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Introduction
National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula
2005 Revision
Development of the National Standards for High School Psychology Curricula originated in 1994 when a task force commissioned by the American Psychological Association (APA) identified what students in an introductory high school psychology course should learn. In addition to setting forth learning objectives for students, this document provides guidance for teaching based on active learning principles and recommendations for student learning assessment. The psychology curricula standards were adopted as APA policy in 1999; this 2005 revision reflects advances in the field and updates in content.
This document is constructed to guide curriculum decisions by providing content and performance standards to guide teachers in designing instruction.
The standards are hierarchically organized to reflect increasing levels of specificity (i.e., domains, standard areas, content standards, performance standards, and performance indicators).
Domains and Standard Areas
Organization of these standards reflects five broad content domains:
Methods, Biopsychological, Developmental, Cognitive, and Variations in Individual and Group Behavior. Central to the discipline of psychology, the Methods Domain serves as the foundation and unifying element of the standards. Broad content domains following the Methods Domain include Biopsychological, Developmental, Cognitive, and Variations in Individual and Group Behavior.
Each standard area refers to a major topic or unit representing a subdivision of psychology. The respective standard areas within each of the broad domains are listed below.
I. Methods Domain
- Introduction and Research Methods
II. Biopsychological Domain
- Biological
Bases of Behavior
- Sensation and Perception
- Motivation and Emotion
- Stress, Coping and Health
III. Developmental Domain
- Lifespan Development
- Personality and Assessment
IV. Cognitive Domain
- Learning
- Memory
- Thinking and Language
- States of Consciousness
- Individual Differences
V. Variations in Individual and Group Behavior Domain
- Psychological Disorders
- Treatment of Psychological Disorders
- Social and Cultural Dimensions of Behavior
Content Standards
Content standards are more explicit and are grouped within each standard area. For example, the Standard Area Biological Bases of Behavior contains the following content standards:
IIA-1. Structure and function of the neuron
IIA-2. Organization of the nervous system
IIA-3. Hierarchical organization of the structure and function of the brain
IIA-4. Technologies and clinical methods for studying the brain
IIA-5. Structure and function of the endocrine system
IIA-6. How heredity interacts with the environment to influence behavior
IIA-7. How psychological mechanisms are influenced by evolution
Therefore, a curriculum designed to meet the Biological Bases of Behavior standard area would include instruction in the aforementioned seven content standards.
Performance Standards
Within each of the content standards, students should receive instruction that would enable them to meet specific performance standards. For example, three performance standards are included in Content Standard IIA-1: Structure and function of the neuron:
IIA-1.1 Identify the neuron as the basis for neural communication
IIA-1.2 Describe how information is transmitted and integrated in the nervous system
IIA-1.3 Analyze how the process of neurotransmission can be modified by heredity and environment.
Performance Indicators
Finally, assessment of student learning can entail a variety of techniques and specific content. Hence, each performance standard includes examples of potential ways that a student can demonstrate mastery of the material—labeled performance indicators. Performance indicators throughout this document function merely as examples and are not meant to be all inclusive.
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