Richard A. Griggs - Psychology: A Concise Introduction

A CONCISE INTRODUCTION

Sixth Edition

• Richard A. Griggs

• University of Florida

• Sherri L. Jackson

• Jacksonville University

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019940348

ISBN-13: 978-1-319-23747-9 (epub)

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Sherri, Lucy, and Rich

Richard A. Griggs is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Florida. After earning his Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Indiana University, he went to the University of Florida, where he has spent his entire academic career. While at the University of Florida, he won numerous teaching awards at the college, university, and state levels and was named APAs Society for the Teaching of Psychology Teacher of the Year for 4-year Colleges and Universities in 1994. He served on the Editorial Board of Teaching of Psychology for over a decade, as a Contemporary Psychology consulting editor for textbook reviews, and as an associate editor of Thinking and Reasoning. His two main research areas are human reasoning and the teaching of psychology. He has published more than 150 journal articles, reviews, and book chapters, including 51 in Teaching of Psychology. He was also one of the originators and developers of the Society for the Teaching of Psychologys online resource, A Compendium of Introductory Psychology Textbooks, the editor of Volume 3 of the Societys Handbook for Teaching Introductory Psychology, and the coeditor of the Societys Teaching Introductory Psychology: Tips from ToP and Teaching Statistics and Research Methods: Tips from ToP. His main pastimes are walking, reading, gardening, and golf.

Sherri L. Jackson is Vice-Provost of Academic Affairs and Professor of Psychology at Jacksonville University. After earning her M.S. and Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at the University of Florida, she went to Jacksonville University, where she has spent the last 31 years. She has won numerous faculty awards, including Professor of the Year, University Woman of the Year, and university awards for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Professional Activity, and Service. She was also a recipient of a Jacksonville Business Journal prestigious Woman of Influence Award. She is the author of four textbooks that have been adopted at colleges and universities nationally and internationallyResearch Methods and Statistics: A Critical Thinking Approach, Statistics: Plain and Simple, Research Methods: A Modular Approach, and A Concise Guide to Statistical Analyses Using Excel, SPSS, and the Ti84 Calculator. She has also authored 16 textbook supplements and numerous peer-reviewed journal articles, including 19 in the Teaching of Psychology. She was one of the originators and developers of the Society for the Teaching of Psychologys online resource, A Compendium of Introductory Psychology Textbooks, and the coeditor of the Societys Teaching Introductory Psychology: Tips from ToP and Teaching Statistics and Research Methods: Tips from ToP. Her main pastimes are fitness training, repurposing used items, and reading.

Psychology is more expansive than ever as research continues to proliferate in the many subareas within the discipline. This continuous research growth has become increasingly problematic for introductory psychology textbook authors, who have struggled to keep pace, resulting in books that are too long, and thus impossible to complete in one term. Even briefer versions of introductory texts are not truly brief. The choices of which topics to assign and in what depth to cover them have become difficult decisions. Teachers end up either omitting entire chapters or asking students to read chapters at a pace too hurried for optimal learning. In addition, introductory textbooks have become very expensive, leading many students to not even purchase them. As introductory psychology teachers, we too have grappled with these issues. Psychology: A Concise Introduction is the result of our own search for a textbook that includes the essential core content in introductory psychology but is also economical in both size (only 10 chapters) and cost (around $50 to the student). The overwhelmingly positive market response to our textbook has been gratifying. With only 10 chapters, Psychology: A Concise Introduction has fit nicely into introductory courses on both semester and quarter systems. The breadth of the audience for the text has also been gratifying. It has been used successfully at all types of colleges and universities, from two-year schools to research institutions. In sum, we seem to have been successful at reaching our goal of a textbook that could be covered in a single term at a reasonable price without sacrificing essential content. Given this success, well discuss how we revised our text for its sixth editionwhat has remained the same and what has changed.

The 10 chapter topics remain the same as in the previous five editions. Benjamin Miller and Barbara Gentiles national survey of 761 introductory psychology teachers at 490 schools was consulted to make the most informed choices of chapter topics for the first edition of our text (). His topic coverage findings based on syllabi analysis matched our chapter topic choices almost perfectly.