Chapter 3
Biopsychology
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following
outcomes.
1. The structure and function of: dendrites, axons, myelin sheath, glial cells and synapses
2. Where neurotransmitters are produced, what function they perform (in general), and
how they interact with dendrites on post-synaptic neurons
3. The parts of the neural communication process: resting potential, action potential,
refractory period, threshold, all-or-nothing response
4. What happens during an action potential and what happens in the synaptic gap when an
action potential is fired
5. The basic difference between the central and peripheral nervous systems
6. The basic difference between the autonomic and the somatic nervous systems
7. The basic difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems
8. The meaning of the term plasticity
9. What functions are highly lateralized in the brain
10. The general location and basic functions of the following regions: occipital lobes, parietal
lobes, temporal lobes, frontal lobes (and prefrontal cortex), and the corpus callosum
11. What happened to Phineas Gage and what that tells us about the brain
12. The general location and functions of the following structures: brainstem, thalamus,
reticular formation, cerebellum, the limbic system (hippocampus, amygdala,
hypothalamus)
13. What the following tools of discovery measure physically: EEG, CT, PET scan, MRI/fMRI
Chapter 5
Sensation and Perception
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following
outcomes.
1. The difference between sensation and perception
2. Lecture: the basic difference between conscious and unconscious processes
3. The difference between bottom-up and top-down processing
4. What inattentional blindness is and what it reveals about attention
5. What signal detection theory is and what it reveals about attention
6. The general location and basic function of the following structures: cornea, pupil, iris,
lens, fovea, retina, rods, cones, and optic nerve
7. Why we are not constantly aware of having a blindspot
8. The basic idea behind the trichromatic theory of color vision and how it differs from
opponent-process theory
9. How we acquire depth perception through the following tools: retinal disparity
(binocular), and linear perspective
10. The following concepts in gestalt visual perception: figure-ground distinction, proximity,
continuity, closure, similarity
Module 2
Behavioral Genetics
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following
outcomes.
1. The difference between monozygotic and dizygotic twins in regard to fertilization and
genetic similarity
2. Why researchers compare pairs of monozygotic twins with pairs of dizygotic twins who
grow up in the same environments
3. Why researchers compare pairs of monozygotic twins who grow up in different
environments
4. Why researchers compare children raised by their biological parents with children raised
by their adoptive parents
5. Lecture: (a) What traits in children are not strongly influenced by parenting; and (b)
What traits in children are strongly influenced by parenting
6. What the field of epigenetics studies and the concept of gene-environment interaction
7. How would Evolutionary Psychology explain the following phenomena: our tendency to
like fast food, many people having the same phobias, and mating preferences
Chapter 1
What is Psychology?
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following
outcomes:
1. The basic difference between a theory and a hypothesis
2. How these “schools of thought” approached psychology: structuralism, functionalism,
psychoanalytic theory, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and humanism
3. What is the “cognitive revolution” in psychology
4. What these current approaches to contemporary psychology emphasize: biopsychology,
evolutionary psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, personality
psychology, social psychology, industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology, health
psychology, sports and exercise psychology, clinical psychology, counseling psychology,
and forensic psychology
Chapter 2
Research Strategies
You should be able to recognize (conceptually) and apply (to specific examples) the following
outcomes.
1. Lecture: the meaning of the term variable
2. Approaches to research: (a) the purpose and main differences between descriptive,
correlational and experimental research; and (b) The purpose, strengths, weaknesses,
and differences between the following research methods: case studies, naturalistic
observation, surveys, archival research, longitudinal and cross-sectional research
3. Correlational research: the difference between correlation direction and strength and
how correlational results are displayed graphically
4. The difference between correlational research and experimental studies
5. The difference between a sample and a population
6. The difference between a random sample and a non-random sample
7. How to avoid confusing correlation with causation and how correlational studies can be
influenced by hidden variables (third factors)
8. The purpose of operational definitions of variables
9. The purpose of random assignment in an experiment
10. The difference between independent, dependent, and confound variables
11. The difference between random sampling and random assignment
12. The role of an IRB in determining the ethics of a research project
13. The concepts of informed consent and beneficence (risk/benefit analysis)