Psychology teaching in New Zealand does not fit perfectly into a North American or a European model. In fact, New Zealand is very much a meeting place for the ideas that dominate these two regions. For this reason, and also motivated by the exciting research projects that are being carried out within the country, the editors of this volume have worked together and with other New Zealand academics to provide students with a local, relevant context for their studies.

Psychology in Aotearoa/New Zealand is a text which showcases much of the important research that is being done here. The book is also written by New Zealand-based academics who have both researched and taught the topics that are typically covered in introductory psychology courses.

‘The extraordinary depth and variety of New Zealand psychology, viewed as a science as well as a profession, may come as a surprise to many. As this volume admirably demonstrates, Departments of Psychology in our universities punch well above their weight in the international arena.’  - Michael Corballis, Department of Psychology, University of Auckland.

1. The history of early psychological research in New Zealand
   Simon Kemp
2. Biological bases of behaviour
   Susan Schenk and David Harper
3. Evolutionary psychology: A way of thinking in psychology
   Rachel M Collie, Tony Ward and Theresa A Gannon
4. Sensation and perception
   John Perrone
5. Learning and conditioning
   David Harper
6. Memory and cognition
   John McDowall
7. Cognitive development in infancy and early childhood
   Jason Low and Ronald Atkins
8. New Zealand families: Child rearing practices and attitudes
   Jane Ritchie
9. Social cognition
   John McClure
10. Social psychology and group processes
    Marc Wilson
11. Emotion
    Kenneth Strongman
12. Gender and sexuality
    Ann Weatherall
13. Language and communication
    Ann Weatherall
14. Maori and psychology: Indigenous psychology in New Zealand
    Linda Nikora
15. Abnormal and clinical psychology
    Gail Tripp
16. Forensic/criminal justice psychology
    Devon L L Polaschek
17. Health psychology
    Kerry Chamberlain
18. Industrial and organisational psychology
    Michael O’Driscoll and Paul Taylor

Supplementary material: Research methods
Marc Wilson

• Each chapter begins with an outline of the ‘generic’ knowledge that is found in standard psychology introductory texts and then proceeds to show how New Zealand research relates to that knowledge.
• Each chapter contains profiles of leading New Zealand researchers and emphasises applications unique to the New Zealand context.
• As well as summarising the basics that might be found in most introductory texts, the local material presented here extends and builds on that content.

A CD self-study guide in the back of the book contains an introduction to psychological research for students, with instructions on how to write lab reports, and design and analyse research studies. It also contains demonstrations to students using SPSS and Excel spreadsheets.