This article describes an innovative neuropsychopharmacology laboratory that can be incorporated into any research methods class. The lab consists of a set of interconnected modules centered on observations of methamphetamine-induced behavioral changes in mice and is designed to provide students with an opportunity to acquire basic skills…

This study examined the similarities and differences in the topics and references in selected chapters of eight introductory social psychology textbooks and six developmental psychology textbooks. We wanted to determine the extent to which there were core concepts and references presented in these chapters. We found a relatively small set of core…

In 2011, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology commissioned a presidential task force to document teaching criteria for model psychology teachers in undergraduate education. The resulting list of criteria reflects activities related to face-to-face course interaction and online teaching, training, and education; course design; implementation…

Inaccuracies, especially concerning the stimulus generalization findings, in textbook descriptions of the Little Albert study have been well documented since the 1970s. However, there has not been a systematic examination of introductory psychology textbooks since the 1980s to determine whether such inaccuracies still persist. This study filled…

Introductory psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses and often serves as the gateway to choosing psychology as an academic major. However, little research has examined the typical structure of introductory psychology courses. The current study examined student learning objectives (SLOs) and course content in introductory…

In its recent report outlining principles for teaching undergraduate students in psychology, the American Psychological Association Board of Educational Affairs recommended including experiential learning in the curriculum and identified study abroad opportunities as being particularly valuable. Unfortunately, although American universities offer…

College students in two sections of a general psychology course participated in a demonstration of a simple neural circuit. The activity was based on a neural circuit that Jeffress proposed for localizing sounds. Students in one section responded to a questionnaire prior to participating in the activity, while students in the other section…

Information about the undergraduate psychology courses preferred by graduate programs is useful for a number of purposes, including (a) advising psychology majors who are interested in graduate school, (b) undergraduate curriculum planning, and (c) examining whether graduate programs' preferences reflect national guidelines for the undergraduate…

Previous studies have raised concerns about the quality of the coverage of psychoanalytic content in undergraduate psychology textbooks. The authors investigated the accuracy and currency of psychoanalytic content in top-selling introductory psychology textbooks. Across the textbooks, 2% to 18% of the paragraphs with psychoanalytic content…

Developing students who can apply their knowledge of empirical research is a key outcome of the undergraduate psychology major. This learning outcome was assessed in two research methods courses by having students read and analyze a condensed empirical journal article. At the start and end of the semester, students in multiple sections of an…

Learning communities have become an integral part of the educational reform movement of the past two decades and have been heralded as a promising strategy for restructuring undergraduate education. This study used a matched control group design to examine the impact of participation in a psychology learning community (PLC) on a range of student…

This study used a national sample of PhD students in clinical psychology (N = 1,034) to explore when students decided to pursue their graduate degree, reasons for their decisions, and associated satisfaction. Results indicated that immediately after completing their undergraduate degree, 57% of current graduate students reported postponing…

Theories and research related to the unconscious can be found in every area of psychology, but there is no course devoted to the topic in the undergraduate curriculum. A capstone course on the unconscious is described. The course integrates topics across the major fields of psychology. Themes in the course include the existence of mental processes…

We conducted a random national survey of 100 doctoral, 100 comprehensive, and 100 baccalaureate institutions to determine the current state of the undergraduate health psychology course. We found clear evidence of a maturing course with much greater commonality in name (health psychology), theoretical foundation (the biopsychosocial model), and…

Early study of the curriculum focused on the ideal array of experiences that should comprise the psychology major. We developed a standardized coding scheme to identify common curricula and course titles across institutions and current implementation of the curriculum. We compared psychology major programs in 2005 to programs described a decade…