Introduction

The key message of this course is that different psychologists focus on different aspects of human behavior in different ways. Take the topic of learning, some psychologists will study what happens in our brain when we learn, while others will consider how we learn within a social context. This course will first highlight how psychology is now a very visible part of everyday life and then explore its diverse roots in medicine, philosophy, biology, psychoanalysis and ethnography. It will show that there is no single way of answering psychological questions and that psychology is a multifaceted discipline, drawing on a range of methods and data. The course covers a lot of ground so you may wish to read through the material several times.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Describe the diversity of psychology as a discipline
• List some of the ways psychologists focus on different aspects of human behavior
• Identify different methods psychologists use to explore human behavior
• Illustrate the importance of ethical considerations.