Content: Unit 1
Introduction to Psychology:
This chapter begins our exploration of psychology with a brief look at some of its interrelated specialty areas, or subfields. We then tell the story of how psychology came to be, and we review several theories and approaches that guide psychologists in their work. We also point out how the activities of psychologists in virtually every subfield are affected by human diversity…finally we consider how critical thinking, scientific methods, and ethical standards guide psychologists as they conduct research and evaluate evidence they collect.
Taken from the Essentials of Psychology textbook
/ Content Standards
Standard Area IA: Introduction and Research Methods
After concluding this unit, students understand:
IA-1. Contemporary perspectives used by psychologists to understand behavior and mental processes in context
IA-2. Major subfields and career opportunities that comprise psychology
IA-3. Research strategies used by psychologists to explore behavior and mental processes
IA-4. Purpose and basic concepts of statistics
IA-5. Ethical issues in research with human and other animals that are important to psychologists
IA-6. Development of psychology as an empirical science
Notes: Taken from the National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula by the American Psychological Association (http://www.apa.org/education/k12/national-standards.aspx)
Key Questions:
What is psychology?
How is psychology different from psychiatry?
Why study psychology?
How is psychology similar to and different from other social sciences?
How do psychologists find information?
How do we define and view behavior?
Why don’t all psychologists explain behavior in the same way?
How does your cultural background influence your behavior?
How do we define and view cognitive abilities?
What do psychologists do? Where do they work?
What are the subfields within psychology?
How do psychologists learn about people?
Critical thinking questions: What am I being asked to believe or accept? Is there evidence available to support this claim? Can that evidence be interpreted another way? What evidence would help to evaluate the alternatives? What conclusions are most reasonable? / Skills and Outcomes: When students have finished studying this topic, they will know and be able to:
·  Preview Chapter 1, The World of Psychology: an Overview, by answering the question: What is psychology?
·  Take 2 column notes on What is Psychology? Then answer: How is psychology similar and different from the other social sciences?
·  Taking Notes: Students read Causes of Behavior: A Case Study and determine Billy’s problems using the 6 different ways to view behavior in psychology list
·  G.O.: Define each of the six ways to explain behavior in your own words. Analyze how each perspective would explain the concept of Alcoholism
·  Determine: how psychologists find information through the six steps of the scientific method
·  Design: an experiment in which the hypothesis, population, sample, independent variable, dependent variable, random assignment, and experimental and control groups are properly identified
·  Writing: identify the different subfields in psychology and explain which one you would like to work in and why. Explore career opportunities for college majors and college graduates with a psychology major
·  Discussion: class discussion on ethical issues in psychological research on humans and animals, adhering to the APA and government ethical standards
·  Notetaking: Describe the 19th century roots of psychology in philosophy and then the 20th and 21st centuries schools of psychology (e.g., behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology) on a graphic organizer / Formative/Summative Assessments: Students will complete the following products/other assessments to demonstrate the skills and understandings they have acquired.
·  Outrageous Celebrity: Pick the most outrageous celebrity you can think of, past or present. Provide a short list of some of this person’s outrageous behaviors. With a partner, attempt to explain these behaviors from each one of the six approaches for explaining behaviors in psychology. Be creative and the reasoning for their behavior does not have to be true!
·  Use post-it notes to read and mark up Chapter 1 in the textbook, use for class discussion.
·  The Costs and Benefits of Critical Thinking Activity: Using Bloom’s taxonomy and the six approaches for explaining behavior, try to explain the case of Rick Dolan (class handout) and evaluate the reasoning for his behavior, using the information you have been given and have purchased in class. Write a formal case evaluation.
·  Article: Pick one recent newspaper, magazine or Internet article describing a research study in psychology. Mark up the article and then answer the five critical thinking questions described in the chapter. How well did the media cover this study in psychology? How could I be improved?
·  Quiz on Chapter 1
·  Open response: Use three of the six approaches to explaining behavior to explain the sample situation.