ISBN0495102881

I have been teaching large sections of Introductory Psychology for many years. In that time, I have used many books and have had a good opportunity to evaluate their relative merits.

First, I'll talk about how I teach and how different books may fit the demographics of a class. Intro books can vary along a number of factors, including readability, technical completeness, political correctness, and conceptual support. Classes of students can vary interms of preparation level for the information and reading skills.

Many times, books sacrifice readability for more information, or vise versa. A book that is readable, complete, and supports its concepts with examples and research - is rare.

I love Worth and Loftus, but find that it is too complex for many students in a general intro class (though it is great for honors classes). I have used Myers, but find that it sacrifices accuracy and completeness for readability. In that sense, Worth/Loftus shoots too high and Myers shoots too low.

I have found that Kalat shoots right on target for my purposes.

The first things I look for in a text are: 1) How it covers biopsychology, 2) How it covers sensation and perception, and 3) How it covers Learning and behaviorism.

Many books will gloss over this information leaving students able to read the material, but scratching their heads about what it means. Other books go into so much detail that students feel pounded and still scratch their heads.

Kalat was able to cover these technical topics in such a way as to make this information understandable, without going farther than necessary. Any book can cover the fluffier stuff in psychology, but few can do as well with the technical stuff.

In addition, I have not found examples of political bias or pandering to certain ideas just because they are they current fad.

I will probably be using this text for quite a while.

I took a Intro. to Psychology course as a Prerequisite for Nursing school. Kalat explains everything clearly with great pictures,charts,examples, graphs, etc. I got an A in the course and I give the book an A as well. I also highly recommend the study guide that goes along with this book, it came in very handy and is complete with practice tests for each chapter.

This book was in very good condition, fast delivery, and I would buy from the seller again.

I bought this at Amazon.com from an Awesome Deal I found on DailyTool.com. I found this book very interesting. Strongly recommend.

not the correct item... instead, a crapy cram 101 outlines book... the seller is called "Warehouse Deals"... be aware of that...