OBJECTIVES:
1. Define psychology and discuss the goals of psychological inquiry. State reasons for and against the proposition that a scientific study of behavior and mental processes is possible.
2. Outline the history of scientific psychology, identifying the major schools of psychological thought and the key ideas and individuals associated with each school.
3. Identify the subject matter of the various subfields of psychology.
4. Describe the work settings of psychologists, the academic preparation needed, and the kinds of activities they engage in.
5. Explain the basic features of several types of research methods.
6. Explain in detail the features of the experimental method, including the types of variables involved and methods of control.
7. Be able to analyze an example of research as done in class (brainstorming exercise).
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
psychology
three goals of psychology
rationalism
empiricism
determinism
Psychophysics
Structuralism
introspection
Functionalism
stream of consciousness
adaptation
natural selection
individual differences
Behaviorism
conditioning
trial-and-error learning
S-R model
Gestalt psychology
phi phenomenon
Psychoanalytic theory
the unconscious
free association
sex and aggression drives
Humanistic psychology
determinism vs. free will
self-actualization
phenomenological view
Neurobiological approach
Cognitive psychology
hypothesis
population
sample
random sample
experiment (laboratory, field)
independent variable
dependent variable
extraneous variable
control
experimental vs. control group
correlational research
correlation vs. causation
survey method
naturalistic observation
case study method
psychological testing
ethical standards in research
KEY NAMES
Fechner, Darwin, Skinner, Maslow, Piaget,
Wundt, Freud, Wertheimer, Rogers, Hall,
Titchener, Pavlov, Kohler, Thorndike,
James, Watson, Koffka , Dewey
OBJECTIVES
1. Understand the common descriptive statistics used to measure central tendency and variability.
2. Interpret the correlation coefficient, and know why correlation does not necessarily imply causation.
3. Understand the meaning of statistical significance.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
descriptive statistics
central tendency
mean
median
mode
normal curve (distribution)
variability
range
standard deviation
variance
correlation coefficient
statistical significance
(.05 level)
OBJECTIVES
1. Know Erikson's psychosocial stages.
2. Understand the concept of attachment, how attachment takes place, and what happens when it does not properly occur.
3. Define the basic concepts in Piaget's theory of cognitive development.
4. Know the four stages of Piaget's theory and explain the major achievements of each stage.
5. Understand the development of gender identity as explained by psychoanalytic, social learning, and cognitive (gender schema) theories.
6. Explain Kohlberg's approach to studying moral judgment, and illustrate each stage with an example..
7. Understand the nature-nurture and continuity-discontinuity issues.
8. Know the basic components of human language.
9. Know the milestones in children's language acquisition and be familiar with several explanations of the language acquisition process.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS
Erikson's eight psychosocial stages
attachment
strange situation
stranger anxiety
separation anxiety
secure attachment
anxious/resistant attachment
anxious/avoidant attachment
imprinting
critical period
contact comfort
Piaget: organization, adaptation,
assimilation, accommodation
sensorimotor stage
basic categories of reality
representational thought
preoperational stage
animism
artificialism
egocentrism
centered thought (centration)
concrete operations
conservation concept
decentered thought
reversible thought
formal operations
hypothetical thinking
gender identity
androgyny
Oedipus and Electra complexes
identification
modelling
reinforcement
gender schema theory
preconventional morality
conventional morality
postconventional morality
major crises of adulthood (Erikson)
phoneme
morpheme
syntax
semantics
cooing
babbling
duos (first sentences)
language acquisition device
KEY NAMES
Sigmund Freud
Erik Erikson
Harry Harlow
John Bowlby
Mary Ainsworth
Konrad Lorenz
Lawrence Kohlberg
Jean Piaget
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