Scientific American: Presenting Psychology

by Licht, Deborah; Hull, Misty; Ballantyne, Coco

• ISBN13: 9781319016371
• ISBN10: 1319016375
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2016-01-11
• Publisher: Worth Publishers

Summary

Through thoughtful, immersive learning, Scientific American: Presenting Psychology uses profiles and video interviews of real people to help you relate to the defining concepts of psychology.

Author Biography

Deborah Licht is a professor of psychology at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has over two decades of teaching and research experience in a variety of settings, ranging from a small private university in the midwest to a large public university in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has taught introductory psychology, psychology of the workplace, abnormal psychology, the history of psychology, child development, and elementary statistics. She has experience in traditional, online, and hybrid courses, and is particularly inspired by first-generation college students who turn to community colleges to pursue their education. She received a BS in psychology from Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio; an MS in clinical psychology from the University of Dayton; and a PhD in psychology (experimental psychopathology) from Harvard University. She continues to be interested in research on causal beliefs and their influence on behavior, particularly in relation to how college students think about their successes and failures as they pursue their degrees.

Misty Hull is a professor of psychology at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has taught a range of psychology courses at Pikes Peak Community College, including introductory psychology, human sexuality, and social psychology in a variety of delivery formats (traditional, online, and hybrid). Her love of teaching comes through in her dedication to mentoring new and part-time faculty in the teaching of psychology. She received her BS in human development and family studies from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, and an MA in professional counseling at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado. She has served in a variety of administrative roles at Pikes Peak Community College, including interim associate dean, and coordinator of the Student Crisis Counseling Office. In addition, she has helped to facilitate the state system’s approach to teaching psychology, as the state psychology discipline chair of the Colorado Community College System from 2002 to 2010. One of her many professional interests is research on the impact of student persistence in higher education.

Coco Ballantyne is a New York–based journalist and science writer with a special interest in psychology. Before joining forces with Misty Hull and Deborah Licht to write Scientific American: Psychology and Scientific American: Presenting Psychology, Coco worked as a reporter for Scientific American online, covering the health, medicine, and neuroscience beats. She has also written for Discover magazine and Nature Medicine. Coco earned an MS from Columbia University School of Journalism, where she received a Horgan Prize for Excellence in Critical Science Writing. Prior to her journalistic career, Coco worked as a teacher and tutor, helping high school and college students prepare for standardized tests such as the SAT, GRE, and MCAT. She also worked as a physics and math teacher at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto, California, and as a Human Biology course associate at Stanford University, where she earned a BA in human biology.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Methods
demonstrates how psychology was intensely relevant to the 33 Chilean miners who spent over two months trapped underground.

Chapter 2: Biology and Behavior
interweaves psychological concepts with the story of Iraq War veteran Brandon Burns, who experienced a miraculous recovery from a brain injury, and Christina Santhouse, a young woman who has thrived in school, work, and life in general—after having an operation to remove nearly half her brain.

Chapter 3: Sensation and Perception
tells the story of Elizabeth Hooker, a mother raising deaf and blind triplets.

Chapter 4: Consciousness
offers a peek into the life of anesthesiologist Dr. Robert Julien, and explores the experiences of Matt Utesch, a young man with narcolepsy.

Chapter 5: Learning
illustrates learning principles using basketball pro Jeremy Lin and blind marathon runner/triathlete Ivonne Mosquera.

Chapter 6: Memory
tells the poignant tale of the amnesiac Clive Wearing and follows Dorothea Seitz, a memory expert, to the World Memory Championships.

Chapter 7: Cognition, Language, and Intelligence
explores the cognitive breakdown of stroke survivor Jill Bolte Taylor and the reading difficulties of actor Orlando Bloom, who has dyslexia.

Chapter 8: Human Development
details the lives of two community college students—Jasmine Mitchell, a single mother juggling education and career responsibilities with childrearing, and Chloe Ojeah, a young woman who cares for her aging grandparents in between classes and homework.

Chapter 9: Motivation and Emotion
relates the life experiences of Mohamed Dirie, a young man who immigrated to the United States from Somalia, and Lucy Magnum, a child who survived a shark attack.

Chapter 10: Personality
introduces the digital personality Tank, a robot receptionist at Carnegie Mellon University.

Chapter 11: Stress and Health
details the experiences of a Eric Flansburg, a police officer, and Kehlen Kirby, an emergency medical services (EMS) provider.

Chapter 12: Psychological Disorders
tells the story of Ross Szabo, a young man with bipolar disorder, and a Melissa Hopely, young woman with obsessive compulsive disorder.

Chapter 13: Psychological Therapies
focuses on Dr. Daniel Foster, a therapist working on an Indian Reservation and Laura Lichti, a licensed therapist just beginning her career.

Chapter 14: Social Psychology
explores the life of Olympic runner Julius Achon, who adopted 11 orphans from his homeland of Uganda, and relates the story of Joe and Susanne Maggio, a married couple who found each other via the Internet.

Appendices
Introduction to Statistics
Careers in Psychology
Check Your Answers