Table of Contents

Introduction 1
Part I: Getting Started with Psychology 5


Chapter 1: Seeing the Purpose of Psychology 7


Chapter 2: Making Sense of What People Do: Psychology Essentials
13


Part II: Picking Your Brain (And Body) 31


Chapter 3: Hardware, Software, and Wetware 33


Chapter 4: Conscious Beings 51


Chapter 5: Getting Sensitive 61


Part III: Thinking and Feeling and Acting 75


Chapter 6: Thinking and Speaking 77


Chapter 7: How Does That Make You Feel? 103


Chapter 8: Barking up the Learning Tree: Dogs, Cats, and Rats
123


Part IV: Me, You, and Everything in Between 143


Chapter 9: Developing an Award-Winning Personality 145


Chapter 10: Catching the First Boat off Isolation Island 173


Chapter 11: Conforming Like a Contortionist: Social Psychology
199


Chapter 12: Growing Up with Psychology 221


Chapter 13: Modern Abnormal Psychology 241


Part V: Building a Better You 263


Chapter 14: Assessing the Problem and Testing the Psyche 265


Chapter 15: Getting Comfy on the Couch 279


Chapter 16: Changing Behavior, Changing Thinking 291


Chapter 17: Being a Person Is Tough: Client-Centered and
Existential Therapies 311


Chapter 18: Stress, Illness, Growth, and Strength 325


Part VI: The Part of Tens 343


Chapter 19: Ten Tips for Maintaining Psychological Health
345


Chapter 20: Ten Great Psychological Movies 351


Index 357

About the Author

Adam Cash, PsyD, is Clinical Director of Specialized Psychology Solutions, a child psychology clinic specializing in behavior, learning, development, and autism spectrum disorders. He has taught at the community college and university levels and also worked as a forensic psychologist.