Psychology Syllabus
The purpose of this Psychology class is to introduce students to the systematic and scientific
study of the behavior and mental processes of human beings and other animals. Students are
exposed to the psychological facts, principles, and phenomena associated with each of the
major subfields within psychology.
Course Objectives
1. Students will prepare to do acceptable work on Psychology Examinations.
2. Students will study the major core concepts and theories of psychology. They will be able
to define key terms and use them in their everyday vocabulary.
3. Students will learn the basic skills of psychological research and be able to apply
psychological concepts to their own lives.
4. Students will develop critical thinking skills.
Textbook (Primary)
Rathus, Spencer. Psychology: Principles in Practice, Austin: HRW, 2007.
Textbook (secondary)
Myers, David G. Psychology, 6th ed. New York: Worth, 2001. (Includes a study guide.)
Teacher Resources
Bolt, Martin. Instructor’s Resource Manual. New York: Worth, 2001.
Hock, Roger R. Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of
Psychological Research, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2002.
Hunt, Morton. The Story of Psychology. New York: Doubleday, 1993.
Homework Expectations
Ample notice will be given for any assignment, quiz, or exam. The amount of work depends
on the unit being covered in class. There are assigned pages to read in the textbook every
night.
Vocabulary terms are also given for each unit. Quizzes are administered frequently, at least
once a unit. The quizzes range from using fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and/or multiplechoice questions. Exams will be given at the end of each unit and will consist of multiplechoice questions and one free-response question.
Other assignments given to students are class presentations, group projects and papers. These
assignments vary with the unit being covered.
Psychology is not a Kentucky Core Curriculum class and thus has no guidelines from the
Kentucky Department of Education. So this class will follow the American Psychology
Association’s standards
Course Outline
Unit I: History, Approaches and Research Methods
A. Logic, Philosophy, and History of Science
B. Approaches/Perspectives
C. Experimental, Correlation, and Clinical Research
D. Statistics
E. Research Methods and Ethics
Objectives
Students will:
• Define psychology and trace its historical development.
• Compare and contrast the psychological perspectives.
• Identify basic and applied research subfields of psychology.
• Identify basic elements of an experiment (variables, groups, sampling, population, etc.).
• Compare and contrast research methods (case, survey, naturalistic observation).
• Explain correlational studies.
• Describe the three measures of central tendency and measures of variation.
• Discuss the ethics of animal and human research.
Major Assignments:
1. Compare/Contrast Schools of Thought essay
2. Case Study: How to conduct an experiment
Essential Questions:
1. What is psychology and how did it grow?
2. Why don’t all psychologists explain behavior in the same way?
3. How does your cultural background influence your behavior?
4. How can critical thinking save you money?
5. What does it mean when scientists announce that a research finding is “significant”?
6. Do psychologists deceive people when they do research?
Key Terms/Vocabulary
behavioral approach
biased sample
biological approach
biological psychologists
case studies
clinical and counseling psychologists
cognitive approach
cognitive psychologists
community psychologists
confounding variable
consciousness
control group
correlation
critical thinking
culture
data
dependent variable
developmental psychologists
double-blind design
educational psychologists
empiricism
engineering psychologists
environmental psychologists
evolutionary approach
experiment
experimental group
experimenter bias
forensic psychologists
health psychologists
humanistic approach
hypothesis
independent variable
industrial psychologists
naturalistic observation
operational definitions
personality psychologists
placebo
psychodynamic approach
psychology
quantitative psychologists
random assignment
random sample
random variables
reliability
sampling
school psychologists
social psychologists
sociocultural variables
sport psychologists
statistically significant
surveys
theory
validity
variables
Unit II: Biological Basis of Behavior
A. Physiological Techniques (e.g., imagining, surgical)
B. Neuroanatomy
C. Functional Organization of Nervous System
D. Neural Transmission
E. Endocrine System
F. Genetics
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe the structure of a neuron and explain neural impulses.
• Describe neuron communication and discuss the impact of neurotransmitters.
• Classify and explain major divisions of the nervous system.
• Describe the functions of the brain structures (thalamus, cerebellum, limbic system,
etc.).
• Identify the four lobes of the cerebral cortex and their functions.
• Discuss the association areas.
• Explain the split-brain studies.
• Describe the nature of the endocrine system and its interaction with the nervous system.
Major Assignments:
1. Psychologist Report-narrative essay over a random psychologist.
2. Draw a neuron and label parts
Essential Questions:
1. What are neurons, and what do they do?
2. How do biochemicals affect my mood?
3. How is my nervous system organized?
4. How is my brain “wired”?
5. How can my hormones help me in a crisis?
Key Terms/Vocabulary
Action potential
Amygdale
Association cortex
Autonomic nervous system
Axon
Biological psychology
Central nervous system
Cerebellum
Cerebral cortex
Corpus callosum
Dendrites
Endocrine system
Fiber tracts
Fight-or-flight syndrome
Forebrain
Glands
Glial cells
Hindbrain
Hippocampus
Hormones
medulla
midbrain
motor cortex
nervous system
neurons
neurotransmitter
nuclei
parasympathetic nervous system
peripheral nervous system
plasticity
reflexes
refractory period
reticular formation
sensory cortex
somatic nervous system
spinal cord
sympathetic nervous system
synapse
thalamus
hypothalamus
Unit III: Developmental Psychology
A. Life-Span Approach
B. Research Methods
C. Heredity–Environment Issues
D. Developmental Theories
E. Dimensions of Development
F. Sex Roles, Sex Differences
Objectives
Students will:
• Discuss the course of prenatal development.
• Illustrate development changes in physical, social, and cognitive areas.
• Discuss the effect of body contact, familiarity, and responsive parenting on attachments.
• Describe the benefits of a secure attachment and the impact of parental neglect and
separation as well as day care on childhood development.
• Describe the theories of Piaget, Erikson, and Kohlberg.
• Describe the early development of a self-concept.
• Distinguish between longitudinal and cross-sectional studies.
Major Assignments:
1. Case Studies over Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development, Piaget’s Cognitive
Stages of Development, Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development and
Kohlberg’s Moral Stages of Development
2. Case Study: James Marcia’s Identity Achievement Chart
Essential Questions:
1. What does genetic influence mean?
2. Why should pregnant women stay away from tobacco and alcohol?
3. How do babies think?
4. How do infants become attached to their caregivers?
5. What threatens adolescents’ self-esteem?
6. What developmental changes occur in adulthood?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Accommodation
Assimilation
Attachment
Authoritarian parents
Authoritative parents
Behavioral genetics
Chromosomes
Concrete operations
Conservation
Conventional
Critical period
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Developmental psychology
Embryo
Ethnic identity
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Fetus
Formal operational period
gender roles
generativity
genes
identity crisis
information processing
maturation
midlife transition
object permanence
permissive parents
postconventional
preconventional
preoperational period
puberty
reflexes
schemas
sensorimotor period
socialization
temperament
Teratogens
Terminal drop
Unit IV: States of Consciousness
A. Sleep and Dreaming
B. Hypnosis
C. Psychoactive Drug Effects
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe the cyclical nature and possible functions of sleep.
• Identify the major sleep disorders.
• Discuss the content and possible functions of dreams.
• Discuss hypnosis, noting the behavior of hypnotized people and claims regarding its
uses.
• Discuss the nature of drug dependence.
• Chart names and effects of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogenic drugs.
• Compare differences between NREM and REM.
• Describe the physiological and psychological effects of depressants, stimulants, and
hallucinogens.
Major Assignments:
1. Critical Thinking exercise: Can subliminal messages change your behavior?
2. Case Study: Subliminal messages in rock music.
Essential Questions:
1. Can unconscious thoughts affect your behavior?
2. Does brain activity stop when you are asleep?
3. Can you be hypnotized against your will?
4. How do drugs affect the brain?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Addiction
Agonists
Altered state of consciousness
Antagonists
Blood-brain barrier
Circadian rhythm
Conscious level
Consciousness
Depressants
Dissociation theory
Hallucinogens
Hypnosis
Hypnotic susceptibility
Insomnia
Jet lag
Lucid dreaming
Narcolepsy
Night terrors
Nonconscious level
Opiates
Preconscious level
Unit V: Sensation & Perception
A. Thresholds
psychoactive drugs
psychological dependence
psychopharmacology
rapid eye movement sleep
REM behavior disorder
role theory
sleep apnea
sleepwalking
slow-wave sleep
state of consciousness
state theory
stimulants
subconscious
substance abuse
sudden infant death syndrome
tolerance
unconscious
withdrawal syndrome
B. Sensory Mechanisms
C. Sensory Adaptation
D. Attention
E. Perceptual Processes
Objectives
Students will:
• Contrast the processes of sensation and perception.
• Distinguish between absolute and difference thresholds.
• Label a diagram of the parts of the eye and ear.
• Describe the operation of the sensory systems (five senses).
• Explain the Young-Helmholtz and opponent-process theories of color vision.
• Explain the place and frequency theories of pitch perception.
• Discuss Gestalt psychology’s contribution to our understanding of perception.
• Discuss research on depth perception and cues.
Major Assignments:
1. Case Study: Attention and the Brain
Essential Questions:
1. What is the difference between sensation and perception?
2. How does information from my sensory organs to my brain?
3. How do sensations become perceptions?
4. What determines how I perceive my world?
5. Can you “run out” of attention?
Key Terms/Vocabulary
Absolute threshold
Accessory structures
Accommodation
Adaptation
Amplitude
Analgesia
Attention
Auditory nerve
Basilar membrane
Binocular disparity
olfactory bulb
opponent-process theory
optic nerve
papillae
perception
perceptual constancy
pheromones
photoreceptors
pinna
pitch
Blind spot
Bottom-up processing
Brightness
Cochlea
Coding
Cones
Convergence
Cornea
Dark adaptation
Depth perception
Eardrum
Feature detectors
Figure
Fovea
Frequency
Gate control theory
Ground
Hue
Internal noise
Iris
Just-noticeable difference
Kinesthesia
Lens
Light intensity
Light wavelength
Looming
Loudness
place theory
proprioceptive
pupil
receptors
response criterion
retina
rods
saturation
schemas
sensations
sense
sense of smell
sense of taste
sensitivity
signal-detection theory
somatic senses
sound
stroboscopic motion
timbre
top-down processing
transduction
trichromatic theory
vestibular sense
visible light
visible sense
volley theory
wavelength
Weber’s Law
Unit VI: Learning
A. Classical Conditioning
B. Operant Conditioning
C. Cognitive Processes in Learning
D. Biological Factors
E. Social Learning (Observational Learning)
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe the process of classical conditioning (Pavlov’s experiments).
• Explain the processes of acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization,
and discrimination.
• Describe the process of operant conditioning, including the procedure of shaping, as
demonstrated by Skinner’s experiments.
• Identify the different types of reinforcers and describe the schedules of reinforcement.
• Discuss the importance of cognitive processes and biological predispositions in
conditioning.
• Discuss the effects of punishment on behavior.
• Describe the process of observational learning (Bandura’s experiments).
Major Assignments:
1. Linking exercise: Learning and Consciousness
2. Case Study: The “I can’t do it” attitude
3. Critical Thinking exercise: Does watching violence on television make people more
violent?
Essential Questions:
1. How did Pavlov’s experiments help teach psychologists about learning?
2. How do reward and punishment work?
3. Can people learn to be helpless?
4. What should teachers learn about learning?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Avoidance conditioning
Classical conditioning
Cognitive map
Conditioned response
Conditioned stimulus
Discriminative stimuli
Escape conditioning
Extinction
Habituation
Insight
Latent learning
Law of effect
Learned helplessness
Learning
Negative reinforcers
Observational learning
partial reinforcement extinction effect
positive reinforcers
primary reinforcers
punishment
reconditioning
reinforcer
second-order conditioning
secondary reinforcers
shaping
spontaneous recovery
stimulus discrimination
stimulus generalization
unconditioned response
unconditioned stimulus
vicarious conditioning
Operant
Operant conditioning
Unit VII: Memory
A. Memory
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe memory in terms of information processing, and distinguish among sensory
memory, short-term memory, and long-term memory.
• Distinguish between automatic and effortful processing.
• Explain the encoding process (including imagery, organization, etc.).
• Describe the capacity and duration of long-term memory.
• Distinguish between implicit and explicit memory.
• Describe the importance of retrieval cues.

Discuss the effects of interference and motivated forgetting on retrieval.
• Describe the evidence for the constructive nature of memory.
Major assignments:
1. Critical thinking exercise: Can traumatic memories be repressed, then recovered?
2. Linking exercise: Memory in the courtroom
Essential Questions:
1. How does information turn into memories?
2. What is one most likely to remember?
3. How do we retrieve stored memories?
4. How accurate are memories?
5. What causes us to forget things?
6. How does the brain change when it stores a memory?
7. How much can the brain remember?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Acoustic codes
Anterograde amnesia
Brown-Peterson procedure
Chunks
Context-dependent memories
Decay
parallel distributed processing
primacy effect
proactive interference
procedural memory
recency effect
retrieval
Elaborative rehearsal
Encoding
Encoding specificity principle
Episodic memory
Explicit memory
Immediate memory span
Implicit memory
Information-processing model
Interference
Levels-of-processing model
Long-term memory
Maintenance rehearsal
Method of savings
Mnemonics
retrieval cues
retroactive interference
retrograde amnesia
schemas
selective attention
semantic codes
semantic memory
sensory registers
short-term memory
spreading activation
state-dependent memory
storage
transfer-appropriate processing model
visual codes
Working memory
Unit VIII: Thinking and Language
A. Language
B. Thinking
C. Problem Solving and Creativity
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe the nature of concepts and the role of prototypes in concept formation.
• Discuss how we use trial and error, algorithms, heuristics, and insight to solve
problems.
• Explain how the representativeness and availability heuristics influence our judgments.
• Describe the structure of language (phonemes, morphemes, grammar).
• Identify language developmental stages (babbling, one word, etc.).
• Explain how the nature-nurture debate is illustrated in the theories of language
development.
• Discuss Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis.
• Describe the research on animal cognition and communication.
Major Assignments:
1. Case Study: IQ Tests and bias
2. Charting exercise: Problem-solving strategies in the real world
Essential Questions:
1. What is good thinking?
2. What are thoughts made of?
3. What is logical thinking?
4. What is the best way to problem solve?
5. How is language developed?
6. How is intelligence measured?
7. How good are IQ tests?
8. Is there more than one type of intelligence?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Algorithms
Anchoring heuristic
Artificial intelligence
Availability heuristic
Babblings
Cognitive map
Concepts
Confirmation bias
Convergent thinking
Creativity
Divergent thinking
Expected value
Familial retardation
Formal concept
Formal reasoning
Functional fixedness
Grammar
Heuristics
Images
Informal reasoning
Information-processing system
Intelligence
intelligence quotient
IQ test
language
mental models
mental set
natural concepts
norms
performance scale
propositions
prototype
reliability
representativeness heuristic
rules of logic
schemas
scripts
Stanford-Binet
telegraphic
test
thinking
utility
validity
verbal scale
Unit IX: Motivation and Emotion
A. Biological Bases
B. Theories of Motivation
C. Hunger, Thirst, Sex, and Pain
D. Social Motives
E. Theories of Emotion
F. Stress
Objectives
Students will:
• Define motivation and identify motivational theories.
• Describe the physiological determinants of hunger.
• Discuss psychological and cultural influences on hunger.
• Define achievement motivation, including intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
• Identify the three theories of emotion (James-Lange, Cannon-Bard, Schachter-Singer).
• Describe the physiological changes that occur during emotional arousal.
• Discuss the catharsis hypothesis.
• Describe the biological response to stress.
Major Assignments:
1. Debate exercise: Homosexuality-environment or heredity
Essential Questions:
1. Where does motivation come from?
2. Why do some try harder than others?
3. Which motives move people the most?
4. How do feelings differ from thoughts?
5. Is emotion in the heart, in the head, or both?
6. Which emotional expressions are innate, and which are learned?
7. What do health psychologists do?
8. How do psychological stressors affect physical health?
9. How do people react to stressors?
10. How does stress affect your immune system?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Androgens
Anorexia nervosa
Arousal
Arousal theory
Attribution
Bisexual
Bulimia nervosa
Drive
Drive reduction theory
Emotion
Estrogens
Excitation transfer
motivation
motive
need
need achievement
obesity
parasympathetic nervous system
primary drives
progestins
satiety
secondary drives
sex hormones
sexual dysfunctions
Fight-or-flight syndrome
Heterosexual
Homosexual
Hunger
Incentive theory
Instinct theory
Instincts
Health promotion
Immune system
Psychoneuroimmunology
Stress
stressors
sexual response cycle
social referencing
subjective well-being
sympathetic nervous system
burnout
diseases of adaptation
general adaptation syndrome
health psychology
posttraumatic stress syndrome
social support network
stress reactions
Unit X: Testing and Individual Differences
A. Standardization and Norms
B. Reliability and Validity
C. Types of Tests
D. Ethics and Standards in Testing
E. Intelligence
F. Heredity/Environment and Intelligence
G. Human Diversity
Objectives
Students will:
• Trace the origins of intelligence testing.
• Describe the nature of intelligence.
• Identify the factors associated with creativity.
• Distinguish between aptitude and achievement tests.
• Describe test standardization.
• Distinguish between the reliability and validity of intelligence tests.
• Describe the two extremes of the normal distribution of intelligence.
• Discuss evidence for both genetic and environmental influences on intelligence.
• Discuss whether intelligence tests are culturally biased.
Unit XI: Personality
A. Personality Theories and Approaches
B. Assessment Techniques
C. Self-concept/Self-esteem
D. Growth and Adjustment
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe personality structure in terms of the interactions of the id, ego, and superego.
• Explain how defense mechanisms protect the individual from anxiety.
• Describe the contributions of the neo-Freudians.
• Explain how personality inventories are used to assess traits.
• Describe the humanistic perspective on personality in terms of Maslow’s focus on selfactualization and Rogers’ emphasis on people’s potential for growth.
• Describe the impact of individualism and collectivism on self-identity.
• Describe the social-cognitive perspective on personality.
• Discuss the consequences of personal control, learned helplessness, and optimism.
Major Assignments:
1. Online activities: personality tests and their differences
Essential Questions:
1. What personality traits are most basic?
2. Do we learn our personality?
3. How do psychologists measure personality?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Actualizing tendency
Big-five model
Defense mechanisms
Electra complex
Genital stage
Id
anal stage
conditions of worth
ego
five-factor model
humanistic approach
latency period
Objective personality tests
Oral stage
Phallic stage
Pleasure principle
Psychodynamic approach
Psychosexual stages
Self-efficacy
Superego
Oedipus complex
personality
pleasure principle
projective personality tests
reality principle
self-concept
social-cognitive approach
trait approach
Unit XII: Abnormal Psychology
A. Definitions of Abnormality
B. Theories of Psychopathology
C. Diagnosis of Psychopathology
D. Anxiety Disorders
E. Somatoform Disorders
F. Mood Disorders
G. Schizophrenic Disorders
H. Organic Disorders
I. Personality Disorders
J. Dissociative Disorders
Objectives
Students will:
• Identify the criteria for judging whether behavior is psychologically disordered.
• Describe the medical model of psychological disorders.
• Describe the aims of DSM-IV, and discuss the potential dangers of diagnostic labels.
• Describe the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
• Describe and explain the development of somatoform and mood disorders.
• Describe the various symptoms and types of schizophrenia.
• Describe the nature of organic and personality disorders.
• Describe the characteristics and possible causes of dissociative disorders.
Major Assignments:
1. Case Study: Development of the DSM-IV
Essential Questions:
1. How do psychologists define abnormal behavior?
2. What causes abnormality?
3. How many psychological disorders have been identified?
4. What is a phobia?
5. How common is depression?
6. What is schizophrenia?
7. How do children’s disorders differ from adult’s disorders?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Addiction
Alcoholism
Anxiety disorder
Bipolar disorder
Cyclothymic disorder
Diathesis-stress
Dissociative disorders
Dissociative identity disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder
Hypochondriasis
Major depressive disorder
Mood disorder
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Panic disorder
Phobia
Psychopathology
Social phobias
Somatization disorder
Substance-related disorders
agoraphobia
antisocial personality disorder
biopsychosocial model
conversion disorder
delusions
dissociative amnesia
dissociative fugue
dysthymic disorder
hallucinations
impaired functioning
mania
neurobiological model
pain disorder
personality disorders
psychological model
schizophrenia
sociocultural model
specific phobias
Unit XIII: Treatment of Psychological Disorders
A. Treatment Approaches
B. Modes of Therapy (e.g., individual, group)
C. Community and Preventive Approaches
Objectives
Students will:
• Discuss the aims and methods of psychoanalysis.
• Identify the basic characteristics of the humanistic therapies.
• Identify the basic assumptions of behavior therapy.
• Describe the assumptions and goals of the cognitive therapies.
• Discuss the benefits of group therapy and family therapy.
• Discuss the findings regarding the effectiveness of the psychotherapies.
• Discuss the role of values and cultural differences in the therapeutic process.
• Identify the common forms of drug therapy and the use of electroconvulsive therapy.
Major Assignments:
1. Research links: Which therapies work best.
Essential Questions:
1. What features do all treatment techniques have in common?
2. Why won’ some therapists give advice?
3. Can we lean to conquer fears?
4. How does group therapy differ from individual therapy?
5. How effective is psychotherapy?
6. Is electric shock still used to treat disorders?
7. How can we prevent psychological disorders?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Antidepressants
Assertiveness training
Behavior modification
Client-centered therapy
Cognitive therapy
Congruence
Electroconvulsive therapy
Empirically supported therapies
Family therapy
Gestalt therapy
Modeling
Person-centered therapy
Psychiatrists
Psychologists
Psychotherapy
Reflection
Token economy
anxiolytics
aversive conditioning
behavior therapy
cognitive-behavior therapy
community psychology
couple therapy
empathy
extinction
flooding
group therapy
neuroleptics
positive reinforcement
psychoanalysis
punishment
rational-emotive behavior therapy
systematic desensitization
unconditional positive regard
Unit XIV: Social Psychology
A. Group Dynamics
B. Attribution Process
C. Interpersonal Perception
D. Conformity, Compliance, Obedience
E. Attitudes and Attitude Change
F. Organizational Behavior
G. Aggression/Antisocial Behavior
Objectives
Students will:
• Describe the importance of attribution in social behavior.
• Explain the effect of role-playing on attitudes in terms of cognitive dissonance theory.
• Discuss the results of Asch’s experiment on conformity.
• Describe Milgram’s controversial experiments on obedience.
• Discuss how group interaction can facilitate group polarization and groupthink.
• Describe the social, emotional, and cognitive factors that contribute to the persistence of
cultural, ethnic, and gender prejudice and discrimination.
• Discuss the issues related to aggression and attraction.
• Explain altruistic behavior in terms of social exchange theory and social norms.
Major Assignments:
1. Debate activity: Social influences on the self
2. Research activity: How have social norms changed.
Essential Questions:
1. How do we compare ourselves with others?
2. Do we perceive people and objects in similar ways?
3. Do attitudes always determine behavior?
4. How does prejudice develop?
5. What factors affect who likes whom?
6. What social rules shape our behavior?
7. How far will people go in obeying authority?
8. Are people born aggressive?
9. What motivates people to help one another?
10. What makes a good leader?
Key Terms/vocabulary
Actor-observer bias
Altruism
Attitude
Bystander effect
Competition
Conflict
Contact hypothesis
Deindividuation
Elaboration likelihood model
Environmental psychology
Fundamental attribution error
Helping behavior
Norms
Person-oriented leaders
Reference groups
Schemas
Self-esteem
Self-serving bias
Social comparison
Social facilitation
Social impairment
Social neuroscience
Social psychology
Task-oriented leaders
aggression
arousal:cost-reward theory
attribution
cognitive dissonance theory
compliance
conformity
cooperation
discrimination
empathy-altruism theory
frustration-aggression hypothesis
groupthink
matching hypothesis
obedience
prejudice
relative deprivation
self-concept
self-fulfilling prophecy
social cognition
social dilemmas
social identity
social loafing
social perception
stereotypes