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Standard Area: Introduction and Research Methods
CONTENT STANDARDS
After concluding this unit, students understand:
- Contemporary perspectives used by psychologists to understand behavior and mental processes in context
- Major subfields and career opportunities that comprise psychology
- Research strategies used by psychologists to explore behavior and mental processes
- Purpose and basic concepts of statistics
- Ethical issues in research with human and other animals that are important to psychologists
- Development of psychology as an empirical science
Content Standards With Performance Standards and Suggested Performance Indicators
Content Standard 1: Contemporary perspectives used by psychologists to understand behavior and mental processes in context. Students are able to (performance standards):
- Analyzing how each perspective would explain a concept such as aggression
- Evaluating the limitations of each perspective in assessing behavior and mental processes
- Comparing primary emphases of the different perspectives
- Examining historical factors that influenced the popularity of a selected perspective
Content Standard 2: Major subfields and career opportunities that comprise psychology. Students are able to (performance standards):
2.1 List and explain the major subfields of psychology. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
- Identifying the different subfields of psychology, such as clinical, counseling, social, experimental, and developmental psychology
- Recognizing applied specializations, including forensic, community, industrial/organizational, cross-cultural, sports, or rehabilitation psychology among others
- Explaining the differences between a psychologist and psychiatrist
- Exploring career opportunities for college graduates with psychology majors
2.2 Examine the role of ethics in research and professional practice. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
- Describing the ethical obligations of psychologists
- Role-playing an ethical dilemma related to psychology
Content Standard 3: Research strategies used by psychologists to explore behavior and mental processes. Students are able to (performance standards):
3.1 Describe the elements of an experiment. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
- Identifying the independent and dependent variables, possible confounding variables, and control and experimental groups in a description of an experiment
- Designing an experiment in which the hypothesis, population, sample, independent variable, dependent variable, and experimental and control groups are properly identified
3.2 Explain the importance of sampling in psychological research. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
- Identifying examples of representative and biased samples in research designs
- Explaining the importance of being able to generalize results of research
- Describing how sample selection (e.g., representation of gender, ethnicity, age, etc.) influences results
3.3 Describe and compare quantitative and qualitative research strategies. Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
- Explaining the characteristics of surveys, naturalistic observation, case studies, longitudinal studies, cross-sectional research, and experiments
- Identifying the suitability of a given method for researching a given hypothesis
- Specifying the populations to which a particular research result may be generalized
Content Standard 4: Purposes and basic concepts of statistics. Students are able to (performance standards):
4.1 Define descriptive statistics and explain how they are used by behavioral scientists.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Providing examples of situations in which descriptive statistics can be used to organize and analyze information
• Explaining how statistical analysis can add value to the interpretation of behavior
• Citing a statistical finding to strengthen an argument4.2 Explain and describe measures of central tendency.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Calculating the mean, median, and mode for a set of data
• Explaining the characteristics of a normal distribution
• Providing examples of psychological variables that tend to be normally distributed
• Applying the concepts of range and standard deviation to supplement information about central tendency in a normal distribution4.3 Describe the concept of correlation and explain how it is used in psychology.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Differentiating between positive, negative, and zero correlations
• Identifying and providing examples of how correlations can be used to predict future behavior or performance
• Explaining the difference between correlation and causation4.4 Recognize how inferential statistics are used in psychological research.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Recognizing the basic process that psychologists use to draw statistical inferences
• Defining statistical significance as a statement of probabilityCONTENT STANDARD 5: Ethical issues in research with human and other animals that are important to psychologists
Students are able to (performance standards):5.1 Identify ethical issues in psychological research.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):• Discussing ethical issues in psychological research
• Identifying historical examples of research that may have departed from contemporary ethical standards
• Acknowledging the importance of adhering to APA ethical standards in working with human and other animal subjects
• Discussing the pros and cons of the use of human and other animals in psychological research, including their ethical treatmentCONTENT STANDARD 6: Development of psychology as an empirical science
Students are able to (performance standards):6.1 Discuss psychology’s roots in philosophy and natural science.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Describing the form psychology took before the 20th century (e.g., Aristotle, Locke)
• Summarizing some 19th century physiological research findings (e.g., Helmholtz, Weber, and Fechner)
• Analyzing how philosophical issues become psychological when tested empirically6.2 Describe the emergence of experimental psychology.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Defining psychophysics and describing its impact on empirical psychology
• Identifying Wilhelm Wundt’s contributions to experimental psychology
• Comparing philosophical argument with the empirical method6.3 Recognize the diversity of psychological theories in the 20th century.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Describing the major 20th century "schools" of psychology (e.g.,behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology)
• Showing how different theories of psychology produce different explanations of a particular behavior (e.g., truancy, altruism)6.4 Describe psychology’s increasing inclusiveness of diverse interests and constituents.
Students may indicate this by (performance indicators):
• Comparing the diverse topics that generate contemporary research with early research emphases
• Identifying how research biases have influenced research design and scope
• Exploring reasons why psychology had more limited participation from women and ethnic minorities in its early stages
• Highlighting contributions by ethnic minority psychologists
• Describing historical events and processes affecting the experiences, opportunities, and processes affecting minority groups