David G. Myers – Exploring Social Psychology (Sixth edition)

Автор: David G. Myers
Название книги: Exploring Social Psychology (Sixth edition)
Формат: PDF
Жанр: Психология
Страницы: 544
Качество: Изначально компьютерное, E-book

This is a book I secretly wanted to write. I have long believed that what is
wrong with all psychology textbooks (including those I have written) is
their overlong chapters. Few can read a 40-page chapter in a single sitting
without their eyes glazing and their mind wandering. So why not organize the
discipline into digestible chunks—say forty 15-page chapters rather than fifteen
40-page chapters—that a student could read in a sitting, before laying the book
down with a sense of completion?
Thus, when McGraw-Hill psychology editor Chris Rogers first suggested
that I abbreviate and restructure my 15-chapter, 600-page Social Psychology into
a series of crisply written 10-page modules, I said “Eureka!” At last a publisher
willing to break convention by packaging the material in a form ideally suited
to students’ attention spans. By presenting concepts and findings in smaller bites,
we also hoped not to overload students’ capacities to absorb new information.
And, by keeping Exploring Social Psychology slim and comparatively economical,
we sought to enable instructors to supplement it with other reading.
As the playful module titles suggest, I have also broken with convention
by introducing social psychology in an essay format. Each is written in the
spirit of Thoreau’s admonition: “Anything living is easily and naturally
expressed in popular language.” My aim in the parent Social Psychology, and
even more so here, is to write in a voice that is both solidly scientific and
warmly human, factually rigorous and intellectually provocative. I hope to
reveal social psychology as an investigative reporter might, by providing a
current summary of important social phenomena, by showing how social psychologists
uncover and explain such phenomena, and by reflecting on their
human significance.
In selecting material, I have represented social psychology’s scope, highlighting
its scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one
another. I also emphasize material that casts social psychology in the intellectual
tradition of the liberal arts. By the teaching of great literature, philosophy,
and science, liberal education seeks to expand our thinking and awareness and
to liberate us from the confines of the present. Social psychology can contribute
to these goals. Many undergraduate social psychology students are not psychology
majors; most will enter other professions. By focusing on humanly
significant issues such as belief and illusion, independence and interdependence,
love and hate, one can present social psychology in ways that inform
and stimulate all students.
This new sixth edition features updated coverage throughout. In addition,
the sixth edition features technology components designed to assist both professor
and student. Icons throughout the text guide the student to the Online
Learning Center (www.mhhe.com/myersesp6e) to gather more information on
each module by viewing excerpts from the Social Connection video modules,
participating in interactive exercises, and taking module quizzes to test their
knowledge. The Social Connection video modules, produced by Frank Vattano
at Colorado State University, enrich classic experiments by re-creating or providing
footage from classic experiments, seasoned with interviews of leading
social psychologists.
A comprehensive teaching package is also available on the Online Learning
Center. The acclaimed Instructor’s Resource Manual has been revised to reflect
changes in the sixth edition text. The OLC also includes a Test Bank, which has
also been revised to include a higher concentration of conceptual questions, and
a set of PowerPoint slides to use in the classroom. All instructors’ resources are
password-protected.