Self-determination theory (SDT) is an empirically based theory of motivation and psychological development that is especially focused on the basic psychological needs that promote high quality motivation and wellness, and how they are supported in social contexts. SDT details how the styles and strategies of motivators such as parents, teachers, coaches, managers, and health-care professionals can promote or undermine engagement and the positive consequences that follow from it. In this course, Professor Richard Ryan, co-founder of the theory, will provide an overview of SDT with special emphasis on how autonomy, competence, and relatedness supports and facilitates behavioral persistence, quality of relationships, and healthy developmental processes, among other topics. He will also discuss the convergence of behavioral phenomenological and neuropsychological aspects of autonomy within SDT research. In addition, he will illustrate practical applications of SDT, with emphasis on educational, work, sport, healthcare and psychotherapy settings.

This course discusses research findings in the field of positive psychology, conducted by Barbara Fredrickson and her colleagues. It also features practical applications of this science that you can put to use immediately to help you live a full and meaningful life.

What are people most afraid of? What do our dreams mean? Are we natural-born racists? What makes us happy? What are the causes and cures of mental illness? 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, persuasion, emotions, and social behavior. 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.

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.

Behavior analysis has become an increasingly important career path in  recent decades, leading to many different kinds of careers in many  different fields, for many different kinds of people. These types of  analysts work in a variety of sectors in society. If you’re looking to  become a Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst, you could be on  your way to a brighter future, full of opportunity, science, and  education. ** This course does not content the study material. This course contains 95 questions **

Ever wonder why people do what they do? This course—which includes more than $1,000 of video and reading materials—offers some answers based on the latest research from social psychology. Students taking the course for a Certificate will also receive free membership in Social Psychology Network (SocialPsychology.org). COURSE DESCRIPTION FROM PROFESSOR PLOUS: Each of us is dealt a different hand in life, but we all face similar questions when it comes to human behavior: What leads us to like one person and dislike another? How do conflicts and prejudices develop, and how can they be reduced? Can psychological research help protect the environment, and if so, how? This course offers a brief introduction to classic and contemporary social psychology, covering topics such as decision making, persuasion, group behavior, personal attraction, and factors that promote health and well-being. Our focus will be on surprising, entertaining, and intriguing research findings that are easy to apply in daily life. The course will also draw from the websites of Social Psychology Network, the world's largest online community devoted to social psychology. I hope you'll join me for this course, have fun, and learn some useful information that enriches your life.

Many innovations deployed to solve social problems never reach their full potential. Sometimes they fail because people resist changing their behavior even when they know they should do things like stop smoking, show up to a job training course, start using solar power, take a daily pill, or wash their hands. Knowledge alone won’t cause them to make the switch. There are other motivations, other drivers, and other factors about how their environments are set up that need to be accounted for and potentially redesigned. This is where social science research can inform the work of social entrepreneurs. In this course, Dan Ariely, a professor at Duke University and the author of the New York Times bestseller Predictably Irrational, will help social entrepreneurs apply insights from behavioral economics and psychology to understand how people make decisions. His research shows that when people make small adjustments to their environment or their daily routines, they can generate new use patterns and trigger better decisions that improve health, education, financial wellbeing, environmental preservation and other forms of social good. By drilling down to specific behaviors that your customers need to perform to use your product or service in the intended way, you’ll uncover new opportunities to redesign elements of the experience or motivate people to take required steps. In addition to video tutorials from Dan, you'll also gain access to 4 Behavior Change Design Guides (totaling over 90 pages) that will include step-by-step exercises to apply these principles to your product, along with examples from other social enterprises. Once you start seeing these principles in everyday life, you won’t be able to resist redesigning elements of your own life and business to help you and the people around you.

The Dalai Lama has said that Buddhism and science are deeply compatible and has encouraged Western scholars to critically examine both the meditative practice and Buddhist ideas about the human mind. A number of scientists and philosophers have taken up this challenge. There have been brain scans of meditators and philosophical examinations of Buddhist doctrines. There have even been discussions of Darwin and the Buddha: Do early Buddhist descriptions of the mind, and of the human condition, make particular sense in light of evolutionary psychology? This course will examine how Buddhism is faring under this scrutiny. Are neuroscientists starting to understand how meditation “works”? Would such an understanding validate meditation—or might physical explanations of meditation undermine the spiritual significance attributed to it? And how are some of the basic Buddhist claims about the human mind holding up? We’ll pay special attention to some highly counterintuitive doctrines: that the self doesn’t exist, and that much of perceived reality is in some sense illusory. Do these claims, radical as they sound, make a certain kind of sense in light of modern psychology? And what are the implications of all this for how we should live our lives? Can meditation make us not just happier, but better people? All the features of this course are available for free. It does not offer a certificate upon completion.

BEHAVIORAL FINANCE is a relatively new area of study. Blending together psychology and finance, this subject came about as professors and practitioners of both professions found themselves faced with an inescapable truth: PEOPLE ARE EMOTIONAL ABOUT MONEY! Not only are people emotional about money, but this emotion and the misjudgement that it causes has a huge negative affect on the average person's finances . Understanding the Psychology of Human Misjudgement, made popular by Warren Buffett's right hand man Charlie Munger, will help you to make better financial decisions, be a better investor, and help you build wealth much faster. In this course you will learn: 1. Contrast Misreaction Tendency 2. Social Proof Tendency 3. Deprival Super Reaction Tendency 4. Over Optimism Tendency 5. Pain Avoiding Tendency 6. Reciprocation Tendency 7. Influence from Association 8. Envy/Jealousy Tendency 9. Kantian Fairness Tendency 10. Curiosity Tendency 11. Inconsistency Avoidance Tendency 12. Doubt Avoidance Tendency 13. Disliking Tendency 14. Reward/Punishment Super Response Tendency 15. Stress Influence Tendency 16. Availability Misweighing Tendency 17. Use it or Lose it Tendency 18. Drug Misinfluence Tendency 19. Senesence Misinfluence Tendency 20. Authority Misinfluence Tendency 21. Twaddle Tendency 22. Reason Respecting Tendency 23. Lollapalooza Tendency Join the course and use your new understanding of Behavioral Finance to make better investing decisions and build more wealth faster than anyone that does not understand these fundamentals principles!

Everyday Parenting gives you access to a toolkit of behavior-change techniques that will make your typical day in the home easier as you develop the behaviors you would like to see in your child. The lessons provide step-by-step instructions and demonstrations to improve your course of action with both children and adolescents. Among many techniques, you will learn how even simple modifications to tone of voice and phrasing can lead to more compliance. The course will also shed light on many parenting misconceptions and ineffective strategies that are routinely used. The key to the course is practice. It is not enough to know the strategies; you have to do them to reap the rewards. Using the techniques on a temporary basis will lead to permanent change. Chances are your parenting is perfectly fine and working the way you would like. But if you have any frustrations with your child or would like improve your effectiveness in changing your child’s behavior, these videos will be a very useful guide. Subtitles available in Chinese and Spanish.