Psychology: Grades 9, 10, 11, 12

History & Scientific Method: Students discuss the history of psychology and its development as an empirical science by understanding the scientific method, explaining research strategies and identifying ethical issues.

Biological Bases of Behavior: Students investigate the structure, biochemistry and circuitry of the brain and the nervous system to understand their roles in affecting behavior.

Development: Students understand the process of how humans grow, learn and adapt to their environment from conception to death.

Cognition: Students understand how organisms adapt to their environment through learning, information processing and memory.

Personality, Assessment and Stress: Students recognize that personality is the distinctive and relatively stable pattern of behaviors, thoughts, motives and emotions. Students also identify the different types and functions of assessment instruments.

Abnormal Psychology: Students explore the common characteristics of abnormal behavior as well as the influence culture has had on that definition. Students also identify major theories and categories of abnormal behavior. Students discuss characteristics of effective treatment and prevention of abnormal behaviors.

Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Behavior: Students discuss the socio-cultural dimensions of behavior including topics such as conformity, obedience, perception, attitudes and the influence of the group on the individual.

Psychological Thinking: Students explore how to think like a psychologist and expand critical thinking skills needed in the day-to-day life of a psychologist.

Define psychology as a discipline and identify its goals as a science.

Explain the reasons and approaches for studying the methodology of psychology; past and present.

Describe the differences between descriptive and experimental research methods.

Explain the interaction among independent and dependent variables as well as the difference between experimental and control groups.

Distinguish between scientific and nonscientific research.

Describe the key concepts of the ethical guidelines applied by the American Psychological Association regarding the use of human and non-human animal subjects.

Describe the differences between quantitative and qualitative research strategies.

Define correlation coefficients and explain their appropriate interpretation.

Analyze human behavior from modern day perspectives in psychology.

Describe the structure and function of the major regions of the brain; specifically the forebrain, hindbrain, midbrain, and the four lobes.

Compare and contrast between the left and right hemispheres of the brain and identify how vision, motor, language and other functions are regulated by each hemisphere.

Describe the structure and function of the neuron and describe the basic process of neural transmission.

Compare and contrast the methods for studying the brain.

Identify the major divisions and subdivisions of the nervous system and describe how they function.

Analyze the structure and function of the endocrine system and its effect on human behavior.

Compare and contrast the effect of neurotransmitters on human behavior.

Explain the role of prenatal and post-natal development on human development.

Explain the physical, motor, and perceptual development of infants.

Understand the physical, motor and cognitive development of children.

Describe the physical, cognitive, and moral changes that occur during adolescence.

Understand the major physical, cognitive, and social issues that accompany adulthood and aging.

Explain how nature and nurture influence human development.

Describe the theories of various developmental psychologists.

Explain the process of learning, including principles of operant, classical, and observational

Differentiate between learning, reflexes, and fixed-action patterns

Explain the concept of learned helplessness.

Describe the processes of memory, including encoding, storage, and retrieval.

Differentiate between the three different stages of memory, including sensory, short-term, and long-term.

Identify the factors that interfere with memory.

Discuss various strategies that can be used to improve memory.

Compare and contrast between explicit and implicit memory.

Discuss the obstacles and strategies involved in problem solving.

Identify key psychologists in the fields of learning and cognition and explain the impact of their contributions.

Describe language development in humans.

Identify the major psychologists involved in the study of personality and describe the main characteristics of their theories.

Distinguish between objective and projective techniques of personality assessment and give examples of each.

Distinguish between stress and distress.

Identify environmental factors that lead to stress.

Explain Hans Seyle's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS).

Evaluate the influences of variables, such as culture, family and genetics, on personality development and identify the psychologists associated with each.

Describe the common characteristics of abnormal behavior.

Explain how both cultural and historical influences have affected the definition of abnormal behavior.

Identify and describe the theories of abnormality.

Discuss major categories of abnormal behavior and distinguish which disorders fit under which categories – DSMIV/DSM-V

Describe availability and appropriateness of various modes of treatment and prevention for people with psychological disorders.

Understand and identify social norms and how they differ across cultures.

Explain how perceptions and attitudes develop, including attribution theory, fundamental attribution error, Actor-observer bias, self-serving bias, central vs. peripheral route of persuasion, and cognitive dissonance.

Analyze the studies that lead to current understandings of conformity, obedience, nonconformity, and compliance.

Explain the concepts of groupthink and group polarization.

Discuss the various types of conflict and the processes involved in conflict resolution.

Explain how stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination influence behavior.

Understand the six steps involved in critical thinking; knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation

Locate and analyze primary sources of landmark experiments in psychology and other counter arguments.

Construct a testable hypothesis and apply the principles of research design to an appropriate experiment.