Table Of Contents
1.1.1
Amino Acids1.2.3
Repair of DNA (BIO)1.2.4
Genetic Code (BIO)1.2.5
Transcription (BIO)1.2.6
Translation (BIO)1.3.5
Evolution (BIO)1.5.3
Cytoskeleton (BIO)1.6.1
Cell Theory (BIO)1.7.1
Mitosis (BIO)1.7.2
Biosignaling (BC)1.7.4
Embryogenesis (BIO)1.8.2
Nerve Cell (BIO)1.8.4
Biosignalling (BC)1.8.5
Lipids (BC, OC)1.9.4
Immune System (BIO)1.9.8
Muscle System (BIO)1.9.10
Skeletal System (BIO)1.9.11
Skin System (BIO)2.1
Content Category 4A: Translational motion, forces, work, energy, and equilibrium in living systems2.1.1
MATH2.1.3
Force (PHY)2.1.4
Equilibrium (PHY)2.1.5
Work (PHY)2.2.1
Fluids (PHY)2.2.3
Gas Phase (GC, PHY)2.3.1
Electrostatics (PHY)2.3.3
Magnetism (PHY)2.4.1
Sound (PHY)2.5.5
Stoichiometry (GC)2.6.3
Solubility (GC)2.6.4
Titration (GC)2.7.1
Titration (GC)2.9.5
Lipids (BC, OC)2.9.6
Carbohydrates (OC)2.9.8
Alcohols (OC)2.9.11
Phenols (OC, BC)2.10.1
Enzymes (BC, BIO)3.1.2
Vision (PSY, BIO)3.1.3
Hearing (PSY, BIO)3.1.5
Perception (PSY)3.2.1
Attention (PSY)3.2.2
Cognition (PSY)3.2.3
Consciousness (PSY)3.2.4
Memory (PSY)3.2.5
Language (PSY)3.3.1
Emotion (PSY)3.3.2
Stress (PSY)3.4.2
Personality (PSY)3.4.4
Motivation (PSY)3.4.5
Attitudes (PSY)3.10.3
Culture (PSY, SOC)3.12.1
Spatial Inequality (SOC)3.12.2
Social Class (SOC)3.12.3
Health Disparities (SOC) Biological & Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems 
Content Category 1A: Structure and function of proteins and their constituent amino acids
- Denaturing and folding
- Hydrophobic interactions
- Solvation layer (entropy) (BC)
Separation Techniques
- Cofactors
- Coenzymes
- Water-soluble vitamins
Control of Enzyme Activity (BIO, BC)
Content Category 1B: Transmission of genetic information from the gene to the protein
Genetic Code (BIO)
- Transcriptional regulation
- DNA binding proteins, transcription factors
- Gene amplification and duplication
- Post-transcriptional control, basic concept of splicing (introns, exons)
- Cancer as a failure of normal cellular controls, oncogenes, tumor suppress or genes
- Regulation of chromatin structure
- DNA methylation
- Role of non-coding RNAs
- Gene cloning
- Restriction enzymes
- DNA libraries
- Generation of cDNA
- Hybridization
- Expressing cloned genes
- Polymerase chain reaction
- Gelelectrophoresis and Southern blotting
- DNA sequencing
- Analyzing gene expression
- Determining gene function
- Stem cells
- Practical applications of DNA technology: medical applications, human genetherapy, pharmaceuticals, forensic evidence, environmental cleanup, agriculture
- Safety and ethics of DNA technology
Content Category 1C: Transmission of heritable information from generation to generation and the processes that increase genetic diversity
Evidence that DNA is Genetic Material (BIO)
- Phenotype and genotype
- Gene
- Locus
- Allele: single and multiple
- Homozygosity and heterozygosity
- Wild-type
- Recessiveness
- Complete dominance
- Co-dominance
- Incomplete dominance, leakage, penetrance, expressivity
- Hybridization: viability
- Gene pool
Meiosis and Other Factors Affecting Genetic Variability (BIO)
- Single crossovers
- Double crossovers
- Synaptonemal complex
- Tetrad
- General concept of mutationโerror in DNA sequence
- Types of mutations: random, translation error, transcription error, base substitution, inversion, addition, deletion, translocation, mispairing
- Advantageous vs. deleterious mutation
- Inborn errors of metabolism
- Relationship of mutagens to carcinogens
Analytic Methods (BIO)
- HardyโWeinberg Principle
- Testcross (Backcross; concepts of parental, F1, and F2 generations)
- Gene mapping: crossover frequencies
- Biometry: statistical methods
- Fitness concept
- Selection by differential reproduction
- Concepts of natural and group selection
- Evolutionary success as increase in percent representation in the gene pool of the next generation
- Polymorphism
- Adaptation and specialization
- Inbreeding
- Outbreeding
- Bottlenecks
Content Category 1D: Principles of bioenergetics and fuel molecule metabolism
- Equilibrium constant
- Relationship of the equilibrium constant andโGยฐ
- Concentration
- Endothermic/exothermic reactions
- Free energy:G
- Spontaneous reactions and โGยฐ
- Half-reactions
- Soluble electron carriers
- Flavoproteins
- Nomenclature and classification, common names
- Absolute configuration
- Cyclic structure and conformations of hexoses
- Epimers and anomers
- Maintenance of a dynamic steady state
- NADH, NADPH
- Flavoproteins
- Cytochromes
- Higher level integration of hormone structure and function
- Tissue specific metabolism
- Hormonal regulation of fuel metabolism
- Obesity and regulation of body mass
Content Category 2A: Assemblies of molecules, cells, and groups of cells within single cellular andmulticelluar organisms
- Compartmentalization, storage of genetic information
- Nucleolus: location and function
- Nuclear envelope, nuclear pores
- Lysosomes: membrane-bound vesicles containing hydrolytic enzymes
- Endoplasmic reticulum
- Rough and smooth components
- Rough endoplasmic reticulum site of ribosomes
- Double membrane structure
- Role in membrane biosynthesis
- Role in biosynthesis of secreted proteins
- Golgi apparatus: general structure and role in packaging and secretion
- Peroxisomes: organelles that collect peroxides
- General function in cell support and movement
- Microfilaments: composition and role in cleavage and contractility
- Microtubules: composition and role in support and transport
- Intermediate filaments, role in support
- Composition and function of cilia and flagella
- Centrioles, microtubule organizing centers
Content Category 2B: The structure, growth, physiology, and genetics of prokaryotes and viruses
- Reproduction by fission
- High degree of genetic adaptability, acquisition of antibiotic resistance
- Exponential growth
- Existence of anaerobic and aerobic variants
- Parasitic and symbiotic
- Chemotaxis
Content Category 2C: Processes of cell division, differentiation, and specialization
- Differences in formation
- Differences inmorphology
- Relative contribution to next generation
- First cell movements
- Formation of primary germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, ectoderm)
- Waxes
- Major structures arising out of primary germ layers
- Neural crest
- Environmentโgene interaction in development
- Determination
- Differentiation
- Tissue types
- Cellโcell communication in development
- Cell migration
- Pluripotency: stem cells
- Gene regulation in development
- Programmed cell death
- Existence of regenerative capacity in various species
- Senescence and aging
Content Category 3A: Structure and functions of the nervous and endocrine systems and ways in which these systems coordinate the organ systems
- Organization of vertebrate nervous system
- Sensor and effector neurons
- Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems: antagonistic control
- Reflexes
- Feedback loop, reflex arc
- Role of spinal cord and supraspinalcircuits
- Integration with endocrine system: feedback control
Nerve Cell (BIO)
- Cell body: site of nucleus, organelles
- Dendrites: branched extensions of cell body
- Axon: structure and function
- Myelin sheath, Schwann cells, insulation of axon
- Nodes of Ranvier: propagation of nerve impulse along axon
- Synapse: site of impulse propagation between cells
- Synaptic activity: transmitter molecules
- Resting potential: electrochemical gradient
- Action potential
- Excitatory and inhibitory nerve fibers: summation, frequency of firing
- Glial cells, neuroglia
- Steroids
- Terpenes and terpenoids
- Function of endocrine system: specific chemical control at cell, tissue, and organ level
- Definitions of endocrine gland, hormone
- Major endocrine glands: names, locations, products
- Major types of hormones
- Neuroendrocrinologyโrelation between neurons and hormonal systems
- Cellular mechanisms of hormone action
- Transport of hormones: blood supply
- Specificity of hormones: target tissue
- Integration with nervous system: feedback control
- Regulation by second messengers
Content Category 3B: Structure and integrative functions of the main organ systems
- Thermoregulation: nasal and tracheal capillary beds; evaporation, panting
- Particulate filtration: nasal hairs, mucus/cilia system in lungs
- Alveolar gas exchange
- Functions: circulation of oxygen, nutrients, hormones, ions and fluids, removal of metabolic waste
- Role in thermoregulation
- Four-chambered heart: structure and function
- Endothelial cells
- Systolic and diastolic pressure
- Pulmonary and systemic circulation
- Arterial and venous systems (arteries, arterioles, venules, veins)
- Structural and functional differences
- Pressure and flow characteristics
- Capillary beds
- Mechanisms of gas and solute exchange
- Mechanism of heat exchange
- Source of peripheral resistance
- Plasma, chemicals, blood cells
- Erythrocyte production and destruction; spleen, bone marrow
- Regulation of plasma volume
- Coagulation, clotting mechanisms
- Oxygen transport by blood
- Hemoglobin, hematocrit
- Oxygen content
- Oxygen affinity
- Structure of lymphatic system
- Major functions
- Equalization of fluid distribution
- Transport of proteins and large glycerides
- Production of lymphocytes involved in immune reactions
- Return of materials to the blood
- Concept of antigen and antibody
- Antigen presentation
- Clonal selection
- Antigen-antibody recognition
- Structure of antibody molecule
- Recognition of self vs. non-self, autoimmune diseases
- Major histocompatibility complex
- Saliva as lubrication and source of enzymes
- Ingestion; esophagus, transport function
- Storage and churning of food
- Low pH, gastric juice, mucal protection against self-destruction
- Production of digestive enzymes, site of digestion
- Structure (gross)
- Structural relationship of liver within gastrointestinal system
- Production of bile
- Role in blood glucose regulation, detoxification
- Storage in gall bladder
- Function
- Production of enzymes
- Transport of enzymes to small intestine
- Absorption of food molecules and water
- Function and structure of villi
- Production of enzymes, site of digestion
- Neutralization of stomach acid
- Structure (anatomic subdivisions)
- Absorption of water
- Bacterial flora
- Structure (gross)
- Rectum: storage and elimination of waste, feces
- Muscular control
- Hormones
- Target tissues
- Blood pressure
- Osmoregulation
- Acidโbase balance
- Removal of soluble nitrogenous waste
- Glomerular filtration
- Secretion and reabsorption of solutes
- Concentration of urine
- Counter-current multiplier mechanism
- Storage and elimination: ureter, bladder, urethra
- Osmoregulation: capillary reabsorption of H2O, amino acids, glucose, ions
- Muscular control: sphincter muscle
- Male and female sexual development
- Female reproductive cycle
- Pregnancy, parturition, lactation
- Integration with nervous control
- Support: mobility
- Peripheral circulatory assistance
- Thermoregulation (shivering reflex)
- T-tubule system
- Contractile apparatus
- Sarcoplasmic reticulum
- Fiber type
- Contractile velocity of different muscle types
- Regulation of cardiac muscle contraction
- Oxygen debt: fatigue
- Nervous control
- Motor neurons
- Neuromuscular junction, motor end plates
- Sympathetic and parasympathetic innervation
- Voluntary and involuntary muscles
Specialized Cell-Muscle Cell (BIO)
- Structural characteristics of striated, smooth, and cardiac muscle
- Abundant mitochondria in red muscle cells: ATP source
- Organization of contractile elements: actin and myosin filaments, cross bridges, sliding filament model
- Sarcomeres: โIโ and โAโ bands, โMโ and โZโ lines, โHโ zone
- Presence of troponin and tropomyosin
- Calcium regulation of contraction
- Structural rigidity and support
- Calcium storage
- Physical protection
- Specialization of bone types, structures
- Joint structures
- Endoskeleton vs. exoskeleton
- Calcium/protein matrix
- Cellular composition of bone
- Cartilage: structure and function
- Ligaments, tendons
- Endocrine control
- Layer differentiation, cell types
- Relative impermeability to water
- Hair, erectile musculature
- Fat layer for insulation
- Sweat glands, location in dermis
- Vasoconstriction and vasodilation in surface capillaries
- Physical protection
- Nails, calluses, hair
- Protection against abrasion, disease organisms
- Hormonal control: sweating, vasodilation, and vasoconstriction
Chemical & Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
Content Category 4A: Translational motion, forces, work, energy, and equilibrium in living systems
MATH
Translational Motion (PHY)
- PE =mgh(gravitational, local)
- PE = ยฝkx2(spring)
- Conservation of energy
- Power, units
Content Category 4B: Importance offluids for the circulation of blood, gas movement, and gas exchange
- Viscosity: Poiseuille Flow
- Continuity equation (Aยทv= constant)
- Concept of turbulence at high velocities
- Surface tension
- Bernoulliโs equation
- Venturi effect, pitot tube
Circulatory System (BIO)
- Arterial and venous systems; pressure and flow characteristics
- Absolute temperature, (K) Kelvin Scale
- Pressure, simple mercury barometer
- Molar volume at 0ยฐC and 1 atm = 22.4 L/mol
- Ideal gas
- Heat capacity at constant volume and at constant pressure (PHY)
- Boltzmannโs Constant (PHY)
- Qualitative
- Quantitative (Van der Waalsโ Equation)
- Partial pressure, mole fraction
- Daltonโs Law relating partial pressure to composition
Content Category 4C: Electrochemistry and electrical circuits and their elements
- Field lines
- Field due to charge distribution
- Current I = 6Q/6t, sign conventions, units
- Electromotive force, voltage
- Resistance
- Parallel plate capacitor
- Energy of charged capacitor
- Capacitors in series
- Capacitors in parallel
- Dielectric
- Metallic
- Electrolytic
- Electrolysis
- Anode, cathode
- Electrolyte
- Faradayโs Law relating amount of elements deposited (or gas liberated) at an electrode to current
- Electron flow; oxidation, and reduction at the electrodes
- Half-reactions
- Reduction potentials; cell potential
- Direction of electron flow
- Electromotive force, Voltage
- Lead-storage batteries
- Nickel-cadmium batteries
Specialized Cell-Nerve Cell (BIO)
- Myelin sheath, Schwann cells, insulation of axon
- Nodes of Ranvier: propagation of nerve impulse along axon
Content Category 4D: How light and sound interact with matter
- Production of sound
- Relative speed of sound in solids,liquids, and gases
- Intensity of sound, decibel units, log scale
- Attenuation (Damping)
- Doppler Effect: moving sound source or observer, reflection of sound from a moving object
- Pitch
- Resonance in pipes and strings
- Ultrasound
- Shock waves
- Velocity equals constant c,in vacuo
- Electromagnetic radiation consists of perpendicularly oscillating electric andmagnetic fields; direction of propagation is perpendicular to both
- Classification of electromagnetic spectrum, photon energy E=hf
- Visual spectrum, color
- Intramolecular vibrations and rotations
- Recognizing common characteristic group absorptions, fingerprint region
- Visible region (GC)
- Absorption in visible region gives complementary color (e.g., carotene)
- Effect of structural changes on absorption (e.g., indicators)
- ฯ-Electron and non-bonding electron transitions
- Conjugated systems
- Protons in a magnetic field; equivalentprotons
- Spin-spin splitting
- Thin lenses
- Converging and diverging lenses
- Use of formula 1/p+ 1/q= 1/f, with sign conventions
- Lens strength, diopters
- Combination of lenses
- Lens aberration
- Optical Instruments, including the human eye
Content Category 4E: Atoms, nuclear decay, electronic structure, and atomic chemical behavior
- Atomic number, atomic weight
- Neutrons, protons, isotopes
- Nuclear forces, binding energy
- Radioactive decay
- โบ, ฮฒ,ฮณ decay
- Half-life, exponential decay, semi-log plots
- Mass spectrometer
- Orbital structure of hydrogen atom, principal quantum number n, number of electrons per orbital (GC)
- Ground state, excited states
- Absorption and emission line spectra
- Use of Pauli Exclusion Principle
- Paramagnetism and diamagnetism
- Conventional notation for electronic structure (GC)
- Bohr atom
- Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
- Effective nuclear charge (GC)
- Photoelectric effect
- Alkali metals
- Alkaline earth metals: their chemical characteristics
- Halogens: their chemical characteristics
- Noble gases: their physical and chemical characteristics
- Transition metals
- Representative elements
- Metals and non-metals
- Oxygen group
The Periodic Table-Variations of Chemical Properties with Group and Row (GC)
- Definition
- Prediction from electronic structure for elements in different groups or rows
- Definition
- Variation with group and row
- Definition
- Comparative values for some representative elements and important groups
- Electron shells and the sizes of atoms
- Electron shells and the sizes of ions
- Molecular weight
- Empirical versus molecular formula
- Metric units commonly used in the context of chemistry
- Description of composition by percent mass
- Mole concept, Avogadroโs number NA
- Definition of density
- Oxidation number
- Common oxidizing and reducing agents
- Disproportionation reactions
- Description of reactions by chemical equations
- Conventions for writing chemical equations
- Balancing equations, including redox equations
- Limiting reactants
- Theoretical yields
Content Category 5A: Unique nature of water and its solutions
- BrรธnstedโLowry definition of acid, base
- Ionization of water
- Kw, its approximate value (Kw= [H+][OHโ] = 10โ14at 25ยฐC, 1 atm)
- Definition of pH: pH of pure water
- Dissociation of weak acids and bases with or without added salt
- Hydrolysis of salts of weak acids or bases
- Calculation of pH of solutions of salts of weak acids or bases
- Equilibrium constants Ka and Kb: pKa, pKb
- Buffers
- Definition and concepts (common buffer systems)
- Influence on titration curves
Ions in Solutions (GC, BC)
- Anion, cation: common names, formulas and charges for familiar ions (e.g., NH4+ammonium,PO43โphosphate, SO42โsulfate)
- Hydration, the hydronium ion
- Units of concentration (e.g., molarity)
- Solubility product constant; the equilibrium expression Ksp
- Common-ion effect, its use in laboratory separations
- Complex ion formation
- Complex ions and solubility
- Solubility and pH
- Indicators
- Neutralization
- Interpretation of the titration curves
- Redox titration
Content Category 5B: Nature of molecules and intermolecular interactions
- Lewis Electron Dot formulas
- Resonance structures
- Formal charge
- Lewis acids and bases
- Partial ionic character
- o and n bonds
- Hybrid orbitals: sp3, sp2, sp and respective geometries
- Valence shell electron pair repulsion and the prediction of shapes of molecules (e.g.,NH3, H2O, CO2)
- Structural formulas for molecules involving H, C, N, O, F, S, P, Si, Cl
- Delocalized electrons and resonance in ions and molecules
- Multiple bonding
- Effect on bond length and bond energies
- Rigidity in molecular structure
- Stereochemistry of covalently bonded molecules(OC)
- Structural isomers
- Stereoisomers (e.g., diastereomers, enantiomers, cis/trans isomers)
- Conformational isomers
- Polarization of light, specific rotation
- Absolute and relative configuration
- Conventions for writing R and S forms
- Conventions for writing E and Z forms
Liquid Phase-Intermolecular Forces (GC)
Content Category 5C: Separation and purification methods
- Basic principles involved in separation process
- Column chromatography, gas-liquid chromatography
- High pressure liquid chromatography
- Separation and purification of peptides and proteins (BC)
- Electrophoresis
- Quantitative analysis
- Chromatography
- Size-exclusion
- Ion-exchange
- Affinity
- Racemic mixtures, separation of enantiomers (OC)
Content Category 5D: Structure, function, and reactivity of biologically-relevant molecules
- Sugar phosphate backbone
- Pyrimidine, purine residues
- Deoxyribonucleic acid: DNA; double helix
- Chemistry (BC)
- Other functions (BC)
- Absolute configuration at the aposition
- Dipolar ions
- Classification
- Sulfur linkage for cysteine and cystine
- Peptide linkage: polypeptides and proteins
- Hydrolysis (BC)
- General Principles
- Hydrophobic interactions
- Solvation layer (entropy)
- Quaternary structure
- Denaturing and Folding
- Storage
- Triacylglycerols
- Free fatty acids: saponification
- Structural
- Signals/cofactors
- Fat-soluble vitamins
- Steroids
- Prostaglandins (BC)
- Nomenclature and classification, common names
- Absolute configuration
- Cyclic structure and conformations of hexoses
- Epimers and anomers
- Hydrolysis of the glycoside linkage
- Keto-enol tautomerism of monosaccharides
- Disaccharides (BC)
- Polysaccharides (BC)
- Nomenclature
- Physical properties
- Acetal, hemiacetal
- Imine, enamine
- Hydride reagents
- Cyanohydrin
- Oxidation of aldehydes
- Reactions at adjacent positions: enolate chemistry
- Keto-enol tautomerism (a-racemization)
- Aldol condensation, retro-aldol
- Kinetic versus thermodynamicenolate
- General principles
- Effect of substituents on reactivity of C=O; steric hindrance
- Acidity of a-H; carbanions
- Important reactions
- Oxidation
- Substitution reactions: SN1 or SN2
- Protection of alcohols
- Preparation of mesylates and tosylates
- Nomenclature
- Physical properties
- Important reactions
- Carboxyl group reactions
- Reactions at 2-position, substitution
- Nomenclature
- Physical properties
- Important reactions
- General principles
- Relative reactivity of acid derivatives
- Steric effects
- Electronic effects
- Strain (e.g., รพ-lactams)
Polycyclic and Heterocyclic Aromatic Compounds (OC, BC)
- Biological aromatic heterocycles
Content Category 5E: Principles of chemical thermodynamics and kinetics
- Classification by reaction type
- Mechanism
- Substrates and enzyme specificity
- Active site model
- Induced-fit model
- Cofactors, coenzymes, and vitamins
- General (catalysis)
- MichaelisโMenten
- Cooperativity
- Effects of local conditions on enzyme activity
- Inhibition
- Regulatory enzymes
- Allosteric
- Covalently modified
- Free energy/Keq
- Concentration
- Phosphorylation/ATP
- Half-reactions
- Soluble electron carriers
- Flavoproteins
- Thermodynamic systemโstate function
- Zeroth Lawโconcept of temperature
- First Lawโconservation of energy in thermodynamic processes
- PV diagram: work done = area under or enclosed by curve (PHY)
- Second Lawโconcept of entropy
- Entropy as a measure of โdisorderโ
- Relative entropy for gas, liquid, and crystal states
- Enthalpy, H, and standard heats of reaction and formation
- Hessโ Law of Heat Summation
- Bond dissociation energy as related to heats of formation (GC)
- Free energy: G(GC)
- Spontaneous reactions and โGยฐ (GC)
- Coefficient of expansion (PHY)
- Heat of fusion, heat of vaporization
- Phase diagram: pressure and temperature
- Reaction rate
- Dependence of reaction rate on concentration of reactants
- Activated complex or transition state
- Interpretation of energy profiles showing energies of reactants, products, activation energy, and 6Hfor the reaction
- Use of the Arrhenius Equation
- Kinetic control versus thermodynamic control of a reaction
- Catalysts
- Equilibrium in reversible chemical reactions
- Relationship of the equilibrium constant and ฮGยฐ
Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
Content Category 6A: Sensing the environment
- Threshold
- Weberโs Law (PSY)
- Signal detection theory (PSY)
- Sensory adaptation
- Psychophysics
- Sensory pathways
- Types of sensory receptor
- Structure and function of the eye
- Visual processing
- Visual pathways in the brain
- Parallel processing (PSY)
- Feature detection (PSY)
- Structure and function of the ear
- Auditory processing (e.g., auditory pathways in the brain)
- Sensory reception by hair cells
- Somatosensation (e.g., pain perception)
- Taste (e.g., taste buds/chemoreceptors that detect specific chemicals)
- Smell
- Olfactory cells/chemoreceptors that detect specific chemicals
- Pheromones (BIO)
- Olfactory pathways in the brain (BIO)
- Kinesthetic sense (PSY)
- Vestibular sense
Content Category 6B: Making sense of the environment
- Selective attention
- Divided attention
- Piagetโs stages of cognitive development
- Cognitive changes in late adulthood
- Role of culture in cognitive development
- Influence of heredity and environment on cognitive development
- Biological factors that affect cognition (PSY, BIO)
- Problem solving and decision making
- Types of problem solving
- Barriers to effective problem solving
- Approaches to problem solving
- Heuristics and biases(e.g., overconfidence, belief perseverance)
- Intellectual functioning
- Theories of intelligence
- Influence of heredity and environment on intelligence
- Variations in intellectual ability
- Alertness (PSY, BIO)
- Sleep
- Stages of sleep
- Sleep cycles and changes to sleep cycles
- Sleep and circadian rhythms (PSY, BIO)
- Dreaming
- Sleepโwake disorders
- Hypnosis and meditation
- Consciousness-altering drugs
- Types of consciousness-altering drugs and their effects on the nervous systemandbehavior
- Drug addiction and the reward pathway in the brain
- Process of encoding information
- Processes that aid in encoding memories
- Types of memory storage (e.g., sensory, working, long-term)
- Semantic networks and spreading activation
- Recall, recognition, and relearning
- Retrieval cues
- The role of emotion in retrieving memories (PSY, BIO)
- Processes that aid retrieval
- Forgetting
- Aging and memory
- Memory dysfunctions (e.g., Alzheimerโs disease, Korsakoffโs syndrome)
- Decay
- Interference
- Memory construction and source monitoring
- Changes in synaptic connections underlie memory and learning (PSY, BIO)
- Neural plasticity
- Long-term potentiation
Content Category 6C: Responding to the world
- JamesโLange theory
- CannonโBard theory
- SchachterโSinger theory
- The role of biological processes in perceiving emotion(PSY, BIO)
- Brain regions involved in the generation and experience of emotions
- The role of the limbic system in emotion
- Emotion and the autonomic nervous system
- Physiological markers of emotion (signatures of emotion)
- The nature of stress
Content Category 7A: Individual influences on behavior
- Components of the endocrine system
- Effects of the endocrine system on behavior
- Behavioral genetics
- Genes, temperament, and heredity
- Adaptive value of traits and behaviors
- Interaction between heredity and environmental influences
- Influence of genetic and environmental factors on the development of behaviors
- Experience and behavior (PSY)
- Regulatory genes and behavior (BIO)
- Genetically based behavioral variation in natural populations
- Human physiological development (PSY)
- Prenatal development
- Motor development
- Developmental changes in adolescence
- Situational approach to explaining behavior
- Biomedical vs. biopsychosocial approaches
- Classifying psychological disorders
- Rates of psychological disorders
- Anxiety disorders
- Obsessiveโcompulsive disorder
- Trauma-and stressor-related disorders
- Somatic symptom and related disorders
- Bipolar and related disorders
- Depressive disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Dissociative disorders
- Personality disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Depression
- Alzheimerโs disease
- Parkinsonโs disease
- Stem cell-based therapy to regenerate neurons in the central nervous system (BIO)
- Factors that influence motivation
- Instinct
- Factors that influence motivation
- Incentive theory
- Other theories (e.g., cognitive, need-based)
- Biological and sociocultural motivators that regulate behavior(e.g., hunger, sex drive, substanceaddiction)
- Processes by which behavior influences attitudes (e.g., foot-in-the door phenomenon, role-playing effects)
- Processes by which attitudes influence behavior
- Cognitive dissonance theory
Content Category 7B: Social processes that influence human behavior
How the Presence of Others Affects Individual Behavior (PSY)
Normative and Non-normative Behavior (SOC)
- Sanctions (SOC)
- Folkways, mores, and taboos (SOC)
- Anomie (SOC)
- Deviance
- Perspectives on deviance (e.g., differential association, labeling theory, strain theory)
- Aspects of collective behavior (e.g., fads, mass hysteria, riots)
Content Category 7C: Attitude and behavior change
Habituation and Dishabituation (PSY)
- Neutral, conditioned, and unconditioned stimuli
- Conditioned and unconditioned response
- Processes: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination
- Processes of shaping and extinction
- Types of reinforcement: positive, negative, primary, conditional
- Reinforcement schedules: fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, variable-interval
- Punishment
- Escape and avoidance learning
- The role of cognitive processes in associative learning
- Biological processes that affect associative learning (e.g., biological predispositions, instinctive drift) (PSY, BIO)
- Modeling
- Biological processes that affect observational learning
- Mirror neurons
- Role of the brain in experiencing vicarious emotions
- Elaboration likelihood model
- Social cognitive theory
- Factors that affect attitude change (e.g., changing behavior, characteristics of the message and target, social factors)
Content Category 8A: Self-identity
- Theories of identity development (e.g., gender, moral, psychosexual, social)
- Influence of social factors on identity formation
- Influence of individuals (e.g., imitation, looking-glass self, role-taking)
- Influence of groups (e.g., reference group)
- Influence of culture and socialization on identity formation
Content Category 8B: Social thinking
Attributing Behavior to Persons or Situations (PSY)
- Attributional processes(e.g., fundamental attribution error, role of culture in attributions)
- How self-perceptions shape our perceptions of others
- How perceptions of the environment shape our perceptions of others
- Processes that contribute to prejudice
- Power, prestige, and class (SOC)
- The role of emotion in prejudice (PSY)
- The role of cognition in prejudice (PSY)
- Ethnocentrism vs. cultural relativism
Processes Related to Stereotypes (PSY)
- Self-fulfilling prophecy
- Stereotype threat
Content Category 8C: Social interactions
- Types of status (e.g., achieved, ascribed)
- Role conflict and role strain
- Role exit (SOC)
- Primary and secondary groups (SOC)
- In-group vs. out-group
- Group size (e.g., dyads, triads) (SOC)
- Organizations (SOC)
- Formal organization
- Bureaucracy
- Characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy
- Perspectives on bureaucracy (e.g., iron law of oligarchy, McDonaldization)
Self-presentation and Interacting with Others (PSY, SOC)
- Expressing and detecting emotion
- The role of gender in the expression and detection of emotion
- The role of culture in the expression and detection of emotion
- Presentation of self
- Foraging behavior (BIO)
- Mating behavior and mate choice
- Applying game theory (BIO)
- Altruism
- Inclusive fitness (BIO)
- Individual vs. institutional discrimination (SOC)
- The relationship between prejudice and discrimination
- How power, prestige, and class facilitate discrimination (SOC)
Content Category 9A: Understanding social structure
- Microsociology vs. macrosociology
- Functionalism
- Conflict theory
- Symbolic interactionism
- Social constructionism
- Exchange-rational choice
- Feminist theory
- Hidden curriculum
- Teacher expectancy
- Educational segregation and stratification
- Forms of kinship (SOC)
- Diversity in family forms
- Marriage and divorce
- Violence in the family (e.g., child abuse, elder abuse, spousal abuse) (SOC)
- Religiosity
- Types of religious organizations (e.g., churches, sects, cults)
- Religion and social change (e.g., modernization, secularization, fundamentalism)
- Power and authority
- Comparative economic and political systems
- Division of labor
- Medicalization
- The sick role
- Delivery of health care
- Illness experience
- Social epidemiology
- Elements of culture (e.g., beliefs, language, rituals, symbols, values)
- Material vs. symbolic culture (SOC)
- Culture lag (SOC)
- Culture shock (SOC)
- Assimilation (SOC)
- Multiculturalism (SOC)
- Subcultures and countercultures (SOC)
- Mass media and popular culture (SOC)
- Evolution and human culture (PSY, BIO)
- Transmission and diffusion (SOC)
Content Category 9B: Demographic characteristics and processes
- Aging and the life course
- Age cohorts (SOC)
- Social significance of aging
- Sex versus gender
- The social construction of gender (SOC)
- Gender segregation (SOC)
- The social construction of race
- Racialization
- Racial formation
- Immigration status (SOC)
- Patterns of immigration
- Intersections with race and ethnicity
- Sexual orientation
- Fertility and mortality rates (e.g., total, crude, age-specific)
- Patterns in fertility and mortality
- Push and pull factors in migration
- Relative deprivation
- Organization of social movements
- Movement strategies and tactics
- Factors contributing to globalization (e.g., communication technology, economic interdependence)
- Perspectives on globalization
- Social changes in globalization (e.g., civil unrest, terrorism)
- Urbanization
- Industrialization and urban growth
- Suburbanization and urban decline
- Gentrification and urban renewal
Content Category 10A: Social inequality
- Residential segregation
- Neighborhood safety and violence
- Environmental justice (location and exposure to health risks)
- Social class and socioeconomic status
- Class consciousness and false consciousness
- Cultural capital and social capital
- Social reproduction
- Power, privilege, and prestige
- Intersectionality (e.g., race, gender, age)
- Socioeconomic gradient in health
- Global inequalities
- Patterns of social mobility
- Relative and absolute poverty
- Social exclusion (segregation andisolation)
(e.g., class, gender, and race inequalities in health)
(e.g., class, gender, and race inequalities in health care)