Outline

Psychology Honors Content Outline

(* = central questions that show how psychology applies to your life)

I. Unit One: History and Research Methods

A. Introduction to Psychology

• The origins of psychology

• History of the discipline

• Important figures in psychology

• Influences

• Philosophical roots

• The major schools of thought

*What is the mind body connection?

B. Research Methods

• The scientific method

• Observation

• Surveys

• The experimental method

• Ethics in psychological research

*How accurate are our memories?

II. Unit Two: Psychobiological Processes

A. The Biological Foundations of Behavior

• Communication throughout the body

• A guided tour of the brain

* Is human behavior more the product of nature or nurture?

B. Sensation and Perception

• Vision

• Hearing

• The chemical and body senses

• Perception

• Illusions

• The effects of experience on perception

* Why do individual perceptions of the world differ?

C. Consciousness and Its Variations

• Sleep

• Dreams

• Hypnosis

• Meditation

• Psychoactive drugs

* What meaning do our dreams hold?

III. Unit Three: Psychological Problems, Disorders, and Treatment

A. Psychological Disorders

• Anxiety disorders

• Mood disorders

• Personality disorders

• The Dissociative disorders

• Schizophrenia

* Why are our brains wired for fear?

C. Treatment

• Therapies

• Medication

• Alternative methods

* Are we nuts (America’s addiction to psychotherapy)?

V. Unit Four: The Individual in Social Context

A. Social Psychology

• Forming impressions of others

• Physical attractiveness

• Attribution

• Attitudes

• Stereotypes and prejudice

• Conformity

• Obedience

• Altruism (coming to the aid of strangers)

• The influence of groups on individual behavior

* Are you looking at me (The eyes as the window to the soul)?!

VI.Unit Five: Basic Psychological Processes

A. Learning

• Classical conditioning

• Operant conditioning

• Observational learning

* Do we all have savant-like potential?

B. Memory

• The Stage Model

• Types of memory

• Retrieval of memories

• Reconstructing memories

• The biological basis of memory

• Amnesia

* What factors cause us to forget?

D. Motivation and Emotion

• Theories of motivation

• The motivation to eat/regulation

• Arousal motives/sensation seeking

• Achievement motivation

• Explaining emotions

* Do you run because you are afraid? Or are you afraid because you run?

IV. Unit Six: The Development of the Self

A. Personality

• Competing perspectives on personality

• Personality traits and gentics

• Psychological tests/assessing personality

* What’s it like to be you?