Exploring Psychology

An introduction to psychology course. The author's updating and integrated use of the SQ3R learning system (Survey, Question, Read, Rehearse, Review) help to make the text accessible. A comprehensive supplements package is available to help both students and instructors.

Psychologists have always been interested in interest, and so modern research on interest can be found in nearly every area of the field: Researchers studying emotions, cognition, development, education, aesthetics, personality, motivation, and vocations have developed intriguing ideas about what interest is and how it works. Exploring the Psychology of Interest presents an integrated picture of how interest has been studied in all the wide-ranging areas of psychology. Using modern theories of cognition and emotion as an integrative framework, Paul Silvia examines the nature of interest, what makes things interesting, the role of interest in personality, and the development of peoples idiosyncratic interests, hobbies, and avocations. His examination reveals deep similarities between seemingly different fields of psychology and illustrates the profound importance of interest, curiosity, and intrinsic motivation for understanding why people do what they do. The most comprehensive work of its kind, Exploring the Psychology of Interest will be a valuable resource for student and professional researchers in cognitive, social, and developmental psychology.

This version of the main text breaks down the chapters into shorter modules, for more accessibility. The smaller chunks allow students to better grasp and explore psychological concepts. The modules also allow more flexibility in teaching, as cross-references to other chapters have been replaced with brief explanations.

How reliable is our intuition? How much should we depend on gut-level instinct rather than rational analysis when we play the stock market, choose a mate, hire an employee, or assess our own abilities? In this engaging and accessible book, David G. Myers shows us that while intuition can provide us with useful—and often amazing—insights, it can also dangerously mislead us. Drawing on recent psychological research, Myers discusses the powers and perils of intuition when: • judges and jurors determine who is telling the truth; • mental health workers predict whether someone is at risk for suicide or crime; • coaches, players, and fans decide who has the hot hand or the hot bat; • personnel directors hire new employees; • psychics claim to be clairvoyant or to have premonitions; • and much more.

This book explores key areas of educational and social psychology and considers their relevance to language learning and teaching, using activities and questions for reflection. The topics discussed in the book include: • learners’ and teachers’ beliefs about how a language should be learned and taught • learning and working in groups • relationships with others • the role of the self in teaching and learning • motivation to start and persist with tasks • the role of emotions in learning. The authors provide useful insights for the understanding of language learning and discuss the important implications for language teaching pedagogy. Extra resources are available on the website: www.oup.com/elt/teacher/exploringpsychology Marion Williams was formerly Reader in Applied Linguistics at the University of Exeter and is a past president of IATEFL. Sarah Mercer is Professor of Foreign Language Teaching at the University of Graz, Austria. Stephen Ryan is Professor in the School of Economics at Senshu University, Tokyo.

This book is designed to help students organize their thinking about psychology at a conceptual level. The focus on behaviour and empiricism has produced a text that is better organized, has fewer chapters, and is somewhat shorter than many of the leading books. The beginning of each section includes learning objectives; throughout the body of each section are key terms in bold followed by their definitions in italics; key takeaways, and exercises and critical thinking activities end each section.