The handbook  “Algemene psychologie. Inleiding in de functieleer” is published by Van Gorcum and has an accompanying website in Dutch. You can find a review of the book in the journal “Tijdschrift voor psychiatrie”. The PowerPoint slides and other supporting files are placed under the download section of this website. If you want to read some sample chapters of the book, you can find them in Google Books. Be aware, that the text is written in Dutch.

In the first chapter, psychology is described as as a scientific undertaking. The term is defined and the history of psychology is briefly discussed. Furthermore, psychology as a science is set against pseudo-sciences such as parapsychology.

An overview of the field is given in Chapter 2. After some possible classifications are passed in review, a division in five basic disciplines is proposed: methodology, experimental psychology, personality psychology, developmental psychology and social psychology. From each discipline two specialities are described.

Chapter 3 discusses the research methods in psychology. Besides descriptive (observation, questionnaire, interview) and relational research, experimental research is covered in depth.

The first 3 chapters are an introduction to the field and give the answer to the question: “What is psychology?”. In the following chapters, the classic themes of general psychology are discussed.

Chapter 4 deals with perception. After a brief discussion of the visual system, the data-driven and conceptually driven perception is discussed. Three arguments for this latter approach are given: perceptual constants, illusions and the organization of perception. Both approaches are applied in the measurement of thresholds and signal detection.

Human memory is addressed in Chapter 5. The structure and function of the human memory are discussed from an information processing approach. The different components of human memory and the representation of information are described, as well as memory processes as forgetting, retrieval, attention and consciousness.

In Chapter 6, classical and operant conditioning, along with their vocabularium, are discussed. Both the experimental results and practical applications are discussed, in particular, the psychological foundation of behaviour therapy. In addition cognitive learning, including topics like intelligence, thinking and problem-solving are covered.

Emotion is the theme of chapter 7. First, the biological basis of emotion is described. After that, the 2-factors theory of Schachter is discussed. According to this view, emotions are the result of both internal as external factors. Finally, the phenomenon of emotional intelligence is addressed.

Chapter 8 discusses human motivation. After the old motivation theories such as Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor, the more recent equity theory and expectancy theory are discussed.