Robert F. Rhone
This unit will achieve objectives from both the stated City of New Haven curriculum and the National standards written by the American Psychological foundation. According to these standards students should be viewing the world with an empirical eye, which is exactly what students going through this unit will do. They will meet these standards and take them to the next step by applying some of them to their own lives. Students will have to show they have mastered these objectives by expressing them verbally as well as in written form, through a series of assessments. Including in this series will be: structured discussions, graphic organizers, rubrics for classroom activities and a culminating essay. The unit will also include some interdisciplinary objectives which include the Social Studies state standards (S.S.1.10); Explain how limited resources influence economic decisions. Explore the consumer culture's use of marketing and its effect on individuals students master this objective. (S.S.2.3) Create various forms of written work (e.g. journal, essay, web page) to demonstrate understanding of social studies issues. Students completing this unit will practice this skill with multiple assessments. The Psychological standards met by this unit include (IIC-1.1) Apply motivational concepts to the behavior of humans. Students will indicate this by describing their own motives, goals, and values in an essay, as well as structured discussions. (IIC-3.1) Describe one or more theories of motivation, such as expectancy value, cognitive dissonance, arousal, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and drive reduction. Students will indicate this by testing their own experiences against the drive reduction theory through a purchasing reflection journal. (IIC-5.1) Use expectancy-value theory to explain their own and other's behavior. Students will indicate this by analyzing how expectancy-value theory explains how they have spent their money over the time of their purchasing journal. This unit will also cover district standards including (PSY.8.1) Students will describe how the theories of Hull, Maslow, and Roger explain human behavior. Students will indicate this by completing a graphic organizer comparing the three psychologists. In addition to these standards this unit will provide practical knowledge and skills that students can take with them into their everyday nonacademic lives after High School.