Quarter 1

Chapter 1: Psychology's Roots, Big Ideas, and Critical Thinking Tools

Essential Questions:

  1. What is psychology?
  2. Why do psychology?
  3. How do psychologists ask and answer questions?

"I Can"

  1. Identify how psychology's focus has changed over time.
  2. Describe psychology's current perspectives list some of its subfields.
  3. Explain the four ideas run throughout the textbook.
  4. Summarize how our everyday thinking sometimes leads us to the wrong conclusion.
  5. Identify the three key elements of the scientific attitude, and explain how they support scientific inquiry.
  6. Explain how psychological theories guide scientific research.
  7. Distinguish how psychologists use case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys to observe and describe behavior, and why random sampling is important.
  8. Contrast positive and negative correlations, and explain how they lead to prediction but not cause-effect explanations.
  9. Appraise how experiments clarify or reveal cause-effect relationships.
  10. Indicate how simplified laboratory conditions help us understand general principles of behavior.
  11. Discuss why psychologists study animals, and identify what ethical guidelines safeguard human and animal research participants.
  12. Explain how personal values influence psychologists' research and application.
  13. Identify how psychological principles help you learn and remember.


Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies

  1. SS.BH1.a.h
  2. SS.BH1.b.h
  3. SS.BH2.a.h

Chapter 2: The Biology of Mind and Consciousness

Essential Questions:

  1. How does our biology affect our psychology?

"I Can"

  1. Discuss why psychologists are concerned with human biology.
  2. Identify parts of a neuron.
  3. Explain how neurons communicate.
  4. Assess how neurotransmitters affect our mood and behavior.
  5. Identify the two major divisions of the nervous system, and explain their basic functions.
  6. Describe how the endocrine system transmits information and interact with the nervous system.
  7. List some techniques for studying the brain.
  8. Describe the functions of the brainstem and its related structures.
  9. Identify the structures and functions of the limbic system.
  10. Name the four lobes of the cerebral cortex and identify where they are located.
  11. Explain the functions of the motor cortex, somatosensory cortex, and association areas.
  12. Express when damaged, if the brain can repair or reorganize itself.
  13. Explain what is a 'split brain', and what it reveals about the functions of our left and right hemispheres.
  14. Identify what we mean by 'consciousness', and how does selective attention direct our perceptions.
  15. Explain the circadian rhythm, and the stages of our nightly sleep schedule.
  16. Contrast the sleep patterns of humans, and explain what five theories describe our need to sleep.
  17. Describe how sleep loss affects us, and identify the major sleep disorders.
  18. Discuss what we dream about, and the five theories of why we dream.


Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies

  1. SS.BH1.a.h
  2. SS.BH1.b.h
  3. SS.BH2.a.h

Chapter 5: Sensation and Perception

Essential Questions:

  1. How does the perception of our sensory input shape our lives?

"I Can"

  1. Define 'sensation' and 'perception' and explain what we mean by 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' processing.
  2. Identify what three steps are basic to all our sensory systems.
  3. Contrast 'absolute thresholds' and 'difference thresholds' and define Weber's Law.
  4. Appraise the extent to which we can be persuaded by subliminal stimuli.
  5. Evaluate the function of sensory adaptation.
  6. Explain how our expectations, assumptions, contexts, and even our motivations and emotions affect our perceptions.
  7. Describe the characteristics of the energy as we see as light.
  8. Explain how the eye transforms light energy into neural messages.
  9. Identify the roles of feature detection and parallel processing in the brain's visual information processing.
  10. Contrast the theories that help us understand color vision.
  11. Summarize the main message of Gestalt psychology, and how figure-ground and grouping principles help us perceive form.
  12. Identify how we use binocular and monocular cues to see the world in three dimensions.
  13. Describe how perceptual constancies help us construct meaningful perceptions.
  14. Explain what research on restored vision, sensory restriction, and perceptual adaptation reveals about the effects of experience on perception.
  15. Identify the characteristics of the air pressure waves that we hear as meaningful sounds.
  16. Describe how the ear transforms sound energy into neural messages.
  17. List the four basic touch sensations, and which of them has identifiable receptors.
  18. Discuss what influences our feelings of pain, and how we can treat pain.
  19. Compare the sense of taste and sense of smell.
  20. Summarize how we sense our body's position and movement.
  21. Describe how our sense interact.
  22. Identify how ESP claims hold up when put to the test by scientists.


Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies

  1. SS.BH1.a.h
  2. SS.BH1.b.h
  3. SS.BH2.a.h

Chapter 6: Learning

Essential Questions:

  1. What is learning?
  2. How does learning occur?

"I Can"

  1. Identify some basic forms of learning.
  2. Describe classical conditioning and explain how it demonstrates associative learning.
  3. Explain the parts that acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, and discrimination play in classical conditioning.
  4. Assess why Pavlov's work was important and describe how it is being applied.
  5. Describe operant conditioning and explain how operant behavior is reinforced and shaped.
  6. Contrast positive and negative reinforcement and identify the basic types of reinforcers.
  7. Analyze how continuous and partial reinforcement schedules affect behavior.
  8. Contrast punishment from negative reinforcement, and discuss how punishment affects behavior.
  9. Appraise why Skinner's ideas were controversial, and describe how educators, managers, and parents are applying operant principles.
  10. Contrast classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
  11. Distinguish what limits biology places on conditioning.
  12. Discuss how cognitive processes affect classical and operant conditioning.
  13. Contrast observational learning and associative learning.
  14. Explain how observational learning may be enabled by mirror neurons.
  15. Describe the impact of prosocial modeling and of antisocial modeling.


Wisconsin Standards for Social Studies

  1. SS.BH1.a.h
  2. SS.BH1.b.h
  3. SS.BH2.a.h