The new edition underscores the connections between psychology and the key events of contemporary times. For example, Chapter 5, on "Consciousness," addresses the Terri Schiavo case and the ways in which our activities on the Internet suggest a new altered state of consciousness. Chapter 6, on "Learning" lays out the way in which a number of mass killers had been drawn into "playing" violent video games. Chapter 8 shows how texting has changed our very language. Chapter 10 portrays human responses--some devastating, some heroic--to Katrina and other natural disasters. Chapter 14 does not flinch from portraying psychology's perspectives on suicide terrorists from Ground Zero to London to Madrid to Iraq and Israel.
This book is about psychology's fascinating history and about its connections to life as we live it today. It is more than a revision; it is a very new book.
1. What Is Psychology?
2. Biology and Psychology
3. The Voyage Through the Life Span
4. Sensation and Perception
5. Consciousness
6. Learning
7. Memory: Remembrance of Things Past--and Future
8. Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
9. Motivation and Emotion
10. Stress, Health, and Adjustment
Etc.