Psychology: A Christian Perspsective, Self-paced class.

January 26, 0201

Year after year students rate Dr. Rice’s psychology class as one of their favorites. In the past, students could only take the class live, but now they can watch the lectures and supplemental videos, take tests, and complete assignments on their schedule.

Students will complete a CLEP-level introductory psychology class from a distinctly Christian perspective. Sign up through February and get a copy of the textbook for free.

Learning Objectives
• Define and explain what the word “psychology” means.
• Discuss the importance of worldviews in defining psychology and describe how psychology’s definition has changed.
• Describe the controversy among Christians about psychology.
• Describe psychology’s influence in academia, the culture, and the Christian Church.
• Describe a Christian approach to the study of psychology.
• Describe psychology’s goals.
• Describe psychology’s subfields and careers.
• Describe modern psychology’s major approaches or schools of thought.
• Identify possible career alternatives in psychology.
• Describe areas of potential psychological research on topics of interest to Christians.
• Define “worldview.”
• Explain their worldview and explain how it intersects with modern psychology along the five worldview issues.
• Describe a Christian view of God and the nature of Mankind.
• Define and describe epistemology from a Christian perspective.
• Describe a Christian view of moral absolutes.
• Describe a Christian perspective of the causes for mental pain and suffering.
• Describe the history and influence of naturalism on psychology and other sciences.
• Describe the limitations of naturalistic descriptions of Mankind.
• Describe the history and influence of Darwinian evolution on psychology.
• Name several of the fathers of modern psychology who were atheists.
• Define Biblical anthropology.
• Define epistemology. Describe a Christian view of knowledge.
• Describe the “faith/Science dichotomy” and discuss a Christian view of science.
• Describe the phrase “All Truth is God’s Truth” as it relates to a Christian worldview.
• Describe general and natural rev. in relation to knowledge about the nature of Man.
• Describe empiricism and its limits.
• Describe the effect of sin on the study of psychology.
• Describe the role of sin in a Christian understanding of mental pain and suffering.
• Compare a Christian view of sin with moral relativism and humanism.
• Describe Cartesian Dualism.
• Describe the emergence of experimental psychology.
• Describe the study of psych pre-dating the establishment of modern scientific psych.
• Describe examples of ancient psychological research and theories.
• Describe the development of psychology as an empirical science.
• Describe phrenology.
• Trace the history of psychology through each of its five major schools-of-thought.
• Describe S. Freud’s worldview on the nature of Man and contrast his it with a Christian view.
• Describe Freudian/psychodynamic psychology.
• Describe behaviorism and radical behaviorism’s claims about the nature of Mankind and contrast behaviorism with a Christian view.
• Describe the structuralists.
• Explain the contribution of Dr. Charles Bell, Franz Gall, Gustave Fechner, Wilhelm Wundt, Edward
• Titchener to the development of modern psychology.
• Describe reductionism and its implications on the nature of Mankind.
• Describe the functionalists.
• Describe the influence of Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, and William James on modern psychology.
• Summarize the theory of evolution as applied to human psychology.
• Describe behaviorism and contrast behaviorism and Freudian psychology at the level of the nature of Mankind.
• Describe humanism and contrast humanism’s beliefs about the nature of Man with a Christian view.
• Define self-esteem. Evaluate “selfism” in comparison to Biblical anthropology.
• Describe cognitive psychology.
• Describe neuro-biology
• Describe explanations for mental illness in terms of underlying worldview beliefs.
• Describe the structure and function of the neuron
• Recognize that specific functions are centered in specific lobes of the cerebral cortex
• Describe the organization of the nervous system
• Describe the CNS, PNS, and the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems
• Describe techniques for studying the brain
• Describe the function of the endocrine system and how the endocrine glands are linked to the nervous system
• Classify the major divisions and subdivisions of the nervous system
• Differentiate the functions of the various subdivisions of the nervous system
• Identify the structure and function of the major regions of the brain
• Describe lateralization of brain functions
• Describe the divisions of the brain
• Indentify and describe the cerebrum, cerebellum, and medula
• Describe how brain injury contributed to our understanding of brain function
• Describe how brain stimulation studies contribute to understanding of brain function
• Describe how imaging contributes to our understanding of brain function
• Describe lobotomy
• Define and contrast sensation and perception
• Define sensory threshold, just noticeable difference, and Weber’s Law
• Explain the concepts of sensory adaptation
• Describe the visual system
• Describe the auditory system
• Describe the olfactory system
• Describe the gustatory system
• Describe the cutaneous system
• Describe the kinesthetic system
• List forms of energy for which we have sensory receptors
• Explain Gestalt concepts such as figure-ground, continuity, similarity, and closure.
• Describe binocular and monocular depth cues
• Describe the influence of motivation, experience, and expectations on perception
• Explain what is meant by “attention”
• Explain extrasensory perception and paranormal psychology

• Describe a biblically-based understanding of the role of emotions in the lives of Christians
• Explain motivation, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation
• Explain human motivation from a evolutionary perspective
• Describe motivation in terms of needs, drives, and homeostasis
• Describe motivation in terms of arousal
• Explain Maslow’s hierarch of motivation
• Contrast Maslow’s concept of self-actualization with a Christian perspective of the self
• Describe lie detector tests
• Describe the experience of emotions
• Describe Sternberg triangle model of love
• Describe the James-Lange theory of emotions
• Describe the Cannon-Bard theory of emotions
• Explain cognitive theories of emotions
• Describe four situations in which motivations occur
• Describe the type A and hardy personalities
• Describe signs of stress
• Explain the general adaptation syndrome
• Define Learning
• Describe Classical Conditioning
• Describe Ivan Pavlov’s experiments
• Name and define the key components of classical conditioning
• Describe Operant Conditioning
• Describe Thorndike’s Law of Effect
• Describe B.F. Skinner’s experiments
• Define key terms from operant conditioning
• Describe reinforcement schedules
• Describe Cognitive theories of learning
• Describe latent learning
• Describe Social Learning theories
• Describe the three box model of human memory
• Describe factors that influence forming, storing, and retrieving memories
• Describe and use mnemonic techniques
• Describe the characteristics of the various developmental theories.
• Describe development theories in terms of the philosophies of Locke, Rousseau, Kant, and Hall.
• Describe recapitulation theory.
• Define cognition and cognitive styles.
• Describe Piaget’s stages of cognitive development.
• Describe criticisms of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.
• Describe cross-section and longitudinal developments research.
• Describe Freudian psycho-sexual development.
• Discuss various definitions of human consciousness.
• Describe a Christian perspective of human consciousness.
• Describe various states of consciousness.
• States of Consciousness
• Describe sleep, REM sleep, stages of sleep, sleep deprivation, and disorders of sleep.
• Describe dreams and discuss the meaning of dreams from various worldview perspectives, including a
• Christian worldview.
• Describe hypnosis, its history, and worldview issues related to hypnosis.
• Discuss meditation from various worldview perspectives.
• Define psychoactive drugs and describe how they generally work.
• Describe tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal.
• Describe the four major categories of psychoactive drugs.
• Describe the effects of alcohol.
• Describe the effects of sedative-hypnotics.
• Describe the effects of stimulants.
• Describe the effects of opiates.
• Describe the effects of hallucinogens.
• Describe the effects of marijuana.
• Define cognition
• Define concepts including conjunctive concepts, disjunctive concepts, and relational concepts
• Describe cognitive maps
• Define schemas and cognitive scripts
• Identify personal cognitive style
• Identify effective decision-making and problem-solving techniques
• Identify barriers to problem-solving and decision-making
• Define language
• Describe the stages of language development
• Describe language development from the behavioral perspective
• Describe Noam Chomsky’s Nativist theory of language development
• Describe the interactionist theory of language development
• Describe the difficulties defining intelligence
• Describe mental age, chronological age, and intelligence quotient
• Describe Sternberg’s, Thurstone’s, and Gardner’s theories of intelligence
• In their own words, define personality.
• Describe the Holy Spirit’s supernatural influence on a believer’s personality.
• Describe personality traits.
• Describe Hippocrates’ four humors.
• Describe Sigmund Freud’s personality theory.
• Describe Sigmund Freud’s concept of defense mechanism and provide examples.
• Explain using worldviews why Freud’s personality theory is offensive to a Christian worldview.
• Describe Carl Jung’s worldview of religions.
• Describe Jung’s concept of archetypes and provide examples.
• Describe Alfred Adler’s concept of individual psychology.
• Describe Hans Eysenk’s conception of human temperaments.
• Describe the Big Five personality traits.
• Explain how personality psychologist use twin studies.
• Explain why humanistic psychology was known as psychology’s “third force.”
• Describe projective personality assessments.
• Describe “abnormal.” Describe difficulties differentiating normal from abnormal.
• Describe mental illness and explain worldview perspectives of the causes of mental illness.
• Describe historical perspectives of the causes of mental illness.
• Describe the DSM-IV classification system.
• Describe the classes of mental illness and key characteristics of major disorders.
• Describe some of the historical approaches to treating mental illness, including the worldview
• assumptions underlying the approach.
• Describe treatments for mental illness from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
• Describe treatments for mental illness in colonial America and the 17th and 18th century.
• Describe how attitudes toward the mentally ill changed in the 19th century.
• Describe the history of lobotomy and electroconvulsive therapy.
• Describe the discovery of thorazine and the pharmacological revolution.
• Describe the classification of psychiatric medications.
• Explain the phrase “chemical imbalance of the brain.
• Describe worldview issues underlying psychopharmacology.
• Describe the deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill.
• Describe the unintended consequences of deinstitutionalization.
• Define therapy.
• Describe Freudian psychotherapy.
• Describe behavior therapy.
• Describe cognitive therapies.
• Describe humanistic therapy.
• Describe family therapy.
• Describe “spiritual” treatments.
• Describe Christian anti-psychology.
• Describe “integration.”
• Describe Biblical counseling.
• Describe popular psychology.
• Describe interpersonal communication.
• Describe the Shannon-Weaver model of communication.
• Describe feedback, non-verbal communication, and proxemics.
• Describe the characteristics of good listeners.
• Describe social influence, social comparison, and social norms.
• Describe attitudes, attitude formation, and attitude change.
• Describe interpersonal attraction.
• Describe group dynamics, group roles, and group norms, and group decision-making.
• Describe groupthink.
• Describe the Stanford Prison experiment.
• Describe the Asch conformity study.
• Describe Milgram’s obedience study.
• Describe Sherif’s Robbers Cave study.
• Describe conformity and obedience.
• Discuss stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.
• Describe the research strategies used by psychologists to explore human affect, behavior, and cognition.
• Describe the term scientific method.
• Describe and explain the elements of an experiment.
• Explain the importance of sampling and random assignment in psychological research.
• Explain and describe measures of central tendency and variability.
• Describe the concept of correlation and explain how it is used in psychology.
• Explain the purpose and basic concepts of descriptive and inferential statistics.
• Describe ethical issues in research with human and other animals that are important to psychologists.
• Describe and compare quantitative and qualitative research strategies.
• Think critically about research conclusions.

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