Written by Dr Paul Seager, a social psychology specialist who teaches at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, Social Psychology: A Complete Introduction is designed to give you everything you need to succeed, all in one place. It covers key areas that students are expected to be confident in, outlining the basics in clear jargon-free English, and then provides added-value features like summaries of key studies, lists of questions to test your understanding of the concepts covered, and a 'Food for thought' section at the end of each chapter which challenges you to put the academic theories to practical use.
The book uses a structure that mirrors many university courses on social psychology - starting off by explaining what social psychology is and how it is researched, before exploring a wide variety of the fascinating areas social psychologists have looked at in both classic and lesser-known studies. Areas covered include: the self; attributions; social cognition; interpersonal attraction; social influence; attitudes and persuasion; prosocial behaviour; aggression; groups; leadership; group decision making; intergroup behaviour; and prejudice. A final chapter looks at how social psychology can, and has been, applied in the real world to make a difference.
'Teach Yourself' titles employ the 'Breakthrough method', which is designed specifically to overcome problems that students face.
- Problem: "I find it difficult to remember what I've read."; Solution: this book includes end-of-chapter summaries and questions to test your understanding.
- Problem: "Most books mention important other sources, but I can never find them in time."; Solution: this book includes fully referenced quotes ready to use in your essay or exam, and each chapter lists further suggested readings for each topic.
- Problem: "Lots of introductory books turn out to cover totally different topics than my course."; Solution: this book is written by a current university lecturer who understands what students are expected to know.
Dr. Paul Seager is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, and has been teaching social psychology for over fifteen years. He has a keen interest in the area of social influence, and is especially interested in how con artists use social psychology to dupe their victims. Paul is also an expert in the area of deception detection, and has appeared on many radio and TV programmes talking about the subject (various BBC national and local radio contributions, and 'The Real Hustle' on BBC3). He is the co-author of three books in the areas of lie detection ('Would I Lie to You'), moving house ('Upping Sticks'), and parenting ('Surviving the Terrible Teens'), and regularly participates in public engagement events to help with the public understanding of psychology, the most recent of these being held at the Natural History Museum in London. In his spare time, Dr. Seager is a keen poker player (where his academic interests come in very handy), and has written a series of articles linking psychology and poker for a popular poker magazine.
