Course Contents at a Glance

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The following list shows the module-level topics for the course. To see all of the course pages, visit the Table of Contents.

Psychological Foundations and Research Methods

Module 1: Psychological Foundations

  • The History of Psychology
  • Domains in Psychology
  • Careers in Psychology

Module 2: Psychological Research

  • The Scientific Method
  • Descriptive Research
  • Correlational Research
  • Experiments
  • Statistical Thinking
  • How to Read Research
  • Biological Psychology Domain

Domain 1: Biological Psychology

Module 3: Biopsychology

  • Neural Communication
  • The Nervous System and Endocrine System
  • Parts of the Brain
  • The Limbic System and Other Brain Areas
  • Brain Imaging
  • Nature and Nurture
  • Gene-Environment Interactions

Module 4: State of Consciousness

  • Consciousness and Biological Rhythms
  • Sleep and Sleep Stages
  • Dreams and Dreaming
  • Sleep Problems and Disorders
  • Drugs and Consciousness
  • Hypnosis and Meditation
  • Cognitive Psychology Domain

Domain 2: Cognitive Psychology

Module 5: Sensation and Perception

  • Sensation and Perception
  • Vision
  • Hearing
  • Taste and Smell
  • Touch and Pain
  • The Vestibular Sense
  • Perception
  • Illusions

Module 6: Thinking and Intelligence

  • What Is Cognition?
  • Solving Problems
  • Language and Language Use
  • Language Development
  • Intelligence and Creativity
  • Measures of Intelligence
  • The Source of Intelligence

Module 7: Memory

  • Memory Encoding
  • Storage
  • Retrieval
  • Parts of the Brain Involved with Memory
  • Amnesia and Forgetting
  • Eyewitness Testimony and Memory Construction
  • Ways to Enhance Memory
  • Developmental Psychology Domain

Domain 3: Developmental Psychology

Module 8: Learning

  • What Is Learning?
  • Classical Conditioning
  • Operant Conditioning
  • Reinforcement Schedules
  • Latent Learning
  • Observational Learning

Module 9: Lifespan Development

  • What Is Lifespan Development?
  • Psychosexual and Psychosocial Theories of Development
  • Cognitive Development
  • Moral Development
  • Prenatal Development
  • Childhood
  • Adolescence
  • Adulthood
  • Death and Dying
  • Social and Personality Psychology Domain

Domain 4: Social and Personality Psychology

Module 10: Social Psychology

  • Social Psychology and Influences on Behavior
  • Social Norms and Scripts
  • Attitudes and Persuasion
  • Group Behavior
  • The Bystander Effect and Altruism
  • Attraction and Love
  • Prejudice and Discrimination
  • Aggression

Module 11: Personality

  • Personality and the Psychodynamic Perspective
  • Neo-Freudians: Adler, Erikson, Jung, and Horney
  • Explaining Personality: Learning and Humanistic Approaches
  • Explaining Personality: Biological Approaches and Trait Theories
  • Personality Assessment

Module 12: Emotion and Motivation

  • Motivation
  • Hunger and Eating
  • Sexual Behavior
  • Emotion
  • Expressing and Recognizing Emotion

Module 13: Industrial-Organizational Psychology

  • Industrial-Organizational Psychology
  • Selecting Employees
  • Job Satisfaction
  • Leadership and Organization
  • Human Factors Psychology and Workplace Design
  • Mental and Physical Health Domain

Domain 5: Mental and Physical Health

Module 14: Psychological Disorders

  • Introduction to Psychological Disorders
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • OCD and PTSD
  • Mood Disorders
  • Schizophrenia and Dissociative Disorders
  • Personality Disorders
  • Childhood Disorders

Module 15: Therapy and Treatment

  • Mental Health Treatment: Then and Now
  • Types of Treatment and Psychoanalysis
  • Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
  • Humanistic Therapy and Other Treatments
  • Treatment Modalities

Module 16: Stress, Lifestyle, and Health

  • Stress
  • Stressors
  • Stress and Illness
  • Regulating Stress
  • Positive Psychology