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Psychology: The Science of Behavior
Based on the connections between behavior and its biological underpinnings, Carlson presents psychological behavior in the context of its adaptive significance - effectively leading students through the discovery process and enabling them to think critically about contemporary issues.
720 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1984
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214 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 4, 2025
I found this book to be a thorough introduction to psychology. It explains the science behind behavior in detail and is clearly designed for students. The coverage is wide, from biology to research methods, and it does a good job of showing how different areas of psychology connect. At the same time, it can feel dense and heavy to get through. The writing is very academic, which makes it less engaging to read outside of class. Still, as a textbook it’s reliable and useful, even if not the most enjoyable.
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February 17, 2014Read the 4th edition instead http://www.amazon.ca/Psychology-Behav...
I had the privilege of learning from this book from two great professors.
My first experience was with the late John Bassili. He was director of the Psychology Department at UTSC and was a great professor who really loved what he was teaching. He was a founder of a program at UTSC called WebOption, in which students can watch lectures online not only as supplementary access for their in-class lectures, but as a student solely connected to the class through online lectures. His enthusiasm for the field helped spur me on to my decision of choosing Psychology as my major.
The other professor responsible for helping me choose my field: one of the best professors at UTSC, and I do mean the absolute best: Professor Steve Joordens. He is the absolute perfect professor to be teaching Intro Psych. If you don't like Psych after taking his class, then you never will. Even years after taking his class, I still find myself using methods he taught me. He's one of the nicest, coolest, most approachable profs around. He's even putting UTSC on the map by creating a new Intro Psych program that is open to an unlimited amount of students, while using online lectures.
But this is about the book right? The book is very good and definitely helped these two profs get their messages across.
I had the privilege of learning from this book from two great professors.
My first experience was with the late John Bassili. He was director of the Psychology Department at UTSC and was a great professor who really loved what he was teaching. He was a founder of a program at UTSC called WebOption, in which students can watch lectures online not only as supplementary access for their in-class lectures, but as a student solely connected to the class through online lectures. His enthusiasm for the field helped spur me on to my decision of choosing Psychology as my major.
The other professor responsible for helping me choose my field: one of the best professors at UTSC, and I do mean the absolute best: Professor Steve Joordens. He is the absolute perfect professor to be teaching Intro Psych. If you don't like Psych after taking his class, then you never will. Even years after taking his class, I still find myself using methods he taught me. He's one of the nicest, coolest, most approachable profs around. He's even putting UTSC on the map by creating a new Intro Psych program that is open to an unlimited amount of students, while using online lectures.
But this is about the book right? The book is very good and definitely helped these two profs get their messages across.
August 21, 2012
Very archaic in its analysis of modern human behaviour and society.
February 6, 2016
Really nice psych-intro.
May 21, 2018
Shorter and more to the point, with sourcing additional info online. Still a favourite intro-psych.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews