High School Block:

Psychology 110

The vision for this course is to introduce learners to the study of behaviour and mental processes. In Psychology 110 learners will gain transferrable skills to daily interactions, to understand, communicate, empathize, and cooperate with others, and to maintain healthy relationships to support positive mental health. This will lead to stronger interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships at home, school and in the workforce. Learners will apply concepts studied to real-world situations to develop competencies related to personal development and global competencies. 

Learners in Psychology 11 will cover a variety of areas related to psychology, including social influences, scientific methodologies, historical perspectives, psychological disorders, and potential career opportunities. Learners can expect to participate in class discussions, engage in self-reflection, interact with media, and collaborate with peers. The topics will include psychology as a social science, biological factors, variations and perspectives, and applications of psychology.

CONTEXTS AND CONCEPTS

Psychology as a Social Science

  • Historical influences
    • Western methodologies
    • Methodologies outside of western culture
  • Psychology as a discipline
    • Approaches
    • Domains
  • Distinctions amongst practitioners
Biological Factors

  • Large structures of the brain
  • Factors that impact brain development
    • Nutrition and sleep
    • Environment
    • Family/community connections
    • Trauma
  • Nervous system
    • Anxiety + heart acceleration
    • Emotions, thoughts, and behaviour
    • Emotions influence language
    • Fight, flight, or freeze
  • Body rhythms
  • Divided Consciousness Theory
  • Post-hypnotic suggestions
  • Theories of experiencing an emotion
Variations and Perspectives

  • Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
  • Varied social and cultural norms
  • Internal and external locus of control
    • Conformity
    • Compliance
    • Obedience
    • Prejudice
    • Oppression
    • Aggression
  • Pseudoscience
  • Misapplications of theories
    • Gardner’s multiple intelligences
    • Personality tests
  • Global research on positive well-being
Applications of Psychology

  • Evaluating classification tools
  • Evolution of applications
  • Western influences on mainstream psychology
  • Canadian Psychological Association
  • Protection from harm and discomfort
  • Evaluating research
    • Experimental design
    • Primary vs. Secondary sources
  • Careers related to psychology
    • Social psychology
    • Clinical
    • Research
    • Sport psychology
    • Neuropsychology
    • Health and Education related
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GRADE 11

Strand: Psychology as a Social Science

Big Idea: Historical Perspectives

Skill Descriptor: Examine the historical context of psychology in western culture.

Global Competencies: CTPS, SASM, CM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Discuss psychology in various worldviews
  • Connect learning about psychology to the personal development of global competencies
  • Investigate different eras of psychological research
  • Explore the influences of western historical figures and their theories on the discipline
  • Research diverse historical figures in psychological theories and research
  • Examine how the focus of psychology has changed over time in the western context

Skill Descriptor: Examine approaches within the discipline of psychology.

Global Competencies: SASM, CM, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Explore the domains of psychology
  • Discuss a variety of approaches to understanding human behaviour
  • Consider how cultural perspectives can be misrepresented in research
  • Examine different qualifications and distinctions between practitioners in psyschological fields
  • Reflect on and share observations of human behaviour observed outside of the classroom

Skill Descriptor: Investigate psychology as a social science.

Achievement Indicators:

  • Define Ethnocentrism.
  • Recognize that social norms vary across and within cultures
  • Explore how qualitative research historically historically is interpreted from a western perspective

Strand: Biological Factors

Big Idea: Nervous and Endocrine Systems

Skill Descriptor: Explore the biological factors that influence thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS

Achievement Indicators:

  • Describe the function of the parts of the nervous system
  • Describe the larger structures of the brain
  • Describe the function of the cerebral cortex
  • Explain the three stages of communication within a neuron
  • Explain the role and function of neurotransmitters
  • Discuss the process of synaptic pruning

Skill Descriptor: Analyze the interrelations of the nervous and endocrine systems

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Describe the function of the parts of the endocrine system
  • Examine the divisions of the nervous system
  • Investigate the role of hormones
  • Evaluate the impact of environmental factors and lifestyle choices on brain development and function
  • Demonstrate how factors influence the neuroplasticity of the brain

Big Idea: Emotions

Skill Descriptor: Discuss influences on emotions.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, CL

Achievement Indicators:

  • Describe different types of emotions and associated physiological experiences
  • Investigate how thoughts and behaviours influence emotional experiences
  • Consider how language is used in various cultures to describe emotions
  • Describe the role that limbic structures play in emotion regulation and processing
  • Explain the influence of hormones on emotions
  • Discuss how display rules influence communication in a variety of cultures

Skill Descriptor: Evaluate the biological and cultural aspects that govern the display of emotions.

Global Competencies: CTPS, CL, ICE, SASM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Discuss how automatic and conscious processing of emotion can vary in people
  • Examine components of non-verbal communication
  •  Analyze the process of experiencing an emotion
  • Compare universal display of emotions to cultural display rules
  • Examine how physiological factors can lead to mislabelling of emotional responses

Big Idea: Consciousness

Skill Descriptor: Examine factors that impact consciousness

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS

Achievement Indicators:

  • Explain the main types of body rhythms
  • Compare the biological processes during Rapid Eye Movement sleep to non-REM sleep
  • Analyze factors that contribute to sleep disorders
  • Examine the impacts of sleep deprivation and poor nutrition on cognitive functions

Skill Descriptor: Analyze the concept of hypnosis.

Global Competencies: CM, CL, CTPS, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Explain the concept of consciousness
  • Examine how hypnosis occurs
  • Analyze the concept of hypnotizability
  • Compare social influences on hypnotizability
  • Discuss ethical concerns related to hypnosis

Strand: Variations and Perspectives

Big Idea: Learning and Intelligence

Skill Descriptor: Explore the ways in which we understand intelligence

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Discuss how intelligence is viewed in a variety of contexts
  • Examine the evolution and impact of how intelligences are measured in the western world
  • Examine global definitions of intelligence and how it relates to cultural values

Skill Descriptor: Examine how the understanding of intelligence is applied.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, CL, SASM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Discuss the perception of intelligence measures
  • Compare intelligences to personal strengths and weaknesses
  • Analyze the effectiveness and cultural responsiveness of intelligence research
  • Reflect on and share personal connections to aspects of intelligence

Big Idea: Society and Culture

Skill Descriptor: Recognize various worldviews, including those of Wabanaki Peoples

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, ICE, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Research and promote examples of restorative practices in counselling
  • Discuss examples of Wabanaki advocacy and resiliency
  • Research the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada recommendations to support Indigenous mental health

Skill Descriptor: Investigate how perception is influenced by social and cultural experiences.

Global Competencies: CM, CL, CTPS

Achievement Indicators:

  • Develop a personal understanding of culture
  • Discuss how cultural experiences influence how information is processed
  • Reflect on and share the role of spirituality on positive mental health

Big Idea: Personal Development

Skill Descriptor: Investigate the concept of personality.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, CL, SASM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Compare personality and temperament
  • Define factors that contribute to personality
  • Evaluate influences on internal locus of control and external locus of control
  • Critique the effectiveness of personality traits assessments
  • Reflect on and share how personality influences decision-making

Skill Descriptor: Develop strategies for positive well-being

Global Competencies: CTPS, SASM, SGC, CL

Achievement Indicators:

  • Examine theories of positive psychology to improve personal well-being
  • Examine influences on an individual’s psychological development
  • Discuss how environment influences human behaviour when interacting with others
  • Reflect on and share on how cultural experiences and expectations influence positive mental health strategies

Strand: Applications of Psychology

Big Idea: Psychological Disorders

Skill Descriptor: Examine how psychological disorders are evaluated.

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS

Achievement Indicators:

  • Differentiate between typical stress response and anxiety disorders
  • Define the term psychological disorder as per the DSM-5
  • Investigate how psychological disorders are defined outside of western methodologies
  • Describe the symptoms of various disorders
  • Discuss cautions related to self-diagnosis
  • Consider the effectiveness of the DSM-5 as a classification tool

Skill Descriptor: Examine the evolution of human understanding of psychological disorders

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS

Achievement Indicators:

  • Describe early theories/approaches to understanding and treating psychological disorders
  • Examine the limitations, criticisms, and evolutions of the DSM over time, including cultural biases
  • Compare previous approaches with the Bio-Psycho-Social Model

Big Idea: Research Methods

Skill Descriptor: Gain understanding of the scientific method in psychological research

Global Competencies: CTPS, ICE, SASM, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Examine how the scientific method is applied in psychological research and medical trials
  • Evaluate potential bias and confounding variables when designing research
  • Consider how biases of researchers can impact observations, interactions from participants and data collected

Skill Descriptor: Examine ethical and legal considerations in psychological research

Global Competencies: CM, CTPS, SGC

Achievement Indicators:

  • Explain ethical considerations for research
  • Analyze a research experiment in psychology that failed to follow proper ethical guidelines
  • Examine professional guidelines that preserve confidentiality, provide protection from harm, and govern informed consent

Big Idea: Career Connections

Skill Descriptor: Examine career pathways in psychology.

Global Competencies: CTPS, ICE, SASM

Achievement Indicators:

  • Evaluate the educational requirements for careers in the practice of psychology
  • Connect ones learning to a potential career pathway related to psychology
  • Investigate opportunities for engaging in career-connected experiential learning related to career pathways in psychology
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