So, I Have My Textbook....Now What Do I Do With It?

Sounds crazy, I know, but READING IT is my suggestion.

In all seriousness, the best thing you can do for yourself to get a good start in AP Psych is to start developing your reading strategy for the text. Your first quiz, which will cover the Prologue (yes, the part BEFORE the first chapter) and Chapter 1 of your text, will take place during the second week of the school year. I have yet to determine the exact date, as I'm currently in the process of hammering out our schedule for the year in order to get us ready for the AP Exam in May.

Some things you should know about that first quiz:

• You are allowed to use notes during quizzes (but not tests) in AP Psych. The point of this is to encourage you to carefully take notes while you read (which helps tremendously in retaining the information....which you will need for the test).
• The notes can be as detailed as you would like them to be, HOWEVER, you are not allowed to simply photocopy the book. As a practical matter, it would probably NOT be helpful to just copy passages of text verbatim, as there is too much and this will not help you commit it to memory as much as other methods.
• I would recommend using some sort of outline format (your choice) that helps you organize the information in a way that makes sense to you. I can help you with this if needed.
• Passively reading the text - without taking notes or using other deliberate strategies to commit the information to memory - is generally not enough to do well on the quizzes. If casually skimming or even giving it a simple "once-through" has been your approach to textbook readings to this point, it will probably not work for this class.
• Quizzes are multiple choice.
• Usually about 15 questions on each quiz.

You are incredibly lucky to have the text that you do. David Myers, the author of our book- who I will talk about more during class- has a very accessible writing style. Unlike other texts you sometimes find in the Social Sciences, this one doesn't sound like it was written by robots. He has a sense of humor, so enjoy it!