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Although the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) has been challenged on methodological, theoretical, and ethical grounds, these criticisms have been largely ignored by teachers and textbook authors. Recent revelations arising from an analysis of the SPE archival materials, however, not only strongly support these past criticisms but also question the scientific validity of the SPE and the accuracy of Zimbardo's published and media accounts of it. These revelations have led some psychologists to call for the removal of SPE coverage in psychology courses and textbooks. We agree with this call but recommend that coverage of the SPE in light of the archival revelations replace it in order to teach psychology students about science and scientific thinking, critical elements in the psychology curriculum. We provide examples of how this can be done to teach the critical role of falsification in science and the negative influence of careerism on scientific research.

To combat the high cost of textbooks, open (digitally free) textbooks have recently entered the textbook market. Griggs and Jackson (2017) reviewed the open introductory psychology textbooks presently available to provide interested teachers with essential information about these texts and how they compare with traditional (commercial) introductory textbooks. They did not, however, include any discussion of the research that has examined the effects of open introductory psychology textbooks and other open educational resources versus traditional introductory textbooks on students' course performance (e.g., course grades). The present study provides a review of this research. The review indicated that no firm conclusions can be drawn not just because there are a limited number of studies with seemingly conflicting findings but more importantly because of numerous uncontrolled relevant variables in all of the studies. To aid researchers who want to conduct future studies on this topic and reviewers who will evaluate these studies, we discuss these variables and the control issues they create.

Given their high cost, many students no longer buy textbooks for all of their courses, impacting their learning and performance in these courses. This is especially prevalent at community colleges. Open (digitally free) textbooks constitute one solution to this problem, but the latest national survey of college faculty found that 66% were not aware of open textbooks and 15% only somewhat aware. Because introductory psychology is psychology's most popular course with 1-2 million students enrolled annually and almost 50% are community college students, we addressed this unawareness problem by providing analytical discussions of the viability of the open introductory textbooks presently available. We conclude that traditional textbooks are higher in quality, but open textbooks meet a specific market need.

Given the many older criticisms of Milgram's obedience study and the more damning recent criticisms based on analyses of materials available in the Milgram archives at Yale, this study has become a contentious classic. Yet, current social psychology textbooks present it as an uncontentious classic, with no coverage of the recent criticisms and little coverage of the older ones. Also, none of the texts present any coverage of the recent reinterpretation of the study's findings in terms of engaged followership based on participants' acceptance of the experimenter's scientific goals. Hence, the present article provides sources for summaries of the criticisms and a summary of the reinterpretation and its supporting empirical research for teachers who want to incorporate coverage into their courses.

It is important to assess periodically how introductory textbooks portray our discipline because introductory psychology is the most popular psychology course, almost all teachers use textbooks for it, and textbooks play a major role in defining the course for students. To do so, past studies have used textbook citation analyses. We analyzed current textbooks to update the citation findings of these studies for the most cited articles, books, and psychologists. Many highly cited articles and books have decreased in citation frequency, likely due to a currency bias and authors' citation preferences. Freud had the highest citation page count, reinforcing students' misconception of his importance in contemporary scientific psychology. Our findings should help teachers in making choices about course content and emphases.

Past studies of the treatment of Milgram's obedience experiments in social psychology textbooks from the 1960s to the 1990s discovered an evolving "Milgram-friendly" coverage style (dealing with criticisms of his experiments either summarily, in a pro-Milgram manner, or not at all). We examined 10 current social textbooks to determine the present state of this Milgram-friendly coverage. Our findings indicate that such coverage has become the norm. Methodological and ethical criticisms of the obedience experiments and challenges to their external validity are seldom cited, and if they are, they are only briefly described and usually dealt with in a Milgram-friendly manner. We discuss two factors likely responsible for this insufficient treatment of these criticisms in social psychology textbooks and urge remediation.

Most introductory textbooks discuss the story of Phineas Gage and his terrible accident in which he survived a three-and-a-half-foot-long tamping iron that weighed 13¼ pounds exploding through his head. Twenty-three current introductory textbooks were analyzed for the accuracy of their coverage of Gage's subsequent (post-accident) history and psychosocial recovery and for inclusion of recently discovered photos of Gage and the most recent digital reconstruction of the path of the tamping iron through his head. Although coverage was generally accurate when included, only half a dozen textbooks discussed Gage's subsequent history or recovery. Inclusion of the photos and recent modeling work was also lacking. Explanations for these coverage deficiencies and suggestions for improved coverage for teachers and textbook authors are offered.

Asch's classic social pressure experiments are discussed in almost all introductory and social psychology textbooks. However, the results of these experiments have been shown to be misrepresented in textbooks. An analysis of textbooks from 1953 to 1984 revealed that although most of the responses on critical trials were independent correct ones, textbooks have increasingly over time emphasized the minority conformity responding and deemphasized the majority independent responding. An analysis of 20 introductory psychology textbooks and 10 introductory social psychology textbooks revealed that this distorted coverage has not only persisted but increased over the past 30 years. Given the entrenchment of such coverage in current texts, a suggestion for how to address this distorted coverage without major text revision is provided.

Given the many inaccuracies in the original "New York Times" 38-witnesses version of the Kitty Genovese story, this study examined the accuracy of this story in current introductory psychology textbooks, 50 years later. Recent studies have shown that there is no evidence for the following three key features of the original story: (1) that 38 witnesses were present, (2) that these witnesses watched the attack for its duration from their apartment windows, and (3) that the witnesses remained inactive, not intervening until it was too late. Twenty-one introductory textbooks were analyzed for the accuracy of their coverage of the Kitty Genovese story. Although a few texts still tell the inaccurate 38-witnesses story, most of the texts provide more accurate, updated coverage.

This article is concerned with the recent debate about the identity of psychology's lost boy-Little Albert, the infant subject in Watson and Rayner's classic experiment on fear conditioning. For decades, psychologists and psychology students have been intrigued by the mystery of Albert's fate. Now two evidentiary-based solutions to this mystery have been proposed. Given the present absence of coverage in introductory textbooks, the purpose of this article is to provide a cornerstone resource for teachers to use as an advance organizer to the literature on this debate. Synopses of the search and resulting evidence for each candidate are provided. A summative comparison of the evidence indicates that Albert Barger is likely Little Albert and that Douglas Merritte is not.

This study is concerned with the nature of the coverage in introductory social psychology textbooks of the Stanford prison experiment (SPE), given the many criticisms, especially recently, of the SPE. These criticisms concern both the study's methodology and the situationist explanation of the outcome. Ten textbooks were analyzed for coverage of the SPE and its ensuing criticisms. Coverage of the SPE was found to be slightly less than that in introductory psychology textbooks, and the majority of the texts providing coverage either provided no or minimal coverage of the criticisms. Contributing factors to and possible explanations for such coverage are discussed. One explanation is applied to textbook coverage of the Kitty Genovese story and a critique exposing its inaccuracies.

Inaccuracies, especially concerning the stimulus generalization findings, in textbook descriptions of the Little Albert study have been well documented since the 1970s. However, there has not been a systematic examination of introductory psychology textbooks since the 1980s to determine whether such inaccuracies still persist. This study filled this gap by examining 23 current introductory texts for accuracy in their coverage of the Little Albert story. In addition, it checked for coverage of recent unsettled issues in the story--the claimed identification of Albert, discovery of his neurological impairment, and early death at 6 years of age. Inaccuracies, especially concerning generalization, are still present in some texts, and coverage of recent developments is rather limited. Resource information for remediation is provided.

Zimbardo's 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE), one of the most famous studies in psychology, is discussed in most introductory textbooks. The present study is concerned with the nature of this coverage, given that there have been myriad criticisms, especially recently, of the SPE. These criticisms concern both Zimbardo's situationist explanation of the outcome and the study's methodology, such as the presence of strong demand characteristics. Thirteen contemporary introductory textbooks were analyzed for their coverage of the SPE and the ensuing criticisms of it. Eleven of these texts discussed the SPE, but only six even mentioned any of the criticisms. Possible explanations for such coverage and a plan to incorporate more accurate coverage within the discussion of research methods are offered.

Because 98% of teachers use textbooks for the introductory psychology course and the majority of introductory teachers do not assign reading beyond the textbook, examining the topical coverage allocation pattern in introductory textbooks versus that in introductory course lectures is important for our understanding of how introductory students are being educated about our discipline. We examined this relationship by comparing chapter topical allocation findings for textbooks with lecture allocation findings based upon analysis of introductory course syllabi. The two patterns of topical allocation were very similar, indicating that, for the most part, teachers teach the text (allocate lecture time to chapter topics in proportion to the space allocated to them in introductory texts). The implications for textbook selection are discussed.

To determine how topical coverage in introductory textbooks may have changed from the 1980s to the present, the author examined topic coverage in full-length and brief introductory textbooks from this time period. Because 98% of the teachers use textbooks for the introductory course and the majority do not assign reading beyond the textbook, the relationship between the current topical allocation pattern and that in the introductory course was examined by comparing the textbook pattern to the lecture topical allocation pattern derived from syllabi analysis. Several changes were found in textbook topic coverage since the 1980s, with proportional coverage among topics moving toward equality. Lecture topical allocation mirrored that in textbooks, indicating that textbooks strongly impact the structure of the introductory course.

It has been 12 years since the last objective analysis of brief introductory psychology textbooks was published and 13 years since the textbook copyright period used in that study, 1997-2000. Given the importance of informed textbook evaluation and selection to the introductory course but the difficulty of this task because of the large number of texts available, it is important to provide teachers with as much information as possible about introductory texts. Thus, to aid teachers in this arduous task, we objectively analyzed the most current editions of the nine brief introductory textbooks published since 2000. Our analyses also allowed us to objectively compare brief introductory texts from the 1990s with those from the 2000s.

It has been 13 years since the last objective analysis of full-length introductory psychology textbooks was published and 15 years since the textbook copyright period used in that study, 1995-1997. Given the importance of informed textbook evaluation and selection to the introductory course but the difficulty of this task because of the large number of texts available, it is important to provide teachers with as much information about introductory texts as possible. Thus, to aid teachers in this arduous task, we objectively analyzed the most current editions of the 13 full-length introductory texts published since 1997. Our analyses also allowed us to objectively compare introductory texts from the 1990s with those from the 2000s. (Contains 3 notes and 2 tables.)

Introductory psychology textbooks have been criticized for being too long and too expensive. A national survey of introductory teachers found that 89% of introductory courses are only one term in length and that teachers could only cover 68% of a text's topics. This situation has been made more problematic by the soaring prices of introductory texts, leading many students to not purchase them. However, a class of more concise, less expensive introductory textbooks has recently emerged. We provide an objective analysis of these concise texts, along with a comparison to previous similar analyses of full-length and brief introductory texts. For introductory teachers interested in adopting a concise text, these data will be helpful in the text evaluation and selection process. (Contains 3 notes and 2 tables.)

The authors conducted citation analyses to identify the most influential articles published in "Teaching of Psychology". Using the Web of Science and PsycINFO databases, we gathered citation counts for the 2,986 articles appearing in the journal from 1974 through 2011 and then used these counts to compile a Top 20 list for total citations, an index that favors older articles, and another list for average number of citations per year, which favors more recent articles. We discuss the nature and content of the articles comprising the two lists as well as possible explanations for their impact. We conclude that although the journal has a history of low impact factors, some articles, especially large survey articles, have been very influential. (Contains 4 tables and 3 notes.)

Honoring "Teaching of Psychology" ("ToP") as it approaches its 40th anniversary, we extend prior overviews of its development and growth into 2012. We describe changes in editorial staff and journal organization, identify and describe the top 20 most frequent contributors to "ToP," and present the results of a content analysis of issues published from 1999 through mid-2012 to complement past content analyses. We conclude that as "ToP" enters middle age, it has professionally matured throughout adulthood to have a fruitful life as a topical journal and has outgrown its earlier newsletter trappings with essentially all of its journal space now devoted to articles on teaching for teachers. (Contains 3 notes and 3 tables.)

Given the frequent use of primary source readings by introductory psychology teachers, especially at liberal arts colleges, we compiled the citation frequencies of classic articles in introductory textbooks to help teachers select readings for their courses. Using a random sample of 24 of the most recent introductory texts (copyright dates 2004-2006), the authors checked for citation of the 40 classic studies that Gorenflo and McConnell (1991) identified as cited in a simple majority of textbooks in the late 1980s. The authors found that 22 of these articles still met this citation criterion. They discuss the general content of these articles and ways to supplement them to comprise a sufficiently diverse set of possible readings for the introductory course.

Given the many changes in the introductory psychology textbook market in the past 2 decades and the lack of a recent citation study of introductory texts, we conducted a citation analysis of a stratified random sample of current texts. To provide a more comprehensive picture of current citation emphases, we extended our analysis to the top 60 authors. As expected, historically prominent psychologists dominated the top 15, with Freud cited most often. We also found that the citation patterns reflected recent changes in the prominence of various schools of scientific psychology with cognitive psychology well represented. We discuss the role of these data in students' perceptions of psychology and in helping introductory teachers to make course content choices.

Examines whether there was a common vocabulary present within introductory psychology textbooks during the 1950s and if a classic core vocabulary exists. Reports that no common core existed in the textbooks during the 1950s, but there is a set of 100 classic vocabulary terms. (CMK)

Presents a comparative analysis of 15 brief introductory psychology textbooks for teachers who want a leaner introductory text. Focuses on length, pedagogical aids, and topic coverage. States that there is enough variability among the texts to accommodate teachers' preferences and needs. Includes a bibliography of the textbooks. (CMK)

Examines 17 undergraduate cognitive psychology textbooks published in the United States with copyright dates between 1995 and 1999. Intends to facilitate textbook selection through a comparison of text length, reference citations, content, pedagogy, and illustrative material. Reveals that the textbooks diverge on topical emphasis. Includes an appendix of cognitive psychology textbooks. (CMK)

Presents an analysis of undergraduate methods course textbooks (n=26) published in the United States with copyright dates from 1995-1999. Examines aspects of the textbooks, such as demographic qualities, use of pedagogical aids and illustrative material, and topic coverage. Includes the results in detail. (CMK)

Presents a class activity, in which students take two tests, that requires minimal preparation and encourages discussion on important aspects of testing, such as testing bias. Describes the procedure. Includes the two tests and the answers. (CMK)

Provides feature and content analyses of 14 social and 17 abnormal psychology full-length textbooks from 1995-98 that are available for undergraduate psychology courses. Provides instructors of these courses a means for more informed text selection. (CMK)

Updates Roberts S. Daniel's history of "Teaching of Psychology" that focused on the major changes of the journal from 1974 to 1990. Describes the various journal format and editorial changes, provides contributor analyses for the 25 years of publication, and presents a content analysis of issues published from February 1991 through November 1998. (CMK)

Attempts to facilitate the text selection process for introductory psychology teachers by enabling them to match the level of the text with their students' ability level. Examines 37 introductory psychology textbooks published from 1995-1997 to determine text levels (high, middle, or lower level). Discusses the findings in detail. (CMK)

Explores changes in the introductory psychology textbook market through an analysis of edition, author, length, and content coverage of the volumes that comprise the current market. Finds a higher edition average, a decrease in the number of authors, an increase in text pages, and a focus on developmental psychology and sensation/perception. (CMK)

Examines the catalogs of a random sample of 292 national and regional universities and liberal arts colleges to collect curriculum data on the prevalence of focused specialty versus general degrees in psychology and on the course requirements for the various degree options. Presents the findings and addresses the status of nongeneral degrees. (CMK)

Extends Wayne Weiten, Rosanna E. Guadagno, and Cynthia A. Beck's (1996) research on the value of pedagogical aids in introductory psychology textbooks. Examined full-length introductory texts published between 1995 and 1997 to determine the prevalence of aids, and asked students to rate 15 aids on familiarity, likelihood of use, and value. Discusses results and implications. (DSK)

Examines coverage of critical thinking in 37 full-length introductory psychology textbooks published from 1955 to 1997. Checks for coverage of scientific thinking, cognitive biases in thinking, and difficulties in statistical reasoning. Suggests that findings should facilitate the review and decision process for instructors interested in incorporating critical thinking into introductory courses. (DSK)

Presents a study that reviewed introductory psychology textbooks to examine the perception of extensive similarity. Focuses on six dimensions: (1) chapter topics, organization, and extent of topic coverage; (2) core concepts and key terms; (3) pedagogical aids and data graphs; (4) critical-thinking programs; (5) reference citations; and (6) level of difficulty. (CMK)

The influences of surface and structural similarity on analogical transfer were examined with 318 undergraduate participants in four experiments using Needham and Amado's (1995) Pythagoras THOG problem as the source problem and Wason's standard abstract THOG task as the target problem. In Experiments 1-3, systematic changes in surface similarity between the source and target problems were introduced by changing the named exemplar, the dimensional values, and the dimensions, respectively, in the target problem. Significant transfer was obtained in all three experiments. In Experiment 4, we explored the basis of this transfer by examining three versions of the Pythagoras THOG problem, factorially combining its facilitating features as source problems. Results indicated that the inclusion of a hypothesis generation request was necessary for significant transfer. The implications of our findings for using transfer versus facilitation as the performance criterion for deductive reasoning are considered.

Research presented concerns the cognitive complexity of the THOG problem, which involves hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Results are examined within the context of 'confusion theory.'