I. History and Approaches (2-4%) & Research Methods (8-10%)
Prologue & Chapter 1
A. What is Psychology?
B. The History of Psychology
C. Models of Psychology (Behavioral, Cognitive, Humanist, Psychodynamic,
Biological & Evolutionary)
D. The Scientific Method
E. Research Methods
1. Descriptive Methods (case study, survey, naturalistic observation)
2. The Experimental Method
F. Ethics in Psychology
Essential Questions:
● What is psychology?
● What differences exist in how psychologists approach human behavior?
● How do psychologists test behavior and interpret results?
● Are there limits to what psychologists should be allowed to do?
II. Biological Bases of Behavior (8-10%)
Chapters 2 & 3
A. The Brain
B. The Nervous System
C. Neural Communication
D. The Endocrine System
Essential Questions:
● What does research about brain function suggest about optimum learning?
● How do scientists investigate the interaction between genetics and experience?
III. Developmental Psychology (7-9%)
Chapter 4
A. Prenatal development
B. Infancy and attachment
C. Language Acquisition
D. Dimensions of Development (Cognitive, Moral, Personality)
E. Adolescence and Adulthood
F. Death and Dying
Essential Questions:
● To what extent is development caused by forces within the individual?
● Does a critical period exist for language development?
● Do our personalities stay the same throughout our lives, or do we become different people as we age?
● What is the significance of research about our cognitive, moral, and personality development?
IV. Sensation and Perception (6-8%)
Chapters 5 & 6
A. Attention and awareness
B. Vision
C. Hearing
D. The other senses
E. Perceptual Illusions
F. Perceptual Organization
G. Perceptual Interpretation
Essential Questions:
● What is the relationship between sensation and perception?
● To what extent does our mind consciously control sensations and perceptions?
V. States of Consciousness (2-4%)
Chapter 7
A. Sleep and Dreams
B. Hypnosis & Meditation
C. Drugs and Consciousness
Essential Questions:
● What is the purpose of sleep?
● What is the role of culture in sleep patterns and dreaming?
● What techniques are used to alter consciousness, and for what purposes?
● What are the dangers of mind-altering substances?
VI. Learning (7-9%)
Chapter 8
A. Classical Conditioning
B. Operant Conditioning
Essential Questions:
● What phenomena are involved in the acquisition of knowledge or skills?
● What is the role of past experience on future behavior?
● How can psychological data be used to control behavior in real-life settings?
VII. Cognition (8-10%)
Chapters 9 & 10
A. Information Processing Model (encoding, storage, retrieval)
B. Short-term vs. Long-term Memory
C. Forgetting
D. Memory Construction & Eyewitness Memory
E. Problem-Solving & Heuristics
Essential Questions:
● What are the various explanations of how memory is stored?
● How can psychological research on memory be used to better retention?
● Is information ever permanently lost from our memories?
● How can memories be altered by external factors?
● Can memories be repressed over long spans of time and later recalled?
● What are the devices that humans use to solve problems and store information?
VIII. Testing and Individual differences (5-7%)
Chapter 11
A. What is Intelligence?
B. The History of Intelligence Testing
C. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence
Essential Questions:
● How has the testing of intelligence evolved in the field of psychology?
● How do genetics and personal experience account for intelligence?
● How do psychologists of differing perspectives define intelligence?
● What are the possible explanations for gaps in intelligence test scores among racial and ethnic groups?
IX. Motivation & Emotion (6-8%)
Chapters 12 & 13
A. Achievement and Belonging Needs
B. Hunger
C. Sexual Motivation
D. Theories of Emotion
E. Emotion Perception
F. Stress, Coping, and Health
Essential Questions:
● How can research on motivation and peak performance be applied to our lives?
● What are the genetic and environmental influences on hunger and eating?
● What gender differences exist in the motivation for sexual reproduction?
● What is the role of culture in the formation and perception of emotion?
X. Personality (5-7%)
Chapter 15
A. The Psychoanalytical Perspective
B. The Behavioral Perspective
C. The Humanist Perspective
D. The Biological Perspective
E. Assessment Techniques
Essential Questions:
● What is the balance between genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) in determining human personality?
● How do the various psychological perspectives differ in their explanations of human personality?
● What traits are used to separate between types of personality?
● What are the tools by which we measure personality?
XI. Abnormal Psychology (7-9%)
Chapters 14 & 16
A. Perspectives on Psychological Disorders
B. Anxiety Disorders
C. Somatoform Disorders
D. Mood Disorders
E. Dissociative Disorders
F. Schizophrenic Disorders
G. Personality Disorders
Essential Questions:
● How do psychologists distinguish normal behavior from abnormal behavior?
● What are the common misperceptions about people with mental disorders?
● What are the advantages and disadvantages of diagnostic labeling?
● How do psychologists differentiate between various types of mental disorders?
● How are the mentally ill affected by their individual disorders?
XI. Treatment of Psychological Disorders (5-7%)
Chapter 17
A. Insight Therapies
B. Psychodynamic Approaches
C. Behavioral Approaches
D. Cognitive Approaches
E. Biological Therapies and Psychopharmacology
Essential Questions:
● What are the rewards and challenges of working as a therapist?
● In what cases should adults have treatments imposed on them?
XIII. Social Psychology (8-10%)
Chapter 18
A. Social Thinking (Attributions)
B. Social Influence
1. Techniques of Persuasion
2. Conformity
3. Obedience
C. Social Relations
1. Attraction
2. Prejudice & Stereotyping
3. Conflict
4. Group Dynamics
Essential Questions:
● Is there a limit to which control over a situation can control human behavior?
● What is the role of physical attractiveness in human society?
● What psychological phenomena contribute to the formation of stereotypes?
● How does perception of attractiveness differ across cultures?
● How can group membership influence an individual’s behavior & personality?
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