Psychology: Frontiers and Applications, Second Edition

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The study of psychology is a journey with many destinations. The Second Canadian Edition of Psychology: Frontiers and Applications is both a guide and a companion on this journey. The Canadian Edition of Passer & Smith continues to strengthen the text's hallmarks (readability, Canadian content, appealing design), pedagogy (Problem-Based Learning, ground-breaking research, emerging studies and applications of psychology in the real world), as well as its renowned content. Chapter-opening vignettes, some new, are integrated into the chapters and followed up with closing vignettes at the end. Updated references and a reorganization of material has been developed to suit the needs of Canadian instructors - all designed to guide the student of psychology along this ongoing journey.

Built upon the success of the first edition are chapter-opening vignettes to pique the interest of all students, then ask the questions: What are the Issues Here? What do we need to know? Where can we find the information necessary to answer the questions? New to this second edition is an innovative chapter-ending vignette which addresses all three, bringing that opening story back and discussing what was taught through the chapter and how it now allows students to better answer those questions.

This new Canadian text approaches the study of psychology as an ongoing journey, and offers itself as a guide on that journey. Beginning with the view that behaviour can be studied at psychological, biological, and environmental levels, the text employs a variety of pedagogical elements to emphasize the relationship between theoretical and applied science; to promote analytic and critical thinking, while fostering an understanding of scientific principles and methods.

Michael W. Passer, Ph.D., coordinates the introductory psychology program at the University of Washington, which enrolls about 2,500 students per year, and also is the faculty coordinator of training for new teaching assistants (TAs). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and his PhD in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a specialization in social psychology. Dr. Passer has been a faculty member at the University of Washington since 1977. A former Danforth Foundation Fellow and University of Washington Distinguished Teaching Award finalist, Dr. Passer has had a career-long love of teaching. Each academic year he teaches introductory psychology twice and a required pre-major course in research methods. Dr. Passer developed and teaches a graduate course on the Teaching of Psychology, which prepares students for careers in the college classroom, and also has taught courses in social psychology and attribution theory. He has published more than 20 scientific articles and chapters, primarily in the areas of attribution, stress, and anxiety, and has taught the introductory psychology course for 20 years.

Ronald E. Smith, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Psychology Training at the University of Washington, where he also has served as Area Head of the Social Psychology and Personality area. He received his bachelor’s degree from Marquette University and his PhD from Southern Illinois University, where he had dual specializations in clinical and physiological psychology. His major research interests are in anxiety, stress and coping, and in performance enhancement research and intervention. Dr. Smith is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association. He received a Distinguished Alumnus Award from the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute for his contributions to the field of mental health. He has published more than 160 scientific articles and book chapters in his areas of interest and has authored or co-authored 23 books on introductory psychology, human performance enhancement, and personality, including Introduction to Personality: Toward an Integration, with Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda (Wiley, 2004). An award-winning teacher, he has more than 15 years of experience in teaching the introductory psychology course.

Mike Atkinson is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. Dr. Atkinson received his B.Sc. from Dalhousie University in 1975 and his M.Sc. (1978) and Ph.D. (1982) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Atkinson’s training is in social psychology, but his research and teaching interests place him more in the field of educational psychology. “Dr. Mike,” as he is known to his students, has been featured in Maclean’s magazine, Media Television, and the Globe and Mail. He has also received numerous teaching awards, including the University of Western Ontario Professor of the Year award five times, as well as the Student’s Council/Alumni Western Teaching Award of Excellence, and the Pleva Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has also received the 3M Canada Teaching Fellowship for his pioneering work in large-scale multimedia instruction, the “Superclass,” and is a certified ISW trainer.

John B. Mitchell is the Academic Dean at Brescia University College, University of Western Ontario. Dr. Mitchell received his B.A. and M.A. from Queen’s University and his Ph.D. from Concordia University. Following completion of his Ph.D., he did post-doctoral research at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre in Montreal and at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Mitchell has taught Introduction to Psychology at Boston College, Brescia University College, and the University of Western Ontario in classes that have ranged in size from 50 to 500 students. He has also taught courses in behavioural neuroscience, psychopharmacology, memory, research methods, and, more recently, educational psychology. In 2006, Dr. Mitchell received the Brescia University College Award for Teaching Excellence. Dr. Mitchell has authored or co-authored research papers and book chapters on memory, the effects of early experience on the ability to recover from stress, and motivation.

Darwin W. Muir, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus (retired but still active) of Psychology at Queen’s University. He received his B.S. and M.Sc. from Eastern Michigan University and his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Dalhousie University. Dr. Muir has been in the Psychology Department at Queen’s University since 1974 where he has held an NSERC operating grant that supported the publication of more than 90 journal articles and book chapters and edited books on topics ranging from the study of concept formation in pigeons, the visual acuity of visually deprived cats, and social learning in snails to human fetal, neonatal, and infant sensitivity to tactile, auditory, and visual stimulation. Recently he has been studying the role played by adult auditory, visual, and tactile stimulation in the regulation of infant affect and attention during face-to-face interactions. He is married with three daughters and three grandsons. Before retiring, Dr. Muir was a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and a member of the International Society for Infant Studies, the Society for Research on Child Development, the American Psychological Society, and the Canadian Society for Brain, Behaviour and Cognitive Sciences.