We analyzed the first 10 editions of Baron and Byrne's social psychology textbook. Modeling our methodology on Griggs and Jackson's (1996) longitudinal analysis of Hilgard's (1953) introductory psychology text, we ascertained changes in objective features, content, and contributors and contributions to social psychology. Changes in objective features partially mirrored changes in introductory texts. Topical coverage of areas related to social cognition increased. A small core of classic publications emerged. We discuss findings in relation to other analyses of textbooks, journal content, and researcher eminence.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AronsonE.WilsonT. D.AkertR. M. (2002). Social psychology (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
2.
AschS. E. (1946). Forming impressions of personality. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 41, 258–290.
3.
BanduraA.RossD.RossS. A. (1963). Imitation of film-mediated aggressive models. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 3–11.
BemD. J.AllenA. (1974). On predicting some of the people some of the time: The search for cross-situational consistencies in behavior. Psychological Review, 81, 506–520.
6.
CacioppoJ. T. (2002, June). Built for pleasure: How mood and emotion reflect our hedonistic instincts. Keynote address delivered at the 14th annual convention of the American Psychological Society, New Orleans, LA.
7.
ChristopherA. N.GriggsR.A.HagansC.L. (2000). Social and abnormal psychology textbooks: An objective analysis. Teaching of Psychology, 27, 180–189.
8.
DarleyJ. M.LatanéB. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 377–383.
9.
DionK.BerscheidE.WalsterE. (1972). What is beautiful is good. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 24, 285–290.
10.
DollardJ.DoobL. W.MillerN. E.MowrerO. H.SearsR. R. (1939). Frustration and aggression. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
11.
EatonR. F.SleighM. J. (2002). The need for comparative research in developmental textbooks: A review and evaluation. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 101–105.
12.
FestingerL. (1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.
13.
FestingerL.CarlsmithJ. M. (1959). Cognitive consequences of forced compliance. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 58, 203–210.
14.
ForgasJ. P. (1978). [Review of the book Social psychology: Understanding human interaction (2nd ed.)]. Australian Journal of Psychology, 30, 201–202.
15.
FreedmanJ. L.FraserS. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 195–202.
16.
GoodwinC. J. (1999). A history of modern psychology. New York: Wiley.
17.
GordonR. A.VicariP. J. (1992). Eminence in social psychology: A comparison of textbook citation, Social Sciences Citation Index, and research productivity rankings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 26–38.
18.
GorenfloD. W.McConnellJ. V. (1991). The most frequently cited journal articles and authors in introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 18, 8–12.
19.
GriggsR. A. (1999). Introductory psychology textbooks: Assessing levels of difficulty. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 248–253.
20.
GriggsR. A.JacksonS. 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.
21.
GriggsR. A.JacksonS. L.ChristopherA. N.MarekP. (1999). Introductory psychology textbooks: An objective analysis and update. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 182–189.
22.
GriggsR. A.ProctorD. L. (2002). A citation analysis of who's who in introductory textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 29, 203–206.
23.
HilgardE. R. (1953). Introduction to psychology. New York: Harcourt Brace.
24.
JacksonS. L.LugoS. M.GriggsR. A. (2001). Research methods textbooks: An objective analysis. Teaching of Psychology, 28, 282–288.
25.
KasmerJ. A.HaugtvedtC. P.SteidleyT. V. (1988). The top 200 social psychologists mentioned in recent social psychology textbooks. Contemporary Social Psychology, 13, 9–16.
26.
LintonS. (1992). Analysis of information about television in developmental psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 19, 82–86.
27.
MarekP.GriggsR. A. (2001). Useful analyses for selecting a cognitive psychology textbook. Teaching of Psychology, 28, 40–44.
28.
MarekP.GriggsR. A.ChristopherA. N. (1999). Pedagogical aids in textbooks: Do college students' perceptions justify their prevalence?Teaching of Psychology, 26, 11–19.
29.
MilgramS. (1963). Behavioral study of obedience. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 371–378.
30.
MyersD. G. (2002). Social psychology (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
31.
NeisserU. (1967). Cognitive psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.
32.
PerlmanB.McCannL. I. (1999). The most frequently listed courses in the undergraduate psychology curriculum. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 177–182.
33.
PerlmanD. (1984). Recent developments in personality and social psychology: A citation analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 10, 493–501.
34.
ProctorD. L.BujakA. (2001, February). Terms and people most frequently cited in social psychology texts. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX.
35.
ShermanR.C.BuddieA.M.DraganK.L.EndC.M.FinneyL. J. (1999). Twenty years of PSPB: Trends in content, design, and analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 25, 177–187.
36.
WalsterE.AronsonV.AbrahamsD.RottmanL. (1966). Importance of physical attractiveness in dating behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4, 508–516.
37.
WebbW. B. (1991). History from our textbooks: Boring, Langfeld, and Weld's introductory texts (1935-1948+). Teaching of Psychology, 18, 33–35.
38.
WeitenW. (1988). Objective features of introductory psychology textbooks as related to professors' impressions. Teaching of Psychology, 15, 10–16.
39.
WeitenW.WightR. D. (1992). Portraits of a discipline: An examination of introductory psychology textbooks in America. In PuenteA. E.MatthewsJ. R.BrewerC. L. (Eds.), Teaching psychology in America: A history (pp. 453–504). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
40.
ZajoncR. B. (1968). Attitudinal effects of mere exposure [monograph]. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9 (2, Pt. 2).
41.
ZimbardoP.G. (2003). Foreword. In BaronR. A.ByrneD., Social psychology (10th ed., pp. xxi–xxii). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
