APA Book Notes
In a major publishing effort, APA and the Oxford University Press are releasing this month an eight-volume Encyclopedia of Psychology, featuring the writings of 1,400 leading experts on hundreds of topics ranging from study of body and mind to development across the life-span.
The project blends the expertise of two world -reknowned publishers: APA, the leading psychology publisher in the world, and Oxford, the top publisher of reference books. Alan E. Kazdin, PhD, chair of the Yale University psychology department, is editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia, which will span the wide-ranging discipline from psychological theory to research and practice.
He says the purpose of the encyclopedia is to gather in one source those topics, methods, findings and advances that characterize psychology.
"No comparable work of this scope exists, one designed to represent the discipline's core features, as well as the many tributaries that have emerged over the years," asserts Kazdin, whose own research has concentrated on developmental psychopathology.
The encyclopedia will be the first place to go for authoritative information from the workings of the brain to personality formation, says Kazdin. The encyclopedia charts new knowledge in such areas as neuroscience and cognitive psychology, and synthesizes what scientists know about the human brain.
"The richness of the field stems in part from the many levels of analysis and methods of studying a given topic," he says. "For example, the chapters on learning and memory, two core areas of the field, include research that focuses on neurological, molecular, biochemical and electrophysical underpinnings."
The encyclopedia will also cover contested fields, both in and outside psychology, such as repressed memory and the roles of nature and nurture. Key facets of human experience will be discussed in articles on love, marriage, dieting, day care and job stress.
Among contributors to the encyclopedia are:
Steven H. Zarit, PhD, of Pennsylvania State University, on elder care.
James N. Butcher, PhD, of the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, on assessment.
Dan P. McAdams, PhD, of Northwestern University, on extraversion and introversion.
Alice H. Eagly, PhD, of Northwestern University, on sex differences and gender differences.
Mary P. Koss, PhD, of the University of Arizona, on rape.
