PREFACE This course is designed to introduce the listener to the basis of college psychology. Simply put, psychology is the study of the mind. There are elements of psychology that have biological origins, such as learning, memory, sensation, and perception. Psychological wellness is important to overall health. In the course, we talk about stress and illness, states of consciousness, and personality. The different mental illnesses are important to learn about when you study psychology as well as the different ways that many of these disorders are treated by psychologists and other mental health professionals. When you finish the course, you should feel competent in your understanding of psychology as it is presented in a typical college psychology course. Chapter one in the course introduces psychology as a health discipline. In the chapter, you will learn about what psychology means as a discipline, the history of psychology throughout the world, and the practice of modern psychology. Psychology has many applications. Whether you are studying psychology to become a psychologist or using psychology as part of your career, this chapter will help you understand both the different careers in psychology and the various fields of applied psychology. The focus of chapter two is psychological research. All good research starts with an understanding of the scientific method, which is the foundation of all research processes. There are different types of psychological research studies that differ in their design and interpretation, as well as ways to interpret the findings determined to be fact in the different psychological experiments. There are certain ethical principles that must be considered when performing research on human subjects, which are covered as part of this chapter. Chapter three in the course delves into the subject of biology in the study of psychology. Genetics are an important part of the biology of a human being, so this is covered in the chapter. The cells and structures of the nervous system need to be understood before you can understand the interplay between biology and psychological phenomena. An important aspect of this are the neurotransmitters that have different effects on the
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