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Psychology of Human Behavior
What comes to mind when you picture a psychologist
If you're like most people coming to this fascinating field for the first time, the picture is apt to be a very familiar one.
A quiet room. A leather couch. A neatly bearded, scholarly looking gentleman seated off to the side, only rarely speaking, quietly taking notes and occasionally nodding as the couch's supine occupant tells his or her story.
In some ways, such a picture would indeed be accurate, a confirmation not only of the importance of Sigmund Freud in the history of psychology but also of the degree Freud dominates the popular perception of this discipline.
But the picture would be inaccurate, as well.
Freud was a physician, and the majority of psychologists are not. Both the psychoanalytic theory he pioneered and the therapeutic approach it was based onpsychoanalysishave seen their dominance wane in recent years. And psychologists today, as indebted as they may be to Freud's landmark explorations of our psychological landscape, are involved in far more than helping people cope with inner demons.
The expansive and varied roles of contemporary psychologists create another common imageof a crowd of white-coated researchers gathered around a maze, carefully recording a white rat's performance. It's another inadequate picture because experimental psychologists today usually work with people, not animals.
Moreover, the areas of interest those psychologists are pursuing now encompass every part of the process we use to develop and function as people:
How we perceive, remember, and learn
How we select our friends and partners and retain their affection and love
The things that motivate us as we make our choices in life
Even how we relate to the vehicles, machinery, computer systems, or workspaces we encounter as we make our livings.
If you're like most people coming to this fascinating field for the first time, the picture is apt to be a very familiar one.
A quiet room. A leather couch. A neatly bearded, scholarly looking gentleman seated off to the side, only rarely speaking, quietly taking notes and occasionally nodding as the couch's supine occupant tells his or her story.
In some ways, such a picture would indeed be accurate, a confirmation not only of the importance of Sigmund Freud in the history of psychology but also of the degree Freud dominates the popular perception of this discipline.
But the picture would be inaccurate, as well.
Freud was a physician, and the majority of psychologists are not. Both the psychoanalytic theory he pioneered and the therapeutic approach it was based onpsychoanalysishave seen their dominance wane in recent years. And psychologists today, as indebted as they may be to Freud's landmark explorations of our psychological landscape, are involved in far more than helping people cope with inner demons.
The expansive and varied roles of contemporary psychologists create another common imageof a crowd of white-coated researchers gathered around a maze, carefully recording a white rat's performance. It's another inadequate picture because experimental psychologists today usually work with people, not animals.
Moreover, the areas of interest those psychologists are pursuing now encompass every part of the process we use to develop and function as people:
How we perceive, remember, and learn
How we select our friends and partners and retain their affection and love
The things that motivate us as we make our choices in life
Even how we relate to the vehicles, machinery, computer systems, or workspaces we encounter as we make our livings.
Audio Cassette
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 21, 2024
I really enjoyed Psychology of Human Behavior. IMHO, it is one of the better courses on offer from the folks over at
The Great Courses
. It was a great introduction to psychology and social psychology.
Course professor Dr. David W. Martin is Professor of Psychology at North Carolina State University. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Hanover College in Indiana, where he also finished the necessary coursework for a major in physics. He earned an M.A. in Experimental Psychology and a Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology from The Ohio State University. Professor Martin is the recipient of the Roush Award for Teaching Excellence and was named to the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NC State. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Psychonomic Society, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Dr. Martin is author of Doing Psychology Experiments, an experimental methods text now in its 6th edition and adopted at more than 100 colleges. He has also engaged in professional consulting and has more than 75 publications and papers.
David W. Martin:
Prof. Martin has a great teaching style here. He talks in a lively, down-to-earth manner that should allow this course to be accessible even to the scientifically illiterate layperson. I always commend this type of effective communication, and efforts to make science easily digestable to the public.
I have gone through many dozen courses from The Great Courses, and they are often very hit-or-miss. It's a crap shoot when you start one. In some (like this one), the professor presents the material in a lively and engaging format, ensuring that his audience can easily keep up with the ground they cover.
In others, the professor stands rigidly behind the podium and rattles off a never-ending torrent of esoteric information and tedium; effectively diving right into the weeds, and losing the viewer.
Fortunately, this course is a great example of the former and not the latter. My reviews are always very heavily weighted towards how effectively the information was communicated. This one really nailed it.
If I were to find a downside to the course, I would say that it is fairly dated. I believe it was filmed in 2006. And for those who don't know, quite a lot has changed in the field of psychology since then. Most notably, a new version of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual has been produced.
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the DSM-5, was approved by the Board of Trustees of the APA on December 1, 2012. Published on May 18, 2013, the DSM-5 contains extensively revised diagnoses and, in some cases, broadens diagnostic definitions while narrowing definitions in other cases. The DSM-5 is the first major edition of the manual in 20 years.
The course is somewhat typical of longer-length offerings from The Great Courses. It is broken into 36 lectures; each ~30 mins.
The lectures are:
1 Modern Psychology in Historical Context
2 Experimentation as a Research Method
3 Nonexperimental Research Methods
4 Evolutionary Theory and Modern Psychology
5 Freud’s Thinking
6 Details of Psychoanalytic Theory
7 Classification of Mental Illnesses
8 Anxiety and Mood Disorders
9 Disorders of Brain, Body, Self, Drugs, Sex
10 Schizophrenic Disorders
11 Childhood, Retardation, Personality Disorders
12 Physical Therapies—Drugs
13 Physical Therapies—ECT, Surgery, Genes
14 Talking Therapies—Psychoanalysis
15 Therapies—Humanistic, Cognitive, Group
16 Behavior Therapies—Classical Conditioning
17 Behavior Therapies—Operant Conditioning
18 Models of Motivation
19 Emotion—What Do We Measure?
20 Emotion—Theories
21 Psychoactive Drugs—Processes, Stimulants
22 Drugs—Depressants, Narcotics, Hallucinogens
23 Social Psychology—Influence and Reciprocity
24 Social Psychology—Additional Mechanisms
25 Simple Learning—Classical Conditioning
26 Simple Learning—Operant Conditioning
27 Complex Learning
28 Memory—Characteristics
29 Memory—Memory Aids and Forgetting Theories
30 Perception—Forming Internal Models
31 Perception—Finding and Organizing Cues
32 Evolutionary Psychology—Basic Concepts
33 Evolutionary Psychology—Altruism and Mating
34 Evolutionary Psychology—War, Family, Food
35 Engineering Psychology
36 Recap, Omissions, and Into the Future
********************
This was an excellent presentation. The course prof did a great job putting it together, as well as presenting it. I would easily recommend it to anyone interested.
5 stars.
Course professor Dr. David W. Martin is Professor of Psychology at North Carolina State University. He earned his B.A. in Psychology from Hanover College in Indiana, where he also finished the necessary coursework for a major in physics. He earned an M.A. in Experimental Psychology and a Ph.D. in Engineering Psychology from The Ohio State University. Professor Martin is the recipient of the Roush Award for Teaching Excellence and was named to the Academy of Outstanding Teachers at NC State. He is a member of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, the Psychonomic Society, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. Dr. Martin is author of Doing Psychology Experiments, an experimental methods text now in its 6th edition and adopted at more than 100 colleges. He has also engaged in professional consulting and has more than 75 publications and papers.
David W. Martin:
Prof. Martin has a great teaching style here. He talks in a lively, down-to-earth manner that should allow this course to be accessible even to the scientifically illiterate layperson. I always commend this type of effective communication, and efforts to make science easily digestable to the public.
I have gone through many dozen courses from The Great Courses, and they are often very hit-or-miss. It's a crap shoot when you start one. In some (like this one), the professor presents the material in a lively and engaging format, ensuring that his audience can easily keep up with the ground they cover.
In others, the professor stands rigidly behind the podium and rattles off a never-ending torrent of esoteric information and tedium; effectively diving right into the weeds, and losing the viewer.
Fortunately, this course is a great example of the former and not the latter. My reviews are always very heavily weighted towards how effectively the information was communicated. This one really nailed it.
If I were to find a downside to the course, I would say that it is fairly dated. I believe it was filmed in 2006. And for those who don't know, quite a lot has changed in the field of psychology since then. Most notably, a new version of The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual has been produced.
The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the DSM-5, was approved by the Board of Trustees of the APA on December 1, 2012. Published on May 18, 2013, the DSM-5 contains extensively revised diagnoses and, in some cases, broadens diagnostic definitions while narrowing definitions in other cases. The DSM-5 is the first major edition of the manual in 20 years.
The course is somewhat typical of longer-length offerings from The Great Courses. It is broken into 36 lectures; each ~30 mins.
The lectures are:
1 Modern Psychology in Historical Context
2 Experimentation as a Research Method
3 Nonexperimental Research Methods
4 Evolutionary Theory and Modern Psychology
5 Freud’s Thinking
6 Details of Psychoanalytic Theory
7 Classification of Mental Illnesses
8 Anxiety and Mood Disorders
9 Disorders of Brain, Body, Self, Drugs, Sex
10 Schizophrenic Disorders
11 Childhood, Retardation, Personality Disorders
12 Physical Therapies—Drugs
13 Physical Therapies—ECT, Surgery, Genes
14 Talking Therapies—Psychoanalysis
15 Therapies—Humanistic, Cognitive, Group
16 Behavior Therapies—Classical Conditioning
17 Behavior Therapies—Operant Conditioning
18 Models of Motivation
19 Emotion—What Do We Measure?
20 Emotion—Theories
21 Psychoactive Drugs—Processes, Stimulants
22 Drugs—Depressants, Narcotics, Hallucinogens
23 Social Psychology—Influence and Reciprocity
24 Social Psychology—Additional Mechanisms
25 Simple Learning—Classical Conditioning
26 Simple Learning—Operant Conditioning
27 Complex Learning
28 Memory—Characteristics
29 Memory—Memory Aids and Forgetting Theories
30 Perception—Forming Internal Models
31 Perception—Finding and Organizing Cues
32 Evolutionary Psychology—Basic Concepts
33 Evolutionary Psychology—Altruism and Mating
34 Evolutionary Psychology—War, Family, Food
35 Engineering Psychology
36 Recap, Omissions, and Into the Future
********************
This was an excellent presentation. The course prof did a great job putting it together, as well as presenting it. I would easily recommend it to anyone interested.
5 stars.
June 8, 2017
The rating isn't for the contents, how can I rate a scientific reference to huge science such as Psychology while my only knowledge about it is summarized in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" ?
I can only speak about how it was presented, I found it highly informative, covers wide range of Psychology's different fields, easy to understand for someone with no proper background, and yet it goes deep clarifying various of complicated points without losing the attention of the listener.
The professor way of speaking is quiet clear, professional, and charismatic, which is very important to keep you attached for 18 hours of lecturing, otherwise you would drop the whole thing out after couple of hours.
I recommend it to whomever wants a proper introduction to psychology, you would find whatever you're looking for here.
I can only speak about how it was presented, I found it highly informative, covers wide range of Psychology's different fields, easy to understand for someone with no proper background, and yet it goes deep clarifying various of complicated points without losing the attention of the listener.
The professor way of speaking is quiet clear, professional, and charismatic, which is very important to keep you attached for 18 hours of lecturing, otherwise you would drop the whole thing out after couple of hours.
I recommend it to whomever wants a proper introduction to psychology, you would find whatever you're looking for here.
April 6, 2020
(NOTE: I'm stingy with stars. For me 2 stars means a good book or a B. 3 stars means a very good book or a B+. 4 stars means an outstanding book or an A {only about 5% of the books I read merit 4 stars}. 5 stars means an all time favorite or an A+ {Only one of 400 or 500 books rates this!).
The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the most significant things I listen to and read them and then post a review.
The great news is that I can listen to a book a day at work. The bad news is that I can’t keep up with decent reviews. So I’m going to give up for now and just rate them. I hope to come back to some of the most significant things I listen to and read them and then post a review.
December 21, 2014
I'll accept all genres of learning except the boring genre. There's no reason that psychology with its intersections between philosophy, science, the mind, and human nature should ever be anything but interesting, but this lecture gives the exception to the rule. Save yourself from this lecture and read "The Blank Slate" by Stephen Pinker instead. The one redeeming feature about this lecture is the lecturer comments favorably on that book.
February 26, 2017
Comprehensive for those who interested in learning Psychology academically, but some lectures (such as research methods) are unnecessary for general audience.
July 24, 2024
Part of the Great Courses series, this is an audiobook recording of 36 half-hour lectures given by Professor David W. Martin, who is a professor of psychology at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He spends just a little time on the history of psychology before launching into the basic principles of perception, memory, learning, motivation, social relationships, experimental procedures, and much more, including his own specialisation in engineering psychology, which includes human factors and ergonomics.
I liked the course. Professor Martin covers a lot of ground in this introductory programme, and at the end, even acknowledges some of the areas he had to skip due to time constraints. With a casual, friendly enthusiasm in a good speaking voice, he explains the key theories and frequently illustrates them with real examples from his own experience. My only complaint is that sometimes, when he goes off-script, and doesn’t have his thoughts fully formed before he speaks, he gets a little hesitant and repetitive, which undermines an otherwise authoritative tone.
With a degree in psychology, I knew most of the material already, but there was the occasional detail I’d forgotten since my undergraduate studies, and there were a few small surprises I hadn’t heard before. But generally, I don’t listen to these kinds of lectures for my own edification. Most people who have not studied the field don’t really know what it’s about, so I like to review material and recommend it if I think it’s any good. I would recommend this one.
I liked the course. Professor Martin covers a lot of ground in this introductory programme, and at the end, even acknowledges some of the areas he had to skip due to time constraints. With a casual, friendly enthusiasm in a good speaking voice, he explains the key theories and frequently illustrates them with real examples from his own experience. My only complaint is that sometimes, when he goes off-script, and doesn’t have his thoughts fully formed before he speaks, he gets a little hesitant and repetitive, which undermines an otherwise authoritative tone.
With a degree in psychology, I knew most of the material already, but there was the occasional detail I’d forgotten since my undergraduate studies, and there were a few small surprises I hadn’t heard before. But generally, I don’t listen to these kinds of lectures for my own edification. Most people who have not studied the field don’t really know what it’s about, so I like to review material and recommend it if I think it’s any good. I would recommend this one.
February 5, 2025
While Psychology of Human Behavior offers a broad overview of psychological concepts and is accessible for beginners, it suffers from significant intellectual shortcomings. The course frequently falls into post hoc fallacies and tautological reasoning, especially when discussing evolutionary psychology, where traits and behaviors are often explained away as evolutionary adaptations without proper empirical support.
The course also devotes unnecessary time to outdated and largely discredited theories like those of Sigmund Freud, whose ideas have been debunked by modern science. Instead of challenging or critically engaging with Freud’s untestable concepts, the course simply reiterates them as if they were still relevant, which is frustrating for anyone familiar with contemporary psychology.
In addition, the over-reliance on evolutionary explanations for complex human behaviors—without considering modern societal, cultural, or economic influences—leads to oversimplified, deterministic conclusions. This diminishes the value of the course for those seeking a more nuanced, evidence-based understanding of human behavior.
While the lectures are easy to follow and may serve as a starting point for casual learners, the lack of critical depth and overuse of outdated theories make this course far from ideal for those looking for a scientifically rigorous exploration of psychology.
The course also devotes unnecessary time to outdated and largely discredited theories like those of Sigmund Freud, whose ideas have been debunked by modern science. Instead of challenging or critically engaging with Freud’s untestable concepts, the course simply reiterates them as if they were still relevant, which is frustrating for anyone familiar with contemporary psychology.
In addition, the over-reliance on evolutionary explanations for complex human behaviors—without considering modern societal, cultural, or economic influences—leads to oversimplified, deterministic conclusions. This diminishes the value of the course for those seeking a more nuanced, evidence-based understanding of human behavior.
While the lectures are easy to follow and may serve as a starting point for casual learners, the lack of critical depth and overuse of outdated theories make this course far from ideal for those looking for a scientifically rigorous exploration of psychology.
December 15, 2016
This was not one of the better Great Courses. Perhaps Robert Sapolsky and Robert Greenberg have raised my expectations too high but in places this was kinda painful. In particular the clinical psychology lectures were, well... Martin is not a clinical psychologist, but still. Some sensitivity to the subject would have been good. I don't expect to hear academics use words like "crazy", nor do I expect them to take the line that OBVIOUSLY we'd all be uncomfortable at the sight of a dude in a dress. He's been doing this thing for a long time and it feels like he's resentful at the way psychology has moved on in the last 20 years.
May 30, 2019
Personally, this book was really repetitive for me. I took AP psychology more than ten years ago in high school and I'm a bit surprised at how much of that course I've apparently retained because about 97% of the information in this course was not new to me. Therefore, I didn't personally enjoy this as much as others, but it's not the course's fault at all. It's a very good overview of psychology, just be forewarned that it's very basic and likely repetitive if you have any sort of background in it.
January 22, 2023
Have you ever looked at someone and considered… judging ?
David W Martin has chosen to read his lectures for those of us who could not attend personally,
and I am grateful for his generosity.
This book is thoroughly interesting, and entertainingly informative in that fascinating fly in the
spider web no escape, way.
After listening from start to finish in one sitting it is a pleasure to encourage anyone curious to enjoy listening to us as humanity in all our inexplicability.
Brilliant, thank you David W Martin, much appreciated. :-)
David W Martin has chosen to read his lectures for those of us who could not attend personally,
and I am grateful for his generosity.
This book is thoroughly interesting, and entertainingly informative in that fascinating fly in the
spider web no escape, way.
After listening from start to finish in one sitting it is a pleasure to encourage anyone curious to enjoy listening to us as humanity in all our inexplicability.
Brilliant, thank you David W Martin, much appreciated. :-)
April 17, 2022
Good read for someone who enjoys psychology. Dr.Martin goes over many different areas of psychology and it’s evolution over time. In the topics regarding social psychology and evolutionary psychology, references studies conducted by Dr. Robert Cialdini and Dr.David M. Buss respectively. As these areas of psychology are very expansive, Dr.Martin can only give such a deep dive into them. A good intro book to psychology.
April 30, 2023
Audiobook: this started real good explaining different type of psychology then half way with treatment it lost me. Maybe my knowledge is quite low and near the end I feel like he was just going around in circle and not sure what’s human behavior. Well I do get what he was trying to say but could be better
July 25, 2017
Check the table of contents.
It's an excellent book if you're looking for a history of psychology and a brief overview of psychology and human behavior. If you're looking for a more in depth look at current thinking, it may not be deep enough.
It's an excellent book if you're looking for a history of psychology and a brief overview of psychology and human behavior. If you're looking for a more in depth look at current thinking, it may not be deep enough.
August 9, 2018
I enjoyed this. It was really frustrating to listen to the same old biased tripe about "pair bonding in ancestral humans", and it made me wonder what else of the material he covered might be tragically wrong, (please read Sex at Dawn), but other than that it was informative and fun.
December 31, 2017
It was comprehensive and well put course with many things to look up after it was finished.
May 12, 2019
Extensive, thorough, and not out of reach for the common listener. Great introduction to Human Psych.
June 2, 2019
Great book - Psychology 101 for a wide public. Very useful for acquiring general ideas and vocabulary.
February 23, 2020
It is a good book. A general idea about psychology.
July 15, 2021
Good intro course. Makes you think differently with a new perspective. Might go back and look for a followup course to delve deeper into psychology
October 3, 2021
Great survey of the field.
April 6, 2022
This has great information if you want to learn the basics of psychology. It does not go deep - but gives a great overview and foundation to human psychology.
January 21, 2023
Good information and lot of depth. It would have been 5 stars if the presentation was better. Very classroom like. Contentwise, it is like a bible of introduction to all streams of psychology.
February 13, 2023
very detailed, easy, clear. some new things, but some parts are a little outdated, eg human sexualty.
April 27, 2023
I listened to this to prepare for the National Counselor Exam. It was helpful, though it is a bit outdated (this was published when the DSM-IV was used).
April 28, 2023
This course offered a quick refresher for my Class in Psychology during my under graduation.
August 21, 2023
Not bad.
July 23, 2024
A perfect overview of the study of psychology
Read
September 1, 2025DNF’d at the end of lecture 13. It’s an excellent series I just don’t read much non fiction anymore.
January 19, 2024
I really enjoyed this - Dr Martin has layed out the overview in clever easy to digest sections that flows well and makes it a joy to listen.
May 31, 2014
Well, what do you know, lectures from The Teaching Company can actually educate as well as entertain. Who would have guessed that?! OK, I'm being quip now, but there is a grain of truth in my initial statement. This is the first set of lectures from TTC that is really way outside my 'comfort zone' and I must say that it was a true learning experience.
OK, so what's this lecture set about and how good is it? It consists of 36 30 minutes long lectures, although you can discount the first and the last of them. The material covered is, as expected in these introductory setups, very wide and not especially in-depth. About half of the lectures is dedicated to clinical psychology - a bit of history followed by an overview of mental health in general, disorders, treatments, drugs and so on. Remainder of the course is dedicated to wide range of topics such as social psychology, learning processes, memory, reasoning, evolutionary psychology and finally engineering psychology.
In my opinion, when it comes to the quality of these lecture sets, a lot depends on the lecturer. Professor Martin certainly does give the impression of being an expert in his field, but what's much more important, he's also an excellent lecturer. He keeps good pace and has an engaging style. This is very important, because this set of lectures is presented in much more traditional manner than most of the history sets that I've previously listened to. Here, you really have a feeling of attending university level psychology 1.0.1 lecture sessions!
So, in summation, 'Psychology of human mind' gave me 18 hours of quite enjoyable time while teaching me a bunch of new interesting stuff. I can think of much worse ways of spending time. Highly recommended!
OK, so what's this lecture set about and how good is it? It consists of 36 30 minutes long lectures, although you can discount the first and the last of them. The material covered is, as expected in these introductory setups, very wide and not especially in-depth. About half of the lectures is dedicated to clinical psychology - a bit of history followed by an overview of mental health in general, disorders, treatments, drugs and so on. Remainder of the course is dedicated to wide range of topics such as social psychology, learning processes, memory, reasoning, evolutionary psychology and finally engineering psychology.
In my opinion, when it comes to the quality of these lecture sets, a lot depends on the lecturer. Professor Martin certainly does give the impression of being an expert in his field, but what's much more important, he's also an excellent lecturer. He keeps good pace and has an engaging style. This is very important, because this set of lectures is presented in much more traditional manner than most of the history sets that I've previously listened to. Here, you really have a feeling of attending university level psychology 1.0.1 lecture sessions!
So, in summation, 'Psychology of human mind' gave me 18 hours of quite enjoyable time while teaching me a bunch of new interesting stuff. I can think of much worse ways of spending time. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews