To the Student

How to Get the Most From Your Psychology Text for the AP^® Course

The Advanced Placement^® (AP^®) psychology course represents a wonderful opportunity for you to be challenged by the rigor of a college-level course, while learning life-relevant, mind-expanding concepts from the humanly significant discipline of psychology. Our unwavering vision for this text has been to merge rigorous science with a broad human perspective that engages both mind and heart. We aim to offer a state-of-the-art introduction to psychological science that speaks to your needs and interests. We aspire to help you understand and appreciate the wonders of your everyday life. And we seek to convey the inquisitive spirit with which psychologists do psychology.

This third edition continues to build on our trademark: a readable, relatable textbook that effectively prepares students for the AP^® psychology exam by keeping true to the College Board^® course description, with new research and student-relevant discoveries throughout. We aim for clear and concise explanations and a conversational tone that hopefully encourages you to read, and enjoy, the content. The third edition is organized by units and modules. Each unit corresponds to the fourteen key topics in the College Board^® outline for the AP^® psychology course. Within each unit, we have divided the content into short, manageable modules that provide bite-sized chunks of content to study. Each module is organized by clear and measurable Learning Targets that orient you to the material you are about to read and allow you to “check off” each objective as you master it.

Be sure to take advantage of all that this text has to offer. You can learn a lot by simply reading the text, but you will develop deeper understanding by completing the many Review Questions and self-assessment activities along the way. The walkthrough guide on pages xxv–xxviii gives you an inside look at the important features of the text.

In Unit I, we discuss the importance of “retrieving” what you’ve read and then “reviewing” what you’ve learned by testing yourself. Researchers have found that self-testing, and regularly engaging with “desirable difficulties” are great ways to learn and remember. This book offers many different types of self-tests and learning opportunities for you:

• Check Your Understanding boxes, found at the end of major sections of text, include Ask Yourself questions, which encourage you to apply new concepts to your own experiences (thus making them more meaningful and memorable), and Test Yourself questions (with answers in Appendix E) that assess mastery and encourage big-picture thinking.
• Try This features sprinkled throughout the text allow you to connect more deeply with the concepts you’re learning by putting them into real-life practice.
• Module Review Questions appear at the end of each module. Try the Multiple-Choice Questions that address the key concepts from each Learning Target, as well as a Practice FRQ (Free-Response Question) to assess your mastery of the module’s content.
• Unit Review Questions offer a cumulative assessment on concepts learned throughout the entire unit.
• The Practice AP^®-Style Exam at the end of the book covers material learned throughout the entire course and simulates the real AP^® psychology exam.

AP^®-Focused Elements

In addition to providing you with a rich introduction to the field of psychology, Myers’ Psychology for the AP^® Course is designed to help you prepare for the AP^® psychology exam. That is why we have expanded on the following AP^®-specific tips and guidance:

• AP^® Exam Tips, found in the margin throughout the text, provide invaluable advice on where to focus and how to avoid pitfalls so that you may be successful in the course and on the exam. These tips also appear compiled in Appendix B at the end of the book.
• More AP^® exam practice is provided in the numerous, high-quality multiple-choice questions and FRQs found at the end of each module and unit. These assessments not only test the material learned, but they also mimic AP^® questions to train you for what you will see on the exam. The open-ended, conceptual FRQs familiarize you with the kind of synthesis skills you’ll need to master the exam.
• A full-length AP^®-style practice exam is included at the end of the text to ensure you have nailed down the content and are ready to tackle the real test in May.
• A Key Terms List appears at the end of each unit to remind you of the important terms that were bolded and defined in the marginal glossary throughout the modules. These terms highlight the vocabulary you’ll need to master for the AP^® exam. These terms are also defined in the English and Spanish Glossary/Glosario at the end of the book.
• A Key Contributors list appears at the end of each unit to highlight the most important people you should know in psychology. You can access the Psychological Science’s Key Contributors appendix (Appendix C) at the end of the text and the Key Contributors Study Guide on the Student Site to be sure you are familiar with these core contributions to psychology. Access the Student Site at highschool.bfwpub.com/myersap3e.

Skills for Life After High School

In its findings and photos, this text presents a cross-cultural perspective on psychology that explains human similarities and differences throughout the world. We hope this helps you leave high school as more compassionate global citizens.

We also aim to introduce you to critical thinking. The text offers many opportunities for you to learn critical thinking skills and to better understand research design principles—both of which are essential to success on the AP^® exam and will also be invaluable skills to have in your college courses.

• Unit II, Research Methods: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science, introduces you to critical thinking and to psychology’s research methods, emphasizing the fallacies of our everyday “common sense” thinking and, thus, the need for psychological science. The Statistical Reasoning discussion encourages you to focus on thinking smarter by applying simple statistical principles to everyday reasoning.
• Critical examinations of key issues in psychology appear throughout the narrative to spark interest and provide important lessons in thinking critically about everyday topics and pop psychology. (Consider, for example, the critical analysis of the Effects of Viewing Media Violence on page 317.) There are also numerous infographics throughout the text that encourage thinking critically about important topics. They may be found on the following pages:

  Thinking Critically About: The Scientific Attitude, p. 3

  Thinking Critically About: Correlation and Causation, p. 52

  Thinking Critically About: Using More Than 10 Percent of Our Brain, p. 114

  Thinking Critically About: Subliminal Sensation and Subliminal Persuasion, p. 164

  Thinking Critically About: Tolerance and Addiction, p. 254

  Thinking Critically About: The Effects of Viewing Media Violence, p. 317

  Thinking Critically About: Can Memories of Childhood Sexual Abuse Be Repressed and Then Recovered?, p. 360

  Thinking Critically About: The Fear Factor, p. 374

  Thinking Critically About: The Challenges of Obesity and Weight Control, p. 415

  Thinking Critically About: Lie Detection, p. 439

  Thinking Critically About: Stress and Health, p. 461

  Thinking Critically About: Parenting Styles, p. 517

  Thinking Critically About: Gender Bias in the Workplace, p. 523

  Thinking Critically About: The Stigma of Introversion, p. 598

  Thinking Critically About: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Studies, p. 641

  Thinking Critically About: ADHD—Normal High Energy or Disordered Behavior?, p. 671

  Thinking Critically About: Therapeutic Lifestyle Change, p. 752

  Thinking Critically About: The Internet as Social Amplifier, p. 788