Understanding Psychology

Bob Feldman still remembers those moments of being overwhelmed when he started college at Wesleyan University. I wondered whether I was up to the challenges that faced me, he recalls, andalthough I never would have admitted it at the timeI really had no idea what it took to be successful at college. That experience, along with his encounters with many students during his own teaching career, led to a life-long interest in helping students navigate the critical transition that they face at the start of their own college careers. Professor Feldman, who went on to receive a doctorate in psychology from the University of WisconsinMadison, is now Deputy Chancellor and Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He is founding director of POWER Up for Student Success, the first-year experience course for incoming students. Professor Feldmans proudest professional accomplishment is winning the College Outstanding Teaching Award at UMass. He also has been named a Hewlett Teaching Fellow and was Senior Online Instruction Fellow. He has taught courses at Mount Holyoke College, Wesleyan University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. Professor Feldman is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the Association for Psychological Science, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a winner of a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar and Lecturer award and has written over 200 scientific articles, book chapters, and books. His books, some of which have been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch, Japanese, and Chinese, include Improving the First Year of College: Research and Practice; Understanding Psychology, 12/e; and Development Across the Life Span, 7/e. His research interests encompass the study of honesty and truthfulness in everyday life, development of nonverbal behavior in children, and the social psychology of education. His research has been supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Disabilities and Rehabilitation Research. With the last of his three children completing college, Professor Feldman occupies his spare time with pretty decent cooking and earnest, but admittedly unpolished, piano playing. He also loves to travel. He lives with his wife, who is an educational psychologist, in a home overlooking the Holyoke mountain range in western Massachusetts.

CHAPTER 1 Introduction to Psychology MODULE 1 Psychologists at Work MODULE 2 A Science Evolves: The Past, the Present, and the Future MODULE 3 Psychology’s Key Issues and Controversies CHAPTER 2 Psychological Research MODULE 4 The Scientific MethodMODULE 5 Conducting Psychological Research MODULE 6 Critical Research Issues CHAPTER 3 Neuroscience and Behavior MODULE 7 Neurons: The Basic Elements of Behavior MODULE 8 The Nervous System and the Endocrine System: Communicating Within the Body MODULE 9 The Brain CHAPTER 4 Sensation and Perception MODULE 10 Sensing the World Around Us MODULE 11 Vision: Shedding Light on the Eye MODULE 12 Hearing and the Other Senses MODULE 13 Perceptual Organization: Constructing Our View of the World CHAPTER 5 States of Consciousness MODULE 14 Sleep and Dreams MODULE 15 Hypnosis and Meditation MODULE 16 Drug Use: The Highs and Lows of Consciousness CHAPTER 6 Learning MODULE 17 Classical Conditioning MODULE 18 Operant Conditioning MODULE 19 Cognitive Approaches to Learning CHAPTER 7 Memory MODULE 20 The Foundations of Memory MODULE 21 Recalling Long-Term Memories MODULE 22 Forgetting: When Memory Fails CHAPTER 8 Cognition and Language MODULE 23 Thinking and Reasoning MODULE 24 Problem Solving MODULE 25 Language CHAPTER 9 Intelligence MODULE 26 What Is Intelligence? MODULE 27 Variations in Intellectual Ability MODULE 28 Group Differences in Intelligence: Genetic and Environmental Determinants CHAPTER 10 Motivation and Emotion MODULE 29 Explaining Motivation MODULE 30 Human Needs and Motivation: Eat, Drink, and Be Daring MODULE 31 Understanding Emotional Experiences CHAPTER 11 Sexuality and Gender MODULE 32 Gender and Sex MODULE 33 Understanding Human Sexual Response: The Facts of Life MODULE 34 The Diversity of Sexual Behavior CHAPTER 12 Development MODULE 35 Nature and Nurture: The Enduring Developmental Issue/ MODULE 36 Prenatal Development: Conception to Birth MODULE 37 Infancy and Childhood MODULE 38 Adolescence: Becoming an Adult MODULE 39 Adulthood CHAPTER 13 Personality MODULE 40 Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality MODULE 41 Trait, Learning, Biological, Evolutionary, and Humanistic Approaches to Personality MODULE 42 Assessing Personality: Determining What Makes Us Distinctive CHAPTER 14 Health Psychology: Stress, Coping, and Well-Being MODULE 43 Stress and Coping MODULE 44 Psychological Aspects of Illness and Well-Being MODULE 45 Promoting Health and Wellness CHAPTER 15 Psychological Disorders MODULE 46 Normal Versus Abnormal: Making the Distinction MODULE 47 The Major Psychological Disorders MODULE 48 Psychological Disorders in Perspective CHAPTER 16 Treatment of Psychological Disorders MODULE 49 Psychotherapy: Psychodynamic, Behavioral, and Cognitive Approaches to Treatment MODULE 50 Psychotherapy: Humanistic, Interpersonal, and Group Approaches to Treatment MODULE 51 Biomedical Therapy: Biological Approaches to Treatment CHAPTER 17 Social Psychology MODULE 52 Attitudes and Social Cognition MODULE 53 Social Influence MODULE 54 Prejudice and Discrimination MODULE 55 Positive and Negative Social Behavior APPENDIX Going by the Numbers: Statistics in Psychology A-1 MODULE 56 Descriptive Statistics A-3 MODULE 57 Measures of Variability A-7 MODULE 58 Using Statistics to Answer Questions: Inferential Statistics and Correlation A-11 Glossary G-1 References R-1 Credits C-1 Name Index I-1 Subject Index I-15