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Introduction to Psychology

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Introduction to Psychology

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.9

32,612 reviews

Beginner level
No prior experience required
Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
4.9

32,612 reviews

Beginner level
No prior experience required
Flexible schedule
2 weeks at 10 hours a week
Learn at your own pace

There are 7 modules in this course

What are people most afraid of? What do our dreams mean? Are we natural-born racists? What makes us happy? What are the causes and cures of mental illness? This course tries to answer these questions and many others, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. It explores topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, persuasion, emotions, and social behavior. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.

Meet Paul Bloom, your instructor.

What's included

2 videos3 readings1 discussion prompt

2 videosβ€’Total 8 minutes
  • How to take this courseβ€’3 minutes
  • The astonishing hypothesisβ€’5 minutes
3 readingsβ€’Total 50 minutes
  • About this courseβ€’10 minutes
  • Introductory readingsβ€’30 minutes
  • Optional Happiness Surveyβ€’10 minutes
1 discussion promptβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Your Interest in this courseβ€’10 minutes

In this module, you will learn about foundational psychological theories and findings in psychology. We will start with the discovery that our mental lives have a physical basis, introducing the field of neuroscience. And then we will turn to two major psychological theories that have come to shape the world that we now live inβ€”Freud’s psychodynamic theory and Skinner’s theory of behaviorism.

What's included

16 videos3 readings1 assignment

16 videosβ€’Total 131 minutes
  • Dualismβ€’15 minutes
  • Neuronsβ€’14 minutes
  • Parts of the brainβ€’9 minutes
  • Our two brainsβ€’6 minutes
  • A bit of humilityβ€’6 minutes
  • Sigmund Freudβ€’3 minutes
  • The psychodynamic approachβ€’10 minutes
  • Stages of developmentβ€’6 minutes
  • Defense mechanismsβ€’7 minutes
  • Scientific assessment of Freudβ€’8 minutes
  • Taking Freud seriouslyβ€’4 minutes
  • B.F. Skinnerβ€’4 minutes
  • Habituationβ€’2 minutes
  • Classical conditioningβ€’12 minutes
  • Instrumental conditioningβ€’15 minutes
  • Scientific assessment of Skinnerβ€’11 minutes
3 readingsβ€’Total 95 minutes
  • The Brainβ€’35 minutes
  • Freudβ€’25 minutes
  • Skinnerβ€’35 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Foundationsβ€’30 minutes

In this module, you will learn about foundational psychological research into development and language. Specifically, you will learn about methods for studying how infants and children think and the core discoveries that they have led to. Then you will learn about the structure of language, how language is learned, and end with a little bit on animal communication, language processing, and relationship between language and thought.

What's included

14 videos2 readings1 assignment

14 videosβ€’Total 111 minutes
  • Big questions about developmentβ€’6 minutes
  • Piagetβ€’5 minutes
  • Piaget's Developmental Stage Theoryβ€’8 minutes
  • Scientific evaluation of Piagetβ€’4 minutes
  • Methods for studying infantsβ€’14 minutes
  • How are children different from adults?β€’6 minutes
  • Explanations for developmentβ€’11 minutes
  • What is language?β€’3 minutes
  • Basic facts about languageβ€’11 minutes
  • Phonologyβ€’3 minutes
  • Morphologyβ€’5 minutes
  • Syntaxβ€’8 minutes
  • Language acquisitionβ€’14 minutes
  • Language and thoughtβ€’11 minutes
2 readingsβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Developmentβ€’20 minutes
  • Languageβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Development and languageβ€’30 minutes

In this module, you will learn about cognitive psychology. Specifically, you will learn about how we perceive the world, how attention works, and we store our experiences in memory.

What's included

12 videos2 readings1 assignment1 plugin

12 videosβ€’Total 65 minutes
  • From the world to the mindβ€’2 minutes
  • Problems of perceptionβ€’6 minutes
  • Perception of brightnessβ€’2 minutes
  • Perception of objectsβ€’4 minutes
  • Perception of depthβ€’6 minutes
  • Attentionβ€’9 minutes
  • Important memory distinctionsβ€’3 minutes
  • Memory storageβ€’7 minutes
  • Learningβ€’6 minutes
  • Rememberingβ€’5 minutes
  • Failures of memoryβ€’10 minutes
  • False memoriesβ€’6 minutes
2 readingsβ€’Total 20 minutes
  • Perception and attentionβ€’10 minutes
  • Memoryβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Cognitionβ€’30 minutes
1 pluginβ€’Total 21 minutes
  • TED - Joshua Foer - Feats of memory anyone can doβ€’21 minutes

In this module, you will learn about psychology examining the self and others. Specifically, in the first half, you will learn about social and non-social emotions. In the second half, you will learn about how we deal with other peopleβ€”social psychology.

What's included

15 videos2 readings1 assignment

15 videosβ€’Total 122 minutes
  • Evolution of emotionβ€’10 minutes
  • Why evolution mattersβ€’13 minutes
  • Facial expressionsβ€’7 minutes
  • Fearβ€’5 minutes
  • Kinshipβ€’7 minutes
  • Attachmentβ€’9 minutes
  • Prisoner's dilemmaβ€’13 minutes
  • Irrationality and cultureβ€’9 minutes
  • Social animalsβ€’3 minutes
  • Selfβ€’13 minutes
  • Attributionβ€’5 minutes
  • Likingβ€’8 minutes
  • The psychology of groupsβ€’4 minutes
  • Social categoriesβ€’5 minutes
  • Social categories IIβ€’11 minutes
2 readingsβ€’Total 45 minutes
  • Emotionsβ€’35 minutes
  • Socialβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Self and othersβ€’30 minutes

In this module, you will learn human variation. The focus will focus on personality and intelligence, and the role of genes and environment in explaining individual differences. The second half will focus on clinical psychology by reviewing prominent mental illnesses and therapies.

What's included

13 videos2 readings1 assignment

13 videosβ€’Total 87 minutes
  • How are we different?β€’3 minutes
  • Personalityβ€’7 minutes
  • Intelligenceβ€’6 minutes
  • Behavioral geneticsβ€’7 minutes
  • Major discoveries about genes and environmentβ€’6 minutes
  • Parentingβ€’8 minutes
  • Mental illnessβ€’7 minutes
  • Schizophreniaβ€’10 minutes
  • Mood disordersβ€’9 minutes
  • Anxiety disordersβ€’6 minutes
  • Dissociative Disordersβ€’7 minutes
  • Personality disordersβ€’4 minutes
  • Therapyβ€’8 minutes
2 readingsβ€’Total 45 minutes
  • Differencesβ€’10 minutes
  • Clinical psychologyβ€’35 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Variationβ€’30 minutes

In the final module, you will learn how psychologists measure happiness and what factors contribute to the good life

What's included

7 videos2 readings1 assignment

7 videosβ€’Total 26 minutes
  • Positive psychologyβ€’2 minutes
  • What is happiness?β€’4 minutes
  • Happiness set pointβ€’10 minutes
  • Happiness is relativeβ€’3 minutes
  • Judgments about past events are skewedβ€’3 minutes
  • Humility and Optimismβ€’3 minutes
  • Now what?β€’2 minutes
2 readingsβ€’Total 20 minutes
  • Happinessβ€’10 minutes
  • Optional Happiness Survey - Follow Upβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 20 minutes
  • Happiness β€’20 minutes

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.9 (12,053 ratings)
Yale University
2 Coursesβ€’1,732,204 learners

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Showing 3 of 32612

AR
Β·

Reviewed on Jun 26, 2020

This was my second course using this site, and with Professor Bloom, and once again it was great. I've genuinely learnt a lot, and I've found a new love for psychology I never would have found before.

AS
Β·

Reviewed on Nov 29, 2020

I have always wondered how human psychology works. This module has helped to learn so much about psychology in a systematic way. The content is very descriptive and one can grasp the concept easily.

FJ
Β·

Reviewed on Sep 26, 2019

I absolutely enjoyed taking this course! Professor Bloom did an incredible job explaining the course material and providing additional reading materials to further my knowledge throughout this course.

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