CHAPTER 1 Psychology is the science that studies both the mind and human behavior, as well as the ways in which animal behavior can offer insights into the workings of the brain. The field seeks to define certain uniform principles that then allow scientists to understand specific cases. Psychology seeks to explain biological functions, individual perceptions, and complex social interactions within a consistent, scientific framework.
CHAPTER 2 The workings of the brain can be explained as a series of electrical reactions by nerve cells to an outside stimulus. The brain acts as the central control mechanism for regulating and responding to these reactions, depending on where they are processed and what that portion of the brain is either designed to do automatically or has learned to do because of previous experience. Although understanding the details of the brain's biological functioning can be useful, such understanding provides merely the beginning of a comprehension of how the human mind works.
CHAPTER 3 Motivation is the collection of forces that activate and direct an individual's behavior toward or away from a specific goal. This chapter concentrates on biological motivations. These include functions such as hunger, which encourages the body to seek food in order to gain energy and continue to function. Situations outside the body can provide motivations as well, as when the roar of a lion stimulates the intense collection of responses known as the "fight or flight" response. Biological motivations vary, depending on their particular function, but all either help the individual to survive (thirst, hunger, fear and rage, sleep and waking) or encourage him or her to propagate the species (sex), by encouraging the individual to seek or to avoid something.
CHAPTER 4 Learning is an essential process in the development of every living organism, as it allows each to adapt to changing conditions. Habituation, the s...