Psychology in Context

Psychology in Context by Stephen Kosslyn, Robin Rosenberg and Anthony Lambert is the first comprehensive textbook on psychology to provide New Zealand-focused content. Building on the third US edition of Psychology in Context by Stephen Kosslyn and Robin Rosenberg, this important adaptation has been enriched with New Zealand examples, profiles and research, and marks a significant advance in the way psychology is taught at undergraduate level in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Each chapter opens with a ‘chapter story’ about well-known events (such as the Erebus disaster and the Christchurch earthquakes) or people (including John Kirwan, Whina Cooper, Oscar Kightley and Sam Hunt). This helps students anchor important concepts in a relevant context, thereby facilitating and enhancing effective learning. Interviews with leading New Zealand academic psychologists and vignettes about young psychologists working in different fields of psychology illustrate the types of research and career options available to students. Maori approaches in psychology and the emergence of indigenous psychology are discussed in a section contributed by Erana Cooper and Shiloh Groot. The importance of cultural competence for psychologists in Aotearoa, and the Maori model of health, Te Whare Tapa Wha, are considered. Throughout the textbook, a multilevel perspective is taken on psychological concepts, in which events at the levels of the brain, the person and the group are all examined.