A Concise Textbook of Human Psychology

About the Book

There was a dire need for a book on psychology that can quench the thirst of aspiring students to understand this subject of human psychology and 'A Concise Textbook on Human Psychology' is a basic book to understand Psychology — The Science of Human Behavior. The author has covered the subject very well, beginning with basic functionality of different parts of brain, subtly she enters the arena of human behavior and covers aspect like Learning, Memory, Intelligence and Emotions while maintaining link from one chapter to another. The last chapter on ‘Dreams and Dreaming’ is unique. This book would be of great help to teachers, trainers and a broad spectrum of colleges teaching psychology as a part of their curriculum.

About the Author Dr Sarabjeet Kaur, Bachelor of Homoeopathic Medicine and Surgery from Nehru Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital, New Delhi. She worked as, House Physician at Nehru Homoeopathic Hospital, New Delhi. She has done M.D. in Psychiatry. She has written some articles about the subjects related to homeopathy as well. Presently, she is working as a homeopathic consultant and specializes in psychiatric cases.

Foreword

I am delighted to write a foreword to the book "A Concise Textbook on Human Psychology" As most psychologists, I am passionate about the study of psychology. I was introduced to the subject at the age of fourteen when I read my first book on the subject, by an international author, which was one of the most extraordinary and absorbing books which served as a foundation for my passion. Today, after having been in this field for over thirty years, training and guiding students, the search for a comprehensive and integrative book by an Indian author on the subject is most welcome.

Dr. Sarabjeet Kaur covers so much information creatively, with invented approaches and new speculation that give insight and wisdom even though the principles remain the same.

The book is easy to read and simply makes perfect sense. It would be hard for anyone to disconnect the wisdom found in every chapter. This concise volume is packed with information boxes, illustrations, diagrams and figures which will help simplify the students learning process.

The last chapter on "Dreams and Dreaming" is a unique feature and should go a long way to help the readers understand the subject thoroughly, a major tool in psychotherapy.

"A Concise Textbook on Human Psychology" is a good integrative text book and reference book covering the entire gamut of the basic knowledge of psychology. It would also be of great help to the teachers, trainers and a broad spectrum of colleges teaching psychology as a part of their subject curriculum.

I am confident that all will benefit by keeping a copy of this book. I congratulate Dr. Sarabjeet Kaur for this fine contribution and commend this book for all those who enter the field of psychology.

Introduction

A concise textbook on human psychology has emerged as a result of my deep interest in the subject of human psychology. The main purpose of this book is to help the readers understand the subject of Psychology in better and easier way. Psychology deals with many problems of everyday life and many other things that a person experiences during his lifetime. After going through this book the reader will be in a position to know the cause of those problems and also he will be able to rectify some of the problems, and clear his doubts too.

WRITING FOR A BROAD RANGE OF STUDENTS

I wanted to write a book that students would actually enjoy reading, and I hope the book might find its way into the hands of students from a broad spectrum of colleges. This book would be of immense help to the undergraduates as well as the postgraduate students having psychology as one of their subject.

KEEPING PACE WITH EMERGING KNOWLEDGE

In this book I have attempted to bring readers up-to-date information about this rapidly changing discipline (psychology). Psychology, like other areas of knowledge, has its classic theories and studies which form the basis for the much current work. Students should know about these too, and I have not neglected them.

RESEARCH FOCUS

This book takes psychological science seriously. A student should come out of an introductory psychology class not only with a sense of the basic questions and frameworks for answering them but also with an appreciation for how to obtain psychological knowledge.

INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Solo-authoring an introductory text is probably presumptive evidence of mental instability (and is clearly a cause of it as well), but I could not have produced this book any other way. As one psychologist puts it, (Holt, 1976), the human psyche is not the handiwork of an obsessive- compulsive God who created cognition on one day, affect on another, motivation on another, and so forth, and made sure that they all stayed neatly in their own territories. Too often our efforts to classify and label, lead us to try to separate the inseparable. The integrative bent of the book stems primarily from the clinical and experimental perspectives as well as the concepts and methods from various psychological traditions. Although the chapters are integrated with one another, each chapter can stand on its own and be understood independently of the others.

ORGANIZATION

The chapters have been organized in a way that would be convenient for the students to follow. A separate chapter on "The Concept of Mind and Schools of Psychology" is introduced for the convenience of the students. Also the last chapter on "Dreams and Dreaming" has been added in this book which will prove quite helpful for the students. All contributors of information on psychology have been given due credit but wherever it has been missed or overlooked I accept my folly for same.

ILLUSTRATION AND DESIGN

Tremendous care has been taken to select and design only those figures and tables that actually contribute to the text and that do not just make the pages look less ominous. The same is true of photo selection; images that would provoke thought have been only added. In some chapters, few informative boxes are also used. Pay attention to the illustrations, tables, and the boxes too, because they are as important as the corresponding discussions in the text.

ANNEXURE

At the end of the book annexure (I to V) are provided. These are added not to increase the bulk of the book; rather they are quite informative for the readers and each reader must go through them. This book is my first work as an author and I have tried my best to convey the right information in a simplest form and in required details. This book has underwent checking several times by me and by editorial team but some mistakes might remain. While reading if you find any mistake or have any suggestions, I’ll be greatful to receive the feedback from you end and the mistakes can be rectified in future editions.

**Contents and Sample Pages**