Social Studies Standards & Benchmarks - Edl · 2017-03-10 · Social Studies Standards & Benchmarks ... Students understand how historical events of the past impact the present ...

Social Studies Standards & Benchmarks

Contemporary American History

Students will understand how geography affects the nature, distribution, complexity, and patterns of human interaction.

Identify how WWII thrust the United States on to the World Stage as a super power

Understand the effects of a nuclear post WWII Truman’s and Eisenhower’s containment theory

Understand the meaning and effects of the domino theory

Students will understand the sources, purposes, and functions of civic life, politics, and government.

Identify the struggles and origins civil rights movements in America

Understand economic, cultural, and social developments in the contemporary United States

Students will understand central ideas and issues of American Constitutional Government and how this form of government has shaped the character of American society.

Identify the causes, course, and impact of minority civil rights movements in America


Students will understand causes and consequences of important historical events.

Understand the causes, course, and impact of WW II, both domestic and international.

Understand the causes of the Cold War

Identify the causes of the Korean Conflict

Identify the implications and events surrounding the Cuban Missile Crisis


Identify the various stages of the U.S. space program from its inception to the Shuttle program

Understand economic, cultural, and social developments in the contemporary United States from 1941 to 2000

Identify the causes and consequences of the Vietnam Conflict

Understand the post- Vietnam era as a time of political change

Identify the key facts of the Watergate Scandal and how it lead to the resignation of Richard Nixon

Identify the key events in the post-Watergate period domestically and internationally

Students will understand how social, political and economic culture affects the history of a given period or nation.

Identify the changing role of the United States in world affairs during WW II, the Korean War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War

Understand economic, cultural, and social developments in the contemporary United States from 1941 to 2000


Students understand and know how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns.


Understand the post- Vietnam era as a time of political change


Students understand how historical events of the past impact the present




Students understand how culture, the arts, and history are related

Understand how our popular culture has changed from 1941 to 2000

Students will identify key people who changed our nation politically, socially, and economically.

Identify key historical figures that shaped the period of time covered in the course

World History

Standards

Students will understand the political, social, and economic effects of the

major religions of the world on history and events of today.

Students will understand the rise and development of social, economic, and political

features of early European, Middle Eastern, and Asian civilizations and what elements of

them exist today.

Students will understand the causes and consequences of political,

social, and religious events in Feudal Europe and the impact they have on today’s

political, economical, and social events.

Students will understand the causes and effects of the major European

social and political revolutions of the fifteenth- twentieth centuries.

Students will understand how the development and rise of European

Exploration, Merchantism, and Imperialism had an effect on the social, cultural, political,

and economic changes within nations.

Students will understand how the events of the past century helped shape the world in

which they live.

Benchmarks

Analyze the development of Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity and explain how

they legitimize the political and social order

Explain the development of Judaism and analyze how the Jews maintained religions and

cultural transitions despite the destruction of these kingdoms

Explain the leading ideas of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Herodotus and other

philosophers and historians

Analyze the political, social, and economic effects of the Ancient Greek world including

Sparta, Athens, early democracy, key leaders such as Pericles, Themistocles, and

Cleisthenes, and understand the causes and effects of the Persian and Peloponnesian

War

Assess Alexander’s achievements as a military leader and analyze why the empire broke-

up into successor kingdoms

Evaluate the major legal, artistic, architectural, technological, and literary achievements

of the Romans, and explain their influence on today’s society

Describe the life of Muhammad, the development of the early Muslim community, and

the basic teachings and practices of Islam

Describe the lives of Jesus and Paul and explain the fundamental teachings of

Christianity and its spread throughout the Roman Empire

Analyze the significance of feudalism and how feudal relationships provided a

foundation of political order in parts of Europe

Analyze the significance of manoralism and serfdom as institutions of medieval Europe

Analyze the success of Christian states in overthrowing Muslim powers and the causes

and consequences of the European crusades against Syria and Palestine

Explain the origins and characteristics of the plague of the mid-14th century, describe

the spread across Eurasia and North Africa, analyze the demographic, economic, social,

and political effects of the plague

Explain how the Age of Absolutism led to the events of the Enlightenment and European

Revolution

Define humanism as it emerged in Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries and analyze the

rise it gave to new forms of literature, politics, art, philosophy, and education

Evaluate the aesthetic and cultural significance of major changes in the techniques of

painting, sculpture, and architecture

Analyze the European expansion to Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and America and

interactions between the Europeans and peoples of these regions

Evaluate major achievements in literature, music, painting, sculpture, and architecture

in 16th century Europe.

Explain discontent among Europeans with the late medieval Church and analyze the

beliefs and ideas of the leaning Protestant reformers

Explain the aims and policies of the Catholic Reformation and assess the impact of

religious reforms and divisions on European cultural values, family life, convent

communities, and men’s and women’s education

Explain how the English civil war and the Revolution of 1688 affected government,

religion, economy, and society in that country and inspired future revolutions in Europe

and throughout the world

Explain the impact of the English Revolution on political institutions and attitudes in the

North American colonies and on the outbreak of the American Revolution

Analyze the importance of discoveries in mathematics, physics, biology, and chemistry

for European society

Explain connections between the Enlightenment and its antecedents such as Roman

republicanism, the Renaissance, and the Scientific Revolution

Explain principal ideas of the Enlightenment, including rationalism, secularism, progress,

toleration, empiricism, natural rights, contractual government, and new theories of

education

Explain major changes in world political boundaries between 1450- 1770 and assess the

extent and limitations of European political and military power in Africa, Asia, and the

Americas

Explain how the French Revolution developed from constitutional monarchy to

democratic despotism to the Napoleonic empire

Describe how the wars of the revolutionary and Napoleonic period changed Europe and

assess Napoleon’s effects on the aims and outcomes of the revolution

Identify the major characteristics of the industrial revolution and compare industrial

economics with other forms of economic organization

Analyze connections between reform movements and industrialization,

democratization, and nationalism

Explain the causes of the Russian rebellion of 1905 and assess its impacts on reform in

the succeeding decade

Explain the causes of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and analyze why the revolutionary

government progressed from moderate to radical

Explain how the Communist Party rose to power in China between 1936 and 1949 and

assess the benefits and costs of Communist policies under Mao Zedong, including the

Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution

Explain how international conditions affected the creation of Israel and analyze why

persistent conflict developed between Israel and both Arab Palestinians and

neighboring states

Explain why the Soviet and other communist governments collapsed and the Soviet

Union splintered into numerous states

Analyze why terrorist movements have proliferated and the extent of their impact on

politics and society in various countries

Assess the influence of television, the Internet, and other forms of electronic

communication on the creation and diffusion of cultural and political information

worldwide

U.S. History

Students will understand how geography affects the nature, distribution, complexity, and patterns of human interaction.

Understand how frontier life affected and affects American traits and characteristics

Understand how the colonial period shaped our nation politically, socially, and

economically.

Understand comparative characteristics of societies in the Americas, Western Europe,

and Western Africa that increasingly interacted after 1450

Discover how territorial expansion, the industrial revolution, and the expansion of

slavery shaped the character of the nation, and various regions of the nation, during the

antebellum period

Understand how westward settlement affects the character of American life and

thought

Students will understand the sources, purposes, and functions of civic life, politics, and government.


economically

Understand the causes and impact of the American Revolution and the new

governments created in its aftermath



antebellum period

Identify the role and impact of the Progressive movement in the creation of a modern

American government and nation

Understand the causes and the impact of the Great Depression, and the New Deal


Understand economic, cultural, and social developments in the contemporary United

States

Students will understand central ideas and issues of American Constitutional Government and how this form of government has shaped the character of American society.


economically



Understand the causes, course, and impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction.



Identify the causes, course, and impact of minority civil rights movements in America.


States

Students will understand the character of different economic systems, economic indicators and economic incentives.

Understand the economic incentives of big business



Students will understand basic features of a market economy and market structure.

Understand the causes and the impact of the Great Depression, and the New Deal.

Understand how the rise of big business, immigration, and the labor movement

transformed American society

Students will understand causes and consequences of important historical events.

Understand the causes, course, and impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Understand the causes, course, and impact of WW I

Understand the causes and the impact of the Great Depression, and the New Deal.

Understand the causes, course, and impact of WW II, both domestic and international.





States

Students will understand how social, political and economic culture affects the history of a given period or nation.


economically.



antebellum period



Understand how the rise of big business, immigration, and the labor movement

transformed American society

Identify the changing role of the United States in world affairs before and during WW I.


Identify the changing role of the United States in world affairs during WW II, the Korean

War, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War


States


Students understand and know how to analyze chronological relationships and patterns.

Identify the changing role of the United States in world affairs before and during WW I




Students understand how historical events of the past impact the present.

Understand how frontier life affected and affects American traits and characteristics


economically


thought






Identify the causes, course, and impact of minority civil rights movements in America.


States

Students understand how human interaction shapes society and history.

Understand comparative characteristics of societies in the Americas, Western Europe,

and Western Africa that increasingly interacted after 1450


economically

Understand the causes and impact of the American Revolution an increasingly

interacted after 1450


economically





antebellum period


thought



States

Students understand how culture, the arts, and history are related.



antebellum period


thought



PSYCHOLOGY

Students will understand how human interaction shapes the individual in society and history.

Describe various research methods and philosophies of psychology from its birth to

current practice

Understand the role and influence of biology on behavior

Describe developmental changes in thought processes and social functioning from

infancy through death

Understand how the sense organs receive sensory input, sending it to the brain, for

interpretation (perception) to occur

Recognize and describe altered states of consciousness (e.g., sleep and its patterns and

functions, hypnosis, etc.)

Define classical and operant conditioning as methods of learning and recognize the

processes involved in each

Understand the information-processing model of human memory and its major

components

Describe various theories of motivation and emotion

Outline the personality theories of various psychologists

Identify the major forms and causes of "abnormal" behavior

Economics

Productive resources are limited. Therefore, people cannot have all the goods and services they want; as a result, they must choose some things and give up others.

Explain why economists say all resources are scarce

Explain the concept of opportunity cost

Understand and demonstrate how production possibilities depend on available

resources and technology and how production possibilities graphs show efficiency,

growth, and cost

Different methods can be used to allocate goods and services. People, acting individually or collectively through government, must choose which methods to use to allocate different kinds of goods and services.

Identify the advantages of a free market economy

Identify and compare the mixed economies of various nations along a continuum

between centrally planned and free market systems

Markets exist when buyers and sellers interact. This interaction determines market prices and thereby allocates scarce goods and services.

Explain the law of demand

Understand how the substitution effect and the income effect influence decisions

Interpret a demand graph using demand schedules

Understand and graph the difference between a change in quantity demanded and a

shift in the demand curve

Identify and graph the determinants that create changes in demand and that can cause

a shift in the demand curve

Explain how the change in the price of one good can affect demand for a related good

Identify factors that affect elasticity

Prices send signals and provide incentives to buyers and sellers. When supply or demand changes, market prices adjust, affecting incentives

Explain the law of supply

Interpret and graph a supply schedule

Identify how determinants such as input costs create changes in supply

Identify three ways that the government can influence the supply of a good

Understand supply and demand in a global economy

Analyze the effects of other factors that affect supply

Explain how supply and demand create balance in the marketplace

Compare a market in equilibrium with a market in disequilibrium

Identify how the government sometimes intervenes in markets to control prices

Analyze the effects of price ceilings and price floors

Identify the determinants that create changes in price

Explain how a market reacts to shifts in demand by moving to a new equilibrium

Analyze the role of prices in a free market

Investment in factories, machinery, new technology, and the health, education, and training of people can raise future standards of living.

Explain how gross domestic product (GDP) is calculated

Explain the difference between nominal and real GDP

Identify the phases of the business cycle

Identify four key factors that keep the business cycle going

Analyze the impact of business cycles on U.S. history

Analyze how economic growth is measured

Understand capital deepening and how it contributes to economic growth

Summarize the impact of population growth, government, and foreign trade on

economic growth

Unemployment imposes costs on individuals and nations. Unexpected inflation imposes costs on many people and benefits some others because it arbitrarily redistributes purchasing power. Inflation can reduce the rate of growth of national living standards because individuals and organizations use resources to protect themselves against the uncertainty of future prices.

Describe frictional, seasonal, structural, and cyclical unemployment

Describe how full employment is measured

Explain the effects of rising prices

Understand and graph price indexes to compare changes in prices over time

Identify the causes and effects of inflation

Define who is poor, according to government standards

Describe the causes of poverty

Analyze the distribution of income in the United States

Summarize government policies intended to combat poverty

Interest rates, adjusted for inflation, rise and fall to balance the amount saved with the amount borrowed, thus affecting the allocation of scarce resources between present and future users.

Institutions evolve in market economies to help individuals and groups accomplish their goals. Banks, labor unions, corporations, legal systems, and not-for-profit organizations are examples of important institutions. A different kind of institution, clearly defined and well enforced property rights, is essential to a market economy.

Understand how investing contributes to the free enterprise system

Describe the characteristics of bonds as financial assets

Identify different types of bonds

Describe the characteristics of other types of financial assets

Understand the benefits and risks of buying stock

Describe how stocks are traded

Identify how stock performance is measured

Explain the causes and effects of the Great Crash of 1929

Describe the three uses of money

Understand the sources of money’s value

Explain how the money supply in the United States is measured

Explain the functions of financial institutions

Identify different types of financial institutions

Understand the changes brought about by electronic banking

There is an economic role for government to play in a market economy whenever the benefits of a government policy outweigh its costs. Governments often provide for national defense, address environmental concerns, define and protect property rights, and attempt to make markets more competitive. Most government policies also redistribute income.

Federal government budgetary policy and the Federal Reserve System’s monetary policy influence the overall levels of employment, output, and prices.

Understand how the government uses taxes to fund programs

Describe the process of paying individual income taxes

Understand the purpose of Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes

Explain the impact of federal aid to state and local governments

Identify where state taxes are spent

Analyze the impact of fiscal policy

Explain the difference between the national debt and a deficit

Identify problems with the size of the national debt

Explain the powers of the Federal Reserve, and how it can exercise monetary policy

Sociology Standards and Benchmarks

Standards

Students will understand how human interaction shapes society and history

Benchmarks

Understands the concepts of cultural norms and the value of social control within a

given society

Understand how norms are established and how individuals deviate from the norm

Explain the individual in society including the establishment of roles and statuses

Understands the concept of society and societies functions

Explain the current perspectives and theories of sociology

Recognizes the contributing factors of the sociological founding fathers and mothers

Understand culture, the components of culture, cultural variation, and the importance

of symbolic culture

Understands the variations of culture within and amongst societies

Explain the enforcement of norms, sanctions, and rewards society produces concerning

norm adherent

Gains an overall understanding of the socialization process.

Gains an appreciation of the attitudes and values of adolescents.

Gains the ability to explain the American social class structure and various types of

social mobility.

Understands the aspects of minority life in American culture.

Gains ability to explain the functions of the major society.

Participates in research involving social problems on an international basis.

Develops an understanding of what Sociology is and how it is used through the

Scientific Method.

Gains an appreciation of cultural diversity and specialties.

Understands the role and influence of biology on behavior.

Describes developmental changes in thought processes and social functioning from

infancy through death.

Can discuss the impact of nature and nurture on the development of self

Explain the socialization process

Understand the major agents of socialization and how they influence the individual

Understands how race and ethnic relations affects the individual and society

Understand how the concept of sex and gender affects the individual and society

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT

Understand the rights and responsibilities of each citizen and demonstrate the value of lifelong civic action. Civic action is the responsibility of all. This responsibility permeates citizens at every age with appropriate levels of responsibility placed upon them. From childhood through adulthood, this responsibility is a realized choice based on experiences with other citizens which shape personal beliefs.

Understand and can name civic responsibilities.

Identify, analyze, interpret, and evaluate sources and examples of citizens’ rights and responsibilities.

Examine social contexts and are able to identify appropriate and effective civic action.

Understand the Bill of Rights and can create contexts to appropriately use each of the rights identified in the Bill of Rights.

Understand how the government established by the Constitution embodies the enduring values and principles of democracy and republicanism. The opening statement of the United States Constitution, “We the people,” embodies the enduring values and principles of democracy on which our republic was established. This statement puts the citizen at the forefront of our government which honors individual rights and responsibilities, appropriate ways to exercise those rights and respect for others’ rights.

Describe the origins and evaluates the continuing influence of key ideals of the democratic republican form of government, such as individual human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and the rule of law at local, state, national and global levels.

Know the role the U.S. Constitution plays in governance of the United States and stays informed about how it impacts day-to-day life.

Understand the purpose and function of each of the three branches of government established by the Constitution.

The three branches of government each have a defined function as provided by the Constitution. These functions are limited by a system of checks and balances. The relationship between these branches is dynamic, changing over time.

Identify basic principles and responsibilities associated with each branch of government and describe citizens’ involvement in each.

Explore historical and contemporary examples of how the branches of government have checked each other and the impact of those examples.

Predict how life might be different without the concept of checks and balances.

Participate in civic life in appropriate ways.

Understand the differences among the complex levels of local, state and national government and their inherent, expressed, and implied powers. The American government is a complex institution, organized at the local, state and national levels. Each level of government has inherent, implied and expressed powers that are used to define their roles. However, the ultimate power resides with the people through Constitutional authority

Distinguish between implied and expressed powers and analyzes examples of each and their impact on citizens.

Interpret charts and diagrams of the structures of various forms of government and explore ways that citizens participate in governments as young people and as adults.

Explore and analyze various legal cases arising over issues of jurisdiction.

Recognize that within each level of government complex layers exist, and that it is the responsibility of citizens to keep informed about how to navigate the layers.

Understand strategies for effective political action that impact local, state, and national governance. Within the federalist model of American government, effective political action needs to be targeted at the appropriate level of authority. Citizens should be aware of the jurisdiction of each level of government and how these levels function interdependently.

Understand jurisdiction among the local, state, and national levels of government.

Identify how and which levels of government overlap in order to provide public services (e.g., public safety, public works, education).

Illustrate viable pathways for individual and collective political action.

Understand how law and public policy are established at the local, state, and national levels. To protect the rights of individuals, the path from concept to policy or law is a necessarily complex process. Few proposed pieces of legislation actually become law. Many internal and external factors influence the fate of proposed legislation. In most cases, significant compromises are necessary in order for proposals to be approved and enacted.

Analyze the path a bill travels to become law and how the fate of a bill is influenced by party politics, House and Senate action, public opinion, individual citizens and lobbyists.

Explore examples of compromise necessary to pass significant legislation and how citizens were impacted at the local, state, national and international levels.

Explore the various ways citizens stay informed and debate the influence of media and interest groups on proposed legislation.

Understand how various political systems throughout the world define the rights and responsibilities of the individual: Governments exist throughout the world to organize humans and human behavior. These governments view and treat members of society in various ways by protecting and/or restricting individual rights. The relationship between government and the individual is based on rights designated in statues or deemed inherent.

Assess how the individual citizen is treated differently dependent upon the type of government under which he or she lives and how citizens participate in civic life under various governments.

Survey the specific protection of civil liberties in various governments and evaluate how they influence the government’s treatment of its citizens.

Analyze the roles of international institutions and how they protect or limit civil liberties in a nation.

Analyze how governments’ taxing policies organize individuals into economic groups with inferred rights and responsibilities.

Evaluate how a free media and press may affect how a government interacts with its citizens.

Understand the role of the United States in current world affairs: The United States’ role in world affairs is complex and impacted by historical, economic, political, and social factors.

Describe and evaluate the United State’s role in helping to solve geopolitical problems in various regions of the world.

Describe and evaluate the roles of international organizations and how those organizations represent member nations’ views and affect the views and policies of members and nonmembers.

Survey how international agreements affect current United States policies and how they might affect future policies.

Examine and evaluate how international economic agreements affect relations between nations in economic and noneconomic areas.

ADVANCED PLACEMENT U.S. GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS

The course provides instruction in the constitutional underpinnings of the U.S. Government.

Appraise the fundamental underpinnings of democratic government.

Analyze the various political factors that influenced the formulation and adoption of the

Constitution.

Investigate the experiences that influenced the beginnings of American government.

Identify the of separation of powers as outline in Article I through III of the U.S.

Constitution as a foundation of American Government and examine their implications.

Analyze the features of federalism as a foundation of American government.

Research Article I of the Constitution. (The Congress)

Research Article II of the Constitution. (The Presidency/Executive Branch)

Research Article III of the Constitution. (The Judiciary)

Understand the relationship of the Judiciary to the other three institutions and their

varying balances of power.

Evaluate the role of Congress and the President in the enactment of public policy.

The course provides instruction in political beliefs and political behaviors.

Demonstrate how demographic factors influence citizens to differ from one another in terms of political beliefs and behaviors.

Examine and understand the political socialization process.

Assess the beliefs that citizens hold about their government and their elected officials.

Analyze how public opinion shapes and influences public policy.

Identify and evaluate citizen’s voting behavior and how citizens participate in political life.

Understand the operation and evaluate the role of elections in American politics including:

o electoral laws including campaign finance

o the nomination process

o Constitutional requirements for office

o how the electoral college system works

Analyze the linkages between Congress and the following:

o Public opinion and voters

o interest groups

o political parties

o the media

o state and local governments

The course provides instruction in political parties, interest groups, and mass media.

Demonstrate the role of political parties in the United States:

o in terms of their functions and organization

o the differences between the two major parties

o the effects of a two-party system

o the impact of third parties

o the effects on the political process

Investigate the role and effects of interest groups and political action committees including:

o the range of interests represented

o the activities of interest groups

o the ability of interest groups to exert pressure on political institutions to influence policy

o the unique characteristics and roles of Political Action Committees (PACs) in the political process

Evaluate the role of the mass media in the political system in regard to it’s:

o functions and structures of the media

o impact of the media on public opinion

Analyze the linkages between the Federal Courts and the following:

o public opinion and voters

o interest groups

o political parties

o the media


Analyze the linkages between the Federal Courts and the following:

o public opinion and voters

o interest groups

o political parties

o the media


The course provides instruction in institutions of national government.

Explain the process of how legislation is passed into law.

Evaluate the informal institutional arrangements of power within Congress.

Analyze the linkages between Congress and the following:

o Public opinion and voters

o interest groups

o political parties

o the media


Value the relationship of Congress to the Presidency, Judiciary, and the Bureaucracy.

Explain the role of the executive branch in formulating and executing public policy.

Evaluate the expansion of power through custom and usage.

Understand the relationship of the Presidency to the other three institutions and their varying balances of power.

Understand the nature, function, and size of the bureaucracy.

Evaluate the informal institutional arrangements of power for the bureaucracy.

Identify the relationship of the bureaucracy to the other three institutions and their varying balances of power.

Examine the judicial process and varying types of jurisdiction.

Diagram and explain the appeals process in the hierarchy of the Courts.

Explain the types of jurisdiction.

Explain the Judicial decision making process.

The course provides students with practice in analyzing and interpreting data and other information relevant to U.S. government and politics.

The course includes supplemental readings including primary sources (such as the Federalist Papers) and contemporary news analysis.

Research Article I of the Constitution. (The Congress)

Research Article II of the Constitution. (The Presidency/Executive Branch)

Research Article III of the Constitution. (The Judiciary)

The course requires students to answer analytical and free-response questions on a frequent basis.

The course provides instruction in public policy.

Investigate the formation of policy agendas.

Evaluate the role of the Bureaucracy and Judiciary in the implementation and interpretation of public policy.

Analyze the linkages between policy processes and the following:

o political institutions and federalism

o political parties

o interest groups

o public opinion

o elections

o policy networks

The course provides instruction in civil rights and civil liberties.

Identify substantive civil liberties and civil rights.

Analyze the development of civil liberties and civil rights resulting from legislative enactment and or judicial interpretation, including:

o freedom of speech, assembly, and expression

o rights of the accused

o rights of minority groups and women

Demonstrate the impact of the Fourteenth Amendment on the constitutional development of civil liberties.

AP Psychology

Students will understand how human interaction shapes the individual in society and history.

Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of psychological thought.

Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior: o structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in the early years; o Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later; o evolutionary, biological, and cognitive as more contemporary approaches.

Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior.

Distinguish the different domains of psychology: o biological, clinical, cognitive, counseling, developmental, educational,

experimental, human factors, industrial–organizational, personality, psychometric, and social.

Identify the major historical figures in psychology (e.g., Mary Whiton Calkins, Charles Darwin, Dorothea Dix, Sigmund Freud, G. Stanley Hall, William James, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, Carl Rogers, B. F. Skinner, Margaret Floy Washburn, John B. Watson, Wilhelm Wundt).

Differentiate types of research (e.g., experiments, correlational studies, survey research, naturalistic observations, and case studies) with regard to purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.

Describe how research design drives the reasonable conclusions that can be drawn (e.g., experiments are useful for determining cause and effect; the use of experimental controls reduces alternative explanations).

Identify independent, dependent, confounding, and control variables in experimental designs.

Distinguish between random assignment of participants to conditions in experiments and random selection of participants, primarily in correlational studies and surveys.

Predict the validity of behavioral explanations based on the quality of research design (e.g., confounding variables limit confidence in research conclusions).

Distinguish the purposes of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.

Apply basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics (e.g., measures of central tendency, standard deviation).

Discuss the value of reliance on operational definitions and measurement in behavioral research.

Identify how ethical issues inform and constrain research practices.

Describe how ethical and legal guidelines (e.g., those provided by the American Psychological Association, federal regulations, local institutional review boards) protect research participants and promote sound ethical practice.

Identify the relationship between physiological processes and behavior—including the influence of neural function, the nervous system and the brain, and genetic contributions to behavior.

Identify basic processes and systems in the biological bases of behavior, including parts of the neuron and the process of transmission of a signal between neurons.

Discuss the influence of drugs on neurotransmitters (e.g., reuptake mechanisms).

Discuss the effect of the endocrine system on behavior.

Describe the nervous system and its subdivisions and functions: o central and peripheral nervous systems; o major brain regions, lobes, and cortical areas; o brain lateralization and hemispheric specialization.

Recount historic and contemporary research strategies and technologies that support research (e.g., case studies, split-brain research, imaging techniques).

Discuss psychology’s abiding interest in how heredity, environment, and evolution work together to shape behavior.

Predict how traits and behavior can be selected for their adaptive value.

Identify key contributors (e.g., Paul Broca, Charles Darwin, Michael Gazzaniga, Roger Sperry, Carl Wernicke).

Identify how organisms know about the world when stimuli in the environment activates sensory organs, initiating awareness of the external world. Perception involves the interpretation of the sensory inputs as a cognitive process.

Discuss basic principles of sensory transduction, including absolute threshold, difference threshold, signal detection, and sensory adaptation.

Describe sensory processes (e.g., hearing, vision, touch, taste, smell, vestibular, kinesthesis, pain), including the specific nature of energy transduction, relevant anatomical structures, and specialized pathways in the brain for each of the senses.

Explain common sensory disorders (e.g., visual and hearing impairments).

Describe general principles of organizing and integrating sensation to promote stable awareness of the external world (e.g., Gestalt principles, depth perception).

Discuss how experience and culture can influence perceptual processes (e.g., perceptual set, context effects).

Explain the role of top-down processing in producing vulnerability to illusion.

Discuss the role of attention in behavior.

Challenge common beliefs in parapsychological phenomena.

Identify the major historical figures in sensation and perception (e.g., Gustav Fechner, David Hubel, Ernst Weber, Torsten Wiesel).

Understand consciousness and what it encompasses.

Describe various states of consciousness and their impact on behavior.

Discuss aspects of sleep and dreaming: o stages and characteristics of the sleep cycle; o theories of sleep and dreaming; o symptoms and treatments of sleep disorders.

Describe historic and contemporary uses of hypnosis (e.g., pain control, psychotherapy).

Explain hypnotic phenomena (e.g., suggestibility, dissociation).

Identify the major psychoactive drug categories (e.g., depressants, stimulants) and classify specific drugs, including their psychological and physiological effects.

Discuss drug dependence, addiction, tolerance, and withdrawal.

Identify the major figures in consciousness research (e.g., William James, Sigmund Freud, Ernest Hilgard).

Introduce students to differences between learned and unlearned behavior. Explore different kinds of learning, including classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning. Illustrate the biological bases of behavior as predispositions for learning.

Distinguish general differences between principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning (e.g., contingencies).

Describe basic classical conditioning phenomena, such as acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination, and higher-order learning.

Predict the effects of operant conditioning (e.g., positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment, schedules of reinforcement).

Predict how practice, schedules of reinforcement, and motivation will influence quality of learning.

Interpret graphs that exhibit the results of learning experiments.

Provide examples of how biological constraints create learning predispositions.

Describe the essential characteristics of insight learning, latent learning, and social learning.

Apply learning principles to explain emotional learning, taste aversion, superstitious behavior, and learned helplessness.

Suggest how behavior modification, biofeedback, coping strategies, and selfcontrol can be used to address behavioral problems.

Identify key contributors in the psychology of learning (e.g., Albert Bandura, John Garcia, Ivan Pavlov, Robert Rescorla, B. F. Skinner, Edward Thorndike, Edward Tolman, John B. Watson).

Learn how humans convert sensory input into kinds of information. They examine how humans learn, remember, and retrieve information. This part of the course also addresses problem solving, language, and creativity.

Compare and contrast various cognitive processes: o effortful versus automatic processing; o deep versus shallow processing; o focused versus divided attention.

Describe and differentiate psychological and physiological systems of memory (e.g., short-term memory, procedural memory).

Outline the principles that underlie effective encoding, storage, and construction of memories.

Describe strategies for memory improvement.

Synthesize how biological, cognitive, and cultural factors converge to facilitate acquisition, development, and use of language.

Identify problem-solving strategies as well as factors that influence their effectiveness.

List the characteristics of creative thought and creative thinkers.

Identify key contributors in cognitive psychology (e.g., Noam Chomsky, Hermann Ebbinghaus, Wolfgang Köhler, Elizabeth Loftus, George A. Miller).

Explore biological and social factors that motivate behavior and biological and cultural factors that influence emotion.

Identify and apply basic motivational concepts to understand the behavior of humans and other animals (e.g., instincts, incentives, intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation).

Discuss the biological underpinnings of motivation, including needs, drives, and homeostasis.

Compare and contrast motivational theories (e.g., drive reduction theory, arousal theory, general adaptation theory), including the strengths and weaknesses of each.

Describe classic research findings in specific motivation systems (e.g., eating, sex, social)

Discuss theories of stress and the effects of stress on psychological and physical well-being.

Compare and contrast major theories of emotion (e.g., James–Lange, Cannon–Bard, Schachter two-factor theory).

Describe how cultural influences shape emotional expression, including variations in body language.

Identify key contributors in the psychology of motivation and emotion (e.g., William James, Alfred Kinsey, Abraham Maslow, Stanley Schachter, Hans Selye).

Follow the developmental behavior of organisms from conception to death and examine the processes that contribute to behavioral change throughout the life span in the major emphasis areas of prenatal development, motor development, socialization, cognitive development, adolescence, and adulthood.

Discuss the interaction of nature and nurture (including cultural variations) in the determination of behavior.

Explain the process of conception and gestation, including factors that influence successful fetal development (e.g., nutrition, illness, substance abuse).

Discuss maturation of motor skills.

Describe the influence of temperament and other social factors on attachment and appropriate socialization.

Explain the maturation of cognitive abilities (e.g., Piaget’s stages, information processing).

Compare and contrast models of moral development (e.g., Kohlberg, Gilligan).

Discuss maturational challenges in adolescence, including related family conflicts.

Characterize the development of decisions related to intimacy as people mature.

Predict the physical and cognitive changes that emerge as people age, including steps that can be taken to maximize function.

Describe how sex and gender influence socialization and other aspects of development.

Identify key contributors in developmental psychology (e.g., Mary Ainsworth, Albert Bandura, Diana Baumrind, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Carol Gilligan, Harry Harlow, Lawrence Kohlberg, Konrad Lorenz, Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky).

Explore major theories of how humans develop enduring patterns of behavior and personal characteristics that influence how others relate to them. Explore the research methods used to assess personality.

Compare and contrast the major theories and approaches to explaining personality: psychoanalytic, humanist, cognitive, trait, social learning, and behavioral.

Describe and compare research methods (e.g., case studies and surveys) that psychologists use to investigate personality.

Identify frequently used assessment strategies (e.g., the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI], the Thematic Apperception Test [TAT]), and evaluate relative test quality based on reliability and validity of the instruments.

Speculate how cultural context can facilitate or constrain personality development, especially as it relates to self-concept (e.g., collectivistic versus individualistic cultures).

Identify key contributors to personality theory (e.g., Alfred Adler, Albert Bandura, Paul Costa and Robert McCrae, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers).

Understand intelligence and assessment of individual and the issues related to test construction and fair use.

Define intelligence and list characteristics of how psychologists measure intelligence: o abstract versus verbal measures; o speed of processing.

Discuss how culture influences the definition of intelligence.

Compare and contrast historic and contemporary theories of intelligence (e.g., Charles Spearman, Howard Gardner, Robert Sternberg).

Explain how psychologists design tests, including standardization strategies and other techniques to establish reliability and validity.

Interpret the meaning of scores in terms of the normal curve.

Describe relevant labels related to intelligence testing (e.g., gifted, cognitively disabled).

Debate the appropriate testing practices, particularly in relation to culture-fair test uses.

Identify key contributors in intelligence research and testing (e.g., Alfred Binet, Francis Galton, Howard Gardner, Charles Spearman, Robert Sternberg, Louis Terman, David Wechsler).

Examine the nature of common challenges to adaptive functioning. This section emphasizes formal conventions that guide psychologists’ judgments about diagnosis and problem severity.

Describe contemporary and historical conceptions of what constitutes psychological disorders.

Recognize the use of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association as the primary reference for making diagnostic judgments.

Discuss the major diagnostic categories, including anxiety and somatoform disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia, organic disturbance, personality disorders, and dissociative disorders, and their corresponding symptoms.

Evaluate the strengths and limitations of various approaches to explaining psychological disorders: medical model, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, biological, and sociocultural.

Identify the positive and negative consequences of diagnostic labels (e.g., the Rosenhan study).

Discuss the intersection between psychology and the legal system (e.g., confidentiality, insanity defense).

Understand empirically based treatments of psychological disorders and treatment modalities based on various perspectives in psychology.

Describe the central characteristics of psychotherapeutic intervention.

Describe major treatment orientations used in therapy (e.g., behavioral, cognitive, humanistic) and how those orientations influence therapeutic planning.

Compare and contrast different treatment formats (e.g., individual, group).

Summarize effectiveness of specific treatments used to address specific problems.

Discuss how cultural and ethnic context influence choice and success of treatment (e.g., factors that lead to premature termination of treatment).

Describe prevention strategies that build resilience and promote competence.

Identify major figures in psychological treatment (e.g., Aaron Beck, Albert Ellis, Sigmund Freud, Mary Cover Jones, Carl Rogers, B. F. Skinner, Joseph Wolpe).

Explore how individuals relate to one another in social situations, with regard to social attitudes, social influence, and other social phenomena.

Apply attribution theory to explain motives (e.g., fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias).

Describe the structure and function of different kinds of group behavior (e.g., deindividuation, group polarization).

Explain how individuals respond to expectations of others, including groupthink, conformity, and obedience to authority.

Discuss attitudes and how they change (e.g., central route to persuasion).

Predict the impact of the presence of others on individual behavior (e.g., bystander effect, social facilitation).

Describe processes that contribute to differential treatment of group members (e.g., in-group/out-group dynamics, ethnocentrism, prejudice).

Articulate the impact of social and cultural categories (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity) on self-concept and relations with others.

Anticipate the impact of behavior on a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and attraction.

Discuss attitude formation and change, including persuasion strategies and cognitive dissonance. Identify important figures in social psychology (e.g., Solomon Asch, Leon Festinger, Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo).

Social Studies Standards & Benchmarks - Edl · 2017-03-10 · Social Studies Standards & Benchmarks ... Students understand how historical events of the past impact the present ...

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