Psychology and Life, First Canadian Edition with MyLab Psychology

CLASSIC and INNOVATIVE; RIGOUROUS and FRIENDLY; PSYCHOLOGY and LIFE

A mid-upper level Introductory Psychology text with a special focus on the scientific and experimental basis of psychological knowledge, and how it can be applied to students' daily lives.

The aim of Psychology and Life is to use solid scientific research to address psychological misconceptions; to give form and substance to the vast range of subject matter that needs to be covered in an introductory psychology text—from the micro-level analyses of nerve cell processes to the macro-level analyses of cultural systems—in a style and approach that is relevant and meaningful to students.  Psychology and Life is a classic text that provides a rigorous, research-centred survey of the discipline while offering students special features and learning aids that will spark their interest and excite their imaginations.  This esteemed US text has been adapted for use in Canadian institutions, with Canadian and international research integrated throughout.  The text has been thoroughly updated to reflect the latest cutting-edge research, and features an increased emphasis on critical thinking.  With new practice tests and a new “Canadian Connections in This Chapter” feature at the end of each chapter, the Canadian edition presents a balanced approach that will have wide appeal. 

Serge Desmarais is a professor of psychology and the Associate Dean in the College of Social and Human Applied Science at the University of Guelph. He joined that university in 1995 following earlier teaching positions at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, and Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. Since 2002, Desmarais has been the recipient of a Canada Research Chair in Applied Social Psychology. His research expertise and interests are varied but are broadly associated with two general themes: 1) the changes and impact of gender norms and, 2) issues of justice and personal entitlement. His scholarly activities have recently expanded to include studies on gender and sexuality, sexual coercion and pressure, men’s and women’s perceptions of pornography and gender-based dating perceptions. Desmarais is also the former associate editor of Canadian Psychology and a co-author of the popular text The World of Psychology.

Richard J. Gerrig is a professor of psychology at Stony Brook University. Before joining the Stony Brook faculty, Gerrig taught at Yale University, where he was awarded the Lex Hixon Prize for teaching excellence in the social sciences. Gerrig’s research on cognitive psychological aspects of language use has been widely published. One line of work examines the mental processes that underlie efficient communication. A second research program considers the cognitive and emotional changes readers experience when they are transported to the worlds of stories. His book Experiencing Narrative Worlds was published by Yale University Press. Gerrig is a Fellow of both the American Psychological Association and the Association for Psychological Science. He is also an associate editor of Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. Gerrig is the proud father of Alexandra, who at age 16 provides substantial and valuable advice about many aspects of psychology and life in the 21st century. Life on Long Island is greatly enhanced by the guidance and support of Timothy Peterson.

Tammy L. Ivanco is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Manitoba and she has just completed a term as the Associate Head (Undergraduate).  Ivanco is also cross appointed in the Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science at the University of Manitoba. Ivanco has been awarded the Department of Psychology Teaching Award.  Ivanco’s laboratory uses a number of different techniques to investigate mammalian brain plasticity throughout the lifespan.  One line of research is aimed at examining how our brains change in response to experience, particularly how it is that our brains change when we learn new motor skills.  A second line of research revolves around the issue of how damage influences the brain.  In this line of research, Ivanco uses animal models to investigate consequences to the brain of oxygen deprivation and stokes, autism, and Fragile X Mental Retardation Syndrome.  Ivanco is a foster mom to three dogs that she has been showing in confirmation trials and is training for tracking.

Philip G. Zimbardo is an emeritus professor of psychology at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1968, after earlier teaching at Yale University, New York University, and Columbia University. He also continues to teach at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey. Zimbardo is internationally recognized as the “voice and face of contemporary psychology” through his widely seen PBS-TV series, Discovering Psychology, his media appearances, best-selling trade books, and his classic research, The Stanford Prison Experiment.

His new trade book published to much acclaim in March 2007 (Random House) explores the psychology of evil; its provocative title: “The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil.” His current research interests are in the domain of experimental social psychology, with a scattered emphasis on everything interesting to study from shyness to time perspective, persuasion, cults, madness, violence, vandalism, political psychology, and terrorism.

Zimbardo has been a prolific, innovative researcher with more than 300 professional articles and chapters and 50 books to his credit. To recognize the breadth of his research achievements, the APA presented Zimbardo with the Ernest Hilgard Award for lifetime contributions to general psychology. He has also won the Vaclav Havel Foundation Award for his body of research on the human condition. Zimbardo has been President of the Western Psychological Association (twice), President of the American Psychological Association, Chair of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP), and now Chair of the Western Psychological Foundation and Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Policy, Education, and Research on Terrorism.