Background: Textbooks shape the content and structure of most introductory psychology courses. It is important to compare the content of textbooks to assist educators in making the best textbook choice. Objective: The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis of five commonly used introductory psychology textbooks and examine the extent of…

Asch's classic social pressure experiments are discussed in almost all introductory and social psychology textbooks. However, the results of these experiments have been shown to be misrepresented in textbooks. An analysis of textbooks from 1953 to 1984 revealed that although most of the responses on critical trials were independent correct ones,…

Most introductory textbooks discuss the story of Phineas Gage and his terrible accident in which he survived a three-and-a-half-foot-long tamping iron that weighed 13¼ pounds exploding through his head. Twenty-three current introductory textbooks were analyzed for the accuracy of their coverage of Gage's subsequent (post-accident) history and…

Past studies of the treatment of Milgram's obedience experiments in social psychology textbooks from the 1960s to the 1990s discovered an evolving "Milgram-friendly" coverage style (dealing with criticisms of his experiments either summarily, in a pro-Milgram manner, or not at all). We examined 10 current social textbooks to determine…

It has been 13 years since the last objective analysis of full-length introductory psychology textbooks was published and 15 years since the textbook copyright period used in that study, 1995-1997. Given the importance of informed textbook evaluation and selection to the introductory course but the difficulty of this task because of the large…

To determine how topical coverage in introductory textbooks may have changed from the 1980s to the present, the author examined topic coverage in full-length and brief introductory textbooks from this time period. Because 98% of the teachers use textbooks for the introductory course and the majority do not assign reading beyond the textbook, the…

Introductory psychology students at a technical college, 2-year community college, and a regional university rated how important textbook chapters or topics were to them now and in the future and how interesting they were. Importance and interest ratings were highly correlated, and the whole course was rated of greater importance and interest than…

We content analyzed 24 best-selling introductory psychology textbooks to assess the presence and nature of material addressing issues of disability. Content analyses assessed the frequency with which specific impairments are presented, the chapters and topics most likely to contain disability-related material, the context in which people with…

Sales figures and recollections of psychologists indicate textbooks play a central role in psychology students' education, yet instructors typically must select texts under time pressure and with incomplete information. Although selection aids are available, none adequately address the accuracy of texts. We describe a technique for sampling…

Reports on a survey of twenty-one 1987 introductory psychology textbooks which revealed an unusually high error rate for homunculus illustrations, those drawings in which body parts are depicted in proportion to brain areas that control them. Traces the source of these errors to homunculus drawings made by Mrs. H. P. Cantlie in the Penfield and…

Reviews PSYCHOLOGY, an introductory textbook by Wade and Tavris (1987). Concludes that the text is well-balanced and engaging, with a good mixture of classic studies, current research, and applications. Includes a statement by the authors concerning their goals in writing this book. (GEA)

Forty introductory psychology texts from the 1950s and 160 texts from the 1970s were compared for their inclusion of information on religion, and then evaluated for the objectivity of their treatment of the subject. Results showed no systematic presentation of the subject and increasingly neutral references to religion. (AM)

An evaluation of introductory college level psychology textbooks showed that Alfred Adler's psychology is either neglected or seriously distorted by most texts. (RM)

Examines photographs in educational psychology texts, subjects of studies reported in the "Journal of Educational Psychology," and references reported in the Educational Resources Information Center's (ERIC) system to determine if there is a bias in favor of studies relevant only to elementary school children. Finds a definite focus on…

Twenty-five introductory college psychology textbooks are analyzed for terms most frequently used, the textbooks which employed the largest number of frequently used terms; similarity among textbooks; and the relationship between readability and technical thoroughness of the texts. (Author/JR)