Psychology

Eighth Edition

Publication Date: September 01, 2025

Hardcover ISBN: 9781319629656

Introductory psychology with an evolutionary perspective.

Peter Gray’s evolutionary perspective and emphasis on critical thinking have made his comprehensive yet accessible introduction to psychology a widely respected classroom favourite. The eighth edition continues this tradition with co-author David Bjorklund who engages and stimulates students...

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Part 1 Background to the Study of Psychology
1. Foundations for the Study of Psychology
2. Methods of Psychology

Part 2 The Adaptiveness of Behavior
3. Genetic and Evolutionary Foundations of Behavior
4. Basic Processes of Learning

Part 3 Physiological Mechanisms of Behavior
5. The Neural Control of Behavior
6. Mechanisms of Motivation and Emotion

Part 4 Sensation and Perception
7. Smell, Taste, Pain, Hearing, and Psychophysics
8. The Psychology of Vision

Part 5 The Human Intellect
9. Memory and Attention
10. Solving Problems: Reasoning and Intelligence

Part 6 Growth of the Mind and Person
11. The Development of Body, Thought, and Language
12. Social Development

Part 7 The Person in a World of People
13. Social Perception and Attitudes
14. Social Influences on Behavior

Part 8 Personality and Disorders
15. Personality
16. Mental Disorders
17. Treatment

A critical thinking approach is encouraged throughout the text, and reinforced at the end of every chapter with questions that prompt students to consider the major ideas argued.
An emphasis on functionalism enables greater discussion of cross-cultural research and behavioural processes as they operate in the context of people’s everyday lives.
Focus Questions which appear in the margins throughout the text are designed to direct students’ attention to the main idea, argument, or evidence addressed in the adjacent paragraphs of text. They not only guide students through their reading but serve as a useful study aid.
Hierarchical Section Reviews appear at the end of major sections relating the main ideas to secondary ones and to specific relevant concepts so that students can better solidify the structure of the arguments they have just read.

Offers a more cohesive review of social psychological research as well as early attention to neural control and behaviour allowing students to gain a stronger foundational understanding of psychology.

Updated Find Out More sections at the end of chapters contain thumbnail reviews of several relevant and interesting books, websites, and media content so that students can explore the topics in further depth during their independent study.

End of chapter, Reflections and Connections, expand on the broad themes of the chapter, points out relationships to ideas discussed in other chapters, and raises new ideas for students to consider as they reflect on the topics covered.

Peter O. Gray

Peter Gray was a full-time professor of psychology at Boston College for 30 years, where he served his department at various times as Department Chair, Undergraduate Program Director, and Graduate Program Director. He has published research in biological, evolutionary, cultural, developmental and educational psychology; published articles on innovative teaching methods; taught more than 20 different undergraduate courses, including, most regularly, introductory psychology; helped develop a university-wide program to improve students study and learning skills; and developed a program of research practicum courses. He is now retired from regular teaching, but maintains a position as Research Professor at Boston College. Most of his current research and writing has to do with the value of play, especially free age-mixed play, in childrens development. He is author of a popular weekly blog entitled Freedom to Learn: The Roles of Play and Curiosity as Foundations for Learning.

Before joining Boston College, Peter Gray studied psychology as an undergraduate at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences at Rockefeller University. He earned his way through college by coaching basketball and working with youth groups in New York City. As a graduate student he directed a summer biology program for talented high school students from impoverished neighborhoods. His avocations today include long distance bicycling, kayaking, and backwoods skiing.

David F. Bjorklund

David F. Bjorklund, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Florida Atlantic University, where he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in developmental and evolutionary psychology since 1976. He received a BA degree in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts in 1971, an MA degree in Psychology from the University of Dayton in 1973, and a Ph.D. degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976. He has received numerous teaching and research awards from Florida Atlantic University, and is the recipient of an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award. He served as Associate Editor of Child Development (1997-2001) and is currently serving as Editor of the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous journals and also served as a contributing editor to Parents Magazine. He has published more than 170 scholarly articles on various topics relating to child development and evolutionary psychology and has received financial support for his research from the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the German Research Foundation. His other books include Childrens Thinking: Cognitive Development and Individual Differences, now in its fifth edition; Why Youth is Not Wasted on the Young; Looking at Children: An Introduction to Child Development (with Barbara Bjorklund); Parents Book of Discipline (with Barbara Bjorklund); Applied Child Study (with Anthony Pellegrini); The Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology (with Anthony Pellegrini); Childrens Strategies: Contemporary Views of Cognitive Development; False-Memory Creation in Children and Adults: Theory, Research, and Implications; and Origins of the Social Mind: Evolutionary Psychology and Child Development (edited with Bruce Ellis). His current research interests include children’s cognitive development and evolutionary developmental psychology. He lives in Jupiter, Florida, with his wife Barbara, and enjoys traveling, cooking, playing basketball, and kayaking.

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