Introduction: The Origins of Psychology
| 1. | Define psychology and discuss the issues that shaped psychology’s evolution over the past century and a half, including the influence of philosophy and physiology. |
| 2. | Describe the roles played by Wilhelm Wundt and William James in the establishment of psychology as a separate scientific discipline. |
| 3. | Identify the founders of structuralism and functionalism, and compare and contrast their key ideas and goals. |
| 4. | Identify four early American psychologists who were students of William James or Edward Titchener, and list their contributions to the development of psychology. |
| 5. | Identify the founder of psychoanalysis and describe the key ideas of this school of psychological thought. |
| 6. | List three key figures in the development of behaviorism, and describe behaviorism’s basic assumptions and goals. |
| 7. | Identify two advocates of humanistic psychology, and note how humanistic psychology differs from behaviorism and psychoanalysis. |
Contemporary Psychology
| 8. | List and describe the eight major perspectives in contemporary psychology. |
| Culture and Human Behavior: What Is Cross-Cultural Psychology? | |
| 9. | Explain the importance of cross-cultural psychology, and distinguish between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. |
| 10. | Explain the basic assumptions of the evolutionary perspective. |
| 11. | List the specialty areas in contemporary psychology, describe the focus of each, and distinguish between psychology and psychiatry. |
The Scientific Method
| 12. | List the four goals of psychology, explain the scientific assumptions and attitudes of psychologists, and describe critical thinking. |
| Critical Thinking: What Is Critical Thinking? | |
| 13. | Define critical thinking, list the three active processes involved, and describe the key attributes and mental skills that characterize critical thinking. |
| 14. | Describe the scientific method. List the four steps involved, and explain what empirical evidence is. Specify the difference between a hypothesis and a theory, and explain the importance of operational definitions, replication, and statistics. Define meta-analysis, state what it is used for, and explain what a statistically significant finding is. |
Descriptive Research Methods
| 15. | Define descriptive research methods, and describe how naturalistic observation and case studies are conducted. |
| Science Versus Pseudoscience: What Is a Pseudoscience? | |
| 16 | Define the term pseudoscience, and explain how to recognize and evaluate pseudoscientific claims. |
| 17 | Describe survey research, and list the criteria that must be met for survey results to be valid. |
| 18 | Define correlation coefficient, explain the difference between positive and negative correlations, and describe the functions and limitations of correlational research. |
The Experimental Method
| 19. | Specify what the experimental method involves and describe the ginkgo biloba experimental design |
| 20. | Define and explain the function of the independent variable, dependent variable, extraneous variable, experimental controls, experimental group, and placebo control group in an experiment. |
| 21. | Define placebo, placebo effect, main effect, and explain the purpose of random assignment, the double-blind technique, the control group or control condition, and how demand characteristics and practice effects can influence experimental results. |
| 22. | Identify the hypothesis, independent variable, dependent variable, experimental group, and control group in the experiment testing the relationship between perceiving work as exercise and health benefits, and critically evaluate the results of the experiment. |
| 23. | Describe and discuss the variations and limitations of the experimental method, and explain what a natural experiment is. |
Ethics in Psychological Research
| 24. | Describe the major provisions of the APA’s code of ethics for research with human and nonhuman animal subjects. |
| Focus on Neuroscience: Psychological Research Using Brain Imaging | |
| 25. | Name and describe the major imaging techniques used to study the brain and list their limitations. |
| In Focus: Questions About the Use of Animals in Psychological Research | |
| 26. | List and discuss the issues related to the use of animals in psychological research. |
| Enhancing Well-Being with Psychology: Psychology in the Media: Becoming an Informed Consumer | |
| 27. | List criteria that should be used to evaluate media reports about psychological findings and topics. |