Tag: discovering psychology the science of mind

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discovering psychology – the science of mind

Laura and John Cacioppo's new book! CLICK on the picture to see more.

Recently, my bride  Laura  and her coauthor  John Cacioppo  launched their first project together. It was an introductory psychology textbook entitled:   Discovering Psychology – the Science of Mind.  It is a fascinating and a remarkable peek into a dynamic changing field.

Now, I know very little about the writing of textbooks, but for me the experience was something akin to trying to escape second hand smoke; you can’t do it. I was Laura’s ‘minion’:  fetch her coffee or fix a platter of cheese and crackers and in one bazaar episode I even was asked to paint  my tongue blue and take a picture of it for their book. Depending on how you measure this project, it started somewhere between 7 and 10 years ago. Neither John nor Laura wanted to begin a project if it was just going to be like everything else in the field of psychology. However, John had observed that the field of psychology was evolving and that a textbook addressing this natural evolution was needed.

It seems that Grandma is proud of her copy , too!

Psychology, like so many very large fields of study, had been chopped up into pieces for 50 years to aid analysis. Experts developed in the new fields of Physiological, Clinical, Social, Developmental, Cognitive among others…  and each defended their territory religiously from the intrusions of other disciplines. However, as multidisciplinary and Transdisciplinary teams began to define how modern solutions to academic and social challenges were being met; it seemed quaint for scientists to limit their expertise to a narrow field. Psychology among other hub sciences were reaching out to other disciplines and pulling together the disciplines of psychology at the same time to help address the big questions of our day.

We’ve all seen buildings designed by architects who forget that people have to live in them, business offices that create unhealthy social environments, and engineers that fail to introduce the human equation to designing solutions to structural challenges. I think this textbook models the right approach and it is a first step in the right direction.

Congratulations John and Laura.

 

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as Laura says – a new way to teach psychology

John Cacioppo and Laura's new textbook: "Discovering Psychology -- the Science of Mind" CLICK on the picture above to visit Laura's site.

I like to keep up with what my family is doing and they often do astonish me. My bride of 40 years has been squirreled in our mutual office around her various computers for the past 7 years or so helping John Cacioppo with an interesting textbook project. One may think that writing a textbook isn’t all that hard to do, and maybe they are right, unless what you are trying to do is write something that offers more. Psychology is a highly integrated field in which advances in our understanding of biology can influence how we see certain things differently in Social Psychology. Psychology is not a subject that can easily be offered as modules, although we see this is all too often the case. We know enough now to fully integrate the various areas of Psychology, something a few have claimed to do, but none have succeeded — in my not so humble opinion — until now.

Let me step back for a moment, I was an undergrad Psych major and later obtained 2 graduate degrees in Business. Although I felt a step or two behind those who had majored in undergraduate business, the value of what I learned from my professors in Psychology helped me directly in business and throughout my life. The reason for this is simple, John Cacioppo refers to Psychology as a ‘hub science.’ Does an architect need to know something about Psychology? Buildings need to be liveable after all. A good understanding of Psychological Science helps in every field.


If the Psychology ‘hub’  was a constellation in the sky abiding by all of the other major discipline ‘hubs’, we would clearly see how connected it is to the other major fields. The influence of Psychological Science is everywhere, but not everyone recognizes how important it is to understanding who we are … and the changing world around us.

A famous Psychologist once said, a hundred years or so ago, that new leaps in the field will be made as leaps in science help to increase our understanding. For example, the major advances in neuroscience have pushed open our collective mind regarding  what is environmental constructed, what heredity influences and how these two major factors continue to change us over time. The simple labels of behavior are no longer so simple any more. Psychology is itself evolving into Psychological Science.

Allow me to conclude that I am biased, John and Laura have raised many interesting thoughts, but I do find it a good read.

CHECK out: “Discovering Psychology — the Science of Mind”