Exploring Psychology, Eleventh Edition
By David G. Myers and C Nathan Dewall
Contents:
Instructor Preface: Engage Your Students So They Retain
Psychology
In Appreciation
Student Preface: Time Management—How to Be a Great
Student and Still Have a Life
CHAPTER 1
Thinking Critically With Psychological Science
The History and Scope of Psychology
Psychology Is a Science
Critical Thinking
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT The Scientific
Attitude
Psychological Science Is Born
Psychological Science Matures
Contemporary Psychology
Research Strategies: How Psychologists Ask and
Answer Questions
The Need for Psychological Science
Psychological Science in a Post-Truth World
The Scientific Method
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Correlation and
Causation
Psychology’s Research Ethics
Use Psychology to Become a Stronger Person—and a
Better Student
CHAPTER 2
The Biology of Behavior
Neural and Hormonal Systems
Biology, Behavior, and Mind
The Power of Plasticity
Neural Communication
The Nervous System
The Endocrine System
Tools of Discovery, Older Brain Structures, and the
Limbic System
The Tools of Discovery: Having Our Head Examined
Older Brain Structures
The Limbic System
The Cerebral Cortex
Structure of the Cortex
Functions of the Cortex
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Using More Than 10
Percent of Our Brain
Responses to Damage
The Divided Brain
Genetics, Evolutionary Psychology, and Behavior
Behavior Genetics: Predicting Individual Differences
Evolutionary Psychology: Understanding Human
Nature
CHAPTER 3
Consciousness and the Two-Track Mind
Consciousness: Some Basic Concepts
Defining Consciousness
Cognitive Neuroscience
Selective Attention
Dual Processing: The Two-Track Mind
Sleep and Dreams
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
Why Do We Sleep?
Sleep Deprivation and Sleep Disorders
Dreams
Drugs and Consciousness
Tolerance and Addiction in Substance Use Disorders
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Tolerance and
Addiction
Types of Psychoactive Drugs
Influences on Drug Use
CHAPTER 4
Developing Through the Life Span
Developmental Issues, Prenatal Development, and
the Newborn
Developmental Psychology’s Major Issues
Prenatal Development and the Newborn
Infancy and Childhood
Physical Development
Cognitive Development
Social Development
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Parenting Styles
Adolescence
Physical Development
Cognitive Development
Social Development
Emerging Adulthood
Adulthood
Physical Development
Cognitive Development
Social Development
CHAPTER 5
Sex, Gender, and Sexuality
Gender Development
How Are We Alike? How Do We Differ?
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Gender Bias in the
Workplace
The Nature of Gender: Our Biological Sex
The Nurture of Gender: Our Culture and Experiences
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Sexual Aggression
Human Sexuality
The Physiology of Sex
The Psychology of Sex
Sexual Orientation
An Evolutionary Explanation of Human Sexuality
Sex and Human Relationships
Reflections on the Nature and Nurture of Sex, Gender,
and Sexuality
CHAPTER 6
Sensation and Perception
Basic Concepts of Sensation and Perception
Processing Sensations and Perceptions
Transduction
Thresholds
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Subliminal Sensation
and Subliminal Persuasion
Sensory Adaptation
Perceptual Set
Context, Motivation, and Emotion
Vision: Sensory and Perceptual Processing
Light Energy and Eye Structures
Information Processing in the Eye and Brain
Perceptual Organization
Perceptual Interpretation
The Nonvisual Senses
Hearing
The Other Senses
Sensory Interaction
ESP—Perception Without Sensation?
CHAPTER 7
Learning
Basic Learning Concepts and Classical Conditioning
How Do We Learn?
Classical Conditioning
Operant Conditioning
Skinner’s Experiments
Skinner’s Legacy
Contrasting Classical and Operant Conditioning
Biology, Cognition, and Learning
Biological Constraints on Conditioning
Cognition’s Influence on Conditioning
Learning by Observation
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT The Effects of
Viewing Media Violence
CHAPTER 8
Memory
Studying and Encoding Memories
Studying Memory
Encoding Memories
Storing and Retrieving Memories
Memory Storage
Memory Retrieval
Forgetting, Memory Construction, and Improving
Memory
Forgetting
Memory Construction Errors
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Can Memories of
Childhood Sexual Abuse Be Repressed and Then
Recovered?
Improving Memory
CHAPTER 9
Thinking, Language, and Intelligence
Thinking
Concepts
Problem Solving: Strategies and Obstacles
Forming Good (and Bad) Decisions and Judgments
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT The Fear Factor
Thinking Creatively
Do Other Species Share Our Cognitive Skills?
Language and Thought
Language Structure
Language Acquisition and Development
The Brain and Language
Do Other Species Have Language?
Thinking and Language
Intelligence and Its Assessment
What Is Intelligence?
Assessing Intelligence
Intelligence Across the Life Span
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Cross-Sectional and
Longitudinal Studies
Genetic and Environmental Influences on
Intelligence
Heredity and Intelligence
Environment and Intelligence
Gene-Environment Interactions
Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
The Question of Bias
CHAPTER 10
Motivation and Emotion
Basic Motivational Concepts, Affiliation, and
Achievement
Motivational Concepts
The Need to Belong
Achievement Motivation
Hunger
The Physiology of Hunger
The Psychology of Hunger
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT The Challenges of
Obesity and Weight Control
Theories and Physiology of Emotion
Emotion: Arousal, Behavior, and Cognition
Embodied Emotion
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Lie Detection
Expressing and Experiencing Emotion
Detecting Emotion in Others
Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior
Culture and Emotion
The Effects of Facial Expressions
CHAPTER 11
Stress, Health, and Human Flourishing
Stress and Illness
Stress: Some Basic Concepts
Stress and Vulnerability to Disease
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Stress and Health
Health and Happiness
Coping With Stress
Reducing Stress
Happiness
CHAPTER 12
Social Psychology
Social Thinking and Social Influence
Social Thinking
Social Influence
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT The Internet as
Social Amplifier
Antisocial Relations
Prejudice
Aggression
Prosocial Relations
Attraction
Altruism
From Conflict to Peace
CHAPTER 13
Personality
Classic Perspectives on Personality
What Is Personality?
Psychodynamic Theories
Humanistic Theories
Contemporary Perspectives on Personality
Trait Theories
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT The Stigma of
Introversion
Social-Cognitive Theories
Exploring the Self
CHAPTER 14
Psychological Disorders
Basic Concepts of Psychological Disorders
Understanding Psychological Disorders
Classifying Disorders—and Labeling People
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT ADHD—Normal
High Energy or Disordered Behavior?
Risk of Harm to Self and Others
Rates of Psychological Disorders
Anxiety Disorders, OCD, and PTSD
Anxiety Disorders
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Understanding Anxiety Disorders, OCD, and PTSD
Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder
Bipolar Disorder
Understanding Major Depressive Disorder and Bipolar
Disorder
Schizophrenia and Other Disorders
Other Disorders
CHAPTER 15
Therapy
Introduction to Therapy and the Psychological
Therapies
Treating Psychological Disorders
Psychoanalysis and Psychodynamic Therapies
Humanistic Therapies
Behavior Therapies
Cognitive Therapies
Group and Family Therapies
Evaluating Psychotherapies
Is Psychotherapy Effective?
Which Psychotherapies Work Best?
Evaluating Alternative Therapies
How Do Psychotherapies Help People?
Culture and Values in Psychotherapy
Finding a Mental Health Professional
The Biomedical Therapies and Preventing
Psychological Disorders
THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT Therapeutic
Lifestyle Change
Drug Therapies
Brain Stimulation
Psychosurgery
Preventing Psychological Disorders and Building Resilience
APPENDIX A Statistical Reasoning in Everyday Life
APPENDIX B Psychology at Work
APPENDIX C Career Fields in Psychology, by Jennifer Zwolinski
APPENDIX D Complete Chapter Reviews
APPENDIX E Answers to Retrieve It and Experience the
Testing Effect Questions
Glossary
References
Name Index
Subject Index