Psychology in Historical Context

Richard Gross has been writing Psychology texts for both undergraduate and A-level students for 30 years. He has a particular interest in the philosophical aspects of Psychology, including the nature of the discipline, the free will/determinism debate, and the defining features of personhood.

• 1. Historical perspectives: Psychology as the study of…what?  2. Scientific perspectives: Psychology as the study of…how?  3. Challenging the mainstream: new paradigms for old  4. People as Psychologists: common sense Psychology  5. People as organisms: Biopsychology  6. People as environmentally controlled organisms: Behaviourism  7. People as information processors: Cognitive Psychology  8. Humans as an evolved species: Evolutionary Psychology  9. Individuals as driven by unconscious forces: Psychodynamic Psychology  10. People as self-determining organisms: Humanistic-phenomenological and Positive Psychology  11. People as diverse: group and individual differences  12. People as selves: subjectivity, individuality and social construction of identity  13. People as deviant: psychiatry and the construction of madness

‘Chapter by chapter Richard Gross illustrates and illuminates the foundations of contemporary psychology - the blind alleys, the insights, and the political and cultural biases that have given rise to where we are today in mainstream academic study.’ – Paul Gardner, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St. Andrews, UK.