AP Psychology
Use psychological science to explain behavior and mental processes across biological, cognitive, developmental, social, personality, learning, and health contexts.
Course map
Open a section, then choose the exact idea.
Use the words you remember, a section name, or a topic code.
Unit 1Biological Bases of Behavior6 topics
Explain how heredity, environment, nervous-system activity, the brain, sleep, and sensation interact to shape behavior and mental processes.
Unit 2Cognition8 topics
Study perception, thinking, judgment, memory, forgetting, intelligence, and achievement through evidence-based cognitive models and research.
Unit 3Development and Learning9 topics
Connect physical, cognitive, language, gender, and social-emotional development across the lifespan with classical, operant, social, cognitive, and neural accounts of learning.
- 3.1Themes and Methods in Developmental Psychology
- 3.2Physical Development Across the Lifespan
- 3.3Gender and Sexual Orientation
- 3.4Cognitive Development Across the Lifespan
- 3.5Communication and Language Development
- 3.6Social-Emotional Development Across the Lifespan
- 3.7Classical Conditioning
- 3.8Operant Conditioning
- 3.9Social, Cognitive, and Neurological Factors in Learning
Unit 4Social Psychology and Personality7 topics
Analyze how people understand and influence one another, how situations shape behavior, and how major theories explain personality, motivation, and emotion.
Unit 5Mental and Physical Health5 topics
Apply health and positive psychology, diagnostic classification, disorder categories, and evidence-based treatments while avoiding stigma and unsupported self-diagnosis.