Unit 05 Standards

Georgia Standards:

*SSPFR1: The student will explain selected historical and contemporary perspectives and practices of psychologists.

a. Define the field of psychology.

b. Identify key figures in the history of the field of psychology and their major contributions; include Wundt, Freud, Skinner, James, Watson and Rogers.

c. List and describe the major occupations and subfields of psychology.

*SSPFR2: The student will explain the research methods and the types of statistics used in the field of psychology.

a. Explain how psychologists conduct research to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior.

b. Describe the types of research methods used by psychologists; include experiment, survey, case study, and observation.

c. Identify the basic elements of an experiment; include independent and dependent variables, types of experimental control (blind/double-blind procedures, placebo controls).

d. Explain the differences between a correlation and an experiment.

e. Classify the types and uses of statistics in psychological research; include descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.

f. Interpret graphic data representations.

g. Explain ethical issues in psychological research.

College Board Curriculum:

This unit introduces students to the discipline of psychology by emphasizing the history of psychology as a science, the different theoretical approaches that underlie explanations of behavior, and the many different subfields within psychology.

The course traces the emergence of scientific psychology in the 19^th century from its roots in philosophy and physiology and covers the development of the major "schools" of psychology, showing how these schools differed in what they viewed as the proper subject matter of psychology and the methods used to study it. This historical introduction helps students gain an understanding of the principal approaches to psychology: behavioral, biological, cognitive, humanistic, psychodynamic, evolutionary/sociobiological, and sociocultural. Students learn how these approaches differentially guide research and practice in psychology.

The scientific nature of psychology is made clear through coverage of the methods psychologists use to ask and answer behavioral questions. Emphasis is given to the experimental method and issues of appropriate experimental sampling and control, but other methods, such as the correlational method, which includes descriptive methods, naturalistic observation, the survey, and the case study, are also covered. The generalizability of the different research methods is examined. Accompanying the coverage of research methods is information on elementary descriptive statistics used in analyzing data, such as measures of central tendency, variability, and correlation. The characteristics of normal and non‑normal distributions are examined. Further, students learn how inferential statistics are used to evaluate the results of the scientific process. Students also learn about the many different fields within psychology and about the importance of ethics in both scientific research and the practice of psychology.