Introduction to Psychology

9.00SC is the OpenCourseWare Scholar version of MIT's survey course in psychology, built on John Gabrieli's fall 2011 lectures and organised for independent learners. It presents the scientific study of human nature: how the mind works and how the brain supports the mind. Topics include the mental and neural bases of perception, emotion, learning, memory, cognition, child development, personality, psychopathology and social interaction, and the course asks how such knowledge bears on debates about nature and nurture, free will, consciousness, human differences, self and society.

The session list moves from science and research methods through brain structure and function, vision, consciousness and attention, memory and learning, amnesia and memory systems, language, thinking and intelligence, and on to the later topics in the syllabus. Each session has a full lecture video, reading assignments in several books including one free online textbook, short check-yourself questions, discussion content that expands on the lectures, and further-study resources; a full set of exams with solution keys and extra practice questions is included, plus instructor insights on teaching a broad survey course. All material is free under a Creative Commons licence, with no registration and no certificate.