Introductory Psychology Topics and Student Performance: Where's the Challenge?

Conventional wisdom is that some topics in introductory psychology are more difficult for students than others. Such wisdom seems reasonable given mismatches between students' and instructors' expectations and variations in both instructor expertise and student motivation across topical areas. Five instructors pooled students' exam performance data to investigate topical difficulty. Data showed that students performed better on questions about social psychology, memory, consciousness, and development than questions about biopsychology and emotion. Discussion includes possible explanations and considerations for course planning.