PSK 101 - Introduction to Psychology I

This course is a general introduction to psychology and aims to provide competence in the philosophical foundations of psychology, its development as a science, its basic concepts, subfields, and interdisciplinary relationships, as well as providing participants with knowledge and skills about human behavior, consciousness, perception, motivation, emotions, and development.

This course introduces the fundamental subject matter and goals of psychology as a scientific discipline concerned with the study of human behavior and mental processes, while also covering the historical development of psychology, major theoretical perspectives, and scientific research methods. The course examines the biological foundations of behavior and mental processes, including the nervous system, brain, endocrine system, and genetic influences on behavior; sensation and perception involved in receiving and interpreting information from the environment; consciousness and altered states of consciousness; learning processes through which behavior is acquired and modified by experience; memory processes involving the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information; and fundamental cognitive processes such as thinking, problem solving, decision making, intelligence, and language. Through these topics, the course aims to provide students with an integrated understanding of human behavior and mental processes from biological, cognitive, and behavioral levels of explanation.

Gerrig, R. J. (2013). Psychology and life (20th ed.). Pearson.