What are the most effective methods to study for a test? What are the meanings of dreams? How do illusions work? With whom are you most likely to fall in love? These are just a few of the questions that have been asked by psychologists since the birth of the field as an area of scientific research in the 1870’s. This text surveys the basic concepts, theories, and pivotal findings over the past 100 years in the science of Psychology, with special emphasis on contemporary concepts and findings focused on the relation of the brain to normal and pathological behaviors. Psychology has long evolved past the psychodynamic influence to include biological, social, learning, motivational, and developmental perspectives, to name a few. Contemporary psychologists go beyond philosophical or anecdotal speculation and rely on empirical evidence to inform their conclusions. Similarly, readers will push beyond pre-existing schemas and misconceptions of the field of psychology to an understanding of contemporary quantitative research methods as they are used to predict and test human behavior.

This textbook is a compilation of thirty-nine readings organized into ten sections.

Introduction to Psychology (Readings 1 - 5)
A brief history of psychology, followed by an introduction to contemporary psychology, an overview of the scientific method, an introduction to research design, and thinking like a psychological scientist.

Psychophysiology (Reading 6 - 8)
Neurons, how our brain controls our thoughts, feelings, & behavior, and an introduction to psychophysiological methods in neuroscience.

Consciousness & Sleep (Readings 9 - 12)
The nature of consciousness, an exploration of sleep, why we sleep, the stages of sleep, and sleep problems and disorders.

Perception (Readings 13 - 14)
Seeing, and on the accuracy and inaccuracy of perception.

Healthy Living (Readings 15 - 16)
A healthy life, and substance use & abuse.

Learning & Memory (Readings 17 - 20)
Learning and memory, predictive learning, operant conditioning, memories as types and stages, and how we remember, with cues to improving memory.

Social Psychology (Readings 21 to 26)
Conformity, obedience, power & leadership, how the social context influences helping, and determinants of helping, gender and prejudice & discrimination.

Psychological Development (Readings 27 to 30)
Cognitive development in childhood, theories of development, and attachment through the life course. Research methods in developmental psychology.

Personality & Psychological Disorders (Readings 31 - 37)
Personality, psychological disorders, diagnostics and classification, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and personality disorders.

Treatment (Readings 38 - 39)
Therapeutic orientations and psychopharmacology.

Changes to the original OER works were made by Kate Votaw and Judy Schmitt to suit the needs of the Inquiries in the Social and Behavioral Sciences course in the Pierre Laclede Honors College at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. This work was developed with support from the University of Missouri-St. Louis Thomas Jefferson Library, with special thanks to librarians Judy Schmitt and Helena Marvin.

Intercultural Communication examines culture as a variable in interpersonal and collective communication. It explores the opportunities and problems arising from similarities and differences in communication patterns, processes, and codes among various cultural groups. It explores cultural universals, social categorization, stereotyping and discrimination, with a focus on topics including race, ethnicity, social class, religion, gender and sexuality as they relate to communication.

Asking and answering questions about what culture entails and examines the fundamental properties and intertwining nature of language and culture. This text explores linguistic relativity, lexical differences among languages and intercultural communication, including high and low contexts.

Changes to the original works were made by Manon Allard-Kropp in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies to tailor the text to fit the needs of the Languages and World View course at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Materials from the original sources have been combined, reorganized, and added to by the current author, and any conceptual or typographical errors are the responsibility of the current author. This work was developed with support from the University of Missouri–St. Louis Thomas Jefferson Library, with special thanks to librarians Judy Schmitt and Helena Marvin.

Acollection of readings relevant to local Saint Louis, Missouri state and United States federal, laws and cases as they relate to education policies. The readings are organized by topic, as shown below.

The First Amendment

Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
Bethel School Dist. No. 403 v. Fraser
What Does Free Speech Mean?
The Fourth Amendment

New Jersey v. T. L. O.
What Does the Fourth Amendment Mean?
The Eighth Amendment

Ingraham v. Wright
The Fourteenth Amendment

Goss v. Lopez
Honig v. Doe
Missouri Laws

Stewart v. Board of Ed. of Ritenour
Smith v. Normandy School Dist.
IDEA and IDEIA

Cedar Rapids Community School Dist. v. Garret F.
Burlington School Comm. v. Mass. Dept. of Ed.
Stuart v. Nappi
Link: MODESE Policy
Segregation and the Fourteenth Amendment

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
Link: Missouri Revised Statutes 168.104-168.129

In today's complex financial world, being financially literate is a critical life skill… as important as reading, writing and arithmetic. So to combine financial education within the teaching of math is an ingenious way to teach both of these subjects simultaneously. Through Money Math: Lessons for Life, middle grade students apply math skills to some of life’s costly challenges, learning important personal finance concepts along the way.

Welcome to the St. Louis Virtual City Project. This Regional History Project utilizes interactive web technologies to explore the history of the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis region. To help you explore St. Louis you will first need to be sure that your computer is equipped with the browser plug-in Cortona. It can be downloaded for free from Parallel Graphics (just follow the on screen directions). The website is best viewed in the most recent version of Internet Explorer browser and at screen resolution 1024 x 768. To begin your tour of St. Louis, simply choose a year by clicking the timeline menu bar on the left side of the main page (currently 1850 and 1950 are active). As you enter your selected decade, a three-dimensional model of downtown St. Louis will appear on the left side of your screen (if it does not appear, use the link above to download Cortona). By clicking on the various buildings, people and objects in the landscape, you will be able to access information about their history, which will appear on the right side of your screen. You can use your mouse or the arrow keys to help you move through the Virtual City. The website is organized into districts. Each district contains a district home page; building pages containing addresses, construction and demolition dates, as well as information about the buildings importance in that decade; people pages for important public figures in the decade; and event pages detailing events in each building during the decade. Each event page is also linked to a perspectives page which lists primary documents from the time period. Chart a path of inquiry across space and time to discover how St. Louisans made history by reconstructing the city the around them.