This book is distinguished by its authors, who are well known researchers in their fields and all teach at Harvard. Three of the authors are also successful trade book authors, so it's known for having a very engaging writing style with jokes and unusual stories. Although the expertise of the authors leads some to believe this is a high level book, the writing is approachable and fun, making it a solid choice for schools of all levels.

The new edition has been completely retooled for the classroom. For the first time, each chapter section begins with Learning Outcomes to guide students' learning. These outcomes represent the big picture understanding we want readers to come away with, so they come away with more than a collection of facts. They come away with psychology as a living science.

The new edition also includes a new feature called A World of Difference. This is a feature that highlights interesting and important research on individual differences, showing the importance of sex, gender, culture, SES, and ethnicity in understanding the breadth of psychology.

This edition also includes our popular Data Visualization Activities, which are a unique resource for building students' quantitative reasoning skills.