Alright, so I decided it was time to really nail down AP Psych Unit 6. This one’s all about developmental psychology – how we grow and change from the womb all the way to old age. Felt like a big one, so I knew I needed a solid plan.
First thing I did was pull out my textbook and all the notes I’d taken in class for this unit. Spread everything out on my desk. It looked like a lot, honestly. I saw stuff on prenatal development, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Plus all those theorists – Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg, Vygotsky, Ainsworth… yeah, my head was already spinning a bit.
Getting Started – The First Pass
I started by just rereading my notes. Didn’t try to memorize anything hardcore yet, just wanted to refresh my memory, get the big picture again. I skimmed the textbook chapters too, looking at the headings, summaries, and any diagrams they had. Paid close attention to the different stages each theorist talked about. That seemed like the trickiest part – keeping all those stages and ages straight.
Diving Deeper – Making it Stick
Okay, skimming wasn’t enough. I knew I had to actually do something with the info. So, I grabbed a stack of index cards. This is my go-to method.
- Flashcards for Terms: Wrote down key terms like “object permanence,” “conservation,” “attachment styles,” “identity crisis,” etc., on one side, and the definition or explanation on the other. Simple, but effective for drilling basics.
- Flashcards for Theorists/Stages: This was crucial. Made cards for each major theorist (Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg). On one side, the theorist’s name. On the other, a list of their stages, the main idea of each stage, and the approximate age range. Constantly quizzed myself on these. Who came up with psychosocial stages? Erikson. What’s Piaget’s first stage? Sensorimotor. Stuff like that.
Making the cards itself helped a lot. Just writing it down forces you to process it. Then I spent a good chunk of time just flipping through them, trying to recall the answers before I looked.
Practice Questions – The Real Test
Reading and flashcards are good, but you gotta see if you can apply it. I dug up some practice multiple-choice questions specifically for Unit 6. Found some online, used ones from my review book. Going through those really showed me where I was still shaky.
Seriously, I kept mixing up Piaget’s preoperational and concrete operational stages. Like, when exactly does conservation click in? Had to go back to my notes and flashcards for that one specifically. Same thing with the different attachment styles Mary Ainsworth talked about – secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent. The names are kinda similar, easy to mess up under pressure.
I also tried a few Free Response Questions (FRQs) related to development. Those are tough because you have to explain concepts clearly and connect them to a scenario. I’d write out my answer, then compare it to the scoring guidelines. It’s humbling, but it really forces you to understand why things happen in development, not just what happens.
Wrapping Up (For Now)
So after a few sessions of reading, making cards, drilling myself, and doing practice questions, I felt way more comfortable with Unit 6. It wasn’t perfect, still needed to smooth out some rough spots, but I could actually explain the major developmental theories and stages without constantly checking my notes. The key for me was breaking it down and then actively testing myself over and over. Just reading passively doesn’t cut it for this stuff.
