|
|
 |
|
|
|
How Much Detail Is Enough?
An Example from the 2002 AP Psychology Exam
|
|
| |
by Amy Fineburg
Spain Park High School
Hoover, Alabama
|
|
| |
All Psychology Courses Are Not the Same
The AP Psychology Exam is designed to assess students' knowledge of introductory psychology. However, the standards for the actual content taught in collegiate introductory psychology courses are as diverse as the instructors who teach the course. What professors decide to highlight during an introductory course in psychology depends on their background in the field. If from a behavioral background, behavioral psychology will likely be emphasized. If from a biological background, neuroscience may be highlighted.
The same guideline holds true for high school psychology courses. Although the College Board has defined what topics should be covered in the AP Psychology course in the Course Description (available in More, below), what is emphasized by high school teachers of AP Psychology depends on their comfort level with the topics. Additionally, the diversity of textbooks available to teach AP Psychology reflects the diversity of interest in the field. Textbooks communicate the interests of the authors, even though they may contain similar information and themes. For example, some texts include discussions of statistics within the chapter on research methods, while others add an appendix on statistics. Others might not even address the topic at all. But the Course Description for AP Psychology calls for the teaching of descriptive and inferential statistics. If teachers do not have a background in statistics, they will depend on the textbook to help teach the important concepts students need to be successful on the exam.
Because of this diversity of instruction, it is a difficult task to create a test that both assesses knowledge of introductory psychology and accommodates for the different levels of preparedness of students from across the country. Accommodations can be seen in the scoring guidelines that are developed for the AP Psychology free-response questions. The questions can come from any topic area and usually span several different areas. Scoring guidelines for the questions seek to distinguish between students who are qualified and those who are not and consider the diversity of backgrounds students come from as they learn about psychology.
Concepts Versus Details: Drawing a Distinguishing Line
In the effort to both distinguish and accommodate, parts of a scoring guideline may accept information that is correct in concept but is lacking in detail. A prime example of this can be seen in the scoring guidelines for Question 1 from the 2002 AP Psychology Exam (for the complete question and scoring guidelines, click below.
 Scoring Guidelines
Question 1 from 2002 reads as follows:
The human organism displays various reactions that are characterized by opposing tendencies. Use a specific physiological or psychological mechanism to explain how both aspects of opposing processes apply to EACH of the following:
- Appetite
- Autonomic nervous system
- Color vision
- Drug use
- Nerve firing
This question is designed to see how much students know about opposing processes in human behavior, covering a wide range of topics in psychology that share these processes. Opposing processes are not likely covered as a separate chapter in any textbook. Students must draw upon knowledge of opposing process and apply that knowledge to these topics, which requires a higher level of thinking than rote memory.
The first topic in Question 1 -- appetite -- offers a revealing look at the amount of detail required to receive credit. The appetite section awards points for identifying how the process is opposing and how the process is regulated. Here is how Point 1 is scored:
Point 1. The student establishes how opposing processes relate to appetite by at least implying a regulated tension between:
- The two opposing factors of hunger (accept alternative descriptions like "being empty" or "start eating") and satiety (accept alternative descriptions like "fullness," "satisfied," or "stop eating"). Do not score single continuum responses like less hungry/ hungry or not hungry/hungry.
- Two parts of the hypothalamus (the unabbreviated word "hypothalamus" must be used, but the parts may be unidentified or misidentified). The mention of the two parts is enough to score the point with no further explanation.
- Weight moving away from and being drawn back to a set point.
- Metabolic rate increasing and decreasing in response to physiological conditions.
- Being hungry or not hungry -- only in the context of drive reduction theory or the use of language that clearly implies drive reduction theory, like "reducing a drive."
- The level of glucose, insulin, leptin, CCK, or other appropriate chemicals rising or falling in relation to changing levels of appetite or hunger.
Do not award the point if a student provides voluntary eating choices a person might engage in (for example, a depressed person might choose to starve or overindulge).
Notice on Section B how students can describe that the hypothalamus has two parts that are opposing, but they do not have to identify the two opposing parts correctly. This is a detail that is not included in all textbooks, so all students might not have been prepared to answer with such specificity. But knowing that the hypothalamus regulates both hunger and satiety in different areas of itself should be part of the AP Psychology student's knowledge base. Here the correct concept is awarded, but the incorrect details are not punished.
This distinction can be seen further in the scoring for Point 2, also related to appetite:
Point 2. The student identifies a specific mechanism for regulating the opposing tendencies. Point 2 cannot be awarded unless the opposing process is established and Point 1 is awarded. Appropriate mechanisms include:
- The role of the brain. The general phrase "The brain controls appetite" is sufficient if Point 1 has been awarded, but do not score the point if the student refers to clearly inappropriate regions of the brain (for example, the cerebellum or the cortex). The point should be awarded if the student makes mistakes in regard to the hypothalamus (for example, the "preventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus").
- Set point/metabolism.
- Homeostasis or negative feedback system.
- Drive reduction theory.
- Glucose, insulin, leptin, CCK, or other endogenous chemicals related to appetite or hunger.
Do not award the point for stomach contractions.
Notice in Section A how details become important in distinguishing between students who truly understand how the brain controls appetite through opponent processes. While a student can be general in Point 1 and get a point for referring to the brain's control of appetite, a student cannot be wildly wrong and identify any brain part as controlling appetite. Globally, details matter. The brain does control appetite, but AP Psychology students should understand the complexity of the brain and the functions of the major parts of the brain. But if a student seems to understand this complexity and properly identifies the hypothalamus as the part that is specifically responsible for hunger regulation, the correct concept becomes more important than the correct details. This type of scoring considers what all students taking AP Psychology might bring to the exam, rewarding knowledge of concepts and not penalizing when small details get in the way.
The concept of the question is challenging yet attainable for most students. All students in AP Psychology should be familiar with the basic processes of each topic after taking an AP Psychology course. If students can accurately apply the concept of opponent processes to these topics, then they have demonstrated knowledge of the concept and the ability to apply the concept to multiple, diverse situations. But the details inherent in these topics may stymie students who may not have been as deeply prepared as others. The question then evolves -- should those students be punished if they apply knowledge well but miss the minute details? Usually the answer is no -- and yes. Some details are important to ensuring students know introductory psychology. These concepts are ubiquitous in different textbooks, and responsible teachers should make sure their students are prepared to respond correctly to questions about those topics. But some details are covered in higher-level textbooks only and require a sophisticated knowledge of psychology to answer correctly. Where the line between concept and detail is drawn rests on the shoulders of experienced psychologists and teachers who develop the scoring guidelines each year for the Reading.
Amy C. Fineburg has taught psychology, AP Psychology, and English for 8
years. She is currently psychology and AP Psychology teacher at Spain Park High School in Hoover, Alabama. She is the teacher's edition and resource binder author/compiler for Thinking About Psychology, a non-AP high school psychology textbook written by Charlie Blair-Broeker and Randy Ernst. She has also written the 2003 edition of the Teacher's Guide for AP Psychology for the College Board and a curriculum unit plan on positive psychology published by Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS). She has been a reader for the AP Psychology Exam since 2000.
|
|
|
|
|
|
