Introduction to psychology

Subject classification: this is a psychology resource.

Search for Psychology on Wikipedia.

Welcome to Introduction to Psychology which provides learning resources that can be used to introduce learners to psychology.

Objectives[edit | edit source]

At the end of the course the student will be able to:

Describe the scientific methods utilized in the study of human behavior;
Appreciate the diversity of the field of psychology and the dynamic nature of its continuing development and growth;
Understand the influence of biology, learning histories, situations, cognition, personality, and cultural factors, in the shaping and development of human behavior;
Understand the concepts, histories, methods of investigation, and theories of the different subfields of psychology;
Appreciate the importance of psychological principles as they apply to everyday life.

Outline[edit | edit source]

Introduction to psychology as a science
Research methods in psychology
Biological basis of behavior
Sensation and perception
States of consciousness
Human development
Learning
Memory
Language and cognition
Motivation and emotion
Personality
Intelligence
Psychological disorders
Psychotherapy and intervention
Social psychology
Media and communications psychology

Textbooks[edit | edit source]

Introductory psychology textbooks tend to cover a similar range of topics. It is recommended that this course use Introduction to Psychology (Wikibooks), as well as other online resources.

OpenStax has a free online introductory psychology textbook: Psychology 2e

Other[edit | edit source]

Saul Kassin's 'Psychology'.
Psychology by Alan J. Fridlund, Daniel Reisberg, Henry Gleitman. This textbook has been used for Stanford, Penn, MIT, and Harvard Introduction to Psychology courses.
Bernard J. Luskin, Casting the Net Over Global Learning, New Developments in Workforce Training and Online Psychologies, Griffin Publishing Group, 2002.