Introductory Psychology Course Structure

HISTORY, APPROACHES, METHODS: 8-9%

• History of psychology
• Approaches: biological, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic
• Research methods: experimental, clinical, correlational
• Ethics in research

BIOLOGICAL BASES OF BEHAVIOR: 8-9%

The physical mechanisms directly influence the behavior of a person. Psychologists consider the central nervous system to be the most important.

• Endocrine system
• Etiology (the study of the origin of psychology)
• Functional organization of the central nervous system
• Genetics
• Neuroanatomy (the branch of anatomy that deals specifically with the brain and nerve structure)
• Physiological techniques

SENSATION and PERCEPTION: 7-8%

Sensation is the body’s detection of external and internal stimulation. Perception is the brain’s method of making sense of the sensation.

• Attention
• Other senses: somesthesis (skin perceptiveness), olfaction (smell), gustation (taste), vestibular system (inner ear)
• Perceptual development
• Perceptual processes
• Receptor processes: vision, auditory
• Sensory mechanisms: thresholds, adaptation

STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS: 5-6%

Consciousness is a person’s state of awareness of the environment, thoughts, feelings, and sensations.

• Hypnosis and meditation
• Psychoactive drug effects
• Sleep and dreaming

LEARNING: 10-11%

This subject area within psychology studies the process of learning from various learning processes.

• Biological bases
• Classical conditioning
• Cognitive process in learning
• Observational learning
• Operant conditioning

COGNITION: 8-9%

Cognition is the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

• Intelligence and creativity
• Language
• Memory
• Thinking and problem solving

MOTIVATION and EMOTION: 7-8%

Motivation is a theoretical construct to explain behavior. Emotion is a relatively brief conscious experience characterized by intense mental activity with a high degree of pleasure or displeasure.

• Biological bases
• Hunger, thirst, sex, pain
• Social motivation
• Theories of emotion
• Theories of motivation

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY: 8-9%

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life.

• Dimensions of development: physical, cognitive, social, moral
• Gender identity and sex roles
• Heredity-environment issues
• Research methods: longitudinal, cross-sectional
• Theories of development

PERSONALITY: 7-8%

Personality psychology is a study discipline of psychology that studies personality and how it varies from person to person.

• Assessment techniques
• Growth and adjustment
• Personality theories and approaches
• Research methods: idiographic (relating to the study of individuals), nomothetic (relating to general laws or traits in personality theory)
• Self-concept, self-esteem

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS and HEALTH: 8-9%

A psychological disorder, or mental disorder, is a mental or behavioral pattern that causes suffering or a poor ability to function and may be persistent, relapsing or remitting.

• Affective disorders (depression or mania)
• Anxiety disorders
• Dissociative disorders (characterized by fugue states or multiple personalities)
• Health, stress, and coping
• Personality disorders
• Psychoses
• Somatic system (somatoform) disorders (characterized by symptoms of physical illness or injury but no known origin)
• Theories of psychopathology

TREATMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS: 7-8%

Psychiatrists and clinical social workers use various methods, after observation and diagnosis to treat individuals suffering from psychological disorders.

• Behavioral therapies
• Biological and drug therapies
• Cognitive therapies
• Community and preventive approaches
• Insight therapies: psychodynamic and humanistic approaches

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: 7-8%

Social psychology studies how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.

• Aggression/antisocial behavior
• Attitudes and attitude change
• Attribution processes
• Conformity, compliance, obedience
• Group dynamics
• Interpersonal perception

STATISTICS, TESTS, and MEASUREMENT: 3-4%

• Descriptive statistics
• Inferential statistics
• Measurement of intelligence
• Reliability and validity
• Samples, populations, norms
• Types of tests