Psychology: Frontiers and Applications - Hardcover

Passer-Smith

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0073657956 ISBN 13: 9780073657950

Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill College, 2001

Synopsis

: Michael Passer and Ronald Smith pooled their 25 years of combined experience in teaching Introduction to Psychology to bring you an innovative new approach to unveiling the science of Psychology. The goal of Psychology: Frontiers and Applicationsis to share with students the excitement the authors have found in the study of behavior and to make the course more exciting for you to teach. To achieve this goal, Drs. Passer and Smith present Psychology from a perspective that repeatedly emphasizes the linkages between basic science and applied science. Students discover the connections between theoretical research findings and practical solutions to problems in society. This approach teaches students to think more like psychologists- viewing the world of behavior in a more analytical, sophisticated way which includes considering the multiple factors that result in behavior.

Scientifically Inspired Pedagogy: Mastery, Thinking, Connections

Psychology: Frontiers and Applications is built around a scientifically proven system for improving content mastery. A review of 35 studies in educational literature concluded that Directed Questions increased retention of factual and conceptual material by 21%. (Richard Hamilton, 1985) Passer and Smith incorporate 40-50 Directed Questions per chapter to enhance student concept mastery, serve as retrieval clues during review, and act as a performance feedback measure for students.

A unified framework that focuses on 3 levels of analysis is used to help students develop the skill of analytical thinking. An essential theme of the book is that behavior is influenced by biological, psychological, and environmental factors. By presenting these three factors to students, the authors are teaching them to evaluate and consider multiple effects that influence behavior.

Psychology: Frontiers and Applications emphasizes psychology as a science while going beyond other texts in exploring applications. First, applications are woven throughout each chapter as the authors examine classic and contemporary discoveries and note their impact on our lives. Second, each chapter contains an in-depth Applications of Psychological Science feature. Finally, a capstone chapter on Psychology and Society: Basic Research to Social Application elevates the coverage of applied psychology beyond other books. Concepts learned in previous chapters are linked to societal issues including program evaluation, health promotion, violence reduction, and reduction of multicultural conflict, and to effective solutions to these problems.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Connections between Research and Applied Science
Applications of Psychological Science boxes demonstrate in explicit terms how the concepts in the chapter relate to the student and society. These boxes also emphasize that societal problems are often the very topic psychologists choose to study.
Psychological Frontiers examine cutting-edge discoveries and discuss their implications on the current body of knowledge.
Analytical Thinking About Behavior
Research Closeup feature in each chapter presents a study in journal format (background, method, results, and critical discussion) to show students the research process. By examining the process of research students will gain insights to potential problem areas and begin to think critically about published results.
Understanding the Causes of Behavior figures appear selectively within each chapter to summarize the causal factors (biological, psychological, environmental) that contribute to behavior. This levels of analysis framework is designed to develop analytical thinking.
Applying Your Knowledge is a series of 10 questions at the end of each chapter which are scenario based. Unlike traditional factual recall chapter ending questions, these questions require students to apply facts and concepts in a way that facilitates a greater understanding of behavior.
Concept Mastery
40-50 Directed Questions per chapter enhance student concept mastery, serve as retrieval clues during review, and act as a performance feedback measure for students. Students are told how to use these questions to increase their study experience in Chapter 1. These questions are also the basis of the Test Bank and Student Study Guide.

About the Author:

Michael W. Passer coordinates the introductory psychology program at the University of Washington, which enrolls more than 3,000 students per year. He received his Bachelors degree from the University of Rochester, his Ph.D. from UCLA in social psychology, and has been a faculty member at the University of Washington since 1977. A former Danforth Foundation Fellow and U.W. Distinguished Teaching Award finalist, Dr. Passer has had a career-long love of teaching. He teaches introductory psychology twice yearly and also has taught courses in research methods, social psychology, industrial-organizational psychology, and attribution theory. Dr. Passer developed and annually offers a graduate course on Teaching of Psychology, which prepares students for their careers in the college classroom. He has published over 20 scientific articles and chapters, primarily in the areas of attribution, stress, and anxiety. Ronald E. Smith is Professor of Psychology at the University of Washington, where he has served as Director of Clinical Psychology Training and as Head of the Social Psychology and Personality area. He received his Bachelors degree from Marquette University and his Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University. Dr. Smith has held faculty positions at Purdue University and at Washington, as well as visiting appointments at Marquette University, the University of Hawaii, the University of New Mexico, and UCLA. His major research interests are in personality, stress and coping, and in performance enhancement research and intervention. Dr. Smith is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a Past President of the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology. He has published more than 100 scientific articles and book chapters in his areas of interest and has authored or co-authored 19 books on introductory psychology, stress and stress management, sport psychology, and human performance enhancement.

About this edition

• Publisher: Mcgraw-Hill College
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0073657956
• ISBN 13: 9780073657950
• Binding: Hardcover