Introduction to Psychology

  • COURSE DESCRIPTION

    *Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Such study can involve both animal and human behaviors. When applied to humans, psychology covers everything that people think, feel, and do. We will be studying human psychology only.

    *In this course we will cover the following six main topics:

    -Approaches to Psychology (Introducing Psychology, Psychology: Present and Future, Psychological Research Methods and Statistics)

    -The Life Span (Infancy and Childhood, Adolescence, Adulthood and Old Age)

    -The Workings of Mind and Body (Body and Behavior, Altered States of Consciousness, Sensation and Perception)

    -Learning and Cognitive Processes (Learning: Principles and Applications, Memory and Thought, Thinking and Language)

    -Personality and Individuality (Psychological Testing, Theories of Personality)

    -Adjustment and Breakdown (Stress and Health, Psychological Disorders)

    *We will also be spending a good amount of time getting to know ourself. The students will be engaging in a number of activities designed to let them explore themselves - what they value, who is important in their lives, what their goals and ambitions are, etc. No student is required to participate in the discussions that follow these activities. None of these activities will be collected or graded. It is a time for them to put some thought into who they are, to get to know themselves.

    *Because this is a half-year course, in order to cover what we need to cover to give you a good sense of what psychology is all about, we will be going at a fairly good pace. But, because it is a college prep elective, we will be doing many projects and open book quizzes, along with more traditional assessments.