OER university/Planning/OERu 2012 Prototype/General and Applied Psychology/Complete outline for materials

High level structure

 * 1) Psychology: The study of mental processes and behaviour
 * 2) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 3) ** define psychology
 * 4) ** outline the history of psychology
 * 5) ** distinguish between different perspectives in psychology
 * 6) Research methods in psychology
 * 7) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 8) ** describe characteristics of good psychological research
 * 9) ** outline the steps involved in conducting an experiment
 * 10) ** describe general types of research methods and understand basic statistics
 * 11) ** summarise the ethical principles of psychological research
 * 12) ** outline the procedure for critically evaluating a study.
 * 13) Memory
 * 14) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 15) ** diagram the standard (information processing) model of memory, explaining each box and arrow
 * 16) ** define working memory, name and describe its components, and explain its relation to long-term memory
 * 17) ** name and explain varieties of long-term memory
 * 18) ** explain some of the causes of misremembering and forgetting, as well as some techniques for improving memory.
 * 19) Thought and language
 * 20) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 21) ** name and explain units of thought (representations, concepts, categories)
 * 22) ** explain theories and research results on reasoning, problem solving and decision making
 * 23) ** describe the basic elements of language and how language develops.
 * 24) Biological bases
 * 25) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 26) ** describe the basic units of the nervous system
 * 27) ** describe the major structures and functions of the endocrine system
 * 28) ** explain the major subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system
 * 29) ** describe the major structures and functions of the central nervous system
 * 30) ** describe the relative roles of genetics and environment in psychological functioning.
 * 31) Sensation and perception
 * 32) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 33) ** outline the basic principles and processes that apply across all senses (detecting a signal, absolute threshold, transduction, transmission from receptor to brain, effects on perception of the perceiver and of the environment)
 * 34) ** explain how light is transformed into visual experiences such as colour perception
 * 35) ** explain how sound is transformed into auditory experiences such as pitch perception
 * 36) ** distinguish the perception of smell, taste, touch, and proprioception
 * 37) ** describe ways in which perception is organised, and give examples that demonstrate perceptual organisation.
 * 38) Consciousness
 * 39) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 40) ** describe some of the functions of consciousness
 * 41) ** explain several different theoretical perspectives on consciousness
 * 42) ** describe the functions of sleep and explain several psychological views of dreaming
 * 43) ** describe some altered states of consciousness and how people experience them.
 * 44) Learning
 * 45) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 46) ** define learning
 * 47) ** describe the basic principles of classical conditioning
 * 48) ** describe the basic principles of operant conditioning
 * 49) ** describe the basic principles of cognitive-social theory and the nature of social learning.
 * 50) Intelligence
 * 51) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 52) ** describe the nature of intelligence, as studied by psychologists
 * 53) ** explain how intelligence is measured
 * 54) ** review the concepts of standardisation, norms, reliability, and validity, and explain why each is important in creating and using psychological tests
 * 55) ** understand the different approaches to intelligence
 * 56) ** discuss the extent to which intelligence is inherited or learned
 * 57) ** discuss criticisms of intelligence testing.
 * 58) Cross cultural and indigenous psychology (TBC)
 * 59) * After completing this module, you should be able to:
 * 60) ** define culture and outline some of the difficulties in studying cultural influences in psychology
 * 61) ** outline the characteristics which distinguish cultural groups
 * 62) ** describe the study of cross-cultural relations in multicultural societies
 * 63) ** better understand psychology in Aotearoa, and the relevance of Māori history and culture and of the Treaty of Waitangi to the study of psychology
 * 64) ** discuss the approaches taken by psychologists to improve cross-cultural interactions.