Students first.

If I were to use only a few words to summarize my goal for this book, as well as my teaching philosophy, that’s what I would say. I believe that an effective textbook must be oriented to students—informing them, engaging them, exciting them about the field, and expanding their intellectual capabilities.

Luckily, psychology is a science that is inherently interesting to students. It is a discipline that speaks with many voices, offering a personal message to each student. To some, psychology provides a better understanding of others’ behavior. Others view psychology as a pathway to self-understanding. Still others see the potential for a future career, and some are drawn to psychology by the opportunity for intellectual discovery that its study provides.

No matter what brings students into the introductory course and regardless of their initial motivation, Understanding Psychology, Eighth Edition, is designed to draw students into the field and stimulate their thinking. This revision integrates a variety of elements that foster students’ understanding of psychology and its impact on our everyday lives. It also provides instructors with a fully integrated assessment package to objectively gauge their students’ mastery of psychology’s key principles and concepts.

A Framework for Learning and Assessment

Understanding Psychology, Eighth Edition, is the core of a learning-centered multimedia package that comprises a complete framework for learning and assessment. Conforming to recommendations of a 2002 APA task force report on undergraduate student competencies (Board of Educational Affairs, 2002), every component of the package is tied to specific psychological concepts and their application in everyday life. Though the book forms the core of this framework, its power to enrich and empirically demonstrate learning is expanded through a unique library of electronic interactivities with concept-based quizzes, all developed to accompany this text. Instructors can create a seamless, custom set of assignments from the available resources, or they can opt for a traditional, text-based approach, depending on their specific needs.

Psychology and Everyday Life. Understanding Psychology, Eighth Edition, provides broad coverage of the field of psychology, including the theories, research, and applications that permeate the discipline. Along with the traditional areas of psychology (behavioral neuroscience, sensation and perception, states of consciousness, learning, memory, cognition, human development, personality, abnormal behavior and treatment, and social psychology), the applied topics of gender, sexuality, and health psychology receive extensive attention.

Putting students first and teaching them the science of psychology by helping them make the connection between psychology and everyday life has been a goal of this text from its first edition. The prologues that open each chapter, together with Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology sections, Applying Psychology in the 21st Century boxes, and examples presented throughout the text, help students see the real benefits of psychological research. For the Eighth Edition, we have extended this theme to PsychInteractive Online exercises and assessments and to the Online Learning Center, allowing students to hone the ability to apply psychological concepts to everyday situations.

Modular Format. The book retains the modular format that was initiated in the last edition—a change that has proven highly popular. Understanding Psychology, Eighth Edition, is divided into 60 short modules grouped into 17 chapters and an Appendix covering the major areas of psychology. Rather than facing a long and potentially daunting chapter, students can study material in smaller chunks, which psychological research long ago found to be the optimal way to learn. Moreover, instructors can customize assignments for their students by asking them to read only those modules that fit their course outline and in the sequence that matches their syllabus.

At the beginning of each module, one or more questions introduce the key concepts covered in the module. To reinforce key concepts, a series of online multimedia interactivities and self-tests can be found on the Online Learning Center for the text (www.mhhe.com/feldmanup8), by linking to PsychInteractive Online. In the text, references and icons direct students to these activities.

For example, consider the key concept of communication between neurons. The text presentation of this concept includes a verbal explanation and figures plus a text reference and marginal icon prompting students to complete a PsychInteractive Online activity on the nature of neural communication and a follow-up quiz. Additionally, the Online Learning Center provides review exercises and links to other Web sites that offer further information relevant to the key concepts and content for that section.

PsychInteractive Online. Each interactivity in this multimedia learning tool includes assessment items tied to the key concepts, and instructors can elect to have the results of these concept quizzes incorporated into any of the major course management systems. Embedding assessment tools in every exercise allows both students and instructors to track progress in mastering key concepts in a way that has not been possible until now.

Additionally, suggestions for using the interactivities can be found in the Instructor’s Manual, and questions based on the interactivities are included in the Test Banks. These resources, combined with other features of the book and the supplements package, comprise a complete framework for learning and assessment of key concepts.

Additional Features of the Eighth Edition to Foster Learning. In addition to the resources just described, Understanding Psychology, Eighth Edition, contains abundant features designed to help students learn, study, and master introductory psychology. Each chapter contains three to five modules and includes the following elements:

• Prologue. Each chapter starts with an account of a real-life situation that demonstrates the relevance of basic principles and concepts of psychology to pertinent issues and problems. These prologues depict actual events and people, such as the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Lance Armstrong’s quest to win the Tour de France, and a prom attended by people with schizophrenia.
• Looking Ahead. This section, following each prologue, expresses the key themes and issues discussed in the subsequent modules.
• Key Concepts. Each module begins with questions about the key concepts addressed in that module. These questions provide a framework for understanding and organizing the material that follows, as well as providing assessment benchmarks.
• PsychInteractive Online Prompts. Every chapter includes several text references and marginal icons that guide readers to online activities related to key concepts.
• Applying Psychology in the 21^st Century. These boxes highlight the relevance of psychology by presenting existing and potential applications of current psychological theory and research findings to real-world problems. For example, these discussions explore the use of brain scans to anticipate worker fatigue, memory-enhancing drugs, and virtual reality therapy.
• Exploring Diversity. In addition to substantial coverage of material relevant to diversity throughout the text, every chapter also includes at least one special section devoted to an aspect of racial, ethnic, gender, or cultural diversity. These sections highlight the way in which psychology informs (and is informed by) issues relating to the increasing multiculturalism of our global society. Among the topics discussed in Exploring Diversity sections are culture and perception, cross-cultural differences in memory, cultural perspectives on female circumcision, and bilingual education.
• Becoming an Informed Consumer of Psychology. Every chapter includes material designed to give readers the ability to evaluate psychological information critically . These discussions also provide sound guidance concerning common problems. For example, these unique sections discuss ways to become better thinkers, to sleep better, to lose weight successfully, to lower the risks of date rape, and to choose the right therapist.
• Recap/Evaluate/Rethink. Each module concludes with a Recap/ Evaluate/Rethink section. The Recap sections review the key concept questions found at the beginning of each module. Evaluate sections test recall of the material, assessing the degree of initial learning. The Rethink sections provide thought-provoking questions about the material discussed in the module.
• Running Glossary. Key terms are highlighted in boldface type within the text where they are introduced, and definitions are given in the margin of the page, along with pronunciation guides for difficult words. To facilitate study, at the end of each module is a list of the key terms and concepts introduced in that module. There is also a glossary of all key terms and concepts at the end of the book.
• Looking Back and Epilogue. Found at the end of every chapter, a section called Looking Back contains critical thinking questions involving the use of web resources and the interactivities that go with those modules. Critical thinking questions in the Epilogue that follows Looking Back relate to the Prologue at the opening of the chapter. The thought-provoking questions in these sections provide a way of tying together a set of modules on one topic and illustrating how the concepts addressed in each module apply to the real-world situation described in the Prologue.
• Visual Mastery Reviews. Following a number of chapters, key concepts are reviewed in a format that is more pictorial than verbal, accompanied by brief captions and Evaluate/Rethink questions. These sections help students master difficult concepts, such as experimental design, reinforcement and punishment, and social influence, by visualizing them.