Great Ideas in Psychology

Author Fathali Moghaddam is Professor of Psychology at Georgetown University. A highly respected academic and writer, he has written numerous books and articles, including Social Psychology: Exploring Universals across Cultures (1998, Freeman), and has had many years experience of teaching psychology at undergraduate level.

• 1. Introduction: Working Out and Working InWhat makes an Idea Great?Great Ideas and Orientations in PsychologyConcluding Comment2. The Psychological Laboratory The Laboratory Becomes Central to PsychologyCritically Assessing the Psychology LaboratoryConcluding Comment3. Placebo Effect Factors to Consider in Testing for the Placebo EffectMeaning and the Active PlaceboComplicating FactorsConcluding Comment4.The Freudian UnconsciousEarly History of the UnconsciousThe Freudian UnconsciousThe Unconscious Re-assessedConcluding Comment5.The Memory Trace: Long Term Potentiation (LPT) Pioneering IdeasPioneering Experimental ResearchDebate Over Long-Term PotentiationConcluding Comment6.LearningThe Law of Effect and Classical ConditioningThe American Context and Instrumental LearningLearning, Cognitive Neuroscience, and CultureConcluding Comment7.Intelligence TestsWhy Are Intelligence Tests Important?At What Age, If Ever, Does Intelligence Become Fixed?What Are the Contributions of Nature and Nurture to Intelligence?Is There One or Multiple Intelligence?Concluding Comment8.Artificial IntelligenceThe Context of Artificial IntelligenceThe ‘Long Debate’ and Artificial IntelligenceConcluding Comment 9.Stage Models of DevelopmentThe Major Stage ModelsCore AssumptionsConcluding Comment10.The Zone of Proximal DevelopmentAssumptions of the Traditional ApproachA Vygotskian Approach to Child DevelopmentConcluding Comment11.AttachmentThe Historical Context of the IdeaBowlby’s Four Phase ModelVariations on the Attachment ThemeConcluding Comment12.Displaced AggressionThe Idea of Displaced Aggression in Wider ContextThe Assumed Association Between Frustration and AggressionDisplaced Aggression and Freud’s Intergroup PsychologyConcluding Comment13.Personality TraitsMethodological DilemmasConceptual DilemmasConcluding Comment14.The SelfThe Sense of SelfSelf-PerceptionSelf-PresentationConcluding Comment15.Conformity to Group NormsConformity to Arbitrary NormsPower, Norms, and ConformityConcluding Comment 16.Obedience to AuthorityThe Experimental Study of ObedienceWhy Are Milgram’s Obedience Studies Important?Lessons From Psychological Research on ObedienceConcluding Comment17.Feminist PsychologyThe Cultural and Historical ContextDiscovering and Interpreting Gender DifferencesConcluding Comment18.Multicultural PsychologyAssimilation and IdentityMulticulturalism and IdentityConcluding Comment19.Evolutionary PsychologyThe Historical Context of Darwin’s Evolutionary TheoryGenetics and Evolutionary PsychologyGenes as ‘Causes’ of BehaviorConcluding Comment20.Social ConstructionismThe Context and Background of Social ConstructionismThe Main Implications of Social ConstructionismConcluding Comment