Psychology and the Real World: Essays Illustrating Fundamental Contributions to Society

by Morton A. Gernsbacher, Richard W. Pew (Editor), Leaetta M. Hough (Editor)

Psychology and the Real World: Essays Illustrating Fundamental Contributions to Society is a collection of brief, personal, original essays, ranging in length from 2500 to 3500 words, in which leading academic psychologists describe what their area of research has contributed to society. The authors are true stars in the field of psychology. Some of their work (for example, Elizabeth Loftus’s studies of false memories, Paul Ekman’s research on facial expression, and Eliot Aronson’s “jigsaw,” or cooperative, classroom studies) is well known to the public. The research of others is less familiar to nonspecialists, but no less fascinating. The book is unique the world of textbook ancillaries in that it does not reprint writings. Rather, innovative psychological scientists clearly and entertainingly tell readers why their research matters and how their line of inquiry developed.
 
The concept for the book came from the FABBS Foundation, a nonprofit educational foundation that supports the work of 22 scholarly societies that span the cognitive, psychological, behavioral, and brain sciences.

The authors have volunteered their contributions. These authors have agreed that all grants, advances, and royalties and other financial earnings from this volume will go to the FABBS Foundation to support their educational mission.

Genres: Psychology

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2009

Reviews

[Always Pouting · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the books gives a pretty good overview of recent areas of research in psychology and provides a really good variety of subjects from the design of studies to neurology to therapies for psychopathology. A lot of what it covers is familiar if you keep up with literature but I think it's a great read for anyone who might be interested in the practical applications of psychology, how research in psychology is done, or about pursuing a career in research psychology. I especially liked the essays on Learning, Memory, Development, Language and Thought, and consciousness.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting survey of recent studies from a good selection of psychological subjects. Fun to read- but still a very academic tone.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some chapters to be better than others which might be expected with varying authors. Still could be a good supplement in an Intro Psych class.

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

we read some of this articles for intro psych and I'm going to keep the book and hope to finish them