Psychology in Modules (11th Edition)

Book Preface

In the thirty-two years since Worth Publishers invited me (David Myers) to write this book, so much has changed in the world, in psychology, and within the covers of this book across its eleven editions. With this edition, I continue as lead author while beginning a gradual, decade-long process of welcoming a successor author, the award-winning teacher-scholar-writer, Nathan DeWall.

Yet across these three decades of Psychology there has also been a stability of purpose: to merge rigorous science with a broad human perspective that engages both mind and heart. We aim to offer a state-of-the-art introduction to psychological science that speaks to students’ needs and interests. We aspire to help students understand and appreciate the wonders of their everyday lives. And we seek to convey the inquisitive spirit with which psychologists do psychology.

We are enthusiastic about psychology and its applicability to our lives. Psychological science has the potential to expand our minds and enlarge our hearts. By studying and applying its tools, ideas, and insights, we can supplement our intuition with critical thinking, restrain our judgmentalism with compassion, and replace our illusions with understanding. By the time students complete this guided tour of psychology, they will also, we hope, have a deeper understanding of our moods and memories, about the reach of our unconscious, about how we flourish and struggle, about how we perceive our physical and social worlds, and about how our biology and culture in turn shape us. (See TABLES 1 and 2.)

Believing with Thoreau that “anything living is easily and naturally expressed in popular language,” we seek to communicate psychology’s scholarship with crisp narrative and vivid storytelling. We hope to tell psychology’s story in a way that is warmly personal as well as rigorously scientific. We love to reflect on connections between psychology and other realms, such as literature, philosophy, history, sports, religion, politics, and popular culture. And we love to provoke thought, to play with words, and to laugh. For his pioneering 1890 Principles of Psychology, William James sought “humor and pathos.” And so do we.

We are grateful for the privilege of assisting with the teaching of this mind-expanding discipline to so many students, in so many countries, through so many different languages. To be entrusted with discerning and communicating psychology’s insights is both an exciting honor and a great responsibility.

Creating this book is a team sport. Like so many human achievements, it reflects a collective intelligence. Woodrow Wilson spoke for us: “I not only use all the brains I have, but all I can borrow.” The thousands of instructors and millions of students across the globe who have taught or studied with this book have contributed immensely to its development. Much of this contribution has occurred spontaneously, through correspondence and conversations. And we look forward to continuing feedback as we strive, over future editions, to create an ever better book and teaching package.