Collections

Psychology as a Science by Amy T. Nusbaum and Dee Posey (CC BY-SA).

A Pressbooks containing a collection of links to resources (textbooks, videos, activities, and more) organized by topic.

Teach Psych Science  by Dr. Gary W. Lewandowski Jr., Dr. Natalie J. Ciarocco and Dr. David B. Strohmetz (CC BY).

A website devoted to peer-reviewed resources for teaching research, statistics, and writing for psychological science.

Courses

Biological Psychology authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts (no declared license but openly published on LibreTexts platform).

The primary focus of this course is on the nervous system and the connection between its structure, function, and human behavior. This course provides an in-depth examination of the anatomy of the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system, neural development, neuronal communication, and genetic influences on neural structure and function. Structural and functional interactions of the nervous system with the endocrine, digestive, and immune systems are also examined. Other topics include the nervous system’s role in sensation, perception, motor activity, circadian rhythms, sleep, motivation, emotion, sex, gender, learning, memory, language, cognition, and consciousness. The neural bases of psychological disorders including addiction, depression, anxiety, and schizophrenia are also addressed.

Introduction to Psychology by Open Learning Initiative by Carnegie Mellon University (CC BY-NC-SA).

Introduction to Psychology offers students an engaging introduction to the essential topics in psychology. Throughout this study of human behavior and the mind, you will gain insight into the history of the field of psychology, as well as explore current theories and issues in areas such as cognition, motivation, and wellness. The importance of scientific methods and principles of research design is emphasized throughout this course and presented in a way that will enrich your study of individuals as thinking, feeling, and social beings.

Supplementary Materials

Abnormal Psychology by College Sidekick (CC BY-NC-SA).

A study guide on abnormal psychology.

Attention and Advertising Tactics by Agniete Pocyte & Lorna Camus, adapted by Tomas Sanders (CC BY).

This resource covers examination of popular culture, the media, and peers, in addition to ones own attitudes and values, and how these can affect and impact an individuals actions.

Introduction to the Brain by Lorna Camus and Agniete Pocyte, adapted by Kay Douglas and Andrew Ferguson (CC BY).

This resource includes an introductory information pack for high school students and an activity with printable materials. It addresses the following learning outcomes: Name and locate the different lobes of the brain, understand the functions of each brain, and their real-life applications, actively work in a team with a common goal, and understand the implications of brain damage, such as the case of Phineas Gage.

Introduction to Psychology Study Guide by Sarah Murray (CC BY-NC).

This study guide is designed to accompany the Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition open text by Jennifer Walinga and Charles Stangor. For each chapter, it summarizes the learning objectives and presents multiple-choice, true-false, and fill-in-the-blank tests of the material covered. It provides links to resources to enable students to deepen their understanding of key topics and to explore related issues. Finally, it offers suggestions for hands-on activities relevant to each chapter.

Open Education Resources in Psychology: A Starter Pack  collected by Rajiv Jhangani (various licenses)

As an academic administrator, I support educators across all disciplines in their embrace of more critical, inclusive, and open pedagogies. However, given that my scholarship bridges education and psychology I am often asked by my fellow psychologists about where they might begin in their search for relevant and high-quality open educational resources. Although I still recommend that you reach out to your local university library (which may have a liaison/subject librarian who is well situated to support your customized search needs), I have also assembled a non-exhaustive starter pack for OER in psychology. I hope this is helpful to teachers of psychology and those who support them.

Prejudice Reduction Strategies by Lorna Camus and Agniete Pocyte, adapted by Kay Douglas and Andrew Ferguson (CC BY) .

This resource identifies stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, where they arise from, and how to recognise and respond to these types of behaviours and comments in a constructive way.

Scientific Reasoning MCAT Modules by K.A. Becker-Blease, C. Stevens, & M. R. Witkow, (CC BY).

A series of eight modules developed by Oregon State University and designed to be used by instructors teaching introductory psychology courses to teach scientific reasoning skills.

Textbooks

Abnormal Psychology by Jorden A. Cummings (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Published by University of Saskatchewan Open Press, this text has been created from a combination of original content and materials compiled and adapted from existing open educational resources.

Culture and Psychology by L D Worthy; T Lavigne; and F Romero (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Culture is one of the most powerful forces in the world. It shapes how we make sense of our world, how we express ourselves and how we understand and relate to others. In this textbook we introduce cultural universals and culturally specific constructs in psychology. This textbook was created for an undergraduate course that appeals to psychology majors and non-majors because it meets several general education and transfer credit requirements.

Discover Psychology 2.0: A Brief Introductory Text  editd by Edward Diener, Robert Biswas-Diener (CC-BY-NC-SA).

Includes: Powerpoint Slides, Test Bank (Free registration and/or login required), and Instructor Manual. Noba is “the dream project” of Ed and Carol Diener.  It has modules written by some big names in psychology  including Elizabeth Loftus, Ed Diener, Susan Fiske, David Buss, and many, many others.  There are also many links to animations and videos that are quite useful.  Students have the option of accessing free digital versions or purchasing a print version.

Introduction to Biological Psychology edited by Catherine N. Hall (CC BY-NC).

An open access textbook designed primarily for use by first and second year undergraduate students of British Psychological Society accredited Psychology degree courses in the UK.

Introduction to Psychology: 1st Canadian Edition  by Charles Stangor and Jennifer Walinga (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Includes: Powerpoint Slides and Test Bank (Free registration and/or login required for both). Introduction to Psychology: 1st Canadian Edition was adapted by Jennifer Walinga from Charles Stangor’s textbook, Introduction to Psychology.  The adaptation and development of ancillary materials were supported by the B.C. (British Columbia) Open Textbook Project.  Students have the option of accessing a free digital version or purchasing a print version (although the shipping costs can be high). A version of this book by Cummings and Sanders is also available with a glossary and slides and test bank also available after verification of instructor status.

Introduction to Psychology  by Jorden A. Cummings and Lee Sanders (CC BY-NC-SA).

From the University of Saskatchewan, this introductory text has been created from a combination of original content and materials compiled and adapted from a number of open text publications.

Introduction to Psychology & Neuroscience  edited by Leanne Stevens (CC BY).

The foundation of this book is built upon Psychology 2e from OpenStax. In addition to the core content from Psychology 2e from OpenStax, this book is a combination of original material and resources, and selected works from Introduction to Psychology by Cummings & Sanders (University of Saskatchewan), Discovery Psychology 2.0 from Noba Project, and various upper-level Psychology courses from Lumen Learning.

Introduction to Psychology  by Charles Stangor (CC BY-NC-SA).

This textbook includes learning objectives, key takeaways, exercises and critical thinking activities, a marginal glossary of key terms, a student handbook, and final review PowerPoint slides. In short, I think that this book will provide a useful and productive synthesis between your goals and the goals of your students. I have tried to focus on the forest rather than the trees and to bring psychology to life—in ways that really matter—for the students. At the same time, the book maintains content and conceptual rigor, with a strong focus on the fundamental principles of empiricism and the scientific method.

Learning Statistics with R: A tutorial for psychology students and other beginners  by Danielle Navarro (CC BY-SA).

This book covers the contents of an introductory statistics class, as typically taught to undergraduate psychology students, focusing on the use of the R statistical software. The book discusses how to get started in R as well as giving an introduction to data manipulation and writing scripts. From a statistical perspective, the book discusses descriptive statistics and graphing first, followed by chapters on probability theory, sampling and estimation, and null hypothesis testing. After introducing the theory, the book covers the analysis of contingency tables, t-tests, ANOVAs and regression. Bayesian statistics are covered at the end of the book.

Learning Statistics with Jamovi: A tutorial for psychology students and other beginners  by David Foxcroft (CC BY-SA).

This book of learning statistics with jamovi covers the contents of an introductory statistics class, as typically taught to undergraduate psychology students. Descriptive statistics and graphing are followed by chapters on probability theory, sampling and estimation, and null hypothesis testing. The book covers the analysis of contingency tables, correlation, t-tests, regression, ANOVA and factor analysis.

Noba Project by various (CC BY-NC-SA).

A collection of psychology open textbooks. The Noba platform also allows you to customize textbooks or build your own. Many modules include instructor manuals, PowerPoint presentations, and test banks.

Personality Theory: A Multicultural Perspective by Mark Kelland (CC BY).

Personality Theory in a Cultural Context  by Mark Kelland (CC BY).

Principles of Social Psychology  adapted by the Saylor Foundation (CC BY-NC-SA).

Have you ever had trouble teaching the various topics of social psychology and fitting them together to form a coherent field? Dr. Stangor felt like he was presenting a laundry list of ideas, research studies, and phenomena, rather than an integrated set of principles and knowledge. He wondered how his students could be expected to remember and understand the many phenomena that social psychologists study? How could they tell what was most important? It was then that he realized a fresh approach to a Social Psychology textbook was needed to structure and integrate student learning; thus, Principles of Social Psychology was born. This textbook is based on a critical thinking approach, and its aim is to get students thinking actively and conceptually – with a greater focus on the forest than the trees. Yes, there are right and wrong answers, but the answers are not the only thing. What is perhaps even more important is how students get to the answers – the thinking process itself.

Principles of Social Psychology – 1st International H5P Edition by Dr. Rajiv Jhangiani, Dr. Hammond Tarry (CC BY-NC-SA).

The first international edition of this textbook provides students with an introduction to the basic concepts and principles of social psychology from an interactionist perspective. The presentation of classic studies and theories are balanced with insights from cutting-edge, contemporary research. An emphasis on real world examples and applications is intended to guide students to critically analyze their situations and social interactions in order to put their knowledge to effective use. In 2022, 25 interactive H5P activities were added throughout the book.

Psychology 2e  (OpenStax) by  Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett  (CC BY 4.0).

Psychology 2e is designed to meet scope and sequence requirements for the single-semester introduction to psychology course. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of core concepts, grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research. The text also includes coverage of the DSM-5 in examinations of psychological disorders. Psychology incorporates discussions that reflect the diversity within the discipline, as well as the diversity of cultures and communities across the globe.

Psychology – H5P Edition

 by  Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett  (CC BY 4.0).

Psychology is designed to meet scope and sequence requirements for the single-semester introduction to psychology course. The book offers a comprehensive treatment of core concepts, grounded in both classic studies and current and emerging research. The text also includes coverage of the DSM-5 in examinations of psychological disorders. Psychology incorporates discussions that reflect the diversity within the discipline, as well as the diversity of cultures and communities across the globe. (+282 H5P activities.)

Introductory Psychology (OpenStax) – LibreTexts  by Rose M. Spielman with many significant contributors (CC BY).

Includes: Powerpoint Slides, Test Bank, and Instructor Manual (Free registration and/or login required for all). OpenStax is maintained (and supported) by Rice University.  Students have the option of accessing free digital versions or purchasing a print version. CVC-OEI has imported the OpenStax text into Canvas. Additionally, Lumen Learning made an enhanced version of the digital text with embedded multiple choices available.  There are also openly available slides, assignments, and question banks available CC-BY.

Psychology as a Biological Science by Robert Biswas-Diener and Ed Diener (CC BY-NC-SA).

This textbook provides standard introduction to psychology course content with a specific emphasis on biological aspects of psychology. This includes more content related to neuroscience methods, the brain and the nervous system.

The Psychology of Human Thought  edited by Robert J. Sternberg & Joachim Funke CC BY-SA).

The book is intended to be used as a textbook in courses on higher processes, complex cognition, human thought, and related courses. Chapters include concept acquisition, knowledge representation, inductive and deductive reasoning, problem solving, metacognition, language, expertise, intelligence, creativity, wisdom, development of thought, affect and thought, culture, and sections about history and about methods.

Psychology: The Science of Human Potential by Jeffrey Levy (CC-BY 4.0).

The Science of Human Potential is designed to be a concise, cohesive introduction to psychology textbook. Psychology is described as a science studying how hereditary (nature) and experiential (nurture) variables interact to influence the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour of individuals. The remainder of the text is organized into sections entitled “Mostly Nature” (biological psychology; sensation and perception; motivation and emotion), “Mostly Nurture” (direct learning; indirect or observational learning; cognition), and “Nature/Nurture” (human potential, with regard to each of human development, personality, social psychology, maladaptive behaviour, and professional psychology). Includes H5P review exercises at the end of each chapter. Readable and editable versions are available, as is a hardcopy for sale.

Research Methods in Psychology by Rajiv S. Jhangiani; I-Chant A. Chiang; Carrie Cuttler; and Dana C. Leighton (CC BY-NC-SA) .

A comprehensive textbook for research methods classes. A peer-reviewed inter-institutional project.

Tao of Positive Psychologyby Mark Kelland (CC BY).

Workplace Psychology: Issues and Application by Kris Powers (CC BY-NC-SA).

A compilation of open content for students of Psychology 104: Workplace Psychology at Chemeketa Community College.

Websites

R Psychologist by Kristoffer Magnusson (CC BY).

A blog about R, statistics, psychology, open science, and data visualization.

Media Attributions

• Canada Map Icon by Icons8 (CC BY-ND).
• BC Map by Adamwashere (CC BY-NC-SA).