Review of Undergraduate writing in psychology: Learning to tell the scientific story.

Reviews the book, Undergraduate writing in psychology: Learning to tell the scientific story by R. Eric Landrum (see record 2008-03689-000). This review is written from the perspective of a student who enrolled in a course on academic writing and a professor who taught the course. From the student's perspective, Landrum covers all the bases, from the reason psychologists write scientifically to the proper way to write a notecard. However, she feels that the book is too basic, and that students will not feel that they learned anything new from it. From the professor's perspective, the book covers the basics of writing empirical papers and review papers in APA style. However, the book's difficulty level is very low, which may say a lot about the audience for psychology textbooks. The dilemma for Landrum is to decide which audience to write for: The best students don't need the book's basic points, and the worst students won't read it. Landrum's book may be the best of the APA Paper books: It's more original and more effective than its competitors. Storytelling is a good model for research articles, and Landrum nicely develops the model throughout the book. Despite its storytelling theme, however, the book recommends hiding the storyteller: students should sound objective, formal, and detached--in a word, boring. (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 Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications.

Reviews the book, Lesbian and gay psychology: Theory, research, and clinical applications by Beverly Greene and Gregory M. Herek (1994). This volume is a collection of theoretical, research, and clinical articles which share in common only their focus of a psychological approach to gay and lesbian issues. Particularly admirable is the handling of a variety of lesbian issues including sexual pride and shame, physical appearance, and feminist politics of sexual orientation. There are also good articles on stereotypes and attitudes toward lesbians and gay men. This volume moves the psychological study of lesbian and gay issues beyond being merely gay affirmative into looking at hard issues, and reconnecting gay studies with the larger body of psychological theory, research, and clinical practice. As a psychological potpourri of articles, it suggests what can be accomplished in lesbian and gay psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases.

Reviews the book, Ethics in psychology: Professional standards and cases by Patricia Keith-Spiegel and Gerald P. Koocher (see record 1985-97634-000). This well written and interesting book offers comprehensive coverage of how the American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Principles of Psychologists (1981) apply in any setting where psychologists are involved. This book should be of special interest to Canadians who are interested in the new Canadian Psychological Association (CPA) Code of Ethics. The CPA Code organized the areas of concern covered by the APA code, plus new and emerging issues, under an umbrella of four general principles and many associated standards of conduct. Both the book and the CPA Code attempt to raise the level of consciousness about ethical issues and ethical decision-making. The result? They complement each other and together provide a useful combination of philosophy, standards, and concrete examples of unethical or questionable behaviour by a psychologist. All who read this book will become aware of the complexity associated with ethics in the practice of psychology. The authors are to be congratulated on providing a scholarly work, long needed by the public and psychologists alike. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Qualitative health psychology: Theories and methods.

Reviews the book, Qualitative health psychology: Theories and methods by Michael Murray and Kerry Chamberlain (1999). Qualitative research in health psychology is relatively new but already displays considerable vigour. The 15 chapters of the present book offer wide-ranging examples of the contributions that qualitative research can make to the field of health psychology; they also encourage reflection and debate on the positivist, quantitative perspective that has traditionally dominated health psychology and underpins its epistemological alliance with biomedicine. The editors and authors are to be commended on the overall clarity of the writing, given the many contributors and the plethora of specialized terms introduced in the presentation of diverse methodologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

APA-accredited doctoral programs in professional psychology: 1985.

The Committee on Accreditation has accredited the doctoral training programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology that are conducted by the institutions below. The original date of accreditation, listed for each program, is the day on which the program's accredited status became effective. According to Section 9.c of the Accreditation Procedures, accreditation is effective as of the last day of the initial site visit, the report of which was among the documents used in reaching the accreditation decision. Any student enrolled in a program as of the date accreditation becomes effective is considered a graduate of an accredited program. Readers who desire information on training goals and approaches of specific programs are encouraged to write directly to the departments in which the programs are offered. The criteria for evaluating these programs can be obtained from the APA Accreditation Office. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Accredited internship and postdoctoral programs for training in psychology: 2009.

Presents the official listing of accredited internship and postdoctoral residency programs. It reflects all Commission on Accreditation decisions through July 19, 2009. This list also is provided by electronic means (http://www.apa.org/ed/accreditation/intern.html), but that listing is for informational purposes only and should not be used for official credential review. The original date of accreditation, listed for each program, is the day on which the program’s accredited status became effective. Also listed for each program is the date of the next regularly scheduled site visit. The accreditation status listed for each program reflects that program’s current status. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Toward a Psychology of the Scientist.

Reviews the book, Toward a Psychology of the Scientist by Sonja C. Graver (1981). The major themes of this highly condensed 92 page book are that all sciences are philosophic and that psychological research provides insight into how scientists formulate and revise theories. The author further contends that the development of science would be enhanced if all scientists (including psychologists) understood the primary importance of the role of theory, imagination and creativity in experimentation. The scientific model suggested is that progress in science occurs by way of reformulations of arbitrary world views, and that scientific activities would be enhanced if the subjective and psychological, particularly cognitive, aspects were stressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

APA-accredited doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology: 1983.

The Committee on Accreditation has accredited the doctoral training programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology that are conducted by the institutions listed below. In the institutions listed, the accredited programs are directed by the department of psychology unless otherwise indicated. All programs, unless otherwise noted, are PhD programs. Programs that have not requested evaluation, and programs that have been evaluated but not accredited, are not included in the list. Readers desiring information on training goals and approaches of specific programs are encouraged to write directly to the departments in which the programs are offered. The criteria for evaluating these programs can be obtained from the Accreditation Office. There are three categories of accreditation. Full accreditation is awarded to any program that, in the professional judgment of the committee, meets the criteria in a satisfactory manner. Provisional accreditation is awarded to programs making initial application that, in the professional judgment of the committee, do not meet all the criteria but for which the committee believes there is a reasonable expectation that they will be met within a foreseeable period of time from the date of the initial site visit. Probation is the category into which a fully accredited program is placed when the committee has evidence that the program is not currently in satisfactory compliance with the criteria. Inclusion of an institution in this list indicates accreditation of doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, school, and combined professional-scientific psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Social psychology, an interdisciplinary approach.

Reviews the book, Social psychology, an interdisciplinary approach by Hubert Bonner (1953). According to the reviewer, it has been argued that most textbooks in the social sciences are really written from other textbooks in the same area. Bonner's text seems singularly invulnerable to this complaint. The author has brought together materials from an unusually wide variety of sources and organized them into a book which shows definite signs of some original thinking about how a text in social psychology should be put together, and what should go into it. The reviewer states that in general, Bonner's theoretical position is, for today, not an especially distinctive one. The extent of his concern with the social and cultural context within which behavior occurs, however, is unusual and can be conveyed only in part by the headings of the three main divisions of his book: Social Interaction, the social matrix of behavior; Culture and Behavior, cultural values and personal-social adjustment; Group Dynamics, social change and collective behavior. The reviewer states that this book is particularly useful for students who are interested in getting an understanding of social behavior within the scope of a single course, and who do not intend to do advanced work in the social sciences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of science and the origins of the scientific mind.

Reviews the book, The psychology of science and the origins of the scientific mind by Gregory Feist (see record 2006-02942-000). In this book, Gregory Feist sets out to show two things: that psychology of science can be its own field and that this field has been growing along side of humanity ever since its inception. Feist divides the book into two parts. First, he argues for the legitimacy of the field of psychology of science, addressing relevant research from many sub fields and their applications for the future. Part two delves into the origins and future of the scientific mind. Overall, this book makes one logically consider what science is and is not. It brings about contemplation about how science developed and how humans embraced it. Feist says he wants to take on the applied implications for the formalized study of both the psychology and science and the properties of the scientific mind. His goal is to move the psychology of science from its implicit methods scattered across domains of psychology and make them explicit. He wants to unite researchers scattered across the world to make up a new psychology of science that actively meets, has its own journal, and can educate future researchers. This is all very interesting and indeed possible, as long as the meetings would follow the same integrative genius that is displayed in this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice.

Reviews the book, The handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice by Kirk J. Schneider, James F. T. Bugental, and J. Fraser Pierson (see record 2001-01409-000). Over 30 years ago Abraham Maslow (1971) envisioned a 3rd force psychology that would bring about “a change of basic thinking along the total front of man’s endeavors, a potential change in every social institution, in every one of the ‘fields’ of intellectual endeavor, and in every one of the professions.” Schneider, Bugental, and Pierson must have been guided by a similar vision as they edited the Handbook of humanistic psychology: Leading edges in theory, research, and practice. The breadth of the handbook is impressive with chapters addressing everything from psychotherapy, pedagogy, medicine, and spirituality to ecology, literature, social action and the workplace. The editors have successfully recruited authors from a variety of disciplines—including psychology, psychiatry, philosophy, education, and politics—who are well respected both inside and outside humanistic circles and who are exceptionally qualified to address their topics. Fortunately, despite this far-reaching breadth, the editors have not spread the handbook too thin. In fact, in areas where it seems especially needed (e.g., methodology) there is a much welcome depth and detail that is far from typical of other handbooks. (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 Preparing for graduate study in psychology: 101 questions and answers.

Reviews the book, Preparing for graduate study in psychology: 101 questions and answers by William Buskist and Caroline Burke (2006). The book is broken down into a number of chapters organized in a chronological manner, starting with the fundamentals of what graduate school is like and how to choose a specific program. It then proceeds to more specific pieces of information, including the GRE, details on the application and interview process, and finishes with a timeframe on how to organize one's first year of graduate studies. Each of these chapters is formatted as a series of key questions, followed by detailed answers related to the overall theme of the section. Also included in this edition are very useful appendices that include a glossary of terms, a sample vitae, and letters of intent. The last chapter, entitled "The First Year: Thriving, Surviving and Other Essentials," tackles issues related to how to decide on a graduate mentor, when to choose a thesis committee, switching programs during graduate school, and most intriguingly, how to not "wash out" of the program. The reviewer highly recommends this book as he believes it will almost certainly ease a student's transition from undergraduate to graduate studies in psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Educational psychology: Reflection for action (Canadian edition).

Reviews the book, Educational psychology: Reflection for action (Canadian edition) (2008). Targeted toward aspiring teachers, this book provides an overview of the content knowledge germane to school-age education in Canada and attempts to foster the types of procedural skills and dispositions necessary to gather and evaluate evidence about one’s own classroom practises and about the diverse array of Canadian students in those classrooms. The book is well written, in language that is clear and accessible to preservice teachers at the undergraduate level. For a more advanced audience, the book also provides an excellent model of how to integrate goals of content, procedural, and disposition acquisition. To these ends, each chapter includes pedagogical features that help readers activate and connect their prior knowledge, skills, and attitudes with those of more expert teachers operating in real classrooms (e.g., samples of classroom life to ground understanding in experience, models of expert analyses following knowledge acquisition, well-timed invitations to engage in reflection during learning). Particular attention is paid to the ecologically valid activity of reasoning about what students know on the basis of what they say and do. In addition to lists of key concepts, end-of-chapter exercises, and a glossary, a number of supplements and additional resources for instructors and students also are mentioned. A parallel e-version of the text, complete with interactive features, is available online at no extra cost. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Critical psychology: An introduction.

Reviews the book, Critical psychology: An introduction edited by Dennis Fox and Isaac Prilleltensky (see record 1997-08663-000). The subtitle of this book implies that it is written for readers unfamiliar with critical approaches to psychology, but it should attract the attention of the already-critical professional as well as the beginner. The student making a first acquaintance with critical psychology will find this book to be a valuable primer, one that synthesizes a large amount of information while avoiding much of the jargon that often weighs down critical methodologies. The book consists of 19 chapters, organized into four sections. Section one, "Critical Overview," gives a general overview of critical methodologies. Section two, "Critical Arenas," is a collection of critiques of established fields in psychology. A third section on "Critical Theories" suggests experimental and novel ways to study psychology, such as hermeneutics, discourse analysis, and feminist research. In the final section, "Critical Reflections," one can perhaps best see the editors' commitment to keeping critical psychology an open system. The editors' decision to end the volume with a reflexive, critical examination of itself, rather than a simple summary, is a large part of what holds this book together. Even if one admires the editors' ability to unite so many different perspectives under the common banner of critical psychology, they have not done so in a manner that treats all psychologies equally. Yet, despite this minor blemish, the book remains a solid piece of work, one that is often inspiring. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Animal models of human psychology: Critique of science, ethics, and policy.

Reviews the book, Animal models of human psychology: Critique of science, ethics, and policy by Kenneth J. Shapiro (see record 1998-06437-000). The principle focus of most of this text is on the present-day use of animals in psychological research. In particular, Shapiro examines contemporary animal models of eating disorders, showing how psychology came to rely so heavily on animal models in the first place and how prevalent scientific attitudes about the use of animals in the laboratory have taken shape over the past several decades. In addition, he traces the recent rise of the animal rights movement and highlights the several philosophies upon which it is based. Drawing upon certain historical and empirical analyses, as well as certain themes in contemporary sociology of knowledge, Shapiro attempts to navigate his reader through the twin minefields of impassioned rhetoric and insufficiently examined conceptual commitment to a better understanding of the core issues surrounding the role of animals in scientific psychological investigation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)