Main AP Psychology Topics
2013 main ideas I. History and Approaches (2?4%) Psychology has evolved markedly since its inception as a discipline in 1879. There have been significant changes in the theories that psychologists use to explain behavior and mental processes. In addition, the methodology of psychological research has expanded to include a diversity of approaches to data gathering. students should be able to do the following: ? Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of psychological thought. ? Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior: ? structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in the early years; ? Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later;