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 Patterns of belief and action.

Reviews the book, Patterns of Belief and Action by S. L. Sutherland (1981). Patterns of Belief and Action is a study of student activism at the University of Alberta in 1970. A stratified random sample of 1200 students was selected and 80% of them actually completed an extensive battery of questionnaires and attitude scales. Included in the sample were students in all years, both undergraduate and graduate, and in most of the University Acuities. Among the wide variety of measures used were items on childhood background, demographic information, various attitude scales, personality inventories and a mental health index. Sutherland offers a convincing rationale for including each of the scales. Both the measures developed specifically for this investigation and those that already existed were psychometrically refined. Factor and item analyses were used to reduce each measure to an internally consistent, brief form. As a result, many of the scales are in the 5-8 item range. Despite their brevity, almost all have good psychometric properties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A second opinion: Review of Child development: Selected readings.

Reviews the book, Child Development: Selected Readings by L. Brockman, J. Whitely, and J. Zubek (Eds.) (1973). The editors of this volume have assembled the most suitable anthology that is available to the Canadian student of child development. The study of history, theory, early childhood, achievement motivation, second-language acquisition and child rearing practices is accomplished within a Canadian context without rendering the text too narrow in focus since the implications in each of the ten chapters are of general relevance and importance for the universal field of child development. Two emphases stand out. The first is Northway's excellent discussion on a "Casual History of Child Study in Canada", showing the role that the Institute of Child Study in Toronto has played in influencing child study in Canada. The second emphasis which stands out centers around the writings of Lambert regarding socio-cultural factors in a child's development. In addition to the above emphases, the 41 articles appearing in the book adequately cover the major areas in the field of child behaviour and development such that the book would be appropriate as a main text for a one-term course or an excellent supplementary text for a course covering the entire academic year. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Textbook of psychology (fourth edition).

Reviews the book, Textbook of psychology (fourth edition) by Donald O. Hebb and Don Donderi (see record 1987-97530-000). Before his death in August 1985, Hebb presided over a new revision of his classic introductory psychology text. The third edition of Hebb's book was published by W. B. Saunders in 1972, and more than one attempt had since been made to get a fourth edition published. With the help of D. C. Donderi, this new edition is now in print. This edition is largely an expansion and updating of the 1972 edition. The same topics are treated in the same order as before, but with frequent editing and with more recent material now included. For readers unfamiliar with Hebb's textbooks, they define psychology as the study of behaviour, and behaviour is seen as the product of brain activity. Brain activity in turn is understood by reference to Hebb's concept of the cell assembly. This Hebb and Donderi text is one of the few introductory psychology textbooks that employs a personal perspective on Psychology, and unifies the teaching of that topic by continued reference to one major theoretical concept. There is nowhere in their text any discussion of existing data or theory which might be thought to be incompatible with cell assembly theory. Nor is there any discussion of possible limits to the generalization or the operationalization of the cell assembly idea. Their text does tell students that theories do not last, and that enduring truths are not to be expected in science. Yet students are left with the strong impression that it is very unlikely the basic premises of cell assembly thinking will ever in the future be changed more than slightly. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social psychology (5th edition).

Reviews the book, Social psychology (5th edition) by David O. Sears, Jonathan L. Freedman, and Letitia Anne Peplau (1985). This is the fifth edition of one of the field's most respected introductory texts, originally published in 1970. It continues to offer a scholarly, research-based overview of most areas of social psychology and strikes a reasonably good balance between classic and current contributions to the discipline. Moreover, the book is well-written, engaging, and likely to appeal both to the serious psychology major and to the casual student interested in what social psychology has to say about human affairs. The text is particularly strong in its treatment of research methodology, attitudes, and interpersonal relations. Social Psychology will undoubtedly continue to be one of the more successful texts in the field, and deservedly so. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of health and health care: A Canadian perspective.

Reviews the book, The psychology of health and health care: A Canadian perspective by Gary Poole, Deborah Hunt Matheson, and David N. Cox (2001). This book is a timely introductory text that aims to situate the rapidly expanding field of health psychology within the geographic, socio-demographic, and empirical landscape of Canada. This textbook would be appropriate for beginning and intermediate undergraduate students across a range of disciplines, including psychology, public health, and nursing. As such, it has a number of features to commend it. It is written in a clear and concise style, with explanatory tracks guiding the reader step by step through each new concept. In keeping with health psychology's applied focus, web sites for important resources are provided and sample case studies are integrated with key concepts throughout each chapter. Finally, the up-to-date coverage of Canadian health statistics and research publications is a delight for those of us who have been struggling to find texts that reflect the unique ways in which we view, structure, fund, administer, and research health psychology and health care in this country. (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 Handbook of measurement and evaluation in rehabilitation (second edition).

Reviews the book, Handbook of measurement and evaluation in rehabilitation (second edition) by Brian Bolton (1987). This book is an excellent introduction to assessment issues and techniques for rehabilitation professionals. An impressive roster of experts in the fields of psychometrics and rehabilitation contributed to this second edition. There are three main sections to the book: a brief introduction to principles of measurement (scores and norms, reliability and validity), discussions of five major types of instruments used with rehabilitation populations (such as intelligence testing and personality testing), and an extended review of assessment applications, ranging from process areas such as career development to specific populations such as mentally retarded individuals. A main strength of the book is its consideration of measurement issues in broad terms; a number of chapters could be lifted and used almost unchanged in other fields in which intelligence testing or career development is relevant. Also, the volume is well referenced and does not shrink from dealing straightforwardly with complex issues. There are also some significant omissions in the volume. Perhaps the most serious of these is the scant attention given to the rise of the computer in rehabilitation assessment. On balance, the handbook seems an evident front-runner for use in training rehabilitation professionals about the basics of assessment. Bolton's book provides a sturdy foundation for learning about assessment, filled as it is with important concepts and a sense of the field's history. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Humor: The psychology of living buoyantly.

Reviews the book, Humor: The psychology of living buoyantly by Herbert M. Lefcourt (see record 2000-14400-000). Lefcourt traces the changing concerns of psychology, and the reason why the psychological study of humour has often been trivialized as an unlikely candidate for research support in the past. The author charts his own personal odyssey in the field, one in which he is drawn to the study of human strengths rather than human frailties. An early chapter sets us up for the remaining chapters by reminding us how we experience humour in everyday life. Verbatim anecdotes from students in previous seminars offer vignettes which allow the reader to grasp the situation vicariously and to see how and why the humour of the situation could have arisen. It is here that Lefcourt confides that his is a functionalist psychological perspective, and that he views humour as a characteristic that has been useful to our species. Here one comes to the crux of the argument for most readers. Is humour, then, a coping strategy, ultimately devised in our evolutionary ramblings, as a protective cushion against the jagged impact of stressful experiences? The middle part of this book explores this hypothesis in a variety of experimental settings, all designed to assess the moderating role of humour in the face of stress. This is a useful, even uplifting, book about the human search for emotional well-being. Its academic value in outlining the history and current thrust of work in the field of humour is obvious, but this reviewer appreciated its bold attempt to provide a more personal view of human adaptation to life's stressful requirements. Very simply, this is a book that resonates with one's understanding of life beyond the research laboratory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Learning disabilities and brain function: A neuropsychological approach (2nd edition).

Reviews the book, Learning disabilities and brain function: A neuropsychological approach (2nd edition) by William H. Gaddes (1985). No clinician/researcher has expended more effort over a longer period of time to effect a melding of neuropsychology and educational practice than has William Gaddes. His efforts in this area have been prodigious and insightful; his published work, highly influential. Thus, it is with eager anticipation that one approaches the second edition of his most important work, Learning disabilities and brain function: A neuropsychological approach. On many counts, this anticipation is richly rewarded by the many fine features of the work, including its breadth of coverage, its presentation of research findings from many disciplines, and its clinical savvy. Gaddes has attempted to provide a very complete and articulated view of a neuropsychological approach to learning disabilities. Drawing on research in the basic neurosciences, basic and applied psychology and education, and a wealth of personal clinical experience with brain-impaired youngsters, Gaddes does not shrink from forging quite explicit links between normal and altered brain function on the one hand and learning on the other. This constitutes both the strength and the weakness of this work: Its strength lies in the wealth of information and provocative insights provided; its weakness, in the sometimes rather concrete fashion in which brain/behaviour relationships and their remedial implications are stated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Call Usage Learning in Gray Seals (Halichoerus grypus).

Call usage learning can be demonstrated on 4 different levels: signaling on command, signaling and refraining from signaling on command, responding to a trained stimulus with a signal from a specific signal class, and responding to the playback of any untrained stimulus with one from the same signal class. Two young gray seals (Halichoerus grypus) were trained successfully to demonstrate the first 2 levels. They also learned to respond to 9 moan stimuli and 9 growl stimuli with vocalizations of the same class (Level 3). However, novel moan and growl stimuli tended to elicit growls. This casts doubt on the possibility that gray seals can reach the 4th level, but it demonstrates that they are capable of the first 3 levels of usage learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mechanisms of same-different abstract-concept learning by rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta).

Experiments with 9 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) showed, for the first time, that abstract-concept learning varied with the training stimulus set size. In a sameldifferent task, monkeys required to touch a top picture before choosing a bottom picture (same) or white rectangle (different) learned rapidly. Monkeys not required to touch the top picture or presented with the top picture for a fixed time learned slowly or not at all. No abstract-concept learning occurred after 8-itern training but progressively improved with larger set sizes and was complete following 128-itern training. A control monkey with a constant 8-item set ruled out repeated training and testing. Contrary to the unique-species account, it is argued that different species have quantitative, not qualitative, differences in abstract-concept learning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Childhood disorders: Behavioral-developmental approaches.

Reviews the book, Childhood disorders: Behavioral-developmental approaches edited by Robert J. McMahon and Ray Dev. Peters (1985). This volume includes 11 original chapters from the 1983 Banff International Conference on Behavioral Sciences. Together, these chapters provide an overview of a number of high-quality programmes of research in the area of childhood disorders. The editors state that the purpose of the current offering is to focus on recent advances in the conceptualization, assessment, and treatment of childhood behaviour disorders, with particular attention being given to the role of developmental processes. The book contains two major sections. The first provides an overview of the conceptual foundations for a "behavioural-developmental" approach to childhood disorders. The second, which constitutes approximately 80% of the volume, illustrates programmes for the assessment and treatment of childhood disorders spanning the developmental spectrum from infancy to adolescence. Although this volume's attempt to bridge the gap between behavioural and developmental work may fall short, it is nevertheless a worthwhile contribution that nicely illustrates a range of outstanding programmes of clinical research for a variety of childhood disorders. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Assessing and treating culturally diverse clients: A practical guide.

Reviews the book, Assessing and treating culturally diverse clients: A practical guide by Freddy A. Panaigua (see record 1996-97152-000). This book is a timely and provocative delineation of highly relevant considerations to be made by counselors, psychotherapists, and other mental health professionals in the delivery of services to multicultural groups. The book deals with four ethnic populations in the United States—African American, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian. Panaigua's contribution is part of a series on Multicultural Aspects of Counseling by Sage Publications. The purpose of the series is to increase the mental health practitioner's knowledge and sensitivity to cultural differences and to assist in alleviating bias in the therapeutic process. This purpose is accomplished with precision and insight by Panaigua. Unlike some other books dealing with cultural diversity, Panaigua's work offers specific treatment methods which have been demonstrated to be successful in treating members of the targeted groups. Problem solving and social skills training are recommended in some cases. In other instances, assertiveness training, music therapy, or direct advice are the modalities of choice. In other cases, education, medication, or behavioral approaches are preferred. Assessing and Treating Culturally Diverse Clients can serve the educational needs of graduate students in the fields of psychology, counseling, family therapy, and social work. It is an excellent guide for use in either the training or practice of these helping professions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Assessment: Assessment in special and remedial education (4th ed.).

Reviews the book, Assessment: Assessment in special and remedial education (4th ed.) by J. Salvia and J. E. Ysseldyke (1988). I was pleased to have been invited to review Salvia and Ysseldyke's book for Professional School Psychology because I have used each of its earlier editions as a required text. For approximately 5 years, I taught an undergraduate course entitled, Survey of Individual Tests, in which the Salvia and Ysseldyke book was my text of choice. I selected the book over several current and dated competitors because it provided coverage of both psychometric issues and available instrumentation within several assessment domains. Its coverage was more appropriate for lower division undergraduates than a book such as Anastasi's (1988) Psychological Testing. During that 5-year period, I became intimately familiar with the content of the text and learned its strengths and weaknesses. Upon receiving the review copy of the Fourth Edition I was anxious to discover the degree to which this edition had changed from its earlier editions. This review critiques the current text's attributes and shortcomings and explores the depth of revision that was incorporated into the newest edition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Effective writing in psychology: Papers, posters, and presentations.

Reviews the book, Effective writing in psychology: Papers, posters, and presentations, by Bernard C. Beins and Agatha M. Beins (see record 2007-09162-000). This book aims to present its readers with clear guidelines for effective communication in the psychological sciences. The authors focus primarily on written communication in the form of research papers, but also present chapters on poster and oral presentations, Internet publishing, and the preparation of ethics proposals. Beins and Beins provide comprehensive coverage of the scientific writing process, from the generation of research topics to the presentation of ideas and findings via clear, logical, and persuasive writing. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of this book is that it practises what it preaches: It is well organised, informative, and most of all, it succeeds in engaging the reader with its presentation of technical information. Ample use of quotations, anecdotes, jokes, and examples from published research serves to both maintain the reader’s interest in the material and to highlight a key message of the book—that scientific writing need not be dreary. In all, Beins and Beins provide an appropriate balance in their guidance for one’s development of a stimulating and purposeful communication style and the specific formatting requirements necessary to implement it. (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 Handbook of measurements for marriage & family therapy.

Reviews the book, Handbook of measurements for marriage & family therapy by N. Fredman and R. Sherman (1987). This book has provided a service for the field by collecting in one source the measurement instruments published since 1975. However, a major drawback is that the method for selecting measurements for inclusion in the handbook is not stated. While the handbook is intended as a source for practitioners, researchers, and trainees, it is most useful to researchers, graduate students, and others interested in surveying the current state of the science. Clearly, the study of marriage and family therapy remains in its infancy. Collectively, the measures presented possess serious sampling, reliability, and/or validity limitations. Systematic research building on the base of the strongest instruments, rather than increasing the proliferation of new instruments with sampling, reliability, and validity limitations, is an important direction for the field to pursue. The handbook, despite its own limitations, does provide a valuable first step for the serious student and researcher. It is a recommended addition to the library of every graduate program offering training in marriage and family therapy and would be a particularly useful reading in introductory marital and family therapy courses. As for clinicians, the handbook offers nothing to replace a good clinical interview. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reality of divorce. Reply to Gordon (2005).

R. M. Gordon (2005; see record 2005-08806-011) insists in his commentary on J. S. Wallerstein and J. M. Lewis's (2004; see record 2004-17367-002) work that the impact of divorce on children is fleeting, and he proposes, without supporting evidence, that the long-lasting psychological problems displayed by children of divorce in adolescence and adulthood reflect more the preexisting psychopathology of the parents and their traumatic parenting than any consequence of the disrupted marriage and the unhappy sequelae that so regularly constitute the postdivorce family. The authors' data, based on intensive periodic clinical study of these youngsters and their parents over several decades, indicate the contrary. No research has established that divorcing parents exhibit as a class more mental illness than parents in intact families. The authors' findings speak to the unmet needs of children of divorce for psychological help with their intimate relationships when they enter adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)