Psychology (PSYC 1030)

Introduction to Psychology: History and Approaches

Research

Brain Physiology and Function

Human Development

Sensation and Perception

Memory

Consciousness

Cognition and Intelligence

Psychological Disorders

Therapy and Treatment

Social Psychology

Motivation and Emotion

Heatlh Psychology

Learning

Personality

Define psychology and explain its usefulness in today's world.

Recognize crucial historical figures, foci, and periods in psychology's history.

Identify psychology's contemporary foci.

List academic and non-academic career options available to psychologists.

Explain the difference between evidence-based scientific research and intuition/anecdotal experience.

Identify and distinguish between the stype of the scientific method in written accounts of research studies.

Identify and explain the major research designs and approaches in the field of psychology.

Evaluate a research scenario to determine if a potential ethical conflict exists.

Identify and contrast the variable in experiements, such as independent, dependent, and confounding variables.

Define and explain important terminology such as hypothesis, research question, causality, reliability, and validity.

Describe how genetics and other biological factors infludent human behavior.

List features and functions of central and peripheral nervous system, including somatic, autonomic, sympathetic, parasympathetic systems.

Identify components of brain communication and their functions including neurons and neurotransmitters.

Identify regions and functions of different areas of the brain including the spinal cord, hindbrain, midbrain, forebrain, and hemispheres.

Describe neuroimaging techniques used to study the brain, including EEG, MRI, fMRI, and PET

Differentiate between heredity and environmental factors that influence development.

Compare and contrast the research designs used in developmental psychology.

Identify factors that impact prenatal development.

Summarize and explain the physical, cognitive, and social development during infancy.

Summarize and explain the physical, cognitive, and social development during childhood.

Summarize and explain the physical, cognitive, and social development during adolescence.

Summarize and explain the physical, cognitive, and social development during adulthood.

Compare and contrast the processes of sensation and perception and elaborate on how they interact.

Describe the visual, sensory, and auditory systems.

Describe perceptual illusions and the nature of attention.

Explain Gestalt's principles of perception.

Explain how experiences and expectations influence perception.

Distinguish between sensory, short term and long-term memories

Describe the information-processing (three-stage) memory model including the duration and capacity of each stage.

Discuss theories of forgetting and explanations of memory failure

Identify the role of specific structures and areas of the brain in forming and storing memory.

Describe strategies for improving memory.

Define consciousness and identify, compare, and contrast states of consciousness, including wakefulness, sleep, intoxication, hypnosis, and meditation.

Describe the role and interaction of the environment, body, and brain as they contribute to sleep onset, progression, and waking.

Identify, compare, and contrast the role and function of sleep and dreams from different psychological perspectives (evolutionary, psychodynamic, cognitive, and neuroscience.)

Distinguish between sleep deprivation, sleep problems, sleep disorders as well as interventions and treatments.

Explain how each drug categroy produces specific effects and recognize symptoms of substance use disorder.

Identify and explain the function of cognition and the process of concept formation, including prototypes and schemata

Identify, compare, and contrast theories of intelligence, including Sternberg, Gardner, and Spearman.

Analyze and explain the role of language in cognition, including semantics, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and concept formation

Distinguish between atypical thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and a psychological disorder.

Define the concept of comorbidity and how it impacts diagnosis.

Identify the major categories of disorders according to the DSM-5.

Describe perspectives on the origin of psychological disorders.

Demonstrate an understanding of therapeutic approaches and commonly used techniques including cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, and client-centered therapies.

Define the various modalities of treatment.

Describe mental health treatment throughout history.

Demonstrate an understanding of effective pairings between therapeutic approaches and commonly seen diagnoses.

Recognize and apply social psychology constructs in one's own life experiences, including attribution, conformity, group dynamics, obedience, aggression, prejudice, attraction, and helping behavior.

Demonstrate knowledge of the scientific nature of the study of social psychology.

Demonstrate an understanding of foundational studies such as Milgram's, Asch's, and Zimbardo's.

Distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation

Identify and describe the levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs and give examples of each.

Describe how motivation influences eating and sexual behavior.

Describe the main differences between emotions and moods.

Distinguish between the 3 components of emotion: physiological arousal, psychological arousal, and subjective experiences.

Trace the history of research findings and methods in the study of stress and health.

Distinguish between distress and eustress with respect to healthy and unhealthy physical, emotional, and behavioral outcomes and responses to events.

Discuss contributions of positive psychology to our understanding of happiness, life-satisfaction, and wellbeing.

Describe, compare, and contrast the general principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.

Define the key terms of acquisition, extinction, instinct, latent learning, reflex, and shaping.

Match examples of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or social learning applied to everyday situations with the appropriate technique.

Identify the key differences between reinforcement and punishment.

Distinguish between the various reinforcement schedules (continuous, fixed-interval, fixed-ratio, variable interval, and variable-ratio).

Compare and contrast the major theories in understanding personality.

Discuss how a theory interprets/explains personality or predicts behavior.

Identify similarities and differences in objective personality tests and projective personality tests.