Introduction to Psychology
- Free
- No certificate
Introduction to Psychology is Paul Bloom's Spring 2007 course PSYC 110, recorded for Open Yale Courses as 20 lectures of about 75 minutes. It sets out three foundations first, the brain, Freud and Skinner, and then moves through child development, language, vision and memory, and the interplay of evolution, emotion and reason, with a guest lecture on love by Peter Salovey. The catalogue description promises answers to questions such as what dreams mean, whether apes can learn sign language and why we cannot tickle ourselves, and the syllabus lists the textbook and reader that the campus class used along with its reading responses, book review and exams.
Online viewers get every lecture as streaming or downloadable video, an audio version and a searchable transcript; none of the written work is graded. Open Yale Courses is free with no registration, and no certificate or credit is available. A Coursera edition with the same instructor is free to take in full, with a paid certificate as an option, and the lectures are also on YouTube.
What you’ll learn
- Compare the brain-based, Freudian and behaviorist foundations of modern psychology
- Describe how thought and language develop in infants and children
- Explain the basics of vision, memory and conscious experience
- Discuss how emotion and reasoning shape love, persuasion and decision-making
- Recognise how minds differ across people and how they break down through illness or injury
Who it’s for
A first, broad look at scientific psychology for readers who prefer full-length lectures and readings to short quizzes.
Source: Yale Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change
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