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Introduction to Psychology (Yale PSYC 110, Paul Bloom)
Paul Bloom's Yale lecture course, recorded in spring 2007, is the closest thing to sitting in a good first-year lecture hall without enrolling. Bloom is a clear and funny speaker, and the course ranges from Skinner's behaviourism through language, memory, emotion, morality and mental illness, with guest lectures from colleagues on subjects such as love and food. Transcripts sit alongside the recordings, which helps when you want to reread an argument rather than scrub through audio.
Each session ran to about 75 minutes on campus, so this is a real semester's commitment. The recordings date from 2007, so check how a famous finding has held up since before you repeat it.
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Introduction to Psychology (MIT 9.00SC)
John Gabrieli's MIT survey from fall 2011 is the most complete package here: a full set of lecture videos, reading assignments, short check-yourself questions for every session, and real exams with solution keys plus extra practice questions. That last part matters, because sitting an exam shows whether you followed the reasoning behind a finding rather than just remembering its headline.
The course is framed around how the mind works and how the brain supports it, so it suits readers who want the biology alongside the behaviour. Nobody sets the pace, so the discipline is yours to supply.
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Introduction to Psychology (University of Toronto, Coursera)
Steve Joordens built this University of Toronto course around experiments, and a module on history and the scientific method comes before any of the findings. That order is the point: you see how a study is put together before you are told what it showed, which is the habit that protects you from overconfident headlines later.
The modules then cover the mind and brain, sensation, perception and attention, learning, memory, the social mind and mental illness, with a final assignment to pull it together. Coursera puts it at about two weeks of ten-hour weeks, and it is rated 4.9 from more than 5,000 reviews.
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Introduction to Psychology (Yale University, Coursera)
This is Paul Bloom's compact introduction made for Coursera, separate from his recorded Yale lectures and better suited to anyone who wants a structured online course in modules rather than a semester of lecture-hall sessions. Its seven modules move from foundations through development and language, cognition, self and others, and the ways people vary, with a short closing module on the good life.
Coursera estimates about two weeks at ten hours a week, and more than 1.6 million learners have enrolled. If you have already worked through the Open Yale lectures, expect the same lecturer's view of the field and choose another course for a second perspective.
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Introduction to Psychology (Saylor Academy PSYCH101)
Saylor Academy's course suits anyone who wants something to show for the effort without paying for it: it comes with a free certificate. It introduces the fundamental principles of psychology and the major subjects of inquiry, with units arranged around broad areas of research such as emotion, development, memory and psychopathology.
Saylor estimates about 46 hours of study, more than twice the Coursera courses. That makes it a sensible second step once a short taster has convinced you to keep going, and a good alternative for readers who would rather work through units at their own speed than follow a lecturer.
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Starting with psychology (OpenLearn)
The Open University's free taster is the lowest-commitment way to find out whether psychology grips you: about five hours of study, pitched at introductory Level 1. It begins with how psychologists study people, then moves through the two halves of the brain, thinking, adult relationships, group pressure and what makes us who we are.
It will not replace a full course, but in an afternoon or two it shows the kinds of questions the discipline asks and how it sets about answering them. It is released under a Creative Commons licence, which also makes it easy to use with a study group.
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