Psychology
Recommended Prerequisite: None
Grades Offered: 9-12
Credit: 1/2
SDE Course Code: 3433
MNPS Course Code: SST5601
Course Description
This is a study of the development of the individual and the personality. Psychology includes the study of the principles of learning and thinking, behavior development, and mental health. This course gives students the opportunity to analyze individual and group behavioral patterns and problems.
Course of Study
- Introduction and Research Methods (Methods Domain)
- Science and History of Psychology
- Methods for examining behavior and mental processes
- Review of Scientific careers available in the discipline
- Biological Bases of Behavior (Biopsychological Domain)
- How the brain processes information
- How body adapts to demands of its environment
- Sensation and Perception
- Learning (Cognitive Domain)
- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Cognitive Learning
- Memory (Cognitive Domain)
- Types, Processes, and Stages of Memory
- Consciousness
- Sleep and Dreaming
- Meditation, Biofeedback, and Hypnosis
- Psychoactive Drug Effects
- Thinking and Language (Cognitive Domain)
- Role of Language
- Problem Solving, Creativity, Reasoning
- Intelligence
- Lifespan Development (Developmental Domain)
- Influence of nature and nurture from conception to death
- Gender roles
- Physical, Social, Cognitive Development
- Infancy and Childhood
- Adolescence
- Adulthood
- Motivation and Emotion (Biopsychological Domain)
- Biological Bases
- Motivational Forces
- Theories of Needs, Emotion
- Conflict, Stress, and Coping
- Personality (Sociocultural Domain)
- Personality Theories and Approaches
- Measuring Personality and Personal Abilities
- Types and Uses of Psychological Tests
- Ethics and Validity of Tests
- Psychological Disorders (Sociocultural Domain)
- Mental Disorders
- Treatment and Therapy
- Sociocultural Influences and Self (Sociocultural Domain)
- Relationships
- Attitudes and Beliefs
Reading: In addition to use of the adopted text, students are expected to read from a variety of sources including newspapers/periodicals, charts, graphs, case studies, and current literature in the field. Reading activities should be geared to reinforce the ability of students to reason, observe, listen, and evaluate. From this exposure, students are expected to enhance the skills of mastery, comprehension, interpretation and analysis of information.
Writing: Students are expected to write regularly and effectively in various domains including narrative, descriptive, persuasive, analytical and practical. In addition, students are expected to illustrate in their writing the ability to make generalizations and predictions, identify bias, identify cause and effect, and apply information gained. Suggested written assignments include essays, book reviews, document based questions, journals and research papers.
Standards:
TN State Department of Education Standards
http://www.state.tn.us/education/ci/cistandards2001/ss/cisspsychology912.htm
National Standards for the Teaching of High School Psychology
The American Psychological Association; Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools
http://www.apa.org
Textbook
Rathus, Spencer A. Psychology:Principles in Practice. 1st Edition
Austin, Texas: HRW, 1998
Recommended and/or required resources
Wall map of the World
Wall map of the United States
Ancillary materials accompanying adopted text
Computers that are web accessible
TV-DVD/VCR
Psychology Today magazine (Contact: P. O. Box 51844, Boulder, CO, 80321-1844)