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…

Despite clear interpersonal, physiological, behavioral, and emotional consequences, the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders," fifth edition ("DSM-5") and most abnormal psychology textbooks inadequately describe maladaptive anger. Although there is no recent published research on coverage of maladaptive anger…

Writing a textbook is close to a unique experience in the work of a psychologist. In this article, we discuss the steps authors need to take in preparing to write a textbook. We take the reader through a series of steps, from formulating an idea for a textbook to negotiating a contract. Writing a textbook can be one of the greatest joys of a…

It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed…

Zimbardo's 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE), one of the most famous studies in psychology, is discussed in most introductory textbooks. The present study is concerned with the nature of this coverage, given that there have been myriad criticisms, especially recently, of the SPE. These criticisms concern both Zimbardo's situationist…

Given the many inaccuracies in the original "New York Times" 38-witnesses version of the Kitty Genovese story, this study examined the accuracy of this story in current introductory psychology textbooks, 50 years later. Recent studies have shown that there is no evidence for the following three key features of the original story: (1)…

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…

Because 98% of teachers use textbooks for the introductory psychology course and the majority of introductory teachers do not assign reading beyond the textbook, examining the topical coverage allocation pattern in introductory textbooks versus that in introductory course lectures is important for our understanding of how introductory students are…

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…

Introductory psychology textbooks have been criticized for being too long and too expensive. A national survey of introductory teachers found that 89% of introductory courses are only one term in length and that teachers could only cover 68% of a text's topics. This situation has been made more problematic by the soaring prices of…

This study examined the similarities and differences in the topics and references in selected chapters of eight introductory social psychology textbooks and six developmental psychology textbooks. We wanted to determine the extent to which there were core concepts and references presented in these chapters. We found a relatively small set of core…

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…