About This Course

General Psychology is a new 2025 rendition of the original Introduction to Psychology developed by OpenStax Psychology textbook and the revised 2019 Lumen Learning General Psychology course.

What’s New?

General Psychology continues to be a comprehensive, ready-to-adopt course with embedded activities that facilitate student learning. The course presents topics in an over-arching approach using the American Psychological Association’s Five Pillars (domains) of Psychology: biological psychology, cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, social and personality psychology, and mental and physical health which are supported by Scientific Inquiry and Research. Also, new in this rendition is updated content and activities such as Psych in Real Life  incorporating the integrative themes recommended by the APA Introductory Psychology Initiative (IPI). The course enriches student learning with frequent application, curated videos, selected NOBA and APA-instructor developed interactive learning activities to foster practical skills in thinking critically about experimental design.

The course reflects the goals recommended in the 2023 APA’s Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major, version 3.0. These goals include

Goal 1: Content Knowledge and Applications
Goal 2: Scientific Inquiry and Critical Thinking
Goal 3: Values in Psychological Science
Goal 4: Communication, Psychological Literacy, and Technology Skills
Goal 5: Personal and Professional Development

Acknowledgments

The OpenStax Psychology2e textbook and material curated by Lumen Learning and Patrick Carroll of the University of Texas at Austin serve as a foundation for this newer version of General Psychology. This book reflects the support from several Alamo Colleges administrators, staff, instructional designers, and OER Grant Consortium funding from the U. S. Dept of Education.

Dr. Pamela Morris, a 30+ year Psychology Professor at San Antonio College curated and infused new content and activities for the 2025 Pressbook’s General Psychology and it’s companion Canvas LMS – General Psychology website, available in Canvas Commons. Thank you to the many psychology instructors across the U. S. who throughout the various renditions of this course have generously shared assignments.