Acknowledgments

Creating a textbook on biopsychology was one of the most rewarding challenges of my career, but I could not have written this book without the help of friends, family, colleagues, and editors. I would first and foremost like to thank my good friend and colleague Dr. Ed Mitchell. Ed and I met as postdoctoral researchers at Oxford University. We were part of the Behavioral Ecology Research Group lead by Dr. Alex Kacelnik. Ed and I both studied decision-making; I with starlings and Ed with people. After our postdocs, Ed went to medical school and is now a practicing psychiatrist in Oxford, England. He has remained a great friend and collaborator and was extremely helpful and encouraging throughout the process of writing this textbook. He contributed considerably to Chapters 12, 15, and 16, which address neuropsychiatric disorders. Ed provided me a clearer understanding of current thinking on symptoms and treatment for disorders. He is a brilliant writer and also provided excellent suggestions and edits to the manuscript.

There were several other people who helped me with this textbook that deserve acknowledgment. I’d first like to recognize the important mentors who helped me during my education. Dr. John Morgan was my research advisor for my master’s degree at Humboldt State University and my first instructor in biopsychology. He was a great teacher and mentor and taught me to love this field. My research advisors for my Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii, Dr. Patricia Couvillon and Dr. M. E. Bitterman, were most instrumental in teaching about scientific methodology, theories of associative learning, and comparative psychology. Dr. Alex Kacelnik at Oxford University taught me about animal behavior, decision-making, and the evolution of behavior. They were all so important in guiding and encouraging my education.

I also received a great deal of help with this textbook from colleagues. My good friend Dr. Lorin Lachs provided excellent suggestions for my chapters on sensation and perception, Chapters 6 and 7, as well as Chapter 13 on learning. Several years ago, I had written a much shorter version of this textbook that I provided for my students. A colleague in our department and good friend, Dr. Tom Breen, had taught biopsychology in our department for over thirty years, and he was kind enough to read that first attempt and provide many suggestions for content when designing the larger book. He still drops off articles for me to read. My former student Dr. Philip Vieira, now a professor at CSU Dominguez Hills, was also kind enough to read chapters and send suggestions. He was particularly helpful with Chapter 13 about the biology of learning, on which he is an expert. I would also like to thank Dr. Paul Price, Dr. Jennifer Isom Schmidtke, and Dr. Chris Miller, who are colleagues in my department who were all helpful with suggestions, comments, and edits.

In addition, I want to express my appreciation for people at FlatWorld, namely Sean Wakely, Vice President, Product and Editorial, and Lindsey Kaetzel, Digital Editor. This was my first textbook, and they were encouraging, clear, and patient with my progress. Lindsey was always there with helpful e-mails and suggestions. I would also like to thank Jeremy Judson, Senior Development Editor, who provided excellent edits to the first draft of each chapter. Dr. Kathleen West, who copyedited the final draft, was instrumental in finding my mistakes, making the text clearer, and suggesting content essential for an introductory textbook on biopsychology.

I would also like to thank the many reviewers who took on the Herculean task of carefully reading first draft chapters of this textbook. They were all incredibly helpful in expressing what they liked about the book and what needed improvement. Many of the first-draft reviewers made excellent suggestions for including additional, relevant content to enhance students’ learning of biopsychology. I feel this textbook is considerably improved because of their detailed input.

Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my family: Lisa, Max, and Isaac. They were incredibly supportive and encouraging, especially when I had to squirrel myself away at my desk on the weekends and at nights. They inspire me every day.