Rod Plotnik earned his Ph.D. as a biological psychologist from the University of Florida and a post doctorate at Yale University. Early in his career, he realized the effectiveness of teaching students through visuals to get them excited about the material, a technique he utilizes throughout INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY, now in its Tenth Edition (Cengage Learning, 2014).


Haig Kouyoumdjian's interest in psychology was sparked when he used Rod Plotnik's INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY in his first psychology course. He later received a Master of Arts in psychology at San Diego State University, where he had the opportunity to work closely with Rod Plotnik, who at the time was a professor in the department and supervisor of the graduate teaching associates training program. Dr. Kouyoumdjian later earned his Ph.D. as a clinical psychologist from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. He has been teaching undergraduate psychology courses and authoring introductory psychology textbooks ever since.