Real World Psychology

Real World Psychology balances comprehensive coverage of the key concepts in introductory psychology with a concise presentation style and engages students with current and interesting research that explores these concepts in real-life contexts. Real World Psychology features the incomparable author team of Karen Huffman (Palomar College) and Catherine Sanderson (Amherst College) who create an outstanding text that is appealing to students and instructors at a wide range of academic institutions. The new edition has been thoroughly updated and features a new focus on Scientific Thinking and Practical Applications underscoring the fact that connecting the principles of psychological science to everyday life is critical to student engagement, and ultimately key to their success – not only in the introductory psychology course, but in whatever their chosen field of study and in everyday life. Students will leave the course with an appreciation of how a basic, yet scientific understanding of human behavior can benefit them in their studies, in their personal lives, and in their professional endeavors.

Preface xii

Acknowledgments xviii

What’s New in Real World Psychology, Third Edition? xxi

1 The Science of Psychology 1

1.1 What is Psychology? 2

1.2 Scientific Research 12

1.3 Psychology’s Research Methods 20

1.4 Secrets of Student Success 31

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

2 Neuroscience and Biological Foundations 39

2.1 Neural and Hormonal Processes 40

2.2 Nervous System Organization 50

2.3 A Tour Through the Brain 57

2.4 The Cerebral Cortex 64

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

3 Stress, Coping, and Health Psychology 73

3.1 Understanding Stress 74

3.2 Stress and Illness 85

3.3 Stress Management 91

3.4 Health Psychology 98

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

4 Sensation and Perception 104

4.1 Understanding Sensation 105

4.2 How We See and Hear 111

4.3 Our Other Important Senses 119

4.4 Understanding Perception 124

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

5 States of Consciousness 137

5.1 Understanding Consciousness 138

5.2 Understanding Sleep and Dreams 142

5.3 Psychoactive Drugs 153

5.4 Meditation and Hypnosis 163

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

6 Learning 169

6.1 Classical Conditioning 170

6.2 Operant Conditioning 179

6.3 Cognitive-Social Learning 192

6.4 Biology of Learning 197

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

7 Memory 203

7.1 The Nature of Memory 204

7.2 Forgetting 216

7.3 Biological Bases of Memory 222

7.4 Memory Distortions and Improvement 228

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

8 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence 238

8.1 Thinking 239

8.2 Language 249

8.3 Intelligence 256

8.4 Intelligence Controversies 261

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms/Solutions

9 Life Span Development 273

9.1 Studying Development 274

9.2 Physical Development 279

9.3 Cognitive Development 293

9.4 Social-Emotional Development 301

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

10 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality 314

10.1 Studying Human Sexuality 315

10.2 Sexual Identity and Behavior 319

10.3 Sexual Disorders and Problems 331

10.4 Real World Sexuality 341

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

11 Motivation and Emotion 353

11.1 Theories of Motivation 354

11.2 Motivation and Behavior 359

11.3 Components and Theories of Emotion 368

11.4 Experiencing Emotions 376

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

12 Personality 385

12.1 Understanding Personality 386

12.2 Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Theories 396

12.3 Trait Theories 403

12.4 Humanistic Theories 411

12.5 Social-Cognitive Theories 414

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

13 Psychological Disorders 420

13.1 Understanding Psychological Disorders 421

13.2 Anxiety Disorders 428

13.3 Depressive and Bipolar Disorders 433

13.4 Schizophrenia 438

13.5 Other Disorders 443

13.6 Key Issues in Psychological Disorders 450

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

14 Therapy 460

14.1 Talk Therapies 461

14.2 Behavior Therapies 470

14.3 Biomedical Therapies 475

14.4 Psychotherapy in Perspective 483

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

15 Social Psychology 496

15.1 Social Cognition 497

15.2 Social Influence 512

15.3 Social Relations 524

Q Test Your Critical Thinking

Summary/Key Terms

Appendix A Statistics and Psychology A-1

Appendix B Answers to Self-Test Retrieval Practice Questions and Research Challenges B-1

Glossary G-1

References R-1

Name Index NI-1

Subject Index SI-1

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