What is psychology?

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 3
Copyright......Page 4
Contents......Page 8
1 What Is Psychology?......Page 41
September 11th: Illustrating the diversity and complexity of psychology......Page 42
“Psychology Is Just About Giving People Advice”......Page 43
“Psychology Isn’t Really Science, It’s Just Common Sense”......Page 44
Psychologists Won’t Always Agree on Why People Behave as They Do......Page 45
Psychology Will Teach You About Critical Thinking......Page 47
Early Approaches: Structuralism, Functionalism, and Psychoanalysis......Page 48
Behaviorism: A True Science of Psychology......Page 51
Beyond Behaviorism: Humanism and Cognitive Psychology......Page 52
Modern Perspectives and the Eclectic Approach......Page 53
Training to Be a Psychologist......Page 57
Major Subfields of Psychology......Page 58
Doing Therapy: Clinical and Counseling Psychologists......Page 61
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Gender, Ethnicity, and the Field of Psychology......Page 62
The Goals of Psychology......Page 63
The Scientific Method......Page 64
Hypotheses......Page 66
Research Methods......Page 67
Ethical Guidelines for Participants......Page 75
Ethical Guidelines for Animal Research......Page 77
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 79
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 82
2 How Does Biology Influence Our Behavior?......Page 85
Jean-Dominque Bauby’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: The story of a man trapped in his own body......Page 86
The Endocrine System......Page 87
Billions of Neurons: Communication in the Brain......Page 89
The Anatomy of the Neuron......Page 90
Signals in the Brain: How Neurons Fire Up......Page 92
Jumping the Synapse: Synaptic Transmission......Page 94
Cleaning Up the Synapse: Reuptake......Page 98
Parkinson’s Disease and Schizophrenia: Dopamine......Page 99
Inhibiting and Exciting the Brain: GABA and Glutamate......Page 100
Pain in the Brain: Endorphins and Substance P......Page 101
Reaching Out: The Somatic Nervous System......Page 103
Involuntary Actions: The Autonomic Nervous System......Page 104
The Brain and Spine:The Central Nervous System......Page 106
The Hindbrain......Page 107
The Forebrain......Page 108
The Cortex......Page 112
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Male–Female Differences in the Brain......Page 115
The Specialization of Function in the Lobes of the Cortex......Page 117
CAT Scans: Computer Imaging of the Brain......Page 120
PET Scans and SPECT Scans: The Brain in Action......Page 121
Functional MRI (fMRI): More Detail, No Isotopes......Page 122
Brain Lesions......Page 123
Recording Individual Brain Cell Activity......Page 124
The Endocrine System: Hormones and Behavior......Page 125
Becoming Who We Are:The Influence of Genetics on Biology......Page 127
Twin Studies......Page 128
Genetic Blueprint for Traits......Page 129
The Evolution of Species: Natural Selection......Page 130
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 132
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 136
3 How Do We Sense and Perceive Our World?......Page 139
Richard Cytowic’s The Man Who Tasted Shapes: Do you like your chicken “pointy”?......Page 140
Absolute Thresholds......Page 142
Signal Detection Theory......Page 143
Just Noticeable Difference......Page 144
Processing Without Awareness: Subliminal Stimulation of the Senses......Page 145
How Vision Works: Light Waves and Energy......Page 147
The Anatomy of the Outer Eye......Page 149
The Retina: Light Energy to Neural Messages......Page 150
Adapting to Light and Darkness......Page 155
How We See Color......Page 156
The Visual Pathways of the Brain......Page 159
How Hearing Works: Vibrating Sound Waves......Page 161
The Anatomy and Function of the Ear......Page 163
The Auditory Pathways of the Brain......Page 166
Taste: Information From the Tongue......Page 168
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » What We Eat and What We Taste......Page 172
Smell: Aromas, Odors, and a Warning System......Page 173
Touch: The Skin Sense......Page 175
The Body Senses: Experiencing the Physical Body in Space......Page 176
Using What We Know: Top-Down Perceptual Processing......Page 178
Building a Perception “From Scratch”: Bottom-up Perceptual Processing......Page 179
Understanding What We Sense: Perceiving Size, Shape, and Brightness......Page 180
Depth Perception: Sensing Our 3-D World With 2-D Eyes......Page 181
Perceiving Form: The Gestalt Approach......Page 182
Perceiving Form: Feature Detection Theory......Page 185
Errors Due to Perceptual Constancy: Tricks of the Brain......Page 187
Cultural Factors in Perception......Page 189
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 190
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 194
4 Consciousness:Wide Awake, in a Daze, or Dreaming?......Page 197
Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It: One man’s experience with altered states......Page 198
Functions of Sleep: Why Do We Sleep, and What if We Don’t?......Page 199
How Much Sleep Do We Need?......Page 201
Circadian Rhythm and the Biological Clock......Page 203
Stages of Sleep: What Research Tells Us......Page 205
A Typical Night’s Sleep......Page 207
Dreaming: The Night’s Work......Page 208
Sleep Disorders: Tossing and Turning—and More......Page 209
Gender Differences in Sleep......Page 212
The Hypnosis Experience......Page 213
Explaining Hypnosis: Is It an Altered State?......Page 214
What Hypnosis Can and Cannot Do......Page 215
Psychoactive Drugs......Page 217
How Drugs Work: Biology, Expectations, and Culture......Page 219
Alcohol and Other Depressants......Page 220
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Alcohol and Ethnicity in the United States......Page 224
Stimulants: Legal and Otherwise......Page 226
Hallucinogens: Distorting Reality......Page 230
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 234
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 238
5 How Do We Learn?......Page 241
Michael Apted’s 42 Up: A British film maker tracks a group of children as they learn about life from age 7 to age 42......Page 242
Defining Learning: In and Beyond the Classroom......Page 243
Orienting and Habituation: Learning to Ignore......Page 245
Habituation as an Adaptive Asset......Page 246
Dishabituation......Page 247
Practical Applications of Habituation......Page 248
The Elements of Classical Conditioning......Page 249
Factors Affecting Classical Conditioning......Page 251
Real-World Classical Conditioning: What Responses Can Be Classically Conditioned in Humans?......Page 253
Extinction of Classically Conditioned Responses......Page 258
E. L. Thorndike’s Law of Effect......Page 260
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » A Japanese View of Reinforcement......Page 263
B.F. Skinner and Operant Responses......Page 265
Acquisition and Extinction......Page 267
Schedules of Reinforcement......Page 268
Discrimination and Generalization......Page 271
Shaping New Behaviors......Page 272
Decisions That Must Be Made When Using Operant Conditioning......Page 273
The Role of Cognition in Learning......Page 277
Social Learning or Modeling......Page 279
Albert Bandura and the Bobo Doll Experiments......Page 280
Social Learning Theory and Cognition......Page 281
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 283
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 288
6 How Does Memory Function?......Page 291
A story of mistaken identity: Mellissa Gammill’s nightmare......Page 292
Explicit Memory......Page 293
Implicit Memory and the Carrot Trick......Page 294
The Traditional Three Stages Model of Memory......Page 295
Sensory Memory: Where It All Begins......Page 296
Short-term Memory: Where Memories Are Made (and Lost)......Page 300
Does Short-term Memory Really Exist?......Page 303
The Working Memory View: Masters and Slaves......Page 305
Long-Term Memory: Permanent Storage......Page 308
The Capacity of Long-Term Memory......Page 309
Organization in Long-Term Memory......Page 310
Types of Long-Term Memory......Page 311
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Gender and Autobiographical Memory......Page 312
Recognition and Recall......Page 316
When Retrieval Fails: Forgetting......Page 317
Is Memory Accurate?......Page 320
Memory Is Not a Videotape......Page 321
Eyewitness Memory......Page 322
Do Not Cram for Exams......Page 324
Mnemonics Make Your Memory Mighty......Page 325
The SQ3R Method......Page 326
Mapping Memory in the Brain......Page 327
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 330
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 334
7 Cognition, Language, and Intelligence: How Do We Think?......Page 337
Susan Schaller’s A Man Without Words: The story of Ildefonso, a deaf man who didn’t know that language existed......Page 338
Visual Images: How Good Is the Mental Picture?......Page 340
Concepts: How We Organize What We Know......Page 343
Well-structured Problems: The Answer Is Out There......Page 346
Algorithms and Heuristics: The Long and Short of Problem Solving......Page 347
Ill-Structured Problems: The Answer May Be Out There......Page 348
Creativity: Overcoming Obstacles to Problem Solving......Page 349
Deductive and Inductive Reasoning......Page 351
Decision-Making: Outcomes and Probabilities......Page 352
Judgments: Estimating the Likelihood of Events......Page 353
How Humans Acquire Language......Page 355
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » The Spontaneous Development of a Language in Nicaragua......Page 356
The Function of Language in Culture and Perception......Page 358
Language in Other Species: Are We the Only Speakers?......Page 360
Measuring Intelligence by Abilities and IQs......Page 364
The Nature of Intelligence: The Search Continues......Page 369
So, What Is Intelligence After All?......Page 372
Nature, Nurture, and IQ: Are We Born Intelligent or Do We Learn to Be?......Page 373
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 376
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 380
8 Motivation and Emotion:What Guides Behavior?......Page 383
Marya Hornbacher’s Wasted: One woman’s life-long struggle with eating disorders......Page 384
Motivation as an Instinct......Page 386
Motivation as a Drive......Page 387
Arousal Theories of Motivation......Page 389
Incentive Theories of Motivation......Page 391
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs......Page 393
Hunger and Thirst:What Makes Us Eat and Drink?......Page 395
Hunger and Feedback in the Body......Page 396
What Causes Obesity: Nature and Nurture, Again......Page 400
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Obesity in White and Black American Adolescent Females......Page 404
Eating Disorders: Bulimia Nervosa and Anorexia Nervosa......Page 405
Thirst......Page 408
The Puzzle of Destructive Motivation......Page 409
Why Do Some People Abuse Drugs?......Page 410
Other Destructive Behaviors......Page 412
The James-Lange Theory of Emotion......Page 413
The Schacter-Singer Two-Factor Theory of Emotion......Page 416
Lazarus’s Cognitive-Mediational Theory of Emotion......Page 417
Communicating Emotions: Culture, Gender, and Facial Expressions......Page 418
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 420
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 424
9 How Do Children Grow, Change, and Develop?......Page 427
Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes: A child develops in poverty.......Page 429
The Nature-Nurture Issue: Biology and Culture......Page 430
Developmental Research Designs: Isolating Nature, Nurture, and Changes Over Time......Page 431
Germinal Stage......Page 435
Fetal Stage......Page 436
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » The Emotional Effects of Miscarriage on Women and Men......Page 437
The Importance of a Positive Prenatal Environment......Page 438
Brain Development......Page 440
Reflexes and Motor Development......Page 441
Perceptual Development......Page 443
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development......Page 445
Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development: Culture and Thinking......Page 450
Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning......Page 452
Gilligan’s Theory: Gender and Moral Reasoning......Page 454
Gender and Gender-Role Development......Page 455
Parenting Styles and Attachment......Page 458
Temperament: Biology’s Influence on Personality......Page 464
Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development: Culture’s Influence on Personality......Page 465
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 467
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 472
10 How Do Adolescents and Adults Change and Develop?......Page 475
Helie Lee’s Still Life with Rice: One woman’s passage through adolescence and adulthood......Page 476
Puberty: Big Changes, Rapid Growth......Page 478
Brain Changes in Adolescence and Adulthood......Page 480
Physical Changes from Early to Later Adulthood......Page 482
Cognitive Changes in Adolescence and Adulthood......Page 484
Changes in How We Reason......Page 485
How Our Memory Changes Over Time......Page 488
Changes in Our Mental Abilities......Page 489
Wisdom: Life Expertise......Page 490
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Adolescence and Adulthood......Page 492
Levinson’s Seasons of Adulthood......Page 496
Dating and Singlehood......Page 498
Cohabitation......Page 500
Marriage......Page 501
Parenting......Page 502
Grandparenting......Page 505
Career Choices in Adolescence and Young Adulthood......Page 507
Career Development Through the Adult Years......Page 508
Job Satisfaction: If You Enjoy It, Is It Work?......Page 510
Death and Dying......Page 511
Reactions to Death: Kubler-Ross’s Stages......Page 512
Bereavement and Grief: How We Respond to Death......Page 513
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 515
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 518
11 How Do Gender and Sexuality Impact Our Behavior?......Page 521
Jeffrey Elliot’s (Editor) Conversations with Maya Angelou: How gender and sexuality impacted her life......Page 522
Sexual Differentiation: How Do We Develop Our Sexual Anatomy?......Page 524
Gender Identity: The Infl
uence of Nature and Nurture......Page 526
Gender Differences: Do Males and Females Think and Act Differently?......Page 527
Masturbation and Sexual Fantasy......Page 531
Sex With Others......Page 532
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Sexuality Across the Lifespan......Page 534
Sexual Orientation and Sexual Behavior......Page 536
Attitudes Toward Gay Males and Lesbians: Differing Views Across the World......Page 537
What Causes One’s Sexual Orientation? The Infl
uence of Biology and the Environment......Page 538
Sexual Desire: A Mixture of Chemicals, Thoughts, and Culture......Page 539
The Sexual Response Cycle......Page 541
Sexual Dysfunctions: Problems in Sexual Desire or Response......Page 543
Paraphilias: Sexually Aroused by an Object or Situation......Page 546
Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome Comments, Gestures, or Contact......Page 548
Child Molestation and Sexual Abuse: Short-and Long-Term Effects......Page 549
Rape: Forcing Sex on Someone......Page 550
Prevalence of STIs: Will I Get an STI?......Page 553
Types of STIs: Bacterial, Viral, and Parasitic......Page 554
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 557
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 560
12 How Do We Understand and Relate to Others?......Page 563
Luis J. Rodriguez’s Always Running: One man’s life in L.A. Street Gangs......Page 564
Operant Conditioning of Attitudes......Page 566
The Link Between Attitudes and Behavior......Page 567
Cognitive Consistency and Attitude Change......Page 569
Persuasion and Attitude Change......Page 570
Heuristics and Biases in Attribution......Page 574
Prejudice and Stereotypes......Page 577
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Stereotype Threat: How Prejudice Affects Female Performance......Page 578
Social Transmission of Prejudice......Page 579
Intergroup Dynamics and Prejudice......Page 580
Does Social Contact Reduce Prejudice?......Page 582
Similarity......Page 585
Physical Attractiveness......Page 586
Social Forces Within Groups: Norms and Cohesiveness......Page 589
Conformity Within a Group......Page 590
Decision Making in Groups......Page 593
Compliance Techniques......Page 595
Obedience......Page 597
Factors That Affect Obedience......Page 599
Biological Theories of Aggression: The Role of Sex-Hormones, Neurotransmitters, and Brain Damage......Page 602
Learning Theories of Aggression......Page 603
Situations That Promote Aggressive Behavior......Page 604
The Murder of Kitty Genovese......Page 605
The Bystander Effect......Page 606
When People Choose To Help......Page 608
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 610
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 614
13 Health, Stress, and Coping: How CanYou Create a Healthy Life?......Page 617
Edward T. Pastorino: If you have your health, you have everything......Page 618
Stress and Stressors......Page 619
Life Events: Change Is Stressful......Page 620
Catastrophes: Natural Disasters and War......Page 622
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » The Stress of Discrimination......Page 624
Daily Hassles: Little Things Add Up!......Page 625
Confrict: Approach and Avoidance......Page 626
Appraisal: Assessing Stress......Page 628
Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome......Page 629
Stress and the Immune System: Resistance to Disease......Page 631
Emotion-Focused Coping: Change Your Reaction......Page 633
Managing Stress......Page 635
Type A Personality: Ambition, Drive, and Competitiveness......Page 641
Learned Helplessness: I Can’t Do It......Page 643
The Hardy Personality: Control, Commitment, and Challenge......Page 644
Health-Defeating Behaviors......Page 645
Health-Promoting Behaviors......Page 648
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 650
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 654
14 What Is Personality, and How Do We Measure It?......Page 657
James McBride’s The Color of Water: The story of a family that is full of personality......Page 658
The Levels of Awareness......Page 660
The Structure of Personality......Page 661
Psychosexual Development......Page 663
Neo-Freudians: Alfred Adler, Karen Horney, and Carl Jung......Page 665
Criticisms and Contributions of the Psychoanalytic Approach......Page 667
The Trait Approach: Describing Personality......Page 668
Raymond Cattell’s Factor Analytic Trait Theory......Page 669
Hans Eysenck Narrows Down the Traits......Page 670
Genetic Contributions to Personality......Page 671
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » How Age, Culture, and Gender Influence Personality......Page 673
Criticisms and Contributions of the Trait Approach......Page 675
Reciprocal Determinism: Albert Bandura’s Interacting Forces......Page 676
Julian Rotter’s Locus of Control: Internal and External Expectations......Page 677
Criticisms and Contributions of the Social Cognitive Approach......Page 678
Abraham Maslow and the Hierarchy of Needs Theory......Page 679
Carl Rogers and Self Theory......Page 680
Criticisms and Contributions of the Humanistic Approach......Page 682
Personality Inventories: Mark Which One Best Describes You......Page 683
Projective Tests: Tell Me What You See......Page 684
Direct Observation and Rating Scales......Page 685
Clinical Interviews......Page 687
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 688
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 692
15 What Are Psychological Disorders, and How Can We Understand Them?......Page 695
Sylvia Nasar’s A Beautiful Mind & Amy Tan’s The Opposite of Fate: Three stories on mental health......Page 696
What Makes Behavior Abnormal?......Page 697
Biological Theories: From Yin-Yang to the Medical Model......Page 699
Psychological Theories: Humane Treatment and Psychological Processes......Page 700
Sociocultural Theories: The Individual in Context......Page 701
Integrating Perspectives: Putting the Puzzle Together......Page 702
A Multidimensional Evaluation......Page 703
How Good Is the DSM Model?......Page 704
Components of the Anxiety Disorders......Page 707
Types of Anxiety Disorders......Page 708
Explaining Anxiety Disorders......Page 712
Unipolar Depressive Disorders: A Change to Sadness......Page 715
Bipolar Depressive Disorders: The Presence of Mania......Page 716
Suicide Facts and Misconceptions......Page 717
Explaining Mood Disorders......Page 719
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Women and Depression......Page 722
Schizophrenic Disorders: Disintegration......Page 723
Symptoms of Schizophrenia......Page 724
Types of Schizophrenia: Positive and Negative Symptoms......Page 726
Explaining Schizophrenia: Genetics, the Brain, and the Environment......Page 727
Dissociative Identity Disorder: Multiple Personalities......Page 730
Somatoform Disorders: Hypochondriasis, or Doctor, I’m Sure I’m Sick......Page 732
Antisocial Personality Disorder: Charming and Dangerous......Page 733
Borderline Personality Disorder: Living on Your Fault Line......Page 735
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 736
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 740
16 What Therapies Are Used to Treat Psychological Problems?......Page 743
Emily Fox Gordon’s The Mockingbird Years: A Life In and Out of Therapy......Page 744
Providing Psychological Assistance......Page 745
Ethical Standards for Psychotherapists......Page 746
When Does One Need to Consider Psychotherapy?......Page 748
Traditional Psychoanalysis......Page 749
Modern Psychoanalysis......Page 750
Humanistic Therapy: Empathizing to Empower......Page 751
Client-Centered Therapy......Page 752
Classical Conditioning Techniques......Page 754
Operant Conditioning Techniques......Page 757
Ellis’s Rational-Emotive Therapy......Page 759
Beck’s Cognitive Therapy......Page 760
The Benefits of Group Therapy......Page 763
The Nature and Types of Group Therapy......Page 764
Which Type of Psychotherapy Is Best?......Page 766
IT’S A DIVERSE WORLD » Culture and Therapy......Page 767
Modern Delivery Methods of Therapy: Computer Technology and Cybertherapy......Page 769
Drug Therapies......Page 770
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)......Page 776
Psychosurgery......Page 777
STUDYING THE CHAPTER » Are You Getting the Big Picture?......Page 778
VISUAL SUMMARY......Page 782
Statistical Appendix......Page 784
Statistics in Psychology......Page 785
Graphs: Depicting Data Visually......Page 786
Measures of Central Tendency: Means, Medians, and Modes......Page 787
Measures of Variability: Analyzing the Distribution of Data......Page 790
The Correlation Coefficient: Measuring Relationships......Page 793
Inferential Statistics......Page 795
Summary......Page 797
References......Page 799
Credits......Page 831
Name Index......Page 833
Subject Index......Page 841