Review of Cognition.

Reviews the book, Cognition by John G. Benjafield, et al. (2010). Cognition (4th ed.) provides a comprehensive introduction to cognitive psychology for undergraduate students and others who require an overview of the area. New in the fourth edition is a chapter on cognitive neuroscience. The reviewer only has one criticism of Benjafield et al.: Citations for published works in every chapter that also appeared in the third edition stop around 2007 or earlier (when the third edition was published). Cognition is a book that will appeal to those looking for a high-level, scholarly survey of cognitive psychology. It is this aspect of Cognition that sets it apart from most other textbooks that cover cognitive psychology. Yet, despite its scholarly approach, it remains an engaging text that makes the reader want to keep reading more: a delicate balance, but one that Benjafield et al. manage with aplomb. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Essentials of abnormal psychology, first Canadian edition.

Reviews the book, Essentials of abnormal psychology, first Canadian edition by V. Mark Durand, David H. Barlow, and Sherry H. Stewart (2007). This first edition covers the terrain one might expect of an abnormal psychology textbook. This includes chapters on historical context, approaches to psychopathology, clinical assessment, diagnosis and research methods, anxiety disorders, somatoform and dissociative disorders, mood disorders and suicide, physical disorders and health psychology, eating and sleep disorders, sexual and gender identity disorders, substance-related disorders, personality disorders, schizophrenia and other related disorders, developmental and cognitive disorders, and finally, legal and ethical issues as related to mental health. Although the book initially may look rather dense (it is not), there are numerous organisational aids to facilitate learning. The authors have more than amply succeeded in their stated intention to present a multidimensional perspective, integrating behavioural, emotional and cognitive, and social contexts to explore the essentials of abnormal psychology. Using easy to understand language appropriate for undergraduates, this book guides the reader through the fascinating field of abnormal psychology, pointing out the expected, and for an added bonus, the unexpected and often neglected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of social psychology.

Reviews the book "Handbook of social psychology" (Volumes I and II), edited by G. Lindzey (see record 1955-03817-000). This book is a major attempt to present, summarized in handbook fashion, what is known theoretically, methodologically, and substantively in the area of social psychology. The various chapters include contributions by psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and statisticians. Most of the chapters are written carefully and thoughtfully. It is a good and worth-while book to have in print. Many students and research workers will have occasion to refer to it. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of modern psychology: Third edition.

Reviews the book, A history of modern psychology: Third edition by C. James Goodwin (see record 2008-14615-000). This text is an excellent introduction to the history of Western psychology, in terms of both tracing the discipline’s lineage through milestone events and in demonstrating how historians approach the subject. As the primary goal of the book is to attract the interest of students who perhaps are only taking a course in the history of psychology because it is required of them, the major strength of this text is its readability. The author’s ability to render complicated material comprehensible for introductory level students and laymen, as well as the affable tone used throughout the work makes it suitable for any reader interested in the foundations of the discipline. Its success is in the framework it provides, which graduate or even undergraduate level instructors can flesh out with supplementary readings and in-class discussion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of social psychology.

Reviews the book, Handbook of social psychology edited by Gardner Lindzey (1954). The reviewer notes that the publication of this two-volume Handbook is a truly signal event in social psychology. The text is comprehensive, up to date, balanced. It gives extensive treatment to theory, to methodology, and to research findings and applications. It is sophisticated in its approach and makes no concession to oversimplified presentation, either in content or in style. The reviewer also reports that the editor has demonstrated a high order of intelligence and judgment in the selection and organization of the various chapters. No main area of social psychology is neglected. As contrasted with the more typical compendiums of material in a large field, this book succeeds remarkably in avoiding unnecessary redundancy. The choice of authors in this text is also excellent. Some of the authors have taken this as an occasion for creating something beyond simply a critical review of an area of social psychology; parts of some of the chapters are original contributions to the theory and method of social psychology. Overall, this Handbook offers convincing evidence that social psychology is indeed a field in its own right, continually growing in the extent to which its methods and findings bear intimate relationship with other areas of psychology, and at the same time contributing a steady stream of methods and data which are uniquely to be found in connection with social behavior of individuals and groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of pain assessment, second edition.

Reviews the book, Handbook of pain assessment, second edition edited by Dennis C. Turk and Ronald Melzack (see record 2001-05101-000). This book is a comprehensive review of the state of the art of pain assessment. The book consists of 36 chapters organized in six major sections, an introduction and a conclusion. The sections are: measurement of pain, assessment of behavioural expressions of pain, medical and physical evaluations, psychological evaluation, specified pain states, and methodological issues. The Handbook of pain assessment should be in every university and health centre library. All health professionals and students who see patients who have pain (and that is probably all of them) should have this text readily available. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Abnormal psychology perspectives.

Reviews the book, Abnormal psychology perspectives by William L. Marshall and Philip Firestone (1999). Marshall and Firestone have chosen to construct an edited text, using Canadian experts for each of the 19 chapters. Aside from the fact that Abnormal Psychology Perspectives is a top notch text, the quality of materials provided for instructors is also excellent. For each chapter, the instructor's manual provides a summary, major issues and key points, resources for lecture material, as well as suggested topics for classroom discussion. There is a hard copy and computerized test bank containing approximately 1,900 multiple-choice and essay questions. A separate study guide is available that will assist students to organize chapters, focus on key concepts, and provide an opportunity to practice answering multiple-choice questions or questions that require short answers, such as filling in missing terms. This is an excellent abnormal psychology textbook, which was constructed with the Canadian mental health context at its core. It is long overdue and has set a standard against which future texts should be measured. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Treatment of childhood disorders, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, Treatment of childhood disorders, 3rd edition edited by Eric J. Mash and Russell A. Barkley (see record 2006-05090-000). This is an impressive compilation of chapters by distinguished authors in their respective fields, covering the major domains related to common childhood psychopathology, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, fear and anxiety, depression, mental retardation, autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, physical abuse and neglect, sexual abuse, substance use, and eating disorders. This landmark book, now in its third edition, provides the current state of knowledge about treatment intervention within these domains. This pioneering book continues to represent a major (and highly successful) undertaking to synthesize the wide literature base of treatment for common childhood disorders. Its ability to parsimoniously convey extensive information in a manner that is easily accessible to readers facilitates the advancement of treatment for childhood psychopathology by transferring treatment knowledge from the research laboratory to the clinical office. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Exploring the psychology of interest.

Reviews the book, Exploring the psychology of interest by Paul J. Silvia (see record 2006-03939-000). As Silvia observes, the study of interest has been extensive. However, it has been scattered across many subfields including the specialized and somewhat isolated areas of aesthetics, educational psychology, and vocational psychology. There exists a further divide between models of interest as an emotional experience and the personality-based study of interests and their idiographic development over time. Thankfully, Silvia's book brings a sense of order and coherence to this otherwise fractured body of work. The book's unifying theme is that cognition plays a singular role in generating, as well as interpreting, the experience of any emotion, including interest. Silvia wields his cognitivism skillfully, using it to advance a compelling case that interest is a function of cognitive appraisal. He then presents a related attributional analysis of how individuals develop particular interests and avocations over time. These two theoretical models organize the first two sections of the book, and they nicely integrate the existing literatures concerning interest and the development of interests, respectively. A final section of the book concludes with a comparison of models of interest followed by Silvia's suggested directions for future research. This is a great example of what the psychology of emotion needs. It is a successful "second-generation" effort to organize the proliferation of emotion research and theorizing that has occurred over the past few decades (Detweiler-Bedell & Salovey, 2002). Emotion researchers who read the book will benefit as much from Silvia's method as from the richness of his subject. In particular, this would be an ideal book for graduate students and faculty to hash over as part of a weekly reading group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Adult development and aging: Biopsychosocial perspectives, third edition.

Reviews the book, Adult development and aging: Biopsychosocial perspectives, third edition by Susan Krauss Whitbourne (2007). The objective of this book is to educate undergraduate students on the aging process and how to age successfully. Each chapter is couched in the biopsychosocial perspective and as such presents an integrated view of the biological, psychological, and sociocultural changes that occur with aging. With this revised third edition, the author had the explicit goal of “engaging students in the learning process.” The revised sections, new research, links to Internet sites, and conversational style in this new edition reflect this goal. From a Canadian perspective, this new edition includes a great deal of current Canadian research in aging, and in general includes more world statistics than the previous edition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Health psychology in global perspective.

Reviews the book, Health psychology in global perspective by Frances E. Aboud (see record 1998-07478-000). Initially, the reviewer was unsure of what to expect from this book, and yet in completing it he feel humbled by the perspective it provided on international and cross-cultural health issues. The reading of this book has served to expand his definition of health psychology to include global and cross-cultural concerns. The organization of the book is logical and easy to follow. The first two chapters provide an introduction to the rest of the text. Each of the remaining seven chapters is dedicated to a specific health concern. Aboud's hope is that the reader will come to appreciate that solutions are not as simple as they might appear in the global health community and that enthusiasm must be tempered with "caution and realistic expectations." We must be careful not to stereotype other people and their problem, and recognize that health and well-being are expressed in different but entirely acceptable ways in different cultures. Courses in health psychology will benefit from the inclusion of this book. It incorporates case studies, case vignettes, and student activities along with the text in a manner that students will find challenging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of sport: the behavior, motivation, personality and performance of athletes, 2nd edition.

Reviews the book, The psychology of sport: the behavior, motivation, personality and performance of athletes, 2nd edition by Dorcas Susan Butt (1987). The book discusses: a motivational model; the nature of the athlete and his/her adaptation; athletes' personality; assisting the athlete; practices and issues in consultation; and social values and sport. In summary, theory and research on sport psychology is well integrated in this book. This is accompanied by an abundance of anecdotal data and case studies that make enjoyable reading. This book is an invaluable addition to a sport consultant's collection and would be well received by students if adopted as a course text in sport psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of implicit social cognition: Measurement, theory, and applications.

Reviews the book, Handbook of implicit social cognition: Measurement, theory, and applications edited by Bertram Gawronski and Keith B. Payne (see record 2010-13147-000). The comprehensive overview of theoretical models, empirical findings, and practical applications of research in implicit social cognition provided within this book is timely and warranted. The editors were successful in clearly outlining that implicit social cognition theory and measurement. A primary strength of this volume is the way in which seemingly divergent areas of research have been organized into five distinct sections, each of which builds upon the previous sections to provide a comprehensive understanding of implicit social cognition. Even the novice researcher may benefit from the practical guides to implicit theory and measurement. This book would be especially interesting and useful for active researchers across a variety of domains who are interested in understanding how implicit processes can influence human behaviour. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social psychology of absenteeism.

Reviews the book, Social psychology of absenteeism by J. K. Chadwick-Jones, N. Nicholson, and C. Brown (1982). This book reports cumulative investigations of voluntary (non-medical) absenteeism in 21 English and Canadian organizations, each of which was studied for a period of one year. The organizations included blue- and white-collar occupations in manufacturing, public transport, banking, and nursing. Data were collected from the personnel records of over 6,000 employees, and job-satisfaction questionnaires were completed by over 1,500 industrial workers; 488 of these were interviewed, as were 231 white-collar employees. In short, this was a large-scale study. It was undertaken because of the authors' disenchantment with the state of the literature on absenteeism. The work of Chadwick-Jones and his colleagues has been at the cutting edge of research on absenteeism for the past fifteen years. This book enhances that record and is mandatory reading for all those who have a serious interest in absenteeism in industry. It also would make worthwhile reading for those with just a casual interest in the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of Indian psychology.

Reviews the book, Handbook of Indian psychology, edited by K. Ramakrishna Rao, Anand C. Paranjpe, and Ajit K. Dalal (see record 2008-09634-000). The importance and development of indigenous perspectives in psychology are well-documented in recent years, and many volumes have appeared that focus on specific cultural regions. The present volume is a welcome addition to this line of work, particularly as it is just the inaugural volume in a series entitled the “Indian Psychology Book Project.” After an introductory chapter, the volume is organised into three general parts devoted to “Systems and Schools,” “Topics and Themes,” and “Applications and Implications”. The first part is largely concerned with broad cultural and theological influences on Indian psychology. The second part includes topics that are typical of western psychological approaches, including motivation, personality, cognition, emotion and consciousness, all cast within an Indian cultural perspective. In the third part, authors seek to apply specific knowledge from these domains of Indian psychology to areas of practise such as meditation and health, and organisational effectiveness. This volume presents an exceedingly rich set of materials. Those interested in comprehending human beings in all their diversity should be prepared to spend hours with this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The social psychology of reading.

Reviews the book, The Social Psychology of Reading by John Edwards (Ed.) (1981). This volume, unlike many edited books, consists of original papers. Unlike many current volumes in reading, this one addresses broad socio- and psychological correlates of reading achievement. This book is a unique collection of data-based chapters, surveys and reviews. If the aim of the volume was to provide a perspective within which reading can be better understood, the authors have achieved success. It is an excellent reference and has good potential for senior undergraduate or early graduate required reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A history of psychology: Original sources and contemporary research, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, A history of psychology: Original sources and contemporary research, 3rd edition by Ludy T. Benjamin Jr. (see record 2008-08540-000). This book joins recent scholarship in the history of psychology with an assortment of classic articles and texts in the field. Published primarily as a reader or companion text, it offers a collection of 44 articles, 20 of which are primary source material; the remainder are more recent secondary sources from well-established authors in the area. In this third edition, Benjamin has made some editorial changes from previous versions of this popular text. For example, the number of chapters has been reduced from 16 to 11 in order to make it a more suitable companion to a traditional textbook on the history of psychology. While there are some wonderful articles here, the reviewer notes a general lack of critical perspective in both Benjamin’s narratives and his choice of secondary sources which prevents him from giving this review the glow that one would normally associate with such esteemed authors and scholarship. His main concerns are that, first, the epistemic and ontological perspectives offered are largely those of professional psychologists rather than those of historians, reflecting a field where researchers already struggle with the notions of interpretation and context, all set within a self-imposed framework of empirical science and objectivity. Second, as a result of this, the future of the history of psychology course is in peril because of its own popularity as a capstone course, where it seems to serve, by and large, the ceremonial and disciplinary function of codifying psychology’s scientific identity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of Human Engineering Data.

Reviews the second edition of the book "Handbook of human engineering data". This Handbook was developed by the Institute for Applied Experimental Psychology of Tufts College, Medford, Massachusetts, under contract with the Special Devices Center of the Office of Naval Research. Work on it was begun in 1947. To many nonpsychologists the Handbook provides the means whereby they first become aware of the broad panorama of scientific concern with man in a nonclinical sense. This reviewer also believes there should be a growing place for the Handbook in training programs throughout the country, whether in college, government, or industry. The Handbook of Human Engineering Data in the opinion of this reviewer is an important contribution which, teamed up with two other major publications in human engineering provides a strong basis for growth and effective practice in human engineering. Consequently people interested therein should have the Handbook available to them. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives, second edition.

Reviews the book, Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives, second edition by Robert W. Rieber and Kurt D. Salzinger (see record 1998-06434-000). Like its predecessor, this second edition is a useful volume with a broad scope and any psychologist perusing even a portion of its 500 plus pages will likely come away convinced that there is more to history than a tedious collection of names and dates. As a pedagogical supplement and general introduction to the history of psychology field, this book succeeds admirably. However, in publishing a second edition, Rieber and Salzinger set themselves a more ambitious agenda. One of the goals of the book was to acknowledge the growth and vibrancy of recent scholarship in the history of psychology and to "present some synthesis within the confines of one book." Using these commendable goals as a metric, the book is somewhat disappointing. The book is too much like the first edition in both its choice of questions and authors. This sort of repetition is not a problem in and of itself; however the history of psychology has changed dramatically since the publication of the first edition 18 years ago. There is relatively little in the second edition to indicate that there have been any significant historiographic developments within the history of psychology field since the 1970s. By ignoring these changes, the book left me unable to answer a fundamental question that all second editions must face: Why is a new edition needed? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)