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 In
What makes an Idea Great?
Great Ideas and Orientations in Psychology
Concluding Comment

2. The Psychological Laboratory
The Laboratory Becomes Central to
Psychology
Critically Assessing the Psychology Laboratory
Concluding Comment

3. Placebo Effect
Factors to Consider in Testing for the Placebo Effect
Meaning and the Active Placebo
Complicating Factors
Concluding Comment

4.The Freudian Unconscious
Early History of the Unconscious
The Freudian Unconscious
The Unconscious Re-assessed
Concluding Comment

5.The Memory Trace: Long Term Potentiation (LPT)
Pioneering Ideas
Pioneering Experimental Research
Debate Over Long-Term Potentiation
Concluding Comment

6.Learning
The Law of Effect and Classical Conditioning
The American Context and Instrumental Learning
Learning, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Culture
Concluding Comment

7.Intelligence Tests
Why 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 Comment

8.Artificial Intelligence
The Context of Artificial Intelligence
The 'Long Debate' and Artificial Intelligence
Concluding Comment

9.Stage Models of Development
The Major Stage Models
Core Assumptions
Concluding Comment

10.The Zone of Proximal Development
Assumptions of the Traditional Approach
A Vygotskian Approach to Child Development
Concluding Comment
11.Attachment
The Historical Context of the Idea
Bowlby's Four Phase Model
Variations on the Attachment Theme
Concluding Comment

12.Displaced Aggression
The Idea of Displaced Aggression in Wider Context
The Assumed Association Between Frustration and Aggression
Displaced Aggression and Freud's Intergroup Psychology
Concluding Comment

13.Personality Traits
Methodological Dilemmas
Conceptual Dilemmas
Concluding Comment

14.The Self
The Sense of Self
Self-Perception
Self-Presentation
Concluding Comment

15.Conformity to Group Norms
Conformity to Arbitrary Norms
Power, Norms, and Conformity
Concluding Comment

16.Obedience to Authority
The Experimental Study of Obedience
Why Are Milgram's Obedience Studies Important?
Lessons From Psychological Research on Obedience
Concluding Comment

17.Feminist Psychology
The Cultural and Historical Context
Discovering and Interpreting Gender Differences
Concluding Comment

18.Multicultural Psychology
Assimilation and Identity
Multiculturalism and Identity
Concluding Comment

19.Evolutionary Psychology
The Historical Context of Darwin's Evolutionary Theory
Genetics and Evolutionary Psychology
Genes as 'Causes' of Behavior
Concluding Comment

20.Social Constructionism
The Context and Background of Social Constructionism
The Main Implications of Social Constructionism
Concluding Comment

This book focuses on the key ideas of the most important modern psychologists. Nineteen classic "great ideas" in psychology are critically assessed in their cultural and historical context, with topics ranging from neuroscience to personality, development to socio-cultural issues. The simple narrative style and chapter structure, combined with "critical thinking questions" and a shortlist of essential readings for further study at the end of each chapter, provides an ideal approach for anyone interested in learning about the key ideas and theories in psychology