Review of Readings in the philosophy of social science.

Reviews the book, Readings in the philosophy of social science, edited by Michael Martin and Lee C. McIntyre (1996). This is a large and comprehensive anthology in the philosophy of the social sciences. It offers not only well-selected readings but also three specially commissioned articles by Michael Martin, Daniel Little, and Alison Wylie. The book is divided into eight major sections that address topics such as: Prediction, Reductionism, Interpretation and Meaning, Rationality, Objectivity and Values, Individualism and Holism, and Functional Explanation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of human possibility and constraint.

Reviews the book, The psychology of human possibility and constraint by J. Martin and J. Sugarman (see record 1999-02336-000). This wide-ranging, compact, dense, yet very readable little book presents many of the key elements of a badly needed, more credible philosophy of social science for academic and professional psychologists. The book gives no specific examples of theories or research findings that might illustrate what is meant by a better kind of knowledge or theory in psychology, so the reader is left somewhat high and dry concerning this question. Perhaps it is simply the case that these questions about what might be the best kind of social and psychological inquiry and what sense to make of the plethora of theories and findings to date, are difficult, murky, and on the frontier of a hermeneutic reenvisioning of psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Rationality and Relativism.

Reviews the book, Rationality and Relativism edited by Martin Hollis and Steven Lukes (1982). The reviewer asserts that the rationality with which relativism is contrasted in the title is that of the Enlightenment, "with its belief in universal laws of human nature and in an all-embracing scientific method for accumulating truths, its distrust of subjectivity and arbitrariness and its serene belief in intellectual and moral progress and in the link between them." The book is clearly slanted to the concerns of social anthropology proves, however, to be advantageous for the psychologist who is likely to be bothered more by theoretical than by cultural relativism. This book is a very important, timely, and eminently readable collection of articles by some of the most esteemed scholars currently working in the philosophy of the social sciences. The book should, for obvious reasons, be required reading for psychologists engaged in theoretical practice. As well, it provides valuable interdisciplinary perspectives on many problems of special interest to cognitive and social psychologists. But, above all, it gives a wealth of effective ammunition to all psychologists who are determined actively to resist the dry-rot of relativism and to restore a more promising foundation to their science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world.

Reviews the book, A critical psychology: Interpretation of the personal world by Edmund V. Sullivan (1984). In this book, the author gives an indication of what an alternative psychology might look like. In doing this he draws on the ideas of a number of European philosophers and social scientists whose work has been generally ignored by North American psychologists. What distinguishes Sullivan's critical psychology from other alternatives to the mainstream is his insistence that the conditions for human action be traced not simply to the intentional activity of individuals but to the social structures of domination in which individual intentions are embedded. These are the structures of ethnicity, gender, and class. What Sullivan criticizes is that "psychologists take structural relationships of power such as capital over labour, men over women, and change them into intrapsychic phenomena." This book is an important contribution to the growing literature on alternatives to mainstream psychology. It is distinguished by its intellectual sophistication and by its marshalling of perspectives that run counter to local cultural traditions. At the very least it is a volume that ought to provoke an expansion of all too narrow disciplinary horizons. Incidentally, the very concept of intellectual "horizon" is one that the author analyses in a particularly constructive way, showing its relevance in the context of psychological research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Norton history of the human sciences.

Reviews the book, The Norton history of the human sciences by Roger Smith (1997). Beginning in the Renaissance, and working through developments in Enlightenment science and philosophy, Smith charts the origins, growth, and contributions of the modern social sciences, in particular psychology. The text explores in significant detail the influence of such architects of modern Western ideas about human nature as Descartes, Marx, Freud, and Darwin. Other topics covered include the effect of colonialism on Western thought, the interaction of the social sciences and jurisprudence, and the historical sources of our modern ideas about sex and gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Madhouse and The Lobotomist.

Reviews the books, Madhouse: A Tragic Tale of Megalomania and Modern Medicine by Andrew Scull (see record 2005-06776-000); and The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness by Jack El-Hai (see record 2005-02343-000). In both books, the history of experimental clinical psychiatry is laid bare with devastating accounts of the efforts to conquer mental illness by any means necessary. Both books are fascinating reading and may illuminate our current context in which the biological avenues for treating mental disorders continue to traffic in hopes of a one-size-fits-all cure, while psychoanalysis ambivalently struggles with how to conduct rigorous research to demonstrate the efficacy of our treatment. Andrew Scull's book Madhouse offers a well-documented historical account of a bizarre episode in American psychiatric history. The centerpiece of Scull's investigative work is Henry Cotton, MD, the superintendent of the Trenton State Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey, from 1907-1930. Once Cotton arrived at Trenton, he was appalled by the conditions he found and instituted reforms such as eliminating the culture of violence by attendants, removing over 700 pieces of restraining equipment from the hospital, and introducing occupational therapy. Jack El-Hai gives us the next segment of psychiatric surgery in his book The Lobotomist, a biography of the neurologist, turned surgical outlaw, Walter Freeman, MD. Walter Freeman was a neurologist fascinated with science and experimentation. Settling into work at St. Elizabeth's hospital in Washington, DC, in 1924, Freeman eventually joined the faculty of George Washington University where he remained until 1954. At that time neurosyphilis was the scourge of mental hospitals producing thousands of victims who were totally disabled by the neurological sequellae of tertiary illness. Thus lobotomy became an efficient outpatient procedure that could be applied to a larger patient population. Both of these books are important reading. Of all the great medical advances of the last century, surely the one that stands out as perhaps the greatest is the Nuremberg Code of 1947, which requires a competent patient giving informed consent to treatment and to research efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Philosophy of psychology.

Reviews the book, Philosophy of psychology by Daniel N. Robinson (see record 1985-97596-000). In this book, Robinson offers what might be considered to be four essays in the philosophy of mind. In these essays he has set out to clarify some rather fundamental concepts operative within the mainstream of psychology, and he brings to bear on these the conceptual machinery of philosophical psychology proper. That is, he asks foundational, or meta-psychological, questions about the reigning assumptions in the field. These questions fall into four general areas, or sub-themes, within psychology as a whole, each topic being taken in a separate chapter. These topics will be explored briefly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Biology and the Future of Man.

Reviews the book, Biology and the Future of Man edited by Philip Handler (1970). This volume is described by the publishers as a "unique survey of the current status of all the life sciences." It was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences and listed 175 contributors. It is difficult to imagine anyone with an interest in the life sciences not finding this to be a fascinating book. The general orientation of the work is to deal with ways in which the life sciences may be used to benefit man. The writing is excellent, aimed at either the intelligent layman or the life scientist who is reading outside of his own area. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Making up the mind: How the brain creates our mental world.

Reviews the book, Making up the mind: How the brain creates our mental world by Chris Frith (see record 2007-00531-000). This book directly addresses the fundamental question as to how the brain creates the inner world of humans from an empirical perspective. It provides an excellent introduction to some of the most exciting recent cognitive-neuroscience research along the way. To find an answer to his question, the author takes a broad stance and draws on advances in areas as diverse as action control, visual perception, language, emotion, social cognition, and schizophrenia. From this research, he derives several general principles that aim to capture the relationship between mind and brain in more abstract terms. These principles provide the thread that makes not only for a thought-provoking, unifying theoretical account, but also for an impressively cohesive narrative. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Language, the sexes and society.

Reviews the book, Language, the sexes and society by Philip M. Smith (1985). The book under review is topical, as it deals with gender issues and language approached from a social psychological perspective, two areas that have seen a flurry of activity in recent years. The reader is taken to the forefront of research in these areas and encounters a substantial amount of information. The book contains an extensive critical review, as well as a report of Philip Smith's own studies dealing with the recognition of masculinity-femininity of speakers by listeners. In the review section, speech forms associated with speaker sex, as studied by anthropological linguists, sociolinguists, and social psychologists are reviewed. We learn further about how women and men are represented in language (e.g., in the media, in advertisement, reference material). I would use this book as suggested reading to advanced undergraduates and graduate students. But the primary market for the book is among scholars and researchers engaged in the study of language and gender issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Methods of theoretical psychology.

Reviews the book, Methods of theoretical psychology by André Kukla (see record 2001-18914-000). This comprehensive survey of the tools of theoretical psychology is the culmination of the author's previous writings (e.g., Kukla 1989, 1995) wherein he tried to "convince psychologists that our discipline had suffered from a gross and systematic underestimation of the scope, variety, and import of theoretical work" and "persuade my colleagues that there are many important theoretical issues the resolution of which does not call for empirical research" (p. xi). This is not a book in theoretical psychology (the author cites as examples the volumes by Marx and Hillix, and Wolman), but a book about theoretical psychology, the "types of theoretical activities" that "require nothing but thinking" (p. xi). Notable is the book's epigraph, a quotation from Jerry Fodor claiming that the distinction between psychological and philosophical theorizing is merely heuristic, and issuing the moral challenge for a plurality of argument styles that transcends disciplines. For Kukla has written a book about the logic of science, or what was traditionally referred to as the philosophy of science, and, as might be expected, examples are strewn throughout from the natural sciences as well as some classic theoretical problems in psychology, most notably, cognitive science. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychological concepts and biological psychiatry.

Reviews the book, Psychological concepts and biological psychiatry by Peter Zachar (see record 2000-16870-000). Almost from the very beginning of its disciplinary history clinical psychology has sought to align itself philosophically and methodologically with the natural sciences, particularly medicine and neurology. Contradicting the common-place assumption that common sense or folk psychology has been proven uninformative and futile, Zachar provides explicit philosophical and psychological arguments that demonstrate why such accounts are not only vital to proper scientific explanation but inevitable as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social psychology.

Reviews the book, Social psychology by Daniel Perlman and P. Chris Cozby (1983). In agreeing to co-edit a text sponsored by The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Daniel Perlman and P. Chris Cozby accepted the challenge of producing a non-traditional text aimed at a very traditional market. Their self-described "most salient goal" was "to focus attention on social issues and problems." They recognized, however, that that goal could only be achieved by meeting "the needs of students." The co-editors additionally accepted the implicit task of counterbalancing social psychology's tradition of presenting the discipline as being almost exclusively laboratory-based. As a result, Social Psychology--in its accuracy and completeness of the literature surveyed--represents on of the better books in the field. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Notebooks.

Reviews the books Fritz Heider: The notebooks, Vol. 1: Methods, principles and philosophy of science, Fritz Heider: The notebooks, Vol. 2: Perception, Fritz Heider: The notebooks, Vol. 3: Motivation, Fritz Heider: The notebooks, Vol. 4: Balance theory, Fritz Heider: The notebooks, Vol. 5: Attributional and interpersonal evaluation, and Fritz Heider: The notebooks, Vol. 6: Units and coinciding units by Fritz Heider and edited by Marijana Benesh-Weiner (see records 1987-98853-000, 1988-97988-000, 1988-98304-000, 1989-97096-000, 1989-97097-000, and 1990-97341-000). The Notebooks are a six-volume reproduction of Heider's working social psychology, from the early 1950s through to the early 1980s. Their publication allows us, for the first time, an intimate and complete examination of a method of social psychology that has proven so fruitful and upon which rests so much of the experimental enterprise of the past decades. Heider's method is thoughtful, rather than active. The Notebooks would probably be of greatest interest and use to practising experimental social psychologists, since many mainstream topics derive from Heider's Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, which was an earlier, more highly edited, release of his notebook research. Graduate students will find The Notebooks a treasure house of topics, ideas, and inspiration. Theoreticians will find Heider one of their own. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Reconsidering psychology: Perspectives from Continental philosophy.

Reviews the book, Reconsidering psychology: Perspectives from Continental philosophy edited by James E. Faulconer and Richard N. Williams (1990). Reconsidering Psychology: Perspectives from Continental Philosophy, which raises some new issues, takes a look at some old issues from fresh perspectives, and examines avenues of Continental philosophy and psychology that have not yet received adequate attention. This is a remarkable text that not only takes the reader on a journey through new and exciting intellectual domains of post-Cartesian psychology, but invites the reader to share in some rather compelling visions of psychology's place in history from the ten brilliant minds responsible for the individual chapters of the text. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychology and life (Canadian edition).

Reviews the book, Psychology and life (Canadian edition) (2009), by Richard J. Gerrig, Philip Zimbardo, Serge Desmarais, and Tammy Ivanco. As part of an effective strategy to deal with the many emerging challenges of teaching large introductory psychology classes, a modern textbook geared toward introductory psychology must keep up with these changes and offer useful features that address the needs of the student. To this end, Psychology and Life (Canadian Edition) presents an impressive update of the classic textbook by Gerrig and Zimbardo. The text continues to hit on the key principle of psychology as a science with a thorough and updated research-based presentation. The textbook is well organised into 17 chapters covering the range of typical introductory psychology topics. The chapters are written in a midlevel text that will be accessible to the broad range of students enrolled in most introductory psychology courses. While maintaining a high level of readability and interest, the work is solidly grounded in research as it highlights psychology as a science. As the title of the textbook suggests, the authors make a conscious effort to demonstrate that the research and curriculum presented in each chapter have an immediate impact on daily life. This is a well-written, organised, and appealing text that students will find engaging and instructors will find suitable for providing a solid grounding in the science of contemporary psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Public opinion and propaganda.

Reviews the book, Public opinion and propaganda edited by Dorwin Cartwright, Samuel Eldersveld, Daniel Katz, Alfred McClung Lee (see record 1955-02380-000). The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues has produced an excellent book of readings on public opinion and propaganda. In keeping with its interdisciplinary orientation, a wide range of the relevant literature in political science, history, anthropology, sociology, economics, and psychology has been culled to provide a selection of readings (74 in all) showing the possibilities of the empirical approach to problems in the area as well as the societal context, the political structure, and the social-psychological dynamics of opinion formation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of First impressions.

Reviews the book, First impressions, edited by Nalini Ambady and John J. Skowronski (see record 2008-09248-000). This book addresses the questions of how impressions are formed and their effects on thought, feeling, and behaviour. Its goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of the most recent theoretical approaches and empirical data that inform our understanding of perceivers’ immediate impressions of others. Edited by two leading investigators in the field and bringing together an impressive array of experts, the book is well organised and well written, offering a balance of classic and cutting-edge findings. The book is organised into four parts. Part 1 considers biological aspects of impression formation. Part 2 focuses on the factors that make first impressions more or less accurate. Part 3 addresses how facial cues—on their own or in conjunction with other cues—influence the contents or processes of impression formation. Part 4 focuses on how behavioural and environmental cues influence the contents or processes of impression formation. First impressions succeeds in its mandate to provide a broad overview of what we currently know about the processes and moderators involved in impression formation. In so doing, it fulfills an important role, in that no other volume currently exists to organise our knowledge about impression formation—arguably one of the most central topics in social psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The transformation of psychology: Influences of 19th-century philosophy, technology, and natural science.

Reviews the book, The transformation of psychology: Influences of 19th-century philosophy, technology, and natural science edited by Christopher D. Green, Marlene Shore, and Thomas Teo (see record 2001-01476-000). In the following review, I have found it convenient to divide the 11 chapters of this volume into three groups, one devoted to the philosophy of psychological science, one devoted to theoretical and biological psychology, and one devoted to applied psychology. The first of these groups contains chapters by Andrew S. Winston on Ernst Mach, by Charles W. Tolman on G. W. F. Hegel, and by Thomas Teo on Karl Marx and Wilhelm Dilthey. The second grouping of chapters is concerned with theoretical/biological psychology and includes five contributions. The final group of chapters concerns applied psychology. What I liked most about this book was the genuinely innovative character of every chapter; there is no "old hat" stuff anywhere. The editors and contributors are to be congratulated on a fine and timely work of scholarship. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)