Psychology Research Guide

ENCYCLOPEDIAS, DICTIONARIES, etc.

Subject Encyclopedias

These can be helpful for obtaining an overview of a subject and related topics. Often an entry in an encyclopedia will contain a list of references which can lead you to more sources on that topic.

Here are several we have:

Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology   Reference BF 31 .E553 1996
Encyclopedia of Psychology 8 vols.   Reference BF 31 .E52 2000
Psychology Basics 2 vols.   Reference BF 31 .P765 1998
Survey of Social Science-Psychology Series 6 vols.   Reference BF 31 .S79 1993

Subject Dictionaries

A Dictionary of Psychology   Reference BF 31 .C65 2001
A Student's Dictionary of Psychology   Reference BF 31 .S69 1999
Dictionary of Theories, Laws and Concepts in Psychology   Reference BF 31 .R625 1998

Handbooks & Manuals

Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology 4 vols. Reference HF 5548.8 H 265 1990
Library Use: Handbook for Psychology Reference BF 76.8 .R43 2003
The Psychology Student Writer's Manual Reference BF 76.8 .P76 2002

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FIND BOOKS

There are several types of searches you can do in the library catalog to locate books.
Psychology is a field that includes many narrower or specialized fields of study, such as industrial psychology, psychology of childhood & adolscence, psychology of women, personality and social psychology, and many more. Library catalogs contain subject headings used by the Library of Congress and most library users are not familiar with these official headings. Therefore it is always best to begin with a keyword search rather that a subject search when first going to the online catalog. Combine several terms that describe your topic, for example:

           emotion AND cognition                 music AND (emotion* OR mood*)
           personality AND socialization       self perception AND (elderly OR aged OR old age)
           childhood trauma AND devian*

A few tips on the keyword searches above:
The asterisk * truncates a term and will retrieve all forms of the word that follow the truncation symbol. For example, emotion* will retrieve emotion plus emotions, emotionally, emotionless).
The parentheses allows you to search for concepts similar in meaning and then combine these with different term(s). Remember to always place your similar terms within parentheses when using AND & OR in one search statement.

Results from your keyword searches will help you identify appropriate subject headings that you can search under. These can help you get even more relevant books on your specific topic. Listed below are just a few subject headings used in the Catalog

           human behavior                   psychology--history                  aging--psychological aspects
           perception                            personality assessment           art--psychology
           perception in children         personality disorders                music--psychological aspects            cognition in children            psychology, experimental


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FIND ARTICLES

NEW! PsycARTICLES. Full text access to over 50 journals of the American Psychological Association (APA).

PsycINFO 1887+
In print 1927-1966: General Collection BF 1 P65.
Produced by the American Psychological Association, PsycINFO contains summaries of the world's literature in psychology and related disciplines. Over 9,000 sources indexed including scholarly journal articles, books and book chapters, dissertations and reports.

Criminal Justice Periodical Index 1975+
In print 1975-1998: HV 6001 C756
Indexes periodical articles on all aspects of criminal justice, including the psychological aspects.

MEDLINE, 1965+
Indexes more than 3,500 journals published internationally in all fields of medicine. Produced by the National Library of Medicine.
On the Web through PubMed, the NLM free public site.

Social Sciences Abstracts 1983+
In print under various titles, 1907-1994: Ref AI 3 S6
This index covers about 550 journals in the areas of anthropology, economics, geography, law and criminology, psychology, sociology, and related topics. Come of the citations are to book reviews, interviews and biographies. Provides citations from 1983 to present and abstracts from 1994 to present.

SPORT Discus 1975+
Comprehensive international database containing sport and fitness literature. It includes references to periodical articles, books, conference proceedings, research papers, and other sources. Includes the psychology and sociology of sport.

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MEDIA LIBRARY

Our Media Library located on the second floor houses a large collection of videos, DVDs, sound recordings and CD-ROMS. Below is a sample of videos and DVDs covering various topics in psychology. They are listed in order by call number.

Dr. B.F. Skinner   Media Video (2 videocassettes) BF 109.S55 A5 1980
Discovering Psychology   Media Video (13 videocassettes) BF 131 .D57 1989
Discovering Psychology   Media Video (26 videocassettes) BF 131 .D57 2001
The Mind   Media Video (9 videocassettes & guide) BF 161 .M56 1988
Discussion With Carl Jung: Introversion, Extraversion and Other Contributions
Media Video BF 173 .J85 D58 1968
Jung on Film   Media Video BF 173 .J85 J86 1990
Methodology, the Psychologist and the Experiment   Media Video BF 181 .M48 1986
Biofeedback: The Yoga of the West BF 319.5 B5 B57 1980
What is Normal?   Media Video BF 671 .W53 1990
The Power of Belief Media DVD BF 773 .P69 2003
Looking at Abnormal Behavior Media Video RC 454 .L66 1991
The Nature of Stress Media Video RC 455.4.S87 N38 1991
The Schizophrenias Media Video RC 514 .S35 1991
The Anxiety Disorders   Media Video RC 531 .A59 1991
Mood Disorders Media Video RC 537 .M66 1991
Personality Disorders Media Video RC 554 .P47 1991
Substance Abuse Disorders Media Video RC 564 .S82 1991
Behavior Disorders of Childhood   Media Video RJ 506 .B44 1991
Social Psychology Media Video HM 251 .S62 1990

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WEB SITES

Government Agencies | Professional Associations | Reference & Comprehensive Sites |
A-Z List

Government Agencies

Missouri Department of Mental Health
National Institute of Mental Health
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Professional Associations

American Psychological Association
American Psychiatric Association
National Mental Health Association
Psychological Societies --- Links to 50+ psychological associations
State and Provincial Psychological Associations --- Provided by the APA

Reference Sources, Comprehensive Sites

Encyclopedia of Psychology--Department of Psychology, Jackson State University

The Personality Project -- Northwestern University
"Opening overview defines the scope of personality theory and research, offering abstracts of many recent articles. . .links to both academic and nonacademic Web pages. . .sites of special interest to students. . .directories of research labs and home pages of personality researchers. Lack of graphics is not a drawback." (CHOICE Magazine, Special Issue 39, 2002).

PsychScholar--"This excellent, no nonsense gateway will take those interested in psychology to a wide variety of Internet resources. . a well-constructed and well-maintained source . . .Highly recommended." R.R. Cornelius, Vassar College. CHOICE Special Issue, v. 41 (2003).

Psych Web--Russell A. Dewey, PhD, Georgia Southern University. A plethora of psychology-related information for students and teachers. Includes an online introductory psychology course with virtual laboratories and simulations.

Psycoloquy--This site is currently unavailable (as of July 16, 2007). I will continue to check for its availability, as it appears they are just having some hardware difficulties at the moment and plan to have the site available in near future. "Refereed, international, interdisciplinary electronic journal sponsored by the American Psychological Association and indexed by PsycINFO and the Instituted for Scientific Information." Registration is required, though information and services are free of charge.

Social Psychology Network -- This site is maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University and according to their description, is "the largest social psychology database on the Internet. . .more than 5,000 links related to psychology." The "Social Psychology Topics" links include: Prejudice, Discrimination and Diversity, Psychology of Gender (sites on Women's Studies, Men's Studies and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered issues), Cultural Psychology, Attitudes and Social Cognition, Interpersonal Relations (Romance and Attraction, Family, Human-Animal Relations), Violence and Conflict Resolution and links to other disciplines related to Social Psychology. Other helpful sections include "Social Psyc PhD Programs," "Social Psychologist Directory," (includes professional profiles of 800+ psychologists who specialize in social or personality psychology), "Online Psychology Studies," (links to various web-based studies being conducted by universities and arranged topically), and has links to teaching resources. "Students, instructors, and researchers alike will find this an extremely useful and user friendly tool for exploring the world of social psychology." R.R Cornelius, Vassar College. CHOICE Special Issus, v. 41 (2003).

Sites Related to Psychology and Other Disciplines

National Institute on Aging--"The National Institute on Aging is one of 27 agencies that make up the National Institutes of Health. The Web site contains a wealth of information on virtually all aspects of aging. . .'Research Information' is divided into four subject subsections: 'Biology of Aging, 'Behavioral and Social Research,' Neuroscience and Neuropsychology,' and 'Scientific Resources.' . .Highly recommended." W.P. Nye, Hollins University. CHOICE Reviews, February 2006.
Psychology of Religion Pages--Michael Nielsen, Georgia Southern University. Primarily an introduction to the psychology of religion, this site "favors concrete example over general theory, e.g. the role of religion in the September 11th attacks, analysis of specific cases involving new religious movements. . ." The site does include profiles of "notable theories and theorists, e.g. Freud, Jung, Adler. . .essays on clergy sexual abuse, spiritual healing and psychotherapy."
CHOICE, September, 2003

A-Z List

American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
Buros Institute of Mental Measurements
Current Research in Social Psychology: an Electronic Journal
Encyclopedia of Psychology
Missouri Department of Mental Health
The Personality Project
Psych Web
Psychology of Religion Pages
Psycoloquy
Social Psychology Network
State and Provincial Psychological Associations
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

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CITING SOURCES

There are several style manuals available in the library:

Chicago/Turabian Style

A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations
    General Collection LB 2369 .T8 1996
    Reference LB 2369 .T8 1996

APA Style

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
    General Collection   BF 76.7 .P83 2001
    Reserve BF 76.7 .P83 2001
    Reference BF 76.7 .P83 2001

MLA Style

         MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
                General Collection LB 2396 .G53 2003
                Reserve LB 2369 .G53
                Reference LB 2369 .G53 2003

For additional style guides and information on citing Web sites and other electronic sources, click here.

For further assistance, visit or call the Reference Desk (660) 785-4051 or contact the Reference Librarian for Psychology:

Lisa M. Glaubitz, Reference Librarian
(660) 785-7412
glaubitz@truman.edu

lmg