Week 1 — Readings & Resources · The Science of Psychology

Course: Introduction to Psychology (PSYC 1) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Bennett
Objective covered: Objective 1 — Explain what makes psychology a science and compare its major theoretical perspectives.

How to use this page

Everything here is a link to an external resource — open it in your browser, the same way you'd open a YouTube link. Nothing needs to be downloaded.

This week's load is deliberately light: 3 short readings + 1 video, grouped by the ideas from the lecture, plus one optional full-chapter reference. Read or watch one item per group and you're ready for the quiz; do all of them and you'll be very comfortable. Total time is roughly 40–50 minutes if you do everything, far less if you pick one per group.

Reading order that matches the lecture: ① what psychology is → ② its history & schools → ③ the six perspectives → ④ why psychology is a science.

A habit to start now: before you trust any claim about people — in these readings or anywhere — ask the scientific-attitude questions from class: What's the evidence? Could I be fooled by hindsight? Which perspective is this?

① What Psychology Is · and ② Where It Came From

Maps to Lecture Segments 2–3. Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes, about 150 years old, built from a series of arguments about what to study and how.

Reading — "What Is Psychology?" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/whatispsychology.html
Why it's assigned: the cleanest plain-language version of the definition we drew on the board, plus the early history (Wundt's 1879 lab, structuralism vs. functionalism) and the psychologist-vs-psychiatrist distinction.
⏱ ~8 min

Video — "Intro to Psychology: Crash Course Psychology #1"
🔗 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4pMVb0R6M
Why it earns the click: a lively 10-minute tour of how psychology became a science — the big names, Wundt's 1879 lab, and the move from structuralism and functionalism to the modern field. Exactly Segments 2–3.
⏱ ~10 min

③ The Six Perspectives

Maps to Lecture Segment 5. Remember the memory hook: group the six lenses into bio – psycho – social levels of analysis — they're partners, not rivals.

Reading — "Perspectives in Psychology (Theoretical Approaches)" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/perspective.html
Why it's assigned: walks through the major perspectives — biological, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, humanistic (and evolutionary/sociocultural) — one at a time, with the same "no single approach is the whole truth" point we made in class.
⏱ ~9 min

④ Why Psychology Is a Science

Maps to Lecture Segment 7. The line to carry out of this week: psychology earns the word science through empiricism — evidence over intuition — not through its topics.

Reading — "Is Psychology a Science?" (Simply Psychology)
🔗 https://www.simplypsychology.org/science-psychology.html
Why it's assigned: explains the empirical approach — systematic observation, measurement, prediction, peer review — and even airs the honest debate about psychology's status as a science. The perfect companion to the "scientific attitude" segment.
⏱ ~7 min

Optional one-stop reference (free online text)

If you'd like one optional reference to skim all term, OpenStax Psychology 2e keeps its full text free to read online. Chapter 1 ("Introduction to Psychology") covers everything in this week — what psychology is, its history, and the contemporary fields and perspectives.
🔗 https://openstax.org/books/psychology-2e/pages/1-introduction
Why it's here: a reputable, currently-available reference you can return to in later weeks — entirely optional this week.

Pick-one quick path (≈18 min total)

In a hurry? Do exactly these two and you'll be ready for the quiz:
1. Watch Crash Course Psychology #1 — Intro to Psychology (groups ①–②).
2. Read Perspectives in Psychology (group ③), and skim the "Is Psychology a Science?" intro (group ④).

Heads-up (links rot): these point to outside sites that occasionally move or rename pages. If a link ever fails, tell Prof. Bennett and use the OpenStax reference above in the meantime.