THERE IS MORE TO OUR HISTORY OF GIVING - THE PLACE OF INTRODUCTORY TEXTBOOKS IN AMERICAN-PSYCHOLOGY

Despite their continued widespread use in higher education, introductory psychology textbooks have rarely been the subject of historical study. The centennial of the American Psychological Association offers an appropriate moment for considering the disciplinary and cultural functions of introductory texts. Preliminary analysis indicates that this literary genre has contained far more than a compendium of secondhand knowledge; it also has provided a well-used cultural medium for defining social relations and ideals. Textbooks published around the turn of the century are examined to illustrate how these writings both reflect and contribute to shifts in social identities and aspirations. Close reading of introductory textbooks reveals that they are an inextricable part of what it means to give psychology away and are enmeshed in the cultural enterprise of fashioning human welfare.