MSU psychology professor’s textbook spans decades, enjoys international use

“Learning: Principles and Applications,” a textbook by MSU psychology professor Stephen Klein, is now in its 8th edition since it was first published in 1987. (Photo submitted)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—A veteran ��Ƶ psychology professor is experiencing a rare and exceptional achievement in publishing an 8th textbook edition, a work that originated more than 30 years ago.

Author Stephen Klein’s textbook, “Learning: Principles and Applications,” is used by hundreds of universities across the U.S., with the Spanish translation adopted by institutions in Spain and Central and South America.

“This success,” explained MSU psychology department head Mitchell Berman, “speaks to the impact his scholarship has had on our discipline.”

The sole author of each edition, Klein said substantial changes have been made in each revision of his learning text which is printed today by Sage Publishing, along with the last three versions.

“New research has been incorporated into each edition, as well as new theories and principles. Real-world examples of learning principles that are more relevant to today’s college student have been added, as well as recent applications to solve real-world problems,” Klein said of the work first published in 1987 by McGraw-Hill, as were the second, third and fourth iterations.

Throughout Klein’s three-decade career, editions of his text have been adopted at notable institutions, including Auburn, Boston, Columbia, DePaul, Emory, Grambling State, Michigan State, Ohio State and Rutgers universities, Boston College, Georgia Institute of Technology, the universities of Arkansas, North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and Texas-Austin, among others.

Klein joined the MSU faculty in 1990 as psychology department head. During his 20 years in that role, he advanced the mission of the department to include doctoral training in cognitive science and expanded the undergraduate major to record numbers, Berman said.

In 2010, Klein returned to fulltime teaching, and he plans to retire this May.

Klein also has written three other textbooks, including a 1982 McGraw-Hill motivation textbook and a biological psychology textbook published by Prentice-Hall in 2000. In a 2007 joint project with psychology professor emeritus Michael Thorne, he revised the biological psychology textbook published by Worth Publishers.

He has edited three textbooks on contemporary learning theory, published 29 articles in scientific journals on learning and memory, served on numerous university and college committees and chaired several department head searches.

A doctoral and master’s graduate of Rutgers University and undergraduate alumnus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Klein’s career has focused on the study of the biological basis of learning and memory, and constraints and predispositions on food preferences and aversions.

MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments. Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences or the physics department may be found at or .

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