Introduction
Required Textbook
Few textbooks used in high school psychology courses are written especially with the high school student in mind. The third edition of Psychology and You by Judith W. McMahon and Tony Romano is, and we’re fortunate to have it available for our use. In the 1990 printing of this textbook, the authors accurately critiqued their work when they wrote in their preface, “[U]ppermost in our minds was the belief that a book could be written that would be lively, entertaining, and fully scientific—all at the same time. . . . We believe that we have produced a book that is sophisticated in its coverage, up-to-date, thorough, but at the same time exactly what the high school student needs and wants” (xix). In the second edition the authors actually improved upon their original mission and have continued this practice with the third edition. The textbook is, in a single word, excellent.
To get a real taste of the wide variety of things you’ll be studying over the next several weeks, read the preface on pages xxvii–xxix in the course textbook, Psychology and You, and scan the table of contents on pages v–xxvi. While many of the chapter titles may sound foreign to you now, the chapters’ contents won’t be by the time you finish the course.
