Review of Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading.

Reviews the book, Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading edited by Andrew Whiten (see record 1991-97348-000). In recent years there has been a phenomenal growth in interest and research directed at what, has become known as a Theory of Mind ("ToM") and its development. Among the many edited books recently made available on the topic, Whiten's Natural theories of mind is unique in the eclectic, multidisciplinary approach it brings to this vital, yet fledgling area. This interdisciplinary approach, which also includes a chapter by Carrithers placing the development of a theory of mind within the broader context of sociology and anthropology, is at the same lime both the strength of this volume and its limitation. It may be that few will read this book cover-to-cover (not a remarkable criticism for an edited book). Those who do will be given an unusually broad overview of this hot research area and the interdisciplinary context within which the area can best be understood and from which it will most profitably develop. Whiten's collection is therefore recommended both to those who are looking for an entrance into the theory of mind literature and for those already embroiled in the field who are looking for new perspectives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Casebook for clinical supervision: A competency-based approach.

Reviews the book, Casebook for clinical supervision: A competency-based approach by Carol A. Falender and Edward P. Shafranske (see record 2008-06295-000). Falender and Shafranske's previous book, Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based Approach, examined the practise of supervision in the language and framework of competencies. Although this comprehensive book makes a valuable contribution, the writing is decidedly conceptual and abstract, leaving the reader to wonder just how these principles might operate in practise. As if to answer this very question, Falender and Shafranske’s (2008) edited Casebook for Clinical Supervision: A Competency-Based Approach has appeared. The title and editors’ opening chapter promise that the model of supervision described in the earlier text will be illustrated through case material derived from the supervision sessions of the assembled experts and that the chapters of the two books correspond to and complement one another. After finishing the book, I found that although the Casebook did not fully deliver on its promises, I learned a great deal that will be of use in my teaching and practise of supervision. Most of the topics addressed in the Casebook chapters reflect focal concerns in the earlier text, including best practises of supervision, competency-based clinical supervision, alliance issues in treatment and supervision, ethics and legal issues, issues of culture and context, and evaluation. However, it must be said that many of the authors do little to explicitly tie their material to the editors’ model, leaving the reader with the task of determining just how the chapters explicate the earlier model. Overall, although it has some surprising weaknesses, the Casebook’s strengths outweigh them by a wide margin. The book may be read profitably on its own or in conjunction with the earlier companion volume. Graduate students learning how to conduct supervision as well as seasoned supervisors will find a great deal they can learn from in these chapters. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy.

Reviews the book, Loneliness: A Sourcebook of Current Theory, Research and Therapy edited by Letitia Anne Peplau and Daniel Perlman (1982). In 1979, a conference was held at UCLA on the topic "loneliness." The papers presented there formed a nucleus for the volume edited by Peplau and Perlman, although a considerable amount of new material has been added. The book is divided into six sections, each preceded by an introductory chapter by the co-editors. Various definitions of loneliness and different approaches to studying it are surveyed, and a brief history of academic interest in this topic is provided. The editors should be commended for their thoroughness in covering this young, developing field of investigation, which already abounds with an almost bewildering variety of approaches and "schools of thought." It is clearly too early to write a conclusive chapter about the essence of loneliness or the likely path that research on this topic will take in the future. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Annals of theoretical psychology, Volume 4.

Reviews the book, Annals of theoretical psychology, Volume 4 edited by Leendert P. Mos (1986. Like the earlier volumes of this series this is a collection of five articles, three or four commentaries on each of them, a reply to these by the author of the original essay, and a book review. Besides being theoretical all chapters deal in some way with the mind rather than with observable behaviour. It is evident that the reader of this volume who expects to find in it some new psychological theory, or even only the end to some dispute about an old theory, will be disappointed. On the positive side--at least from the reviewer's perspective--this volume shows that on both sides of the Atlantic there are a number of psychologists within academia who are interested in the mind/psyche which they discuss not merely as the hyphen between "stimulus" and "response". (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Rehabilitation psychology: A comprehensive textbook.

Reviews the book, Rehabilitation psychology: A comprehensive textbook by David W. Krueger (1983). In this volume, David W. Krueger has developed a new blueprint for constructing an edited volume in rehabilitation. Unique in the present design is the attempt, within a single volume of reasonable size, to cover the rehabilitation field from both a type-of-disability approach and an issue-oriented approach. To achieve this objective, the editor has recruited well-known and highly respected authors to write short chapters in their areas of expertise. In all, there are 42 chapters, which range in length between 4 and 14 pages. Each chapter is written by a different author, with the exception of two chapters written by the editor. No uniformity of style or standard outline for presentation has been followed. Instead, each chapter stands on its own. As a result, the effect is more that of a carefully selected book of readings than that of an integrated textbook. This book stands as an impressive attempt to provide the reader with a broad overview of the field of rehabilitation. As such, it serves as a fine introduction to the field of rehabilitation by providing a good sampling of the diversity of issues that surround rehabilitation and having these issues discussed by recognized experts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Les psychothérapies.

Reviews the book, Les psychotherapies by A. Berge (1968). The first chapters are rather dull reflections on the polymorphism of psychology and the plurality of the systems of psychotherapy. The reader which tries to be found in this will become discouraged soon by realizing that this volume which treats of a range of subjects also does not possess an index of subjects. The second part of the book enjoys same qualities. It beings with an excellent chapter which opens with multiple approaches to the psyche; the author thinks and discusses notions and criteria of the mental health. Lastly, the third part, which is shorter and less interesting, presents initially a chapter on the image of the "good" psychotherapy and discusses the problems of distance, gratification, frustration, transference and counter-transference. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of From research to clinical practice.

Reviews the book, From research to clinical practice, edited by George Stricker and Robert H. Keisner (1985). The intended audience for this edited volume "will probably be practicing psychotherapists...[with] a minimum knowledge of the research area but a ready familiarity with clinical concepts" (p. xv). In addition, the editors suggest to the chapter authors that a successful chapter should provide new meaning for the term "scientist professional" by providing a feedback loop between research and practice. The authors also state that the theoretical focus of this volume is psychodynamic. The book is divided into four areas each preceded by a brief overview. The following areas are covered: Basic issues, social psychology, developmental psychology, and special topics. Overall, I found the chapters to be informative and well written. I think some practitioners may find this book overly academic in tone and may question whether enough of the chapters are sufficiently relevant to busy, practicing clinicians. This is not a book on spotting golden research nuggets between the covers of the volume. Instead, this book requires careful mining of considerable content in order to find sparkling applications. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Disturbances of the mind.

Reviews the book, Disturbances of the mind by Douwe Draaisma and translated by Barbara Fasting (see record 2010-04898-000). Draaisma is an excellent storyteller. He gets the reader to stand on tiptoe to look over the barriers of time and place into specific biographic scenes and then quickly zooms out for a historical perspective. For North American readers, this Dutch psychologist and historian is a welcome guide on the journey to understand the work and lives of 11 European eponym-bearers: Bonnet, Parkinson, Broca, Jackson, Korsakoff, Gilles de la Tourette, Alzheimer, Brodmann, Clérambault, Capgras, and Asperger. Draaisma notes that he strove to be a “resurrectionist” (p. 3) of the thoughts, feelings, and context of these individuals. In achieving this objective he engenders empathy for past and present clinician-scientists and their patients and creates a work that will interest, engage, and even inspire educated readers outside the health professions as well as students and professionals in neurology, psychiatry, and psychology. Single chapters might be useful for support groups dealing with one of the eponymous disorders. My most serious criticism is Draaisma’s lack of a clear statement of the limits of his coverage of current research. His brief summary of current understanding of each eponymous disorder provides a welcome sense of integration, but, without qualification by the author, some readers may mistake this material for a comprehensive review. In particular I worried about this possibility when I read the Alzheimer’s disease chapter, in which Draaisma writes that research to date “has not created a single opening in the direction of treatment” (p. 225). I strongly urge that any recommendation of the book to lay readers or undergraduate or early graduate students be accompanied by the caveat that readers not rely on the book as the sole or even primary source of information regarding the current state of knowledge regarding a given disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Positivism in psychology: Historical and contemporary problems.

Reviews the book, Positivism in psychology: Historical and contemporary problems edited by Charles W. Tolman (see record 1992-97782-000). This series of articles, edited by Tolman in Recent Research in Psychology, had its origins in earlier discussions by the Western Canadian Theoretical Psychology Group of CPA. The 12 articles together address the general problem of the continual impact of positivism and its permutations on the way we psychologists think about our discipline and conduct research. Individually, the chapters of this volume reflect diverse and specific themes, which are framed within their own historical scope. The general reader here has the opportunity to examine the historical background which has shaped psychology as a discipline, and to be educated in the basic vocabulary which characterizes the positivist approach in psychology. Throughout this collection, each chapter individually addresses possible alternatives for the specific problem under discussion. The novice reader may miss the detail, or the subtleties, which demarcate the varying theoretical positions which shape these alternatives. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Clinical guidelines in cross-cultural mental health.

Reviews the book, Clinical guidelines in cross-cultural mental health edited by Lillian Comas-Diaz and Ezra E. H. Griffith (see record 1988-97772-000). This volume represents the latest work on psychotherapy with ethnic/racial minority populations, and was intended for mental health practitioners as well as academicians. The book is divided into three parts. The first section has six chapters addressing the role of "ethnosociocultural" factors such as ethnicity, family values, language, religion, politics, and race in the cross-cultural delivery of psychotherapeutic care. The second section focuses on clinical practice with specific ethnic/racial groups including Afro-Americans, Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Southeast Asian refugees, and West Indians. A final section of one chapter by Comas-Diaz discusses the "state of the art" in cross-cultural mental health. Three factors set this book apart from previous ones on this topic: 1) devotion of an entire section to core ethnosociocultural factors; 2) use of case vignettes to illustrate important cross-cultural issues in mental health; and 3) provision of specific recommendations for the practitioner. Unfortunately, the effort falls short due to the strong academic approach to clinical issues evident throughout the book. Moreover, there was substantial variability in contributors' use of case material and provision of specific recommendations. This uneven coverage, one of the prime drawbacks of many edited volumes, may limit its appeal to practitioners. This book is an improvement over previous texts in this area, but it is by no means a clinician's guide to cross-cultural mental health because of the pervasive academic influence throughout. Consequently, there is an imbalance in favor of didactic over pragmatic approaches to cross-cultural mental health. Thus this book seems more suitable for clinicians in training than for clinicians in practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychology and the Internet (Second edition).

Reviews the book, Psychology and the Internet (second edition) by Jayne Gackenbach (see record 2006-13395-000). This book provides the reader with 13 informationladen chapters dealing with topics ranging from Evelyn Ellerman's first chapter, which places the Internet in the context of its development in the 1960s in response to the strategic problem of how the United States government could maintain communications if conventional means were destroyed in a nuclear war, to Jayne Gackenbach's and Jim Karpen's final chapter concerned with the Internet and higher states of consciousness and lucid dreaming. The authors have taken readers on a real journey down an information-laden highway that leads to a fascinating, limitless world of virtual reality. Especially appreciated throughout the book is the attempt by the authors to support their viewpoints by making reference to empirical findings. Lastly, in keeping with this evidence-based approach, all chapters are referenced very adequately. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Research with the locus of control construct, vol. 3: Extensions and limitations.

Reviews the book, Research with the locus of control construct, vol. 3: Extensions and limitations edited by Herbert M. Lefcourt (1984). Herbert Lefcourt's third edited volume on the topic of research with the locus of control construct is directed to discussions of extensions and limitations of the construct. It is a very timely book, and therefore of interest to researchers on the locus of control (LOC). In Part I, comprehensive reviews are presented in three areas: work and retirement, psychophysiology, and cross-cultural researches. In Part II, two chapters describe the limitations and suggest alternatives. The five chapters are extensive and critical, as well as constructive in presenting ideas and models for future research. The editor and the authors have done an excellent job. As a reference source the book eminently meets the needs of researchers in the area. The editor has provided a succinct introduction and epilogue, which are very helpful in orienting the reader and maintaining a balanced view of the appropriate uses of the concept. The editor and authors of the book are to be congratulated for a thorough, provocative, and balanced outlook presented in this volume. I recommend the book highly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Imagery, memory and cognition: Essays in honor of Allan Paivio.

Reviews the book, Imagery, memory and cognition: Essays in honor of Allan Paivio edited by John C. Yuille (1983). Future historians of cognitive psychology are likely to declare the 1970s the Decade of Imagery. The re-emergence of imagery as a valid topic of experimental concern was due in large part to the efforts of Allan Paivio. In his 1971 book, Imagery and verbal processes, Paivio provided a theory of symbolic processing that placed imaginal processes on a par with verbal processes. To mark the 10th anniversary of the publication of Paivio's book, a conference was held at the University of Western Ontario in 1981. The 14 chapters in the present volume are based on the presentations that were made at that conference. All of the conference participants had been associated with Paivio at some time in the past, either as students or as colleagues. Hence, the chapters reflect current developments in imagery research and theory primarily from the perspective of dual-code theory. As with any edited volume, the chapters varied greatly in style, emphasis, and, unfortunately, quality. In several cases, the relevant literature was reviewed minimally or not at all; in others, the details of empirical studies were reported in such sparse detail that I had difficulty following the arguments and evaluating the claims. Despite these problems, each chapter had something to offer, as each explicitly or implicitly raised a number of important questions. As such, any serious student of imagery will find much of interest in this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Treating sexual desire disorders.

Reviews the book, Treating sexual desire disorders edited by Sandra R. Leiblum (see record 2010-13144-000). Sandra Leiblum’s Treating sexual desire disorders reviews a broad range of philosophical positions and treatment approaches to sexual desire disorders. This book also contains thoughtful reflections by the chapter authors regarding their personal approaches to treatment and effectiveness. One of the main strengths of this book is the use of case studies to illustrate the diverse approaches to treating sexual desire concerns. One of main weaknesses of the book is the lack of a concluding chapter by Leiblum to distill some of the common and overlapping themes that were present in numerous chapters. Another element that would have strengthened this book would have been more emphasis on outcome studies demonstrating the success of particular approaches. Even with these (minor) weaknesses, the reviewer highly recommends this book for its breadth of treatment approaches. One of the reviewer's take home messages was that sex therapists, relationship therapists, and the medical community need to be working in closer synchrony with each other to address the myriad of issues that underlie sexual desire issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Implicit measures of attitudes.

Reviews the book, Implicit measures of attitudes edited by Bernd Wittenbrink and Norbert Schwarz (see record 2007-01388-000). The editors have produced a very timely volume. The stated goals of Wittenbrink and Schwarz's book are to educate the reader about the value of implicit measures of attitudes, as well as to provide a handbook of sorts for the neophyte wanting to learn how to use the variety of implicit attitude measures available. In addition, the editors want to provide a critical assessment of the state of implicit attitude measurement in terms of the very definition of an implicit measure, as well as the general reliability and validity of these measures. Finally, the editors want to provide directions for future research in the area of implicit attitude measurement. As such, Wittenbrink and Schwarz hope that this text will be a resource book for both new graduate students and established researchers in the field. In general, I believe the editors have accomplished their goals. After the editors' introductory chapter, which gives an overview of the development of implicit attitude measurement as well as an overview of the rest of the volume, the book is broken down into two sections: "Procedures and Their Implementation" and "Critical Perspectives". Overall, I believe this is a very well written book, and that even readers familiar with implicit attitude measurement will learn a great deal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Advances in intrinsic motivation and aesthetics.

Reviews the book, Advances in Intrinsic Motivation and Aesthetics edited by Hy I. Day (1981). This collection of 20 original contributions is a fitting tribute to the late Daniel E. Berlyne. The breadth of topics covered gives one some idea of the scope of Berlyne's impact. This edited volume also guides the reader to retrace the path that bears Berlyne's footprints. It turns out to be an intrinsically motivating and rewarding journey. One is often surprised by unexpected turns, aroused by changing terrains, and curious about what lies ahead, but all the time one senses where Berlyne is heading. The destination is always clearly defined, even if the exploration seems diverse and undirected. The traveller may have the feeling of going through a complex maze of winding paths and conflicting signs, but there is a hidden pattern of simplicity detectable to an inquisitive mind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Panic: Psychological perspectives.

Reviews the book, Panic: Psychological perspectives edited by S. Rachman and Jack D. Maser (see record 1988-97293-000). This volume's forerunner (1985) was the excellent compilation Anxiety and the Anxiety Disorders, edited by Tuma and Maser, which contained facts and theories from all standpoints. The current volume exemplifies the workings of history's pendulum. Although the 1985 volume enabled "psychological and cognitive investigators to present their points of view in many areas of anxiety research, the topic of panic was still dominated by biological studies." The editors have done much the rational reader would look forward to: develop an area at the cutting edge of science, demand thoughtful reviews, expose the reviews to the hurly burly of a meeting, and finally publish the revised papers. Rachman and Maser have produced a useful volume that exceeds most multiauthored edited publications. However, it could have been even better if it had included more directly critical reviews from those who consider the data analyses and theories presented often weak or tendentious and sometimes just beside the point. The advice to the reader interested in this area is to read this book, but recognize its partiality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)