Taught by Yale professor Paul Bloom, this course presents an Introduction to Psychology and tries to explain what makes us tick:

What do your dreams mean? Do men and women differ in the nature and intensity of their sexual desires? Can apes learn sign language? Why can't we tickle ourselves? 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, religion, persuasion, love, lust, hunger, art, fiction, and dreams. 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.

You can watch the 20 lectures from the course above, or find them on YouTube and iTunes. To get more information on the course, including the syllabus, visit this Yale website.

The main texts used in this course include:

Gray, Peter. Psychology. New York: Worth Publishers, 2007.

Marcus, Gary, ed. The Norton Psychology Reader. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2006.

Introduction to Psychology will be added to our collection, 1,500 Free Online Courses from Top Universities. There you can find a specialized list of Free Online Psychology and Neuroscience Courses.

Related Content:

A Crash Course on Psychology: A 30-Part Video Series from Hank Green

The Neuroscience & Psychology of Procrastination, and How to Overcome It

How To Think Like a Psychologist: A Free Online Course from Stanford