The Psychology curriculum is a complete education in Psychology using online materials.
Note: When there are courses or books that don't fit into the curriculum but are otherwise of high quality, they belong in extras/courses, extras/readings or extras/other_curricula.
Process. Students can work through the curriculum alone or in groups, in order or out of order.
- We recommend doing all courses in Core, only skipping a course when you are certain that you've already learned the material previously.
- For simplicity, we recommend working through courses (especially Core) in order from top to bottom. Some students choose to study multiple courses at a time in order to vary the material they are working on in a day/week.
- The courses in the Advanced section are electives. Choose one track to specialize in and complete all the courses listed under it.
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Forums:
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Subreddits:
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Discord servers:
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Other:
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You can also interact through GitHub issues. If there is a problem with a course, or a change needs to be made to the curriculum, this is the place to start the conversation. Read more here.
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| History & Schools of Thought / What is Psychology? | To understand how modern psychology emerged, the major traditions, and how framing affects interpretation. | Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) | |
| Foundations of Scientific Inquiry / Research Methods | To gain the conceptual tools for evaluating evidence, studies, and claims about mind and behavior. | Psychology 2e (OpenStax) | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Statistics Primer (for Psychology) | Because statistical reasoning underpins experiments, data analysis, and critical evaluation in psychology. | OpenIntro Statistics | |
| Biological Basics for Psych | To ground psychological phenomena in biology: brain, neurons, physiology — essential for biopsychology and neuroscience-informed psychology. | Biological Psychology by Michael J. Hove & Steven A. Martinez | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Methods in Psychology | To learn how psychologists design studies, collect data, and draw valid conclusions. | Research Methods in Psychology (Jhangiani et al., 4th ed.) | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Biopsychology / Behavioral Neuroscience | To understand how neural and physiological systems underlie behavior — bridging mind and body. | Biological Psychology by Hove & Martinez | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Learning & Conditioning | Because learning mechanisms are foundational to behavior change, habits, memory, and developmental psychology. | Psychology 2e | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Sensation & Perception | To understand how minds interpret sensory input — essential before studying cognition. | Psychology 2e | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Psychology | To grasp how mental processes like attention, perception, reasoning, language, decision-making operate. | Psychology 2e | Introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology (University of Cambridge) |
| Memory Systems | Because memory is central to cognition, identity, learning; memory research underpins many applied domains. | Psychology 2e | Covered in Introduction to Psychology (MIT OpenCourseWare) |
| Cognitive Neuroscience (bridging biology + cognition) | To integrate brain-based mechanisms with cognitive functions — crucial for realistic models of mind. | Biological Psychology by Hove & Martinez | Covered in Introduction to Cognitive Psychology and Neuropsychology (University of Cambridge) |
| Language & Thought / Psycholinguistics | To explore how language, thought, and cognition intersect — important for any psychological or cognitive science path. | Psychology 2e |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Developmental Psychology | To understand how humans change cognitively, emotionally, socially across lifespan — essential for any applied or theoretical path. | Psychology 2e | Introduction to Developmental Psychology (University of Queensland) |
| Personality Psychology | To understand individual differences, traits, dispositions, how personality shapes behavior across contexts. | Psychology 2e | Personality and its Transformations (Jordan Peterson Lecture Series) |
| Social Psychology | To learn how individuals think, influence, and behave in social contexts: group behavior, prejudice, conformity, social cognition. | Psychology 2e | Social Psychology (Wesleyan University) |
| Cultural Psychology / Cross-Cultural Variation | To understand how culture shapes cognition, emotion, social behavior — critical for global applicability and avoiding ethnocentric bias. | Psychology 2e |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychopathology | To understand classification, symptomatology, theories and models of mental disorders — foundational for clinical, counseling, or research interest. | Psychology 2e | Abnormal Psychology (YouTube Playlist) |
| Psychological Assessment | To grasp measurement theory, test design, reliability/validity, and how psychological constructs are operationalized and assessed. | Psychology 2e | |
| Clinical Psychology Foundations (therapy models, ethics, case conceptualization) | For exposure to therapeutic models, case work, ethical, systemic, and cultural considerations in applied psychology. | Psychology 2e | |
| Industrial-Organizational Psychology (I–O Psychology) | To apply psychological principles to workplace behavior, leadership, teams, organizational structure, motivation. | Psychology 2e |
Notes:
- For the general overview, the free Psychology 2e textbook from OpenStax is an excellent backbone: it covers virtually all foundational topics — research methods, biology, cognition, social mind, disorders, etc.
- For biology-oriented topics, the free Biological Psychology (Hove & Martinez, 2024) is recent and well-structured for self-learners. ROTEL
- Lecture-based MOOCs/OCW courses from top universities (e.g. MIT, Yale) give you real “classroom-style” pacing and feel — useful especially when you self-study. MIT OpenCourseWare
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Cognitive Neuroscience | To explore how neural circuits implement cognition, perception, decision-making; link brain structure and function with mental processes. | Biological Psychology by Hove & Martinez | Computational Neuroscience (University of Washington) |
| Computational Modeling for Psychology | To learn formal models of cognition and behavior — helps translate psychological phenomena into computational or mathematical frameworks. | Psychology 2e | Covered in Computational Neuroscience (University of Washington) |
| Attention & Executive Control (Cognitive Control) | To understand control processes in thought, decision-making, inhibition, working memory—core to higher cognition. | Cognitive Psychology by E. Bruce Goldstein | |
| Consciousness Studies (Neuroscience of Consciousness / Philosophy of Mind) | To probe perhaps the deepest questions: how subjective experience arises, how consciousness links to brain — vital for advanced understanding of mind. | Psychology 2e | A Romp Through the Philosophy of Mind (Oxford) |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Psychopathology | To understand complex, nuanced models of mental disorders; go beyond lay or pop ideas about “normal vs abnormal.” | Psychology 2e | |
| Evidence-Based Interventions (CBT, ACT, Psychodynamic, Systems) | To acquire knowledge of therapeutic models, their evidence, limitations, and applications. | Psychology 2e | |
| Trauma & Resilience / Stress and Mental Health | To understand trauma, stress responses, resilience factors, and therapeutic or preventive strategies — essential for applied mental-health work. | Psychology 2e | |
| Ethics & Professional Issues in Clinical Practice | To understand ethical, multicultural, and professional standards in therapy, confidentiality, therapist-client dynamics, cultural competence. | Psychology 2e |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Social Cognition & Moral Psychology | To understand how people think about others, moral reasoning, prejudice, identity — crucial for societal, political, intergroup dynamics. | Psychology 2e | |
| Cross-Cultural Methods & Cultural Psychology | To study psychological processes across cultures: how culture shapes cognition, emotion, social behavior, preventing ethnocentric bias. | Psychology 2e | |
| Organizational Behavior / I–O Psychology | To apply psychological principles to work, leadership, teams — useful for real-world applications outside therapy. | Psychology 2e | |
| Attitudes & Behavior Change / Applied Social Influence | To study persuasion, health psychology, social change, communication — practical in public health, marketing, policy, education. | Psychology 2e |
| Subject | Why study? | Book | Videos |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Developmental Theory (Cognitive, Socioemotional, Moral Development) | To trace how cognition, morality, personality, social behavior evolve — for lifespan understanding or developmental research. | Psychology 2e | |
| Educational Psychology / Learning & Instructional Design | To learn how learning happens, how to scaffold knowledge, motivate learners — useful for teaching, training, or research. | Psychology 2e | |
| Atypical Development / Neurodiversity | To understand developmental disorders, neurodiversity, intervention — important for inclusive education, therapy, social work. | Psychology 2e | |
| Early Childhood Cognition & Developmental Research Methods | To study infancy, childhood cognition, developmental methodology — key for research or educational careers focused on young age groups. | Psychology 2e |
For a capstone project (research proposal, literature review, or mini-study), you’ll benefit from resources on research design, academic writing, and ethics.
| Purpose | Resource | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Research Methods & Design | Research Methods in Psychology (Jhangiani et al.) — free OER | Good grounding in research design, measurement, ethics |
| Academic Writing / Literature Review Skills | University writing-center guides + online academic-writing MOOCs (e.g. from Coursera/edX) | Helps in writing a clean, coherent thesis or review |
| Ethical Research & Responsible Conduct | Online materials from professional psychology associations (e.g. APA Ethical Guidelines) | Important for any empirical work, surveys, case studies |
| Data Analysis / Statistics (if doing empirical study) | Free statistics textbooks (e.g. OpenIntro Statistics) + open courses on statistics (R, Python, or SPSS-based) | To analyze data if you gather any; or at least understand other studies’ results |
After completing the requirements of the curriculum above, you will have completed the equivalent of a full bachelor's degree in Psychology. Congratulations!