Discovering Psychology: The Science of Mind

In this fresh new offering to the Intro Psychology course, authors John Cacioppo and Laura Freberg portray psychology as being an integrative science in two ways. First, they have written a text that reflects psychology's rightful place as a hub science that draws from and is cited by research in many other fields. Second, this text presents psychology as a unified science that seeks a complete understanding of the human mind, rather than as a loosely organized set of autonomous subspecialties. As psychology moves rapidly toward maturity as an integrative, multidisciplinary field, the introductory course offers an opportunity to teach all of psychology in one place and at one time. This text reflects that evolution--and the authors' excitement about it.

John T. Cacioppo is the Tiffany and Margaret Blake Distinguished Service Professor and Director of the Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience at the University of Chicago. He is a past President of several scientific societies, including the Association for Psychological Science, the Society for Social Neuroscience, the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and the Society for Psychophysiological Research, and a past Chair of the Psychology Section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Among the awards he has received are the Troland Award from the National Academy of Sciences, the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association, a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health, the Scientific Impact Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions from the Society for Psychophysiological Research, and the Campbell Award and the Theoretical Innovation Prize from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Cacioppo is a Member of the President's Committee on the National Medal of Science; the Chair of the Board of Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences at the National Research Council and a Member of the National Science Foundation Advisory Committee for the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences Directorate; and a former Member of both the Council for the NIH Center for Scientific Review and the Council for the National Institute on Aging.

Laura A. Freberg (Ph.D., UCLA) is Professor of Psychology at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where she teaches courses in Introductory Psychology, Biological Psychology, and Sensation and Perception. Laura's teaching career began when she taught her first college course at Pasadena City College at the age of 23. To better understand the needs of the online education community, she also teaches a variety of psychology courses for Argosy University Online. Laura has received Faculty Member of the Year recognition from Cal Poly Disabilities Resource Center three times (1991, 1994, and 2009) for her work with students with disabilities. She enjoys using technology and social media in the classroom, and is a Google Glass Explorer. Laura serves as the Content Expert Writer for Psychology for Answers.com and as the Bylaws and Archives Committee Chair for the Society for Social Neuroscience. She is a member of the editorial board for Leadership Quarterly. With John Cacioppo of the University of Chicago, she is the co-author of two editions of DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF MIND (Cengage Learning).