Updates to 2nd Edition

With our first edition, we relied heavily on the foundation of the 2e Psychology text from OpenStax. Since our launch in spring 2020, we’ve made many changes. Some of these changes were relatively minor, while others have been more substantial. Below you will find a summary of the highlights of some of the key changes we’ve made, as well as upcoming revisions we have in the works.

Broad Changes

• Theme has been updated to better accommodate all learners (update to fonts, formatting, etc.)
• Clearer distinction between sections/chapters
• Dozens of updates to links for figures, Links to Learning, and other hyperlinks
• Review and implementation of inclusive language (e.g., increase in gender-neutral language, inclusion of they/them in examples and vignettes, inclusive language around sex, development, and reproduction, etc.)
• Addition of Indigenous perspectives, contributions, and historical injustices (e.g., Blackfoot and Mi’kmaw contributions and approaches to needs models, intergenerational trauma and Indian Residential Schools, memory techniques, etc.)
• Edits throughout to increase conciseness, simplify language, update to Canadian spelling, etc.
• Replacement of several images throughout text to increase diversity and improve user experience
• Last page of each chapter now includes ‘Attributions & Acknowledgements’ section to highlight new contributions and authors

Focused Changes

• Major updates to Psychological Research chapter, including more relevant examples, considerations for sex and gender in research and interpretation of results, and the reproducibility crisis.
• ‘Dig Deeper’ added to sensory motor section, exploring the mapping of the male brain and the concept of a female-based homunculus
• Tricky Topics on Drug Mechanisms, Visual Pathways, Spatial Memory, and Hippocampal Memory added
• Large update to Brain & Spinal Cord section in Biological Basis of Behaviour chapter
• Major updates to Development chapter, notably, with the introduction of the terms AFAB and AMAB (assigned female at birth and assigned male at birth, respectively) to better describe effects of hormones on development. Addition of a more nuanced explanation and exploration of both sex and gender.
• Removal of outdated content in Motivation & Emotion chapter on sex and gender
• Removed uncritical content about Zimbardo study
• Switch from Neurodevelopmental Disorders to Neurodiversity with strengths-based and lived-experience focus
• Content about HM and Brenda Milner added, along with substantial new content on biological basis of memory, memory processes, memory strategies, and errors/forgetting
• All-new section on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with contemporary focus on health care workers, intersectionality, risk factors, and treatments
• Addition of Neurodegeneration section (Psychopathology chapter)
• Removed several examples that suggested a direct link between psychopathology and violence