The Representation of Applied Psychology Areas in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

Abstract

Many psychology majors indicate helping others as a reason for majoring in psychology, yet many enter positions not closely related to the field. This discrepancy may be due to a lack of student knowledge of the applied areas of psychology. The purpose of this study was to investigate the coverage of clinical, counseling, industrial/organizational, and school psychology in a sample of current, full-length introductory psychology textbooks. This study explores the extent and accuracy of coverage of applied areas in 32 full-length textbooks published between 2001 and 2006. Industrial/organizational psychology had the most extensive coverage, followed by clinical, counseling, and school psychology. Counseling psychology had the lowest rate of accuracy in coverage.

Undergraduate school psychology courses: A potential tool for diversifying the field of school psychology?

“…Findings from this study augment prior research, which indicates that undergraduate students have more exposure to counseling and clinical psychology than to school psychology (Graves & Wright, 2009; Haselhuhn & Clopton, 2008). Researchers should consider investigating why this is the case and whether confirmation bias, perceptions of systematic discrimination within school psychology or the broader educational system, or other contributing factors may play a role in this discrepancy.…”

“…Unfortunately, researchers have found that minoritized populations generally experience a lack of exposure to school psychology and that students with greater exposure tend to have greater choice intentions for entering the field (Bocanegra et al, 2016). This lack of exposure has also been found in undergraduate coursework (Bocanegra et al, 2019), textbooks (Haselhuhn & Clopton, 2008), and by undergraduate psychology students’ direct reports of exposure to school psychology (Bocanegra et al, 2016). Furthermore, studies have indicated that direct exposure to school psychology through direct contact with a school psychologist or receiving information regarding the field from a school psychology professor/advisor as most related with decision of entering the field (Bocanegra et al, 2016).…”

Are we educating educators about academic integrity? A study of UK higher education textbooks

“…Content analysis of textbooks has a long history, particularly in undergraduate psychology, (e.g. see (Steuer and Whitfield Ham 2008;Haselhuhn and Clopton 2008;Ferguson, Brown, and Torres 2016) although the field has extended across higher education e.g. see (Hopper and Huxford 2017;French et al 2015).…”

“…(Steuer and Whitfield Ham 2008;Ferguson, Brown, and Torres 2016) while others have focused on determining how certain topics are covered across textbooks (e.g. see (Haselhuhn and Clopton 2008;Hopper and Huxford 2017) or on the relationship between textbook use and academic performance (Landrum, Gurung, and Spann 2012;French et al 2015).…”