Not Quite on the Same Page: Comparing Key Terms in Introductory Psychology Textbooks

Textbooks shape the content and structure of most introductory psychology courses. It is important to compare the content of textbooks to assist educators in making the best textbook choice. The purpose of this study was to conduct an analysis of five commonly used introductory psychology textbooks and examine the extent of overlap in their content coverage. Two trained readers identified 3878 key terms after performing a page-by-page content analysis. Commonality among texts was assessed by determining how many textbooks included each term. Coverage of psychology topics differed significantly across textbooks with 2766 terms (71%) unique to a single textbook. There were 494 terms (163%), 263 terms (73%), and 201 terms (5%) appearing in two, three, and four books, respectively. Only 154 terms (4%) were common to all five. Given our results and how reliant course instructors are on textbooks, it appears introductory psychology students may not be exposed to similar vocabulary. Introductory psychology textbooks may be similar at a chapter and topic level but do not share as much specific content as may be commonly believed. Instructors should take the time to check if the content matches course goals and expectations.