Review of The science game: An introduction to research in the behavioral and social sciences, seventh edition.

Reviews the book, The science game: An introduction to research in the behavioral and social sciences, seventh edition by Neil McKinnon Agnew and Sandra W. Pyke (2007). In 1969, Neil Agnew and Sandra Pyke published the first edition of The Science Game, a 182-page survey of the major components of what they call the game of sciencing, a game, they claim, that like all other games of consequence, is a mixture of art, enterprise, and invention held loosely together by man-made rules. Using the same quirky but engaging style as in the original, in the seventh and latest edition, Agnew and Pyke dedicate a full 471 pages to the task, tackling a host of topics bearing on the activities of science, ranging from the strengths and weaknesses of humans' cognitive capacity for problem solving to debates in the philosophy of science regarding the nature of knowledge. Although this most recent edition elaborates on many of the same themes presented in earlier versions, it is much grander in scope and includes a number of new features, including the introduction of a central theme and memory aid throughout the book (i.e., a puzzle-solving theme), the inclusion of statements of chapter goals, and chapter-end summaries and self-test quizzes. The Science Game provides a fairly comprehensive set of sound bites pertaining to the techniques, procedures, and conventions adopted by social science researchers and is accessible to either students encountering these topics for the first time or more advanced students in need of a refresher. (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 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)     

Review of Abnormal psychology: Canadian edition.

Reviews the book, Abnormal psychology: Canadian edition by Susan Nolen-Hoeksema and Neil Rector (2008). The first Canadian and fourth overall edition of this course textbook gets an A-plus from this reviewer. Abnormal psychology is a huge, growing field. Presenting the field to readers in just 18 chapters in ways that spark both human and scientific interest is a major challenge that was successfully accomplished by Nolen-Hoeksema and Rector. The authors provide a wealth of state-of-the-art information in digestible bites in relatively few pages. (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 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 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 Collective reflexology: The complete edition.

Reviews the book, Collective reflexology: The complete edition by V. M. Bekhterev, edited by Lloyd H. Strickland, and translated by Eugenia Lockwood and Alisa Lockwood (see record 2001-18070-000). Bekhterev's view of the individual as a system of energy transformation and exchange has obvious affinities with Freud's views. In his foreword to Part 2, Strickland (pp. 278-281) notes that Bekhterev himself was aware of this similarity. However, Behterev attempted to distinguish himself from Freud in several ways, most notably by claiming to be more "objective" in his approach. For Bekhterev, the objective study of the mind meant observing its products (e.g., speech, social affiliation). For this reviewer, reading Bekhterev is refreshing because it harks back to a time when psychology was still a young and optimistic science. The confidence with which Bekhterev puts forth his views may in hindsight be na?ve, but it must have been wonderful to imagine oneself at the forefront of a new discipline, as Bekhterev so clearly did. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Personnel management: Canadian second edition.

Reviews the book, Personnel management: Canadian second edition by Gary Dessler and John F. Duffy (1984). This book is directed at readers who have an interest in the practical aspects of personnel management. In the preface to the book, the authors state that the book "provides students in Human Resource Management and Personnel Management with a complete, comprehensive review of essential personnel management concepts and techniques in a highly readable and understandable form" (p. xiii). In the concluding chapter, they add that "throughout this book we have emphasised the nuts and bolts of personnel management by focusing mainly on the concepts and techniques all managers need to carry out their personnel related tasks" (p. 512). For the most part, the book appears to live up to the authors' claims. It is, in fact, very readable and is organized in such a way as to maximize learning. Each chapter begins with a list of the things students should know or be able to do after reading the chapter, as well as an overview of the material to be covered. The authors make frequent use of examples to illustrate major points, and the cases and exercises included at the end of each chapter will be helpful in allowing students to get some experience at the kind of activities involved in personnel management (e.g., constructing application forms, conducting interviews, dealing with motivation problems). Personnel Management probably comes about as close as a textbook can to providing both the background information and "hands-on experience" that are required of individuals aspiring to careers in the field of personnel management. Moreover, in this Canadian edition, Professor Duffy has revised Professor Dessler's earlier text to make it more relevant to the issues facing personnel managers in Canada. Although most of the issues dealt with in the book are relevant to personnel management in both Canada and the U.S., the reference to Canadian cases, research, and legal issues will probably be a refreshing change to many students. (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 the psychology of aging, 7th edition.

Reviews the book, Handbook of the psychology of aging, 7th edition edited by K. Warner Schaie and Sherry L. Willis (see record 2010-26788-000). The Handbook of the psychology of aging has been a fixture since its inception in 1977. Although the departure of former senior editor James E. Birren has given rise to a “generational turnover” (p. xi), the new volume keeps alive the interdisciplinary spirit of the series by continuing to combine cutting-edge basic and applied perspectives from a diverse set of contributors. Section editors and authors include senior figures in the field who have contributed to prior volumes of the Handbook, as well as new scientific leaders who may not yet be “household names.” The volume is organized into four sections: theory and methods, neuroscience and cognition, social and health factors, and psychopathology. Each section contains 3–8 chapters of varying structure and length. With the exception of the first section, each section includes topics that were not included, or received significantly less coverage, in prior editions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Clinical assessment of malingering and deception, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, Clinical assessment of malingering and deception, 3rd edition by Richard Rogers (see record 2008-09622-000). Over the past 10 years, psychologists who have been engaged in clinical assessment or evaluation have become more sensitised to the fact that client variables such as noncredible performance can substantially interfere with accurate evaluation and interpretation of obtained psychological or neuropsychological test scores. The chapters in this book clearly indicate that noncredible performance and deception are common in many assessment populations, that it is difficult if not impossible to always obtain accurate information when relying on self-report data, and that objective methods exist to enhance detection of noncredible responding. The first two chapters were written by Rogers himself and set the conceptual framework for the entire text. The book is then divided into four additional sections, with chapters provided by some of the best known names in malingering and defensiveness research. In Section II, specific diagnostic issues are considered, leading with an overview of symptoms associated with deception. Section III discusses psychometric methods to assess response styles. Section IV deals with specialised methods of detection and will likely be of interest to a very limited number of psychologists working in specific fields such as corrections or forensics. Section V deals with specialised applications, including deception in children and adolescents, forensic examinations, and assessment of law enforcement personnel. Overall, this is an excellent reference book, and it certainly provides enough specific, clinically relevant information in the four chapters that flank the book to give most clinicians a good summary of the issues, available instruments, and research findings to date. The chapters dealing with specific diagnostic issues and specialised methods are likely to be referenced heavily by those who work in these specific fields and might provide a good theoretical base for individuals still in the process of clinical training. (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 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 Feeling pain and being in pain, 2nd edition.

Reviews the book, Feeling pain and being in pain, 2nd edition by Nikola Grahek (see record 2007-00636-000). This remarkable little book was originally published in Germany in 2001 and saved from obscurity by Daniel Dennett, who ensured its republication after the author's untimely death. It claims to provide no new theory and no new data on pain but instead walks the reader through a number of phenomena that eventually lead one to see pain in a new light. What makes this book such a gem is the refusal of its author to stray from what is known or can be known. No far-fetched notions of the relationship between pain and psychology, frequently encountered in the psychological pain literature, intrude on his prudent figuring; nor is there a promise of what is just around the corner, claims of what further research is needed, and so on. Grahek sticks to the clinical and neurophysiological data, for they are already sufficiently rich to allow him to characterise those very different features of the pain experience: feeling pain versus being in pain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognition and emotion: From order to disorder, second edition.

Reviews the book, Cognition and emotion: From order to disorder, second edition by Mick Power and Tim Dalgleish (see record 2007-10431-000). In this book, the authors provide a detailed analysis of emotion with an explicit focus on differences and similarities between "disordered" emotion and normative emotional experience. What sets this text apart from other books on cognition and emotion is its attempt to describe the philosophical and historical underpinnings of work on emotion. Another unique feature of this text is that the authors go beyond just describing the various theories of emotion by comparing and contrasting the arguments advanced by the theories and highlighting the strengths and limitations of each theory. This book is divided into two parts: Part 1 is a review of the major theories of emotion, and Part 2 consists of reviews of research on five basic emotions, as well as illustrations of how the SPAARS framework can be used to explain normative and nonnormative variants of these emotions. Power and Dalgleish suggest that readers can choose either to read the book in its entirety or to focus on the sections that are of interest. Overall, this second edition of Cognition and Emotion is a readable and engaging book. This book is not a primer; as noted earlier, some parts of it are conceptually heavy. For this reason, the most appropriate audience for this book is advanced graduate students who already have some background in research on basic emotion or psychopathology and who are looking to enhance their knowledge base. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Exploring existential meaning: Optimizing human development across the life span.

Reviews the book, Exploring existenial meaning: Optimizing human development across the life span by Gary T. Reker and Kerry Chamberlain (2000). The form of personal meaning that constitutes the main focus for the volume is existential meaning, characterized by the editors in terms of attempts to understand how events in life fit into a larger context, which involves both a sense of coherence (order, reason for existence) and a sense of purpose (mission in life, direction) (p. 1). This is a remarkably well integrated collection of essays, given the usual standards for edited volumes. The contributed chapters, sandwiched between the editors' brief Introduction and their longer integrative chapter at the end, are organized into distinct sections addressing, respectively, theoretical and conceptual issues, empirical research, and applications and interventions. This volume not only provides a comprehensive survey of recent work on existential meaning but is likely to have a broader appeal as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)