Psychology: A Very Short Introduction

Psychology is part of everyone's experience: it influences the way we think about everything from education and intelligence to relationships and emotions, advertising, and criminality. People readily behave as amateur psychologists, offering explanations for what we think, feel, and do. But what exactly are psychologists trying to help us understand? What scientific grounding do they have for their approach?

In Psychology: A Very Short Introduction, Dr. Gillian Butler and Dr. Freda McManus provide an understanding of some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical relevance. The authors answer some of the most frequently asked questions about psychology including: What is psychology? How do we use what is in the mind? How does psychology work? How do we influence each other? What can or can't a psychologist do for you? Psychology is a large part of our everyday experience, and this elemental guide is a stimulating introduction for anyone interested in understanding the human mind.

About the Series: Combining authority with wit, accessibility, and style, Very Short Introductions offer an introduction to some of life's most interesting topics. Written by experts for the newcomer, they demonstrate the finest contemporary thinking about the central problems and issues in hundreds of key topics, from philosophy to Freud, quantum theory to Islam.

Gillian Butler now works as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Warneford Hospital, Oxford, having previously spent nearly ten years doing research in the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University. She is co-author (with Tony Hope) of Manage Your Mind: The Mental Fitness Guide. Freda McManus is a Research Cognitive Therapist in the Department of Psychiatry at Oxford University. She works on the development and evaluation of psychological treatments for anxiety disorders.