St. Joseph's University · Prof. Magee

Introduction to Psychology

The companion to PSY 100. Not a copy of the slides — the connective tissue around them: the why-it-matters, the misconceptions, the studies your notes only name in passing, and the parts of psychology worth arguing about.

Hi, I'm Bodhi 🌱

I'll pop up through these readings to flag the thing students trip on, the study worth remembering, or where the textbook is quietly out of date. Think of me as a margin note that talks back.

How to use this site

Each page pairs with a class topic. It assumes you were in the room (or have the slides) and picks up from there — adding the background, the counter-evidence, the "wait, is that still true?" and quick self-checks so you can test yourself before the exam. It will not re-type the lecture at you.

Fills gaps, doesn't replace notes Self-checks as you read Current research flagged

Course map

Every topic page is live. Core units pair with a class lecture; enrichment pages preview the psychology beyond our current core.

1 · Foundations

What psychology is, where it came from, and how we know anything at all.

Live01

History of Psychology

From dream books to fMRI — the ideas that keep coming back, and who actually said what.

 Live02

Research Methods

Correlation vs. causation, the true experiment, and why Clever Hans still matters.

 Live03

Ethics in Research

Tuskegee, Milgram, IRBs — and the uncomfortable "unethical knowledge" problem.

2 · Biology & Evolution

The bottom-up story: genes, brains, and the evolutionary logic underneath behavior.

Live04

Genetics & Evolution

DNA, epigenetics, natural selection, and modern-day mismatches.

 Live05

Sexual Selection & Attraction

Parental investment, mate preferences, and the science of "beauty."

 Live06

Brain, Nervous System & Neurons

From neurotransmitters to neuroimaging — and what a scan can and can't show.

 Live07

Localization & Split-Brain

Phineas Gage, Gazzaniga's interpreter, and the "two minds" idea (now contested).

3 · Learning, Sleep & Consciousness

How experience rewires you, and what happens when the lights go down.

Live08

Learning

Classical & operant conditioning, Little Albert, and a big update to "learned helplessness."

 Live09

Sleep

Circadian rhythms, sleep stages, consolidation, and the adolescent sleep crunch.

 Live10

Consciousness: Who's in Control?

Automaticity, flow, the illusion of agency, and free will.

4 · Sensation, Perception & Memory

How the world gets into your head — and how much of it your brain makes up.

Live11

Sensation I

Smell, taste, hearing, pain, balance — and how we measure a sensory threshold.

 Live12

Sensation II: Vision

The eye, color theories, feature detectors, and synesthesia.

 Live13

Perception

Top-down processing, Gestalt, illusions, and why you see faces in clouds.

 Live14

Memory I: Building Memories

Encoding, the study methods that actually work, and H.M.

 Live15

Memory II: Distortion

Reconstruction, flashbulb memories, Loftus, and false memories.

5 · Where the course could go next

Enrichment pages on the classic intro-psych topics that live beyond our biological/cognitive core — optional reading, and a preview of the psychology you haven't met yet.

Enrichment+

Thinking, Language & Intelligence

Problem-solving, heuristics, how language works, and the IQ debate.

 Enrichment+

Development Across the Lifespan

Attachment, Piaget, adolescence, aging.

 Enrichment+

Motivation & Emotion

Drives, arousal, and the great theories of emotion.

 Enrichment+

Social Psychology

Conformity, obedience, attribution, prejudice — the power of the situation.

 Enrichment+

Personality

The Big Five, psychodynamic and humanistic views.

 Enrichment+

Psychological Disorders

How disorders are defined, and the DSM-5-TR.

 Enrichment+

Therapy & Treatment

From psychoanalysis to CBT and beyond.

 Enrichment+

Stress, Health & Self-Compassion

The mind–body link, coping, and treating yourself like someone you're helping.