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Essentials of Psychology
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Essentials of Psychology

Second Edition

Other Titles in:
Psychology (General)

December 2025 | 760 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Psychology exists all around us. In Essentials of Psychology, Second Edition, authors Krisstal D. Clayton, Gregory J. Privitera, and Saul Kassin take students on a journey from the laboratory to the real world, demonstrating the breadth of applications of psychological science to everyday life. In every chapter, students assume the role of a psychologist, carrying out experiments, making predictions, and investigating the results. Compelling storytelling, real-life examples, and the authors’ applied pedagogy encourage critical thinking and engagement throughout. In the new edition, the authors expand the coverage of research methods and scientific thinking, while addressing what matters most to today's students—from social media's psychological impact to evidence-based sleep strategies—preparing them to be smart consumers of information.

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Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Student Success Guide
 
Chapter 1: Psychology’s Place in the World
What Is Psychology?

 
Psychology’s Roots

 
Psychology’s Pioneers

 
Psychology’s Horizons

 
Multidimensional Perspectives

 
Specializations and Careers

 
Psychology’s Solutions

 
Values, Ethics, and Social Responsibility

 
Disparities in Health Care

 
Workplace and Education

 
The Effects of Climate Change

 
Connecting the Brain With Behavior

 
Psychology and You

 
Happiness and Money

 
Self-Doubt and Success

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist about Psychology’s Place in the World

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 2: Psychology and its Methods
The Scientific Method

 
The Research Process

 
Research Settings

 
Psychological Measurements

 
Designing Research Studies

 
Descriptive Research

 
Correlational Studies

 
True Experiments

 
Collections of Evidence

 
Statistics and Scientific Discovery

 
Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

 
Minimizing Bias

 
Ethical Considerations

 
Ethical Considerations in Human Research

 
Psychology Applied: Ethics in Social Media Research

 
Ethical Considerations in Animal Research

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Psychology and Its Methods

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 3: Behavioral Neuroscience
The Body’s Communication Networks

 
The Nervous System

 
The Endocrine System

 
The Neuron

 
Structure of the Neuron

 
The Neuron in Action

 
How Neurons Communicate

 
Neurotransmitters

 
The Brain

 
Tools of Behavioral Neuroscience

 
Regions of the Brain

 
The Cerebral Cortex

 
Hemispheres of the Brain

 
Prospects For the Future

 
The Brain’s Capacity for Growth and Reorganization

 
Repairing the Damaged Brain: New Frontiers

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Behavioral Neuroscience

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception
Measuring the Sensory Experience

 
Absolute Thresholds

 
Signal-Detection Theory

 
Difference Thresholds

 
Visual Sensation

 
Visual Perception

 
Perceptual Organization

 
Perceptual Constancies

 
Depth and Dimension

 
Perceptual Set

 
Illusions

 
Auditory Sensation and Perception

 
Other Senses

 
Keeping the Signals Straight

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Sensation and Perception

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 5: Consciousness
Attentional Processes

 
Selective Attention

 
Divided Attention

 
Influence Without Awareness

 
Sleep and Dreams

 
The Sleep-Wake Cycle

 
Night Work, Sleeping, and Health

 
The Stages of Sleep

 
Why Do We Sleep?

 
Theories of Sleep

 
Dreams

 
Sleep Disturbances

 
Hypnosis

 
The Origins of Hypnosis

 
Hypnotic Induction and Suggestion

 
Hypnotic Responsiveness

 
Is Hypnosis an Altered State?

 
Consciousness-Altering Drugs

 
Depressants

 
Stimulants

 
Psychedelics

 
Opioids

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Consciousness

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 6: Learning
Classical Conditioning

 
Pavlov’s Discovery

 
Basic Principles

 
Pavlov’s Legacy

 
Practical Applications of Classical Conditioning

 
Psychology Applied: Can the Immune System be Classically Conditioned?

 
Operant Conditioning

 
Practical Applications of Operant Conditioning

 
Developments in Operant Conditioning

 
Observational Learning

 
Studies of Modeling

 
The Process of Modeling

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Learning

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 7: Memory
An Information-Processing Model

 
The Sensory Register

 
Iconic Memory

 
Echoic Memory

 
Short-Term Memory

 
Capacity

 
Duration

 
Functions of Short-Term Memory

 
Long-Term Memory

 
Encoding

 
Storage

 
Retrieval

 
What Events Do People Remember?

 
Forgetting

 
The Forgetting Curve

 
Why Do People Forget?

 
Reconstruction

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Memory

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 8: Thought, Language, and Intelligence
Thinking

 
Concepts

 
Solving Problems

 
Representing the Problem

 
Generating Solutions

 
Trial and Error

 
Obstructions in Problem Solving

 
Language

 
Characteristics of Human Language

 
Emergence of Language

 
The Relationship Between Thought and Language

 
The Linguistic-Relativity Hypothesis

 
Culture, Language, and the Way We Think

 
Intelligence

 
Intelligence Tests

 
Are Intelligence Tests Accurate?

 
Are Intelligence Tests Biased?

 
Competing Theories of Intelligence

 
Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence

 
General Intelligence

 
Gardner’s “Frames of Mind”

 
The Great Intelligence Debates

 
Nature and Nurture

 
The Racial Gap

 
Gender Differences

 
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Thinking, Language, and Intelligence

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 9: Personality
Psychoanalysis

 
The Birth of Psychoanalysis

 
Freud’s Theory of Personality

 
Freud’s Legacy

 
The Cognitive Social-Learning Approach

 
Principles of Learning and Behavior

 
Social-Learning Theory

 
Perspectives on Cognitive Social-Learning Theory

 
The Humanistic Approach

 
Carl Rogers

 
Abraham Maslow

 
Perspectives on the Humanistic Approach

 
The Trait Approach

 
The Building Blocks of Personality

 
Construction of Multi-Trait Inventories

 
Introversion and Extraversion

 
Psychology Applied: Use of Personality Tests and Social Media Sites in Hiring

 
Perspectives: Do Traits Exist?

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Personality

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 10: Life Span Development and Its Contexts
Genes

 
What Genes Are and How They Work

 
Genetic Building Blocks

 
Prenatal Development

 
The Growing Fetus

 
Fertility

 
The Remarkable Newborn

 
Observing Infants

 
Reflexes

 
Sensory Capacities

 
 
Talents Babies Are Born With
The Infant and the Growing Child

 
Biological Development

 
Cognitive Development

 
Social Development

 
Adolescence

 
Puberty

 
Cognition and Moral Reasoning

 
Social and Personality Development

 
 
Adulthood and Aging
Physical Changes in Adulthood

 
Aging and Cognitive Functions

 
Social and Personal Development

 
Dying and Death

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Lifespan Development

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 11. Social and Cultural Influences
Social Perception

 
Making Attributions

 
Forming Impressions

 
Interpersonal Attraction

 
Social Influence

 
Social Influence as Automatic

 
Conformity

 
Attitude Change

 
 
Group Processes
Social Relations

 
Aggression

 
Altruism

 
Bystander Intervention

 
Cross-Cultural Perspectives

 
Cultural Diversity: A Fact of Life

 
Individualism and Collectivism: A Tale of Two Cultural Worldviews

 
Conceptions of the Self

 
Intergroup Discrimination

 
 
Stereotypes
Prejudice: The Motivational Roots

 
Racism in the United States

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Social and Cultural Influences

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 12. Motivation and Emotion
What Motivates Us?

 
General Theories of Motivation

 
The Pyramid of Human Motivations

 
Basic Appetitive and Social Motives

 
Hunger and Eating

 
Belongingness Motives

 
Esteem Motives

 
Emotions

 
What are Emotions?

 
Specific Patterns of Arousal

 
Are There Group Differences in Emotions?

 
The Physiology of Emotion

 
The Social Function of Emotions

 
The Cognitive Component of Emotion

 
Pursuing Happiness

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Motivation and Emotion

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 13. Health, Stress, and Wellness
Studying Health and Wellness

 
The Illness-Wellness Continuum

 
Health Models

 
Biopsychosocial Model

 
Biomedical Model

 
Theory of Planned Behavior

 
Illness Prevention and Health Promotion

 
Psychology Applied: Taking Control Over Portion Sizes

 
Stress and Health

 
The Stress Process

 
Sources and Types of Stress

 
Factors That Contribute to a Stress Response

 
Physiological Effects of Stress

 
Immunity and Stress

 
Coping With Stress

 
Problem-Focused and Emotion-Focused Coping

 
Mindfulness

 
Psychological Traits for Coping

 
Social Support

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Health, Stress, and Wellness

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 14. Psychological Disorders
Psychological Disorders: A General Outlook

 
Neurodevelopmental Disorders

 
Defining Function and Dysfunction

 
Models of Psychopathology

 
Diagnosis: A Necessary Step

 
Major Depressive Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, and Suicidal Behavior

 
Major Depressive Disorder

 
Theories of Major Depressive Disorder

 
The Cycle of Major Depressive Disorder

 
Bipolar Disorder

 
Theories of Bipolar Disorder

 
Suicidal Behavior

 
Anxiety and Posttraumatic Stress Disorders

 
Generalized Anxiety Disorder

 
Panic Disorder

 
Specific Phobia

 
Social Anxiety Disorder

 
Cultural Influences on Anxiety Disorders

 
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

 
Theories of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

 
Obsessive-Compulsive, Body Dysmorphic, and Eating Disorders

 
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

 
Theories of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

 
Body Dysmorphic Disorder

 
Eating Disorders

 
Personality Disorders and Schizophrenia

 
Personality Disorders

 
The Borderline Personality

 
The Antisocial Personality

 
Schizophrenia

 
Symptoms of Schizophrenia

 
Theories of Schizophrenia

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Psychological Disorders

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Chapter 15. Treatment and Interventions
Psychological Therapies

 
Psychoanalytic Therapies

 
Behavioral Therapies

 
Cognitive Therapies

 
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies

 
Humanistic Therapies

 
Group-Therapy Approaches

 
Perspectives on Psychotherapy

 
The Bottom Line: Does Psychotherapy Work?

 
Are Some Therapies Better Than Others?

 
What Are the Active Ingredients?

 
What’s the Future of Psychotherapy?

 
Medical Interventions

 
Drug Therapies

 
Perspectives on Drug Therapies

 
Electroconvulsive Therapy

 
Psychosurgery

 
Thinking Like a Psychologist About Treatment and Interventions

 
Chapter Summary

 
Key Terms

 
 
Glossary
 
References
 
Name Index
 
Subject Index

If you are looking for a comprehensive and approachable Introduction to Psychology textbook, this is the textbook for you! My students regularly share with me that this is the first textbook that they actually want to read!

Caitlyn Hord
University of North Texas
Survey

I feel that Kassin's textbook is an excellent starting point for any Intro to Psychology professor and is exceptional information for students to learn no matter their own academic discipline.

Dr. Bob Hoople
SUNY - Cobleskill
Review

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