Psychology For Dummies, 3rd Edition

Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Introduction
	About This Book
	Foolish Assumptions
	Icons Used in This Book
	Beyond the Book
	Where to Go from Here
Part 1 Getting Started with Psychology
	Chapter 1 The Purpose of Psychology
		Whys, Whats, and Hows of People
			A useful metaphor: Building a person
			Why?
			What?
			How?
		Troubleshooting
		Putting It All Back Together Again
	Chapter 2 Thinking and Behaving as a Psychologist
		The Core Activities of a Psychologist
			Experimental and research psychologists
			Applied psychologists
			Teachers/educators/professors
			Theoretical and philosophical psychologists
		How Do I Become a Psychologist?
		Getting Started with Metatheory and Frameworks
			Biological
			Behaviorism
			Cognitive
			Sociocultural
			Developmental
			Evolutionary
			Humanistic and existential
			Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
			Feminism
			Postmodernism
		A Unifying Model? Working with the Biopsychosocial Model
			Feeling out the role of the body
			Thinking about the role of the mind
			Observing the role of the outside world
			Developing a good theory
		Seeking Truth
			Applying the scientific method
		Researching Matters
			Understanding descriptive research
			Doing experimental research
			Measuring one, measuring all with statistics
			Relating variables: Correlation versus causation
		Being “Good”: Ethics in Psychology
Part 2 Picking Your Brain (and Body)
	Chapter 3 Brains, Genes, and Behavior
		Believing in Biology
		The Biological “Control Room”
		Cells and Chemicals
			Networking and crossing the divide
			Branching out
			Activating brain change
		The Organization of the Brain
			Forebrain
			Midbrain
			Hindbrain
			Tiptoeing back and forth from the periphery
		Finding Destiny with DNA
		Understanding Psychopharmacology
			Easing depression
			Shushing the voices
			Relaxing
	Chapter 4 From Sensation to Perception
		Building Blocks: Our Senses
			The sensing process
			Seeing
			Hearing
			Touching and feeling pain
			Smelling and tasting
			Balancing and moving
		Finishing the Product: Perception
		Organizing by Principles
	Chapter 5 Exploring Consciousness
		Carving Awareness and Being at Its Joints
			Consciousness as an ability, skill, or process of the mind (and the brain)
			Consciousness as a state or type of awareness
			Catching some zzzzs
			Understanding tired brains, slipping minds
		Arriving at Work Naked: Dreams
		Altering Your Consciousness
			Getting high on conscious life
			Being conscious of my mind (meditative states)
			Falling into hypnosis
Part 3 Thinking and Feeling and Acting
	Chapter 6 Thinking and Speaking
		What’s on Your Mind?
		Thinking like a PC
			Turing’s challenge
			Computing
			Representing
			Processing
		Modules, Parts, and Processes
			The attention process
			The memory process
			The knowing process
			The reasoning process
			The decision-making/choosing process
			The problem-solving process
		It’s All about Connections
		Bodies and Minds
		Thinking You’re Pretty Smart
			Considering the factors of intelligence
			Getting a closer look
			Adding in street smarts
			Excelling with multiple intelligences
			Making the grade — on a curve
		Figuring Out Language
			Babel-On
			Rules, syntax, and meaning
	Chapter 7 Needing, Wanting, Feeling
		What’s My Motivation?
			Would you like some adrenaline with that bear?
			Feeling needy
			Knowing who’s the boss
			Arousing interest in prime rib
			Getting cheaper long distance is rewarding
			Facing your opponent-process theory
			Believing in yourself
			Pleasure and pain
			Escaping psychological pain
		Launching Countless Bad Poems: Emotions
			Watch out for that sabertooth!
			Your brain on emotion
			Which comes first, the body or the mind?
			Expressing yourself
			Acknowledging anger
			Being happy
			Discovering your smart heart: Emotional intelligence and styles
		Being in Control
	Chapter 8 Barking up the Learning Tree: Dogs, Cats, and Rats
		Learning to Behave
		Drooling like Pavlov’s Dogs
			Conditioning responses and stimuli
			Becoming extinct
			Classic generalizing and discriminating
			Conditioning rules!
			Battling theories: Why does conditioning work?
		Studying Thorndike’s Cats
		Reinforcing the Rat Case
			Finding the right reinforcer
			Using punishment
			Scheduling and timing reinforcement
		Stimulus Control and Operant Generalization
		Operant Discrimination
Part 4 Me, You, and Everything in Between
	Chapter 9 Myself and I
		Getting to the Magic Number 5
		They Made Me This Way
		Representing Ourselves
			Schemas
			Scripts
		It Depends on the Situation
		Feeling Self-Conscious
			Becoming aware of your body
			Keeping it private
			Showing it off
		Identifying Yourself
			Forging a personal identity
			Carving out a social identity
			Mustering up some self-esteem
	Chapter 10 Connecting
		Getting Attached
			Realizing even monkeys get the blues
			Attaching with style
		Cavorting with Family and Friends
			Parenting with panache
			Embracing your rival: Siblings
			Getting chummy: Bridge building
		Attraction, Romance, and Love
			How we choose the ones we love
			Love’s expanse
		Connecting to Thoughts and Action
			Explaining others with person perception
			Minding “you” with theory of mind
			Dancing with others: Embodied social cognition theories
		Communication Skills
			Asking questions
			Explaining
			Listening
			Asserting yourself
	Chapter 11 Getting Along . . . or Not
		Playing Your Part
		Ganging Up in a Group
			Conforming
			Doing better with help
			Kicking back
			Remaining anonymous
			Thinking as one
		Persuading
			Credibility of communicator
			Delivery approach
			Audience engagement
			Age of audience
		Being Mean
			Acting naturally
			Being frustrated
			Doing what’s learned
		Lending a Helping Hand
			Why help?
			When to help?
			Who gives and receives help?
		Birds of a Feather . . . or Not
			Examining isms
			Understanding discrimination
			Making contact
	Chapter 12 Growing Up with Psychology
		Beginning with Conception and Birth
			Xs and Ys get together . . .
			Uniting and dividing all in one night
		Going from Diapers to Drool
			Survival instincts
			Motoring about
			Flexing their muscles
			Scheduling time for schemata
			Getting your sensorimotor running
			Learning within the lines
			Saying what you think
			Blooming social butterflies
		Getting on the Big Yellow Bus
			Mastering the crayon
			Being preoperational doesn’t mean you’re having surgery
			In the zone
			Becoming even more social
		Agonizing over Adolescence
			Pining over puberty
			Moving away from parents
		Existing as a Grown-Up
			Looking at you
			Connecting and working
		Aging and Geropsychology
	Chapter 13 Psychology in the Digital Age
		Love and Robots
			Talk to the box
			Me and my friends
			That perfect someone
			Digitized (d)evolution
		The Dark Side of the Digital World
			Say that to my face
			Hooked on the Internet
			Bullying moves from the schoolyard to the desktop
		Can Technology Make Us Better at Being Human?
Part 5 Adapting and Struggling
	Chapter 14 Coping When Life Gets Rough
		Stressing Out
			Ways to think about stress
			The causes of stress
			The impact of stress
			Crisis: Accumulated or overwhelming stress
			Posttraumatic stress disorder
			The stress of loss
		Coping Is No Gamble
			Learning how to cope
			Finding resources
	Chapter 15 Modern Abnormal Psychology
		What Is” Abnormal” Anyway?
			Who decides what’s normal?
			Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Model
		Defining Mental Disorders
		Psychotic Disorders: Grasping for Reality
			Schizophrenia
			Other types of psychoses
		Feeling Funky: Depression
			Staying in the rut of major depression
			Depression’s causes
			Treating depression
		Bipolar Disorder: Riding the Waves
			Bipolar disorder’s causes
			Treating bipolar disorder
		Panic Disorders
			Panic disorder’s causes
			Treating panic disorder
		Mental Disorders in Young People
			Dealing with ADHD
			Autism: Living in a world of one’s own
		Let’s Talk about Stigma
Part 6 Repairing, Healing, and Thriving
	Chapter 16 Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation
		Answering the Call
			What kinds of tests and instruments are there?
			What kind of evaluations do psychologists do?
		The Interview and Evaluation Process
			Interviewing and observing
			History taking
		Checking under the Hood with Psychological Testing
			Standardization
			Reliability
			Validity
		More Detail on Testing Types
			Clinical testing
			Educational/achievement testing
			Personality testing
			Intelligence testing
			Neuropsychological and cognitive testing
		Keeping Them Honest
	Chapter 17 We Can Help!
		Is It Time for Professional Help?
			Types of help
		The Crown Jewel of Therapy: Psychotherapy
			Good ethics is good therapy
			The common factors model
		Major Schools of Therapy
			Psychodynamic therapies
			Behavior therapy
			Exposure-based therapies
			Cognitive therapy
			Playing together nicely: Behavior and cognitive therapies
			Acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies
			Dialectical behavior therapy
			Client-centered therapy
			Emotion-focused therapy
		Empirically Supported Treatments for Specific Problems
			ESTs for depression
			ESTs for anxiety and trauma
			ESTs for disorders in children
	Chapter 18 Be Positive! Fostering Wellness, Growth, and Strength
		Going beyond Stress: The Psychology of Health
			Preventing illness
			Making changes
			Intervening
		Harnessing the Power of Positivity
		Stepping Up!
			High-performance skills
			Choking versus being clutch
		Acquiring the Bionic Brain
			Doing smart drugs
			Hitting the limits of the skull
Part 7 The Part of Tens
	Chapter 19 Ten Tips for Maintaining Psychological Well-Being
		Accept Yourself
		Strive for Self-Determination
		Stay Connected and Nurture Relationships
		Lend a Helping Hand
		Find Meaning and Purpose and Work toward Goals
		Find Hope and Maintain Faith
		Find Flow and Be Engaged
		Enjoy the Beautiful Things in Life
		Struggle to Overcome; Learn to Let Go
		Don’t Be Afraid to Change
	Chapter 20 Ten Great Psychological Movies and Shows
		One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
		A Clockwork Orange
		Ordinary People
		Girl, Interrupted
		The Silence of the Lambs
		Sybil
		The Matrix
		Black Mirror
		True Detective (Seasons 1 and Season 3)
		Psycho
Index
EULA