Invitation to Psychology

Carole Wade earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Stanford University. She began her academic career at the University of New Mexico, where she taught courses in psycholinguistics and developed the first course at the university on the psychology of gender. She was professor of psychology for 10 years at San Diego Mesa College and then taught at College of Marin and Dominican University of California. Dr. Wade has written and lectured widely on critical thinking and the enhancement of psychology education. In addition to this text, she and Carol Tavris have written Psychology; Psychology in Perspective; and The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective.

Carol Tavris earned her Ph.D. in the interdisciplinary program in social psychology at the University of Michigan. She writes and lectures extensively on diverse topics in psychological science and critical thinking. Dr. Tavris is coauthor with Elliot Aronson of Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. She is also author of The Mismeasure of Woman and Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion. Many of her book reviews and opinion essays have been collected in Psychobabble and Biobunk: Using Psychology to Think Critically About Issues in the News.

Samuel R. Sommers earned his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Michigan and has been a professor of psychology at Tufts University since 2003. He is a social psychologist whose research examines issues related to intergroup relations, group composition and diversity, stereotyping and bias, and the intersection of psychology and law. Dr. Sommers teaches courses in Experimental Psychology, Social Psychology, and Psychology and Law, and also team-teaches Introduction to Psychology with Dr. Shin. In addition to this text, he is a co-author of the Aronson et al. Social Psychology textbook and has written two general-audience books, Situations Matter: Understanding How Context Transforms Your World and This Is Your Brain on Sports: The Science of Underdogs, the Value of Rivalry, and What We Can Learn from the T-Shirt Cannon.

Lisa M. Shin earned her Ph.D. in psychology at Harvard University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry at The Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. She has been on the faculty at Tufts University since 1998, where she is currently Chair of the Psychology Department. Dr. Shin's research involves examining brain function and cognitive processing in patients with anxiety disorders, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Shin teaches courses in Research Methods in Clinical Psychology, Biological Bases of Psychopathology, and Emotion and Memory, and also team-teaches Introduction to Psychology with Dr. Sommers.