Contents

CHAPTER 1: Introduction 9FIGURE 1.2Many influential people helped to develop the field of psychology, including (a) William James,(b) B. F. Skinner, and (c) Sigmund Freud.(a) (b) (c)the first introductory textbook, The Principles of Psychology, and gained insightinto mental processes using his technique of introspection (see Figure 1.2). Asthe prominence of behaviorism grew, B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) expanded ourunderstanding of responses to reinforcement through the experimental analysisof behavior. Along with Skinner, Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) is often oneof the most recognized figures in psychology, but the ideas and methods ofthe two could not be more different! Freud’s theories on personality, mentaldisorders, and the unconscious dramatically shifted attention from behaviorto mental processes through his method of free association. Many other individualsgreatly influenced thinking within specific areas of psychology, such asdevelopmental, clinical, social, and cognitive psychology. We hope you will beable to learn more about these influential psychologists, from both the past andthe present, in the areas of most interest to you.Science also changes less dramatically, in ways that result from the cumulativeefforts of many individuals. One way to describe these more gradualchanges is by describing the growth of the profession of psychology. The AmericanPsychological Association (APA) was formed in 1892. The APA had onlya few dozen members in that first year; in 1992, when the APA celebrated its100th birthday, there were approximately 70,000 members. Fifteen years later,in 2007, APA membership doubled to over 148,000 members. Promotion of psychologicalresearch is a concern of the APA as well as the Association for PsychologicalScience (APS). APS was formed in 1988 to emphasize scientific issues inpsychology. APA and APS both sponsor annual conventions, which psychologistsattend to learn about the most recent developments in their fields. Each organizationalso publishes scientific journals in order to communicate the latestresearch findings to its members and to society in general.You can become part of psychology’s history in the making. Both APA andAPS encourage student affiliation, which provides educational and researchopportunities for both undergraduate and graduate psychology students.