt (3-5)_______________________________________________
4. Industry versus inferiority (5-11 or puberty) _____________________________
5. Identify versus role confusion (adolescence) ____________________________
6. Intimacy versus isolation (16+-20s?)____________________________________
7. Generativity versus stagnation (30s---50s)______________________________
8. Integrity versus despair (50s--the end) _________________________

G. Paigets Cognitive development

0. Basic concepts
a. Schema ______________________________[note reference in _________]
b. Assimilation ________________________________________________
c. Accommodation ______________________________________________
-Sounds like the scientific processes of _____________ and ________________
1. Sensorimotor (0-2) _____________________________________________
a. object permanence _____________________________________________
2. Preoperational (2-7)
a. ego-centric __________________________________________________
b. struggles to understand symbols ________________________________
3. Concrete operational (8-122)
a. volume ____________________________________________
b. area ___________________________________________________
c. number (permanence)
4. Formal operations
a. abstract reasoning ____________________________________________
b. the personal fable ____________________________
5. Criticism of Piaget
a. based on studies of ____________________________________________
- Jean, Im going to now. Can you watch the kids...
b. too heavily based on _____________________________________
 6

c. some of the childrens errors (39) are based _________ of physical development

H. Kohlbergs Moral Development

0. Based on _________________ parallel to _______________________________
1. Preconventional _____________________________________________
2. Conventional ______________________________________________________
a. external standards based on ________________________________________
3. Post conventional
a. Internal standards based on ______________________________________
4. Criticism of Kohlberg
a. School use of Kohlberg ______________________________________________
b. Gilligan and Gender bias _______________________________________________

I. Maslows Hierarch of being [just to round things out]

1. physical ______________________________________________________
2. safety _________________________________________________________
3. love and belonging______________________________________________
4. self-esteem _________________________________________________
5. self-actualization ______________________________________________
6. ALSO criticized for _________________________________________

J. Gender and Gender Development

1. Biophysical theory
a. women have larger corpus collosiums (but men perspire more) ________________
2. Psychodynamic (Freud)
a. boys compete with their fathers but gradually ____________________________
b. gender roles thus _________________ within families
c. How do men in female-headed households learn to be men?
3. Socio-cognitive theory
a. social role theory ________________ gender roles
b. cognitive development theory _____________________________________________
[See p. 399. Children in Japan associated domination with women. This is not
Surprising considering ____________________________
 7

999999999999999999999999999999999999999999
UNIT ASSIGNMENTS
999999999999999999999999999999999999999999

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
UNIT GENERAL PROJECT: STAGES
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Choose one of the main stage theories in this chapter (Freud, Erickson, Piaget, or
Kohlberg). Make a poster that includes (a) ages, (b) name of the stage (c) sign that a
child/adult is in that stage. Take an implication of that theory and create a survey that
would test its truthfulness. Then, administer the survey or test to one or two classes.
Report your findings. In your research, make sure you include: (a) research design (b)
key variables (c) operationalization of those variables (d) research method and (e)
hypothesis/null hypothesis along with (f) CARDN (consent, anonymity, low risk, and
debriefing).
Grading Rubric
Introduction w. Hypothesis 2 4 6 8 10
Research design-variables 2 4 6 8 10
Survey/questions design 2 4 6 8 10
Findings 2 4 6 8 10
Grammar/English 2 4 6 8 10
Total 50

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
BEGINNING OF LIFE
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What purpose might the grasping reflex have once served?
2. Why would babies be born able to do some things already?
3. What did the experiment of Kalmars and Bruner (p. 185) show about the capabilities of
infants (beyond that they're really good at sucking)?
4. Is an embryo alive?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
HOW DO BABIES GROW
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What should you do if a child doesn't "mature" in about 1-2 years of life to the point of
walking?
2. What does the study on p. 196 suggest about race, and could it be attacked?
3. What are some ways in which infants learn?
4. What is a reflex?
5. Why do some reflexes appear to be present at birth?
6. What did the experiments on visual differential (cliff studies?) show about babies?
 8

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ROTTING CHILDHOOD
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
0. What did Lorenz's famous experiment with the goslings prove (besides that he was a
silly goose)?
1. What are the four axes for parenting? Graph your parents.
2. Could a strict parent be warm and caring?
3. What is difference between an authoritative and an authoritarian parent?
4. How does abuse differ from neglect?
5. Given that neglect happens more often than abuse, how can one explain that abuse gets
a lot more public attention?
6. Can you inherent child abuse?
7. What does Harlan's study suggest will happen to only children?
8. What did the famous rhesus monkey experiment show about motherhood?
9. What does Harlan's monkey experiment suggest about children raised by absent or
abusive parents?
10. What is an attachment?
11. What do the studies show us about how babies period of attachment?
12. What is insecure attachment?
13. Why are abuse and neglect more often present in lower class homes?
14. What is a rite of passage? Does your culture have one?
10. Dr. Dan, when a teacher of Middle School, once famously proclaimed: I can predict
a childs future based on his 8th grade report card. Does the research bear this out?

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
STAGE THEORIES
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What would a developmental psychologist say about how children grow?
2. What is the nature versus nurture debate?
3. What are twins studies?
4. Which did the behaviorists consider more important, nature or nurture? How does this
explain their experiments and treatments?
5. What is the stages versus continuity theory?
6. Who believed in stages, Gesell or Piaget?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE STAGES OF FREUD
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. How does Freud's oral differ from his anal stage of development?
2. What is Freud's view of toilet training (beyond that it stinks)?
3. What are the famous Oedipal and Electra conflicts that Freud describes, and do you
believe in them?
4. According to Freud, why do children start acting like their parents?
5. If Freud is right, how would a mother divorcing her husband and taking their son with
 9

her harm the son?

6. What is "sublimating"?

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ERICKSONS EIGHT STAGES
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. How does Erickson's theory differ from Freud's?
2. Why does Erickson consider a happy person "better adjusted"?
3. What happens, in Erickson's theory, if an individual doesn't "resolve" a conflict at one
stage of his life?
4. How do Freud's and Erickson's theories differ, in general, from that of the learning
development theorists?

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
CONSERVING PAIGET
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What did Piaget consider the main differences between people of different ages?
2. If Piaget is right, would it be appropriate for grades 7-12 to attend the same school?
3. Which is a more serious mental challenge, assimilation or accommodation?
4. When a child attains the stage of "object permanence," what does this mean?
5. According to Piaget, which comes first, symbols or language?
6. What is the principle of conservation to Piaget (hint: it doesn't involve trees)?
7. If you believed in Piaget's theories, how would you divide students ages 5-18 into
schools?
8. According to the article on pp. 196-199, what age groups should be regulated in their
television watching?
9. What are some criticisms of Piagets theories?

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE MORAL OF KOHLBERGS STORY
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What is Kohlberg's theory of "moral development"?
2. Where does the word convention come into the word conventional? (Hint: Its not
because its in Miami Beach)?
3. A child says Its not fair. He did it too. Where does that fit into this chart?
4. What does post-conventional mean?
5. Who tends to score lower on Kohlbergs scales, boys or girls, Western or non-Western?
6. Write a moral dilemma. Give it to children of various ages. See if they all fit
together.
7. If Kohlberg is right, how should our schools be changed?
8. What are some criticisms of Kohlberg's work?
9. How is Kohlbergs theory a kind of corollary to Piagets?
10. Why might schools have been attracted to Kohlbergs work and wish to incorporate it
into the curriculum (remember the Constitution in the US carefully divides church and
state)?
 10

11. Graph Kohlberg, Maslow, Piaget, and Freud (Ericksons first four steps) side by side?
Do they conflict or complement one another?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
ADULTHOOD
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What does the term "cohort" mean, and why might this matter?
2. What are "defining experiences"?
3. Why are more psychologists studying middle age (Besides the fact that there are more
middle aged people to study)?
4. How is "young adulthood" different from the period of the early 30s?
5. Why do many young adult relationships fail to last?
6. What does it mean to "plant roots"?
7. Why is "romantic marriage" a relatively new concept in Western history?
8. According to research what kinds of characteristics would you probably share with a
mate?
9. What exactly is a "love story" (other than a corny move)?
10. How does Sternberg's concept explain that fact that more children of divorced parents
become divorced?
Follow-up: Write down your OWN love story. Compare it to that of a friend.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////
THE MIDDLE AGES
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
1. What are the "middle adulthood" ages?
2. What is the issue of "generativity"?
3. What is a "midlife crisis"?
4. Why do women typically have an earlier "midlife crisis" (if they have one)?
5. What is the so-called "empty nest syndrome"?
6. Why is menopause for woman also a psychological event?
7. What is meant by so-called "male menopause"?

///////////////////////////////////
OLDER AGE
////////////////////////////////
1. What problems would you expect Reagan to have suffered since he had Alzheimers?
2. What is "ageism"?
3. Why might the elderly have problems with self-esteem?
4. What might you term a "refilled nest"?
5. What are some things that the elderly might do to "stay sharp"?
6. Why do some men (and an increasing number of women) die immediately after
retirement?
7. What are some physical changes that come with old age?
8. How does "dementia" differ from "Alzheimer's disease"?
 11

9. What is the "honeymoon phase" or retirement?

10. What is "ego integrity," and why is it important to older adults?
11. Does the Sandman/Crowellian (p. 95) study suggest that old people should simply
retire and rest?

/////////////////////////////////
DEATH AND DYING
/////////////////////////////////
1. Should people be told they're dying?
2. Do all patients proceed, in order" from Sternbergs stages of "denial" to "acceptance"?
3. Will every terminal patient who experiences all five stages put them in order?
4. How does a hospice differ from a hospital?
5. What is a "living will"?
6. What is "euthanasia"?
7. What is bereavement?

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Draw and explain
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Draw the following side by side.

Freuds Piagets Maslows Kohlbergs

Sexual cognitive hierarchy moral
Development development development.

Review///////////////////
A. Research methods: applied research, cross-sectional, longitudinal

B. Newborns and babies: fetal alcohol syndrome, get the breast more (grasping,
sucking, Babinski, rooting, Moro) teratogens; legally blind; 5-8-10-15 (roll-walk)

C. Childhood: anxious attachment, authoritarian, authoritative, avoidant attachment,

Imprinting, insecure attachment, permissive parents

D. Experiments: Lorenzs Goslings, Kagans baby, Harlows monkeys,

E. Stage theories: Freud (Oral, Anal, Phallic, Genital) Erickson (trust, autonomy,
initiative, industry, role, intimacy, generativity, despair-TAIIRIGooD)

F. Piaget: assimilation, accommodation, concrete operations, formal operations, egotism,

preoperational, schema, sensorimotor,

H: Kohlberg: Pre (punish), Conventional, and Post conventional; Gilligans criticism;

I. Maslow (physical, safety, love, self-esteem, self-actualization)
I. Gender Development: biophysical; psychodynamic; social cognitive