Table of Contents

Part 1. The evolution of psychology. From Speculation to Science: How Psychology Developed. Psychology Today: Vigorous and Diversified. Putting It in Perspective: Seven Key Themes. Application: Improving Academic Performance. Part 2 The research enterprise in psychology. Looking for Laws: The Scientific Approach to Behaviour. Looking for Causes: Experimental Research. Looking for Links: Descriptive/Correlational Research. Looking for Conclusions Statistics and Research. Looking for Flaws: Evaluating Research. Looking at Ethics: Do the Ends Justify the Means? Putting It in Perspective. Application: Finding and Reading Journal Articles. Part 3. The biological bases of behaviour. Communication in the Nervous System. Organization of the Nervous System. Looking Inside the Brain: Research Methods. The Brain and Behaviour. Right Brain/Left Brain: Cerebral Laterality. The Endocrine System: Another Way to Communicate. Heredity and Behaviour: Is It All in the Genes? Putting It in Perspective. Application: Thinking Critically About the Concept of "Two Minds in One." Part 4 Sensation and perception. Psychophysics: Basic Concepts and Issues. Our Sense of Sight: The Visual System. Our Sense of Hearing: The Auditory System. Our Chemical Senses: Taste and Smell. Our Sense of Touch. Our Other Senses. Putting It in Perspective. Application: Thinking About Art and Illusion. Part 5. Variations in consciousness. On the Nature of Consciousness. Biological Rhythms and Sleep. The Sleep and Waking Cycle. The World of Dreams. Hypnosis: Altered Consciousness or Role Playing? Meditation: Pure Consciousness or Relaxation? Altering Consciousness with Drugs. Putting It in Perspective. Application: Addressing Practical Questions About Sleep and Dreams. Part 6. Learning through conditioning. Classical Conditioning. Operant Conditioning. New Directions in the Study of Conditioning. Observational Learning. Putting It in Perspective. Application: Achieving Self-Control Through Behaviour Modification. Part 7 Human memory. Encoding: Getting Information into Memory. Storage: Maintaining Information in Memory. Retrieval: Getting Information Out of Memory. Forgetting: When Memory Lapses. In Search of the Memory Trace: The Physiology of Memory. Are There Multiple Memory Systems? Putting It in Perspective. Application: Improving Everyday Memory. Part 8 Language and thought. The Cognitive Revolution in Psychology. Language: Turning Thoughts Into Words. Problem Solving: In Search of Solutions. Decision Making: Choices and Chances. Putting It in Perspective. Application: Understanding Pitfalls in Reasoning About Decisions. (Part contents).

Reviews

"In describing it to a colleague, I would emphasize the quality of the writing (how readable it is), the quality of the graphics (how clear and consistent they are), and the balance between research and application (how it appeals to both majors and non-majors)."

"Since the first edition, I have thought that Weiten set a standard for introductory psychology, and [the new edition] makes me feel the same way."

"The unifying themes provide a nice connection from chapter to chapter and also promote questions from the students about other disciplines from across the campus. These themes really put forth the notion that the disciplines across the college are not isolated, but interrelated."

"There is an enthusiasm in Weiten's writing. This is at the heart of good teaching, and it is essential if we are going to encourage good students to pursue psychology further."

It seems that almost every page included a new, recent reference. The author must have spent the last couple of years doing nothing but reading the journals. Terrific!