Noel Smith presents a comprehensive and engaging text that strives to tell students "what today's systems of psychology are saying." He offers in-depth coverage of more recent systems of psychology, beyond the traditional classical systems of psychology. Smith focuses on the core areas of psychological systems that have impact today, such as the cognitive system, the humanistic system, the psychoanalytic systems, the behavioral system, the ecological perspective, and the phenomenological approach. His thorough coverage of the contemporary, post 1950's systems of psychology'including post modernism and social constructionism, dialectical psychology, interbehavioral field psychology, operant subjectivity, and community psychology, to name a few'offers a modern view of the current systems of psychology to today's psychology students.

Twenty years is a long time in the life of a science. While the historical roots of psychology have not changed since the first edition of this book, some of the offshoots of the various theories and systems discussed have been crit ically reexamined and have undergone far-reaching modifications. New and bold research has led to a broadening of perspectives, and recent devel opments in several areas required a considerable amount of rewriting. I have been fortunate in the last fifteen years to have worked with about 2,000 psychologists and other behavioral scientists who contributed to several collected volumes I have edited. As the editor-in-chief of the In ternational Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychoanalysis and Neurol ogy, I have had the privilege of reading, scrutinizing, and editing the work of 1,500 experts in psychology and related disciplines. In addition, I have written several books and monographs and over one hundred scientific papers. Armed with all that experience, I have carefully examined the pages of the first edition. Chapter 8 required substantial rewriting and several new sections have been added to other chapters: "Current Soviet Psychol ogy" (Chapter 2, Section 7); "New Ideas on Purposivism" (Chapter 5, Sec tion 4); "Recent Developments in the Sociological School of Psychoanalysis" (Chapter 9, Section 4); and "Present Status of Gestalt Psychology" (Chapter 12, Section 4). Chapter 15 was omitted, and two new chapters were added: Chapter 14 ("Humanistic Psychology") and Chapter 16 ("Selected Research Areas").

Drawn from more than sixty years of classroom experience, this introductory guide provides students with a coherent framework for considering psychology from a Christian perspective. Paul Moes and Donald Tellinghuisen explore biblical themes of human nature in relation to all major areas of psychology, showing how a Christian understanding of humans can inform the study of psychology. The first edition has proven to be a successful textbook, with over 11,000 copies sold. The second edition has been updated and revised throughout based on student and instructor feedback. Brief, accessible chapters correspond to standard introductory psychology textbooks, making this an excellent supplemental text. The book includes end-of-chapter questions. An updated test bank for professors is available through Textbook eSources.

This book is a thorough revision of the successful Assumptions of Social Psychology, first published in 1969. Reexamining the implicit and explicit assumptions concerning inquiry as to the nature of the human organism, it takes as its major thesis the idea that the epistemologies utilized by social psychologists -- encompassing behavioral, intentional, and historical analyses -- are complementary rather than contradictory. After examining key figures in the history of Western epistemology, such as Descartes, Vico, Hume, and Kant, contemporary issues such as the nature of causation, intentions, behavior, rhetoric, and hermeneutics are discussed. A major thesis is that the epistemologies utilized by social scientists encompassing behavioral, cognitive, and historical analyses are complimentary rather than contradictory. In order to demonstrate this, the historical underpinnings of social psychological epistemologies and an argument for the complimentarity of major social psychological theoretical approaches are developed. Most importantly, some of the possibilities for building explanation of social phenomena, which are alternatives to existing forms of explanation, are discussed.

A Historical and Contemporary Look at Psychological Systemsoffers a novel approach to examining the history and current state of scientific psychology. This boldly original volume analyzes the systems of psychology in an innovative new way. The author provides interconnectedness to, as well as the distinctiveness of, the diverse theoretical approaches to psychology. The book revisits the roots of psychology and traces them to the current state of the field, both theoretically and methodologically. Readers will gain a clearer understanding of the foundational differences and similarities that currently exist in psychological theories. The volume reviews four broad systems of psychology: behavioral, cognitive, humanistic, and psychodynamic. Evolutionary and neuro- psychology are considered as additional approaches that influence all fourpsychological systems. The book opens with the historical background that led to the emergence of the four systems. It traces the concept of the soul through the periods of the ancient Greeks and Romans to the beginnings of psychology as an empirical science. Differences and similarities of the four systems are then explored with respect to eight fundamental psychological issues: consciousness, reductionism, teleology, determinism, values, spirituality, therapy, and psychological research procedures. Intended for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate level courses in the history and systems of psychology, this bookwill also appeal to researchers in this area. To facilitate the book’s use as a textbook, it features discussion questions at the end of each chapter.