Why are we the way we are? For over a hundred years psychologists have been conducting scientific experiments to find out. The Rough Guide to Psychology starts with you, your mind and brain, broadens out to your friends and other relationships, then onto crowds, mobs and religion. There are also sections on real-life psychology, showing how the latest research is relevant to crime, schooling, sports, politics, shopping, and health. There are opportunities to test your own memory, intelligence, personality, and much more, as well as advice on everything from pick-up lines to creativity. This book takes a fresh look at the classic cases and studies, from Phineas Gage to Milgram, and combines this with a cutting-edge round-up of the latest research. The last section deals with what happens when the mind falters, covering depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, as well as more unusual conditions. Care is taken throughout to ensure conclusions are tied to the latest high quality psychological science.

The Rough Guide to Psychology looks at the question psychologists have been asking for hundreds of years - why are we the way we are? It starts with you, your mind and brain, broadening out to look at your friends and other relationships, then finally on to crowds, mobs and religion. It explores the latest research relevant to crime, schooling, sport, politics, shopping and health, and what happens when the mind goes wrong, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and more unusual conditions. The Rough Guide to Psychology includes fascinating information on real-life psychology, testing your memory, intelligence, personality and much more, with advice on everything from chat-up lines to developing your creativity. The Rough Guide to Psychology is your ultimate guide to this fascinating subject.

How does memory work? Are we addicted to television? What is Alzheimer's Disease? Can machines read our minds? The human brain, with all its inherent complexity, has taken on near mythical status. Its 100 billion nerve cells, forged by nature and refined over millions of years, allow humans the capacity to survive, create culture, love. Once an impenetrable grey mass, modern science is getting to grips with our brains at an unprecedented rate. We are moving from a time of anatomy, in which science did well to characterise the various regions of the brain, to a time in which we can observe thought processes in real time. We have entered a neural renaissance. The Rough Guide to the Brain is for anyone who's ever wanted to know more about how their brain and mind works - and what goes wrong when it doesn't. From how we evolved such an impressive organ to how it achieves the feat that is you. Including numerous insights from leaders in their fields, there's no better way to stimulate your grey matter.

Don’t worry, be happy....find out how! What is happiness? And how can we achieve it? The Rough Guide to Happiness is the ultimate ‘how to be happy’ handbook. Discover how to effectively improve your work/life balance, increase self-esteem, and nourish your mind and body while nurturing relationships with the ones you love. The Rough Guide to Happiness will help you navigate your way through all parts of modern day life, offering a practical and effective range of happiness-building techniques. Rely on realistic suggestions from Dr Nick Baylis, a practising therapist and former Dr Feelgood for The Times Saturday Magazine, who has worked with everyone from young offenders to stressed airline pilots! Are some people genetically predisposed to be happier than others? Can money or technology make us happy? The Rough Guide to Happiness explores all these questions and more, going beyond facile tips to offer a deeper understanding of what happiness is with easy solutions for you to implement in your daily life. Drawing on the best ideas from every field, from Hypnosis and Energy Therapy to Positive Psychology and Buddhism, The Rough Guide to Happiness provides a wealth of inspiring insights on how to relieve stress and achieve lasting contentment. Make the Most of Your Time on Earth with The Rough Guide to Happiness.

From cognitive neuroscientist Dr. Christian Jarrett, a fascinating book exploring the science of personality and how we can change ourselves for the better. What if you could exploit the plasticity of personality to change yourself in specific ways? Would you choose to become less neurotic? More self-disciplined? Less shy? Until now, we’ve been told that we’re stuck with the personality we were born with: The introvert will never break out of their shell, the narcissist will be forever trapped gazing into the mirror. In Be Who You Want, Dr. Christian Jarrett takes us on a thrilling journey, as he not only explores the ways that life changes us, but shows how we can deliberately shape our personalities to influence the course of our lives. Dr. Jarrett draws on the latest research to provide evidence-based ways to change each of the main five personality traits, including how to become more emotionally stable, extraverted, and open-minded. Dr. Jarrett features compelling stories of people who have achieved profound personality change such as a gang-leader turned youth role model, a drug addict turned ultra-runner, and a cripplingly shy teenager turned Hollywood mega-star. He also delves into the upsides of the so-called Dark Triad of personality traits—narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy—and how we might exploit their advantages without ourselves going over to the dark side. Filled with quizzes and interactive exercises to help us better understand the various aspects of our personalities, life stories, and passions, Be Who You Want will appeal to anyone who has ever felt constrained by how they've been characterized and wants to pursue lasting change.

The key ideas in Psychology explained, with colour illustrations, in half a minute. Pavlov's Dogs, Psychoanalysis, Milgram's Obedience Study, and Beck's Cognitive Therapy? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you've certainly heard of them. But do you know enough about these psychology theories to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the bar with your knowledge? 30-Second Psychology takes the top 50 strands of thinking in this fascinating field, and explains them to the general reader in half a minute, using nothing more than two pages, 300 words, and one picture. The inner workings of the human mind will suddenly seem a lot more fun, and along the way we meet many of the luminaries in the field, including William James, Aaron Beck, and (of course) Sigmund Freud. From Behaviorism to Cognitivism, what better way to get a handle on your inner demons?

The Rough Guide to True Crime tells the stories of criminal acts ranging from the absurd to the appalling, using a light touch with the former and illuminating the psychology in play behind the crimes. A compilation of crime's greatest hits, preposterous occurrences and heinous acts, the Rough Guide to True Crime will satisfy the armchair voyeur and amateur criminologist alike.

This version of the main text breaks down the chapters into shorter modules, for more accessibility. The smaller chunks allow students to better grasp and explore psychological concepts. The modules also allow more flexibility in teaching, as cross-references to other chapters have been replaced with brief explanations.

The Rough Guide to Crime Fiction takes the reader on a guided tour of the mean streets and blind corners that make up the world’s most popular literary genre. The insider’s book recommends over 200 classic crime novels from masterminds Raymond Chandler and Patricia Highsmith to modern hotshots James Elroy and Patricia Cornwall. You’ll investigate gumshoes, spies, spooks, serial killers, forensic females, prying priests and patsies from the past, present, and future. Complete with extra information on what to read next, all movie adaptions, and illustrated throughout with photos and diagrams ...all the evidence that counts

Have you ever wondered what Charles Darwin would have had on his iPod? Or exactly how Cartman from South Park fits into the Theory of Evolution? The Rough Guide to Evolution delves into all of this and more, from the life and works of the eminent scientist to the impact of evolutionary thinking on modern times. Read about the evolutionary history of life on Earth, the stark evidence for evolution - including feathered dinosaurs - and how Darwin's breakthrough is still denied by creationists, who have repeatedly tried to ban evolution from the classroom. Providing a complete and authoritative overview of one of the most controversial topics of our age, the guide is an accessible one-stop-shop for all things Darwinian, while listing resources for those keen to dig deeper into our murky beginnings. Find out exactly how Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species have affected human life in the 150 years since its publication - everything from Darwinian tourism to the evolution of The Simpsons - as well as some new angles that make The Rough Guide to Evolution a must-have for die-hard Darwin fans. Rediscover Darwin's earth-shattering explanation for the diversity of life with The Rough Guide to Evolution.