Psychology

Resources for topic developement: 

APA Topics

The APA maintains this site, which includes links to topics of general interest. Each topic has a brief definition and links to additional resources, including: What You Can Do, Getting Help, News, APA Monitor Articles, and Books. View over 80 topic categories.

Topic Guides

Topic Guides are brief handouts designed to demonstrate how to use APA databases to search for resources in various topic areas. They contain sample search scenarios and a list of selected Index Terms from the APA Thesaurus, and a list of examples is provided below. 

• Behavioral Economics
• Child Development 
• Computers and the Internet 
• Education 
• Feminism
• Grief and Trauma Counseling
• Management
• Nursing
• Sexuality and Gender Identity
• Social Work

Reference books can help you:

• Explore a topic: discover what has been said about this subject, trends, issues, etc.
• Identify and define unfamiliar terms or people in your reading
• Find references to other books and articles on the subject
• Find specific keywords to use in online searches

Encyclopedias

Using encyclopedias and dictionaries will help you obtain a quick and reliable overview of your topic, including references, specialized vocabulary or keywords, information on theories or theorists, and suggestions for further research. Handbooks offer a more comprehensive overview than an encyclopedia or dictionary, providing information about key researchers in specific areas of study, relevant keywords, and references to high-quality sources. Those listed here are just a few offered in the ASU Library catalog. You can also view our list of databases for encyclopedias and dictionaries. Need help finding more? Use our Ask a Librarian chat service. A few examples recently added to the ASU Library are listed below. 

Dictionaries

Consult the APA Dictionary of Psychology for a quick reference to psychological terms.

View how to cite a dictionary in APA format: APA Style | Dictionary Entry References. A few examples recently added to the ASU Library are listed below. 

Handbooks

More specific than an encyclopedia, handbooks contain "executive summaries" and provide in-depth coverage. The APA publishes over 30 handbooks. Search our APA Ebook Collection and select APA Handbooks on the left menu to access them. Oxford Handbooks Online also offers several psychology-related options. A few recent additions to the ASU Library are listed below. 

The image is a visual representation of the PICO framework, used in evidence-based practice to formulate clinical research questions. It consists of four columns, each topped with a colored circle containing a letter: P (burgundy circle), I (orange circle), C (burgundy circle), and O (yellow circle). These letters stand for Patient/Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome, respectively. Below each circle is a corresponding description box with a title and a brief explanation. The titles and explanations are enclosed in color-coded rectangles matching the circle colors.

PICO

P - PATIENT, POPULATION OR PROBLEM
What are the characteristics of the patient or population (i.e. age, education level, ethnicity, gender, socio economic status, inpatient/outpatient)? What is the condition or disease you are interested in?

I - INTERVENTION OR EXPOSURE
What do you want to do with this patient (i.e. treat, diagnose, observe)?

C - COMPARISON
What is the alternative to the intervention (i.e. placebo, different drug, surgery)?

O - OUTCOME
What are the relevant outcomes (i.e. morbidity, death, complications)?