Key Themes and Applications in Psychological Science
Key Themes and Applications in Psychological Science
Preface
To the reader:
This is not your typical academic resource! It is written with and for the early college or high school student, and we want to hear your feedback for improvements. Tell us what you like and don’t like – what speaks to you, needs more explanation, has an impact, and what other topics or research stories we should include. Much of the content has already been previewed by over a thousand Introductory Psychology students and their feedback has already been incorporated. You can use the form linked here at any time to report an error, broken link, missing citation – or tell us your thoughts, ideas, and questions. We read every one and when appropriate will let you know when your feedback is incorporated into the book.
Our goal is to bring psychological science to life within the framework of the Key Integrative Themes. In this preface, we introduce those themes and provide a general outline for the ebook. We also provide some basic information about the field of psychology, including a critical look at the history of psychology.
Intro to the Units
This book includes aspects of each of the domains and subfields that would typically be found as chapters in an Introductory Psychology Textbook. You might be reading this as a supplement to one of those books or to another course. This book is not a comprehensive introduction to the field of psychology. The first unit includes a story about the field, and the others walk through the major themes in an integrated way, with an assumption that you either have prior knowledge about the major domains, or are learning about them alongside the themes.
Psychology as a field is tasked with explaining the most complex beings on earth. The framework of the integrative themes take into account many perspectives and possibilities. Each chapter represents one of the Key Integrative Themes of psychology, which taken together provide a comprehensive understanding of what we know about how humans think, feel, and behave. The chapters move from the perspective of psychology as a field of study, to psychology as a science, then to applying this science to your life and the world around you.
The seven Key integrative Themes were identified by the American Psychological Association Introductory Psychology Initiative, and are integral to the established learning outcomes for the Introductory Psychology course as well as the overall psychology major. Below are brief descriptions of each module along with the Key Integrative Themes that are the focus of this book. Within each chapter, we provide examples of how they are at work in the field of psychology and our lives.The aim of this resource is to support students in psychology courses in gaining a full understanding of these themes.
Key: The most important, enduring knowledge that you can take away from the course and the major. The field will change, the science will adapt, our understanding of human