Course Correlation to Virginia Standards of Learning Name of Provider: York County School Division
Name of Course: Psychology URL for Course Syllabus:
http://yorkcountyschools.org/virtualLearning/courseCatalog.aspx Last Revision Date: 2010-11 (Courses revised quarterly as needed)
Grade 10-12 Psychology SOL
Standard: P.1 The student will demonstrate a knowledge
of the concepts and basic terminology of psychology.
P.2 The student will demonstrate a knowledge of the uses of psychology in everyday society.
P.3 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method as applied to psychology.
P.4 The student will identify and compare major theoretical viewpoints in the history and origins of
psychology.
P.5 The student will identify major problems in the field of psychology.
P.6 identify the biological foundation of behavior.
P.7 demonstrate an understanding of learning and cognitive functions.
P.8 demonstrate an understanding of information related to human development.
P.9 demonstrate an understanding of various aspects of personality.
P.10 demonstrate an understanding of clinical psychology.
P.11 demonstrate an understanding of the general use of social psychology.
P.12 demonstrate an understanding of the general use of social psychology.
P.13 The student will demonstrate of knowledge of occupations in the human services field.
Unit SOL's: P.1, P.2, P.3, P.4, P.5, P.13 Unit Objectives:
The Learners Will:
• describe the goals of psychology (e.g., describe, explain,
predict, control).
• compare and contrast the goals of subfields of psychology
Introduction to Psychology
(subfields include clinical psychology, counseling psychology,
school/educational psychology, experimental/physiological
psychology, industrial/organizational psychology, social
psychology, developmental psychology, community psychology).
• list and define schools of psychology (e.g., empirical psychology,
structuralism, Gestalt psychology, functionalism,
behaviorialism).
Unit SOL's: P.1, P.7 Unit Objectives:
The Learners Will:
• define cognition.
• define and describe classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and cognitive learning.
• explain the differences between latent learning, insight learning, and modeling.
• describe the cognitive processes people use to store and retrieve information.
• analyze the factors that contribute to efficient learning.
How Learning Occurs
Unit SOL's: P. 1, P.8 Unit Objectives:
The Learners Will:
explain the role of the evolutionary process on species-specific behavior patterns.
• describe the influences of genetic constitution on behavior.
• describe the influence of environmental conditions on behavior
• match selected behaviors with specific regions of the brain.
• explain the relationship between the endocrine system and human
• behavior.
• express the defining qualities of motivation theory.
Life Span Development
• explain the relationship among biological drives, motivation, and
o behavior.
• enumerate common emotions and discuss their impact on the body.
• explain how our senses, motives, emotions, and expectations influence perception.
• define altered state of
consciousness and identify the many forms of altered states of consciousness.
• differentiate between maturation and learning, and describe their
• relationship to the study of psychology.
• trace motor skill, sensory, perceptual, cognitive and social development during infancy.
• describe cognitive, language, and social development during early childhood.
• differentiate the cognitive, social and school achievement
development
• during the elementary school years.
• express the defining qualities of cognitive, social, and identity development during adolescence.
• discuss biological changes, cognitive development and the developmental tasks of adulthood.
• enumerate physical changes, cognitive changes, and
developmental tasks of old age.
• describe a typical series of responses to the knowledge of impending death.
• compare and contrast Freud’s Psychosexual Theory of Development and Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development.
• outline Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
•
Unit SOL's: P.1, P.2, P.9 Unit Objectives:
The Learner Will:
• differentiate among trait-and-type approach, dynamic approach,
behavioral (learning) approach, and phenomenological (humanistic) approach to personality theory.
• compare and contrast type “A” and type “B”
personalities.
• compare and contrast the humanistic “self”
theories of Rogers and Maslow.
• explain the limitations of trait theory.
• describe Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, including the roles of the id, ego and superego.
• differentiate among Freud’s stages of psychosexual development.
• describe defense mechanisms employed by the ego.
• explain the significant role family members play on personality development.
• differentiate among ability tests, achievement tests, aptitude tests,
and personality tests.
explain the characteristics of a good test.
define “personality.”
Personality Theory and Intelligence Testing
Unit SOL's: P.1, P.10, P.12 Unit Objectives:
The Learner Will:
• explain “behavior disorders” within the context of social situations,
frequency, subjective distress, distress in others, and
diagnosis/treatment, and describe the limitations of each
• differentiate among organic mental disorders, drug-use disorders, schizophrenic disorders, paranoid disorders, dissociative
disorders, anxiety disorders, and somatoform disorders.
• explain the impact of psychological factors on physical conditions.
Behavior Disorders and their Treatments
• describe common medical therapies, psychotherapies, behavioral
therapies, and environmental therapies used to treat
behavior disorders.
• characterize the most appropriate therapy/ies for each type of behavior disorder.
Unit SOL's: P.11, P.12 Unit Objectives:
The Learner Will:
• differentiate social psychology from the studies of sociology and
anthropology.
• describe the methods of social psychology.
• explain the concept of social influence within the context of social
facilitation, conformity and helping behavior.
• define “attitude.”
• explain methods used to measure attitudes.
• characterize the relationship between attitude and behavior.
• describe the factors that facilitate attitude change.
• list and explain the factors that shape attitude development.
• describe the relationship between attitude development and classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
• differentiate between prejudice and discrimination.
• describe characteristics of prejudice, sources of prejudice, and
supports for prejudice
• enumerate and explain the conditions under which prejudice may
decrease.
Human Relationships
Unit SOL's: P.1, P.3, P.10 Unit Objectives:
The Learner Will:
• discuss the important elements of an
Research Methods
experiment.
• analyze why correlational research does not prove cause and
effect.
• evaluate the relationship between psychological theories and
scientific research.
• desegregate statistical information.
• discuss the role ethics plays in research.
How might this course exceed the Virginia Standards of Learning?
Interactive web activities
Intra-personaI Projects tailored for the students by the students
