Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

The Psychology Program at PCC adheres to evidence-based course content and teaching best practices.  "[Science] is more than a school subject, or the periodic table, or the properties of waves. It is an approach to the world, a critical way to understand and explore and engage with the world, and then have the capacity to change that world..."    President Barack Obama, March 23, 2015.  US Department of Education webpage

Upon successful completion of the course students should be able to:

1. Identify psychological, biological, and other factors that influence behavior and mental processes.
2. Apply key theories and concepts in psychology.
3. Evaluate claims about psychological phenomena and human behavior through the use of empirical evidence and knowledge of the scientific method.
4. Demonstrate knowledge about the ways psychological science and practices are contextualized by ethical standards and sociocultural factors.

All sections of this course, whether F2F or online, will utilize multiple modes of assessment, and not just rely on objective (T/F and MC) tests.   Online sections will adhere to ‘Quality Matters’ and accessibility guidelines along with the “What Works Well in Online Teaching at PCC” document.

Teachers will employ best practices, which include (but are not limited to):

1. Making expectations clear and transparent, and supporting students in achieving course expectations.
2. Assessing often, via different modes, and providing timely feedback on student performance (generally a week or less, but no more than 10 days unless extenuating circumstances intervene) so that students have the opportunity to improve.
3. Maintaining an environment in which diversity is respected and supported, and addressing the situation when that does not occur.
4. Maintaining an environment in which all students can learn, and seeking appropriate support (PCC CARE program) when a student is demonstrating behavior that is interfering with their own and/or others’ success. 
5. Recognizing and supporting student needs, including disability support, and providing reasonable arrangements for extenuating circumstances while remaining fair to all students in the course.

Student assessment will include some combination of the following:

• Written assignments (in-class, homework, or formal papers) designed to promote integration and understanding of class material and assigned reading
• Short answer and/or essay questions that require integration, application and critical examination of assigned material 
• Objective tests such as multiple-choice, true-false, and matching assessment items
• Narrative tests such as fill-in-the-blank, short-answer, and essay exams
• Participation in individual and group activities
• Individual and/or group presentations
• Class participation, including online discussions where appropriate and part of course delivery and outcomes 
• Service-learning activities, where appropriate and part of course outcomes
• Other assignments as designed by the instructor

History of Psych:

1. Define psychology, and summarize the history and early foundations of psychology.
2. Compare the major perspectives of modern psychology.
3. Identify types of educational degrees and careers within psychology.

Research Methods:

1. Describe scientific thinking and the meaning of scientific skepticism.
2. Describe cognitive biases that interfere with evidence-based judgements and conclusions.
3. Summarize the scientific method and explain how it helps counter common cognitive biases.
4. Compare the major types of psychological research, including strengths, weaknesses, and appropriate uses of each type.
5. Explain why statistical correlations may or may not represent causal relationships between events. 
6. Describe ethical issues that exist in psychological research.

Biopsychology:

• Neurons and the Nervous System

1. Describe the basic structures and functions of a neuron.
2. Describe the structure and functions of the divisions of the nervous system.
3. Identify the major neurotransmitters and their influence on behavior.

• The Brain

1. Identify the major regions, structures, and functions of the brain.
2. Describe brain lateralization and hemispheric specialization and how these concepts are misused in popular culture.
3. Describe neural plasticity, including in response to brain injury.
4. Explain how neural pathways are strengthened or pruned through experience.

• The Endocrine System

1. Identify and describe the major glands and hormones of the endocrine system and their influence on behavior.

• Genetics and Environment

1. Describe the classic “nature vs nurture” debate.  
2. Summarize current thinking about the roles of genetics and environment as they impact and influence human characteristics and behavior.
3. Summarize the concept of epigenetics and current thinking on the role of epigenetics in genetic transfer.

Sensation and Perception:

1. Differentiate between sensation and perception, explain how they work together, and describe how perception can create sensations that did not occur at the level of sensory receptors.
2. Describe how various factors, such as individual, cultural, and cognitive processes and common biases, influence perception.
3. Discuss absolute threshold, just-noticeable-difference, and signal detection theory.  
4. Outline the basic anatomy of and processes by which the following sensations are registered by sensory receptors and conveyed to the brain:  vision, hearing (auditory), taste (gustatory), smell (olfactory), pain (nociception), body position (kinesthetic), and balance (vestibular). 
5. Explain why optical illusions occur.
6. Explain why our sense of taste is closely tied with smell, and how a loss of sense of smell impacts our sense of taste.
7. Explain how processing in the limbic system among the pathway to the olfactory cortex ties our sense of smell with emotions.
8. Explain the gate control model of pain, and how this can be used therapeutically.
9. Describe synesthesia. 

Learning:

1. Define learning and distinguish it from reflexes or instincts (fixed action patterns).
2. Distinguish between associative (conditioned) learning and cognitive learning theories.
3. Compare and contrast classical and operant conditioning.
4. Describe the problems with punishment in shaping behavior.
5. Describe types of cognitive learning, including insight, latent learning, and observational learning, and how these ideas challenged the behavioral paradigm.

Memory:

1. Define memory and identify the major types and steps or stages of memory. 
2. List strategies to optimize memory encoding and consolidation, including the role of sleep. 
3. Explain how memory is constructive, including “repressed memories” and the misinformation effect in eyewitness testimony.   
4. Explain the different reasons why forgetting occurs.
5. Identify different types of memory loss. 

Consciousness:

1. Define consciousness and discuss models/theories used to describe consciousness.
2. Discuss attentional processes and processes that disrupt attention.

• Sleep and Dreaming

1. Define circadian rhythms and explain their relationship to sleep.
2. Identify the functions of sleep and summarize the sleep cycle.
3. Identify the major sleep disorders.

• Hypnosis

1. Explain current theories of what hypnosis is, and what it can and cannot do.

• Psychoactive Drugs

1. Identify the primary types of psychoactive drugs and their characteristics.
2. Discuss the effects of drug use and associated health risks.

Intelligence:

1. Trace the history of the study of human intelligence and intelligence testing.
2. Summarize the major theories of single “g” vs multiple intelligences.
3. Describe the roles of genetic and environmental factors in human intelligence.
4. Describe the strengths and limitations of intelligence tests.

Problem-solving and Creativity:

1. Describe human problem-solving, including trial-and-error, algorithms, heuristics, and insight.
2. Describe the relationship between language and thinking, including the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.
3. Describe cognitive biases that interfere with evidence-based judgements and decisions.
4. Describe creativity, including divergent thinking and overcoming functional fixedness.