Myers' Psychology for the AP® Course

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Authors

David G. Myers

David Myers received his B.A. in chemistry from Whitworth University, and his psychology Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has spent his career at Hope College, Michigan, where he has taught dozens of introductory psychology sections. Hope College students have invited him to be their commencement speaker and voted him “outstanding professor.” His research and writings have been recognized by the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, an Honored Scientist award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences, an Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Social-Personality Psychology, a Presidential Citation from APA Division 2, election as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and three honorary doctorates.

With support from National Science Foundation grants, Myers’ scientific articles have appeared in three dozen scientific periodicals, including Science, American Scientist, Psychological Science, and American Psychologist. In addition to his scholarly and textbook writing, he digests psychological science for the general public. His writings have appeared in four dozen magazines, from Today’s Education to Scientific American. He also has authored six general audience books, including, in 2022, How Do We Know Ourselves? Curiosities and Marvels of the Human Mind. And he blogs about psychology and life at TalkPsych.com.

David Myers has chaired his city’s Human Relations Commission, helped found a thriving assistance center for low-income families, and spoken to hundreds of college, community, and professional groups worldwide. Drawing on his experience of hearing loss, which now includes a cochlear implant, he also has written articles and a book (A Quiet World) about hearing loss, and he is advocating a transformation in U.S. assistive listening technology (see HearingLoop.org). For his leadership, he has received awards from the American Academy of Audiology, the hearing industry, and the Hearing Loss Association of America.

David and Carol Myers met and married while undergraduates, and have raised sons Peter and Andrew, and a daughter, Laura. They have one grandchild, Allie.

C. Nathan DeWall

Nathan DeWall is professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College, a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in social psychology from Florida State University. DeWall received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award, which recognizes excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching. The Association for Psychological Science identified DeWall as a “Rising Star” early in his career for “making significant contributions to the field of psychological science.” He has been included in the top 1 percent of all cited scientists in psychology and psychiatry on the Institute for Scientific Information list, according to the Web of Science. He is currently serving on the National Science Foundation Social Psychology Program panel.

DeWall conducts research on close relationships, self-control, aggression, the psychology of religion, and intellectual humility. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation, he has published 225 scientific articles and chapters. DeWall’s research awards include the SAGE Young Scholars Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, the Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Research on Aggression, and the Early Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity. His research has been covered by numerous media and entertainment outlets, including Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, National Public Radio, The Guardian, the BBC, and a Netflix documentary. He has lectured nationally and internationally, including in Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands, England, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, Australia, and France.

Nathan is happily married to Alice DeWall and is the proud father of Beverly “Bevy” and Ellis. He also enjoys taking care of the family dog, Stubbs. As an ultramarathon runner, he completed numerous races, including the Badwater 135 in 2017 (dubbed “the World’s toughest foot race”). In his spare time now, he enjoys hiking, attending live concerts, setting up and maintaining aquariums, watching sports, and playing guitar and singing.

Elizabeth Yost Hammer

Elizabeth Yost Hammer is the director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development and a Kellogg professor in teaching at Xavier University of Louisiana. Her work in the center includes organizing pedagogical workshops and faculty development initiatives for instructors, both new and seasoned, and thinking generally about teaching and learning. Yet her favorite part of her job is in the classroom, trying out new teaching innovations. She is a recipient of the College of Arts & Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, and received an XU Girls Rock! Award from Xavier students. She regularly teaches introductory psychology, research methods, health psychology, and human sexuality.

Liz received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Tulane University in 1994. Her research interests focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning, and she has contributed to books intended to enhance teaching preparation, including The Oxford Handbook of Psychology Education, Hot Topics: Best Practices in Teaching Controversial Issues in Psychology, and Effective College and University Teaching: Strategies and Tactics for the New Professoriate. In addition, Liz has published in Teaching of Psychology, for which she has served as consulting editor, and a special teaching-related issue of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

In 2005, Liz was named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. She is a past president of Psi Chi (the international honor society in psychology) and a past treasurer of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. AP® psychology has had an influential role in Liz’s professional development. She began attending the AP® psychology reading in 1998, where she developed a national network of dedicated high school teachers who have informed both her own teaching and her faculty development work. Liz served as chief reader for AP® psychology from 2012 to 2016 and was a co-strand leader (along with Randy Ernst) at the 2017 APA Summit on High School Psychology Education.

Liz is married to Elliott Hammer, who is also a psychology professor and is involved in AP® psychology. They and their two rescue dogs work and play in New Orleans, Louisiana. They maintain their mental health by spending time camping and hiking in a national park every summer.

Unit 0: An Introduction to Psychology Science Practices: Research Methods and Data Interpretation

Module 0.1 The Scientific Attitude, Critical Thinking, and Developing Arguments

Module 0.2 The Need for Psychological Science

Module 0.3 The Scientific Method and Description

Module 0.4 Correlation and Experimentation

Module 0.5 Research Design and Ethics in Psychology

Module 0.6 Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life

Unit 0 AP® Practice Questions

Unit 1: Biological Bases of Behavior

Module 1.1 Interaction of Heredity and Environment

Module 1.2 Overview of the Nervous System

Module 1.3A The Neuron and Neural Firing: Neural Communication and the Endocrine System

Module 1.3B The Neuron and Neural Firing: Substance Use Disorders and Psychoactive Drugs

Module 1.4A The Brain: Neuroplasticity and Tools of Discovery

Module 1.4B The Brain: Brain Regions and Structures

Module 1.4C The Brain: Damage Response and Brain Hemispheres

Module 1.5A Sleep: Consciousness

Module 1.5B Sleep: Sleep Stages and Theories

Module 1.5C Sleep: Sleep Loss, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams

Module 1.6A Sensation: Basic Concepts

Module 1.6B Sensation: Vision

Module 1.6C Sensation: Hearing

Module 1.6D Sensation: Skin, Chemical, and Body Senses and Sensory Interaction

Unit 1 AP® Practice Questions

Unit 2: Cognition

Module 2.1A Perception: Influences on Perception

Module 2.1B Perception: Perceptual Organization and Interpretation

Module 2.2A Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making: Concepts and Creativity

Module 2.2B Thinking, Problem-Solving, Judgments, and Decision-Making: Solving Problems and Making Decisions

Module 2.3 Introduction to Memory

Module 2.4 Encoding Memories

Module 2.5 Storing Memories

Module 2.6 Retrieving Memories

Module 2.7 Forgetting and Other Memory Challenges

Module 2.8A Intelligence and Achievement: Theories of Intelligence

Module 2.8B Intelligence and Achievement: Assessing Intelligence

Module 2.8C Intelligence and Achievement: Stability of, and Influences on, Intelligence

Module 2.8D Intelligence and Achievement: Group Differences and the Question of Bias

Unit 2 AP® Practice Questions

Unit 3: Development and Learning

Module 3.1 Themes and Methods in Developmental Psychology

Module 3.2A Physical Development Across the Lifespan: Prenatal Development, Infancy, and Childhood

Module 3.2B Physical Development Across the Lifespan: Adolescence and Adulthood

Module 3.3A Gender and Sexual Orientation: Gender Development

Module 3.3B Gender and Sexual Orientation: The Biology and Psychology of Sex

Module 3.3C Gender and Sexual Orientation: Sexual Orientation

Module 3.4 Cognitive Development Across the Life Span

Module 3.5 Communication and Language Development

Module 3.6A Social-Emotional Development Across the Life Span: Infancy and Childhood

Module 3.6B Social-Emotional Development Across the Life Span: Adolescence, Emerging Adulthood, and Adulthood

Module 3.7A Classical Conditioning: Basic Concepts

Module 3.7B Classical Conditioning: Applications and Biological Limits

Module 3.8A Operant Conditioning: Basic Concepts

Module 3.8B Operant Conditioning: Applications, Biological Limits, and Contrasts with Classical Conditioning

Module 3.9 Social, Cognitive, and Neurological Factors in Learning

Unit 3 AP® Practice Questions

Unit 4: Social and Personality

Module 4.1 Attribution Theory and Person Perception

Module 4.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

Module 4.3A Psychology of Social Situations: Conformity and Obedience

Module 4.3B Psychology of Social Situations: Group Behavior

Module 4.3C Psychology of Social Situations: Aggression

Module 4.3D Psychology of Social Situations: Attraction

Module 4.3E Psychology of Social Situations: Altruism, Conflict, and Peacemaking

Module 4.4 Introduction to Personality

Module 4.5A Psychoanalytic and Humanistic Theories of Personality: Psychoanalytic and Psychodynamic Theories

Module 4.5B Psychoanalytic and Humanistic Theories of Personality: Humanistic Theories

Module 4.6A Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality: Trait Theories

Module 4.6B Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality: Social-Cognitive Theories

Module 4.6C Social-Cognitive and Trait Theories of Personality: Exploring the Self

Module 4.7A Motivation: Motivational Concepts

Module 4.7B Motivation: Affiliation and Achievement

Module 4.7C Motivation: Hunger Motivation

Module 4.8A Emotion: Theories and Physiology of Emotion

Module 4.8B Emotion: Expressing and Experiencing Emotion

Unit 4 AP® Practice Questions

Unit 5: Mental and Physical Health

Module 5.1A Introduction to Health Psychology: Stress and Illness

Module 5.1B Introduction to Health Psychology: Coping With Stress

Module 5.2A Positive Psychology: Positive Emotions and Positive Traits

Module 5.2B Positive Psychology: Enhancing Well-Being

Module 5.3 Explaining and Classifying Psychological Disorders

Module 5.4A Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders: Anxiety Disorders, Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, and Trauma- and Stressor-Related Disorders

Module 5.4B Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders: Depressive Disorders and Bipolar Disorders

Module 5.4C Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders: Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

Module 5.4D Selection of Categories of Psychological Disorders: Dissociative Disorders, Personality Disorders, Feeding and Eating Disorders, and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Module 5.5A Treatment of Psychological Disorders: Introduction to Therapy, and Psychodynamic and Humanistic Therapies

Module 5.5B Treatment of Psychological Disorders: Behavior, Cognitive, and Group Therapies

Module 5.5C Treatment of Psychological Disorders: Evaluating Psychotherapies

Module 5.5D Treatment of Psychological Disorders: The Biomedical Therapies and Preventing Psychological Disorders

Unit 5 AP® Practice Questions

Enrichment Modules

Influences on Drug Use

Psychology at Work

Animal Thinking and Language

Appendix A Practice AP-Style Exam

Appendix B Preparing for Further Psychology Studies

Appendix C Answers to Examine the Concept Questions

Appendix D: Evidence-Based Questions and Article Analysis Questions

Glossary/Glosario

Index

Product Updates

The book you love, with the alignment you need! The book’s new five units are divided into short bite-sized modules that precisely align with the new AP® Course and Exam Description.

Build a foundation with the Science Practices:

Unit 0: An Introduction to Psychology Science Practices: Research Methods and Data Interpretation A new Unit 0 provides the foundations of the two skills essential to understanding psychology as a science. Pulling this material into one introductory unit, as well as spiraling it throughout each Unit as described below, provides a useful reference for students and teachers alike as they embark on the exciting field of psychological science.
Exploring Research Methods & Design. These new features provide students with the practice they need to evaluate research methods and study designs used in psychology. Students can prepare for the AP Exam by answering questions that lead them to evaluate and differentiate between the qualitative and quantitative research methods outlined in this important feature.
Data Interpretation. These new features offer students the opportunity to calculate and interpret quantitative and qualitative data.
Research & Data Margin Tips. Helpful reminders of these important science practices are spiraled throughout the narrative.
Developing Arguments Infographics. The infographics will sharpen students’ analytical skills by modeling a critical thinking approach to key issues and current topics in psychology. Each feature is paired with Argumentation questions that give students practice in learning how to support, refute, or modify claims made in the graphic. These infographics provide reasoning that is grounded in empirical evidence.

Prepare and practice for the AP® Psychology Exam.
Now aligned to the new Course and Exam Description the multiple-choice questions in the fourth edition include only four answer choices and offer more stimulus-based questions, and question sets.

Authors

David G. Myers

David Myers received his B.A. in chemistry from Whitworth University, and his psychology Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has spent his career at Hope College, Michigan, where he has taught dozens of introductory psychology sections. Hope College students have invited him to be their commencement speaker and voted him “outstanding professor.” His research and writings have been recognized by the Gordon Allport Intergroup Relations Prize, an Honored Scientist award from the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences, an Award for Distinguished Service on Behalf of Social-Personality Psychology, a Presidential Citation from APA Division 2, election as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow, and three honorary doctorates.

With support from National Science Foundation grants, Myers’ scientific articles have appeared in three dozen scientific periodicals, including Science, American Scientist, Psychological Science, and American Psychologist. In addition to his scholarly and textbook writing, he digests psychological science for the general public. His writings have appeared in four dozen magazines, from Today’s Education to Scientific American. He also has authored six general audience books, including, in 2022, How Do We Know Ourselves? Curiosities and Marvels of the Human Mind. And he blogs about psychology and life at TalkPsych.com.

David Myers has chaired his city’s Human Relations Commission, helped found a thriving assistance center for low-income families, and spoken to hundreds of college, community, and professional groups worldwide. Drawing on his experience of hearing loss, which now includes a cochlear implant, he also has written articles and a book (A Quiet World) about hearing loss, and he is advocating a transformation in U.S. assistive listening technology (see HearingLoop.org). For his leadership, he has received awards from the American Academy of Audiology, the hearing industry, and the Hearing Loss Association of America.

David and Carol Myers met and married while undergraduates, and have raised sons Peter and Andrew, and a daughter, Laura. They have one grandchild, Allie.

C. Nathan DeWall

Nathan DeWall is professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College, a master’s degree in social science from the University of Chicago, and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in social psychology from Florida State University. DeWall received the College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award, which recognizes excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching. The Association for Psychological Science identified DeWall as a “Rising Star” early in his career for “making significant contributions to the field of psychological science.” He has been included in the top 1 percent of all cited scientists in psychology and psychiatry on the Institute for Scientific Information list, according to the Web of Science. He is currently serving on the National Science Foundation Social Psychology Program panel.

DeWall conducts research on close relationships, self-control, aggression, the psychology of religion, and intellectual humility. With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, and the John Templeton Foundation, he has published 225 scientific articles and chapters. DeWall’s research awards include the SAGE Young Scholars Award from the Foundation for Personality and Social Psychology, the Young Investigator Award from the International Society for Research on Aggression, and the Early Career Award from the International Society for Self and Identity. His research has been covered by numerous media and entertainment outlets, including Good Morning America, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, National Public Radio, The Guardian, the BBC, and a Netflix documentary. He has lectured nationally and internationally, including in Hong Kong, China, the Netherlands, England, Greece, Hungary, Sweden, Australia, and France.

Nathan is happily married to Alice DeWall and is the proud father of Beverly “Bevy” and Ellis. He also enjoys taking care of the family dog, Stubbs. As an ultramarathon runner, he completed numerous races, including the Badwater 135 in 2017 (dubbed “the World’s toughest foot race”). In his spare time now, he enjoys hiking, attending live concerts, setting up and maintaining aquariums, watching sports, and playing guitar and singing.

Elizabeth Yost Hammer

Elizabeth Yost Hammer is the director of the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Faculty Development and a Kellogg professor in teaching at Xavier University of Louisiana. Her work in the center includes organizing pedagogical workshops and faculty development initiatives for instructors, both new and seasoned, and thinking generally about teaching and learning. Yet her favorite part of her job is in the classroom, trying out new teaching innovations. She is a recipient of the College of Arts & Sciences Excellence in Teaching Award, and received an XU Girls Rock! Award from Xavier students. She regularly teaches introductory psychology, research methods, health psychology, and human sexuality.

Liz received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Tulane University in 1994. Her research interests focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning, and she has contributed to books intended to enhance teaching preparation, including The Oxford Handbook of Psychology Education, Hot Topics: Best Practices in Teaching Controversial Issues in Psychology, and Effective College and University Teaching: Strategies and Tactics for the New Professoriate. In addition, Liz has published in Teaching of Psychology, for which she has served as consulting editor, and a special teaching-related issue of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.

In 2005, Liz was named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. She is a past president of Psi Chi (the international honor society in psychology) and a past treasurer of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. AP® psychology has had an influential role in Liz’s professional development. She began attending the AP® psychology reading in 1998, where she developed a national network of dedicated high school teachers who have informed both her own teaching and her faculty development work. Liz served as chief reader for AP® psychology from 2012 to 2016 and was a co-strand leader (along with Randy Ernst) at the 2017 APA Summit on High School Psychology Education.

Liz is married to Elliott Hammer, who is also a psychology professor and is involved in AP® psychology. They and their two rescue dogs work and play in New Orleans, Louisiana. They maintain their mental health by spending time camping and hiking in a national park every summer.