viTHE ROUGH GUIDE TO PSYCHOLOGY
The book contains frequent references to experiments and case
studies, and, wherever possible, names and dates are provided to help
you track down the original research online. By the end, you’ll have
discovered that many psychological findings are humbling – we’re far
more flawed and error-prone than we like to think. You’ll also have
discovered how psychology can be used to navigate these weaknesses,
exploit our strengths and improve people’s lives, not just through
therapy but in every sphere of contemporary life – in industry, in
schools and in hospitals. There is so much more to learn, and the book
ends with a list of useful resources – from websites and blogs to books
and organizations.
Acknowledegments
Many thanks to Ruth Tidball and Joe Staines at Rough Guides: Ruth for
proposing the book and her warm encouragement in the early months;
Joe for his diligent editing and many constructive suggestions.
I’d like to thank the British Psychological Society and in particular my
editor there, Jon Sutton, for the opportunities given to me. Much of my
knowledge of psychology research and trends is derived from the work
that I’m lucky enough to do for them.
I’m grateful to Klaus Scherer at the Centre for Affective Sciences for
permission to adapt some text on emotion that I wrote previously for the
Centre’s website. Thanks also to Tom Stafford whose conference presen-
tation provided the inspiration for the box on page 59, and to Vaughan
Bell whose writing and links on the Mind Hacks blog are an endlessly
valuable resource.
I read many books in preparation for writing this guide and I’d like to
acknowledge several of the authors whose writing I found particularly
informative and inspiring. These include: Steven Pinker, Dan Ariely,
Matt Ridley, James Surowiecki and Alison Gopnik.
I’m grateful too to the authors of countless articles published in The
Psychologist, New Scientist, The APS Observer and Scientific American Mind,
from which I learned so much. I’d also like to recognize the hard work
and ingenuity of the many psychologists whose research and ideas are
discussed in these pages.
Thanks to my mother, Linda, for encouraging me on the path to
writing many years ago. And most of all, thank you to my beloved wife
Jude: I couldn’t have done it without you!
Christian Jarrett, 2010