ABSTRACT

Introductory Psychology in Modules: Understanding Our Heads, Hearts, and Hands is a unique and comprehensive introduction to psychology. It consists of 36 short modules that keep students engaged with humor, a narrative style, and hands-on activities that facilitate interactive learning and critical thinking.

Each stand-alone module focuses on a major topic in psychology, from the brain, sensation, memory, and cognition to human development, personality, social psychology, and clinical psychology. The modular format also allows a deep dive into important topics that have less coverage in other introductory psychology textbooks. This includes cross-cultural psychology, stereotypes and discrimination, evolutionary psychology, sex and gender, climate change, health psychology, and sport psychology. This truly modular format – ideal for both face to face and virtual learning – makes it easy for instructors to customize their readings and assign exactly what they wish to emphasize. The book also contains an abundance of pedagogical features, including numerous hands-on activities and/or group discussion activities, multiple-choice practice quizzes, and an instructor exam bank written by the authors.

By covering both classic and contemporary topics, this book will delight students and instructors alike. The modular format also makes this a useful supplementary text for classes in nursing, medicine, social work, policing, and sociology.

part I|56 pages

History of, and Methods in, Psychology

chapter Module 2|18 pages

Seven Windows on the History of Psychology

chapter Module 3|12 pages

Doing Good Science

Internal Validity in Psychological Research

chapter Module 4|11 pages

Doing Relevant Science

External Validity and Archival Research

part II|33 pages

The Brain

chapter Module 5|14 pages

Six Important Features of the Human Brain

chapter Module 6|17 pages

The Structure and Function of Key Brain Regions

part III|28 pages

Genetics and Evolution

chapter Module 7|14 pages

Genetics

Our Biological Origins

chapter Module 8|12 pages

Evolutionary Psychology

How the Past Informs the Present

part IV|31 pages

Sensation and Perception

chapter Module 9|13 pages

How the World Gets Inside You

Sensation and Perception

chapter Module 10|16 pages

Four Windows on Human Perception

part V|28 pages

Learning

chapter Module 11|12 pages

Classical Conditioning

Learning by Association

chapter Module 12|14 pages

Operant Conditioning

Learning the Consequences of Our Behavior

part VI|47 pages

Motivation, Emotion, and More

chapter |16 pages

Module 13Motivation

The Psychology of Wants and Needs

chapter Module 14|14 pages

Emotions

Are You Feeling It?

chapter Module 15|15 pages

Sex, Gender, and Sexuality

part VII|73 pages

Memory and Cognition

chapter Module 16|13 pages

Memory

Making the Past the Present

chapter Module 17|16 pages

Consciousness (or the Lack Thereof)

chapter Module 18|11 pages

Exploring the “Snap” in Snap Judgment

Judgment and Decision Making

chapter Module 19|16 pages

Look Who’s Talking

Language and Reasoning

chapter Module 20|15 pages

Intelligence and the Insularity of Genius

part VIII|75 pages

Lifespan Human Development

chapter Module 21|19 pages

Human Prenatal Development and Birth

chapter Module 22|12 pages

Critical and Sensitive Periods in Human Development

chapter Module 23|13 pages

Cognitive Development

Going from the Concrete to the Abstract

chapter Module 24|15 pages

Psychosocial Development

Navigating Challenges across the Lifespan

chapter Module 25|14 pages

Adult Development

Getting There – and then Hanging in There

part IX|91 pages

Social, Personality, and Cultural Psychology

chapter Module 26|15 pages

Social Psychology

The Power of the Situation

chapter Module 27|16 pages

Stereotypes and Social Perception

chapter Module 28|12 pages

Six Lenses on Human Aggression

chapter Module 29|16 pages

Is There an “I” in Altruism?

Human Prosocial Behavior

chapter Module 30|14 pages

Personality

Our Uniqueness and Why It Matters

chapter Module 31|16 pages

Culture

How Psychology Varies with Geography

part X|37 pages

Clinical Psychology

chapter Module 32|17 pages

Everybody Hurts

Understanding Psychological Disorders

chapter Module 33|18 pages

Getting Well

Treatment of Psychological Disorders

part XI|42 pages

Applied Psychology

chapter Module 34|13 pages

Health Psychology

How the Psychological Becomes the Physical

chapter Module 35|14 pages

Mind Games, in a Good Way

Sport Psychology

chapter Module 36|13 pages

Saving the Planet

Psychology and Climate Change