This psychology course is organized around the recently recommended model from the American Psychological Association, which encompasses the five psychological domains, or pillars: biological psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social and personality psychology, and mental and physical health psychology (see “Strengthening Introductory Psychology: A New Model for Teaching the Introductory Course”). Within each domain, two or three complete modules cover topics such as research, biopsychology, states of consciousness, sensation and perception, thinking and intelligence, memory, learning, lifespan development, social psychology, personality, motivation and emotion, psychological disorders and treatments, and stress and health. The content within these pillars remain true to the standard of what’s taught in traditional introductory courses. While we hope that organizing the modules in this fashion proves helpful, faculty have complete freedom to select and organize modules for their course as they choose, as modules may easily be reorganized.

The text is based off of the OpenStax Psychology course. Other material was curated by Lumen Learning and Patrick Carroll of the University of Texas at Austin. The course has been enhanced with over a hundred videos, including CrashCourse psychology videos and small example clips to explain key concepts. The course also includes embedded and immediate practice questions, “Psychology in Real Life” examples that highlight modern research, introduction pages, as well as “Why It Matters,” and “Putting It Together” pieces.