Psychology and Life » (19th Edition)

Richard J. Gerrig is a professor of psychology at Stony Brook University. Before joining the Stony Brook faculty, Gerrig taught at Yale University, where he was awarded the Lex Hixon Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences. Gerrig’s research on cognitive psychological aspects of language use has been widely published. One line of work examines the mental processes that underlie efficient communication. A second research program considers the cognitive and emotional changes readers experience when they are transported to the worlds of stories. His book Experiencing Narrative Worlds was published by Yale University Press. Gerrig is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. He is also an associate editor of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. Gerrig is the proud father of Alexandra, who at age 18 provides substantial and valuable advice about many aspects of psychology and life. Life on Long Island is greatly enhanced by the guidance and support of Timothy Peterson.

Philip G. Zimbardo is an emeritus professor of psychology at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1968, after earlier teaching at Yale University, New York University, and Columbia University. He also continues to teach att he Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey. Zimbardo is internationally recognized as the “voice and face of contemporary psychology” through his widely seen PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, his media appearances, best-selling trade books on shyness, and his classic research, The Stanford Prison Experiment. His current research interests are in the domain of experimental social psychology, with a scattered emphasis on everything interesting to study from shyness to time perspective, persuasion, cults, madness, violence, vandalism, political psychology, and terrorism. Zimbardo has been a prolific, innovative researcher across a number of fields in social and general psychology, with more than 300 professional articles and chapters and 50 books to his credit. To recognize the breadth of his research achievements, the American Psychological Association presented Zimbardo with the Ernest Hilgard Award for lifetime contributions to general psychology. He has also won the Vaclav Havel Foundation Award for his body of research on the human condition. Zimbardo has been President of the Western Psychological Association (twice), President of the American Psychological Association, Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP), and now Chair of the Western Psychological Foundation and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism. He is most excited about the publication of his new trade book in March 2007 (Random House), which he has been working on intensely for the past several years. Its domain is the psychology of evil; its provocative title: “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.”

This classic text emphasizes the science of psychology, with a special focus on applying psychology to students' daily lives.

Now available in a special edition tied to the award-winning “Discovering Psychology” video series, produced by WGBH Boston with the American Psychological Association. Author Phil Zimbardo narrates the video series, as leading researchers, practitioners, and theorists probe the mysteries of the mind and body and bring psychology to life for introductory students. Each new copy of the text comes packaged — at no additional cost — with access to MyPsychLab, an online tool that includes links to the “Discovering Psychology” videos, as well as interactive viewing activities tied to the videos. Students can go to MyPsychLab to launch the videos and then either complete the viewing activities in their textbook or do the assignments online. There’s also an Index of Multimedia that makes it easy for instructors to find and launch specific video segments for classroom presentation.

Psychology and Life continues to provide a rigorous, research-centered survey of the discipline while offering students special features and learning aids that will spark their interest and excite their imaginations.

Discovering Psychology was produced by WGBH Boston with major funding from Annenberg Media. Institutions requiring students to view the Discovering Psychology videos for academic credit may be required to pay Annenberg Media a licensing fee. Please consult http://www.learner.org/telecourses/index.html for details before accessing the videos. If you have further questions please call 1-800-LEARNER (532-7637).

BRIEF TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Chapter 1: Psychology and Life

Chapter 2: Research Methods In Psychology

Chapter 3: The Biological and Evolutionary Bases Of Behavior

Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception

Chapter 5: Mind, Consciousness, and Alternate States

Chapter 6: Learning and Behavior Analysis

Chapter 7: Memory

Chapter 8: Cognitive Processes

Chapter 9: Intelligence and Intelligence Assessment

Chapter 10: Human Development Across The Life Span

Chapter 11: Motivation

Chapter 12: Emotion, Stress, and Health

Chapter 13: Understanding Human Personality

Chapter 14: Psychological Disorders

Chapter 15: Therapies For Psychological Disorders

Chapter 16: Social Psychology

FULL TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. PSYCHOLOGY AND LIFE

WHAT MAKES PSYCHOLOGY UNIQUE?

Definitions

The Goals of Psychology

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Why Do Friendships End?

THE EVOLUTION OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

Psychology’s Historical Foundations

Women as Pioneering Researchers

Perspectives on Psychology

WHAT PSYCHOLOGISTS DO

Psychology in Your Life: In What Ways Do Psychologists Participate in the Legal System?

HOW TO USE THIS TEXT

Study Strategies

Study Techniques

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

2. RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

THE PROCESS OF RESEARCH

Observer Biases and Operational Definitions

Experimental Methods: Alternative Explanations and the Need for Controls

Correlational Methods

Subliminal Influence?

Psychology in Your Life: Can Survey Research Affect Your Attitudes?

PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT

Achieving Reliability and Validity

Self-Report Measures

Behavioral Measures and Observations

ETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN AND ANIMAL RESEARCH

Informed Consent

Risk/Gain Assessment

Intentional Deception

Debriefing

Issues in Animal Research

BECOMING A WISER RESEARCH CONSUMER

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Why is Skill with Numbers Important?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

STATISTICAL SUPPLEMENT

UNDERSTANDING STATISTICS: ANALYZING DATA AND FORMING CONCLUSIONS

ANALYZING THE DATA

Descriptive Statistics

Inferential Statistics

BECOMING A WISE CONSUMER OF STATISTICS

Key Terms

3. THE BIOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY BASES OF BEHAVIOR

HEREDITY AND BEHAVIOR

Evolution and Natural Selection

Variation in the Human Genotype

THE NERVOUS SYSTEM IN ACTION

The Neuron

Action Potentials

Synaptic Transmission

Neurotransmitters and Their Functions

Critical Thinking in Your Life: What Does "It's Genetic" Mean?

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

Eavesdropping on the Brain

The Nervous System

Brain Structures and Their Functions

Hemispheric Lateralization

The Endocrine System

Plasticity and Neurogenesis: Our Changing Brains

Psychology in Your Life: How Does Your Brain Determine Trust?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

4. SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

SENSORY KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORLD

The Proximal and Distal Stimuli

Psychophysics

From Physical Events to Mental Events

THE VISUAL SYSTEM

The Human Eye

The Pupil and the Lens

The Retina

Processes in the Brain

Seeing Color

HEARING

The Physics of Sound

Psychological Dimensions of Sound

The Physiology of Hearing

YOUR OTHER SENSES

Smell

Taste

Touch and Skin Senses

The Vestibular and Kinesthetic Senses

Pain

Psychology in Your Life: What is Eating "Hot" Food Painful?

ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES IN PERCEPTION

Attentional Processes

Principles of Perceptual Grouping

Spatial and Temporal Integration

Motion Perception

Depth Perception

Perceptual Constancies

Illusions

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Are Drivers Distracted When They Use Their Cell Phones?

IDENTIFICATION AND RECOGNITION PROCESSES

Bottom-Up and Top-Down Processes

The Influence of Contexts and Expectations

Final Lessons

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

5. MIND, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND ALTERNATE STATES

THE CONTENTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Awareness and Consciousness

Studying the Contents of Consciousness

THE FUNCTIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

The Uses of Consciousness

Studying the Functions of Consciousness

SLEEP AND DREAMS

Circadian Rhythms

The Sleep Cycle

Why Sleep?

Sleep Disorders

Dreams: Theater of the Mind

Psychology in Your Life: Are You a Morning Type or an Evening Type?

ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Lucid Dreaming

Hypnosis

Meditation

MIND-ALTERING DRUGS

Dependence and Addiction

Varieties of Psychoactive Drugs

Critical Thinking in Your Life: What Can We Learn from "The Munchies"?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

6. LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS

THE STUDY OF LEARNING

What Is Learning?

Behaviorism and Behavior Analysis

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING: LEARNING PREDICTABLE SIGNALS

Pavlov’s Surprising Observation

Processes of Conditioning

Focus on Acquisition

Applications of Classical Conditioning

Psychology in Your Life: How Does Classical Conditioning Affect Cancer Treatment?

OPERANT CONDITIONING: LEARNING ABOUT CONSEQUENCES

The Law of Effect

Experimental Analysis of Behavior

Reinforcement Contingencies

Properties of Reinforcers

Schedules of Reinforcement

Shaping

Critical Thinking in Your Life: To Spank or Not to Spank?

BIOLOGY AND LEARNING

Instinctual Drift

Taste-Aversion Learning

COGNITIVE INFLUENCES ON LEARNING

Comparative Cognition

Observational Learning

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

7. MEMORY

WHAT IS MEMORY?

Functions of Memory

An Overview of Memory Processes

MEMORY USE FOR THE SHORT-TERM

Iconic Memory

Short-Term Memory

Working Memory

LONG-TERM MEMORY: ENCODING AND RETRIEVAL

Retrieval Cues

Context and Encoding

The Processes of Encoding and Retrieval

Why We Forget

Improving Memory for Unstructured Information

Metamemory

Critical Thinking in Your Life: How Can Memory Research Help Your Prepare for Exams?

STRUCTURES IN LONG-TERM MEMORY

Memory Structures

Remembering as a Reconstructive Process

BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MEMORY

Searching for the Engram

Memory Disorders

Brain Imaging

Psychology in Your Life: Why Does Alzheimer's Disease Affect Memory?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

8. COGNITIVE PROCESSES

STUDYING COGNITION

Discovering the Processes of Mind

Mental Processes and Mental Resources

LANGUAGE USE

Language Production

Language Understanding

Language and Evolution

Language, Thought, and Culture

Psychology in Your Life: Why and How Do People Lie?

VISUAL COGNITION

Using Visual Representations

Combining Verbal and Visual Representations

PROBLEM SOLVING AND REASONING

Problem Solving

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

JUDGMENT AND DECISION MAKING

Heuristics and Judgment

The Psychology of Decision Making

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Can Political Experts Predict the Future?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

9. INTELLIGENCE AND INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT

WHAT IS ASSESSMENT?

History of Assessment

Basic Features of Formal Assessment

INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT

The Origins of Intelligence Testing

IQ Tests

Extremes of Intelligence

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Can You Trust Assessment on the Web?

THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

Psychometric Theories of Intelligence

Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences and Emotional Intelligence

THE POLITICS OF INTELLIGENCE

The History of Group Comparisons

Heredity and IQ

Environments and IQ

Culture and the Validity of IQ Tests

CREATIVITY

Assessing Creativity and the Link to Intelligence

Extremes of Creativity

Psychology in Your Life: How Can You Become More Creative?

ASSESSMENT AND SOCIETY

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

10. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

STUDYING DEVELOPMENT

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

Prenatal and Childhood Development

Physical Development in Adolescence

Physical Changes in Adulthood

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

Piaget’s Insights Into Mental Development

Contemporary Perspectives on Early Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development in Adulthood

Psychology in Your Life: Will Your Brain Work Differently as You Age?

ACQUIRING LANGUAGE

Perceiving Speech and Perceiving Words

Learning Word Meanings

Acquiring Grammar

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages

Social Development in Childhood

Social Development in Adolescence

Social Development in Adulthood

Critical Thinking in Your Life: How Does Day Care Affect Children's Development?

SEX AND GENDER DIFFERENCES

Sex Differences

Gender Identity and Gender Roles

MORAL DEVELOPMENT

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Reasoning

Gender and Cultural Perspectives on Moral Reasoning

LEARNING TO AGE SUCCESSFULLY

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

11. MOTIVATION

UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION

Functions of Motivational Concepts

Sources of Motivation

A Hierarchy of Needs

EATING

The Physiology of Eating

The Psychology of Eating

Psychology in Your Life: How Does the Presence of Others Influence Your Eating?

SEXUAL BEHAVIORS

Nonhuman Sexual Behaviors

Human Sexual Arousal and Response

The Evolution of Sexual Behaviors

Sexual Norms

Homosexuality

MOTIVATION FOR PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT

Need for Achievement

Attributions for Success and Failure

Work and Organizational Psychology

Critical Thinking in Your Life: How Does Motivation Affect Academic Achievement?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

12. EMOTION, STRESS, AND HEALTH

EMOTIONS

Basic Emotions and Culture

Theories of Emotion

The Impact of Mood and Emotions

Subjective Well-Being

Psychology in Your Life: Can You Accurately Predict Your Future Emotions?

STRESS OF LIVING

Physiological Stress Reactions

Psychological Stress Reactions

Coping with Stress

Positive Effects of Stress

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY

The Biopsychosocial Model of Health

Health Promotion

Treatment

Personality and Health

Job Burnout and the Health-Care System

A Toast to Your Health

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Can Health Psychology Help You Get More Exercise?

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

13. UNDERSTANDING HUMAN PERSONALITY

TYPE AND TRAIT PERSONALITY THEORIES

Categorizing by Types

Describing with Traits

Traits and Heritability

Do Traits Predict Behaviors?

Evaluation of Type and Trait Theories

PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

Freudian Psychoanalysis

Evaluation of Freudian Theory

Extending Psychodynamic Theories

Psychology in Your Life: Why Are Some People Shy?

HUMANISTIC THEORIES

Features of Humanistic Theories

Evaluation of Humanistic Theories

SOCIAL-LEARNING AND COGNITIVE THEORIES

Rotter's Expectancy Theory

Mischel’s Cognitive-Affective Personality Theory

Bandura’s Cognitive Social-Learning Theory

Cantor’s Social Intelligence Theory

Evaluation of Social-Learning and Cognitive Theories

SELF THEORIES

Dynamic Aspects of Self-Concepts

Self-Esteem

The Cultural Construction of Self

Evaluation of Self Theories

COMPARING PERSONALITY THEORIES

Critical Thinking in Your Life: How is Personality Conveyed in Cyberspace?

ASSESSING PERSONALITY

Objective Tests

Projective Tests

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

14. PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

THE NATURE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

Deciding What Is Abnormal

The Problem of Objectivity

Classifying Psychological Disorders

The Etiology of Psychopathology

Critical Thinking in Your Life: How Do Disorders Enter DSM?

ANXIETY DISORDERS

Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Panic Disorder

Phobias

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Causes of Anxiety Disorders

MOOD DISORDERS

Major Depressive Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Causes of Mood Disorders

Gender Differences in Depression

Suicide

Psychology in Your Life: How Can We Pinpoint Interactions of Nature and Nurture?

PERSONALITY DISORDERS

Borderline Personality Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder

SOMATOFORM AND DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS

Somatoform Disorders

Dissociative Disorders

SCHIZOPHRENIC DISORDERS

Major Types of Schizophrenia

Causes of Schizophrenia

PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS OF CHILDHOOD

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Autistic Disorder

THE STIGMA OF MENTAL ILLNESS

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

15. THERAPIES FOR PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS

THE THERAPEUTIC CONTEXT

Goals and Major Therapies

Therapists and Therapeutic Settings

Diversity Issues in Psychotherapy

Historical Perspectives on Institutional Treatment

PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPIES

Freudian Psychoanalysis

Later Psychodynamic Therapies

Psychology in Your Life: Are Lives Haunted by Repressed Memories?

BEHAVIOR THERAPIES

Counterconditioning

Contingency Management

Social-Learning Therapy

Generalization Techniques

COGNITIVE THERAPIES

Changing False Beliefs

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

HUMANISTIC THERAPIES

Client-Centered Therapy

Gestalt Therapy

GROUP THERAPIES

Couple and Family Therapy

Community Support Groups

BIOMEDICAL THERAPIES

Drug Therapy

Psychosurgery

ECT and rTMS

Critical Thinking in Your Life: Does Therapy Affect Brain Activity?

TREATMENT EVALUATION AND PREVENTION STRATEGIES

Evaluating Therapeutic Effectiveness

Prevention Strategies

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide

16. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

CONSTRUCTING SOCIAL REALITY

The Origins of Attribution Theory

The Fundamental Attribution Error

Self-Serving Biases

Expectations and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies

THE POWER OF THE SITUATION

Roles and Rules

Social Norms

Conformity

Decision Making in Groups

Obedience to Authority

ATTITUDES, ATTITUDE CHANGE, AND ACTION

Attitudes and Behaviors

Processes of Persuasion

Persuasion by Your Own Actions

Compliance

PREJUDICE

Origins of Prejudice

Effects of Stereotypes

Reversing Prejudice

SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Liking

Loving

Psychology in Your Life: In What Ways Are You Like a Chameleon?

AGGRESSION, ALTRUISM, AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Individual Differences in Aggression

Situational Influences on Aggression

The Roots of Prosocial Behavior

The Effects of the Situation on Prosocial Behavior

Critical Thinking in Your Life: How Can You Get People to Volunteer?

A PERSONAL ENDNOTE

Recapping Main Points

Key Terms

Practice Test

Discovering Psychology Viewing Guide