Psychology Contemporary Perspectives

Visit the link below to download the full version of this book:

https://medipdf.com/product/psychology-contemporary-perspectives/

Click Download Now

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.
It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research,
scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Oxford New York

Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi
Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi
New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto

With offices in
Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece
Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore
South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam

Copyright © 2014 by Oxford University Press

For titles covered by Section 112 of the US Higher Education

Opportunity Act, please visit www.oup.com/us/he for the latest
information about pricing and alternate formats.

Published by Oxford University Press

198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
www.oup.com

Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Okami, Paul.
Psychology : contemporary perspectives / Paul Okami, Widener University. — 1st Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-985661-9 (alk. paper)
1. Psychology. I. Title.
BF121.O43 2013
150—dc23
2013003478

Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper
About the Author
Paul Okami (B.A., Hunter College; M.A. and Ph.D.,
University of California at Los Angeles) is Adjunct
Professor of Psychology at Widener University and a
member of the Association for Psychological Science.
While still a graduate student, Okami published fre-
quently in the areas of sexuality, evolutionary psychol-
ogy, and child development. Some of this work gained
wide recognition by top experts in related fields. A be-
loved instructor, Dr. Okami’s grasp of contemporary
perspectives in psychology—and how to teach them—
has enabled him to achieve great success teaching in-
troductory students. He has taught at every level of
higher education from university to community col-
lege, reaching traditional undergraduate and gradu-
ate students as well as returning and nontraditional
adult students. Dr. Okami is also an amateur jazz
musician, dedicated home-schooling parent, and a
long-time practitioner and instructor of traditional
Japanese and Okinawan martial arts.

PAUL OKAMI

iii
CONTENTS IN BRIEF
About the Author iii
Preface xvi
Acknowledgments xxii

CHAPTER 1 Psychology as Science 2

CHAPTER 2 The Brain, the Body, and Behavior 52
CHAPTER 3 The Nature and Nurture of Behavior 110
CHAPTER 4 Human Lifespan Development 154
CHAPTER 5 Perception and the Senses 214
CHAPTER 6 Varieties of Consciousness 268
CHAPTER 7 Learning 326
CHAPTER 8 Memory 370
CHAPTER 9 Thinking, Language, and Intelligence 414
CHAPTER 10 Motivation 464
CHAPTER 11 Emotion and Health 510
CHAPTER 12 Personality 568
CHAPTER 13 Psychological Disorders 614
CHAPTER 14 Treatment 668
CHAPTER 15 Social Psychology 716
CHAPTER 16 Sex, Gender, and Sexual Behavior
(bonus chapter) 770

Glossary G-1
References R-1
Credits C-1
Name Index NI-1
iv Subject Index SI-1
CONTENTS
About the Author iii Descriptive Research Is Valuable but Limited 32
Correlational Methods Examine Relationships
Preface xvi among Variables 32
Acknowledgments xxii Experiments Can Establish Cause and
Effect 35

CHAPTER 1 Why Are Statistics Important in

Psychology? 41
Psychology as Science 2 Both Descriptive and Inferential Statistics Are
Important 41
Statistical Significance and Effect Size: Are Results
What Is Psychology? 5 Real and Meaningful? 42
Psychology Is the Scientific Study of Mind and Statistical Literacy Is Urgently Important 43
Behavior 6
Psychology Is Distinct from Psychiatry 7
Why Are Ethics Important in
Psychology Today Is Distinguished in Three Ways 7 Psychology? 45
Psychology Did Not Exist in the Ancient World 10
Ethical Concerns: Scholarship and Treatment of
Prescientific Psychology in the Age of Reason 11 Research Participants 45
Pioneers of Modern Psychological Science 12 Nails in the Coffin of Research Free-for-Alls 46
Nonhuman Animals Also Have Rights 47
Is Psychological Science Really
Scientific? 18
Science Is an Empirical Way of Knowing 18 CHAPTER 2
Intuition Is an Empirical Mixed Blessing 19
Science Is the Best Method of Gaining Material The Brain, the Body, and
Knowledge 20
Science Has Goals and Methods 21
Behavior 52
Science Has a Point of View: Skepticism 21
Science Uses Theories to Explain Facts 23 Where Is the Mind? 55
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / What There Are Two Views about the Location of the
Science Is Not: Pseudoscience 25 Mind 55
Psychological Science Varies Widely in Quality 27
How Is the Nervous System Built? 57
How Do Psychologists Conduct The Nervous System Is Composed of Cells 57
Research? 28 Neurons Have an Anatomy 58
There Are Three Categories of Research Methods 29 Glia Assist Neurons in Their Work 59
Descriptive Methods Take “Snapshots” of
Individuals or Groups 30
v
 vi CONTENTS

The Action Potential: How Neurons Do Their How Do Genes and Environments
Work 60 Influence Behavior? 118
Neurotransmitters Send the Signal 63 Twin and Adoption Studies Disentangle Nature and
Nurture 118
How Is the Nervous System Organized? 69 The Heritability Statistic Is an Estimate of Genetic
Influence 121
The Central Nervous System Is “Command
Genes and Environments Interact 123
Central” 69
The Peripheral Nervous System Connects Brain,
Body, and the Environment 70 Why Are Psychologists Interested in
The Autonomic Nervous System Is Also Evolution? 126
Subdivided 72 Evolution Is Both Fact and Theory 126
The Theory of Natural Selection Guides Evolutionary
How Is the Brain Organized? 74 Psychology 128
Evolutionary Psychology Is a New Way of Looking at
The Brain Is a Network of Neural Connections 74
Old Problems 130
The Hindbrain and Midbrain Keep House 75
Human Sex Differences: A “Test Case” for
The Forebrain Houses More Complex Brain Evolutionary Psychology 132
Functions 78
Each Cerebral Hemisphere Is Specialized 88 CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY /
Exceptions May Prove Trivers’s Rule 138
AT THE FOREFRONT / Male and Female Brains Are
Questions about the Evolutionary Approach 139
Not Identical 92

Although the Brain Is Specialized, It Is Also

Plastic 94 What Is the Sociocultural Perspective? 141
Society and Culture Help Shape Mind and
Behavior 141
What Is the Endocrine System? 97
The Sociocultural Perspective Highlights Differences
The Nervous and Endocrine Systems Overlap 97 and Similarities 142
Three Examples of Cultural Psychology 144
What Is Neuroscience? 100
LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / Are Friends Good to
Behavioral Neuroscience Is the Study of the Neural Have? Friendship in West Africa and North
Basis of Behavior 101 America 146
Cognitive Neuroscience: The Neural Basis of Social Role Theory: The “Social” in
Cognition and Emotion 103 Sociocultural 147
There Are Limits to Neuroscience 106

CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 3
Human Lifespan
The Nature and Nurture of
Development 154
Behavior 110
Why Study Development? 156
What Are Genes? 113
Four Assumptions of the Lifespan Perspective 157
The Gene Is the Unit of Heredity 113
Phenotypes Are Observable Characteristics 115
How Does the Unborn Embryo Become a
Genes Have at Least Three Functions 115 Newborn Infant? 158
The Embryo and Fetus Face Challenges 158
 CONTENTS vii
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / The
“Crack Baby”: Crackpot Idea? 160 CHAPTER 5
The Newborn Infant Is Already Skilled 161
Perception and the
How Does the Infant Become a Child? 163 Senses 214
Brain Development Is Rapid 163
Social and Emotional Development Require Nature How Do Sensing and Perceiving
and Nurture 165 Differ? 217
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Early Psychophysicists Study the Relationship between
Child Care Has Benefits—and Costs 170 Stimuli and Perception 217
Cognitive Development: What Infants and Toddlers Signal Detection Theory Acknowledges the
Know 171 “Human” Factor 220
Sensory Adaptation Reduces Sensitivity to
Stimuli 220
How Does the Child Become
Adolescent? 181 Subliminal Perception Occurs below the Level of
Awareness 221
Adolescence Is a Process 181
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Can
The Adolescent Brain Is a “Work in Progress” 181
Subliminal Persuasion Make You Buy Coca-
Parents Matter—But How? 183 Cola or Boost Self-Esteem? 222
Peers Matter More than Ever 186

LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / Our Parents Were Right How Does the Eye Work? 224
(Sort of): Choose Your Friends Wisely 186
The Eye Receives Light 224
Moral Development in Adolescence Is Complex 187
Eyes Form Images of the World, but Do Not
AT THE FOREFRONT / The Neural Basis of “See” 225
Morality 192 Visual Signals Are Interpreted in the Visual
Cortex 226
Brains—Not Objects—Have Color 227
How Does the Adolescent Become
Adult? 194
Development in Adulthood: More Stages and How Does the Ear Work? 230
Continuities 195 Sound Is Vibration 230
Work, Marriage, and Parenthood Still Define The Ear Collects, Amplifies, and Transforms Sound
Adulthood for Most People 197 Waves 231
Both Ears Are Necessary to Locate Sounds 233
How Does the Adult Age? 204
Physical Changes Are Associated with Aging 204 How Do the Nose and Tongue Receive
Cognitive Changes Are Associated with Aging 205 Chemical Signals? 236
Social and Emotional Changes Involve Loss and The Nose Detects Odors 236
Gain 207 The Nose Also Detects Chemical
Death Is a Process 208 Communications 236
The Tongue Tastes, but It Needs the Nose for
Flavor 238

vii
 viii CONTENTS

How Do the Skin and Body Feel? 241 What Are Sleep Disorders? 285
Skin: The Agony and the Ecstasy 241 “Sleep Problems” and “Sleep Disorders” Are Not
the Same 286
Insomnia Has a Life of Its Own 286
How Do We Perceive Visual Images? 247
Visual Images Are Organized 247 LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / Getting a Good Night’s
Sleep 287
Visual Images Have Depth 250
Visual Images Have Constancy 254 Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) Can Be Life-
Threatening 288
Parasomnias Can Be Nightmarish 288
How Do Evolution, Culture, and Experience
Narcolepsy Destroys the Boundaries between Sleep
Affect Perception? 256
and Wakefulness 289
Face Recognition: Specialized Tool of
Perception? 256
Is Hypnosis an Altered State of
Perception Is Influenced by Expectation and
Consciousness? 291
Attention 258
Perceptual Set 259 Hypnosis Is a Social Event 291
People from Different Cultures May “See Things Special State versus Nonstate Debate 292
Differently” 260

CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Does What Is the Nature of Meditation? 293
Extrasensory Perception Exist? 263 Meditation Has at Least Two Basic
Characteristics 293
Meditation as an Altered State 294
CHAPTER 6
How Do Psychoactive Drugs Affect
Varieties of Consciousness? 296
Consciousness 268 Use of Psychoactive Drugs Is an Ordinary Part of
Most People’s Lives 296
“Addiction” Has Many Definitions 298
What Is Consciousness? No One All Substances Are Potentially Toxic 298
Knows 271 Narcotics 300
A Commonsense Definition of Consciousness 271 Stimulants 304
The Hard Problem: How Do We Get from Brain to Depressants 310
Self? 272
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / The
Consciousness Comes in Many Varieties 272
Most Common Date Rape Drug Is Alcohol 313

Psychedelics 314
How—and Why—Do We Sleep? 274
“Legal Highs” 318
How Much Sleep Is Enough? 274
Sleep Patterns Are Regulated by Two Processes 275
Falling Asleep Is a Gradual Process 277 CHAPTER 7
Sleep Comes in Two Types and Five Stages 277
The Function of Sleep Is Unknown 279 Learning 326

What Are Dreams? 281 What Is Learning? 328

Sleep Mentation Includes Thinking and Two Levels Learning Is Difficult to Define 329
of Dreaming 282
“Learned” Is Not the Opposite of “Innate” 330
Dreams Have Meaning to the Dreamer 283
 CONTENTS ix
Habituation and Sensitization Are the Simplest
Forms of Learning 330 CHAPTER 8
Associative Learning Is More Complex 332
Memory 370
What Is Classical Conditioning? 334
Classical Conditioning Prepares an Organism for What Are Memories? 373
What Is to Come 334 Memories Are Encoded, Stored, and Retrieved 374
Classical Conditioning Includes Stimulus and The Modal Model of Memory Consists of
Response 335 “Stores” 375
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Will the LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / How to Prepare—and Not
Real Little Albert Please Crawl Forward? 339 Prepare—for Exams 379

What Are the Limits of Classical What Is “Remembering”? 382

Conditioning? 342
Retrieval Cues 382
Cognition Plays a Part in Classical Conditioning 342
Working Memory Is Working With Memory 384
Evolution Prepares Each Animal to Form Certain
Associations 343 There Are Two Types (and Two Subtypes) of LTM 385
The Ecology of the Organism Affects Levels of Processing Framework: Are Memory Stores
Conditioning 345 Real? 388

AT THE FOREFRONT / Are “Brain Steroids” Useful

(and Ethical)? 390
What Is Operant Conditioning? 346
In Operant Conditioning, the Organism Teaches
Itself 347 How Do We Forget Things That Happened
Reinforcement and Punishment Are the Conditioning (and Remember Things That Never
Factors 348 Happened)? 393
Shaping: The Building Blocks of Operant Memories Are Constructed, Not Recorded 393
Behavior 349 Eyewitness Testimony Is Surprisingly
Reinforcers Differ in Strength and Origin 350 Unreliable 394
Reinforcement Schedules Affect Conditioning 350 Children’s Memories Can Be Manipulated 395
Punishment May Be Effective but Can Also Pose The Seven “Sins” of Memory 397
Problems 352
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY /
Memories of Trauma, False and True 406
What Are the Limits of Operant
Conditioning? 354 Are Our Memories Defective? 409

Cognition and Evolution Also Affect Operant

Conditioning 355 CHAPTER 9
What Is Observational Learning? 358 Thinking, Language, and
Modeling Is Learning through Imitation 358
Vicarious Conditioning Is Learning by Observing
Intelligence 414
Consequences 359
Mirror Neurons May Be the “How” of Observational How Does the Mind Work? 417
Learning 360
Effects of Media Violence: An Unsettled, and Thinking and Cognition Are Not the Same 417
Unsettling, Question 363 Mental Images Represent Information in Picture
Form 417
Concepts Are Mental Categories 418
 x CONTENTS

Thinking Fast, Thinking Slow: Kahneman’s Two- Most Theories of Intelligence Incorporate the Idea of
System Theory 419 g 455

How Do We Use Thinking to Solve Where Does Intelligence Come From? 458
Problems? 423
Genes and Environments Determine Cognitive
Trial and Error Eliminates Solutions One at a Ability 458
Time 423
Algorithms Never Fail, but They Are Not Always
Available 423 CHAPTER 10
Heuristics Are Mental “Rules of Thumb” 424
Aha! Insight! 428 Motivation 464
Creativity: Finding Problems and Solving Them 429

What Are Motivations? 466

How Do Biases Affect Decision
Making? 432 Motivations Initiate and Direct Behavior 467
Motivations Include Instincts and Adaptations 468
The Confirmation Bias Tells Us What We Want to
Hear 432 Motivations Also Include Drives, Incentives, and
Needs 470
Belief Persistence 433
Some Motivations Are Universal or “Nearly
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Chance Universal” 475
Is Lumpy: The Gambler’s Fallacy 433

How Is Work a Window onto

Language: What Is It, and How Do We Motivation? 477
Learn It? 435 Traits Influence Work Performance 477
Language Is an Open-Ended Code 435 Perceived Self-Efficacy 477
Language May Also Be a “Mental Organ” 437 Goal Setting 478

CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / There LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / “Do What You Are”:
Ain’t No Such Thing as Bad Grammar, Yo’: The Using Positive Psychology to Help Choose a
Linguistic View 439 Career 479

Language May Influence the Way We Think 441

Why Do We Eat? 482
Do Nonhuman Animals Have Hunger and Appetite Are Not the Same 482
Language? 443
People Tend to Maintain an Energy Balance 483
Washoe, Nim, and Kanzi: Conversationalists or Eating Disorders Have Become More Common 484
Trained Chimps? 444
Overweight and Obesity Are Epidemic 487

What Is Intelligence? 448

The Social Motivations: Why Do We Turn
There Are Two General Meanings of the Word Toward One Another? 490
“Intelligence” 448
Affiliation Means Being Near, but Not Necessarily
General Intelligence (g) Is One Way of Describing Close 491
“Book Smarts” 449
Belonging Means Caring Relationships that
IQ Is the Most Commonly Accepted Measure of Endure 491
Intelligence 449
IQ Measures Something Important, but It May Not
Be Intelligence 451 Aggression: Why Do We Turn Against One
Another? 495
Multiple Intelligences: An Alternative to g
and IQ 453 Aggression May Be Violent or Nonviolent 496
 CONTENTS xi
Aggression May Be Hostile or Instrumental 496 LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / To Forgive Is Human as
There Are Sex Differences in Aggression 497 Well as Divine 534

Aggression Is Triggered by Specific Factors 499

Aggressors Believe They Are in the Right 501 Who Is Happy (and Why)? 535
Most People Are Reasonably Happy 536
Competence: Why Do People Seek to Do When Money Buys Happiness 536
Well? 504
When Money Buys Unhappiness 539
Approach and Avoidance Are Two Strategies for Happiness “Set Points” Are Not Set in Stone 540
Competence 504
What Makes People Happy 540
Achievement Is a Part of Competence
Motivation 505
What Is Stress? 542
Stress Is a Response to Challenging or Threatening
CHAPTER 11 Events 543
We Need Stress 544
Emotion and Health 510 The Stress Response Involves Activation and
Adaptation 545
Hans Selye and the GAS Model 546
What Is Emotion? 513
Tend and Befriend: The Female Fight or Flight? 546
How Are Your Feelings? 513 Ethnic Minorities Experience Unique Stressors 547
Unpleasant Emotions Outnumber Pleasant
Ones 514
Does Stress Cause Illness? 549
Emotions Serve Important Functions 515
Everyone Wants to Feel Good—But What Is “Feeling Stress Affects Immune Systems 549
Good”? 516
AT THE FOREFRONT / Placebo: Treatment or
Nontreatment? 552
Are Some Emotions “Basic”? 518
Basic Emotions Are Primary 519 Coping: How Can Stress Be Managed? 555
Basic Emotions Are Affected by Culture 520
Optimism 555
Deception Is Linked to Emotion and Cognition 522
Aerobic Exercise 556
Meditation 557
How Do Psychologists Explain
Emotion? 525 LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / How to Meditate 558

Early Theories: Which Comes First, Feeling or Social Support 559

Emotion? 525 Religion and Spiritual Life 560
Cognitive Theories Stress Interpretation of If All Else Fails, Get a Dog 563
Events 526
Some Emotional Experiences May Bypass
Cognition 527 CHAPTER 12
Embodied Emotion: The Body Is the Mind 529
Which Theory of Emotion Is “Right”? 530 Personality 568

How Do People Deal with Anger? 532

What Is Personality? 571
Anger Is Common, Varied, and Dangerous 532
Like All Others, Some Others, and No Other 571
“Venting” Is Not an Effective Strategy for Dealing
Personality Is Organized, Integrated, and Relatively
with Anger 532
Enduring 572
 xii CONTENTS

What Are the “Grand Theories” of

Personality? 573 CHAPTER 13
Sigmund Freud and Psychoanalysis: The Life of the
Unconscious Mind 574
Psychological Disorders 614
The Neo-Freudians: Keeping the Baby, Throwing Out
the Bathwater 480
What Is a Psychological Disorder? 617
The Behaviorists: Personality Is a Learning
Experience 581 The DSM View: Disorder = Dysfunction and Distress
(or Impairment) 618
The Humanists: Faith in Humankind 582
The Myth of Mental Illness View: Disorders Are
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Self- Social Judgments, Not “Illnesses” 619
Esteem: It Feels Good, but What Does It The Harmful Dysfunction View: Fact and Social
Actually Do? 583 Judgment Define Disorder 620
Winds of Change 586 What about “Insanity?” 622
The Number of People with Disorders Is Not Known
with Certainty 622
How Do Traits and Situations Affect
Personality? 588 Major Mental Disorders and Personality
Disorders 625
Traits Describe—but Do Not Explain—
Personality 588
What Are Anxiety Disorders? 626
LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / What Is Your Big Five
Score? 592 Generalized Anxiety Disorder Defines the
Experience of Anxiety 627
Situations Can Powerfully Influence Behavior 593
Phobias Are Irrational Fears 627
Traits and Situations Form Revealing Patterns 594
Panic Disorder: Anxious about Fear 629
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Anxiety Results from Combinations of Causes 630
Astrology: Is Personality in the Stars? 595 Obsessive-Compulsive and Trauma-Related
Disorders Are in Categories All Their Own 630
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Can Dominate a
How Do Genes, Environments, and Culture
Person’s Life 630
Influence Personality? 598
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Rare Response to
Genes Play an Important Role in Personality Trauma 632
Development 598
Nonshared Environments Are Equally Important 598 LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / Beware of Psychology
Students’ Disease! 634
Culture May Influence Personality, but Not in
Expected Ways 601
What Are Depressive and Bipolar
How Is Personality Measured? 602 Disorders? 636
Projective Tests Interpret Personality 603 Major Depressive Disorder: The Most Severe Form of
Depression 636
Objective Tests Are Constructed Empirically 605
How Depression Arises 639
Women Have Much Higher Rates of Depression 642
Does Personality Change over Time? 606
Bipolar Disorders Are a Spectrum, Not a Single
Traits Are Surprisingly—but Not Entirely— Disorder 643
Stable 607 Depressive and Bipolar Disorders Increase the Risk
Other Aspects of Personality May Also Change 609 of Suicide 645
 CONTENTS xiii

Are Depression and Anxiety What Are Group, Couple, and Family
Overdiagnosed? 648 Therapies? 686
Social Phobia: When Is It Truly Dysfunctional? 649 Group Therapy Involves Three or More 687
When Ordinary Sadness Becomes Disorder 650 Family Therapy: The Family as a System 687
Couple Therapy for Marital or Individual
Distress 688
What Is Schizophrenia? 652
Symptoms May Be Positive and Negative 652
Does Psychotherapy Work? 689
The Search for Causes of Schizophrenia 654
Partial Recovery Is Possible 658 What Does “Works” Mean? Efficacy and
Effectiveness 689
No One Style of Therapy Has Proved Superior
What Are Personality Disorders? 659 Overall 692
Paranoid Personality Disorder Fosters Mistrust 661 Psychotherapy May Work for the “Wrong
Borderline Personality Disorder Leads to a Stormy Reasons” 692
Life 661 Psychotherapy Can Also Cause Harm 694
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder Wants Culture Plays a Role in Psychotherapy 695
Rules Obeyed 662 Therapists Are People 696
CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY / Psychological Services beyond Psychotherapy 696
Sybil and the Epidemic of Multiple
Personalities 662
What Is Pharmacotherapy? 698
Pharmacotherapy Uses Psychoactive
Medications 698
CHAPTER 14 Anxiety Is Treated with Anxiolytics 698
Depression Is Treated with Antidepressants 699
Treatment 668
Bipolar Disorders Are Treated with Mood
Stabilizers 700
What Is Psychotherapy? 671 Schizophrenia Is Treated with Antipsychotics 701

Psychotherapy Involves a Healing Personal

Relationship 671 Does Pharmacotherapy Work? 703
People Enter Psychotherapy for Many Reasons 671 Large Corporations Manage Information about
There Are Different Styles of Psychotherapy 672 Pharmacotherapy 703
Psychotherapists’ Training Varies Widely 672 Eliminating Publication Bias Reveals a Different
Picture of Antidepressants 706

How Do Styles of Psychotherapy

Differ? 675 What Other Biological Treatments Are
Available? 708
Psychoanalysis: Uncommon, but Influential 675
Psychyodynamic Psychotherapy 676 Electroconvulsive Treatment Is Controversial 708
Behavior Therapy: Changing Maladaptive Magnetic Brain Stimulation 710
Behavior 676 Psychosurgery 710
Cognitive Therapies: Changing Feelings by Changing Closing Remarks: The Future of Treatment Is
Thoughts 679 Integrative 710

LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / Cognitive Therapy to Fight

Depression 682

Integrative Therapy: Using What Works 683

Bibliotherapy: Reading Your Way to Relief? 684
 xiv CONTENTS

How Does Intergroup Conflict Lead to

CHAPTER 15 Aggression? 753
Stereotyping Can Lead to Prejudice 754
Social Psychology 716
Ingroup Bias May Also Lead to Prejudice 755
Prejudice Can Be Subtle and Unconscious 759
What Is Psychological Self-Defense? 719 Prejudice in the Face of Terror and Death 760
Cognitive Biases Are Potent Self-Defense Obedience to Authority 760
Weapons 720
AT THE FOREFRONT / “Ultimate” Aggression:
The Ups and Downs of Comparing Yourself to What Motivates a Suicide Terrorist? 762
Others 722
Intergroup Contact: Reducing Prejudice in Jittery
Cognitive Dissonance: When Attitudes and Behavior
Times 763
Clash 723
Lessons of Abu Ghraib 764
When Self-Defense Fails, the Self May Attempt to
Change 724

How Do We Present Ourselves to

CHAPTER 16
Others? 728
Sex, Gender, and Sexual
Impression Management Involves Motivation and
Construction 728 Behavior (bonus chapter) 770
Self-Presentation in Cyberspace 729
Our Ideas of How Others See Us Are Often Wildly Off
Track 730 Are “Sex” and “Gender” Different? 773
Sex at Birth Is Chromosomal, Gonadal, Hormonal,
and Anatomical 773
How Do We Explain Our Own and Others’
Behavior? 732 “Gender” Is Less Easy to Define than “Sex” 775
Gender Identity Begins in Early Childhood 777
The Fundamental Attribution Error: Mistaking the
Situation for the Person 732 Gender Roles Are Beliefs about How Men and
Women Ought to Behave 778
The Actor-Observer Bias: Mistaking the Person for
the Situation 734 Gender Stereotypes Are Beliefs about What Men and
Women Are Like 780

Who Attracts Whom? 735

How Do the Sexes Differ? 782
Positive Assortment 736
There Are Sex Differences in Play Styles and Toy
The Mere Exposure Effect 736
Preferences 782
Beauty Is Not Entirely in the Eye of the Beholder 737
Sex Differences in Cognition Favor Men and Women
in Different Ways 787
How Do Other People Affect Our Opinions Sex Differences in Cognition Might Exist in Three
and Behavior? 741 Ways 789
People Conform for Many Reasons 742 CRITICAL THINKING ABOUT PSYCHOLOGY /
Groupthink Is Dangerous 744 Stereotype Threat: Are Scientific Theories
Bystander Apathy, Tragedy, and Public Outrage 745 about Sex Differences Dangerous? 794

Deindividuation in Groups: Human Beings at Their

Worst 747
Sexual Behavior: What Is “Having Sex,” and
Altruism: Human Beings at Their Best 748 Why Do People Have It? 797
People Do Not Agree on What Constitutes “Having
Sex” 798
 CONTENTS xv
The Physiology of Sexual Response Proceeds in How Closely Are Sex and Love Linked? 815
Stages 801
Love as a Set of Characteristic Feelings, Thoughts,
LIVING PSYCHOLOGY / Sexual Aggression: What and Behaviors 816
Should You Do if You Are Raped or Sexually Love Is a Human Universal—With Cultural
Assaulted? 803 Variations 817
Love and Sex: The Biobehavioral Model 818

How Does Sexuality Develop? 805

Child Sexuality Is Human Sexuality, but It Isn’t Adult
Sexuality 805
Glossary G-1
Sexual Development in Adolescence Is
Multifaceted 806 References R-1
Credits C-1
What Is Sexual Orientation? 810
Sexual Orientation Includes Behavior, Desire, and Name Index NI-1
Identity 811
Subject Index SI-1
Patterns of Sexual Orientation Differ for Men and
Women 811
Causes of Sexual Orientation Are Not Known with
Certainty 813
Preface
Teaching the introductory course in psychology is one research, and so this book presents a balance of
of my greatest pleasures. But I have often wondered: traditional and contemporary views of this topic
Given the significant developments in the field of psy- (Chapter 9).
chology over the past 25 years, why is it so difficult • The fundamental attribution error is a mainstay
to find introductory psychology textbooks that depict of social psychology research. However, early in
in a compelling and readable manner the science of this decade John Sabini and his colleagues se-
psychology as it currently exists—books that hon- riously challenged the nature and ubiquity of
estly portray contemporary psychological science? I this cognitive error. Therefore, our discussion
wanted a book that depicted modern psychology in of FAE gives equal time to Sabini’s robust and
all its excitement, complexity, strengths, and fragili- influential critique, a key to understanding the
ties, as well as covering the historical topics central to current state of knowledge in social psychology
the traditional introductory psychology curriculum. I (Chapter 15).
have written Psychology: Contemporary Perspectives • The discussion of psychotherapy includes de-
to fulfill these goals. tailed consideration of the difference between
efficacy and effectiveness, and explores the cir-
cumstances under which psychotherapy can
harm as well as heal. This chapter also includes
Hallmark Features consideration of the important current debate
over the possibility that certain disorders (e.g.,
Any instructor currently teaching introductory depression, social phobia) are being overdiag-
psychology will immediately feel at home with the nosed as a result of inadequacies in DSM-IV-TR
chapter sequence and organization of this book. diagnostic criteria (Chapter 15).
The traditional topics are all included. What distin- • The discussion of psychopharmacology treat-
guishes this book from others is a new balance of ment of disorders includes important recent
contemporary and traditional research that invites evidence of undue influence of the pharmaceuti-
the student to develop a modern appraisal of psy- cal industry on beliefs about the effectiveness of
chology. This approach is exemplified by several key psychiatric medications (Chapter 15).
elements of the book.
Nature via Nurture
Current Perspectives—Not Just
It has become a cliché to announce that the nature vs.
Current References nurture debate is over and both sides have won. As
A goal of the text is to present contemporary per- Diane Halpern put it, “biology and environment are
spectives on psychological science. Psychology: as inseparable as conjoined twins who share a com-
Contemporary Perspectives does this not only by mon heart” (2004, p. 138). Yet there is a doggedly per-
strengthening 20th-century perspectives with 21st- sistent tendency for people to continue to try to divide
century references, but also by including the latest psychological processes into categories of “learned”
views of psychological science to reinforce under- vs. “innate,” “biological” vs. “psychological/social,”
standing of traditional topics. This means rebal- and so forth. To address this tendency, Psychology:
ancing the space allotted to given topics as well as Contemporary Perspectives repeatedly emphasizes
including material that goes largely unreported in an integrative, biopsychosocial perspective as far as
traditional textbooks. Here are a few examples: people are concerned, wherein nature exists only via
nurture, and nurture via nature (Ridley, 2003). Three
• In prior years, the science of morality more or
examples regarding this nature and nurture interac-
less began and ended with Lawrence Kohlberg
tion include:
and cognitive-developmental theory. Currently,
however, Kohlberg’s “critics” actually represent • The book examines gene-environment correla-
the psychological establishment in this area of tion as well as gene-environment interaction,
xvi
 PREFACE xvii
distinguishing the two and providing clear and as disparate as developmental, cognitive, personal-
detailed examples of each (Chapter 3). ity, and clinical psychology. This book reflects the im-
• The book discusses research suggesting that portance of genetic research in fields of psychological
East Asians from collectivist cultures are less science.
likely than Westerners from individualist cul- Finally, the positive psychology movement is pro-
tures to self-enhance—focus on their good quali- ducing important research in areas of human expe-
ties as compared with the bad, or as compared rience previously not given serious attention—for
with the qualities of other people. However, I example, positive emotions and mental states as
simultaneously propose (citing Steven Heine) explored in Chapter 11 and human strengths and
that Westerners and Far Easterners are equally positive motivations as explored in Chapter 10. In ad-
motivated to be “good selves” as defined in their dition, positive psychologists are making major con-
respective cultures. Thus, human universals are tributions to areas of research previously dominated
expressed in culturally diverse ways (Chapter 3). by earlier theories—for example, Jonathan Haidt’s
• The concepts of brain development—both criti- important new work on moral intuitions is described
cal/sensitive periods and plasticity—are illus- in detail in Chapter 9.
trated by exploring the experience of Romanian
orphans adopted out to Canadian and European
homes (Chapter 9).
Critical Thinking
To my mind, the most important thing I learned as
a graduate student in psychology was how to think
Bringing Emerging Perspectives to critically. Because psychology relies so heavily on re-
the Forefront search design and statistics, it is a jewel among sci-
Psychology: Contemporary Perspectives brings to the ences in the teaching of critical thinking. The term
forefront many vital areas of contemporary research critical thinking is much overused and over-hyped
that are often marginalized in other textbooks. in textbooks. It often translates into little more than
In other textbooks for this course, cross-cultural “thinking hard,” “thinking well,” or “thinking for
work is often segregated into optional feature boxes yourself.” While I also foster those attitudes in my
rather than being integrated into the main discus- students, I use the term critical thinking in my book
sion. Because cross-cultural psychology is a vibrant in a more specific way. Psychology: Contemporary
component of contemporary psychology, I integrate Perspectives incorporates critical thinking as a set of
cross-cultural work throughout the text rather than skills that move the thinker toward the goal of seeing
relegate it to side boxes. There is no way to escape the things as they are in actuality without being swayed
fact that most knowledge of human psychology stems by bias or error. I encourage critical thinking about
from research studies of middle-class individuals claims in psychology throughout the book.
(mostly undergraduates) from Western nations, pri-
marily the United States. However, when competent About Pedagogy: Back to Basics
cross-cultural work attempts to correct this problem,
Research demonstrating the superiority of elaborate
it should be given exposure.
pedagogical systems employed in many current text-
Evolutionary psychology is often similarly isolated
books is scant (Gurung & Daniel, 2005). I am aware
(and unfairly misrepresented, adding insult to in-
that such systems appeal to many instructors, but my
jury). Currently, not only is evolutionary psychology
experience and substantial research suggest that stu-
an important perspective in psychology, but numer-
dents generally do not use aids that are not directly
ous researchers and theorists who do not consider
related to exam performance (e.g., boldface terms,
themselves to be evolutionary psychologists incor-
self-tests, concise chapter summaries; Gurung,
porate insights of evolutionary psychology into their
2003; Weiten, Dequara, Rehmke, & Sewell, 2002).
work—for example, Shelley Taylor, Daniel Schachter,
Therefore, I have taken a “back to basics” approach
Roy Baumeister, and many others. Evolution-minded
to pedagogy for this book that emphasizes review, re-
insights and research appear throughout the text
trieval, and overlearning.
where they are relevant.
Behavior and molecular genetics deserve to be • At the end of each major section of every chap-
taken seriously in a book on introductory psychology. ter, the “In Summary” feature presents a concise
But, like evolutionary psychology, behavior genet- and specific summary of what the student read,
ics was once held suspect by many, its findings and fostering review.
methods often misunderstood or mischaracterized. • Self-test questions encouraging retrieval (the
Currently it is an important component field of psy- “Retrieve!” feature) follow the section summa-
chological science and informs researchers in areas ries. Although some of these questions do rely