Overview

From Freud to fMRIs, explore the fascinating world of psychology and its complex history—and gain a few tips to improve your mindset and optimize your life.

Psychology in the 21st century is not the seemingly static clinical field that you may have learned about in high school. Now there’s a substantial focus on “mindset” and the malleable nature of our experiences. When we understand how our mindset works, we can influence our behavior. There is also a greater emphasis on how the principles of psychology can help you to improve your everyday life, including how understanding your perceptions can help you to better understand the world.

Human beings are endlessly fascinating. Our social organization, our perceptions of the world, our emotional range, and our inner thoughts all define what it means to be human. The field of psychology has always been the scientific study of mental processes and behavior, helping us to understand ourselves and the world around us. How do we think, feel, and remember? Why do we act the way we do? And, most important, is there any way we can train our minds to improve our lives?

What’s new in the field of psychology is that many answers to these questions are beginning to be well understood. From the days of Freud and Skinner to the modern science of fMRIs and genetics, Introduction to Psychology is a grand introduction to one of the most captivating fields of inquiry—where the subject is you, and everyone around you. Taught by Professor Catherine A. Sanderson of Amherst College, these 36 insightful lessons not only give you a panoramic grounding in the history, methods, and fundamental findings of psychology, but they also introduce you to the most up-to-date 21st-century research and discoveries—including strategies to increase your happiness and to improve how to live your life.

When you complete Introduction to Psychology, you will come away with a new way of looking at the human experience. You will have gained insights to help you better understand yourself. And your new wealth of strategies will help you to think more clearly, be more courageous, strengthen relationships, and generally experience greater psychological and physical well-being.

Course Outline

01: Psychology, You, and Your World

Your survey begins with an introduction to the field of psychology and an overview of the major ideas of the field, examining how modern psychology is practiced now versus in the past, and why it is so fascinating.

Duration: 29 min

02: How and Why Psychology Matters

Investigate the real-world impact of psychology and the methods psychologists employ to understand the world.

Duration: 30 min

03: Positive Psychology: A Science of Happiness

Uncover the elements of positive psychology and how 21st-century psychology offers strategies for increasing your well-being.

Duration: 29 min

04: Your Brain: A User’s Guide

Delve into the secrets of the brain with an insightful tour based on neuroscience that helps us understand learning, behavior, and development.

Duration: 31 min

05: Your Nervous System, Hormones, and Behavior

Explore the ways neurotransmitters connect your mind to your body and review a variety of neurochemicals and hormones.

Duration: 32 min

06: Understanding and Managing Stress

Examine the nature of stress in relationships, work, and the environment, and see how to better manage your stress.

Duration: 31 min

07: Sensation: How You Gather Information

Delve into the field of “psychophysics” to examine the link between physical stimuli and psychological experience.

Duration: 31 min

08: Perception: Illusions and Interpretations

Understand how psychological factors influence our interpretation of the world through illusions and subliminal messaging.

Duration: 31 min

09: Pain and Placebos

Learn about the peak-end theory of experience and techniques to treat pain, reflecting on the effect of placebos.

Duration: 32 min

10: Attention, Sleep, and Dreaming

Analyze our mental processes during sleep and explore theories to explain what’s going on when we dream.

Duration: 30 min

11: Consciousness Modified: Drugs to Mindfulness

Delve into the human mind as modified by stimulants, depressants, hypnosis, meditation, and more.

Duration: 32 min

12: Performance Psychology in Sport and Life

Study “drive theory” and how psychology can help you improve your performance in sports and other areas of life.

Duration: 31 min

13: Cognitive Development across the Lifespan

Investigate the states of cognitive growth in children and strategies to change your perspective on aging.

Duration: 28 min

14: How Language Develops and Why It Matters

Walk through the building blocks of learning a language and consider what it takes to be bilingual.

Duration: 29 min

15: Attachment Bonds from Infancy to Adulthood

Explore the relationship between children and their parents, and the role of the environment on development.

Duration: 29 min

16: Moral Development and Situational Ethics

Examine how people approach moral decisions and survey models and theories of moral development.

Duration: 28 min

17: Learning: Conditioned, Reinforced, Observed

Unpack classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning and modeling.

Duration: 28 min

18: Memory and Forgetting

Delve into the types of information processing in our brains and the way memories are constructed.

Duration: 29 min

19: Problem-Solving and Errors of Thinking

Discover new ways of approaching problems to help you think more clearly and make better decisions.

Duration: 29 min

20: Psychology of Eyewitnesses and Confessions

Consider the legal implications of psychology and the impact of faulty perceptions and memories.

Duration: 29 min

21: Intelligence and Creativity

Explore the multifaceted dimensions of intelligence and techniques to improve your natural creativity.

Duration: 31 min

22: Emotional Intelligence and Success

Find out how to increase your emotional intelligence and improve your relationships and social skills.

Duration: 29 min

23: Adversity and Resilience

Reflect on “resilience” and how we can cultivate our inner strength in the face of challenges.

Duration: 28 min

24: Motivation: Eating, Sex, and Achievement

Survey a range of theories for what motivates us and how understanding motivation can help in various aspects of life.

Duration: 29 min

25: Emotions: Why You Feel

Explore the physical reactions caused by emotions and how to improve happiness through positive psychology.

Duration: 28 min

26: Attraction, Love, and Lasting Relationships

Dive into the dynamics of attraction and the secrets of a successful relationship.

Duration: 30 min

27: Strategies of Persuasion

Learn about the psychology behind effective persuasion and its implications for social behavior.

Duration: 31 min

28: Conformity, Social Loafing, and Obedience

Understand the pros and cons of group behavior and how to resist mindless obedience to authority.

Duration: 32 min

29: Stereotypes and Aggression

Examine the consequences of stereotyping and its relationship to aggression and social identity.

Duration: 31 min

30: Altruism: Origins and Opportunities

Explore the factors that drive altruistic behavior and the psychology behind empathy and decision-making.

Duration: 28 min

31: Explaining Personality

Learn about scientific theories of personality and whether personality traits can change over time.

Duration: 32 min

32: Demystifying Psychological Disorders

Examine the categories of psychological disorders and consider the range of conditions from anxiety to schizophrenia.

Duration: 33 min

33: The Epidemic of Mood and Anxiety Disorders

Survey the latest theories underlying mood and anxiety disorders, along with available treatment options.

Duration: 32 min

34: Understanding and Overcoming Addiction

Investigate the nature of addiction and explore treatment options for various compulsive behaviors.

Duration: 32 min

35: Ways Therapy Works

Explore various forms of therapy and how they work to treat psychological issues.

Duration: 29 min

36: Mindset, Health, and General Well-Being

Dig into research showing how perceptions influence our health and well-being, integrating all you’ve learned.

Duration: 27 min