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Introduction to Psychology - PSY150/5 Fall 2025
Course
Gabriela Malkova
This introductory course provides a comprehensive survey of psychology as a scientific discipline. It is designed for students with no prior background in psychology and offers a broad overview of the field’s major concepts, historical development, and areas of application. Students will gain an understanding of how psychology investigates human behavior and mental processes, from its philosophical and physiological roots to its establishment as an empirical science and its diverse approaches in contemporary research and practice.
The course covers historical foundations and major schools of thought—including structuralism, functionalism, psychoanalysis, behaviorism, activity psychology, cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, and transpersonal psychology—and explores how these traditions inform current paradigms and psychology’s relationship with other disciplines. Students will also study key psychological processes such as consciousness, sensation and perception, learning and memory, thinking and language, intelligence and problem solving, and motivation and emotion.
Attention is also given to the basic principles of psychological research and ethical issues, with the aim of demonstrating how psychology as a science approaches the study of behavior and subjective experience. Developmental, social, and cultural contexts that shape human functioning are likewise considered.
Throughout the semester, students will engage not only with theoretical perspectives but also with practical demonstrations, discussions, and reflective activities to develop critical thinking about psychological phenomena. By the end of the course, students will be able to recognize major approaches in psychology, understand how psychological knowledge is generated, and identify psychological concepts and phenomena as they appear in everyday life.
Final assessment will take the form of a written exam that summarizes knowledge acquired during the semester.
Reading
Required Materials
- Myers, D. G., & DeWall, C. N. (2024). Psychology (14th ed.). Macmillan Learning.-selected chapters
- Hunt, M. (2007). The story of psychology (Updated & revised ed.). Anchor Books.- selected chapters
Recommended Materials
- Bayne, R., & Jinks, G. (2013). Applied psychology: Research, training and practice. London: Sage.
- Feldman, R. S. (2016). Understanding psychology. McGraw-Hill College.
- Stanovich, K. E. (2014). How to think straight about psychology. Harlow: Pearson.
- Gleitman, H., Gross, J. J., & Reisberg, D. (2010). Psychology (8th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.List of required articles
1. Course Schedule
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Date |
Class Agenda |
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Session 1 |
Block I: Historical foundations and overview (session 1-6) Topic: Introduction to Psychology as a scientific discipline Description: definition, objectives, scientist–practitioner model; philosophical and physiological roots of psychology; , biological foundations of psychology, brief overview of research methods and ethics Reading: Meyers (14th) CHAPTER 1: Thinking Critically With Psychological Science (Modules 1–3) |
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Session 2 |
Topic: Founding of psychology as a science Description: Wundt, introspection, experiment, functionalism and early movements in psychology: psychoanalysis, Gestalt. Reading: Hunt, M. (2007). The story of psychology – Chapter 5, 6, 7 and 10. |
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Session 3 |
Topic: Behaviorism and Activity Psychology. Description: Antecedents of behaviorism, early behaviorism and behaviorism, crisis of behaviorism, activity psychology (Vygotsky, Piaget) and its relevance for educational psychology Reading: Hunt, M. (2007). The story of psychology – Chapter 9 |
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Session 4 |
Topic: Cognitive psychology. Description: Cognitive psychology and the cognitive revolution – theoretical foundations and contemporary perspectives in congitive psychology Reading: Hunt, M. (2007). The story of psychology – Chapter 16 |
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Session 5 |
Topic: Humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Description: Humanistic and transpersonal psychology – person-centered approaches and their legacy. Student Guide for a Midterm Exam presented |
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Session 6 |
Topic: Current psychology Description: Current psychology: differences between European and American psychology; contemporary paradigms; psychology in relation to other disciplines (neuroscience, social sciences, humanities); methods of research in contemporary psychology (quantitative, qualitative, big data, mixed methods). Reading: Hunt, M. (2007). The story of psychology – Chapter 18-19. |
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Session 7 |
Mid - term exam (test and essay) |
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Mid-term break |
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Session 8 |
Block II: Basic psychological processes (session 8-13) Topic: Consciousness and attention Description: consciousness, unconscious processes, attention, selective attention, divided attention, altered states of consciousness, sleep, dreaming Reading: Meyers (14th) CHAPTER 3: Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind (Modules 8–10) |
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Session 9 |
Topic: Sensation and perception Description: sensation, perception, sensory modalities, thresholds, perceptual constancies, illusions, Gestalt principles Reading: Meyers (14th) CHAPTER 6: Sensation and Perception (Modules 18–20) |
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Session 10 |
Topic: Learning and memory. Description: classical conditioning, operant conditioning, reinforcement, observational learning, memory processes (encoding, storage, retrieval), short-term memory, long-term memory, working memory. Reading: Meyers (14th); CHAPTER 7: Learning (Modules 21–23) |
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Session 11 |
Topic: Thinking and language. Description: concepts, reasoning, problem solving, heuristics, decision making, creativity, language development, relationship between language and thought. Reading: Meyers (14th); CHAPTER 9 Thinking and Language (Modules 27–28) |
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Session 12 |
Topic: Intelligence and problem solving. Description: intelligence theories (Spearman, Gardner, Sternberg), IQ testing, emotional intelligence, problem-solving strategies, expertise Reading: Meyers (14th); CHAPTER 10: Intelligence (Modules 29–31) Submission for assignment Every day Reflection deadline |
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Session 13 |
Topic: Motivation and emotions (biological and psychological bases of motivation; theories and research on emotions). Description: motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, needs, drives, Maslow’s hierarchy, theories of emotion (James–Lange, Cannon–Bard, Schachter–Singer), basic emotions, cultural influences. Reading: Meyers (14th); CHAPTER 11: What Drives Us: Hunger, Sex, Belongingness, and Achievement (Modules 32–35) |
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Session 14 |
Final exam (test and essay) |
Here is the course outline:
1. Introduction to Psychology as a scientific disciplineThis lecture introduces psychology as both a scientific discipline and a broad professional field. We will explore the difference between everyday ideas about psychology (folk psychology) and psychology as a science, and discuss why understanding its historical development still matters today. Through interactive activities, students will reflect on their own perceptions of psychology, test common myths, and learn how psychological research is designed and conducted. Key concepts such as variables, operationalization, research designs, and the importance of reliable and reproducible methods will be introduced. By the end of the session, students will understand why psychology is best defined as the scientific study of behavior and experience. |
2. The Foundations of Scientific PsychologyThis lecture explores how psychology broke away from philosophy, separated from sociology, and defined itself as a new science of mind and behavior. |
3. Lecture 3. Behaviorism and Activity Psychology.Antecedents of behaviorism, early behaviorism and behaviorism, crisis of behaviorism, activity psychology (Vygotsky, Piaget) and its relevance for educational psychology |
4. Lesson 4 Cognitive and Humanistic Psychology 25.9.2025 |
5. The European Quest for Psychology (2.10.2025)Europe is on studies of consciousness Transpersonal psychology=S. Grof=experiments with LSD = Holotropic Breathwork (research based method to evoke altered states of mind to open a room for healing trauma; https://www.stangrof.com/) Human potential movement = V.E. Frankl = Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy, Logotherapy= search for meaning= human capacity to find a meaning is crucial for survival in the most suffering - filled circumstances ... and in life= values= experiental values = nonscientific, clinically oriented approach Redefinition of consciousness = neuropsychology= A. Owen= studies of "grey zone" with advances use of neuroimaging techniques (fMRI, EEG); consciousness is 1. arousal 2. awareness 3. intentionality and reactivity; watch "Are you in pain" at https://intothegrayzone.com/resources/ |
6. Lecture 6: European Psychology after the WW2 and the rise of Transpersonal psychologyIn lecture 6 we will explore how European psychology evolved after the Second World War — a time when the field sought to rediscover its human and cultural roots. While American psychology was dominated by behaviorism and later the cognitive revolution, European psychologists turned toward understanding the mind as part of lived experience, social interaction, and meaning. We will examine how post-war thinkers such as Erich Fromm and Erik Erikson redefined psychoanalysis into a more social and moral framework, how Viktor Frankl introduced the concept of spiritual freedom and meaning, and how Stanislav Grof and others developed transpersonal psychology as a “fourth force” that aimed to integrate science, spirituality, and expanded states of consciousness. By the end of this session, you should understand how these European perspectives reshaped modern psychology — moving it from the study of behavior and cognition to a broader exploration of consciousness, identity, and human potential. |