Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Getting Started with Psychology 5
Chapter 1: The Purpose of Psychology 7
Whys, Whats, and Hows of People 9
A useful metaphor: Building a person 10
Why? 11
What? 11
How? 12
Troubleshooting 13
Putting It All Back Together Again 14
Chapter 2: Thinking and Behaving as a Psychologist 15
The Core Activities of a Psychologist 17
Experimental and research psychologists 17
Applied psychologists 17
Teachers/educators/professors 18
Theoretical and philosophical psychologists 18
How Do I Become a Psychologist? 18
Getting Started with Metatheory and Frameworks 19
Biological 20
Behaviorism 20
Cognitive 20
Sociocultural 21
Developmental 21
Evolutionary 22
Humanistic and existential 22
Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic 22
Feminism 23
Postmodernism 23
A Unifying Model? Working with the Biopsychosocial Model 24
Feeling out the role of the body 24
Thinking about the role of the mind 24
Observing the role of the outside world 25
Developing a good theory 27
Seeking Truth 27
Applying the scientific method 29
Researching Matters 30
Understanding descriptive research 30
Doing experimental research 30
Measuring one, measuring all with statistics 31
Relating variables: Correlation versus causation 33
Being “Good”: Ethics in Psychology 35
Part 2: Picking Your Brain (and Body) 37
Chapter 3: Brains, Genes, and Behavior 39
Believing in Biology 40
The Biological “Control Room” 42
Cells and Chemicals 44
Networking and crossing the divide 45
Branching out 47
Activating brain change 47
The Organization of the Brain 49
Forebrain 50
Midbrain 51
Hindbrain 51
Tiptoeing back and forth from the periphery 52
Finding Destiny with DNA 52
Understanding Psychopharmacology 53
Easing depression 55
Shushing the voices 55
Relaxing 56
Chapter 4: From Sensation to Perception 59
Building Blocks: Our Senses 60
The sensing process 61
Seeing 62
Hearing 65
Touching and feeling pain 66
Smelling and tasting 67
Balancing and moving 68
Finishing the Product: Perception 68
Organizing by Principles 70
Chapter 5: Exploring Consciousness 73
Carving Awareness and Being at Its Joints 74
Consciousness as an ability, skill, or process of the mind (and the brain) 74
Consciousness as a state or type of awareness 75
Catching some zzzzs 76
Understanding tired brains, slipping minds 78
Arriving at Work Naked: Dreams 79
Altering Your Consciousness 80
Getting high on conscious life 81
Being conscious of my mind (meditative states) 82
Falling into hypnosis 84
Part 3: Thinking and Feeling and Acting 85
Chapter 6: Thinking and Speaking 87
What’s on Your Mind? 88
Thinking like a PC 89
Turing’s challenge 89
Computing 90
Representing 91
Processing 91
Modules, Parts, and Processes 92
The attention process 93
The memory process 94
The knowing process 97
The reasoning process 100
The decision-making/choosing process 101
The problem-solving process 104
It’s All about Connections 105
Bodies and Minds 106
Thinking You’re Pretty Smart 108
Considering the factors of intelligence 108
Getting a closer look 109
Adding in street smarts 110
Excelling with multiple intelligences 111
Making the grade — on a curve 112
Figuring Out Language 114
Babel-On 114
Rules, syntax, and meaning 115
Chapter 7: Needing, Wanting, Feeling 117
What’s My Motivation? 118
Would you like some adrenaline with that bear? 119
Feeling needy 120
Knowing who’s the boss 121
Arousing interest in prime rib 123
Getting cheaper long distance is rewarding 124
Facing your opponent-process theory 125
Believing in yourself 125
Pleasure and pain 127
Escaping psychological pain 128
Launching Countless Bad Poems: Emotions 130
Watch out for that sabertooth! 132
Your brain on emotion 133
Which comes first, the body or the mind? 135
Expressing yourself 137
Acknowledging anger 138
Being happy 140
Discovering your smart heart: Emotional intelligence and styles 142
Being in Control 143
Chapter 8: Barking up the Learning Tree: Dogs, Cats, and Rats 147
Learning to Behave 149
Drooling like Pavlov’s Dogs 149
Conditioning responses and stimuli 150
Becoming extinct 152
Classic generalizing and discriminating 153
Conditioning rules! 154
Battling theories: Why does conditioning work? 156
Studying Thorndike’s Cats 157
Reinforcing the Rat Case 159
Finding the right reinforcer 159
Using punishment 161
Scheduling and timing reinforcement 163
Stimulus Control and Operant Generalization 165
Operant Discrimination 166
Part 4: Me, You, and Everything in Between 167
Chapter 9: Myself and I 169
Getting to the Magic Number 5 171
They Made Me This Way 173
Representing Ourselves 174
Schemas 174
Scripts 175
It Depends on the Situation 176
Feeling Self-Conscious 179
Becoming aware of your body 180
Keeping it private 180
Showing it off 181
Identifying Yourself 181
Forging a personal identity 182
Carving out a social identity 184
Mustering up some self-esteem 185
Chapter 10: Connecting 187
Getting Attached 188
Realizing even monkeys get the blues 188
Attaching with style 189
Cavorting with Family and Friends 191
Parenting with panache 192
Embracing your rival: Siblings 193
Getting chummy: Bridge building 194
Attraction, Romance, and Love 195
How we choose the ones we love 195
Love’s expanse 196
Connecting to Thoughts and Action 198
Explaining others with person perception 198
Minding “you” with theory of mind 201
Dancing with others: Embodied social cognition theories 202
Communication Skills 202
Asking questions 203
Explaining 204
Listening 204
Asserting yourself 205
Chapter 11: Getting Along or Not 207
Playing Your Part 208
Ganging Up in a Group 209
Conforming 210
Doing better with help 212
Kicking back 213
Remaining anonymous 213
Thinking as one 214
Persuading 215
Credibility of communicator 216
Delivery approach 216
Audience engagement 217
Age of audience 217
Being Mean 218
Acting naturally 218
Being frustrated 219
Doing what’s learned 219
Lending a Helping Hand 221
Why help? 221
When to help? 224
Who gives and receives help? 225
Birds of a Feather or Not 226
Examining isms 226
Understanding discrimination 227
Making contact 228
Chapter 12: Growing Up with Psychology 229
Beginning with Conception and Birth 230
Xs and Ys get together 230
Uniting and dividing all in one night 231
Going from Diapers to Drool 233
Survival instincts 233
Motoring about 234
Flexing their muscles 235
Scheduling time for schemata 235
Getting your sensorimotor running 237
Learning within the lines 238
Saying what you think 239
Blooming social butterflies 240
Getting on the Big Yellow Bus 241
Mastering the crayon 241
Being preoperational doesn’t mean you’re having surgery 242
In the zone 243
Becoming even more social 243
Agonizing over Adolescence 244
Pining over puberty 244
Moving away from parents 245
Existing as a Grown-Up 246
Looking at you 246
Connecting and working 246
Aging and Geropsychology 247
Chapter 13: Psychology in the Digital Age 249
Love and Robots 250
Talk to the box 251
Me and my friends 252
That perfect someone 253
Digitized (d)evolution 254
The Dark Side of the Digital World 256
Say that to my face 256
Hooked on the Internet 257
Bullying moves from the schoolyard to the desktop 258
Can Technology Make Us Better at Being Human? 260
Part 5: Adapting and Struggling 261
Chapter 14: Coping When Life Gets Rough 263
Stressing Out 264
Ways to think about stress 264
The causes of stress 268
The impact of stress 269
Crisis: Accumulated or overwhelming stress 271
Posttraumatic stress disorder 273
The stress of loss 274
Coping is No Gamble 275
Learning how to cope 276
Finding resources 276
Chapter 15: Modern Abnormal Psychology 279
What Is” Abnormal” Anyway? 280
Who decides what’s normal? 281
Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Model 282
Defining Mental Disorders 283
Psychotic Disorders: Grasping for Reality 286
Schizophrenia 286
Other types of psychoses 290
Feeling Funky: Depression 292
Staying in the rut of major depression 292
Depression’s causes 293
Treating depression 295
Bipolar Disorder: Riding the Waves 295
Bipolar disorder’s causes 297
Treating bipolar disorder 297
Panic Disorders 297
Panic disorder’s causes 300
Treating panic disorder 300
Mental Disorders in Young People 301
Dealing with ADHD 302
Autism: Living in a world of one’s own 303
Let’s Talk about Stigma 305
Part 6: Repairing, Healing, and Thriving 307
Chapter 16: Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation 309
Answering the Call 310
What kinds of tests and instruments are there? 311
What kind of evaluations do psychologists do? 312
The Interview and Evaluation Process 312
Interviewing and observing 313
History taking 317
Checking under the Hood with Psychological Testing 318
Standardization 318
Reliability 319
Validity 319
More Detail on Testing Types 320
Clinical testing 320
Educational/achievement testing 321
Personality testing 322
Intelligence testing 323
Neuropsychological and cognitive testing 323
Keeping Them Honest 325
Chapter 17: We Can Help! 327
Is It Time for Professional Help? 328
Types of help 330
The Crown Jewel of Therapy: Psychotherapy 333
Good ethics is good therapy 334
The common factors model 335
Major Schools of Therapy 337
Psychodynamic therapies 338
Behavior therapy 342
Exposure-based therapies 343
Cognitive therapy 344
Playing together nicely: Behavior and cognitive therapies 346
Acceptance and mindfulness-based therapies 347
Dialectical behavior therapy 348
Client-centered therapy 350
Emotion-focused therapy 354
Empirically Supported Treatments for Specific Problems 356
ESTs for depression 357
ESTs for anxiety and trauma 357
ESTs for disorders in children 358
Chapter 18: Be Positive! Fostering Wellness, Growth, and Strength 359
Going beyond Stress: The Psychology of Health 360
Preventing illness 360
Making changes 360
Intervening 362
Harnessing the Power of Positivity 363
Stepping Up! 365
High-performance skills 366
Choking versus being clutch 366
Acquiring the Bionic Brain 367
Doing smart drugs 368
Hitting the limits of the skull 369
Part 7: The Part of Tens 371
Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Maintaining Psychological Well-Being 373
Accept Yourself 375
Strive for Self-Determination 375
Stay Connected and Nurture Relationships 375
Lend a Helping Hand 376
Find Meaning and Purpose and Work toward Goals 376
Find Hope and Maintain Faith 377
Find Flow and Be Engaged 377
Enjoy the Beautiful Things in Life 377
Struggle to Overcome; Learn to Let Go 378
Don’t Be Afraid to Change 378
Chapter 20: Ten Great Psychological Movies and Shows 379
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 380
A Clockwork Orange 380
Ordinary People 381
Girl, Interrupted 381
The Silence of the Lambs 382
Sybil 382
The Matrix 383
Black Mirror 384
True Detective (Seasons 1 and Season 3) 384
Psycho 385
Index 387
