Given the 1-term nature of introductory psychology courses and the increasing length and encyclopedic nature of introductory textbooks, many psychology teachers may opt to use a brief introductory text. To aid such teachers in the text selection process, we compared 15 brief introductory psychology textbooks presently available for adoption. We analyzed their length, pedagogical aids, and topic coverage. The variability observed in these analyses will help teachers find brief texts that best fit their individual preferences and course needs.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
GriggsR. A.JacksonS.L.ChristopherA.N.MarekP. (1999). Introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis and update. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 182–189.
2.
GriggsR. A.JacksonS. L.NapolitanoT. J. (1994). Brief introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 136–140.
3.
HendersenR.GossS.LebieL. (1999, January). Roundtable: So much material, so little time: What should be included in introductory psychology? Workshop conducted at the meeting of the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology, St. Pete Beach, FL.
4.
JacksonS. L.GriggsR. A.KoenigC. S.ChristopherA. N.MarekP. (2000). A compendium of introductory psychology texts: 1997–2000. Retrieved November 22, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://www.lemoyne.edu/OTRP/introtexts.html.
5.
MarekP.GriggsR. A.ChristopherA. N. (1999). Pedagogical aids in textbooks: Do college students' perceptions justify their prevalence?Teaching of Psychology, 26, 11–19.
6.
MillerB.GentileB. F. (1998). Introductory course content and goals. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 89–96.
7.
NallanG. B. (1997). Introductory psychology textbooks: Four encyclopedic tomes. Contemporary Psychology, 42, 445–446.
8.
PettijohnT. F. (1998). Psychology: A connectext. (4th ed.). Guilford, CT: Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.
9.
RathusS. A. (2000). Psychology: The core.Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt College.
10.
SantrockJ. W. (2000). Psychology: Brief edition.New York: McGraw-Hill.
11.
TavrisC.WadeC. (1997). Psychology in perspective. (2nd ed.). New York: Longman.
12.
WadeC.TavrisC. (1999). Invitation to psychology.New York: Longman.
HuntR. R.EllisH. C. (1999). Fundamentals of cognitive psychology (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
42.
JahnkeJ. C.NowaczykR. H. (1998). Cognition.Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
43.
KelloggR. T. (1995). Cognitive psychology.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44.
MatlinM. W. (1998). Cognition (4th ed.). Ft. Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
45.
MedinD. L.RossB. H. (1997). Cognitive psychology (2nd ed.). Ft. Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
46.
PayneD. G.WengerM. J. (1998). Cognitive psychology.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
47.
ReedS. K. (1996). Cognition (4th ed.). Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
48.
ReisbergD. (1997). Cognition: Exploring the science of the mind.New York: Norton.
49.
SolsoR. L. (1998). Cognitive psychology (5th ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
50.
SternbergR. J. (1999). Cognitive psychology (2nd ed.). Ft. Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.
51.
AllportG. W. (1967). Gordon W. Allport. In BoringE.LindsayG. (Eds.), History of psychology in autobiography. (Vol. 5, pp. 1–25). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
52.
AllportG. W. (1968). The person in psychology.Boston: Beacon.
53.
BrunerJ. (1986). Actual minds, possible worlds.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
54.
BrunerJ. S. (1996). The culture of education.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
55.
CosmidesL. (1989). The logic of social exchange: Has natural selection shaped how humans reason? Studies with the Wason selection task. Cognition, 31, 187–276.
56.
ElmsA. C. (1972). Allport, Freud, and the clean little boy. Psychoanalytic Review, 59, 627–632.
57.
EvansR. I. (1971). Gordon Allport: The man and his ideas.New York: Dutton.
58.
FaberM. D. (1970). Allport's visit with Freud. Psychoanalytic Review, 57, 60–64.
59.
KeenanJ. M.MacWhinneyB.MayhewD. (1977). Pragmatics in memory: A study of natural conversation. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 16, 549–560.
60.
KintschW.BatesE. (1977). Recognition memory for statements for a classroom lecture. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human, Learning, and Memory, 3, 150–159.
61.
MoreyL. C. (1987). Observations on the meeting between Allport and Freud. Psychoanalytic Review, 74, 135–139.
62.
MurphyG. L.ShapiroA. M. (1994). Forgetting of verbatim information in discourse. Memory and Cognition, 22, 85–94.
63.
SternbergR. J. (1995). Styles of thinking in the school. European Journal for High Ability, 6, 201–219.
64.
SternbergR. J.GrigorenkoE. L. (1997). Are cognitive styles still in style?American Psychologist, 52, 700–712.
65.
SternbergR. J.TorffB.GrigorenkoE. L. (1998). Teaching triarchically improves school achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90, 374–384.
66.
ThorneB. M. (1999). Using irony in teaching the history of psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 222–224.
67.
BaltesP. B. (1987). Theoretical propositions of life-span developmental psychology: On the dynamics between growth and decline. Developmental Psychology, 23, 611–626.
68.
CampbellD. T.StanleyJ. C. (1966). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for research.Chicago: Rand McNally.
69.
CronbachL. J. (1975). Beyond the two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 30, 116–127.
70.
ForsythG. A. (1977). A task-first individual-differences approach to designing a statistics and methodology course. Teaching of Psychology, 4, 76–78.
71.
LordW. (1956). A night to remember.New York: Bantam.
72.
LordW. (1987). The night lives on.New York: Avon.
73.
MilgramS. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371–378.
74.
BrycesonD. (1997). The Titanic disaster: As reported in the British national press April–July 1912.New York: Norton.
75.
CarenE.GoldmanS. (1998). Extra Titanic: The story of the disaster in the newspapers of the day.Edison, NJ: Castle.
76.
GellerJ. B.EatonJ. P. (1998). Titanic: Women and children first.New York: Norton.
77.
HyslopD.ForsythA.JemimaS.LawrenceJ. (1997). Titanic voices: Memories from the fateful voyage.New York: St. Martin's.
78.
LordW. (1956). A night to remember.New York: Bantam.
79.
LordW. (1987). The night lives on.New York: Avon.
80.
LynchD.MarschallK. (1998). Titanic: An illustrated history.New York: Hyperion.
81.
SpignesiS. J. (1998). The complete Titanic: From the ship's earliest blueprints to the epic film. Secaucus, NJ: Carol.
82.
CameronJ.Producer & Director (1997). Titanic [Film]. (Available from Twentieth Century Fox & Paramount Pictures).
83.
PeltierM.Producer & Director (1994). Titanic [Video]. (Available from A & E Home Video).
BronfenbrennerU. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
93.
CabeP. A.WalkerM. H.WilliamsM. (1999). Newspaper advice column letters as teaching cases for developmental psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 128–130.
94.
EriksonE. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle.New York: International Universities Press.
95.
FreudS. (1938). The basic writings of Sigmund Freud. (BrillA. A., Trans.). New York: Modern Library. (Original work published 1905).
96.
LevinsonD. J. (1990). A theory of life structure development in adulthood. In AlexanderC. N.LangerE. J. (Eds.), Higher stages of human development: Perspectives on adult growth. (pp. 35–53). New York: Oxford University Press.
97.
MarciaJ. E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In AdelsonJ. (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology. (pp. 159–187). New York: Wiley.
98.
MaslowA. H. (1968). Toward a psychology of being (2nd ed.). Princeton, NJ: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
99.
McDadeS. A. (1995). Case study pedagogy to advance critical thinking. Teaching of Psychology, 22, 9–10.
100.
PlominR.DeFriesJ. C.LoehlinJ. C. (1977). Genotype-environment interaction and correlation in the analysis of human behavior. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 309–322.
101.
BransfordJ.SherwoodR.VyeN.RieserJ. (1986). Teaching thinking and problem solving: Research foundations. American Psychologist, 41, 1078–1089.
102.
GardnerH. (1983). Frames of mind.New York: Basic.
103.
GardnerH. (1993). Creating minds: An anatomy of creativity seen through the lives of Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Stravinsky, Eliot, Graham, and Gandhi.New York: Basic.
GottmanJ. M. (1994). What predicts divorce: The relationship between marital processes and marital outcomes.Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
106.
HuntE. (1994). Problem solving. In SternbergR. J. (Ed.), Thinking and problem solving. (pp. 215–232). San Diego, CA: Academic.
107.
LevineM. (1994). Effective problem solving.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
108.
MayerR. E. (1992). Thinking, problem solving, cognition. (2nd ed.). New York: Freeman.
109.
NewellA.SimonH. A. (1972). Human problem solving.Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
110.
RuggieroV. (1995). The art of thinking: A guide to critical and creative thought (4th ed.). New York: HarperCollins.
111.
SternbergR. J. (1998). Abilities are forms of developing expertise. Educational Researcher, 27, 11–20.
112.
SternbergR. J.WagnerR. K.WilliamsW. M.HorvathJ. A. (1995). Testing common sense. American Psychologist, 50, 912–927.
113.
Introduction to the Study of Thinking and Problem Solving.KahneyH. (1993). Introduction. Problem solving: Current issues (pp. 15-55). Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
114.
SternbergR. J. (1996). Problem solving and creativity (pp. 346-384). Cognitive psychology. Tokyo: Harcourt Brace.
115.
Adult Problem SolvingAndersonJ. R. (1993). Problem solving and learning. American Psychologist, 48, 35-44.
116.
Expert Problem SolvingBedardJ.ChiM. T. H. (1992). Expertise. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 1, 135-139.
117.
KahneyH. (1993). Developing expertise. Problem solving: Current issues(pp. 82-91). Buckingham, England: Open University Press.
118.
119.
SternbergR. J. (1996). Simulations of intelligence: Artificial-intelligence approaches. Cognitive Psychology (pp. 481-490). Tokyo: Harcourt Brace.
Teaching Problem SolvingBransfordJ.SherwoodR.VyeN.RieserJ. (1986). Teaching thinking and problem solving: Research foundations. American Psychologist, 41, 1078-1089.
123.
HalpernD. F. (1998). Teaching critical thinking for transfer across domains. American Psychologist, 53, 449-455.
124.
Problem Solving in ContextMayerR.E. (1992). Everyday thinking: Thinking as based on social contexts. Thinking, problem solving, cognition (pp. 490-507). New York: Freeman.
125.
Individual Decision MakingHalpernD. F. (1997). Decision making. Critical thinking across the curriculum (pp. 188-217). London: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
126.
Social Decision MakingPlousS. (1993). Social influences/group judgments and decisions. The psychology of judgment and decision-making (pp. 191-214). Singapore: McGraw-Hill.
127.
128.
GardnerH. (1983). What is an intelligence?Frames of mind (pp. 59-70). New York: Basic.
129.
SternbergR. J. (1998). Abilities are forms of developing expertise. Educational Researcher, 27, 11-20.
130.
131.
FinkeR. A.WardT. B.SmithS. M. (1992). Creative strategies for problem solving. Creative cognition (pp. 167-187). London: MIT Press.
132.
GardnerH. (1993). Creativity across domains. Creating minds (pp. 359-390). New York: Basic.
133.
134.
GolemanD. (1995). Intimate enemies/managing with heart. Emotional intelligence (pp. 129-163). New York: Bantam.
135.
StolzP. G. (1997). A new view of success/the science of AQ. Adversity quotient (pp. 5-35; 53-84). New York: Wiley.
136.
137.
BjorklundD. F.GreenB. L. (1992). The adaptive nature of cognitive immaturity. American Psychologist, 47, 46-54.
138.
BrewerM. B.MillerN. (1996). Intergroup relations.Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.
139.
BurnetteE. (1997, June). Talking openly about race thwarts racism in children. APA Monitor, p. 33.
140.
DevineP. G. (1989). Stereotypes and prejudice: Their automatic and controlled components. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 56, 5–18.
141.
GlickP.FiskeS. T. (1996). The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory: Differentiating hostile and benevolent sexism. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 491–512.
142.
JonesJ. M. (1997). Prejudice and racism.New York: McGraw-Hill.
143.
MacraeC. N.BodenhausenG. V.MilneA. B.WheelerV. (1996). On resisting the temptation for simplification: Counterintentional effects of stereotype suppression on social memory. Social Cognition, 14, 1–20.
144.
MacraeC. N.MilneA. B.BodenhausenG. V. (1994). Stereotypes as energy-saving devices: A peek inside the cognitive toolbox. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 37–47.
145.
MakiR. H. (1996, May). Knowing what you know. Presidential address presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.
146.
McConahayJ. B.HardeeB. B.BattsV. (1981). Has racism declined in America? It depends on who is asking and what is asked. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 25, 563–579.
147.
ParkB.RothbartM. (1982). Perception of out-group homogeneity and levels of social categorization: Memory for the subordinate attributes of in-group and out-group members. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 1051–1068.
148.
PhillipsS. T.ZillerR. C. (1997). Toward a theory and measure of the nature of nonprejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 420–434.
149.
StaubE. (1989). The roots of evil: The origins of genocide and other group violence.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
150.
WilliamsJ. (1987). Eyes on the prize: America's civil rights years, 1954–1965.New York: Penguin.
151.
BeckerB. J. (1996). A look at the literature (and other resources) on teaching statistics. Journal of Educational and Behavioral Statistics, 21, 71–90.
152.
BeinsB. C. (1993). Writing assignments in statistics classes encourage students to learn interpretation. Teaching of Psychology, 20, 161–164.
153.
BonwellC.EisonJ. A. (1991). Active learning: Creating excitement in the classroom. (ASHE ERIC Higher Education Report No. 1). Washington, DC: George Washington University Press.
154.
DunnD. S. (1996). Collaborative writing in a statistics and research methods course. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 38–40.
155.
OswaldP. A. (1996). Classroom use of the personal computer to teach statistics. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 124–126.
156.
QualtersD.DolinskyB. (1995, September). Active learning in a cooperative, reflective classroom environment. Paper presented at the LILLY-New England Conference, Durham, NH.
157.
SmithP. C. (1995). Assessing writing and statistical competence in probability and statistics. Teaching of Psychology, 22, 49–50.
158.
SPSS base 7.5 for Windows: User's guide. (1997). Chicago: SPSS.
159.
WareM. E.ChastainJ. D. (1989). Computer-assisted statistical analysis: A teaching innovation?Teaching of Psychology, 16, 222–227.
160.
WareM. E.ChastainJ. D. (1991). Developing selection skills in introductory statistics. Teaching of Psychology, 18, 219–222.
161.
American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
162.
DevoreJ. L.PeckR. (1997). Statistics: The exploration and analysis of data. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Duxbury.
163.
EvansJ. S. B. (1976). Teaching statistics: Some theoretical considerations. Bulletin of the British Psychological Society, 29, 172–174.
164.
SPSS for Windows 8.0 [Computer software]. (1997). Chicago: SPSS.
165.
WareM. E.BrewerC. L. (Eds.). (1999). Handbook for teaching statistics and research methods. (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
166.
WeaverK. A. (1992). Elaborating selected statistical concepts with common experience. Teaching of Psychology, 19, 178–179.
167.
ZerbolioD. J.Jr. (1989). A “bag of tricks” for teaching about sampling distributions. Teaching of Psychology, 16, 207–209.
168.
BuckalewL. W.LewisH. H. (1982). Curriculum needs: Life preparation for undergraduate psychology majors. Psychological Reports, 51, 77–78.
169.
BuskistW. (1999). Teaching an undergraduate course in preparing for graduate study in psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 286–288.
170.
DavisS.F. (1988). The professional psychologist: A course designed to introduce students to the profession of psychology. In WoodsP. J. (Ed.), Is psychology for them? A guide to undergraduate advising. (pp. 75–78). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
171.
DodsonJ. P.ChastainG.LandrumR. E. (1996). Psychology seminar: Careers and graduate study in psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 238–240.
172.
OlesH. J.CooperR. G.Jr. (1988). The professional seminar: A new method for student advisement. In WoodsP. J. (Ed.), Is psychology for them? A guide to undergraduate advising. (pp. 61–63). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
173.
SatterfieldC. D.AbramsonC. I. (1998). The undergraduate psychology club: Possibilities and suggested activities. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 36–38.
174.
WareM. E. (1988). Teaching and evaluating a career development course for psychology majors. In WoodsP. J. (Ed.), Is psychology for them? A guide to undergraduate advising. (pp. 64–74). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
175.
WareM. E. (1992). Collegiate career advising: Status, antecedents, and strategies. In PuenteA. E.MatthewsJ. R.BrewerC. L. (Eds.), Teaching psychology in America: A history. (pp. 39–69). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
176.
FulkersonF. E.WiseP. S. (1995). Annotated bibliography on the teaching of psychology: 1994. Teaching of Psychology, 22, 248–253.
177.
GliozzoC. A.TysonV. K. (1998). Directory of international internships. (4th ed.). East Lansing: Michigan State University, Career Services and Placement Office.
178.
JohnsonD. E.SchroderS. I. (1997). Annotated bibliography on the teaching of psychology: 1996. Teaching of Psychology, 24, 287–293.
179.
JohnsonD. E.SchroderS. I. (1998). Annotated bibliography on the teaching of psychology: 1997. Teaching of Psychology, 25, 307–314.
180.
SteenS. J. (1999). Vacation study abroad, 1999/2000. The complete guide to summer and short term study.New York: Institute of International Education.
181.
WiseP. S.FulkersonF. E. (1996). Annotated bibliography on the teaching of psychology: 1995. Teaching of Psychology, 23, 257–264.
182.
AzarB.MartinS. (1999, October). APA's Council of Representatives endorses new standards for testing, high school psychology. APA Monitor, 30, 11.
183.
BeinsB. C. (1989). A survey of computer use reported in Teaching of Psychology: 1974–1988. Teaching of Psychology, 16, 143–145.
184.
ClayR. A. (1997, November). New project seeksto foster collaboration among teachers. APA Monitor, 28, 34.
185.
Di SibioR. A.GambleR. J. (1997). Collaboration between schools and higher education: The key to success. College Student Journal, 31, 532–536.
186.
ErnstR.PetrossianP. (1996). Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS): Aiming for excellence in high school psychology instruction. American Psychologist, 51, 256–258.
187.
HakalaC. M. (1999). Some observations of the current state of high school psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 122–123.
188.
HendersonB. B. (1994). The role of psychology departments in supporting secondary school teachers of psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 21, 107–108.
189.
HillerR. B.CollinsD. (1996). School district wealth and participation in college preparatory courses. The High School Journal, 80, 49–59.
190.
MoulderL. J. M.MaarseF. J.SjouwW. P. B.AkkermanA.E. (Eds.). (1991). Computers in psychology: Applications in education, research, and psychodiagnostics.Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Swets & Zeitlinger.
191.
NelsonP. D.StrickerG. (1992). Advancing the teaching of psychology: Contributions of the American Psychological Association, 1946–1992. In PuenteA. E.MatthewsJ. R.BrewerC. L. (Eds.), Teaching psychology in America: A history. (pp. 345–364). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
192.
RaglandR. G. (1992). Teachers and teacher education in high school psychology: A national survey. Teaching of Psychology, 19, 73–78.
193.
SleekS. (1999, February). Board favors broader high school curriculum. APA Monitor, 30, 45.
194.
TrappA.HammondN.BrayD. (1996). Internet and the support of psychology education. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, and Computers, 28, 174–176.
195.
WareM. E.JohnsR. L. (1990). Teaching psychology in high school: The Nebraska experience. Psychological Reports, 67, 984–986.
196.
WeitenW.DavisS. F.JegerskiJ. A.KasschauR. A.MandelK. B.WadeC. (1993). From isolation to community: Increasing communication and collegiality among psychology teachers. In McGovernT. V. (Ed.), Handbook for enhancing undergraduate education in psychology. (pp. 123–159). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
197.
CampbellJ. (1990). Transformations of myth through time.New York: Harper & Row.
198.
GiorgiA. (1992). The idea of human science. The Humanistic Psychologist, 20, 202–217.
199.
HanhT. N. (1988). The sun my heart.San Francisco: Parallax.
200.
HuxleyA. (1954). The doors of perception.New York: Harper & Row.
201.
JamesW. (1973). The stream of consciousness. In OrnsteinR. (Ed.), The nature of human consciousness. (pp. 153–166). San Francisco: Freeman. (Original work published 1890).
202.
KapleauP. (1965). The three pillars of Zen.New York: Doubleday.
203.
LudwigA. M. (1966). Altered states of consciousness. Archives of General Psychiatry, 15, 225–234.
204.
MaslowA. H. (1971). The farther reaches of human nature.New York: Viking.
205.
SchneiderK. J. (1998). Toward a science of the heart: Romanticism and the revival of psychology. American Psychologist, 53, 277–289.
206.
ShostromE. L. (1963). Personal Orientation Inventory (POI).San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
207.
SmithE. W. L. (1992). The sweat lodge experience from a Gestalt neo-Reichian perspective. Voices, 28(4), 37–43.
208.
StevensJ. O. (1971). Awareness: Exploring, experimenting, experiencing.New York: Bantam.
209.
WattsA. W. (1968). Cloud-hidden, whereabouts unknown.New York: Random House.
210.
Wren-LewisJ. (1994). Aftereffects of near-death experiences: A survival mechanism hypothesis. Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 26, 107–115.