Learning Goals
Undergraduate Student Learning Goals
I. Knowledge about the Science and Application of Psychology
A. Characterize the nature of psychology as a discipline
- Understand why psychology is a science
- Understand the primary objectives, assumptions, and methods of psychology
- Understand the history of psychology (e.g., the recognition of historical figures, important theoretical foundations and conflicts)
B. Demonstrate Knowledge in Selected Content Areas
- Biological bases of behavior and mental processes (e.g., physiology, comparative psychology, motivation, emotion, and evolution)
- Developmental changes in behavior and mental processes
- Learning and cognition
- Personality and social psychology, including sociocultural issues
- Abnormal behavior (e.g., mental illness, substance abuse, neurodevelopmental disorders, brain disease and trauma)
II. Research Methods in Psychology
A. Understand the variety of research methods used in psychology:
- How different research designs address different kinds of research questions.
- The strengths and limitations of different research methods
- Issues in cross-cultural research (e.g., translation of measures, experimenter bias)
- Distinguish the features of designs that permit causal inferences from features of those that do not permit these inferences
- Understand internal and external validity
- Interpret statistical results
- Distinguish between statistical significance and practical significance
- Understand the APA ethics code regarding the treatment of human and nonhuman animals
- Distinguish between empirical evidence and speculation
- Evaluate the credibility of claims about behavioral claims
- Identify claims that arise from myths, stereotypes, or untested assumptions
- Evaluate popular media reports of psychological research