Psychology From Science to Practice

by Baron, Robert A.; Kalsher, Michael J.

• ISBN13: 9780205516186
• ISBN10: 0205516181
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-01-05
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

With a strong emphasis on application-without neglecting research and science-this text focuses on helping students use the findings and knowledge of psychology in their own lives and careers. As the only introductory psychology text written by authors with extensive business experience, this book seeks the ideal balance between psychology'spracticalandscientificsides. It highlights psychology's scientific nature while simultaneously emphasizing its practical value-how students can actually use and apply the material they read on the job and outside of the classroom.Psychology: From Science to Practiceemphasizes three key goals: bull; Make it clear to students how they can actually use the findings and knowledge of psychology in their own lives and careers. bull; Present psychology as a science. bull; Discuss the major findings of psychology without overwhelming students with too much detail.

Author Biography

Robert A. Baron (Ph.D., Iowa, 1968) is the Dean R. Wellington Professor of Management and Professor of psychology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has held faculty appointments at Purdue University, University of Minnesota, University of Texas, University of South Carolina, University of Washington, Princeton University, and Oxford University (Visiting Fellow, 1982). He served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation(1979-1981), and was appointed as a Visiting Senior Research Fellow by the French Ministry of Research (2001-2002) at the Universite des Sciences Sociales, Toulouse. He has been a Department Chair (1987-1993) and  Interim Dean (2001-2002).  Baron is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and a Charter Fellow of Association for Psychological Science (APS). .  

 

Prof. Baron has published more than one hundred articles and forty chapters in edited volumes.  He is the author or co-author of more than forty books including Social Psychology (11^th edition.), Behavior in Organizations (9th ed), and Entrepreneurship:  A Process Perspective (2^nd ed.). Prof. Baron holds three U.S. patents and was founder, President, and CEO of Innovative Environmental Products, Inc. (1993-2000).  His current research focuses primarily on the social and cognitive factors that play a role in entrepreneurs’ success.  He is a long-time runner, and his hobbies include fine wood-working,  music and cooking..

 

Michael J. Kalsher is Associate Professor of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  Kalsher served as Chair of the Department of Cognitive Science at Rensselaer from 1997 through 2002.  He received his Ph.D. in 1988 from Virginia Tech.  Professor Kalsher is a member of both the American Psychological Society and American Psychological Association.  He is also a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society for which he currently serves as Chair of the Arnold M. Small Safety Lecture series.  Professor Kalsher has published more than fifty articles in professional journals, a number of chapters in edited books, and he has given more than one-hundred presentations at professional meetings. 

 

Kalsher’s company (Kalsher and Associates, L.L.C.) specializes in applying the principles of psychology to enhance human performance and workplace safety, including providing litigation support (e.g., as an expert witness) in product liability cases.  Professor Kalsher’s current research interests focus mainly on human factors issues, including development and evaluation of warnings and instructions, allocation of blame for consumer product injuries, and the use of emerging technologies to enhance communications in noisy environments (e.g., tanks, helicopters).  Kalsher is along-time runner and his hobbies include making fine wines.

           

Rebecca A. Henry is currently Visiting Associate Professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  She received her Ph.D. in 1989 from the University of Illinois and was on the faculty in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue University for 14 years.  She has published articles in several journals, including Psychological Bulletin, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes (OBHDP).  Professor Henry supervised over a dozen doctoral and master’s students and served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Purdue.  While at Purdue she taught several undergraduate and graduate level courses and was honored as the Department’s undergraduate teaching award nominee several times.

 

Professor Henry’s research has spanned several topic areas in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, including group decision making, organizational citizenship, and ability testing.  She currently serves on the editorial boards of Psychology and Marketing and OBHDP.  Her hobbies include music and baking.

Table of Contents

Brief Toc (See FULL TOC below)

Psychology: What It Isand What It Offers

Biological Bases of Behavior

Sensation and Perception: Making Contact with the World Around Us

States of Consciousness

Learning: How Were Changed by Experience

Memory and Cognition: Remembering, Thinking, Deciding, Creating

Human Development

Motivation and Emotion

Personality and Intelligence: Understanding Individual Differences

Health, Stress, and Coping

Mental Disorders

Psychological Treatments: Reducing the Pain and Distress of Mental Disorders

Social Thought and Social Behavior

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Understanding Human Behavior at Work

FULL TOC

Preface Acknowledgements

About the Authors

ONE Psychology: What It Is and

What It Offers

The Field of Psychology

What It Is and How It Started

The Origins of Modern Psychology

Multiple Strands Come Together Psychology

Grand Issues, Key Perspectives

Key Perspectives in Psychology

The Many Facets of Behavior Psychology

In the Twenty-First Century

Expanding Horizons Evolutionary Psychology

A New Perspective on "Human Nature"

The Exportation of Psychology

From Science to Practice Growing Recognition of Diversity and Commitment to a Multicultural Perspective

Psychology and the Scientific Method The Scientific Method

Its Basic Nature Advantages of the Scientific Method

Why Common Sense Often Leads Us Astray The Scientific Method in Everyday Life

The Benefits of Critical Thinking Research Methods in Psychology

How Psychologists Answer Questions About Behavior Observation

Describing the World Around Us Correlation

The Search for Relationships The Experimental Method

Knowledge through Systematic Intervention Psychology

Whats In It For You?

Using This Book

An Overview of Its Special Features Psychology Lends a Hand

How To Study Psychology or Any Other Subject Effectively

Summary and Review of Key Questions Key Terms Psychology

Understanding Its Findings Making Psychology Part of Your

Life MyPsychLab Study Guide

Two Biological Bases of Behavior

Neurons: Building Blocks of The Nervous System Neurons

Their Basic Structure Neurons: Their Basic Function Neurotransmitters

Chemical Keys to the Nervous System The Nervous System

Its Basic Structure and Functions The Nervous System

Its Major Divisions The Endocrine System

Chemical Regulators of Bodily Processes The Brain

Where Consciousness Dwells The Brain Stem

Survival Basics The Hypothalamus, Thalamus, and Limbic System

Motivation and Emotion The Cerebral Cortex

The Core of Complex Thought Two Minds in One Body?

Our Divided Brain How Psychologists Study the Nervous System and the Brain

The Brain and Human Behavior

Where Biology and Consciousness Meet

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