26 Programs:
#101 - Past, Present, and Promise
Introduces psychology as a science that spans many fields of knowledgefrom philosophy and anthropology to biochemistry and artificial intelligenceand seeks to answer the question, "What is the nature of human nature?"
#102 - Understanding Research
An examination of the scientific method of collecting and analyzing datain the laboratory and in the fieldwith an emphasis on sharpening critical thinking regarding research findings.
#103 - The Behaving Brain
Investigates the structure and composition of the brain: how neurons function; how information is collected and transmitted; and how chemical reactions determine thoughts, feelings, and actions.
#104 - The Responsive Brain
Takes a closer look at how the brain, behavior, and environment interact and at how the brain's structure and functions are changed by stimulation from the physical environment and social contact.
#105 - The Developing Child
Traces the processes and stages of growth by which children become adults. As the nature vs. nurture debate continues, developmental psychologists study the relative influence of heredity and environment.
#106 - Language Development
Examines how children learn to speak, read, and write as well as what psychologists hope to discover about the human mind, society, and culture by studying how kids use language in social communication.
#107 - Sensation and Perception
How visual information is gathered and processed and how our culture, past experience, and personal interests influence our perceptions.
#108 - Learning
Illustrates the basic principles of classical and operant conditioning and demonstrates how the research of Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, Edward Thorndike, and B.F. Skinner has influenced today's thinking about the nature of animal and human learning.
#109 - Remembering and Forgetting
Takes a look at the complex process called memory: how images, ideas, language, physical actions, sounds, and smells are translated into codes, represented in memory, and retrieved when needed.
#110 - Cognitive Processes
Explores the higher mental processesreasoning, planning, and problem solvingand the "cognitive revolution" that is attracting a diverse assortment of researchers, from philosophers to computer scientists.
#111 - Judgment and Decision Making
Leading psychological researchers analyze the decision-making process and human intuition to explain how and why people make good and bad decisions.
#112 - Motivations and Emotion
Reviews what researchers are discovering about why people act and feel the way they do, from the exhilaration of love to the agony of failure.
#113 - The Mind Awake and Asleep
Surveys the daily cycle of activity and rest, as well as the normal fluctuations in energy level, mood, and performance that all humans experience.
#114 - The Mind Hidden and Divided
Delves into the subconscious mind, examining how events and experiences that take place below the level of awareness alter moods, bias actions, and affect healthas demonstrated in hypnosis, multiple personality disorders, and split-brain patients.
#115 - The Self
Explores how psychologists systematically study the origins of self-identity and self-esteem, social determinants of self-conceptions, and the emotional and motivational consequences of beliefs about oneself.
#116 - Testing and Intelligence
Focuses on the field of psychological assessment: how professionals assign values to different abilities, behaviors, and personalities; how different kinds of tests are used and misused; and how psychological testing became big business in the United States.
#117 - Sex and Gender
Analyzes the psychological similarities and differences between males and females, how sex roles are changing to reflect new social values, and how psychologists understand gender-based behaviors.
#118 - Maturing and Aging
Uses the latest research in psychological gerontology to explain what really happens, physically and psychologically, as we age.
#119 - The Power of the Situation
Reveals how social psychologists attempt to understand behavior within its broader social context and how our beliefs and behavior can be influenced and manipulated by other people and by subtle situational forces.
#120 - Constructing Social Reality
Investigates the factors that contribute to our interpretation of reality and how understanding the psychological processes that govern our behavior can help us become more empathetic and independent members of society.
#121 - Psychopathology
Reviews what is known about the major types of mental illnessschizophrenia, anxiety, and affective and manic-depressive disordersand the biological and social factors that influence them.
#122 - Psychotherapy
Compares the relationships among theory, research, and practice in treating mental illness and discusses the wide range of mental problems that may require intervention. Treatment methods outlined include psychoanalysis, behavior modification, crisis intervention, and some revolutionary new drug therapies.
#123 - Health, Mind, and Behavior
Research is forcing a profound rethinking of the relationship between mind and body as a new bio-psychosocial model replaces the traditional biomedical model.
#124 - Applying Psychology in Life
Looks at some of the innovative ways psychology is being applied to practical situations and professions in areas concerning human factors, law, and conflict negotiation.
#125 - Cognitive Neuroscience
Cognitive neuroscience represents the attempt to understand mental processes at the level of the brain's biology, not merely from information-processing models and theories. It relies heavily on empirical analysis of what is happening in the brainand wherewhen a person thinks, reasons, decides, judges, encodes information, recalls information, learns, or solves a problem.
#126 - Cultural Psychology
This newly emerging field integrates cross-cultural research with social and personality psychology, anthropology, and other social sciences to explore how cultures construct selves and other central aspects of individual personality, beliefs, values, and emotions.