Open Educational Resources and Psychology

Please note, while the resources below have been deemed to be sufficient for teaching courses aligned to the C-ID PSY 110 descriptor, they have not been compared against the Introduction to Psychology PSYC C1000 CCN Template. Please review the materials thoroughly to ensure they meet the needs of your course.

• Introduction to Psychology: Moving toward Diversity and Inclusion (McFarlane, Shi, Ramoo, and Yousef, 2024) (CC-BY-NC-SA)

  This textbook uses much of the framework from the Openstax book. “It aims to help create an engaging and inclusive learning environment. It integrates discussions on the psychological impacts of colonization, offering a richer, more comprehensive view of psychology. Expert contributions from specialists bring deep understanding and practical relevance, while plain language descriptions make complex concepts accessible. Diverse voices—including those of women, BIPOC, queer, and disabled scholars—fill critical gaps left by traditional texts. Deep Dives and case studies provide in-depth exploration and real-world application, promoting critical thinking and peer-to-peer learning.”

  

• Introductory Psychology (OpenStax) – LibreTexts (CC BY 4.0)

  Psychology 2e (Spielmen, Jenkins, and Lovett, 2020) (OpenStax) (CC BY 4.0)

  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.

  

• Discover Psychology 2.0: A Brief Introductory Text (Diener and 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 Psychology (2019) by Jorden A. Cummings & Lee Sanders (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)

  Students have the option of accessing a free digital version or purchasing a print version through Libretexts access. A glossary, slides and test bank are available after verification of instructor status.  This book is based in large part on Introduction to Psychology: 1st Canadian Edition (Stangor & Walinga) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

  

• 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. This book has good applications, but there are no chapters on sleep and consciousness, and on stress and health psychology at all.

  

• Psychological Adjustment Textbook (Forrester, Scott, Herrington, Olson, Bragg-Scott, 2021) – OER Commons (CC BY)

  A one-drive file containing text. The course includes an overview of topics including self-concept, perception, self-awareness, personality, values and communications in resolving interpersonal conflicts.
  Comment: The C-ID has not been updated since 2011. This book does not appear to have enough information about developmental and sex/gender aspects of adjustment.

  

• Fundamentals of Psychological Disorders, 3rd edition (Alexis Bridley and Lee Daffin, 2024) – Pressbooks (CC-BY-NC SA 4.0)

  Fundamentals of Psychological Disorders (formerly Abnormal Psychology) is an Open Education Resource written by Alexis Bridley, Ph.D. and Lee W. Daffin Jr., Ph.D. through Washington State University which tackles the difficult topic of mental disorders in 15 modules and is updated through the DSM-5-TR. After the first three foundational modules, a discussion of mental disorders ensues to include depressive, anxiety, personality, schizophrenic, eating, and obsessive-compulsive to name a few. Instructor resources including powerpoint slides and flashcards are available.

  

• Abnormal Psychology (Jorden Cummings, 2020) – Pressbooks (CC BY-NC-SA)

  Compilation from Bridley and Daffin, Openstax, NOBA and new information as well. In each module, there is an introduction by Cummings and a student self-assessment.  This compilation is missing some content on the C-ID, specifically about somatoform, dissociative, substance use, eating disorders, and sexuality and gender related issues.

  

• Introduction to Abnormal Psychology (Raechel Soicher, 2022) – Noba project (CC BY-NC-SA)

  Abnormal psychology Noba collection. Includes instructor resources with powerpoints and a link to request test banks. This compilation is missing some content on the C-ID, specifically about somatoform, dissociative, substance use, eating disorders, and sexuality and gender related issues.

  

• Abnormal Psychology (Lumen Learning) (Varied Licenses – terms of each page must be reviewed)

  This is a compilation of resources from Noba, Wikipedia, Psychology Today, etc. It is a collection of links to those websites. The majority of the other links are case studies that might be useful in many cases, and are offensive and outdated in others.  Disorders are listed and link to case studies in popular media, fiction and reality. This is not a textbook that can be printed.

  

• Ancillary materials for Abnormal Psychology (Sean Callahn, Elizabeth Ann Dose, Luba Ibrahim & Marla Means, 2022) – Open ALG Affordable Learning Georgia (CC BY-NC-SA)

  Ancillary materials for Abnormal Psych including PPTs, resource manual, case studies and test banks.

  

• Introduction to Human Sexuality: Spring 2023 (Goerling and Wolfe, 2022) – OpenOregon Pressbooks (CC BY-NC-SA)

  Comprehensive textbook with thirteen chapters covering the topics about sexuality in the C-ID.  Current research included.

  

The only full usable text in biological psychology (C-ID 150) is the Keys’ version of the ASCCC sponsored full textbook. The pros and cons of each of the others are noted in the descriptions following each one.

Each of the other links have good material, but none will work as a full textbook without heavy supplementing for entire topics, as well as more details within the topics included.

• Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience (OpenStax) (CC BY-NC-SA)

  The OpenStax Behavioral Neuroscience book has a heavier emphasis on biology and a deeper examination of biology, chemistry and comparative species than usually taken in a lower division biological psychology course (C-ID PSYC 150).  However, it does take a comprehensive look at all parts of a biological psychology course ranging from the basic neuronal functions, nervous system organization to sensation, homeostasis, psychological disorders, stress, cognition and attention.  This book has 19 chapters and has ancillary slides and a test bank upon logging in to the OpenStax portal.

  

• Biopsychology (ASCCC OERI, 2022 Draft) – LibreTexts (License varies)

  View each page for licensing information. Chapters by different authors on all topics generally covered in biological psychology courses. Some chapters don’t have enough information while others have maybe too much.  Instead, the following remix by Keys (Psyc 310: Biological Psychology (Keys)- LibreTexts) balances those out.

  

• Psyc 310: Biological Psychology (Keys) – LibreTexts (Licenses vary)

  A remix of the OERI’s Biopsychology

  

• Understanding Biological Behavior (First Edition) (Miguel) (Noba) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

  These are modules – not a full text. Noba is “the dream project” of Ed and Carol Diener.  It has modules written by some big names in psychology.  Students have the option of accessing free digital versions or purchasing a print version. It has not been confirmed that this resource is sufficient to serve as a stand-alone text. The topics about other psych topics like pathology and memory have a lot more general (cognitive, affective, etc) topics than a biopsych book might – the focus is not as much on the biological aspects of behavior as would be in a traditional biopsych textbook.

  

• Psychology as a Biological Science by Peter Lindberg (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0)

  This collection has a lot of overlap with the book above in terms of the same modules but there are a few differences and is certainly organized in a different fashion.  This resource is not sufficient to serve as a stand-alone text.

  

• Introduction to Biological Psychology (Hall, 2023) – Pressbooks and LibreTexts (CC BY-NC)

  The textbook is designed to be used as primary reading for undergraduate Psychology students studying core biological psychology modules. Special note: This book is not complete, it is really good and highly usable – perhaps in conjunction with noba modules

  

• Biological Psychology (Hove and Martinez, 2024) – ROTEL project (CC BY-NC-SA)

  An OER textbook that contains some basic information but does not include information regarding sleep, ingestive behaviors, sensation/perception and learning/memory. What is useful and different about this book is its emphasis on equity and each chapter has discussion questions and video links. It can be used very well in conjunction with, as a supplement to other resources or as a launching point for building a more complete resource.

  

• An Introduction to Social Psychology (Thomas Edison State University and Diana Sanchez, 2022) – Pressbooks (CC BY-NC-SA)

  “This collection of modules in this book provides an overview of research and theories in social psychology and reveals the broad spectrum of behaviors, cognitions, and emotions that are influenced by the social context. In addition, this book aims to provide a selective introduction into the main themes of social psychology such as research methods and theories related to the self-concept, social cognition, attitudes, prejudice, and social influence.” – Diana Sanchez

  

• Principles of Social Psychology – 1st International Edition (Jhangiani and Tarry, 2022) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) 

  This OER has 13 chapters and does not include separate chapters for culture, multiculturalism or gender. There is a question bank available with a notation that says “These questions are made available through a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Original questions written by Gwendolyn Seiodman (gseidman@albright.edu).” There are also slides available.

  

• Together: The Science of Social Psychology (Variety of Authors) (Noba) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

  Includes: PowerPoint Slides, Test Bank (Free registration and/or login required), and Instructor Manual (The supplementary materials are organized by module rather than by text). Noba is “the dream project” of Ed and Carol Diener. Students have the option of accessing free digital versions or purchasing a print version.

  

The first few bullet points are textbooks and courses. The following couple are instructor resources for lifespan developmental psychology

• Lifespan Development (Riser, Spielman, and Biek) (2024) – Openstax (CC-BY 4.0)

  This is a 17-chapter lifespan development text that spans the lifespan and includes two chapters on each developmental stage.  Slides and a test bank are also available on the website to registered instructors.

  

• Lifespan Development: A Psychological Perspective Fourth Edition (Lally and Valentine-French, 2022) (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

  This age-based approach textbook was written by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French and was funded by a grant from the College of Lake County Foundation and supported by the Business and Social Sciences Division. Chapter narration files (Andrea Pantoja Garvey, 2022) (CC BY-NC-SA) are available in Canvas Commons. An adaptation available on the Libretexts campus shelf focuses on equity-minded language and some research updates, particularly to chapter 2 (also chapter 1 and the adulthood chapters).

  

• Human Growth and Development (Newton, 2022) – Pressbooks (CC BY)

  Students learn the stages of the human life span: prenatal, infancy, toddlerhood, middle childhood, adolescence, adulthood, late adulthood, and death/dying. For each stage of the life span, students examine cognitive, language, emotional, social, personality, and physical development. In addition, students explore the procedures used to conduct research about human development.
  Comment: This text, based on Lifespan Psychology by Laura Overstreet, includes additional material from the Noba Project, OpenStax Psychology, and Understanding the Whole Child by Jennifer Parks, Antoinette Ricardo, and Dawn Rymond, College of the Canyons. Additional noteworthy contributions by the Lumen Learning team and Sarah Carte, Margaret Clark-Plaski, Daniel Dickma, Tera Jones, Julie Lazzara, Stephanie Loalada, John R. Mather, Sonja Ann Miller, Nancee Ott, and Jessica Traylor. Modification, adaptation, and original content authored by Julie Lazzara & Ryan Newton.

  

• Psychology through the Lifespan (Alisa Beyer and Julie Lazzara, 2020) (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

  Downloadable and viewable at the site. Age-based approach textbook for lifespan developmental psychology course, updated summer 2020.  Google slides (CC BY-NC-SA) developed by Fernando Romero are available.

  

• Lifespan Development (Lumen Learning) (Varied Licenses – terms of each page must be reviewed)

  Includes: PowerPoint Slides, Test Bank, and Instructor Manual (Free registration and/or login required for all). This appears to be a complete book (although it does not appear to have a link that will facilitate download or printing). In addition to the faculty resources (which you can request access to), there are pre-recorded lectures and study guides. Finally, there are a variety of relevant videos.

  

• Human Growth and Development Question Library (Cotter, Fisk and Grissett, 2018) – Galileo (CC BY-SA)

  This set of questions for use with quizzes and tests was created under a Round Four ALG Textbook Transformation Grant with an accompanying PowerPoint lecture set. The course uses the free and open Human Development sections of Boundless Psychology.

  

• Human Development (Callahan, Dose, Wright, Pace, Earl, and Nummerdor, 2020) – Georgia Highlands College (Varied Licenses)

  Instructor resources – discussion questions, video links. Test bank available upon request

  

• Research Methods in Psychology (Dudley, 2024) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

  Adapted by Michael G. Dudley from a work produced and distributed under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA) in 2010 by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution. Work supported by Palomar foundation.

  

• Research Methods in Psychology (Jhangiani, Chiang, Cuttler, and Leighton, 2019) – LibreTexts) (CC BY-NC-SA)

  This Libretexts version is the fourth edition and includes a glossary. This text provides an overview of research design strategies used in psychological research. It covers the basic descriptive statistics and concepts within inferential statistics that are necessary for appreciation and comprehension of research findings. The course presents the student with the fundamentals of research that all psychology majors should know. Emphasis is placed on the critical evaluation of psychological research. Lecture slides are available. Ancillaries are also available at the Columbus State University library site.

  

• Research Methods for Psychology (T. L. Brink, 2018) (CC BY-NC-SA)

  T.L. Brink is a social scientist and author of fifteen books, two dozen encyclopedia articles, and hundreds of journal articles, reviews and conference presentations. He has posted a few textbooks with resources that include PowerPoints, games, videos, and quizzes. One thing to note is that all of the resources are easily available to students.

  

• Psychology Research Methods and Statistics (Pearcey, Kirsner, Randall, Willard, Williamson, and Downtain, 2017) (CC BY 4.0)

  This is not a textbook but rather collections of modules/slides etc that were developed for stats and research methods classes at Kennesaw State University. Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

  

Discipline-based Statistics

• Elementary Statistics for Behavioral and Social Sciences (Oja, 2022) – LibreTexts (CC BY-NC-SA/CC BY-SA)

  Worksheets for each chapter are in Canvas Commons under PSYC 2200. The author, Michelle Oja, is a California Community College faculty member. The licensing for this textbook changes based on the page (sub-section). As most of the textbook was modified from Foster et al. (2021), much of the textbook is CC BY-NC-SA. Most of the other authors’ work is licensed as CC BY-SA.

  

• Introduction to Statistics in the Psychological Sciences (Cote, Gordon, Randell, Schmitt and Marvin, 2023) – Pressbooks (CC BY-NC-SA)

  This work was created as part of the University Libraries’ Open Educational Resources Initiative at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. The contents of this work have been adapted from the following Open Access Resources:

  • 1.) An Introduction to Psychological Statistics (https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/4/). Garett C. Foster, University of Missouri–St. Louis.
  • 2.) Online Statistics Education: A Multimedia Course of Study (http://onlinestatbook.com/). Project Leader: David M. Lane, Rice University.https://umsystem.pressbooks.pub/isps/

  

• Recentering Psych Statistics (Bikos, 2024) – Open Textbook Library (CC BY-NC-SA)

  Covering basic statistics to ANCOVA with a chapter on R applications. Each chapter has research vignettes to make the material more accessible. Note: One chapter with extensive information about using R.

  

• Introduction to Applied Statistics for Psychology Students by Gordon Sarty (Univ of Saskatchewan, 2022) (CC-BY-NC-SA)

  This book is a latest version of a statistics book meant specifically for psychology students.  It is embedded with SPSS examples and datasets – so it is only extremely useful if your campus has access to SPSS. There are several SPSS datasets included.

  

• Statistics Through an Equity Lens (Anthony, 2023) (CC-BY-NC-SA)

  This OER has only 7 chapters but mindfully focuses on equity issues – including the role of diversity-related issues, power and oppression of historically marginalized groups of people. The book highlights topics related to these but also does so mindful of terms generally used to describe marginalized groups of people and how that translates to perceptions and inferences. 

  

• Introduction to Statistics for Psychology (Beyer, 2021) (CC BY-NC-SA)

  This is a pretty straightforward option for statistics written by a psychology professor. The 19 chapters cover everything from descriptive statistics through chapters on ANOVA, 2-Factor ANOVA, Linear Regression and Chi-squares. A final chapter on “Doing Reproducible Research” is an interesting addition to some of the controversies that plague field.

  

Introduction to Statistics (C-ID MATH 110)

• Statistics for Social Justice Studies (Blustein, et al., ASCCC OERI) (CC BY-NC-SA)

  This workbook is primarily organized into modules that correspond with topics commonly presented in an introductory statistics class. The Table of Contents lists these modules, topics, and activities, along with the alignment to the OpenStax Statistics textbook. An alignment of the modules to several other texts is available in “For Instructors.”

  

• OpenIntro Statistics (Diez, Barr, and Cetinkaya-Rundel) (CC BY-SA)

  OpenIntro Statistics (Diez et al) – LibreTexts (CC BY-SA)

  

• Statistics Using Technology (Kozak) (CC BY-SA) – Coconino Community College website

  Statistics Using Technology (Kozak) – LibreTexts (CC BY-SA)

  

• Introductory Statistics (OpenStax) – LibreTexts (CC BY 4.0)

  Introductory Statistics (OpenStax) (CC BY 4.0)

  This text follows the scope and sequence requirements of a one-semester introduction to statistics course and is geared toward students majoring in fields other than math or engineering. The text assumes some knowledge of intermediate algebra and focuses on statistics application over theory. Introductory Statistics includes innovative practical applications that make the text relevant and accessible, as well as collaborative exercises, technology integration problems, and statistics labs.

  

• Foundations in Statistical Reasoning (Kaslik) – LibreTexts (CC BY-SA-NC)

  

Teaching Psychology and Statistics

The following sites include actual information and/or tools for teaching psychology and statistics topics:

• TeachPsychScience (TeachPsychScience)  (CC not readily available) (appears to be copyrighted per the bottom of the page) A large number of peer reviewed activities to demonstrate a variety of research methods and statistics concepts posted. “Go beyond classroom discussions of psychology to immerse your students in psychological research. Login below to access demonstrations, assign experiments to your students to participate in, and download datasets for students to analyze.”
• The Mind Project (TheMindProject) (CC not readily available) appears to be copyrighted as of 2018. Offers interactive virtual labs.
• VassarStats [1] – free online stats calculator (copyrighted but works well)
• QuickCalcs (GraphPad)  (copyrighted but works well)
• APA Online Psychology Laboratory (APA) (CC not readily available) – The APA studies. Requires APA membership online verification for use.
• APA style information with free tutorials (APA Style Team, 2020) (CC not readily available)
• Rossman/Chance Applet Collection (RossmanChance) (CC not readily available) – demos and simulations; ohhhhh the simulations. Apps are so good you can effectively use them for legit monte carlo simulations.
• Jamovi: Stats. Open. Now. (CC BY-NC) – Jamovi is a free to use statistical software. It mirrors the SPSS interface, but is more user-friendly because it gives real-time statistical output in the same window as the data. Also, Jamovi runs on R, so you can click “syntax mode” to get the R code. And it can run more rigorous analyses than the basic version of SPSS. Also, there’s a beta version that runs in a web browser so students who use tablets and phones can still run analyses (they don’t need to download it to a computer).

More Psychology Content

The following sites include open information and articles related to psychology content:

• Knowable Magazine – Scientific articles, graphics and current data about several different topics that are psychology-related.  This content is open access, but not necessarily OER (it is often licensed ND).
• OpenLab – introductory videos related to psychology.  There is information about how to join openlab and create collections but also how to create or include your own videos.
• APA monitor – open access information about current topics and research in psychology.  This is often licensed ND.
• Medscape – This website contains open copyrighted information about current up to date medical news that instructors might direct students to read or condense into their own presentations.

Teaching Tools

The following sites can help enhance open learning:

• EdPuzzle – a tool that can be used to create ancillaries. Free tool to create ancillaries around videos.  Requires free sign up.
• Hypothesis – a social annotation tool to encourage reading online in groups. Integrates with canvas and canvas gradebook easily.  Information can be found at the linked website. However, to make assignments inside canvas, the Hypothesis team is very helpful, responsive and there are regular webinars to discuss and use this tool.
• Playlab – Leveraging AI to create and use ancillaries and/or other teaching with a focus on equity.  The site helps learn, create and share tools related to teaching.

• Noba (NobaProject) (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Noba offers “Comprehensive content from ADHD to Z.” The Noba catalog covers the traditional scope of introductory psychology and then some. With 103 modules (and counting) we’re confident you’ll find what you’re looking for. Noba is a free online platform that provides high-quality, flexibly structured textbooks and educational materials. These textbooks and materials are licensed under the Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International License. Users may reuse, redistribute, and remix the content to suit their needs.
• Open BC Campus (list page is CC-BY) Fourteen textbooks with links to supplementary materials (where available). On the homepage of BC Campus they say “we’re using open technologies to facilitate, evaluate, and create open educational resources to share across the province and around the world; saving millions of student-dollars through hundreds of open textbooks adopted in thousands of classrooms.” This is a database that can be searched for psychology (social sciences) books. But it would be good to also look for books about neurology in the biology as well as books about statistics in those respective sections.
• University of Minnesota Center for Open Education (list page is CC-BY) Another repository of texts ranging from links to some of the books above as well as upper division course texts on learning, industrial psychology, and education.