Intro to Psychology: Best Psychology Courses for Beginners

If you want to be among the best developmental psychologists or social psychologists, you should start with an introduction to psychology course. You’ll learn the basic concepts shaping psychology, the history of psychology, and mental processes. 

Spanning mental health, personality psychology, human behavior modification, and occupational health psychology, psychology is a vibrant field that analyses behavior we see in daily life. If you want to learn psychology for beginners, intro to psychology courses is a great place to start. This article lists the best psychology courses for beginners. 

What Is Psychology?

Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes. Psychologists strive to understand the mind, brain functions, and human behavioral patterns and the motivation behind them. The various domains of psychology include cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, experimental psychology, organizational psychology, social psychology, forensic psychology, developmental psychology, and educational psychology. 

This study of psychology is the study of daily life and family life, looking at the social pressures, biological influences, and environmental factors. Through psychology, we’re able to learn why people behave and feel the way they do.

How to Learn Psychology for Beginners

• Courses. Courses are among the best educational resources for learning basics in psychology. There are many online courses available for free or at an affordable cost. Online psychology courses for credit are a great way to begin learning psychology.
• Workshops. These are short-duration events where you can use personal observation to learn about different aspects of psychology. For example, you can interact with social psychologists while observing their projects and learn some basic aspects of social behavior or mental illness, identifying key takeaways. 
• Degree Program. This is a great option if you want to work in different domains of psychology. Classes in introductory psychology will cover subject matter like developmental psychology and the work of Ivan Pavlov. Once you graduate, you can explore various well-paying careers in psychology. 
• Psychology Projects. Projects offer a first-hand observation of the application of psychology. You may be involved with projects in your community or school where clinical psychologists or cognitive psychologists observe human behavior. 
• Conferences. These are learning opportunities planned by institutions or organizations that can span a few days. The conference may focus on a branch of psychology or on psychology as a whole.  

Best Psychology Courses for Beginners 

The Best Intro to Psychology Courses: Explained

Whether you want to learn cognitive psychology, experimental psychology or any other scientific study of human behavior or mental health, you cannot go wrong with an introductory course. Let’s have a look at some of the best psychology courses for beginners below. 

Introduction to Psychology | Coursera

This course is offered in collaboration with University of Toronto. A major focus of the course is experimental psychology and how it affects our understanding of behavior. It covers the brain and its cognitive abilities like memory, consciousness, learning, attention, and perception. You will get a certificate upon completion.

Intro to Psychology | Udacity

This course was developed in conjunction with San Jose State University. It provides an overview of the major aspects of psychology, such as cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, and comparative psychology. The course is designed to help students understand the behavior of people.

How to “Get” People: Practical Psychology | Udemy

It will help you understand the four elements of personality, understand your personality type, and learn the difference between behavior and personality. You’ll also learn to carry yourself in different situations, accurately identify different types of people, and understand people’s perceptions of you based on your personality type. 

Introduction to Psychology  | Coursera 

This course starts with foundations like psychological theories of behaviorism and psychodynamics. It also covers language and development and how people learn languages. Other aspects of this course will include cognitive psychology, neural processes, behavior modification, and human variation. It explores how psychologists assess happiness and what contributes to a good life in the human experience.  

Positive Psychology: Character, Grit and Research Methods | Coursera 

In this course, learners are taught how to differentiate between external and internal validity and also how to develop a hypothesis. It covers the strengths and weaknesses associated with different evaluation and measurement designs. It’s an ideal course for those who want to understand more about research and covers topics like correlation coefficients. 

Introduction to Psychology | edX

This is an introductory course where students learn the fundamentals of psychology, how clinical psychologists measure mental behavior and function, and how they report such behaviors. Students will also study consciousness, perception, and mysteries of dreams and sleep. Other areas covered include the plasticity of the brain, how the brain is wired for learning, and various mental disorders. 

Introduction to Psychology | University of North Dakota

This course provides an overview of the field of psychology and covers a breadth of major topics in this field. You’ll learn about the human evolution of psychology, biological psychology, and social behavior. At the end of the course, learners will have a better understanding of people’s perceptions, personalities, thought processes, and behavior.

An Introduction to Psychology | Udemy

This course is ideal for anyone who wants to understand human behavior. It will help you describe and understand how clinical psychologists study the mind. Other key areas include important frameworks for understanding psychological theories, phenomena, and concepts surrounding the field of cognitive science. 

Psychology: An Introduction| University of Oxford 

This is a comprehensive introductory course that covers the history of psychology, neural processes, how the brain functions, the science of thought and language, how memories are formed, love and relationships, personalities, and brain damage. At the end of the course, students can explain why we do things such as conform, eat, and sleep. 

Introduction to Psychology | Expert Tracks 

This course provides an overview of psychology. It covers topics such as contemporary psychology, developmental psychology, best approaches to psychology, and mental processes. You’ll gain skills related to cognitive psychology, biological influences and trait theories, classical conditioning, and principles of perception.  

Is Learning Psychology Worth It?

Yes, learning psychology is worth it. If you are interested in bases of behaviors or are working on understanding your own mental health or mental disorders, an intro course will give you a lot of key takeaways about different aspects of psychology.  

If you’re considering delving deeper into the study of psychology, be it in experimental psychology or existential psychology, an overview will help you evaluate whether you are prepared to follow the path of higher education. This will allow you to make the best decision. 

Finally, psychology applies to many elements of human life. By taking one of the best psychology courses for beginners, you’ll be more conscious of your relationships and understand yourself better. If you have children, you’ll be more deliberate in your parenting. 

Introduction to Psychology FAQ