PSYC 1110 - General Psychology
Credits: 4
Catalog Description
This course is a comprehensive introduction to psychology, which is the science concerned with behavior and mental processes. Psychology studies the environmental, biological, social, and individual forces that help to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior. Students will examine the scientific and historical foundations of psychology, the major domains of knowledge in psychology (biological, cognitive, developmental, social and personality, and mental and physical health), and cross-cutting themes relevant to all knowledge domains (cultural and social diversity, ethics, variation in human functioning, and applications of psychology). This course is designed to meet the goals of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2014) for introductory psychology.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC) Goal Area(s) fulfilled: Goal 05B: History and the Social and Behavioral Sciences, Goal 07A: Human Diversity, Race, Power, and Justice in the United States
Additional fee to student: No
Learner Outcomes
- Understand the historical foundation of psychology as a scientific discipline.
- Compare and contrast the various theoretical perspectives and research paradigms used to study behavior throughout psychology’s history.
- Understand the differences between science and pseudoscience and be able to critically evaluate examples of each.
- Understand the steps of the scientific method and apply basic research skills to develop and test hypotheses about behavior.
- Understand the essential characteristics of common research methods and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of each (observation, correlation, experimentation, meta-analysis).
- Understand important biological bases of behavior (e.g., the neuron, neurotransmitters, the brain and nervous system, sensation, states of consciousness, sleep, dreaming, drug effects).
- Understand important cognitive bases of behavior (e.g., thinking, problem-solving, memory, perception, intelligence).
- Understand important developmental bases of behavior (e.g., learning, lifespan development, language development).
- Understand important social and personality bases of behavior (e.g., social, personality, emotion, motivation, cultural, gender).
- Understand important mental and physical health related bases of behavior (e.g., abnormal behavior, health psychology, biological and psychological treatments).
- Examine the role of social and cultural diversity (e.g., age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, disability status, language, socioeconomic status) in each of the core knowledge domains (biological, cognitive, developmental, social/personality, mental/physical health), including an analysis of diversity issues at a personal level.
- Evaluate important ethical considerations in conducting and applying research within each of the core knowledge domains (biological, cognitive, developmental, social/personality, mental/physical health).
- Understand the range of human functioning within each of the core knowledge domains (biological, cognitive, developmental, social/personality, mental/physical health).
- Apply content within each of the core knowledge domains (biological, cognitive, developmental, social/personality, mental/physical health) to everyday life with the goal of improving personal functioning and addressing important social problems.
- Integrate understanding of basic research methods and core knowledge domains (biological, cognitive, developmental, social/personality, mental/physical health) to evaluate existing research, generate original research ideas, and apply scientific evidence to everyday life.
Major Areas of Course Content
- Historical and scientific foundation of psychology
- Research methods: Basic skills and concepts for interpreting behavior, studying research, and applying research to draw evidence-based conclusions about behavior
- Biological domain: Emphasize cross-cutting themes of cultural/social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications while covering at least two topics from
- Neuroscience
- Sensation
- Consciousness
- Cognitive domain: Emphasize cross-cutting themes of cultural/social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications while covering at least two topics from
- Cognition
- Memory
- Perception
- Intelligence
- Development domain: Emphasize cross-cutting themes of cultural/social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications while covering at least two topics from
- Learning
- Lifespan development
- Language
- Social and Personality domain: Emphasize cross-cutting themes of cultural/social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications while covering at least two topics from
- Social
- Personality
- Emotion
- Motivation
- Multicultural
- Gender
- Mental and Physical Health domain: Emphasize cross-cutting themes of cultural/social diversity, ethics, variations in human functioning, and applications while covering at least two topics from
- Abnormal
- Health
- Therapies
Credit for Prior Learning Options
Course-Specific Exam
Credit for Prior Learning Option Procedure(s)
At the discretion of the instructor, with the recommendation that the student must pass all regular exams with a C or better for the course to receive credit.
Course Notes
This course is also offered through Anoka-Ramsey’s Concurrent Enrollment Program.
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