Psychology Resources: Very Short Introductions

Psychology influences the way we think about everything, from education and intelligence to relationships and advertising. This updated Very Short Introduction by Gillian Butler and Freda McManus provides an exploration of the leading ideas and theories of psychology for anyone interested in understanding the human mind.

"Daniel Pick provides a lucid, lively, and wide-ranging survey of psychoanalysis while exploring the particular challenges that now face the analytic profession. Offering a flavor of what it might be like to enter treatment, Pick illustrated why psychoanalysis can provide a unique form of therapy and an important resource for investigating the mind, its creative functioning and many afflictions."

Are we born with our fears or do we learn them? Why do our fears persist? What purpose does anxiety serve? How common are anxiety disorders, and which treatments are most effective? What's happening in our brain when we feel fear? This Very Short Introduction draws on the best scientific research to offer a highly accessible explanation of what anxiety is, why it is such a normal and vital part of our emotional life, and the key factors that cause it. Insights are drawn from psychology, neuroscience, genetics, epidemiology and clinical trials. Providing a fascinating illustration of the discussion are two interviews conducted specifically for the book, with the actor, writer and director Michael Palin and former England football manager Graham Taylor.

This Very Short Introduction provides an up-to-date, authoritative, and accessible guide to modern child psychology, from birth to early adolescence. Beginning with infancy, Usha Goswami considers the process of attachment and 'bonding', showing how secure attachments enable the development of self-understanding. Exploring childhood learning, ranging from aspects of language and thinking to cognitive reasoning, Goswami looks at how babies and toddlers develop an understanding of the physical, biological, and social worlds, and develop complex abilities like language and morality. Demonstrating how learning is shaped by the environments surrounding the child; at home, school, with peers, and in wider society, Goswami emphasizes the importance of childhood friendships and siblings for psychological development. Introducing the key theories in child psychology, Goswami explains why children develop as they do and how society can further optimize their development through the adolescent years.

This volume tells the story of social psychology, its history, concepts, and major theories. Discussing the classic studies that have defined the discipline, it introduces social psychology's key thinkers, and shows how their personal histories spurred them to understand what connects people to people, and the societies in which we live. Taking us from the first ideas of the discipline to its most cutting-edge developments, it demonstrates how social psychology remains profoundly relevant to everyday life.

Over the last century, psychotherapy has transformed from an obscure treatment for wealthy, intellectual neurotics in fin-de-siècle Vienna to a widely used treatment for emotional and psychological difficulties. In this compendium, the authors map the development of psychotherapy, from its origins in Freud's psychoanalysis to the range of approaches available today, including counseling, cognitive behavior therapy, mindfulness, and group therapies.