Topical Coverage in Introductory Textbooks From the 1980s Through the 2000s

Abstract

To determine how topical coverage in introductory textbooks may have changed from the 1980s to the present, the author examined topic coverage in full-length and brief introductory textbooks from this time period. Because 98% of the teachers use textbooks for the introductory course and the majority do not assign reading beyond the textbook, the relationship between the current topical allocation pattern and that in the introductory course was examined by comparing the textbook pattern to the lecture topical allocation pattern derived from syllabi analysis. Several changes were found in textbook topic coverage since the 1980s, with proportional coverage among topics moving toward equality. Lecture topical allocation mirrored that in textbooks, indicating that textbooks strongly impact the structure of the introductory course.

Keywords

introductory psychology textbooks textbook selection textbook analysis

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Cush

D. T.

Buskist

(1997). Future of the introductory psychology textbook: A survey of college publishers. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 119–122.

Griggs

R. A.

Jackson

S. L.

(1996). Forty years of introductory psychology: An analysis of the first 10 editions of Hilgard et al.’s textbook. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 144–150.

Griggs

R. A.

Jackson

S. L.

(2013a). Brief introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis update. Teaching of Psychology, 40, 217–221.

Griggs

R. A.

Jackson

S. L.

(2013b). Introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis update. Teaching of Psychology, 40, 163–168.

Griggs

R. A.

Jackson

S. L.

Christopher

A. N.

Marek

(1999). Introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 182–189.

Griggs

R. A.

Jackson

S. L.

Napolitano

T. J.

(1994). Brief introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 136–140.

Griggs

R. A.

Koenig

C. S.

(2001). Brief introductory psychology textbooks: A current analysis. Teaching of Psychology, 28, 36–40.

Griggs

R. A.

Marek

(2001). Similarity of introductory textbooks: Reality or illusion? Teaching of Psychology, 28, 254–256.

Homa

Hackathorn

Brown

C. B.

Garczynski

Solomon

E. D.

Tennial

Gurung

R. A. R.

(2013). An analysis of learning objectives and content coverage in introductory psychology syllabi. Teaching of Psychology, 40, 169–174.

10.

Jackson

S. L.

Griggs

R. A.

(2013). Psych Lite: Great price, less filling. Teaching of Psychology, 40, 217–221.

11.

Landrum

R. E.

Gurung

R. A. R.

(2013). The memorability of introductory psychology revisited. Teaching of Psychology, 40, 222–227.

12.

Lonner

W. J.

Murdock

(2012). Introductory psychology texts and the inclusion of culture. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 11(1). doi: 10.9707/2307-0919.1115

13.

Matarazzo

J. D.

(1987). There is only one psychology, no specialties, but many applications. American Psychologist, 42, 893–903.

14.

McKeachie

W. J.

(2002). Teaching tips: Strategies, research, and theory for college and university teachers (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.

15.

Miller

Gentile

B. F.

(1998). Introductory course content and goals. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 89–96.

16.

Steuer

F. B.

Ham

K. W.

III . (2008). Psychology textbooks: Examining their accuracy. Teaching of Psychology, 35, 160–168.

17.

Webb

W. B.

(1991). History from our textbooks: Boring, Langfeld, and Weld’s introductory texts (1935–1948+). Teaching of Psychology, 18, 33–35.

18.

Weiten

(1988). Objective features of introductory psychology textbooks as related to professors’ impressions. Teaching of Psychology, 15, 10–16.

19.

Weiten

Wight

R. D.

(1992). Portraits of a discipline: An examination of introductory textbooks in America. In Puente

A. E.

Matthews

J. R.

Brewer

C. L.

(Eds.), Teaching psychology in America: A history (pp. 453–504). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.