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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Psychology by Yale University

4.9
stars
27,969 ratings

About the Course

What are people most afraid of? What do our dreams mean? Are we natural-born racists? What makes us happy? What are the causes and cures of mental illness? This course tries to answer these questions and many others, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. It explores topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, persuasion, emotions, and social behavior. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury....

Top reviews

IA

Dec 30, 2020

The lectures were very fun, engaging, and interactive. Taking this course gives you a deeper understanding of life and helps answer questions we have about ourselves, others, and the world we live in.

OB

Jul 27, 2020

This course is very insightful and I have learned quite a lot. My favourite area though is Clinical Psychology and Positive Psychology. I believe I will be better able to understand persons around me.

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5551 - 5575 of 6,142 Reviews for Introduction to Psychology

By Lisa V

•

Jan 19, 2022

An interesting and engaging overview of introductory psychology. I took intro psych in college years ago and thought this course would be a good review and would update my knowledge. I was surprised to find that very little was review; most of it was new to me!

I realize the course is not current. Professor Bloom has apparently since retired, though it looks like someone is curating it because some of the readings mention very recent studies.

Since it won't be updated by Professor Bloom, suggesting improvements seems pointless. I do wish it had been a full semester-long course, or at least followed by a second half with many topics getting more in-depth coverage. I would have liked more on intelligence, for example. Also, the information on autism was outdated, since Asperger's is no longer in the DSM. Now that's part of autism spectrum disorder. In one video, he shows a video of Harlow's experiment with wire and cloth monkey "mothers," never names Harlow as the experimenter, and then refers by name to Harlow in a subsequent lecture. Had I not known this from my own college course, I would have found it confusing.

In the final video, he says he's provided a list of further readings. I can't find the list anywhere. Presumably it was there when the course originally ran. Please restore it.

Last thing: The discussion forums are pretty bleak. I realize this is because people aren't taking the course as a cohort, so you really can't get into a discussion. People just aren't there. The other problem is that it's littered with posts by people wanting to form study groups elsewhere, like on WhatsApp. It would be nice to have a separate forum just for these posts so the weekly forums only have questions and posts related to the course material.

By April G

•

Feb 9, 2023

An overall great course with lots of useful information. I felt the section on DID was lacking and perpetuated the negative stigma and stereotypes surrounding the disorder, and was disappointed that Yale was partaking in continuing that trend in 2023, however, the course is a couple of years old and for that, I was less inclined to abandon it. Otherwise, the information was easy enough to understand, and what little couldn't be immediately ascertained was defined for me usually at the end of the reading portions. The reading portions were marked as 10 minutes each, which is just wildly inaccurate. They were 40 minutes at minimum for me, and I'm sure others with faster reading skills could get it done in half the time, but it is still certainly not ten minutes worth. They have captions on every video, I wasn't aware of that in the first 2 weeks of the course, but after that, I realized where the subtitles button was (the [...] in the bottom right corner). That was mostly my own fault, though, I hadn't taken the time to hover over the buttons or interact before so I wouldn't have known.

By Sugeeta R C

•

Oct 4, 2020

Had an encouraging first-time experience of this sort of an online course. Prof Bloom is an engaging teacher. Loved the bite-sized video lecture chunks -- it allows one to learn and absorb well, at one's own pace. Some of the readings were wonderful -- especially those that had interesting video resources appended. It would help to have greater interconnection between lectures and readings although it wasn't bad. Core/compulsory readings could be separated from Optional readings (for those of us interested in exploring a topic/sub-topic more). The availability of textual material in terms of video transcript and readings was very useful. Paid students should get a more fleshed out certificate, which includes a clear statement on their performance & grades. The graded quiz should not be a charade with multiple chances of retaking it -- it makes a mockery of testing one's knowledge. Non-MCQ assignments could be incorporated for the more diligent learner.

By Faisal P

•

Feb 6, 2021

This is high quality content. A very comprehensive overview of the whole field of psychology is presented in the lectures. The lectures themselves are quite engaging both in terms of Professor Bloom's presentation and how the video animation is designed. Having given a few powerpoint presentations I can only imagine that a good amount of thought must have gone into syncing up the content with the animation as the Prof. talks about each topic.

The reading links are also a goldmine. I've officially completed the course and done the required reading assigned. But I will be going back to look at a lot more of the extra reading material and links given with each video and the books that the prof. mentions during several of his lectures.

I really enjoyed the modules on development and language. Personality and mental illness were of course interesting too. Honestly, psychology is a fascinating field and this course does justice as an intro for beginners.

By Jorge L M M

•

Jun 18, 2020

Soy principiante y en lo particular fue una decisión excelente al haberme decidido a tomar este curso; ya tenia varios años buscando este tipo de conocimientos y ahora me topo con este curso que me pareció excelente; lo único que si no fue de mi agrado fueron los videos en ingles y los cuestionarios, debido al tiempo me fue dificil traducirlos, es por eso que se me hizo un poco aburrido en ese aspecto. El profesor, los tiempos, el temario, la información y todo lo demás relacionado al curso estuvo excelente:

No soy Psicólogo pero siempre me ha interesado el tema del porque existen muchas personas con pensamientos diferentes, que inclusive llegan a matar, violar, mutilar (asesinos seriales, etc.) y/o con trastornos del cerebro que los imposibilita para llevar una vida saludable. Este curso me ayudo mucho a comprender el tema en cuestión. Gracias y excelente tarde

By Deleted A

•

May 28, 2022

Education is a fundamental right and one that can not and, moreso, should not be denied.

As an early supporter of OCW, Yale has tremendous respect in my eyes. Some of the lectures that I stumbled upon many, many (blue cheese, inside joke :P) moons ago on the Yale OCW platform changed my life entirely, providing me with at least an inkling of light in moments of utter confusion in my development as a person. Notably, the course on Black History and the poetics/music classes added immense perspective to my understanding of history and who/what we as humans are (as I watched them over and over again, haha). The lessons learned in those classes still help me in elucidating and dealing with the difficult positions that life throws at me!

Wow, what a feeling it must be to graduate from a school such as Yale!

By Fatima L

•

Jun 2, 2021

There is no good learning model (multidimensional instead of linear) that underlies the lectures, particularly at Week 4, 5 and 6. Such a model, I believe, would've strengthened the aspect of critical learning in the course. Without such a model, the lectures resembled propaganda. I would probably be more comfortable if I could ask questions directly to Dr Bloom (as in a face-to-face class).

There were numerous negative reviews regarding the animation (and the sound effects). I actually enjoyed the animation and sound, which reinforced learning (until I got to week 4-6 hahaha), but the real difficulty became apparent when I listened to the lecture whilst reading the transcript. Without seeing the animation, the sound effects made no sense, becoming instead rather disturbing startling noises.

By YOGESH K

•

Apr 23, 2021

Dear Sir,

I hope you and your family is safe and healthy, in this pandemic all are fighting for surviving.In these circumstances, Coursera is really creating a history with the collaborations of one of the best universities Yale not even in the online services but in Stock Market also. Professors Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller had already done a great job and planting the futures of so many students and teachers. I'd also successfully completed a Online course "Introduction to Psychology",at the time of joining it was free but after the completion of this courses, Courseera asking for Fee, Its not fair.I'd invested my time and they want to invest my money too.I hope you will do something is this, and Issue my Completion Certificate.

Thank You Yale and Course Era

By Konstantin C

•

Oct 21, 2022

Nice course in psycology, but as for me, it's not intensive enough. One often has to hear some school information about brain, evolution etc. Of course lecturer does not pretend to teach a dense course for the professionals, but I think, school information should be left for school, or should be separated as reading. Or should be more intense providing new level of knoledge. Nevertheless Week 2 is marvellous because it contains examples of many experiments concerning development. It is very convincing. The reason is obvious -- it's professor's topic. Week 5 is interesting, especially part about parenthood. Although no rigorous experiment designs are provided. Quizes are mostly simple, but sometimes disappointing. For some questions I see no reasonable answer.

By William L

•

Jul 24, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this course! It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The lessons were well organized and provided a variety of ways to absorb the information, (readings, lectures, reference materials etc. I have always been fascinated with Psychology and I am so glad I had the opportunity to experience this online course with Yale. I do wish there were more lessons and exams, as well as the ability to "fill in the blanks", short essays, etc. rather than multiple choice across the board. I would gladly pay for the additional testing so it would feel more satisfying when I receive my graded exams. Although, the questions were challenging and I did need to retake some of the exams. Thanks for a great experience and I am looking forward to many more.

By Farah

•

Apr 3, 2021

Overall, I learnt a lot and have been deeply interested in Sigmund Freud's theory. In fact, if he was to live today, I would be signing up for his classes. It's hard to find a psychology class that teaches Sigmund Freud's theory. There are a lot of statements by the lecturer of this course that I am a bit disagreed with and there are things that I agreed with. I hope one day there will a platform available for students to interact with the lecturer to discuss the materials. I felt like the course is too short and I only learnt a little. The course is a bit biased on the materialism concept. The dualism concept hasn't been spoken much. It seems like this course is filtering the whole psychology field towards with materialism concept. It's a bit okay.

By Janita A

•

Aug 25, 2021

I am glad that I took this course. I believe I have some understanding of how the brain works at times. To be able to deal with some issues of behaviour should they arise. To be able to work on some personality traits and how I can make myself happier each day. Thank you for allowing me to do this at my pace. To get more out of it, I will review the topics to better grasp the skills taught. I was hoping that there would have been an instructor in the chat to guide us along. Not sure I that happened because I did not join the discussions regularly. However, I was able to get a grasp by reading and watching the videos several times. Thanks a lot for the encouragement each week. I will try to put what I have learnt into practice.

By Katharine B

•

Jul 5, 2020

Dr. Paul Bloom, a psychology professor at Yale University, engaged me throughout this online course. His real-world examples furthered my understanding of the material, and each video felt like a live lecture. In the future, I think Coursera should explore other ways of communicating--such as discussion boards and more interactive activities--but I completely understand that this is hard to accomplish given the thousands of students enrolled in each course. After enrolling in this six-week psychology class, I can confirm that I now have a better idea of the psychological field. I will most likely pursue it in the future!

By Kirina T

•

Aug 3, 2020

I really enjoyed this course overall. In fact, the only reason I rated 4 and not 5 was because the animation and unnecessary sound effects at times detracted from the lecture and were a little bit annoying. However, in some instances, the animation was helpful. Most importantly, the content was great. I took this course as a refresher and discovered some areas in psychology that I would like to delve into more deeply. The supplemental videos and articles are perfect for further learning and research. I found the review quizzes to be easy and I think I would have enjoyed additional tasks or assignments.

By Ramez H

•

Jun 22, 2020

The course in very interesting and touches the ground of most of the psychology aspect with a brief and to the point style with straight to the point ideas and thoughts that get the subject well grasbed. the only issue that i would give this course 4 stars is Dr. Paul Bloom. Although he is extremely knowledgeable and very intresting instructor but consistently incepting some of his own personal opinion and sometimes radical beliefs such as his beliefs of evolution theory, some covert hints about atheism into the content. Aside to such issue, i found the course to be extremely good and very helpful.

By Bames P

•

Aug 21, 2022

I learned many things about psychology and I intend to take more courses related to that field. The lessons were clearly discussed. The reading materials were very informative and i appreciate having the transcripts of the videos readily available as I sometimes am unable to follow the video (I am from an era when notetaking was the most important thing and i just had to write things down so it is easier to read the transcripts when I miss anything on the videos.)

I would like to thank Prof. Bloom for all his hardwork. His voice reminds me of very calm waters.

By Craig C

•

Nov 16, 2020

I really like the way he talks about complex subjects and makes ways for us to understand it, or at least begin to :)

He has made a wonderful foundation on which to build, and covered many very interesting facets of psychology.

There are some very challenging and contentious points. I guess this makes it motivating for us to pursue our study and continue to learn more, and perhaps one day even refute some of them.

I really appreciate the effort it would have taken, and the fact it was made free. Thank you, Dr Paul and the team who made this wonderful course.

By Julia R

•

May 2, 2020

This was a fantastic course. I've always been drawn to psychology, but never pursued it as a career choice. Taking this course has really got me excited about the possibility of diving deeper into the profession. I am also a visual learner, so appreciated the silly animations with each video and that I could follow along with the script of each video. It's also kind of fun that I can say I took a course at Yale, lol. Thank you for offering this online and for free. It was a great and I hope to take some more psychology courses from here.

By Caleb O

•

Oct 4, 2020

The course gives a great overview of western psychological principles and practices with engaging videos and a plethora of learning resources to choose from. The pedagogy is easy to understand and the assessments are increasingly relevant and challenging.

For the intellectually curious there is a great deal of material to explore. I would have loved to learn about eastern psychological principles and practices and their integration into modern psychological practices, but maybe for an intro psych course, that is simply asking too much.

By Deborah M W

•

Oct 28, 2019

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take Introduction to Psychology with professor Paul Bloom. It was an engaging and challenging course, and Professor Bloom has extensive and impressive knowledge of the subject matter. I have learned many new concepts and now understand how to listen and read the assigned materials more thoroughly. I would recommend this course to anyone who is considering pursuing psychology as a major. This course provides an extensive but condensed look at what to expect in other psychology courses.

By Berfu A A

•

Nov 14, 2021

Sayın Yetkili,

Bu kursa Türkiye'den katıldım ve kursun başındaki birkaç videonun da Türkçe alt yazılı olmasından kaynaklı tüm kursta Türkçe çeviri olduğunu sanmıştım. Ancak başladıktan sonra da vazgeçmek istemedim ve Google Translate desteği ve ek araştırmalarla kursu diğerlerine göre çok daha zorlansam da tamamladım. Bu kadar zorluğa rağmen harika bir kurstu. Çok teşekkür ederim. Türkçe çeviri özelliğini çok daha fazla kursta görmeyi dilerim. Burada İngilizce bilmediği için faydalanamayan ancak bunu çok isteyen çok insan var!

By jill h

•

Apr 18, 2021

I really enjoyed the course. There was a wide range of topics and just enough detail. The videos and readings were a good mix and I did also listen to Paul’s psychology podcast. As I studied this course during Covid 19 I would be interested to learn more about the impact of a pandemic on people’s overall mental health and how it may influence peoples feelings of happiness / happiness scores.

Thank you for offering this course for free through courses- taking courses has been one way for me to cope with the pandemic lockdowns

By Jane W

•

Mar 29, 2021

This was a really interesting and engaging course giving a good insight into the history and development of psychology. I especially liked the way the videos were done to simulate attendance in a lecture theatre but with the added benefit of being able to rewind and make notes. Paul Bloom had a great way of explaining things and to relating them to the every day. I would have liked a little more in depth on brain disorders but all in all I was more than pleased with this course and would thoroughly recommend it.

By Maya

•

Jul 25, 2023

I may or may not have given up on watching the videos and doing the readings by week 3, but without any background knowledge of psychology and a bit of google searching, I passed with an overall grade of 95%. I'd recommend this course to someone who actually has commitment. Mr Bloom's voice is mildly dull, and I found myself watching the videos in 2x speed. I also haven't been awarded a certificate, even though I passed very well.

Enjoy the course if you're going to do it, don't be half-hearted like me :)))

By Ponsujee R

•

Jul 10, 2023

I'm Ponsujee, completed my course just now... really appreciable Knowledge and course studies have been implemented here but the way to examine the learning of the learner needs improvement... expecting more quizzes and tests... the videos are very knowledgeable also please give subtitles in the video it's hard to swipe up and down... can't keep up with both video and subtitle ... Respected Professors, who are dedicated with great knowledge and explaining everything in easy sentences... Thank you ...