Psychology plays an increasingly important role in today's society. Its influence can be seen all around us - be it in the home, the workplace, the school or our private lives. A uniquely diverse discipline, it ranges from social psychology to biological aspects of behaviour, and from basic research to the applied professions. This Companion Encyclopedia covers all these main branches of psychological research and professional practice. The thematic arrangement is the result of the Editor's extensive research into syllabi, from which he distilled the 13 most frequently taught units. Students can consult and be referred to sections relating to their lecture programme, and can find lucid definitions of frequently used terms in the Glossary. Headings and sub-headings are clearly highlighted at the beginning of each chapter - ideal for quick reference.* Provides authoritative and in-depth reference material on all major branches of psychological research and professional practice* Contributors include many of the world's most eminent psychologists* Written in a lively style without assuming previous knowledge of the subject* Structured according to the core topics appearing most often as discrete modules in contemporary psychology courses* Detailed bibliographies, further reading sections, exhaustive index and glossary of technical terms* Containing 165 supporting illustrations

VOLUME 1: 1 Introduction 1.1 What is psychology? 1.2 Historical background of psychology 2 Biological aspects of behaviour 2.1 Heredity and behaviour genetics 2.2 Behavioural ecology and evolution 2.3 The nervous system and the brain 2.4 Sleep and dreaming 2.5 Psychopharmacology 3 Sensation and perception 3.1 Fundamental processes in vision 3.2 Computational theories of vision 3.3 Hearing 3.4 The skin, body, and chemical senses 3.5 Psychophysics 4 Cognition 4.1 Memory 4.2 Attention 4.3 Psycholinguistics 4.4 Thinking and reasoning 4.5 Artificial intelligence 5 Learning and skills 5.1 Classical and operant conditioning 5.2 Applied behaviour analysis 5.3 Cognitive skills 5.4 Motor skills 5.5 Social skills 6 Emotion and motivation 6.1 Emotion 6.2 Hunger and appetite 6.3 Social motivation 6.4 Sexual motivation and behaviour 6.5 Stress and coping 7 Individual differences and personality 7.1 Intelligence and cognitive styles 7.2 The construction of personality 7.3 Trait theories of personality 7.4 Freudian theories of personality 7.5 Personality tests