psychology 101 assignments

Faculty Resources

Assignments.

The assignments in this course are openly licensed, and are available as-is, or can be modified to suit your students’ needs. Selected answer keys are available to faculty who adopt Waymaker, OHM, or Candela courses with paid support from Lumen Learning. This approach helps us protect the academic integrity of these materials by ensuring they are shared only with authorized and institution-affiliated faculty and staff.

If you import this course into your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), the assignments will automatically be loaded into the assignment tool, where they may be adjusted, or edited there. Assignments also come with rubrics and pre-assigned point values that may easily be edited or removed.

The assignments for Introductory Psychology are ideas and suggestions to use as you see appropriate. Some are larger assignments spanning several weeks, while others are smaller, less-time consuming tasks. You can view them below or throughout the course.

You can view them below or throughout the course.

Discussion Grading Rubric

The discussions in the course vary in their requirements and design, but this rubric below may be used and modified to facilitate grading.

Contribute!

Improve this page Learn More

Assignments with Solutions. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Pencil Cup. Authored by : IconfactoryTeam. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/pencil-cup/628840/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

CSN Library Services

Get the facts, psychology assignments 101.

Research assignments for CSN psychology classes can be among the most varied and challenging you will encounter. For certain class assignments your instructor will ask you to locate empirical research to help you examine a specific assigned topic. You may have to examine peer-reviewed journals. Occasionally, you are asked to select your own topic based on something you care about. You may have to prepare an oral presentation in addition to the paper. You may have a group project component to the assignment – or some combination of all of the above. It is always a good idea to start by first carefully reading your assignment and ask what exactly does my instructor want? How long does the paper or presentation have to be? What types of resources are required or permitted. Do you need books, peer-reviewed journals, DSM-5 , free-web sources? Is there a date range for acceptable resources? What are your due dates? Are there multiple due dates for the different components of the assignment? Is a draft expected? Be sure to ask your instructor if you are unsure of anything in the assignment. Most important – start preparing early in the semester!

If you have a group project, you should all take time to organize goals and tasks. Appoint a group leader. Exchange contact information, review due dates, create a calendar, and find an online workspace. For oral presentations, prepare visual aids in advance and rehearse for timing. You will also want to gather your APA information and review the title, pagination, in-text, and reference page formats.

Investigate

In psychology, ongoing research accomplished by behavioral scientists establishes valid scientific conclusions or claims. As part of the psychological research process, scientists in the field carefully evaluate the methods, evidence, and resulting conclusions reported. The research is then accepted or rejected – along with any claims made. It is only after this rigorous process that academic or professional journals publish certain research reports. These authoritative published research reports should form the core of your research investigations for most assignments. Additionally, you may need to use the DSM-5 , the cornerstone of diagnostic classification in mental health, to locate professional definitions of specific disorders and current treatments. Your best bets for basic psychology research include:

ProQuest Central – An interdisciplinary collection of full-text articles from outstanding academic/professional journals. APA citations are available for every article in ProQuest . Be sure to filter for date range. While especially strong in the behavioral sciences, the interdisciplinary selection of scholarly articles found in ProQuest can also offer new ways of seeing problems, ideas or theories in other related fields.
PsycARTICLES – A database of full-text peer-reviewed articles published by APA and affiliated journals. Includes current journal coverage as well as historical content.
DSM-5 – The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition. A handbook used by healthcare professionals in the US and around the world as the authoritative guide to the definitions and diagnosis of mental disorders. Our online DSM-5 Library includes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , the Handbook of Differential Diagnosis , and the DSM-5 Clinical Cases . Be sure to see a Librarian if you need assistance using this resource.

As you read reports of research in your topic area, be sure to focus on the hypothesis and ask yourself why the study is important to your topic? Ask who are the subjects, how and why were they selected? How was the study conducted and under what conditions? What were the results of the study and was there anything inconclusive? Ask your instructor if you encounter problems in understanding the research presented and its relevance to your topic. For effective online searching, you may also Ask a Librarian for help finding good keywords to express your topic, and for assistance in using these resources and recommendations for others.

For anyone working in psychology, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the definitive style guide. APA format can be challenging, and, as you work gathering resource citations generated in an online environment, it is important to be consistent with your reference page citations. Using a database like ProQuest or PsycArticles will allow you to locate scholarly resources from across various disciplines in the behavioral sciences, while at the same time maintaining consistency from citation to citation. If you’re also consulting and then citing information from resources found in the DSM-5 or other databases, go online to the APA Style Guide located under Research Help on the Libraries webpage – or check the APA Style Quick Guide found in paper in each campus Library. We also have a complete sample APA paper found by clicking Research Help , then How to Cite , and Additional Citation Resources on the Libraries webpage. APA uses a system of DOI’s or Digital Object Identifiers to help the reader identify the exact article used. All DSM-5 online information has a DOI associated with it. For assistance with editing or formatting an APA assignment, visit a CSN Writing Center or a Campus Library . We are all happy to help!

Understanding psychology starts with an understanding of scientific research methods. In order to be valid, opinions and claims all have to start with a scientific perspective of skeptical analysis of evidence and an understanding of how knowledge grows from the chain of research. For you, it all starts with Psychology 101, the classes that follow that course, and working your way through these first assignments.

Summer session: online help hours, celebrate asian pacific american heritage month with food, favorite poems this poetry month.

Faculty Resources

Assignments

You can view them below or throughout the course.

CC licensed content, Original

Assignments with Solutions. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

CC licensed content, Shared previously

Pencil Cup. Authored by : IconfactoryTeam. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/pencil-cup/628840/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

Share This Book

Introduction to Psychology

(22 reviews)

ISBN 13: 9781946135131

Publisher: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Linda Freeman, Professor of Psychology, Valencia College on 6/1/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

At our learning institution, the preponderance of our students select General Psychology in order to fulfill their general education requirement. Since most of our students are not psychology majors, texts oriented towards giving a student an adequate primer of the field are preferred. Hence, this text seems to be a good selection for this type of student. The author's approach to relevant topical areas is an overarching one. This text sufficiently covers the subfields in psychology, without bogging down the reader in the intricacies of our discipline. In particular, I appreciated this author's approach to human development, which tends to be a content heavy area. Additionally, the learning objectives at the beginning of the chapter give a clear roadmap to the reader. The content area named "key takeaways" give the reader a nice annotated summary of important topical areas. For professors who want to be more indulgent in the content, the author provides a section on "exercises and critical thinking." The questions posed appear to be sufficiently provocative and relevant.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I find that the text content provides an accurate portrayal of the field. Topical areas are presented in an unbiased, factual manner; however, the exercises on critical thinking provide the student an opportunity to think more "contextually" about the information presented.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

There are topical areas in psychology that are ubiquitous to the field. For example, Freud's Personality Theory or Zimbardo's Social Psychological contributions. These theories form the bedrock of our disciple upon which new research is laid upon. For example, the emergence of Positive Psychology and Neuroscience have provided a new and fascinating lens through which we look at human behavior. To this extent, the text seems to present a conventional view of psychology with dash of 21st century psychology. There is a section dedicated to addressing "positive emotions," although it is limited. Additionally, the surgent topic of mindfulness practice is not covered nor the relevance of Neuroscience in our understanding the connection between the brain and human behavior.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is written with an adequate amount of clarity and directness. Frankly, I think the author does a superb job at addressing the heart of the theoretical matter. Also the demonstration videos provide further clarity on the content. The examples provided seem to be relevant and compelling. Further, the design of each chapter lends itself to clarity. The beginning of the chapter presents clear learning objectives, which serve as an expectational guide, and ends with a summary of key points to consider.

Consistency rating: 4

There are intra-correlations made within each chapter; however, there are few inter-connections made between different chapters. Within each chapter, there is consistency between the concept presented, its description, and the examples used to further elucidate its meaning. For those seeking to give a student a more holistic view of psychology, the text is limited. For example, if you are seeking to provide students a broader sense of how internal emotions and cognitions along with external social events interface, you will have to create your own addendum to the chapter content.

Modularity rating: 5

Each chapter covers a specific topical area in psychology that is later expanded upon in the chapter. The content areas are directly aligned with the learning objectives presented at the beginning of the chapter and flow into the key summary points very well. The chapter gives a sufficient amount of information to the reader to answer the critical thinking questions posed at the end of the chapter.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization of the text is superb and consistent throughout the text. The author appears to have set up a predictable cadence to each chapter beginning with learning outcomes, chapter content, and ending with a synopsis of key points.

Interface rating: 5

The text does not appear to present issues related to interface. Navigation through the chapter is clear and direct. The examples and features are crisp and clear. There are no elements that may distract the reader from the topical area being covered. There is a high amount of congruency between the outcomes, the content, examples, exercises, and key points.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I do not see any significant grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

Although the text is not culturally offensive, it does lack cultural depth. Today's classrooms, comprised of students from various cultures, text material needs to appeal to a wider audience and challenge students to think more deeply about the broader social context. Overall, I would've liked to have seen more culturally relevant information in the chapters on Personality, Social Psychology, Psychological Research, and Psychological Disorders. For example, details about the cultural determinants of personality, the role of culture in prejudices and stereotyping, the ability of researchers to generalize their investigational results to culturally diverse populations, and how the cultural context needs to be accounted for in psychological disorders would have highlighted the all important role of diversity in our discipline.

Reviewed by Kathleen Cain, Professor of Psychology, Gettysburg College on 4/21/20

The book doesn't necessarily cover every conceivable topic in psychology, but it covers all of the main subfields in psychology and presents at least a few of the central findings, concepts, and theories in each subfield. In some respects, the book strikes me as more focused and less sprawling than many introductory psychology textbooks. A student who reads this book may be less likely to be overwhelmed with information, but at the same would be able to grasp a clear sense of general issues, research issues, and research findings in each topic. According to the introduction, the author has focused intentionally on presenting topics in a way that leaves students with a sense of coherence about the field rather than with a set of random facts. The critical thinking questions at the end of the sections are helpful in addressing this focus.

The book was accurate and clear. I particularly liked the way that it described key research and illustrated research findings with graphs and other images. It definitely provides an accurate overview of the field.

I'm slightly concerned that the latest edition is from 2015, as psychology changes rapidly based on new research findings. However, the book certainly covers the classic studies very well. Sometimes we can be overly concerned with giving students the latest information when the reality is that they're lacking many of the basics - so my concern about the date of publication is not a deep one. Certainly 21st century psychology is represented effectively in the book, too, so it's not just a book on the history of psych by any means. However, I do hope that the author continues to update material included in the book.

The writing is clear both at the micro level of individual sentences and paragraphs and at the macro level of lucid organization. The writing style aims for a literate audience and in that sense may challenge students who need simpler prose and multiple real life examples to make concepts clear. Some of the mainstream publisher textbooks excel in examples that make the concepts come alive, and this book has less of those. There are also fewer helpful additions such as definitions of terms in the margins that one would see in other textbooks. However, each chapter in this book includes several compelling examples that are explained well, and the writing is crisp and clear, which I greatly appreciate. There is also a bit more depth than many books provide about psychological research, which I personally love about this book, but which may not work for every student audience. Some other textbooks are pitched at a simpler level - but these books can still let students get bogged down in the sheer volume of information, a problem that this book often avoids successfully. Finally, this book includes numerous video clips, which are a terrific addition and really strengthen the clarity of the information provided.

Each chapter is internally consistent in terminology and framework, and the book is organized consistently. I do wish that there were a bit more of an effort to link content in individual chapters with content in other chapters so that students can see some of the broader connections in what they're reading.

Each chapter covers one subfield of psychology (e.g, developmental, cognitive) and in turn is divided into several subsections of several pages each. One could easily rearrange or even drop a few chapters, and within a chapter, while one would want to go in order of concepts from basic at the beginning to more complex at the end, one could easily drop a subsection.

The organization is a significant positive feature of this book. The material is presented consistently in a clear and concise way, and topics flow logically from one to the next.

Interface rating: 4

I didn't have any major navigation problems, and the video links that I clicked worked well. A few figures didn't show up, though, and once in a while there was a blank or nearly blank page (not missing text, just a slightly awkward arrangement of the text with blank space in between).

I found a very small handful of typographical errors, but I didn't notice grammatical errors. In fact, the writing was quite strong.

I thought that cultural presentation was one of the weaker areas of this book. While there are some references to a variety of cultures and some photos of people from a variety of backgrounds, some of the written statements about culture were simplistic (e.g., on p. 26, a sentence reads, "Psychologists have found that there is a fundamental difference in social norms between Western cultures (including those in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand) and East Asian cultures (including those in China, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, and Southeast Asia)." There is no mention of nuance, of common ground, or of the variability among individuals within cultures.). In the section on intelligence, the author mentions variation among US racial and ethnic groups in IQ scores, but offers only a superficial explanation of why these differences exist. There is no mention of the role that discrimination plays in perpetuating some of these differences. In the chapter on social psychology, the material on stereotyping and prejudice was accurate, but again presented with less depth than I would prefer. While I did not see offensive material, I thought the author could have done more to present cultural variation and various cultural issues with nuance and depth.

Reviewed by Colette Jacquot, Adjunct Professor, University of Texas at Arlington on 3/4/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 1 see less

I was hoping I could adopt this textbook for my classes because I realize how expensive books are and the tremendous stress that this expense alone can place on my students. However, I would use only some of the content in this textbook as supplementary material but would need to spend an inordinate amount of time supplementing it to cover major themes which my students need to master.

Content Accuracy rating: 1

From what I read, the textbook seems accurate as far as its content. However, it is inaccurate regarding representing an Introductory to Psychology textbook. The chapters discuss only a few topics instead of addressing a number of vital subjects that introductory psychology students need to master.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 1

First, the Social chapter tackles classic experiments well (e.g., Milgram, Asch, Zimbardo, Sherif) and social influence but fails to address other central topics, such as sexism, ageism, heterosexism, and others. Instead, this chapter discusses bystander effect which is a tangential topic at best. Learning is another insufficient topic that is touched on but it is across two chapters: direct and indirect learning. Moreover, instead of devoting an entire chapter to memory, the textbook discusses it at the end of the Indirect Learning chapter. Furthermore, the Cognition and Intelligence chapter covers how to teach a child shape and numbers and how prior learning (i.e., memory) can interfere with problem solving but that is all regarding cognition. As far as discussing therapy, there is a chapter titled, “The Science of Psychology and Human Potential” which addresses only a few therapeutic interventions: ABA, learned helplessness, CBT, relapse, and conduct disorder interventions.

Clarity rating: 2

The way that these chapters are organized seems arbitrary and therefore unclear. Again, in order for a textbook to be considered for adoption, it must not only be clear but also be thorough to cover all of the material needed for an introductory class.

Consistency rating: 3

The textbook fails to address major psychological issues that an introductory class needs to cover.

Modularity rating: 1

The smaller sections are insufficient. Not only are major themes left out of the book but also tangential topics are included (e.g., bystander effect instead of sexism, ageism, and other vital topics).

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 1

A more complete textbook including respected information that other Introduction textbooks cover should be created. Specifically, it is organized differently from any other psychology textbook I have seen. Instead of the typical chapters – Motivation, Learning, Cognition, Social, and others – the book parcels chapters into inadequate topics.

Interface rating: 2

I could not find the search option anywhere.

I did not see any grammatical errors.

By omitting major themes in psychology, the text is actually insensitive to some misunderstood groups, e.g., older adults, women, overweight people, and other underrepresented groups.

Perhaps it is a good starting point, but I suggest adding a significant amount of material that introductory psychology students need to learn.

Reviewed by David Foster, Professor, Open Oregon Educational Resources on 4/19/19

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

The text aligns well with APA standards for Introductory Psychology. The devil is in the details, however. I have reviewed a number of intro textbooks in developing the curriculum for a dual enrollment psychology course. I have found no one text that covers every possible aspect of the standards. That being said, this text provides materials covering the APA standards on a level commensurate with leading introductory texts. One constructive criticism would be to add a list of key terms for each section and/or chapter. Such lists are provided in other open source texts and seem very useful.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The material seems to be accurately conveyed, again, on a level commensurate with leading intro textbooks.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The text provided relevant info that corresponds to APA learning standards. Additionally, the open nature of the text automatically lends itself to easy updating and customization.

Clarity rating: 4

The text is written at a level that is accessible for introductory psychology students.

Consistency rating: 5

The book used a consistent approach in displaying the materials in separate submodules within each chapter and providing a chapter summary at the end.

I appreciate the modularization of text in to smaller, more accessible units.

The topics are presented in a clear and logical fashion. I especially appreciated the organization of the developmental chapter by increasing age rather than theorist.

Interface rating: 3

I reviewed the pdf version of the text. There were some display issues as some pictures and logos were a little blurred and therefore distracting. Additionally, this version of the text did not appear to be paginated correctly. At times, the figure heading would appear at the bottom of the page while the figure itself would be on the following page by itself (leaving 3/4's of the page blank)

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

I did not detect any grammatical errors. However, proofreading is not my strong suit.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text appeared to be culturally appropriate.

Great value for the price!

Reviewed by Bridget Coddou, Instructor, Nicholls State University on 4/12/19

In my opinion, this book does an excellent job of covering all of the areas and ideas of the subject of Psychology. The index is appropriate, but I was not able to find the glossary. I like the depth of the information and how it is displayed. I believe that the course should absolutely match the level of the students. As an Instructor that teaches both Intro and higher level Psychology courses, I think that it is imperative for us to be parallel with the students level of interest and strive to motivate them to learn. Too much information can become overwhelming for students as well as sway them away from the content. When teaching intro, I try very hard to teach my students the basic concepts as well as pose a "to be continued" mindset, in order to increase the likelihood that they will be eager to continue their education in Psychology courses. This book does just this.

Overall, the accuracy is error-free and unbiased based off of my observations. I do want to point out that in Chapter 12, when discussing the DSM, it is important that we continue to explain our classification system in terms of how it is used today. The author talks about the different Axis in the DSM due to this being a 2015 version of the text. This classification system no longer exists. It would be important for those teaching this material to be up-to-date and aware of the changes.

As stated above, the book does seem to be up-to-date except for Chapter 12 where they go into detail about the Axis system of the DSM. We are now in the DSM-V where we do not have an Axis classification system. This will be the one area that the author will need to keep up-to-date when discussing diagnoses.

This textbook does an excellent job in writing and is lucid. The language and picture examples make it very easy to read and understand. One advantage to moving to a digital textbook is that the student can use internet resources to connect the content. The videos that are included throughout the text are convenient. We like convivence when learning. It is one less step to that the student has to do; therefore, it increases the likelihood that the student will learn that particular concept.

There were no inconsistencies noted in this text.

I think that the Modularity of the text is appropriate; however, I do think that having some thumbnails to show the Chapters would be really nice for the student as well as the Instructor. It will make it easier to sort through the material if you have multiple Chapters on an exam.

I love the organization of this text. It is very easy to follow. Considering that I am a person that usually likes paper, I think that this digital text is attractive and organized. We want to make learning inviting and I really feel like this text does just this.

As stated above, this text is very clear and easy to understand. I think that the text could use more end of chapter questions/quizzes and I would like to see glossary words at the end of each particular chapter. I think that this helps the student organize and structure their ideas.

No grammatical errors were noted.

No note of any insensitive or offensive language/content in this text. In order to prevent such accusations, the author may want to include something the Introduction or Acknowledgements that a lot of the information provided is based off of research and findings in particular studies. I think that this is the rule not the exception when teaching Psychology. So many topics can and due become controversial, but if we preface these ideas at the outset of our discussions/writings, people tend to remain open-minded and accepting of new ideas.

Overall, I think that this textbook is absolutely appropriate for an Introductory course. I found it very easy to use which I believe is the absolute first step of engagement for students. I tell my students all of the time in Intro, I want to set the foundation for you in this course. I want them to see it as just that. Learning enough to understand the basic concepts and promoting interest in order to fuel the mind to explore Psychology more in-depth in subsequent courses.

Reviewed by Melissa Cannon, Assistant Professor, Western Oregon University on 3/6/19

The text seems fairly comprehensive in how it introduces the domains of psychology and roots them in empirical research. Several areas lack depth, which is understandable for an introductory text, but many also seem to lack cultural breadth and could be strengthened by adding more contemporary perspectives. Taking “Growing and Developing” as an example, the author does not address the full bio-psycho-social nature of development across the life course, skips over middle childhood, and misses key theories such as Brofenbrenner’s ecological systems theory and Carstensen’s selectivity theory in later life. The Learning Objectives in each section help to prepare students for what they will be learning, and the Key Takeaways following each section help to summarize concepts, but I find that it is really helpful for students to have a glossary of terms as well which would then be indexed at the back of the book.

I did not find inaccuracies or errors, but some cultural bias (see below under “Cultural”) and issues with relevance of the information and ample citation. For example, on page 225, the paragraph introducing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease includes only a single citation, dated 1995. There are several examples where adding citations (especially more recent ones) would enhance the credibility of the author’s content (e.g., describing structuralism on page 16; ethics in section 2.1; neuroplasticity on page 88; stimulants in section 5.2; psychotherapy in section 13.4).

Some of the references are out of date (e.g., the references in section 6.5 are all from 10 years ago or earlier, with several from the 1990s). Videos that are accessed through hyperlinked text may have been taken down (e.g., the “Stepping Reflex” video on page 220).

The writing seems to be at an appropriate level and not too heavy in jargon/technical language for an introductory course. I felt that some of the text boxes dropped into the chapters were not contextualized sufficiently, however. For example, the “War of the Ghosts” example on page 23 is used to illustrate Bartlett’s research on the cognitive and social processes of remembering. The story itself is confusing, however, and inserting it into the text doesn’t seem to help accomplish the author’s goal. Also, in the beginning of Chapter 6, “The Repository for Germinal Choice” is used to present the classic “nature versus nurture” argument, but it seems like an odd choice given the problematic nature of the story itself: essentially, the efforts of an American millionaire to create a more superior human race. Using a critical lens, a student would be able to detect the outrageously unethical rationale for this millionaire’s “experiment,” but that point should be highlighted more clearly and it seems like a more appropriate example could have been used in the first place.

The text is fairly consistent in terms of organization and framework. I had a hard time understanding why some of the chapter summaries were not at the ends of the chapters (e.g., Chapters 4 and 7).

I appreciate the way that the text is broken into subsections and short paragraphs without feeling disconnected or choppy. The author did a very nice job with this.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The first several chapters are presented in a logical fashion. My preference would be to have “Growing and Developing” follow Chapters 8-11, then be followed by the chapters on psychological disorders. Social cognition should also be presented earlier, perhaps after “Learning” and “Remembering and Judging.”

Depending on the format in which the book was downloaded, this book seems to have a relatively user-friendly interface. The Contents at the beginning are hyperlinked (e.g., in PDF and iBook formats), making it easy to navigate to different sections.

So far as I can tell, there are few (to no) grammatical errors.

The text relies heavily on dominant cultural perspectives and lacks emphasis on the diversity of human nature. It would be helpful to explain differences in race, ethnicity, and nationality (especially as the author uses categories such as “Jews” “East Asians” and “African Americans” for comparison) as well as differences in sex, gender, and sexual orientation, and to cite contemporary sources (e.g., a 1984 one was used on p. 371 to describe discrimination, and a 1994 one was used on p. 439 to explain sexual orientation). The author uses the outdated term “mentally retarded” or “retardation” (p. 367). They also use the binary gender schema (i.e., men versus women) and equate gender identity disorder with transsexualism without effectively explaining gender identity (i.e., transgender/non-binary gender identification are not discussed). They refer to LGBTQ individuals as “homosexuals” (p. 439) and apply a heteronormative lens in discussing sexuality. They also explain that eating disorders can lead people to be “too fat or too thin” (p. 436) which some may perceive as body shaming.

Overall, I found this to be a good text for introducing students to the vast, complex field of psychology. In the classroom I would draw attention to areas of the text that need updated/augmented and describe the most current research findings, adding cross-cultural and international perspectives. I would generally encourage students to use a critical lens while reading this text and to contribute their own personal insight/ideas particular with regard to issues such as culture, race, ethnicity, gender, age, and socioeconomic status.

Reviewed by Kristin Flora, Associate Professor of Psychology, Franklin College on 1/23/19

A few emerging areas of psychology, such as health psychology and I/O psychology are not represented. While I/O is not currently commonplace in other introductory texts, Stress and Health typically warrants a chapter. Stress is included in the chapter on Emotion and Motivation, which perhaps negates the need for a separate chapter (since stress is a major component of health psychology). Additionally, there is little mention of Vygotsky in Chapter 6. If that is important to an instructor, s/he will need to augment. Finally, there does seem to be a lot of attention paid to PTSD; it is significantly discussed in 3-4 chapters. This is not necessarily a critical comment, but something that stood out in my review of the text.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

In the spirit of simplification and parsimony, the author omits some information that better shows the complexity and nuance of some of the phenomenon. For example, when discussing REM there is no mention of muscle paralysis that accompanies this stage of sleep. Or when explaining Ainsworth’s Strange Situation, the author states there are 4 attachment styles. While there are, only 3 of them came from Ainsworth’s initial research. Disorganized was identified later. More critically, it is evident that this edition has not been updated to reflect changes in the DSM. When moving from DSM-IV to DSM-V the Axes system was eliminated yet the text still spends ample time explaining this old diagnostic system. Relatedly, in Chapter 10 when eating disorders are explained only Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa are presented; Binge Eating Disorder is now a recognized eating disorder. There are multiple other examples that would require the instructor to update this information so that the students are learning the most accurate material.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

At various places in the text the references seem outdated (e.g. Chapter 3 where most stem from the 1990s). A more egregious example is in Chapter 11 where the author cites a study from 1928 when describing the stability of personality in children. Certainly this could be effectively used from a historical perspective, but the contextual language does not suggest that is the intent of using this article. In Chapter 13, the pie chart depicting the proportion of types of therapy practiced is from 2001, making it nearly 20 years old. Finally, some more contemporary issues such as e-cigarettes and binge drinking could be incorporated in Chapter 5, along with recent legislative changes regarding recreational marijuana

Overall I think the language is clear and straightforward, with a few exceptions. For example, Chapter 4 explains how the trichromatic theory and opponent-process theory of color vision are correct, but the author could elaborate by explaining what part of the visual process each theory best explains. Additionally, some of the information in tables or figures could be better expressed. Two examples would be Marcia’s theory of identity in Chapter 6 which is presented as a table but would work better as a matrix and Figure 3.11 which demonstrates that bodily regions that require greater motor control are afforded more space on the motor cortex. The homunculus would be a better visual.

In the author’s preface there is note that each chapter begins with an ‘attention grabbing story’ yet I didn’t see one for Chapter 2. Additionally, the inclusion of video clips and other ancillary material varies across chapters, with some having a lot of embedded resources while others have relatively few.

The sections seem appropriate in length to serve as standalone ‘units’. I very much appreciate the key takeaways and critical thinking questions found at the end of each section instead of the end of the chapter. This eases the use of this text by instructors.

This text follows the general format of most introductory texts, with the exception of ending with social psychology instead of disorders and treatment. Otherwise, there were a few spots within chapters – specifically chapters 4 and 6 – where some of the information seems a bit disjointed or out of order.

Some of the images seem a bit odd with respect to formatting (small, offset to the left, leaving a lot of white space to the right). Unsure if this is a pedagogical tool to allow those students who print the chapters room to annotate or if it was just a stylistic decision by the editorial team? When images aren’t small and left justified, they are very large images of prominent psychologists which I’m not sure are helpful or necessary (size, not overall inclusion). The tables are drab: black and white, small font. Students may very well skip over them.

As noted earlier, the text is very well written. The only grammar error I noted was that when discussing the work of the Harlows that the author notes they were affiliated with Wisconsin University rather than the University of Wisconsin.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

I certainly didn’t find evidence of offensive language, but also thought there weren’t intentional attempts to integrate cross-cultural research. A specific example of this is when referencing the Muller-Lyre illusion noting the finding that cultures that utilize different housing structures that don’t use 90 degree angles are less likely to be susceptible to this illusion (carpentered world hypothesis) Or in Chapter 5 when discussing cocaine to note that some indigenous tribes chew on the leaves of the coca plant to maintain alertness. I think there is opportunity for the author to point out cultural differences in the presence of some of the more common psychological disorders. For instance, depression often manifests as more somatic symptoms in Asian cultures rather than sadness and despair that we tend to see in Western cultures.

Overall the key concepts are present. In its current format, instructors could augment areas that are weaker and/or pull in more contemporary examples. The greatest weaknesses are the outdated information re: psychological disorders and diagnosis and a relatively light integration of cultural differences. Graphics could be enhanced to be more engaging for students, but the text itself is well-written.

Reviewed by Dr.Aradhana Mehta, Adjunct Faculty, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI on 6/19/18

This book cover most of the topics for the introduction to Psychology course. though the topic of stress, Coping and Health Psychology. The text and easy to understand and presented in a great manner. There are 14 chapters in total giving a... read more

I found this open Library Textbook to be accurate, error free apart from a few topics like Stress and Coping. Some of the terms used in chapter 12 and 13 are not in use in this present age. They can improvise some examples from Cross culture as well.

The content is good and up-to-date. As mentioned earlier a few terms need to be changed in Chapter 12 & 13 to the new terms used in DSM V. In addition they can enhance the interactive learning process of the student by adding some videos and quizzes to the book.

The content is very well written and have clarity. It present the theoretical and the applied perspective very clearly.

It maintains the consistency and the flow throughout the book.

Modularity rating: 4

Each chapter is broken into several different sections in a very simple and understandable manner. All the subtopics are well connected.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Organization of the text is good. Though the topic of emotions and stress can be separate. As the topic of health and stress is very important in interesting for the young population. The content table should be there in the beginning of each chapter to give the clarity to the students what the chapter will be covering.

There are some graphs and visual aids in the book. Though I will recommend the addition of a few videos and quizzes to promote the interactive learning for the students.

Grammar of the book is great.

Author was very careful and sensitive about the cultural relevance. Additions of some more cross cultural videos/example will enhance the over all perspective of these topics through the world.

Over all it seems adequate and cover most of the topics for the college level course. In addition to the content if some more cross cultural example, videos and interactive quizzes are added to it, this text book will be great for a college level course. Though most of the examples int he text are based on the american culture.

Reviewed by Troy Ertelt, Instructor, Lake Superior College on 5/21/18

Provides comprehensive coverage read more

Provides comprehensive coverage

Content was error-free and without clear bias.

Content was relevant and appropriately updated. Text should be usable for a long period of time.

At times the tone was very academic and might limit accessibility for undergraduate non-majors, but overall, clearly written.

No problems with consistency were noted.

It seemed an instructor could pick the most important sections and exclude those that were less relevant without any problems.

Standard but appropriate organization and structure

The only drawback is the relatively limited number of photos, illustrations, tables, charts, and graphs.

No concerns

No offensive or insensitive content. Clear attempts at inclusion.

Reviewed by Kendra Miller, Psychology Instructor, Anoka-Ramsey Community College on 6/20/17

I compared this textbook with the textbook I currently use, "Discovering Psychology, 7th edition," by Hockenbury, Nolan, and Hockenbury. The textbook I currently use has only 14 chapters and two Appendices. I have seen textbooks with more chapters that may perhaps also be more comprehensive, but may also be overwhelming to get through in a traditional 16 week course. Therefore, I prefer the more brief or concise versions of introductory textbooks. I think this textbook is comparable in comprehensiveness to the textbook I currently use, with one major exception: "Introduction to Psychology has no separate chapter on "Stress, Health, and Coping." Although this topic is addressed in Chapter 8 with "emotion," my preference would be to have an entirely separate chapter devoted to stress (especially since combining motivation and emotion into one chapter is already a lot of material). Here are a few of my thoughts on the comprehensiveness of each chapter:

Chapter 1: Missing from the "Schools of Psychology" table: Biological, Humanistic, Positive Psychology, and Evolutionary Psychology. The text I currently use discusses Structuralism and Functionalism within the section on the history of psychology, but separates out the "origins of psychology" (where Structuralism and Functionalism are discussed) from "contemporary psychology." Also, although I realize that it would be impossible to include everyone, I feel like there are too many important psychologists missing from the timeline, and the timeline should add in what some of the early theorists did. I do like how Chapters 1 and 2 give separate attention to the history of psychology and the scientific method (my current textbook combines the two). I like how this chapter differentiates between values and facts, and discusses the potential limitations of way we collect and interpret data to understand behavior in our everyday lives.

Chapter 2: I would like to see a little more focus on critical thinking in this chapter, though it is briefly discussed. I would also add in why it's necessary to replicate research, and how a journal article is different than other reports of studies seen in the media. I think the table that lists the conceptual variable and the operational definition would be very useful to students.

Chapter 3: I didn't see norepinehrine discussed. Plasticity is discussed, but would also like to see separate definitions of functional and structural plasticity. I also did not see Broca's and Wernicke's areas discussed.

Chapter 4: I did not see a definition of "transduction." Also missing are the monocular cues of texture gradient and motion parallax, as well as any discussion on bottom-up vs. top-down processing. The "carpentered world hypothesis" could be included discussion of the effects of experience on perceptual interpretations.

Chapter 5: Needs some attention to research on multi-tasking. A table with examples of circadian rhythms throughout the day would be helpful. Some concepts are discussed but terminology related to those concepts are not mentioned, such as sleep paralysis, hypnagogic hallucinations, and myoclonic jerk. Sleep-related eating disorder was also not covered. I enjoyed the information provided on the "need to escape everyday consciousness." Very interesting.

Chapter 6: I would like to see some discussion on genotype vs. phenotype and epigenetics. I also didn't see research on types of temperament or theories of gender development presented.

Chapter 7: Some concepts were discussed without the associated terminology (such as "biological preparedness" and the "overjustification effect"). I would also like to see discussion on "learned helplessness."

Chapter 8: The "semantic network model" was discussed somewhat but not labeled as such.

Chapter 9: "Thinking" was not included in this chapter (as it is in the textbook I currently use), and was addressed somewhat instead in the previous chapter, though not in a comprehensive way. I prefer "thinking" to be addressed in the same chapter as intelligence and language.

Chapter 10: I did not see theories of motivation, such as instinct, drive, incentive, arousal, humanistic theories) discussed.

Chapter 11: This chapter was about as comprehensive as it is in the textbook I currently use.

Chapter 12 and some of 13: Needs to be updated to align with the newest edition of the DSM.

Chapter 14: Sufficiently comprehensive.

There was no chapter or appendix covering Industrial/Organizational Psychology.

I found this textbook to be accurate in comparison with the information provided in the textbook I currently use, aside from the need to update the information in Chapter 12 to reflect changes to the DSM.

For the most part, up-to-date (aside from Chapter 12), but a few more relevant examples would catch the attention of students (especially related to media use).

I liked the exercises/critical thinking questions found at the end of the sections. This gives students an opportunity to find ways to make the material relevant to their own lives with personal examples.

I think that concepts were adequately defined and found the textbook easy to read.

The textbook has no consistency issues that I could find.

I found the modularity to be adequate.

For the most part, the organization/structure/flow of this text was good. I only have a few minor recommendations. Within Chapter 3, I feel like the material about how the brain is studied could be placed at the beginning of the chapter; where it is placed seems to disrupt the flow of the chapter, in my opinion. In Chapter 10, I would like to see evidence for the facial feedback hypothesis tied in with the James-Lange theory.

Most of the links to the videos provided within each chapter did not work. I love the use of videos to illustrate course material. However, links seem to change so quickly on the internet that this is a significant issue.

I would recommend adding in a banner above each chapter number for visual interest.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

I feel this is an area that could be expanded, as there seemed to be very few examples that provided a cross-cultural perspective.

Overall, I think the scope of this text was adequate for an introduction to psychology course, though I'm not sure how much updating has occurred since it was distributed in 2010. I would recommend updating the links to the videos within the material and updating Chapter 12 to align with the changes in the new DSM. I would also like to see supplements (PowerPoints and test bank) created for this textbook.

Reviewed by Michelle Shelton, Assistant Professor, George Fox University on 4/11/17

This book provides the content and information that many general psychology textbooks do. In comparing it with three other general psychology textbooks I have used over the years, it is equal to all of them in terms of the topics covered and the... read more

The content appears to be accurate and error-free. There is a slight bias, as there is with most textbooks, but it in no way clouds the content or the information.

In terms of relevance, the author does a good job with providing information, resources, and citations for the pioneering works in the field. With any general psychology textbook there is a large emphasis on the historical context of the field, theorists, physiology, and behavior. I found the sections on the brain to include some of these seminal works, but very little current information and research on this important structure.

The book's clarity is strong and well-designed. It is very reader-friendly and easy to navigate. The structure of each section lends itself to a good dialogue of the material. The opening story of each chapter is an excellent way to engage students in the material in a very practical sense.

The book is consistent in both terminology and framework. The key terms are highlighted for ease of use, and the figures and tables are labeled and placed in appropriate areas of the text.

I enjoyed the chapters being broken down into different, distinct sections. While I assigned the entire chapter as reading, I planned my activities and assignments to include a graded item from each of the sections. By doing this I knew students were engaged in each of the sections, and for my planning as a professor, it worked very well.

As previously mentioned, the book is well organized, easy to use, and has a great flow to it.

For the most part the interface had no glaring issues. My only criticism of the interface was that there were no page numbers within the body of the book. When I open the book on my laptop, there are no page numbers listed even in the table of contents. When I open the text on my iPad there are numbers for the start of each chapter, but not on the individual page. This made it very difficult to help students navigate to a certain page for information. I also had student complaints about not having page numbers when needed for a citation.

If there were grammatical errors in the book they did not stand out.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

There was not a strong emphasis on cultural relevance. On a positive note there were no issues with cultural insensitivity either. General psychology textbooks tend to be a bit culturally neutral, however there could be added cultural implications to the topics.

Overall this textbook is of the same caliber that most general psychology textbooks are, but it has the significant advantage of being free to the end user.

Reviewed by Troy Pilgrim, Adjunct Instructor, Rogue Community College on 4/11/17

The text covers many key components typically found in an introduction of psychology class. read more

The text covers many key components typically found in an introduction of psychology class.

Content is in keeping with the cannon. I observed no errors.

Content is in keeping with the traditional approach to introducing psychology to community college or undergraduate students. The format of the text allows for an introduction to a variety of domains covered in the field of psychology.

The text is written is such a manner as to reflect college-level expectations. Though it can be dry reading at times (as with most texts), it is far from boring.

This text is not only consistent, but it's progression of subjects easily build upon each other.

The text is easily divisible into sections conducive for a trimester system.

The topics provide a nice overview of the many facets of psychology and easily build on each other.

Navigation is straightforward. The images provided are relevant and are not obtrusive.

I observed no glaring grammatical issues.

I observed no areas of concern in this domain.

Reviewed by Vanessa Washington, Adjuct Instructor , Concordia University, Portland on 2/15/17

This textbook covers a large range of subjects within the field of psychology; however, some chapters were shortened and brief in their coverage, while others were thorough and extensive in depth of material. Some aspects of the material did not include most recent research and changes in our fields understanding (for example, the discussion around emotion, arousal and the fight/flight system did not include an introduction to trauma or how the growing body of research shows consistently the impact of early trauma on physical/biological and emotional/mental development). The questions for critical thinking facilitated active learning of what was discussed in the chapter. The progression of chapters followed a logical order from a learning and instructing point of view

The content presented and discussed was accurate; however, certain topics were much more skim in the information provided; this could be resolved through accessing additional learning materials. As a learner in an introductory course, the errors detected would likely go unnoticed. As an instructor and with more comprehensive understanding, the errors were minimally noticeable; nothing observed was falsely reported, simply lacking as comprehensive discussion as possible. The coverage on drugs and addiction was inclusive of updated research that goes against our prior understanding of the impacts of illicit drugs; I was happy to read this inclusion. The prenatal development section briefly covered environmental contributions to birth defects and harmful developmental impacts, including only a sentence or two on the damage of various substances. The discussion around whether our actions are largely due to nature or nurture did not include material around various theories of heritability, leaving the discussion to sound largely based from a personal perspective. The chapter discussing intelligence appeared slightly biased; while reviewing the differences in intelligence between men and women and different races, there was more heavy material presented to support these differences in IQ being partially based in genetics, without a discussion around how social norms and environmental factors also come into play when looking at the findings around differences between social groups and intelligence. Information around the fight or flight system and the brain processes involved in responding to threats was minimal and insufficient, again discussing differences between men and women in their biological arousal response systems, and without addressing the growing body of knowledge around activation of these processes.

Much of the information included in an introductory course is historical, and therefore relevance and longevity should not be a concern. The critical thinking questions and the boxes with real life examples are great in that they reflect updated culturally relevant examples in terms of topics, current themes around the United States political, cultural (etc) climate; however, as culture and times changes, these would be easily adaptable/changeable

This text was very clear and engaging. The layout was inviting, the use of font adjustments (italics, bold face, etc) supported focused learning and signaled when definitions/jargon were given/explored. Each chapter section starts with clear objectives for the reader, and key takeaways, followed by critical thinking questions. Each chapter concludes with a summary of key concepts covered.

The book is written in an engaging manner; difficult concepts are balanced with engaging examples from lived experience. Discussion questions are written to invoke thoughtful responses and personal engagement with the material. Even chapters that may be more challenging for students (research and statistics) are written and therefore read with ease and discussed with engaging and relevant examples.

The chapter lengths were really remarkable for what was covered; they were chunked out in a manner that were short to read and that encouraged engagement with the text. I was shocked at the depth of material and the quality of engagement for also having short and brief chapters - this I think will go a long way with students who are just being introduced to the field of psychology. There were links provided throughout the text; however, I was unsuccessful in getting these links to work and so I cannot report on the usefulness or appropriateness of these learning supplements.

Chapters followed a logical progression of material and each chapter included engaging examples and prompts for future learning or current critical engagement with the material. It was easy to read, easy to follow, and easy to move between chapters. Each chapter provided useful materials in terms of definitions and clarity in previously discussed material

Display features were clear and useful. Links however, were not working for me regardless of how I tried to open them. I was excited to see the option of having youtube videos, examples of personality tests, etc; however, ultimately they were not accessible for use. I was able to highlight the text; however, in the format I was using, I was unable to highlight multiple sections; once I tried, my previous highlighted portion was removed.

This was very well written; there were no grammatical errors that I observed.

Culture in terms of inclusiveness was absent; there was not much included in terms of information that may vary between cultures. When there was discussion of differences between groups of people in regard to race, sex and gender, these differences were named and yet poorly explored; therefore, readers lost opportunities to engage the material with a global view, and potentially could have formed biased or incomplete information about various groups.

Reviewed by Dr. Natikca Robinson, Associate Professor, J Sargeant Reynolds Community College on 2/8/17

This book covers all the chapters needed to give students an understanding of psychology. The chapters are of adequate length and relates to life situations. The concepts in each chapter are explained in a way which is easier for students to... read more

In this area, the book is very accurate. The content does not differ from introductory concepts in psychology.

In this area, the book is very relevant and will have longevity. The way the text is written, new information can be added with ease. Through the short chapters, there is room to expand the chapters and display the relevance of each chapter to daily life.

The book uses psychology jargon correctly and in a way in which students can gain understanding.

The consistency in this textbook is awesome. The text and concepts flow throughout each chapter.

Through the use of shorter chapters, concepts can be easily explained. Class discussions can easily be formed.

The chapters are broken down in a fashion which are easy to read and create lectures. One chapter is broken down into elements which connect to one another. There aren't any gaps in the information that is being presented.

The textbook meets this element very well. No interface issues. The images were accurate and pertained to the chapters.

The textbook did not have any grammatical errors.

The textbook incorporated various elements of cultural relevance. The examples provided enhanced the chapters.

Reviewed by Mary Ann Woodman, Adjunct Professor, Rogue Community College on 8/21/16

Text covers all the areas of Psychology for an introductory course except for Health Psychology. This is always the first chapter I teach so that students can begin to practice a more healthy lifestyle and learn how to manage stress and anxiety. The glossary, index, table of contents are great. I especially like the chapter openers with real world examples, key takeaways, the applications for everyday life and the empirical research examples. The text is easy to read, has relevant visuals and easy comprehension for community college level. I appreciate the references and occasional video clips. The learning objectives and summaries are concise and valuable.

Most of the content seems accurate. The chapter on Psychological Disorders needs to be upgraded to reflect the DSM V. Such terms as "mental retardation," "hypochondriasis" and "pain disorder" for example are no longer used. Autism spectrum disorder needs updating as well. The statistics graph is taken from 2001-3 and not from 2015-16. The statement that "Most Psychologists go into research" does not seem accurate. Students are exploring their career options in the fields of Social Science. The statement that "emotional IQ texts are unreliable" in summary of chapter 9 also does not seem accurate, unless unreliability is defined and also applied to intelligence IQ tests.

This text is written and designed well in a format that would be easy to implement updates. I would include more female psychologists and their work. It is missing cultural diversity. I would also add some of the new movements in Psychology, such as Positive Psychology, Epigenetics, Neurogenesis, Cultural Psychology, Energy Psychology, Health Psychology and alternative treatments in Naturopathic Medicine for healing illness. The book could use more examples that are related to young people and their daily life. I appreciate the section in chapter 6 on Parenting as an example. The section on nature/nurture, free will/determinism, consciousness/unconsciousness, offers an opportunity to introduce students to a both/and as well as a paradoxical mindset rather than an either/or viewpoint.

The text is well written and in language that student's can easily understand. Technical terms are explained well and references related to content. The book does not seem overwelming which many college textbooks seem to be. Based on the amount of time given to teach an Introductory course, this book has some advantages.

Consistency and framework of the text are great. Terminology well defined and used in a consistent fashion Author's dual theme of behavior and empiricism flows well throughout his work. Structure of presenting each topic is the same in each chapter.

The sub units in the textbook make it easy to teach and to break into lesson plans. There is a smooth flow to the subject matter. It would be helpful to have a section bridging one subject to the next so that students could see the interface and relationship of each topic; very little disruption moving from one topic to the next. In some places, the font seems a bit small.

Organization, structure and topical format seems very logical and clear. Text is missing a chapter on Health and Stress Management which highly relevant to the life of a college student.

The textbook includes graphs and visuals that are appealing and easy to study. History of Psychology section has a great chart. Like the videos spotted throughout the text. I would include a chart on the various careers in Psychology since young people are exploring job options.

I could not find any grammar or spelling errors.

The author appears to be careful about cultural sensitivity. However, it lacks examples, case studies research and critical thinking exercises that would bring forth more cultural education for the reader. Young people are growing up with global consciousness and curiosity about ethnic and cultural diversity. Important to include Native American perspectives also. Some excellent video clips from around the world that pertain to every subject studied in an introductory Psychology course.

I appreciate this textbook and would consider using it at the community college level. All of the sections have clear content, great graphs and visuals, and stories pertinent to the subject matter. I would include a section on lucid dreaming in chapter 5 on consciousness. I would also include some of the research on the evolution and phenomenology of consciousness separate from the brain. Student's are fascinated by these topics and it is very relevant to their developmental processes. Integrating practices in Positive Psychology, such as meditation, mindfulness and references to this field of study would be very valuable. Kohlberg's work on Moral Development and Bronfenbrenner's Model could also be included in the chapter on developmental Psychology.

Reviewed by Beth Dietz, Professor, Miami University on 8/21/16

The book covers in great detail all of the chapters that would appear in a typical introduction to psychology textbook, with the exception of a chapter on stress and coping. The book starts with an introductory chapter that includes the definition of psychology, as well as an interestingly-written history of psychology. I appreciate that the author devotes an entire chapter (chapter two) to psychology as a science/ research methodology. The remaining 12 chapters cover psychology in the same order I do in my course – from the level of the cell (Brains, Bodies, and Behavior) to the social world (Psychology in Our Social Lives). So, with the exception of a chapter on stress and coping (which I cover in my course) the breadth of coverage is excellent, with all of the typical and expected chapters. But the depth of coverage is also excellent. Each chapter is deceivingly dense with material. Breaking each chapter into smaller “modules” and topics makes the chapters seem shorter than they actually are. In fact, I cannot say enough about the book’s organization. Each chapter consists of four to five logically-flowing sections, which, among other things, makes this textbook available as a “brief” version for those interested in less coverage.

Pedagogically, the text uses some learning aids, including a list of learning objectives at the outset of each section, visual aids, including embedded videos, chapter summaries, and “Exercises and Critical Thinking” activities at the end of each section. While not entirely comprehensive, these learning aids help to support some learning goals of an introductory course.

If accuracy is defined as being free of errors in reporting, then, overall, the coverage of material in the text is accurate. There were no obvious errors that were detected. If accuracy is defined as the absence of bias, there is nothing that would likely be glaring to the typical undergraduate reading the text. The author approaches introduction to psychology from a scientific perspective, which is evident in the coverage of research (both breadth and depth). Because I teach the course from the same perspective, I appreciate this position. The author did a good job of including timely and important research.

The textbook is quite research-oriented. At an undergraduate level, a strong focus on research can be intimidating and at times, confusing and frustrating. The author balanced the amount of research, the type of research, and examples very well. The amount of coverage is appropriate for an introductory textbook. The research and examples are relevant for undergraduates taking an introductory course. It is noteworthy that the author did not shy away from including and explaining complex experimental research. The author did an excellent job of breaking down the pieces and including the relevant parts. With regard to longevity, this text could have used for several years without needing updates, but it was published six years ago and is in need of inclusion of more recent research and examples.

The book’s strength is the clarity of the writing. The author uses language and jargon that is accessible to most undergraduates. For key terms, it might be helpful to have an index or a glossary for each chapter. Each chapter starts with an example, which helps to provide relevant context for students. The author then lays the groundwork and builds upon it as the chapter unfolds. The use of excellent examples also helps to provide the context.

The book is consistent in its content, organization, and style of writing. Each chapter begins with an example that is likely to be relatable to most readers. Subsequent sections begin with student learning outcomes, which should also help to frame the material for students. The chapter summaries are also consistent from chapter to chapter.

One of the strengths of the text is its modularity. Each chapter is broken into several different sections, which could probably stand on their own (ie., an instructor could assign sections of a chapter, rather than the entire chapter). One advantage of modularity is that is allows for a customized text, where an instructor could pull various sections of the text to create a customized textbook for students. A disadvantage of modularity is that flow and connectedness is compromised. By design, this text is very modular and, although topics can build on one another, there is an intentional lack of connection between chapters. Of course, this necessary shortcoming can be resolved by instructor intervention.

The organization and flow of the text is good, with the already-noted issue of the modularity compromising the connection between chapters. The text is organized in a logical fashion, starting with analysis of behavior at the level of the cell and moving up to the final chapter, which is an analysis of behavior from a social perspective. Within each chapter, the structure and flow is also good. Each chapter/section starts with learning objectives and ends with critical thinking exercises. There are enough visuals and video links in each chapter to break up the narrative portions and reinforce the content.

I read the text as a pdf and did not attempt to download or read it on an iPad or Kindle, for example; nor did I print it. The translation of the text and visuals was good. The visuals showed up well in a pdf and the video links worked well. The bookmark feature in the pdf was also helpful and made it easy to move from section to section. A missing piece was the ability to mark up the text, takes notes, highlight, and save the place where I finished reading. These issues might be resolved if I had downloaded it to an iPad or e-reader. Because other ebooks have these features, I think students will miss this and be potentially disadvantaged.

The book is written very well. I did not notice any grammatical errors. I think I found a few typos, but nothing that disrupted or compromised the integrity of the text.

A focus on culture is not a strength of the text. While there were mentions of culture in some chapters, it was not included in every chapter despite the availability of the research. Even though the text is a bit outdated (2010), there are ample opportunities to include culture and diversity.

Reviewed by Mike Mensink, Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin-Stout on 8/21/16

Two versions of this text were compared across formats, the open source 1.0 http://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/ version as well as the updated 2.1 version, located at... read more

Two versions of this text were compared across formats, the open source 1.0 http://open.lib.umn.edu/intropsyc/ version as well as the updated 2.1 version, located at http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/catalog/editions/stangor_2_1-introduction-to-psychology-2-1 . As a competitor comparison, I referenced the introductory text our institution currently uses (Myers & DeWall, 2015). For those who are curious, the unattributed author is Dr. Charles Stangor, who prefaces the textbook by stating that the focus of Introduction to Psychology is on behavior and empiricism. This emphasis is further supported with chapter openers that focus specifically on real-world examples in applied domains, as well as additional exercises and critical thinking activities for readers. Generally, this text compared favorably in terms of comprehensiveness to other introduction to Psychology textbooks. Research methods, biological psychology, neuroscience, sensation and perception, consciousness, human development, learning, memory, intelligence, language, emotion, motivation, social process, personality, and psychological disorders are all represented. The represented areas of psychology all align with other introductory texts (e.g., Myers & DeWall, 2015). I did not note any major areas of psychology missing; however some other users have suggested that the social processes chapter may be more appropriate as the final chapter in the text. A test-bank, instructor manual, and lecture slides are also available with version 2.0, however I did not see these materials available with version 1.0. A table of contents is available, as is a marginal glossary for each chapter.

I did not encounter any glaring accuracy errors in theoretical or research content. As with any introductory psychological textbook, the author typically demonstrates the greatest conceptual accuracy and strength in their own content area (social psychology, in this instance). In other areas (for example, cognitive processes), I found some issues with how certain aspects were described, however these are better related to clarity than accuracy (see below).

In terms of content relevance, the author provided adequate citations of seminal studies that one would expect in an introductory textbook. I also appreciated the applications to everyday life that appeared at the end of each chapter, which also contained many recent studies to help students better understand cutting-edge work in the field.

Clarity rating: 3

I generally found the writing clarity to be adequate, although there were some areas that either didn’t flow as well as other introductory texts or contained a basic explanation I did not find effective. For example, as a cognitive psychologist, there were some concepts within the learning and memory chapters that I would generally explain differently to students to increase clarity. Specifically, I would suggest a cleaner distinction between cognitive processes and memory storage areas; and a better explanation of the important differences between working memory and short-term memory. Due to the nature of publication in this source, replacements of the author’s name with ‘unnamed author’ and publisher with ‘unnamed publisher’ cause some breaks in coherence for the reader.

Each chapter contains the same organization and layout: A real-world showcase of the chapter content, an application in the chapter of applications to real world problems, and a focus on empirical research studies.

Generally, later chapters that build on understanding psychological research methods can be replaced or reorganized as seen fit by the instructor. However Chapters 1-3 are better left in their original order so students can build on basic descriptions of psychological science, research methods, and biological origins of behavior. As noted earlier, some users have reported a preference for moving Chapter 11: Psychology in Our Social Lives to the end of an instructional sequence.

Chapter organization is well replicated across the textbook and appears in a similar sequence as other introductory texts. Content generally builds upon less complicated content to more complex theories and findings. As noted by the author, this text is somewhat shorter than other introductory texts, which may be of interest to instructors.

The html version of 1.0 is basic in nature but generally well organized and easy to navigate. However there is no option for a full text search within the native html environment. Several reference links did not function, suggesting that this version may need updating (see the 2.1 version mentioned earlier).

While some sentences were awkward for introductory readers, I did not find any major grammatical issues.

Apart from specifically focused content on socio-cultural issues, the focus of this text is not on specific differences between cultures; but on differences of individuals across cultures. This is generally appropriate for an introductory psychology text.

Reviewed by Donna Weber, Senior Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Stout on 1/7/16

The textbook included the topics and chapters that I expect to be included in a General Psychology course. My attempt was to see this textbook from the perspective of a college freshman. Some may be psychology majors, however most will not. This may be the one chance for them to understand that psychology is important and to know the value of studying and appreciating human behavior. I think this text meets that goal.

The content appears to be accurate.

The dramatic examples given to make the points known, will be remembered for a long time. Time passes quickly and with the digital speed of changing, few things can remain relevant for long periods of time. The book seems to be organized in a fashion so that the content can be updated quite easily when needed.

The text is written and arranged in a user friendly manner so that a freshman could quite easily read and comprehend the material.

The consistency of the format and layout of the chapters allows the reader to know what to expect and thus provides a level of comfort going into a chapter that might otherwise be new and difficult for the reader.

The topics can be arranged or reordered if desired by the instructor.

The topics are arranged in an appropriate order. With the instructor bridging the topics, the precise order can be reordered to the preference of the teacher or needs of the students. The order can easily be changed to match a relevant current event, [local or world] that might call a topic to be in the spotlight.

The layout is impressive including: the introduction with the purpose of the chapter; the learning objectives; key words highlighted; charts; videos; key takeaways; experiences and critical thinking; everyday application examples; easy to locate reference citations at the point of topic; and the summary at the end of the chapter. These all add variety, excitement, interest, and repetition of the concepts to be learned.

Everything seems to be in order.

The diversity of culture is somewhat lacking.

I liked the textbook, had fun and enjoyed the review! I think students will like it.

Reviewed by Stephanie Judson, Visiting Assistant Professor, Cleveland State University on 1/12/15

The text covered most expected areas that would be in an introduction to psychology text, however there was no chapter devoted to the field of industrial/organizational psychology nor an introduction to essential statistical knowledge and less depth regarding others topics (i.e., language and intelligence combined into one chapter). In-depth information for each topic was provided and each chapter included questions that would facilitate active learning.

Information provided was generally accurate however I took issue with the overuse of the word “psychologist” in a particular chapter in that the term was applied to non-psycholoigsts. The consistent reference to research and scientific literature was helpful and would allow students understand the importance of scientific inquiry in the field. I felt that more citations were needed throughout though, given the attempt of the author to reinforce the importance of scientific literature, particularly for highly charged information (i.e., racial differences in IQ, rates of sexual minorities in the US population). In particular, an unusually low statistic of LGBTQ individuals was provided at one point and it was unclear where this information was drawn from.

Text was published in 2010 and the most recent citations are from 2011. The text did discuss temporally relevant examples such as current TV shows which would likely draw students in. I also appreciated the helpful information about how to evaluate websites which is quite relevant given that students increasingly use and will use the internet to find information. However, this text references to outdated DSM and therefor much information (particularly related to the five axis system of diagnosis and that related to autism spectrum disorder) is outdated.

Text was written at an appropriate reading level of college students and avoided the overuse of technical jargon. The writing style and reading level of this text would be accessible to most first year college students.

The text was consistent in its presentation of information regarding formatting, depth, and use of real life and research related examples.

Text was broken up into easily readable sections. Also, chapters are an appropriate length and are broken into reasonable length modules.

The text was missing a table of contents and index (in the PDF version) which made it difficult to quickly review the flow of the book or where to find information. The broad based introductions to chapters were inviting and provided an easy way to ease into a new topic area. Information flowed logically regarding the order of the topics across chapters.

Sometimes key words were italicized and sometimes phrases were - text would have benefited from a consistent use of bolding to emphasize key terms. Some tables were somewhat lackluster whereas some were more engaging (i.e., different colors). Some figure headings were not close to the actual figure in the PDF version. Pictures would have made the text more engaging. There was also a missing figure at one point. There were references to video clips however it's unclear how to access them through the PDF version.

I found minimal grammar errors however, there were several typos (i.e., existence of unneeded text, missing spaces).

My largest critique of this text is in reference to the male and Euro-centric approach the material. This is seen through examples used and pictures (i.e., figures predominantly presented images of white, male bodies). There was very little discussion of the importance of oppression, discrimination, power, and privilege related to human behavior and research. There was little to no discussion of the historical impacts of psychologists of color or women psychologists. LGBTQ individuals were referred to as "homosexuals" which is outdated and offensive to many. This text would greatly benefit from more diversity in cultural examples and discussion of how human behavior is impacted by cultural identities.

Reviewed by Linda Lee, Assistant Professor, California Polytechnic State University on 7/15/14

I agree with other reviewers that while the book is concise and provides a good introduction to different domains of psychology the breadth and depth of discussion on certain topics (i.e. motivation) is lacking. I am a developmental psychologist in training and will therefore focus my comments on Chapter Six (Growing and Developing). In this chapter, the author provides a review of classic theories in developmental psychology (e.g. behaviorism, psychodynamic, Piaget's cognitive development) but fails to adress some of the more modern theories (e.g. Bronfenbrenner's bioecological model). The discussion of Vygtosky's sociohistorical theory also lacks depth. I feel that an inclusion of current criticisms (e.g. most pariticipants in developmental research are White) and progress in the field of development psychology (e.g. multidisciplinary in nature) helps to challenge students to go beyond the basic knowledge and think critically about issues in psychology.

The content is accurate and for the most part unbiased. However, as mentioned previously, the failure to include examples from a diverse cultural context and/or to use only examples from one particular cultural context can be misleading.

For the book to be relevant, examples must be up-to-date and meaningful to students. I find the many examples in this book interesting but from students' point of view, the examples may not be as appealing. For example, there are few examples of relevant issues such as the use of mobile devices or social media throughout the chapters. However, for instructors who adopt the book, I do see the updates relatively easy and straightforward to implement.

The written text is lucid and easy to understand. The flow from paragraph to paragraph is clear and intuitive.

The text is internally consistent.

The book is well organized and does not overwhelm the readers with enormous blocks of text. The key takeaways are useful for students to review important concepts in each section. The exercises and critical thinking are to some extent helpful to build on the concepts learned. I also like some of the opening vignette (e.g. the case of PTSD in Chapter 7). However, I also agree with other reviewers that the modularity lacks transition between chapters and can send the unintended message that the different disciplines in psychology are compartmentalized instead of intertwined.

The chapters are well organized. Depending on the discipline of the instructor who adopts the text, the order of the textbook can be moved around. The graphs, images, diagrams, and illustrations are helpful to clarify difficult concepts (e.g. IV and DV; assimilation vs. accommodation). Although the video clips are classics in any introduction to psychology courses and the inclusion of them a bonus, more recent video clips should be incorporated to improve the engagment of students.

Other than some minor inconsistencies in font size with printed PDF version of the text, the text is easy to navigate and features are helpful.

No grammatical errors.

The examples provided throughout the chapters are not culturally diverse and are therefore limited in their applicability. As previously mentioned, the introduction to Vygotsky's theory in Chapter Six (Growing and Developing) is brief and does not include a discussion on the cultural component of human development. The lack of emphasis on the cultural nature of human development is problematic especially in the United States when ethnic diversity is on the rise.

Reviewed by Jennifer Poole, Chair, Department of Psychology, Langara College on 10/9/13

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

In the author's preface, he states that the typical length of introductory psychology textbooks serves as a detriment to student learning. Consistent with his concern, his text is not as comprehensive as others I have used to teach introductory psychology. Whereas a typical text in this area might include 16 to 18 chapters, his text has only 14 – specifically, it is missing a separate chapter on Stress, Health, and Coping (stress receives some coverage in Ch. 10 but other topics in that chapter on Emotion and Motivation are not covered as a result). Many of his chapters are also shorter in length and contain less content than the texts I would typically use. Some of the chapters combine topics (e.g., Ch. 9 - Intelligence and Language) that are often treated in separate chapters in other texts. I suspect that this text may have initially been designed for use in an American one-semester introduction to psychology course. In BC, introductory psychology is offered across two semesters, often as two separate courses (e.g., Psych 101 and Psych 102). Some missing topics include an introduction to inferential statistics (Ch. 2), an in-depth discussion of the application of psychological principles to the workforce, achievement motivation (Ch. 10), etc. The text contains a Table of Contents but no Index. Although the author states (in the Preface) that the text contains a marginal glossary of key terms, I could not find such a glossary. However, when I hover my cursor over a key term, a box with the key term's definition pops up.

For the most part, I found the content to be accurate, error-free, and unbiased. However, I took issue with Stangor's initial presentation of the "Science" of psychology (in Chapter 1). I found his use of Dr. Phil as an example of a psychologist to be misleading. Such an example seems to contradict the author's stated pedagogy of emphasizing psychology's empiricism and seems to feed student misconceptions about what psychology is. He also seems to mention Freud a lot (end of section 1.1, Ch. 5) – again, not a good example of the empirical aspect of psychology. Although Stangor presents criticisms of Freud's Psychodynamic theory in Chapter 11, he still overemphasizes this theory's contribution to the field and glosses over the major concern of lack of falsifiability. Also, PTSD seems to be over-represented in terms of problem behaviours (two of 12 chapter openers describe cases related to PTSD; PTSD is discussed in four chapters - 7,10, 12, and 13).

Relevance/Longevity rating: 2

Some of the content of this text is out-of-date. For example, in section 1.2, Stangor refers to APS as the American Psychological Society, as opposed to the Association of Psychological Science. The discussion on the DSM (and associated Figure 12.6, and Table 12.3) needs to be updated to the DSM-V (see also criteria for ADHD in box at beginning of Chapter 13). Also, whenever Stangor discusses the influence of nature and nurture, he tends to pit them against each other – the old "nature versus nurture" jargon (see Chapter 11 on Personality - is personality more nature or nurture?; Chapter 9 on Intelligence – is intelligence nature or nurture? ). A more contemporary viewpoint is "nature through nurture" which would be exemplified by the inclusion of a discussion on epigenetics. The text presents some recent research in the area of neuroscience – but it needs more, otherwise it risks becoming obsolete in the next few years. The text would also benefit from the inclusion of more research on the impact of technology on student behaviour (e.g., how/ why does the use of cell phones impact our driving?; are our personalities evident in our online spaces , like facebook?). If we want to show students why psychology matters, we need to present more research that is personally and contextually relevant to them (e.g., how does stress impact today's students?). Although I appreciated the attempt to insert appropriate videos and images, I found this book's screen display to be very text heavy and not very engaging. I currently use ebooks to teach my hybrid introductory psychology classes and I think the images used in those books are superior to Stangor's – the images occur more frequently throughout the text, and they are more colourful and in many cases, more relevant to the student lifestyle. Also, the ebooks I use tend to be more interactive – students can actually complete an exercise on a particular concept right after they have read about it by clicking on an icon in the ebook.

The text is well-written and easy to understand. Adequate context is provided when introducing new psychological concepts and explaining them. One exception is in the box on emotional intelligence at the end of section 9.1. The terms reliability and construct validity are used without being previously discussed or defined. They are defined later in Chapter 11.

The text is mostly internally consistent. Each chapter (with the exception of Chapters 1 and 2) begins with a "chapter opener" that describes an interesting case study. Learning objectives are presented at the beginning of each section of a chapter (alth

This text could easily be subdivided into smaller reading sections – instructors could assign particular sections within a chapter. Chapters could be assigned in any order to accommodate introductory psychology courses which are typically offered as two courses. However, I think this modularity comes at a price. Psychology is a discipline where there are recurring themes. I find the lack of delineated connection between chapters disconcerting.

The topics are presented in a logical, clear fashion. The one exception is the inclusion of a discussion of social dilemmas at the end of Chapter 7 on Learning. This discussion doesn't really fit with the rest of the chapter; a clear explanation of how/ why it fits into this chapter is missing.

The full reference for each citation in the text seems to be embedded in the body of the text throughout the whole book. I am not sure if this was some glitch in the formatting of the version of the text I downloaded but it was exceedingly disruptive to the flow of reading. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out where the next sentence began after the reference! Also the font in a number of the Figures is too small to read (for example, Fig. 1.5, 2.2, 3.17, 4.29, 5.9, 9.4, 10.4, 10.6, 10.8, 13.7, 14.9, 14.13, 14.15). There is an issue with the formatting of Table 5.1 (the latter part of the table is cut-off).

The text contained few grammatical errors - I think I only found two typos!

The text is fairly ethnocentric. It does not include any introduction to or discussion of the differences between individualistic and collectivist cultures. Although the author provides some research on ethnic and cultural differences (e.g., discussion of stereotype threat and ethnic differences on IQ test performance in Chapter 9, etc.), I think it would benefit from the inclusion of more research findings on cultural diversity, especially given the multicultural composition of our Canadian post-secondary institutions. The following are some examples of where the discussion of cultural differences could be expanded: i) How do cultural perceptions influence the onset and prognosis of psychological disorders? (Chapter 12) ii) In Chapter 9, the author states that "Intelligence is defined by the culture in which it exists," but there is no elaborative discussion on the meaning of intelligence in collectivist cultures. iii) At the end of Section 11.1, the author states that "there is evidence that the Big Five factors are not exactly the same across all cultures" but he doesn't elaborate on these differences. Such a statement seems to contradict an earlier observation that "Big Five dimensions seem to be cross-cultural, because the same five factors have been identified in participants in China, Japan, Italy, Hungary, Turkey, and many other countries." iv) Chapter 10 would benefit from the inclusion of a discussion on cross-cultural differences in the perception and expression of emotion, as well as cross-cultural differences/ similarities in happiness. For example, many argue that happiness is only important in societies that emphasize individualism. v) Likewise, Chapter 13 would benefit from an inclusion of the effect of culture on treatment outcomes. vi) Research presented on causal attributions in Chapter 14 is only true for individuals in individualistic cultures. What type of self-serving attributions do people from collectivist cultures make? What does cross-cultural research reveal about the fundamental attribution error?

This text is very American in content. No Canadian reviewers are listed. All American statistics would need to be replaced with Canadian ones (e.g., Table 12.1, Figure 13.2, etc.). Specifically, the section on ethics in Chapter 1 would need to be revised to be consistent with Canadian policies. The discussion of Bilingualism and Cognitive Development in Chapter 9 needs to be modified to include the Canadian example of French Immersion. The case at the beginning of Chapter 11 could be replaced with a Canadian twin example - there are many to choose from. Also, it would be nice to include some examples from our Aboriginal culture. This review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.

Reviewed by Denise Iacobucci, Faculty, Camosun College on 10/9/13

When conducting this review I compared this text to four other introductory textbooks (Gerrig, Zimbardo, Desmarais, & Ivanco, 2010; Myers, 2013; Passer, Smith, Atkinson, Mitchell, & Muir, 2011; Schacter, Gilbert, & Wegner,2013). The Preface and Approach and Pedagogy sections of this text do a good job of declaring the focus on both human behaviour and empiricism and how this focus limits coverage of topics found in many other introductory textbooks. Limited coverage reduces number of chapters and chapter size. For example, it is customary to find an overview of all perspectives of psychology within the first chapter or two (ie. as in Myers, 2013; Passer, Smith, Atkinson, Mitchell, & Muir, 2011). Stangor provides a table (Table 1.3) of different areas of psychology in Chapter One, but does not review humanistic psychology, the biological/neuroscience perspective, and/or Gestalt Psychology as one might expect. Although humanistic psychology is covered in Chapter 11(Personality) on page 631 it comes much later in the text and is discussed in terms of personality theory development. Although Stangor on p. 23 in Chapter 1 comments on the growing number of women in psychology, he does not highlight historical contributions of women and other cultures (i.e., Margaret Washburn, Maime Phipps Clark) to the field of psychology. Similarly, in Chapter Six (Growing and Developing) there is less focus on gender development, aging well, and later adult development with no reference to systems theory/bioecological theory in development (i.e. Bronfenbrenner, 2004) (i.e., Gerrig, Zimbardo, Desmarais, & Ivanco, 2010). Generally, Stangor's text has limited coverage of health psychology, stress and well-being, motivation & achievement, and Canadian researchers. There is also limited discussion of cultural differences and similarities regarding topics and research throughout the text. On-line versions of the text as noted here http://www.saylor.org/courses/psych101/ have a nicely laid out Table of Contents, the printed version or pdf version does not. Including this in the printed copy would be helpful to students in order to navigate the material. Similarly, chapter summaries that include a list of key terms covered within a chapter have been very helpful to introductory psychology students. The insertion of key terms at the end of a chapter along with an addition of a glossary for terminology would make this text more accessible and easy to navigate.

The inclusion of video clips on concepts, research, and applicable stories enables students to see psychology as they read through each chapter online. This is an advantage over commercial texts; however, these links are not always easily accessible via the pdf, WORD, downloaded versions. The HTML zip file did have these links. Although this text has a moderate number of basic images to illustrate concepts throughout each chapter, these could be updated and increased in number to keep students engaged with the material. Many other commercial introductory texts have more realistic and colourful images to depict concepts throughout each chapter. For example, Chapter 7 (Learning) has four images including charts and graphs while other commercial introductory texts have 30 or more images on learning (i.e., Myers, 2013; Passer et al., 2011). Addition of pictures of researchers would also highlight the people contributing to psychological science. I noted some issues with image consistency within a chapter. For example, in Figure 3.6 – Cross-section of the brain is not very clear with the green space indicating the frontal lobe being very small. However, in Figure 3.10 frontal lobe location is more clear and consistent with other texts.

The lack of information on certain topics, such as epigenetics, gender development, work/achievement motivation, cultural perspectives in combination with the static vs. active phrasing of definitions can, at times, date this text. Stangor's definition of learning "the relatively permanent change in knowledge or behaviour that is the result of experience" (p. 348) is static when according to the definition offered by Myers (2013, p. 266) "the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviours". The active/present tense phrasing of this definition, in my opinion, is more dynamic. Given the Houston Community College (2011)example of editing this text, updating this version by adding sections is possible.

The text is clear and easy to understand. For the topics covered, they are well explained.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework. Stangor indicates in the Preface that each chapter has a "chapter opener" (p.8). This is not the case and I would add this feature to Chapters 1 and 2.

The modularity of this text lends itself well to updates and edits.

Generally, Chapters 1 through 10 flow well. My preference would be to move the social psychology chapter (Stangor's Chapter 14) to follow the personality chapter (Stangor Chapter 11), rather than having social psychology last in this text.

Although it is helpful to see italicized words in the body of the text, bolded words draw student's attention to the importance of these concepts. Adding a bolded type face along with a list at the end of the chapter would be helpful to introductory students. In the hard copy and downloaded pfd/Word copies I noted many that the Psychology in Everyday Life sections were written in a smaller font and subsequently not as easy to read. As noted in previously, not all video links worked when reviewing the text online – if information was provided about the source in the text it was easy to look this up and review these clips. As well, this online resource could have more interactive online exercises for students throughout the text. As noted in previous answers, diagrams and figures could be improved to provide more realistic images of biological components of psychology (i.e., the neuron, brain, synapse).

Grammatical errors did not stand out as I read for content, organization, consistency et cetera. I did note spacing issues between words a few times in the text. For example, on page 30 on my hardcopy and WORD document/pdf downloaded copies the words "ofevolutionary" required a space between the words, p. 310 "usinglongitudinal" and on p. 657 "Thesocial". These spacing issues between words seemed to be in the pdf, WORD and hard copies. Perhaps this comment is better suited in the interface answer.

For me, the text is culturally dated (ethnocentric) based on what is not discussed and some of the examples used in the text. Of the 12 chapters that have Chapter Openers, only 3 of these used examples from outside the United States. The other examples were from Canada and Australia. Highlighting research from psychologists in different countries and cultures would add to this text as would more discussion on cultural as context for behaviour. For example, Chapter 11, does not discuss in detail how collectivist cultures differ on personality research versus more individualistic cultures. Chapter 14 on group behaviour does not address how culture mediates group behaviour as discussed in many other commercial texts (i.e. Myers 2013, Gerrig et al, 2010). Today's students in British Columbia are from all over the world and I think this text could do a much better job of including cultural perspectives and examples within each chapter. Although Stangor mentions the importance of culture in Chapters, he does not extend the discussions on how & why culture is important to psychology theory and research. For example, in Chapter 12 - the social cultural influences provided are socioeconomic status, homelessness, abuse, and discrimination are all culturally specific. There is limited discussion on disorders unique to different cultures (i.e., phobias), disorders more predominantly found in certain cultures et cetera. The focus is on the American population. Commercial texts often cover the cultural variations in disorders (i.e. Gerrig et al, 2010). Based on the review I would recommend changing the White Ghost story in Chapter 1 and supplementing Canadian and more International examples in the Chapter Openers.

I believe it is important to provide an overview of all the major psychological perspectives in the first chapter or two. I would add those sections/content noted in answer to question 1 and 3 of this review. In particular additional content on student/worker motivation, health psychology and stress incorporating student examples would be useful. As noted in question 11 highlighting Canadian researchers Canadian researchers on topics discussed in text. As well, I think it would be helpful to create a student guide to the text as did Houston Community College (2011)or add student glossary, index of terms to the text. As well, the chapter summaries require more active reviews - such as multiple choice question review or something similar that has answers somewhere in the text or online where students can check their understanding of material. This review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.

Chapter 1: Introducing Psychology
Chapter 2: Psychological Science
Chapter 3: Brains, Bodies, and Behavior
Chapter 4: Sensing and Perceiving
Chapter 5: States of Consciousness
Chapter 6: Growing and Developing
Chapter 7: Learning
Chapter 8: Remembering and Judging
Chapter 9: Intelligence and Language
Chapter 10: Emotions and Motivations
Chapter 11: Personality
Chapter 12: Defining Psychological Disorders
Chapter 13: Treating Psychological Disorders
Chapter 14: Psychology in Our Social Lives

Ancillary Material

About the book.

When you teach Introduction to Psychology, do you find it difficult — much harder than teaching classes in statistics or research methods? Do you easily give a lecture on the sympathetic nervous system, a lecture on Piaget, and a lecture on social cognition, but struggle with linking these topics together for the student? Do you feel like you are presenting a laundry list of research findings rather than an integrated set of principles and knowledge? Have you wondered how to ensure your course is relevant to your students? Introduction to Psychology utilizes the dual theme of behavior and empiricism to make psychology relevant to intro students. The author wrote this book to help students organize their thinking about psychology at a conceptual level. Five or ten years from now, he does not expect his students to remember the details of most of what he teaches them. However, he does hope that they will remember that psychology matters because it helps us understand behavior and that our knowledge of psychology is based on empirical study.

This book is designed to facilitate these learning outcomes, and he has used three techniques to help focus students on behavior:

Chapter Openers: Each chapter opens showcasing an interesting real world example of people who dealing with behavioral questions and who can use psychology to help them answer them. The opener is designed to draw the student into the chapter and create an interesting in learning about the topic.

Psychology in Everyday Life: Each chapter contains one or two features designed to link the principles from the chapter to real-world applications in business, environment, health, law, learning, and other relevant domains. For instance, the application in Chapter 7 on Development, ”What makes good parents“ applies the concepts of parenting styles in a mini-handbook about parenting, and the application in Chapter 3 is about the difficulties that left-handed people face performing everyday tasks in a right-handed world.

Research Foci: Introduction to Psychology emphasizes empiricism throughout, but without making it a distraction from the main story line. Each chapter presents two close-ups on research — well articulated and specific examples of research within the content area, each including a summary of the hypotheses, methods, results, and interpretations. This feature provides a continuous thread that reminds students of the importance of empirical research. The research foci also emphasize the fact that findings are not always predictable ahead of time (dispelling the myth of hindsight bias), and also help students understand how research really works. The author's focus on behavior and empiricism has produced, Introduction to Psychology, a text that is better organized, has fewer chapters, and is somewhat shorter than many of the leading books. Now, you don't have to believe us. Check the book out online or order your desk copy today.

Contribute to this Page

Houston Community College
Eagle Online

Deborah Ramos
Introduction to Psychology (29076 Fall 2014) (PSYC 2301)

Introduction to Psychology Worksheets

Online Degree Explore Bachelor’s & Master’s degrees
MasterTrack™ Earn credit towards a Master’s degree
University Certificates Advance your career with graduate-level learning
Top Courses
Join for Free

Introduction to Psychology

Taught in English

Some content may not be translated

Financial aid available

1,302,555 already enrolled

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

Instructor: Paul Bloom

Included with Coursera Plus

(27,957 reviews)

Skills you'll gain

Critical Thinking
Problem Solving
analytical thinking
abstract thinking

Details to know

Add to your LinkedIn profile

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV

Share it on social media and in your performance review

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.

Welcome to Introduction to Psychology

Meet Paul Bloom, your instructor.

What's included

1 video 3 readings

1 video • Total 2 minutes

How to take this course • 2 minutes • Preview module

3 readings • Total 30 minutes

About this course • 10 minutes
Optional Happiness Survey • 10 minutes
Introductory readings • 10 minutes

Foundations

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 in—Freud’s psychodynamic theory and Skinner’s theory of behaviorism.

17 videos 3 readings 1 quiz

17 videos • Total 135 minutes

The astonishing hypothesis • 4 minutes • Preview module
Dualism • 14 minutes
Neurons • 14 minutes
Parts of the brain • 9 minutes
Our two brains • 5 minutes
A bit of humility • 5 minutes
Sigmund Freud • 3 minutes
The psychodynamic approach • 10 minutes
Stages of development • 5 minutes
Defense mechanisms • 6 minutes
Scientific assessment of Freud • 7 minutes
Taking Freud seriously • 3 minutes
B.F. Skinner • 4 minutes
Habituation • 2 minutes
Classical conditioning • 12 minutes
Instrumental conditioning • 14 minutes
Scientific assessment of Skinner • 11 minutes
The Brain • 10 minutes
Freud • 10 minutes
Skinner • 10 minutes

1 quiz • Total 30 minutes

Foundations • 30 minutes

Development and Language

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.

14 videos 2 readings 1 quiz

14 videos • Total 110 minutes

Big questions about development • 6 minutes • Preview module
Piaget • 4 minutes
Piaget's Developmental Stage Theory • 7 minutes
Scientific evaluation of Piaget • 4 minutes
Methods for studying infants • 14 minutes
How are children different from adults? • 6 minutes
Explanations for development • 11 minutes
What is language? • 2 minutes
Basic facts about language • 11 minutes
Phonology • 3 minutes
Morphology • 5 minutes
Syntax • 8 minutes
Language acquisition • 13 minutes
Language and thought • 10 minutes

2 readings • Total 20 minutes

Development • 10 minutes
Language • 10 minutes
Development and language • 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.

12 videos 2 readings 1 quiz 1 plugin

12 videos • Total 64 minutes

From the world to the mind • 2 minutes • Preview module
Problems of perception • 5 minutes
Perception of brightness • 2 minutes
Perception of objects • 4 minutes
Perception of depth • 5 minutes
Attention • 8 minutes
Important memory distinctions • 2 minutes
Memory storage • 6 minutes
Learning • 5 minutes
Remembering • 4 minutes
Failures of memory • 10 minutes
False memories • 6 minutes
Perception and attention • 10 minutes
Memory • 10 minutes
Cognition • 30 minutes

1 plugin • Total 21 minutes

TED - Joshua Foer - Feats of memory anyone can do • 21 minutes

Self and others

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 people—social psychology.

15 videos 2 readings 1 quiz

15 videos • Total 121 minutes

Evolution of emotion • 10 minutes • Preview module
Why evolution matters • 13 minutes
Facial expressions • 7 minutes
Fear • 4 minutes
Kinship • 7 minutes
Attachment • 8 minutes
Prisoner's dilemma • 12 minutes
Irrationality and culture • 8 minutes
Social animals • 3 minutes
Self • 12 minutes
Attribution • 4 minutes
Liking • 8 minutes
The psychology of groups • 4 minutes
Social categories • 4 minutes
Social categories II • 11 minutes
Emotions • 10 minutes
Social • 10 minutes
Self and others • 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.

13 videos 2 readings 1 quiz

13 videos • Total 87 minutes

How are we different? • 2 minutes • Preview module
Personality • 7 minutes
Intelligence • 6 minutes
Behavioral genetics • 6 minutes
Major discoveries about genes and environment • 5 minutes
Parenting • 8 minutes
Mental illness • 6 minutes
Schizophrenia • 10 minutes
Mood disorders • 9 minutes
Anxiety disorders • 5 minutes
Dissassociation disorders • 6 minutes
Personality disorders • 3 minutes
Therapy • 8 minutes
Differences • 10 minutes
Clinical psychology • 10 minutes
Variation • 30 minutes

The good life

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

7 videos 2 readings 1 quiz

7 videos • Total 26 minutes

Positive psychology • 1 minute • Preview module
What is happiness? • 3 minutes
Happiness set point • 10 minutes
Happiness is relative • 3 minutes
Judgments about past events are skewed • 2 minutes
Humility and Optimism • 3 minutes
Now what? • 1 minute
Happiness • 10 minutes
Optional Happiness Survey - Follow Up • 10 minutes

1 quiz • Total 20 minutes

Happiness • 20 minutes

Instructor ratings

We asked all learners to give feedback on our instructors based on the quality of their teaching style.

For more than 300 years, Yale University has inspired the minds that inspire the world. Based in New Haven, Connecticut, Yale brings people and ideas together for positive impact around the globe. A research university that focuses on students and encourages learning as an essential way of life, Yale is a place for connection, creativity, and innovation among cultures and across disciplines.

Recommended if you're interested in Psychology

Yale University

Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty & Stress

University of Toronto

Wesleyan University

Social Psychology

Connected Leadership

Why people choose coursera for their career.

Learner reviews

Showing 3 of 27957

27,957 reviews

Reviewed on Aug 5, 2020

Professor Bloom has quite engaging style of teaching and the animations in this course provided nice visual reference.Overall, it's a nice course if you want to learn basic introduction of psychology.

Reviewed on Oct 22, 2020

With this course i finally experienced what a proper teacher should be like.

Thank you for making the information so interesting and hard to forget. The drawings and sound were pretty resourceful.

Reviewed on Sep 20, 2020

The course was helpful in gaining the foundation of psychology. It was clearly structured so that a person with any background can understand it. Thanks for helping me to gain knowledge on psychology.

New to Psychology? Start here.

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Unlimited access to 7,000+ world-class courses, hands-on projects, and job-ready certificate programs - all included in your subscription

Advance your career with an online degree

Earn a degree from world-class universities - 100% online

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Upskill your employees to excel in the digital economy

Frequently asked questions

Wow, the animations in this course are great who did them.

This course combines complex subject matter with high-end animation. Learn about Julia Veldman, a visual storyteller at http://www.juliaveldmanc.nl/

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:

The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.

The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.

What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?

When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.

What is the refund policy?

You will be eligible for a full refund until two weeks after your payment date, or (for courses that have just launched) until two weeks after the first session of the course begins, whichever is later. You cannot receive a refund once you’ve earned a Course Certificate, even if you complete the course within the two-week refund period. See our full refund policy Opens in a new tab .

Is financial aid available?

Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

Chapter 1: How to Learn Psychology

Chapter 1.1: Influence of Research on Psychology

Chapter 1.1: Influence of Research on Psychology

Chapter 1.2: Experimental Research

Chapter 1.3: Types of Research

Chapter 2: Biopsychology

Chapter 2.1: Neurotransmitters

Chapter 2.2: The Brain & Nervous System

Chapter 3: Introduction to Development, Personality & Stage Theories

Chapter 3.1: Motor & Cognitive Development

Chapter 3.1: Motor & Cognitive Development

Chapter 3.2: Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Chapter 3.2: Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development

Chapter 3.3: Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

Chapter 3.3: Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development

Chapter 3.4: Freud's Structural & Topographical Model

Chapter 3.4: Freud’s Structural & Topographical Model

Chapter 3.5: Freud's Ego Defense Mechanisms

Chapter 3.5: Freud’s Ego Defense Mechanisms

Chapter 3.6: Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development

Chapter 3.6: Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Chapter 4: Introduction to Learning Theory & Behavioral Psychology

Chapter 4.1: Classical & Operant Conditioning

Chapter 4.1: Classical & Operant Conditioning

Chapter 4.2: Reinforcement & Reinforcement Schedules

Chapter 4.2: Reinforcement & Reinforcement Schedules

Chapter 5: Sensation & Perception

Chapter 5.1: Sensation

Chapter 5.2: Perception

Chapter 6: Section 1: Memory, Intelligence, and States of Mind

Chapter 6.1: Memory & Forgetting

Chapter 6.2: Intelligence

Chapter 6.3: Relaxation & Hypnosis

Chapter 7: Motivation & Emotion

Chapter 7.1: Motivation

Chapter 7.2: Emotion

Chapter 8: Social Psychology

Chapter 8.1: Our View of Self & Others

Chapter 8.2: Obedience & Power

Chapter 8.3: The Role of Groups

Chapter 9: Psychopathology

Chapter 9.1: Classifying Psychopathology

Chapter 9.1: Classifying Psychopathology

Chapter 9.2: Psychiatric Disorders

Chapter 9.3: Stigma, Stereotyping & the Mentally Ill

Chapter 9.3: Stigma, Stereotyping & the Mentally Ill

Chapter 10: Psychotherapy

Chapter 10.1: Types of Psychotherapy

Chapter 10.2: Therapy Providers

List of Chapters

PSYCH101: Introduction to Psychology

Course introduction.

Time: 46 hours
College Credit Recommended ($25 Proctor Fee) -->
Free Certificate

Course Syllabus

First, read the course syllabus. Then, enroll in the course by clicking "Enroll me". Click Unit 1 to read its introduction and learning outcomes. You will then see the learning materials and instructions on how to use them.

Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology

"Psychology has a long past, but a short history." This statement by Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850–1909), a pioneer of psychological research, captures the history of psychology as a discipline. Although it is a relatively new, formal academic subject, psychology seeks to answer questions that have been around since the beginning of humanity.

In this unit, we review the history of psychology as a discipline. We explore its ancient philosophical, prescientific roots and recent reincarnation as a scientific field of study.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 4 hours.

Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior

What makes you "you"? This question gets to the heart of one of the longest-running debates in psychology: the nurture versus nature dispute, which asks whether humans are a product of their environment or of their biological makeup. While it is unlikely that we will ever conclusively answer this question, research has provided us with some important insights that will help you understand the arguments on both sides of the debate.

Early psychologists considered the brain a black box that controlled certain processes, although they did not know how to identify these processes or how the brain controlled them. This is no longer the case; now, scientists insist that the psychological mind and physiological body are fully integrated with one another. Today, knowledge of the biological origins of our psychological states is integral to the study of psychology.

In this unit, we explore biopsychology, which includes the role of genes, the structure and functions of neurons, the parts of the nervous system, and the endocrine system. Finally, we examine the role and function of sleep and the use of substances that may alter our states of consciousness.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.

Unit 3: Sensation and Perception

Our five senses – smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch – provide us with information about the world. We must convert this information into a form that is usable by the brain, so it can interpret what those sensations mean. The process of collecting information through the sense organs is known as sensation, and the process of making sense of that information is known as perception.

We usually think of sensation as a physiological process, whereas perception is psychological. Since sensation relies on the elements of information that are out in the world, we consider it a bottom-up process. Since perception relies on past experience and knowledge to aid in understanding, we call it a top-down process.

In this unit, we highlight vision and hearing because humans tend to rely most heavily on these senses. Most of the research on sensation and perception has focused on these two senses, so these are the senses we understand the most fully. We will wrap up with the remaining senses, plus a sense that may not seem like a sense – the sense of balance.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 2 hours.

Unit 4: Learning

Psychologists are concerned with how people learn from experience and create memories. During the first half of the 20th century, behaviorists focused on how animals and humans made associations between stimuli and between their own behavior and its consequences. In this unit, we draw from behaviorism to learn the basic principles of learning.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 10 hours.

Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology

Psychologists are concerned with how people create memories. During the second half of the 20th century, psychologists established the field of cognitive psychology, which explored topics such as decision-making and problem-solving; language acquisition and use; intelligence and creative thinking; memory formation, storage, and retrieval; In this unit, we draw from cognitive psychology and neuropsychology to learn the basic principles of cognitive psychology.

Unit 6: Developmental Psychology

The physical, mental, and emotional changes an individual undergoes throughout the course of their lifetime raise a number of questions about who we are and how we develop as human beings. One question is whether our traits are stable or changeable throughout our lifetime; another is whether development is a continuous, gradual process or a set of discrete stages.

Although these questions remain unresolved, we impart some ways you can think critically about these issues in this unit. We also provide an overview of human development, from infancy to old age.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 3 hours.

Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

In this unit, we focus on personality psychology, which studies how our personalities develop and how our experiences and circumstances shape who we are. We will examine some theories that explain why we behave and think in consistent ways and discover how psychologists assess personality traits.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.

Unit 8: Clinical Psychology

Today, we commonly think of psychology as a way to treat mental disorders. However, psychopathology , the field of study Sigmund Freud made famous, is the branch of psychology that addresses these disorders. Clinical psychologists have since refined the field, developing more sophisticated methods for diagnosis and treatment so clients can maintain a normal lifestyle.

Millions of people live with various types of mental illness and mental health problems, such as social anxiety , obsessive-compulsive disorder , drug addiction , and personality disorders . Treatment options include medication and psychotherapy.

In this unit, we explore different perspectives on psychological disorders and learn to identify characteristic symptoms for each. Think about all the factors that may contribute to and alleviate the major mental disorders discussed. What is the interplay between biology, social support systems, and other environmental factors in how human beings cope?

Unit 9: Social Psychology

Human beings are social animals. As psychologists, we acknowledge this fact by studying how our social environment impacts our emotional and mental functioning. This discipline is called social psychology – the focus of this unit. We will discuss the social behavior of individuals, groups, and entire societies, as well as how our relationships with these entities influence us as individuals.

Unit 10: Industrial and Organizational Psychology

In this unit, we investigate industrial and organizational psychology , also known as I/O psychology . This subfield is concerned with studying behavior in an organizational setting (such as in the workplace) and using principles of psychology to understand work behaviors. This is a rather new subfield within psychology, but it is growing quickly due to its interesting line of inquiry.

Psychologists divide the subfield of I/O psychology into industrial and organizational psychology – the terms are not interchangeable. Industrial psychology focuses on job analysis, such as describing and measuring a task or a job. As such, people specializing in industrial psychology are often tasked with writing job requirements, interviewing and hiring employees, training new employees, evaluating performance, and assuring that an organization abides by equality laws.

Organizational psychologists, on the other hand, are mostly concerned with the social aspects of work life. This includes determining how we ensure job satisfaction, examining the effectiveness of different leadership or management styles, exploring work-family balance options, and conducting diversity training.

Unit 11: Health and Stress Psychology

In this unit, we focus on health and stress in the workplace and in our everyday lives more broadly. First, we define stressors, and then we connect stress and illness. As you work through this unit, think about the stressors in your life and the coping mechanisms you use to handle them. How does the information presented here shed insight into how you handle stress? Is stress always negative?

Study Guide

This study guide will help you get ready for the final exam. It discusses the key topics in each unit, walk through the learning outcomes, and list important vocabulary terms. It is not meant to replace the course materials!

Course Feedback Survey

Please take a few minutes to give us feedback about this course. We appreciate your feedback, whether you completed the whole course or even just a few resources. Your feedback will help us make our courses better, and we use your feedback each time we make updates to our courses.

If you come across any urgent problems, email [email protected].

Certificate Final Exam

Take this exam if you want to earn a free Course Completion Certificate.

To receive a free Course Completion Certificate, you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on this final exam. Your grade for the exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again as many times as you want, with a 7-day waiting period between each attempt.

Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a free Course Completion Certificate .

Saylor Direct Credit

Take this exam if you want to earn college credit for this course . This course is eligible for college credit through Saylor Academy's Saylor Direct Credit Program .

The Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam requires a proctoring fee of $5 . To pass this course and earn a Credly Badge and official transcript , you will need to earn a grade of 70% or higher on the Saylor Direct Credit Final Exam. Your grade for this exam will be calculated as soon as you complete it. If you do not pass the exam on your first try, you can take it again a maximum of 3 times , with a 14-day waiting period between each attempt.

We are partnering with SmarterProctoring to help make the proctoring fee more affordable. We will be recording you, your screen, and the audio in your room during the exam. This is an automated proctoring service, but no decisions are automated; recordings are only viewed by our staff with the purpose of making sure it is you taking the exam and verifying any questions about exam integrity. We understand that there are challenges with learning at home - we won't invalidate your exam just because your child ran into the room!

Requirements:

Desktop Computer
Chrome (v74+)
Webcam + Microphone
1mbps+ Internet Connection

Once you pass this final exam, you will be awarded a Credly Badge and can request an official transcript .

Saylor Direct Credit Exam

This exam is part of the Saylor Direct College Credit program. Before attempting this exam, review the Saylor Direct Credit page for complete requirements.

Essential exam information:

You must take this exam with our automated proctor. If you cannot, please contact us to request an override.
The automated proctoring session will cost $5 .
This is a closed-book, closed-notes exam (see allowed resources below).
You will have two (2) hours to complete this exam.
You have up to 3 attempts, but you must wait 14 days between consecutive attempts of this exam.
The passing grade is 70% or higher.
This exam consists of 52 multiple-choice questions.

Some details about taking your exam:

Exam questions are distributed across multiple pages.
Exam questions will have several plausible options; be sure to pick the answer that best satisfies each part of the question.
Your answers are saved each time you move to another page within the exam.
You can answer the questions in any order.
You can go directly to any question by clicking its number in the navigation panel.
You can flag a question to remind yourself to return to it later.
You will receive your grade as soon as you submit your answers.

Allowed resources:

Gather these resources before you start your exam.

Blank paper

What should I do before my exam?

Gather these before you start your exam:
A photo I.D. to show before your exam.
A credit card to pay the automated proctoring fee.
(optional) Blank paper and pencil.
(optional) A glass of water.
Make sure your work area is well-lit and your face is visible.
We will be recording your screen, so close any extra tabs!
Disconnect any extra monitors attached to your computer.
You will have up to two (2) hours to complete your exam. Try to make sure you won't be interrupted during that time!
You will require at least 1mbps of internet bandwidth. Ask others sharing your connection not to stream during your exam.
Take a deep breath; you got this!

ASU Universal Learner® Courses

How it works

Earned Admission learners

High school learners

Transfer students and gap year learners

GPA calculator

Technical requirements

Certificates

English Language

Learner Support

Accessibility

Partner with us

For organizations

For high schools

Skip to main content
Report an accessibility problem
Colleges and Schools

Online Psychology

PSY 101 - Introduction to Psychology

This introductory course is organized around Modules that will cover the five pillars of psychology, which include the: biological pillar, cognitive pillar, developmental pillar, social and personality pillar, and mental and physical health pillar. As students progress through each learning Module, they will review up-to-date and relevant content, engage in meaningful active learning exercises, and complete a knowledge check or assessment. In addition, the course culminates with students completing a psychology-based milestone project that students will find applicable to their own life, such in the workforce or their academic journey.

Course prerequisites and requirements

To be successful in this course, we recommend English language fluency and computer literacy. We also encourage you to make sure your laptop or desktop computer meets the technical requirements .

Quick facts

Next start date:

Oct. 10, 2023

Jan. 09, 2024

Mar. 06, 2024

Credits: 3
Length: Self-paced or 8 weeks
Cost: $25 + $400

What you’ll learn

The historical roots of psychology
The research methods used by psychologists
The relationship between body and behavior and the mechanisms of sensation and perception and states of consciousness
The terms, concepts, and processes of learning and conditioning, thinking and memory, and motivation and emotion
The basic theories of human development and personality
The issues in the area of intelligence and intelligence testing
Stress and its effects on behavior
Health psychology and factors to control stress
The major categories of abnormal behavior
The major therapeutic approaches used for the treatment of abnormal behavior
The factors that influence group behavior and interpersonal relationships
How psychology is applied in real-world situations

What to expect in class

Narrated Lectures, OER textbook readings, active learning activities, supplemental learning materials (ex. TEDTalks, Youtube Videos, etc), written assignments, milestone project in the form of interactive discussions, exams, and personalized feedback

Exams and grading

Assignments

Discussions

This course appears on your transcript identically to how it appears on the transcript of an enrolled ASU student who has taken the course on one of ASU’s campuses.

This course satisfies 3 credit hours toward the Social-Behavioral Sciences (SB) General Studies requirement at Arizona State University. It is strongly encouraged that you consult with your institution of choice to determine how these credits will be applied to their degree requirements prior to transferring your credit.

Faculty and course staff

Clinical Associate Professor,

School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Arizona State University

Online Course Manager,

Learning Enterprise

Why take ASU Universal Learner Courses

Related courses, com 100 - introduction to human communication, hep 100 - introduction to health and wellness, soc 101 - introductory sociology, related programs, online ba in psychology, online bs in psychology, online ba in forensic psychology, online bs in forensic psychology, online bs in counseling and applied psychological science.

Have questions? We’ve got the answers. Ask away!

Business hours for phone and chat Monday - Friday 7am - 6pm MST

ULC terms of use

Bipolar Disorder
Therapy Center
When To See a Therapist
Types of Therapy
Best Online Therapy
Best Couples Therapy
Best Family Therapy
Managing Stress
Sleep and Dreaming
Understanding Emotions
Self-Improvement
Healthy Relationships
Student Resources
Personality Types
Guided Meditations
Verywell Mind Insights
2023 Verywell Mind 25
Mental Health in the Classroom
Editorial Process
Meet Our Review Board
Crisis Support

How to Write an Introduction for a Psychology Paper

Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell.

Writing Tips

If you are writing a psychology paper, it is essential to kick things off with a strong introduction. The introduction to a psychology research paper helps your readers understand why the topic is important and what they need to know before they delve deeper.

Your goal in this section is to introduce the topic to the reader, provide an overview of previous research on the topic, and identify your own hypothesis .

At a Glance

Writing a great introduction can be a great foundation for the rest of your psychology paper. To create a strong intro:

Research your topic
Outline your paper
Introduce your topic
Summarize the previous research
Present your hypothesis or main argument

Before You Write an Introduction

There are some important steps you need to take before you even begin writing your introduction. To know what to write, you need to collect important background information and create a detailed plan.

Research Your Topic

Search a journal database, PsychInfo or ERIC, to find articles on your subject. Once you have located an article, look at the reference section to locate other studies cited in the article. As you take notes from these articles, be sure to write down where you found the information.

A simple note detailing the author's name, journal, and date of publication can help you keep track of sources and avoid plagiarism.

Create a Detailed Outline

This is often one of the most boring and onerous steps, so students tend to skip outlining and go straight to writing. Creating an outline might seem tedious, but it can be an enormous time-saver down the road and will make the writing process much easier.

Start by looking over the notes you made during the research process and consider how you want to present all of your ideas and research.

Introduce the Topic

Once you are ready to write your introduction, your first task is to provide a brief description of the research question. What is the experiment or study attempting to demonstrate? What phenomena are you studying? Provide a brief history of your topic and explain how it relates to your current research.

As you are introducing your topic, consider what makes it important. Why should it matter to your reader? The goal of your introduction is not only to let your reader know what your paper is about, but also to justify why it is important for them to learn more.

If your paper tackles a controversial subject and is focused on resolving the issue, it is important to summarize both sides of the controversy in a fair and impartial way. Consider how your paper fits in with the relevant research on the topic.

The introduction of a research paper is designed to grab interest. It should present a compelling look at the research that already exists and explain to readers what questions your own paper will address.

Summarize Previous Research

The second task of your introduction is to provide a well-rounded summary of previous research that is relevant to your topic. So, before you begin to write this summary, it is important to research your topic thoroughly.

Finding appropriate sources amid thousands of journal articles can be a daunting task, but there are several steps you can take to simplify your research. If you have completed the initial steps of researching and keeping detailed notes, writing your introduction will be much easier.

It is essential to give the reader a good overview of the historical context of the issue you are writing about, but do not feel like you must provide an exhaustive review of the subject. Focus on hitting the main points, and try to include the most relevant studies.

You might describe previous research findings and then explain how the current study differs or expands upon earlier research.

Provide Your Hypothesis

Once you have summarized the previous research, explain areas where the research is lacking or potentially flawed. What is missing from previous studies on your topic? What research questions have yet to be answered? Your hypothesis should lead to these questions.

At the end of your introduction, offer your hypothesis and describe what you expected to find in your experiment or study.

The introduction should be relatively brief. You want to give your readers an overview of a topic, explain why you are addressing it, and provide your arguments.

Tips for Writing Your Psychology Paper Intro

Use 3x5 inch note cards to write down notes and sources.
Look in professional psychology journals for examples of introductions.
Remember to cite your sources.
Maintain a working bibliography with all of the sources you might use in your final paper. This will make it much easier to prepare your reference section later on.
Use a copy of the APA style manual to ensure that your introduction and references are in proper APA format .

What This Means For You

Before you delve into the main body of your paper, you need to give your readers some background and present your main argument in the introduction of you paper. You can do this by first explaining what your topic is about, summarizing past research, and then providing your thesis.

Armağan A. How to write an introduction section of a scientific article ? Turk J Urol . 2013;39(Suppl 1):8-9. doi:10.5152/tud.2013.046

Fried T, Foltz C, Lendner M, Vaccaro AR. How to write an effective introduction . Clin Spine Surg . 2019;32(3):111-112. doi:10.1097/BSD.0000000000000714

Jawaid SA, Jawaid M. How to write introduction and discussion . Saudi J Anaesth . 2019;13(Suppl 1):S18-S19. doi:10.4103/sja.SJA_584_18

American Psychological Association. Information Recommended for Inclusion in Manuscripts That Report New Data Collections Regardless of Research Design . Published 2020.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd Kendra Cherry, MS, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, psychology educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."

Psychology Assignments 101

By Clarissa Erwin Published on 12 February, 2018

Investigate

ProQuest Central – An interdisciplinary collection of full-text articles from outstanding academic/professional journals. APA citations are available for every article in ProQuest . Be sure to filter for date range. While especially strong in the behavioral sciences, the interdisciplinary selection of scholarly articles found in ProQuest can also offer new ways of seeing problems, ideas or theories in other related fields.
PsycARTICLES – A database of full-text peer-reviewed articles published by APA and affiliated journals. Includes current journal coverage as well as historical content.
DSM-5 – The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fifth Edition. A handbook used by healthcare professionals in the US and around the world as the authoritative guide to the definitions and diagnosis of mental disorders. Our online DSM-5 Library includes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders , the Handbook of Differential Diagnosis , and the DSM-5 Clinical Cases . Be sure to see a Librarian if you need assistance using this resource.

For anyone working in psychology, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is the definitive style guide. APA format can be challenging, and, as you work gathering resource citations generated in an online environment, it is important to be consistent with your reference page citations. Using a database like ProQuest or PsycArticles will allow you to locate scholarly resources from across various disciplines in the behavioral sciences, while at the same time maintaining consistency from citation to citation. If you’re also consulting and then citing information from resources found in the DSM-5 or other databases, go online to the APA Style Guide located under Research Help on the Libraries webpage - or check the APA Style Quick Guide found in paper in each campus Library. We also have a complete sample APA paper found by clicking Research Help , then How to Cite , and Additional Citation Resources on the Libraries webpage. APA uses a system of DOI’s or Digital Object Identifiers to help the reader identify the exact article used. All DSM-5 online information has a DOI associated with it. For assistance with editing or formatting an APA assignment, visit a CSN Writing Center or a Campus Library . We are all happy to help!

Psychology 101 Assignment Guide

Recommended scholarly database, what are scholarly sources, why scholarly, the peer-review process, how to identify research studies.

Background Information
Citing Sources

Having Trouble?

Gathering background information on your topic can help you find better scholarly articles.

Helpful Links

Get Help Contact us for research assistance.
How to do Research in College Tips and tutorials for searching Library databases and conducting research.
Learning Commons Hours Check here for our hours this semester.
Library Database Search Tips About choosing keywords when searching.
Psychology Research Guide A fuller introduction to college-level psychology research.

The term scholarly sources is a blanket term that is often used interchangeably with academic sources and peer-reviewed sources - and they typically have the following qualities:

Written by experts - scholarly sources are created by people that have advanced far in their field of study.
Written for experts - scholarly sources are created to inform other experts in a field about advances or new ideas.
Technical language - authors of scholarly sources assume the readership is conversant with the content discussed, and are typically taking great care to ensure that the arguments and claims within their works are narrow and specific; thus the language of scholarly sources will be dense.
Citations to other sources - authors of scholarly work do a lot of research for their publications. They build upon the research of others, and cite that research throughout their own work.
Review process - before publication, scholarly sources are thoroughly reviewed by a group of experts to make sure that the content of the source is sound and valid.

Typically, academic journals contain scholarly sources called academic articles. Academic articles are going to be your go to resource for scholarly material.

Why bother or care about scholarly sources?

Scholarly sources are the best because they make claims, and then support those claims with evidence.
You get information directly from researchers, rather than watered down through various filters of commentary and interpretation. It's the pure stuff. The good stuff.
Because scholars are experts, using their findings to support your arguments makes your paper stronger while making your points more persuasive.

Sure - you could write a paper just using background information while not really saying anything new. It would, in essence, be a book report that reiterates what is already known about a subject. Those kinds of papers are boring - they are boring to write, and they are boring to read.

Types of Psychology Journal Articles

Scholarly psychology journals usually feature two types of articles:

REVIEWS look at other peoples' research and summarize research in a specific area of study.
RESEARCH STUDIES report the original research being conducted by the authors of the article.

Quick Indicators of Original Research Studies

Read the ABSTRACT of an article before diving into it completely and then give the article a quick once over. You are looking for keywords such as:

PURPOSE or OBJECTIVE: Why the experiment is being done in the first place, the question that the researchers are attempting to address with their research.
PARTICIPANTS, POPULATION, or SUBJECTS: In psychology, research is done on people or animals – a research article should discuss who participated in a study. If it DOES NOT talk about the people used in the research, it may be an analysis or review of research. It is likely NOT a research study.
METHODS or METHODOLOGY: This explains how the research is done.
RESULTS or FINDINGS: An explanation of what the researchers found within the scope of their experiment or research.
CONCLUSIONS and/or DISCUSSION: A description of what the researchers’ findings entail or mean, and suggestions for future research informed by such findings.

Adapted from “What is Original Research?” http://libguides.unf.edu/originalresearch

Next: Background Information >>
Last Updated: Feb 5, 2024 4:00 PM
URL: https://guides.frederick.edu/psyc101

Frederick Community College prohibits discrimination against any person on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship status, color, creed, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, genetic information, marital status, mental or physical disability, national origin, race, religious affiliation, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status in its activities, admissions, educational programs, and employment.

Psychology 101 Assignment

Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes Thinking critically with Psychology Hindsight bias- Common Sense describes what has happened after the fact more easily than it predicts what will happen before the fact Common sense is a poor guide The Scientific Method Theory- an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations Hypothesis- a testable prediction implied by a theory Simple Observation- simply observing world around you, and asking questions why people think and behave as they do

Darrel and Latent thought that they more the bystanders, the less likely to give someone aid, and it was true Confederate- playing the part of someone in distress, but they are Just playing a roll Personal Experience- psychologists want to know their own weakness and tendencies Replication- basic findings can be observed with different participants with different circumstances Operational Definition- specific statement used to define research variables, so it can be repeated by others To choose a research design: Pick between 3 methods- descriptive, correctional, experiment Pick between 2 settings- lab or field

Don’t waste your time! Order your assignment!

Descriptive Methods The Case Study- deep investigation of a single subject The Survey- investigation of many people Naturalistic Observation- behavior in its natural environment and describing in detail Jane Goodwill- studied chimpanzees and showed observations in natural habit are more complex than previously supposed Another Ex: they used it for interaction on peoples behavior What is a representative sample? One that accurately shows the population of interest Experimental M Manipulate one or more factors, while holding other factors constant Variable- anything that can fluctuate or change states

Independent Variable- vary independently of other variables whose effect is being studied Dependent Variable- variable that may change in response for manipulations of independent variable Random Assignment- assigning by chance, everyone has an equal chance, minimize pre-existing differences between groups Confounding Variable- complicates the interpretation of the results of the experiment Example: Does breast feeding have an impact on their intelligence later in life Independent- Breast milk (experimental) or Formula (control) Dependent- Intelligence score at age 8

Cannot conduct experiment if unethical or if not possible Correctional Methods Purpose is to observe naturally occurring relationships between variables Correlation and Causation Directionality Problem- When we have a correlation between 2 variables, for example A and B, it could be variable A causes variable B, or it could easily be variable B causes variable A. Either way could work Third Variable Problem- There could be another reason causing it to be both variable A or B. For example- Distressing events could lead to low self esteem and depression, when low self esteem use to be variable A and depression was variable

Spurious Correlation- correlation that occurs simply because each of the variables occur CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPALA CAUSATION Correlation Research Methods Descriptive – to observe and record behavior. You do case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations Nothing annulated Weakness- no control of variable, single cases may be misleading Research Ethics Is it Ethical to experiment on humans? The Amalgam Experiments- You either play a role of a teacher, or a student. You are randomly assigned to the position. Then there is another person that is connected to the teacher is hooked up with a shock.

If the learner gets one wrong, the other person tells the teacher to give a shock to the learner and it keeps increasing. Amalgam is interested in how far will people go? The trick to this is the learner is not actually being shocked but the teacher is unaware of this. The discovery was that how many people actually would do it. 2/3 of the subjects gave the maximum shock. Researchers Must: Obtain informed consent Protect them from hard Maintain confidentiality Debrief Is it ethical to experiment on animals? Psychology Roots “Psychology has a long past, but a short history. – Hermann Banishes People have pondered questions of a psychological nature for thousands of years. For example, The Greek It is impossible to pinpoint the exact date when psychology emerged as a scientific discipline. However, 1879 was an important year. This is the year when Wilhelm Wound founded the first laboratory devoted to psychological research. Edward Twitchier introduced Structuralism and aimed to identify the basic elements of the mind the the same way that chemist had identified the basic elements of nature. William James thought about the minds functions.

For example, he argued that the unction’s of consciousness is that it enables us to consider our past and to adjust our present circumstances accordingly. Contemporary Psychology Biological Incenses- natural selection AT patella traits genetic predispositions responding to environment brain mechanisms hormonal influences Psychological Influences- learned fears and other expectations, emotional responses, cognitive processing and perceptual interpretation Social-cultural influences- presence of others, cultural, societal, and family expectations, peer and other group influences, compelling models (such as media)

Psychology Subfields Biological Psychologists- study link between brain and behavior. EX: Hypothalamus Developmental Psychologists- study how our behavior and thinking changes, from womb to tomb. EX: Why do certain types of memory decline with age? Cognitive Psychologists- study how people perceive the world, and how they would form new memories, think, and solve problems. Social Psychologists- study how we interact, how we view and affect one another in social interactions. Counseling Psychologists- help people cope with challenges of all sorts, including academic, vocational, marital, etc

How to cite this assignment

Related assignments:.

Social Psychology Defination Assignment
Social Psychology Definition Paper Assignment
Social Psychology in the new Millennium Assignment
Psychology a Unit 2: Biological Psychology (Stress) Flashcards Assignment

Haven't Found The Paper You Want?

For Only $13.90/page

South Carolina Honors College
Location Location
Contact Contact
Colleges and Schools
About the Honors College

Senior psychology major reveals how South Carolina Honors College transformed her life

After distinguishing herself as one of the rare transfer students accepted into the highly competitive South Carolina Honors College as a sophomore, Ruth Moniz still had only a vague idea where she ultimately might fit in the wide spectrum of career opportunities for psychology majors. She was hungry for meaningful professional insight, and one Honors psychology course — Research, Practice, and Policy in School Behavioral Health — changed everything.

Ruth Moniz in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, Rome, Italy

“Before taking this class, I knew I was interested in psychology, and I knew that I liked working with children, but, other than that, I had absolutely no idea what my future academic or professional path might look like,” Moniz recalls. “I was trying to get as much exposure as possible to different things. I was toying with the idea of counseling but didn’t really feel a strong connection to it. … I also had the opportunity to volunteer with a local middle school and trained in motivational interviewing. It was absolutely amazing and so rewarding to see the impacts of positive behavioral interventions and supports in action in a local environment.”

Finally discovering that school-based psychology would be her niche was not without its challenges. Moniz was initially intimidated by the academic rigor of Honors College courses, especially reading and understanding sophisticated academic articles. However, during the first week of Honors classes, she was stunned to experience a level of enthusiastic participation and engagement that was far different from high school. Soon, Moniz found herself looking forward to the Honors assignments and in-depth discussions.

“I had spoken to other friends who were in Honors and had read many wonderful things online about the enhanced experiences available to Honors students,” she says. “I knew that it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take my college experience to the next level. … I had no idea just how impactful it would be.”

I would not be the student or person I am today without my Honors experience.

The psychology course was the catalyst that opened the door for Moniz to pursue her undergraduate research at USC, which ultimately led to her choice of senior thesis topic: “The use of effective health communication strategies to reduce inequitable and exclusionary discipline in schools.” It examines disciplinary practices in K-12 schools that remove students from the school environment as well as reviews the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which is how an individual’s belief systems influence their decisions to behave in a certain way.

Today, Moniz is a part-time research assistant on nationally renowned psychology instructor Mark Weist’s School Behavioral Health Team. As a senior, she was even invited to present her research findings at the 2023 Southeastern School Behavioral Health Conference where Moniz networked with top professionals in the field. She will become a full-time research assistant after graduation in May. Beyond that, she is keeping her options open.

Having previously served as a Peer Leader for University 101 programs, Moniz hopes to stay involved in the first-year seminars while preparing to apply for graduate school. She is proud that USC ranks No. 1 nationally for first-year experience and leads the state with 20 nationally ranked health science graduate programs.

“I would not be the student or person I am today without my Honors experience,” Moniz says. “I have gained so much knowledge as an Honors student, but I think, more importantly, I have gained so much more confidence in myself as a student and my ability to chase my dreams and aspirations. Honors will always have a special place in my heart.”

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

IMAGES

Psychology 101 Notes
Psychology 101 Final Exam Latest 2022
psychology 101 test bank
Exam 4 psychology 101 notes
5 Ways to Write Psychology Assignments That Increase Student's Grades
Psychology 101 Notes

VIDEO

PSY101_Lecture32
PSY101_Lecture07
PSY101_Lecture14
PSY101_Lecture20
PSY101_Lecture19
PSY101_Lecture21

COMMENTS

Assignments
Assignment: Social Psychology —Designing a Study in Social Psychology. Create a shortened research proposal for a study in social psychology (or one that tests common proverbs). *larger assignment, possibly the largest assignment. Could be broken into multiple parts and given advanced notice. Personality.
Psychology Assignments 101
Psychology Assignments 101. Clarissa Erwin / February 12, 2018. Prepare. Research assignments for CSN psychology classes can be among the most varied and challenging you will encounter. For certain class assignments your instructor will ask you to locate empirical research to help you examine a specific assigned topic.
Assignments
Assignments. The assignments in this course are openly licensed, and are available as-is, or can be modified to suit your students' needs. Selected answer keys are available to faculty who adopt Waymaker, OHM, or Candela courses with paid support from Lumen Learning. This approach helps us protect the academic integrity of these materials by ...
Introduction to Psychology
Introduction to Psychology utilizes the dual theme of behavior and empiricism to make psychology relevant to intro students. ... While I assigned the entire chapter as reading, I planned my activities and assignments to include a graded item from each of the sections. By doing this I knew students were engaged in each of the sections, and for ...
Introduction to Psychology Worksheets
Introduction to Psychology Worksheets. Chapter 1 Worksheets Chapter 2 Worksheets Chapter 3 Worksheets Chapter 6 Worksheets Chapter 7 Worksheets Chapter 9 Worksheets Chapter 12 Worksheets Chapter 15 Worksheets Chapter 16 Worksheets Chapter 17 Worksheets.
Introduction to Psychology Course (Yale)
Module 5 • 2 hours to complete. 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 people—social psychology. What's included.
Introduction to Psychology
1700 Coursera Courses That Are Still Completely Free. This course will highlight the most interesting experiments within the field of psychology, discussing the implications of those studies for our understanding of the human mind and human behavior. We will explore the brain and some of the cognitive abilities it supports like memory, learning ...
Psychology 101
Psychology 101 is a general psychology text adapted to an online guided format. It represents a summary of the major theories, concepts, and interventions in the field of psychology. Reading the text will provide you with a strong basic understanding of the field of psychology. ... It involves randomized assignment of subjects, standardized ...
PSYCH101: Introduction to Psychology
Course Catalog. Psychology. PSYCH101: Introduction to Psychology. Learn new skills or earn credit towards a degree at your own pace with no deadlines, using free courses from Saylor Academy. Join the 1,839,519 students that started their journey with us. We're committed to removing barriers to education and helping you build essential skills to ...
Online Introduction to Psychology
Earn college credit in this online introduction to psychology class that explores how the human mind works. ... PSY 101 - Introduction to Psychology Overview Quick facts Curriculum Faculty Why take ... Youtube Videos, etc), written assignments, milestone project in the form of interactive discussions, exams, and personalized feedback. Exams and ...
PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology (3.0 cr) Fall 2020
The homework assignments will help you learn at a deeper level about particular topics in psychology. Homework will include your responses to a set of guiding questions in a short answer format and each written assignment will be approximately 2 pages in total length. All written work should be submitted on time, or early, online in Canvas.
Psychology 101-Chapter 1 Introduction to Psychology
A statistical measure of a test's consistency, or ability to result in similar scores if given repeatedly. Statistical technique used to determine if a test is actually measuring what it is intended to measure. A method of determining an average where the sum of the scores is divided by the number of scores.
PSYC 101
Studying PSYC 101 Introduction to Psychology at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana? On Studocu you will find 131 lecture notes, 28 essays, 26 assignments and much. ... Scholarly Article Analysis Assignment Template PSYC 101. 3 pages 2023/2024 100% (1) 2023/2024 100% (1) Save. M02 Stress and Fight or Flight. 1 page 2023/2024 100% (1) 2023/ ...
Psychology 101: Intro to Psychology
Course Summary. Psychology 101: Intro to Psychology has been evaluated and recommended for 3 semester hours and may be transferred to over 2,000 colleges and universities. Through a series of ...
How to Write an Introduction for a Psychology Paper
At a Glance. Writing a great introduction can be a great foundation for the rest of your psychology paper. To create a strong intro: Research your topic. Outline your paper. Introduce your topic. Summarize the previous research. Present your hypothesis or main argument.
PDF Introduction to Psychology Writing Assignments
writing assignments. You may complete a fourth assignment for extra credit. Enclosed in this packet are the guidelines, instructions, and due dates for the assignments. Please keep the following expectations in mind: 1. Each assignment is worth 25 points. 2. Read instructions carefully and be sure to complete all aspects of the assignments. 3.
PDF INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY PSY 101 - Fall 2021 Prof. Paul Curran, PhD E-mail:[email protected] Teaching assistants: Samantha Bowden <[email protected]> ... D. Homework assignments and other papers.This componentof the course will be a combination of small assignments as assigned throughout the semester. This will include
PDF INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Upon successful completion of this course students will be able to: 1. Demonstrate an understanding of the scientific process in Psychology. 2. Identify major psychological theories and use psychological terminology correctly. 3. Critically evaluate the findings of psychological research. 4.
Psychology Assignments 101
Psychology Assignments 101. By Clarissa Erwin. Published on 12 February, 2018. Prepare. Research assignments for CSN psychology classes can be among the most varied and challenging you will encounter. For certain class assignments your instructor will ask you to locate empirical research to help you examine a specific assigned topic.
Scholarly Articles
Types of Psychology Journal Articles . Scholarly psychology journals usually feature two types of articles: REVIEWS look at other peoples' research and summarize research in a specific area of study. RESEARCH STUDIES report the original research being conducted by the authors of the article. Quick Indicators of Original Research Studies
TOPSS Classroom Activities
Quickly search over 100 activities from our popular Teachers of Psychology in Secondary School (TOPSS) unit lesson plans. Choose from popular topics like biological basis of behavior, memory, research methods and more. Be sure to check back regularly as activities will be added as they become available.
PSYC 101
Studying PSYC 101 General Psychology at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill? On Studocu you will find 155 lecture notes, 43 assignments, 19 summaries and. ... Psych 101- Writing Assignment 4. 3 pages 2018/2019 None. 2018/2019 None. Save. Psych 101- Writing Assingment. 3 pages 2018/2019 None. 2018/2019 None. Save.
Psychology 101 Assignment free sample
Psychology 101 Assignment. Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes Thinking critically with Psychology Hindsight bias- Common Sense describes what has happened after the fact more easily than it predicts what will happen before the fact Common sense is a poor guide The Scientific Method Theory- an explanation using an ...
Senior psychology major reveals how South Carolina Honors College
Finally discovering that school-based psychology would be her niche was not without its challenges. Moniz was initially intimidated by the academic rigor of Honors College courses, especially reading and understanding sophisticated academic articles. ... Moniz found herself looking forward to the Honors assignments and in-depth discussions ...

Faculty Resources

Discussion Grading Rubric

Contribute!

CSN Library Services

Related posts

Assignments

Share This Book

Introduction to Psychology

Formats Available

Table of Contents

Ancillary Material

Contribute to this Page

Introduction to Psychology Worksheets

Introduction to Psychology

Skills you'll gain

Details to know

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Earn a career certificate

There are 7 modules in this course

Welcome to Introduction to Psychology

What's included

1 video • Total 2 minutes

3 readings • Total 30 minutes

Foundations

17 videos • Total 135 minutes

1 quiz • Total 30 minutes

Development and Language

14 videos • Total 110 minutes

2 readings • Total 20 minutes

12 videos • Total 64 minutes

1 plugin • Total 21 minutes

Self and others

15 videos • Total 121 minutes

13 videos • Total 87 minutes

The good life

7 videos • Total 26 minutes

1 quiz • Total 20 minutes

Instructor ratings

Recommended if you're interested in Psychology

Managing Emotions in Times of Uncertainty & Stress

Social Psychology

Connected Leadership

Learner reviews

New to Psychology? Start here.

Open new doors with Coursera Plus

Advance your career with an online degree

Join over 3,400 global companies that choose Coursera for Business

Frequently asked questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?

What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?

What is the refund policy?

Is financial aid available?

More questions

Chapter 1: How to Learn Psychology

Chapter 2: Biopsychology

Chapter 3: Introduction to Development, Personality & Stage Theories

Chapter 4: Introduction to Learning Theory & Behavioral Psychology

Chapter 5: Sensation & Perception

Chapter 6: Section 1: Memory, Intelligence, and States of Mind

Chapter 7: Motivation & Emotion

Chapter 8: Social Psychology

Chapter 9: Psychopathology

Chapter 10: Psychotherapy

PSYCH101: Introduction to Psychology

Course Syllabus

Unit 1: Scientific Foundations of Psychology

Unit 2: Biological Bases of Behavior

Unit 3: Sensation and Perception

Unit 4: Learning

Unit 5: Cognitive Psychology

Unit 6: Developmental Psychology

Unit 7: Motivation, Emotion, and Personality

Unit 8: Clinical Psychology

Unit 9: Social Psychology

Unit 10: Industrial and Organizational Psychology

Unit 11: Health and Stress Psychology

Study Guide

Course Feedback Survey

Certificate Final Exam

Saylor Direct Credit