It won't be news to anyone that much of our everyday thinking seeks to address questions about our own and others' thought and behaviour ("How can I break the habit of spending so much time on social media?", "What makes Calvin so mean to Susie?"). These sorts of psychological questions are the definition of deceptively simple. Our literally unceasing experience with our own minds and the behaviours of others around us often makes us feel like intuitive psychologists, lending false confidence to hasty—and often unfounded—conclusions about what makes us the way we are.
While we're generally aware that we lack expertise in subjects like astrophysics and chemistry, rightfully shrugging when asked basic questions about planetary motion or the properties of chemical substances, not so when we're asked to explain a co-worker's dishonest behaviour. Like other objects of interest to scientists, however, your colleague's brain, comprising billions upon billions of neurons forming an intricate web of connections numbering in the hundreds of trillions, is incredibly complex. Now consider that your co-worker's brain is not alone in a vat—it's interacting with other equally complex brains in an uncertain social and physical environment. In the absurdly messy sociobiological context of everyday functioning, how can we ever hope to draw clear answers about a co-worker's dishonesty or anything else?
Our intuitions about human psychology, not chemistry or astrophysics, are what we use to judge the actions of others and navigate our social world. It wouldn't be particularly surprising, then, that moving beyond mere intuition and taking some time to learn about the field of psychology—the science of mental processes and behaviour—might help us understand ourselves and the people around us just a little bit better.
"The more you look at the mind and how it works from a serious scientific point of view, the more you appreciate its complexity, its uniqueness, and its beauty" (Paul Bloom, Psych, p. 386)
Luckily, if you're interested in exploring the basics of psychology on your own, there are some great and easy to access resources at your disposal. Below, you'll find five suggested entry points into a vast and fascinating field of study. Any one of these resources can serve as an excellent starting point—it depends on your medium of choice (do you like text, audio, or video?). I recommend them all and they're all free (except the first in the list!). Click the headings below to view the source and/or more information.
I just finished reading this brand new book, which is now my go-to if I have to recommend one engaging place to start learning about psychology. It's awesome. Structured much like an intro to psychology textbook, but presented in a more lively and approachable way, Paul Bloom's Psych takes a sweeping look at the historical and contemporary state of the field. I love Bloom's warm and reflective writing. There's lots of really cool stuff here, including several nuggets that will be news even to many seasoned psychologists.
Touted as "a podcast tour of the human mind," the Psych podcast is meant as a companion to Bloom's book of the same name, this podcast makes its way through the same organization as the book, beginning with the brain and consciousness and moving onto language, memory, and psychological disorders, among other topics. As of April 2023, the hosts are still making their way through the topics also addressed in the book, with an engaging hour-long new episode each week. I like the light and approachable discussion between Bloom and Pizarro, who make it feel like you're listening in on a casual conversation among friends and you can tell they're passionate about the field. An aside: I also highly recommend David Pizarro's other podcast (my favourite podcast), Very Bad Wizards, with co-host and philosopher Tamler Sommers.
A boon to anyone who wants to educate themselves on the cheap, there are now a ton of free online textbooks (often stuffily referred to as open educational resources or OERs) available on various academic subjects. For anyone wanting to begin exploring the vast field of psychology, I recommend checking out the Noba collection.
I currently use Noba as the main source of readings for my introduction to psychology courses. Noba has upwards of 100 chapters of varying breadth and depth on a vast array of subfields and topics, such as, for example, memory, social anxiety, and evolutionary psychology. Chapters all come from different authors, with contributions from well-known psychologists like David Buss and Elizabeth Loftus. No reason to approach things in any particular order—peruse the chapters for things you find most interesting or valuable.
This is the second of two free online texts (along with Noba above) I recommend for anyone wanting a more formal look at the field. This one's set up like a traditional psychology textbook, with 16 chapters taking you through the main subfields. Like most textbooks, this one starts with a general overview of psychology including a look at the history and research methods used in the field, followed by explorations of core topics like the brain, learning, memory, emotion, psychological disorders, etc. Nice and thorough!
CrashCourse offers a series of 40 videos of approximately 10 minutes each. Among the suggested resources in this post, these might serve as the most fun/engaging intro to psychology for those lacking the time to get into a lengthy book or podcast. The vids are fast-paced, humorous, and nicely animated. Content ranges from general overviews of sensation and perception to somewhat more specific subjects like aggression and altruism. A fun place to start.
...And a couple more for good measure:
I suggest the five resources above because they're nicely organized places to begin building a comprehensive perspective on the field, but it's always possible that your interest might be piqued by a messier grab bag of psychological content. One place I often find interesting reads is Psyche, a relatively new digital magazine that regularly updates with fascinating articles across psychological topics such as memory, mental illness, forgiveness, and embracing uncertainty. I often appreciate the cross-disciplinary and creative directions the articles at Psyche take. Lots of great food for thought here.
Another place to turn is the blog posts at Psychology Today. Psychology Today has blogs across all subfields of psychology. There's lots here, so it can be daunting, but occasionally having a look at featured posts might direct you to the blog of a new favourite researcher or thinker (though it's noteworthy that they range quite a lot in quality and style).
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