Awesome Psychology

A categorized community-driven collection of high-quality awesome Psychology courses, videos, and books.

Suggestions and contributions are always welcome!

Table Of Contents

• Psychology Books
• Psychology Experiments
• Self-Development
  • Decision Making
  • Discipline
  • Happiness
  • Negotiation
• Ted Talks
• University Courses
  • MIT
  • Wesleyan University
  • Yale

Psychology Books

• Christopher Hitchens, "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything", 2009
  In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.
• Ernest Becker, "The Denial of Death", 1997
  Winner of the Pulitzer prize in 1974 and the culmination of a life's work, The Denial of Death is Ernest Becker's brilliant and impassioned answer to the "why" of human existence. In bold contrast to the predominant Freudian school of thought, Becker tackles the problem of the vital lie -- man's refusal to acknowledge his own mortality. In doing so, he sheds new light on the nature of humanity and issues a call to life and its living that still resonates more than twenty years after its writing.
• Jon Ronson, "The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry", 2012
  In this madcap journey, a bestselling journalist investigates psychopaths and the industry of doctors, scientists, and everyone else who studies them.
• Oliver Sacks, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat: And Other Clinical Tales", 1998
  In his most extraordinary book, “one of the great clinical writers of the twentieth century” (The New York Times) recounts the case histories of patients lost in the bizarre, apparently inescapable world of neurological disorders.
• Paul Bloom, "How Pleasure Works: The New Science of Why We Like What We Like", 2011
  Why is an artistic masterpiece worth millions more than a convincing forgery? Pleasure works in mysterious ways, as Paul Bloom reveals in this investigation of what we desire and why. Drawing on a wealth of surprising studies, Bloom investigates pleasures noble and seamy, lofty and mundane, to reveal that our enjoyment of a given thing is determined not by what we can see and touch but by our beliefs about that thing’s history, origin, and deeper nature.
• Paul Bloom, "Just Babies: The Origins of Good and Evil", 2014
  A leading cognitive scientist argues that a deep sense of good and evil is bred in the bone.
• Philip Zimbardo, "The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil", 2008
  The definitive firsthand account of the groundbreaking research of Philip Zimbardo—the basis for the award-winning film The Stanford Prison Experiment.
• Richard Dawkins, "The Selfish Gene", 1976
  Richard Dawkins' brilliant reformulation of the theory of natural selection has the rare distinction of having provoked as much excitement and interest outside the scientific community as within it. His theories have helped change the whole nature of the study of social biology, and have forced thousands of readers to rethink their beliefs about life. In his internationally bestselling, now classic volume, The Selfish Gene, Dawkins explains how the selfish gene can also be a subtle gene.

Psychology Experiments

• Christopher Chabris, "The Invisible Gorilla", 2011
• Harry F. Harlow, "Love in Infant Monkeys", 1959
• Philip Zimbardo, "The Stanford Prison Experiment", 1971
• Stanley Milgram, "Milgram Experiment", 1963

Self-Development

• Carol S. Dweck, "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success", 2007
  World-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, in decades of research on achievement and success, has discovered a truly groundbreaking idea–the power of our mindset.
• Charles Duhigg, "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business", 2014
  In The Power of Habit, Pulitzer Prize–winning business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed.
• Dale Carnegie, "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living", 1990
  Through Dale Carnegie’s six-million-copy bestseller recently revised, millions of people have been helped to overcome the worry habit. Dale Carnegie offers a set of practical formulas you can put to work today. In our fast-paced world—formulas that will last a lifetime!
• Dale Carnegie, "How to Win Friends & Influence People", 1998
  For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.
• Malcolm Gladwell, "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking", 2007
  In his landmark bestseller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within.
• Malcolm Gladwell, "Outliers: The Story of Success", 2011
  In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of "outliers"--the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different?
• Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference", 2002
  The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire. Just as a single sick person can start an epidemic of the flu, so too can a small but precisely targeted push cause a fashion trend, the popularity of a new product, or a drop in the crime rate. This widely acclaimed bestseller, in which Malcolm Gladwell explores and brilliantly illuminates the tipping point phenomenon, is already changing the way people throughout the world think about selling products and disseminating ideas.
• The Great Courses, "The Art of Conflict Management: Achieving Solutions for Life, Work, and Beyond", 2010
  In 24 lectures brimming with practical tips, tools, and techniques everyone can use to better manage conflict in his or her professional and personal lives, gain the essential skills of conflict management.

Decision Making

• "Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions", Brian Christian, Tom Griffiths, 2016
• "Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work", Chip Heath, Dan Heath, 2013
• "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions", Dr. Dan Ariely, 2009
• "Thinking, Fast and Slow", Daniel Kahneman, 2011

Discipline

• "Discipline Equals Freedom: Field Manual", Jocko Willink, 2017
• "Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win", Jocko Willink, Leif Babin, 2017
• "Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World", William H. McRaven, 2017

Happiness

• "The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking", Oliver Burkeman, 2012
• "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life", Mark Manson, 2016
• "Unfu*k Yourself: Get Out of Your Head and into Your Life", Gary John Bishop, 2017
• "You Are a Badass®: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life", Jen Sincero, 2013

Negotiation

• "Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High", Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, 2011
• "Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most", Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, Roger Fisher
• "Getting Past No: Negotiating in Difficult Situations", William L. Ury, 1993
• "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In", Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, Bruce Patton, 2011
• "Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It", Chris Voss, 2016
• "The Great Courses: The Art of Negotiating the Best Deal", Seth Freeman, 2014

Ted Talks

• Jonathan Haidt, "The moral roots of liberals and conservatives", 2008
  Psychologist Jonathan Haidt studies the five moral values that form the basis of our political choices, whether we're left, right or center. In this eye-opening talk, he pinpoints the moral values that liberals and conservatives tend to honor most.
• Sam Harris, "Science can answer moral questions", 2010
  Questions of good and evil, right and wrong are commonly thought unanswerable by science. But Sam Harris argues that science can — and should — be an authority on moral issues, shaping human values and setting out what constitutes a good life.

University Courses

MIT

• John Gabrieli, "9.00 Introduction to Psychology", 2011
  This course is a survey of the scientific study of human nature, including how the mind works, and how the brain supports the mind. Topics include the mental and neural bases of perception, emotion, learning, memory, cognition, child development, personality, psychopathology, and social interaction. Students will consider how such knowledge relates to debates about nature and nurture, free will, consciousness, human differences, self, and society.

Wesleyan University

• Scott Plous, "Social Psychology", 2012 Missing Link

Yale

• Paul Bloom, "Moralities of Everyday Life", 2013
  How can we explain kindness and cruelty? Where does our sense of right and wrong come from? Why do people so often disagree about moral issues? This course explores the psychological foundations of our moral lives.
• Paul Bloom, "PSYC 110: Introduction to Psychology", 2007
  What do your dreams mean? Do men and women differ in the nature and intensity of their sexual desires? Can apes learn sign language? Why can’t we tickle ourselves? This course tries to answer these questions and many others, providing a comprehensive overview of the scientific study of thought and behavior. It explores topics such as perception, communication, learning, memory, decision-making, religion, persuasion, love, lust, hunger, art, fiction, and dreams. We will look at how these aspects of the mind develop in children, how they differ across people, how they are wired-up in the brain, and how they break down due to illness and injury.
• Kelly D. Brownell, "PSYC 123: The Psychology, Biology And Politics Of Food", 2008
  This course encompasses the study of eating as it affects the health and well-being of every human. Topics include taste preferences, food aversions, the regulation of hunger and satiety, food as comfort and friendship, eating as social ritual, and social norms of blame for food problems. The politics of food discusses issues such as sustainable agriculture, organic farming, genetically modified foods, nutrition policy, and the influence of food and agriculture industries. Also examined are problems such as malnutrition, eating disorders, and the global obesity epidemic; the impact of food advertising aimed at children; poverty and food; and how each individual's eating is affected by the modern environment.