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

2 Neuroscience and Biological Foundations 39

3 Stress, Coping, and Health Psychology 73

4 Sensation and Perception 104

5 States of Consciousness 137

6 Learning 169

7 Memory 203

8 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence 238

9 Life Span Development 273

10 Sex, Gender, and Sexuality 314

11 Motivation and Emotion 353

12 Personality 385

13 Psychological Disorders 420

14 Therapy 460

15 Social Psychology 496

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