Psychology: Themes and Variations

The Seventh Edition of Wayne Weiten's popular text, PSYCHOLOGY: THEMES AND VARIATIONS, continues to offer students a unique survey of psychology with three distinct goals: to show both the unity and diversity of psychology's subject matter; to illuminate the process of research and its intimate link to application, and to make the text challenging to think about and easy to learn from. Weiten achieves these goals through a number of distinctive features. Integrative themes-including empiricism, theoretical diversity, sociohistorical contexts, multifactorial causation, cultural heritage, heredity and environment, and subjectivity of experience-are woven throughout the text to provide connections among the different areas of research in psychology. A unique end of chapter section, "Reflecting on the Chapter's Themes," ties together the key themes most relevant to each chapter, and shows links across chapter content. The book's dynamic, teaching-oriented illustration program further enhances these themes. Featured Studies, Personal Applications, and Critical Thinking Applications provide students with unprecedented opportunities to see research methods in action, to understand the practical side of psychology, and to develop important critical thinking skills. Weiten reinforces concepts through periodic in-chapter Concept Checks and an end of chapter practice quiz in every chapter. At the same time, he presents topics in a hierarchical manner, giving students handles they can use to prioritize concepts within the chapter.