Reviewer: Nicholas Greco IV, MS, BCETS, CATSM(Abbott Laboratories)
Description: This latest edition of an introductory textbook of psychology provides research updates in each chapter, a more streamlined focus and more balanced presentation, an emphasis on applying psychology to students' everyday lives, and a wide variety of supplements for instructors and students.
Purpose: Every field changes and evolves, and the textbooks we use must change as well so we can provide students with the necessary foundation for learning. The authors of this book are active members of the field with numerous accolades and achievements. They have collaborated to create a wonderfully in-depth yet amazingly understandable introductory textbook.
Audience: This is a college-level textbook designed for students enrolled in introductory psychology. Students will enjoy how manageable and easy to read it is. Instructors will find the book easy to use and the available supplementary materials (instructor's manual, PowerPoint slides, lecture notes, and video library) helpful.
Features: The 17 chapters cover the major areas of focus for introductory psychology. The book presents social psychology in two appropriate chapters at the end titled social cognition and interpersonal processes. This is a great way to present social psychology since it is not only an area that affects all of us, it is also an area that students tend to do quite well in. The book has a streamlined focus and doesn't inundate students with unnecessary jargon, outdated terminology, or extraneous filler material. The emphasis on applying psychology to students' everyday lives is clever and appropriate. I am slightly disappointed in the psychotropic medication discussion in Chapter 15. Table 15.2 is unnecessarily limited in the presentation of the various psychotropic agents. The discussion on antipsychotic medications and their side effects is in need of updating to reflect the use of atypical antipsychotics. References also could be updated for SSRIs and the antimanic agents. However, these omissions are typical in most introductory psychology textbooks.
Assessment: This is an excellent textbook for introductory psychology and would serve the needs of students and faculty alike.