Psychology in Perspective

PREFACE TO THE INSTRUCTOR Put any group of introductory psychology teachers together, and you are bound to hear two familiar complaints. "Introductory psychology is supposed to be a smorgasbord," one will say, "but my students are overwhelmed by the dozens of dishes; the meal has become indigestible:" Another will venture, "My students complain that there's no 'big picture' in psychology; how can we bring some sort of order to our courses?" Nearly all of the introductory books on the market--including our own text,Psychology--take a topical approach to psychology: a chapter on the brain, a chapter on emotions, a chapter on child development, and so forth. There is certainly a place for such encyclopedias of psychology; we're quite fond of ours! Yet, for many teachers, this conventional organization has grown increasingly problematic. As findings in psychology have burgeoned, and the number of specialty areas has grown as well, textbooks have had to become longer and longer. And so we thought it was time for a reconceptualization of the introductory course and a true alternative to the traditional, topic-by-topic way of teaching it. Many scientists and educators agree. Several years ago, the American Association for the Advancement of Science launched Project 2061, an effort to determine the best ways of increasing scientific literacy. To this end, they commissioned the National Council on Science and Technology Education to survey hundreds of scientists, engineers, and educators and draw up a report of their recommendations. The result,Science for All Americans,calls on instructors to aim fordepthrather thanbreadthin their introductory courses; to "reduce the sheer amount of material covered"; to "present the scientific endeavor as a social enterprise that strongly influences--and is influenced by--human thought and action"; and "to foster scientific ways of thinking" (AAAS Project 2061, 1990; for the report from the social and behavioral sciences panel, see Appley & Maher, 1989). TEACHING FOR DEPTH Psychology in Perspectiverepresents our effort to meet this challenge. Typically, courses and textbooks are constructed around the question, "What do I want students to know about my field?" With the question phrased that way, the answer can only be "Everything!" None of us likes the idea of "leaving something out," especially if the introductory course is the only one a student might ever take. In this book, however, we accepted the premise of Project 2061 and asked a different question: "What should an educated citizen know about psychology?" With the question phrased that way, "Everything!" is no longer such a useful answer. For one thing, students can't remember everything. For another, specific findings change yearly, and in some areas (such as genetics and memory) they change faster than that. So we asked ourselves what kind of framework we could provide students that would help them evaluate the psychological findings and claims they will encounter when they leave the classroom. What, for example, should students know about genetics in particular, and biological approaches to behavior in general, that will help them assess someone's claim to have found "the" gene for aggression or homosexuality? To teach for depth rather than breadth, and for ideas rather than facts alone, we have organized material not by topics or psychological specialties but by what we regard as the five major perspectives in the field: biological, cognitive, learning, sociocultural, and psychodynamic. Our aim is to provide a true introduction to how researchers in each perspective go about their business: the kinds of questions they ask, the methods they use, the assumptions they make, and their major findings. We have included many classic studies along with groundbreaking new ones, but we do not attempt to be encyclopedic. InTavris, Carol is the author of 'Psychology in Perspective', published 2000 under ISBN 9780130283269 and ISBN 0130283266.