Synopses & Reviews
In this revitalized, redesigned, and thoroughly updated Ninth Edition of his best-selling text, Dennis Coon presents psychology in a way readers will find fascinating, relevant, and above all, accessible. Built into every chapter are a number of features-originated by Coon-that help readers grasp major concepts, develop a broad understanding of psychology's diversity, and see for themselves how psychology relates to the challenges of everyday life. Dennis Coon's delight in the subject matter of psychology and in the readers' curiosity, insights, imagination, and interest is apparent on every page. In a course where professors are frequently confronted by students who haven't actually read their textbooks, Coon's text offers a solution. Coon effectively presents the latest research, the latest controversies, and the key scientific content in an involving way that gets students "hooked" on psychology and eager to read on. Because readers become actively involved with the material, they develop a basic understanding of psychology that they take with them into their future courses and careers. Coon was the first textbook author to make effective use of cognitive principles to teach psychology by building each chapter around the SQ3R study-reading formula: survey, question, read, recite, and review. In the Ninth Edition, Coon has added a fourth "R"-Relate-to create an SQ4R structure, designed to help students better retain the material by encouraging them to relate it directly to their own lives. A new subtitle-Gateways to Mind and Behavior-highlights the relevance of psychology to everyday life. There are certain takeaway concepts (or "Gateways") within each area of introductory psychology (and infused within each chapter) that, once mastered, will provide students with the ability to unlock a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them, throughout the course and beyond.
Synopsis
Dennis Coon presents psychology in a way readers will find fascinating, relevant, and above all, accessible. The first author to integrate the proven SQ4R active learning system (survey, question, read, recite, relate, and review) into a psychology textbook, Coon helps readers grasp major concepts, develop a broad understanding of psychology's diversity, and see for themselves how psychology relates to the challenges of everyday life. The author delights in sparking readers' curiosity, insights, imagination, and interest, and makes his investment in the subject of psychology apparent on every page. Coon effectively presents the latest research, the most vital controversies, and key scientific content in an involving way that gets students "hooked" on psychology and eager to read on. Because readers become actively involved with the material, they develop a basic understanding of psychology that they take with them into their future courses and careers. In a course where professors are frequently confronted by students who haven't actually read their textbooks, Coon's text offers a solution that students will want to read.
About the Author
After earning a doctorate in psychology from the University of Arizona, Dennis Coon taught for 22 years at Santa Barbara City College, California. Throughout his career, Dr. Coon has especially enjoyed the challenge of teaching introductory psychology. He and his wife, Sevren, now live in Tucson, where he continues to teach, write, edit, and consult. Dr. Coon is the author of Introduction to Psychology, as well as Essentials of Psychology. Together, these texts have been used by over two million students. Dr. Coon frequently serves as a reviewer and consultant to publishers, and he edited the best-selling trade book Choices. In his leisure hours, Dr. Coon enjoys hiking, photography, painting, woodworking, and music. He also designs, builds, and plays classical and steel string acoustic guitars. He has published articles on guitar design and occasionally offers lectures on this topic, in addition to his more frequent presentations on psychology. His return to Arizona has made it possible for him to fulfill a lifelong dream of using operant conditioning to teach scorpions to tap dance.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Psychology of Studying. 1. Psychology: The Search for Understanding. 2. Research Methods and Critical Thinking. 3. The Brain, Biology, and Behavior. 4. Child Development. 5. From Birth to Death: Life-Span Development. 6. Sensation and Reality. 7. Perceiving the World. 8. States of Consciousness. 9. Conditioning and Learning. 10. Memory. 11. Cognition, Language, and Creativity. 12. Intelligence. 13. Motivation and Emotion. 14. Gender and Sexuality. 15. Personality. 16. Health, Stress, and Coping. 17. Psychological Disorders. 18. Therapies. 19. Social Behavior. 20. Attitudes, Culture, and Human Relations. Appendix A: Applied Psychology. Appendix B: Behavioral Statistics. Glossary. References. Subject Index. Name Index. Credits.