If I were to use only two words to summarize my goal across the eleven editions of this book, as well as my teaching philosophy, that's what I would say. Students first. I believe that an effective textbook must be oriented to students informing them, engaging them, and exciting them about the field of psychology and helping them connect it to their worlds.
Up to now, to achieve my "Students First" goal in each new edition of "Understanding Psychology", the revision process was generally this: Several dozen instructors who used the previous edition of the text provided reviews of that edition. In addition, experts in the field provided reviews that pointed out new material to add, as well as outdated material to remove. Using all these reviews, and feedback from my own students, I revised the text. I also added new topics, citations, and features.
For this edition, however, I had a revolutionary tool that brings this revision to a new level: Systematic and precise feedback from thousands of students. This feedback was anonymously collected from the many students who were using Connect Psychology's LearnSmart, an online adaptive diagnostic program that provides students with an individualized assessment of their own progress. Because virtually every paragraph in the previous edition is tied to several questions that students answered while using LearnSmart, I had access to empirical data showing the specific concepts with which students had the most difficulty.
Chapter 1 Introduction to Psychology
Chapter 2 Psychological Research
Chapter 3 Neuroscience and Behavior
Chapter 4 Sensation and Perception
Chapter 5 States of Consciousness
Chapter 6 Learning
Chapter 7 Memory
Chapter 8 Cognition and Language
Chapter 9 Intelligence
Chapter 10 Motivation and Emotion
, etc.