Essentials of Understanding Psychology

Students First. Essentials of Understanding Psychology is written around the philosophy that an effective textbook must be oriented to students: informing them, engaging them, exciting them about the field, and expanding their intellectual capabilities because when students understand psychology, they learn psychology. No matter what brings students into the introductory course and regardless of their initial motivation, Essentials of Understanding Psychology, Seventh Edition, draws students into the field and stimulates their thinking. This revision integrates a variety of elements that foster students' understanding of psychology and its impact on their everyday lives. It also provides instructors with a fully integrated supplements package to objectively gauge their students' mastery of psychology's key principles and concepts and to create dynamic lectures.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1: Introduction to Psychology Module 1: Psychologists at Work Module 2: A Science that Evolves: The Past, the Present, and the Future Module 3: Research in Psychology Module 4: Research Challenges: Exploring the Process Mastering the Experimental Method: The Difference between Dependent and Independent Variables 2: Neuroscience and Behavior Module 5: Neurons: The Basic Elements of Behavior Module 6: The Nervous System and the Endocrine System: Communicating Within the Body Module 7: The Brain Mastering the Action Potential 3: Sensation and Perception Module 8: Sensing the World Around Us Module 9: Vision: Shedding Light on the Eye Module 10: Hearing and Other Senses Module 11: Perceptual Organization: Constructing our View of the World Mastering the Difference between Sensation and Perception 4: States of Consciousness Module 12: Sleep and Dreams Module 13: Hypnosis and Meditation Module 14: Drug Use: The Highs and Lows of Consciousness 5: Learning Module 15: Classical Conditioning Module 16: Operant Conditioning Module 17: Cognitive-Social Approaches to Learning Mastering the Distinction between Reinforcement and Punishment 6: Memory Module 18: The Foundations of Memory Module 19: Recalling Long-Term Memories Module 20: Forgetting: When Memory Fails 7: Thinking, Language, and Intelligence Module 21: Thinking Module 22: Language Module 23: Intelligence 8: Motivation and Emotion Module 24: Explaining Motivation Module 25: Human Needs and Motivation: Eat, Drink, and Be Daring Module 26: Understanding Emotional Experiences 9: Development Module 27: Nature, Nurture, and Prenatal Development Module 28: Infancy and Childhood Module 29: Adolescence: Becoming an Adult Module 30: Adulthood 10: Personality Module 31: Psychodynamic Approaches to Personality Module 32: Trait, Learning, Biological, Evolutionary, and Humanistic Approaches to Personality Module 33: Assessing Personality: Determining What Makes Us Distinctive 11: Health Psychology: Stress, Coping, and Well-Being Module 34: Stress and Coping Module 35: Psychological Aspects of Illness and Well-Being Module 36: Promoting Health and Wellness 12: Psychological Disorders Module 37: Normal versus Abnormal: Making the Distinction Module 38: The Major Psychological Disorders Module 39: Psychological Disorders in Perspective 13: Treatment of Psychological Disorders Module 40: Psychotherapy: Psychodynamic, Behavioral, and Cognitive Approaches to Treatment Module 41: Psychotherapy: Humanistic, Interpersonal, and Group Approaches to Treatment Module 42: Biomedical Therapy: Biological Approaches to Treatment 14: Social Psychology Module 43: Attitudes and Social Cognition Module 44: Social Influence Module 45: Prejudice and Discrimination Module 46: Positive and Negative Social Behavior Mastering Attitude Change Glossary References Credits Name Index Subject Index

About the Author :
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.