Social Studies Department

Essential Knowledge and Skills

Students in Psychology I will learn basic principles of psychology. Upon completion of this course and Psychology II, they will be prepared to successfully complete or test out of an introductory college psychology course. Students will gain insights useful in everyday life, and will have a greater understanding of the scientific method and its use in the social sciences. The course is a prerequisite for Psychology II, thus part of a two-semester sequence in Psychology.

Indicators of Student Learning

Upon the completion of this course, students will be able to:

Communication

• Learn and use a basic vocabulary of psychological terms.

• Critically read scholarly and popular literature in the field of psychology.

• Orally present research findings to the class.

• Write short critical summaries of readings.

Content

• Recognize important events in the history of psychology. • Distinguish between the diverse approaches to psychology.

• Describe the methods used to study the nervous system.

• Locate structures and define their functions in the brain, the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the neuron, and understand neuroplasticity

• Describe the operation and structures of the five senses, and the vestibular and kinesthetic senses.

• Explain perceptual constancies and depth perception and their practical application.

• Describe the stages of sleep and the importance of sleep, and describe other states of consciousness and major theories about them.

• Describe the effects of various psychoactive substances on the nervous system and behavior.

• Explain and identify the important features and practical applications of classical conditioning, operant condition, and observational learning.

• Explain the interaction of biology and learning.

• Describe the basic processes of memory, and list and use methods for improving memory.

Knowledge of the Scientific Method

• Explain and use a simple model for experimental research.

• Describe the uses and limitations of various types of research: Laboratory experiments, surveys,naturalistic observation, case studies, interviews, cross-sectional, longitudinal, etc.

• Analyze and summarize data from class experiments

• Critique studies and findings published in the popular press.

• Perform secondary research using academic databases on the internet

• Design and carry out a simple demonstration of behavior modification

Technology

• Research topics using Internet databases.

• Use Excel to analyze and summarize data.

• Access the course website for assignments.

• Email selected assignments to the teacher.

• Use appropriate technology to present information to the class.

Assessment

Upon the completion of this course, students will:

• Pass and show improvement (from the pretest) on an objective test of knowledge of psychology.

• Demonstrate competency in the scientific method by analyzing and summarizing data and critiquing published studies.

• Demonstrate competency in secondary research by gathering and reporting information from academic sources on psychology topics.

• Demonstrate competency in communication by mastering a basic vocabulary of psychological terms, presenting oral projects to the class, and writing short summaries of reading material.

• Demonstrate competency in technology by researching topics using internet databases, analyzing and summarizing data using Excel, accessing the course website for assignments, emailing selected assignments to the teacher, and using appropriate technology to present information to the class.