What's Hot in Psychology Today? Introductory Psychology Textbooks Coverage of Material in High-Impact Factor Journals

Background What are the most important concepts in psychology? Introductory psychology courses aim to cover the field's main topics, but there is no universally agreed-upon list of key terms for educators. Instructors frequently rely on textbooks, but these texts vary in the key terms they emphasize. Another possible source of key terms is the keywords of published research literature. While textbook authors aim to keep their books current, it remains an open question whether textbook key terms accurately reflect key terms from current published research. Objective This study aims to compare keywords from peer-reviewed publications with those in widely used introductory psychology textbooks. Method We collected keywords from articles in the top 10 psychology journals over 5 years and compared the most frequently used terms to key terms from five widely adopted introductory psychology textbooks. Results Less than 1% of journal keywords appeared in six or more journals, which highlights the diversity of psychological research topics. When we compared the top 10 journals and five textbooks, only 33 key terms, or 3% of key terms, overlapped. Teaching Implications This study offers instructors a list of common keywords in current psychological research to enhance course relevance. Conclusion A significant gap exists between the keywords used in academic research and the key terms in introductory psychology textbooks.