What is it about ideas like the Freudian unconscious that has caused them to have such an enduring impact on both the study of psychology and on our everyday lives? In an accessible and original manner, Fathali Moghaddam takes the reader on a tour of the nineteen great ideas that have revolutionized the way we think about ourselves, from such classic discoveries as the placebo effect to modern developments in IQ testing and artificial intelligence.
Keeping the jargon to a minimum, Moghaddam examined each idea in its cultural and historical context, encouraging the reader to form their own conclusions about such key questions as:
¿ Would Freud have formed the same theories about dreams and childhood is he had lived in an eastern culture where dreams are perceived to represent the future?
¿ To what extent are new theories like evolutionary and feminist psychology a product of modern western society ¿ will they stand the test of time in this and other cultures?
Packed with insight, erudition and good sense, this book offers the perfect introduction to the central ideas of psychology for students and general readers alike

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

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.