Samuel E. Wood (deceased) received his doctorate from the University of Florida. He taught at West Virginia University and the University of Missouri—St. Louis, and was a member of the doctoral faculty at both universities. From 1984 to 1996, he served as president of the Higher Education Center, a consortium of 14 colleges and universities in the St. Louis area. He was a cofounder of the Higher Education Cable TV channel (HEC-TV) in St. Louis, and served as its president and CEO from its founding in 1987 until 1996.
Ellen Green Wood received her doctorate in educational psychology from St. Louis University and was an adjunct professor of psychology at St. Louis Community College at Meramec. She has also taught in the clinical experiences program in education at Washington University and at the University of Missouri—St. Louis. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Wood has developed and taught seminars on critical thinking. She received the Telecourse Pioneer Award from 1982 through 1988 for her contributions to the field of distance learning.
Denise Boyd received her EdD in educational psychology from the University of Houston and has been a psychology instructor at Houston Community College since 1988. During her tenure at HCC, Dr. Boyd has served as department chair, associate department chair, and program coordinator. She has coauthored five other Pearson texts: with Samuel Wood and Ellen Green Wood, The World of Psychology; with Helen Bee, Lifespan Development, The Developing Child, and The Growing Child; and with Genevieve Stevens, Current Readings in Lifespan Development.
Eileen Wood received her doctorate from Simon Fraser University. She is a full professor in the Department of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University. She conducts research in developmental and educational psychology. Her primary research interests involve studying how people acquire, maintain, and recall information, especially when technologies are involved. She applies this research to numerous contexts including: assessing software content and design for the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills, multitasking in higher education classrooms, and instructional strategies to promote teaching and learning across cultural contexts. Her secondary research interests involve development of work and pay expectations and parent–child social interactions. Dr. Wood has authored many books, book chapters, and articles. She is a 3M Teaching Fellow and has received numerous teaching awards. Dr. Wood has also earned award recognition for her research. Dr. Wood primarily teaches introductory and developmental psychology at the undergraduate level and developmental psychology at the graduate level. She works collaboratively with school boards and teachers in Canada and internationally as well as community groups working toward enhancing learning for learners of all ages.
Serge Desmarais received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Waterloo. He is a full professor, a past recipient of a Canada Research Chair in applied social psychology, and the former Associate Vice-President (Academic) at the University of Guelph, a role he served in for more than ten years. Dr. Desmarais started teaching introductory psychology in his first academic position in 1990, and has taught this course regularly since the beginning of his career. He is the recipient of several University of Guelph teaching awards. Dr. Desmarais is an active researcher and the author of many articles and book chapters in the areas of teaching and learning, interpersonal relations, work and pay expectations, gender issues, and the personal consequences of social media.