This author team is committed to making statistics a highlight for psychology students! Now, in a 5th edition, Statistics for Psychology, continues to be an accessible, current, and interesting approach to statistics. With each revision, the authors have maintain those things about the book that have been especially appreciated, while reworking the text to take into account the feedback, their our own experiences, and advances and changes in the field.
The fifth edition of this popular text uses definitional formulas to emphasize concepts of statistics, rather than rote memorization. This approach constantly reminds students of the logic behind what they are learning, and each procedure is taught both verbally and numerically, which helps to emphasize the concepts. Thoroughly revised, with new content and many new practice examples, this text takes the reader from basic procedures through analysis of variance (ANOVA). While learning statistics, students also learn how to read and interpret current research.
1. Displaying the order in a group of numbers.
2. Central tendency and variability.
3. Some key ingredients for inferential statistics: Z scores, the normal curve, sample versus population, and probability.
4. Introduction to hypothesis testing.
5. Hypothesis testing with means of samples.
6. Making sense of statistical significance: Effect size and statistical power.
7. Introduction to the t test: Single sample and dependent means.
8. The t test for independent means.
9. Introduction to the analysis of variance.
10. Factorial analysis of variance.
11. Correlation.
12. Prediction.
13. Chi-square tests.
14. Strategies when population distributions are not normal: Data transformations and rank-order tests.
15. Integration and the general linear model.
16. Making sense of advanced statistical procedures in research articles.
Revision of Content: The authors have continued to focus on simplifying exposition and have updated content, examples, boxes, and controversies.
New Pedagogical Aids: The authors have added pedagogical aids, such as adding essay outlines before the Practice Problems section and including definitions of key terms in the margin. For several chapters, they expanded the Using SPSS section that shows students how to carry out the chapter’s procedures.
New SPSS Section: A Using SPSS section was added to Chapter 15 that shows students how to use SPSS to figure a partial correlation, internal consistency reliability, and an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Yet another new addition is a section on multi-level modeling analysis in Chapter 15.
Accessibility: Aron uses both verbal and numerical explanations—definitional formulas are emphasized over computational so students can understand the logic behind the procedure. The definitional formulas are brought to center stage because they provide a concise symbolic summary of the logic of each particular procedure. All of the explanations, examples, practice problems, and test bank items are based on these definitional formulas.
SPSS Coverage: Since many professors use SPSS in the lab and class to help students work out the calculations, SPSS screen shots are included within the text to further facilitate learning. Examples in the text show students how to compute SPSS procedures and include a worked out example with screen shots.
Extensively updated throughout: Updated dozens of examples (especially the in-the-research-literature ones), updated controversies and boxes, updated the psychology topics (e.g., more neuroscience); and further streamlined the exposition.
Each procedure is taught both verbally and numerically and usually visually as well. Practice problems and test bank items require the student to calculate results, write a short explanation in layperson’s language of what they have done, and make a sketch. The chapter material completely prepares the student for these kinds of practice problems and test questions.
Focus on Research: A main goal of any introductory statistics course in psychology is to prepare students to read research articles. As this book teaches a statistical method, it also gives examples of how that method is reported in current journal articles. The practice problems and test bank items also include excerpts from journal articles for the student to explain.
Complete package of ancillary materials: This package includes a web page with additional practice problems and extensive interactive study materials, plus four "mini chapters" covering additional material not in the text, a very substantial test bank; an instructors' manual that provides sample syllabi, lecture outlines, and ready-to-copy (or download) power-point slides or transparencies with examples not in the book; and a very complete students' study guide that also provides a thorough workbook for using SPSS with this book.