Richard O. Straub is the Department of Behavioral Sciences Chair and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, Dearborn. After receiving his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Columbia University and serving as a National Institute of Mental Health/Social Science Research Council Fellow at the University of California, Irvine neurobiology training institute, he joined the University of Michigan faculty in 1979. Since then, he has focused on research in health psychology, especially personality traits as risk factors for physical illness, mind-body issues in stress, and the effects of exercise on physical and psychological health. Professor Straub's research has been published in such journals as Health Psychology, the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. A recipient of the University of Michigan's Distinguished Teaching Award, Professor Straub has written and hosted an introductory psychology course on the local college cable network and has produced print materials for several nationally published distance learning courses. His interest in enhancing student learning is further reflected in the study guides, instructor's manuals, and critical thinking materials he has developed to accompany well-known introductory and developmental psychology texts. This text allows Professor Straub to combine his interest in health psychology with his desire to teach young people.