nyctose's review against another edition
5.0
I always wanted to get an idea of psychology, but didn't know if I was willing to pursue a career in it. I wanted to know what it dealt with without having to actually study it, and this book made my wish come true. It dealt with everything that had drawn me to this subject in the first place and much more. It took me a while to read this - I was reading plenty of other books at the time too - but it was wonderful. I do not know whether people who have studied psychology will like this book, but for curious people like me who do not really know much about it, you will love this book.
xurrosambxocolata's review against another edition
5.0
A summarized collection of the fascinating history of psychology and its most prominent pioneers, in simple layman's terms.
gbpy's review against another edition
reading this to understand David Lynch's films on the first try for once because I'm at 0 out of 4 so far, it's frankly a bit embarrassing at this point
vee615's review against another edition
4.0
I think this book is great for people interested in Psychology or just looking for information on who are big names, themes, or writings in Psychology. Each section is is introduced with a time line of thinking from Ancient Greece to present. Every subsection has a heading, a short bio on the psychologist who researched it, as well as a timeline of thinking before and after the research was done. There is then one to three pages on the topic and the research or experiment that went into it. I think the breakdowns are very useful, but the book also does a great job on providing information on where to look for more in depth coverage. A great starting point for people interested in the topic or even looking to delve deeper into a topic.
melhara's review against another edition
4.0
Yes, I enjoy reading textbooks in my spare time. My knowledge of psychology is limited to what I learned in high school and Sociology 101 in university. This book did help a psychology noob, such as myself, further my understanding of the discipline. I think this book is probably best suited for high school or first-year university students, as it provides very basic background information on various psychological concepts.
Of course, I did recognize many of the psychologists and concepts that were presented. They've covered everything from Freud, to Pavlov, to Zimbardo. But here are some things I found interesting from each chapter that I don't remember learning in school.
Philosophical Roots
In this chapter, we learn about the earliest psychologists and some of the (weird) things they believed in. For example, Wilhelm Wundt believed that every living being has a consciousness, even single-celled organisms (an amoeba's ability to devour food means it has some form of consciousness).
Behaviorism
The most famous behaviourists were, obviously, Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. But what I found fascinating was Joseph Wolpe's research that shows that you can 'unlearn' fear by relaxing and facing your fears head on.
Psychotherapy
Besides learning more about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, I learned about Fritz Perls who developed the very zen Gestalt prayer with principles that I would love to live by.
On the other spectrum of loving and respecting yourself, is Donald Winnicott's notion of 'healthy hatred' - where he claims that it's natural and completely appropriate for parents to hate their children in a healthy way by acknowledging and tolerating the hate (without acting on it, of course).
Cognitive Psychology
This was probably my favourite chapter as it focuses on the fascinating topic of how the mind works (especially in terms of memory - how we remember things, and why our memories are unreliable). For example, Bluma Zeigarnik discovers that the human mind remembers details of an interrupted task better than a completed task. Furthermore, Gordon H. Bower realized that we store memories of events and emotions together (when we are happy, we remember happy things and when we are sad, we recall sad memories). Daniel Schacter and Elizabeth Loftus' research shows that our memories are unreliable - what we believe is not necessarily the truth. Meanwhile, Leon Festinger realizes that people with unshakeable conviction are difficult to change - they will find ways to create new evidence that is aligned with their beliefs (I'm sure we all know stubborn people like this).
Social Psychology
Famous social psychologists include Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo but have you heard of Robert Zajonc? Robert Zajonc's experiments showed that 'the more you see it the more you like it.' Meaning that we tend to like things that we're familiar with, or that we've been exposed to frequently. For example, you may not like the design of a poster in your classroom, but the more you see it, the more it starts to grow on you. This causes an attitude change on a subconscious level - you can start liking things that you didn't like without even realizing it! (Which is, I suppose, is why advertisements are such an important aspect of marketing)
Developmental Psychology
This was also a fascinating chapter on the development of the brain from childhood to adulthood, and how psychologists have revolutionized educational curriculums worldwide based on their discoveries on how children process information.
What I found to be the most interesting part of this chapter was the section on 'Who teaches a child to hate and fear a member of another race?' Here, Kenneth Clark made very important discoveries on how society teaches kids to form prejudices at an early age.
Psychology of Difference
What I found to be absolutely entertaining to read in this section, was David Rosenhan's experiment that led to the discovery that psychiatric hospitals in the 1970s were incapable of distinguishing the sane from the insane.
Of course, I did recognize many of the psychologists and concepts that were presented. They've covered everything from Freud, to Pavlov, to Zimbardo. But here are some things I found interesting from each chapter that I don't remember learning in school.
Philosophical Roots
In this chapter, we learn about the earliest psychologists and some of the (weird) things they believed in. For example, Wilhelm Wundt believed that every living being has a consciousness, even single-celled organisms (an amoeba's ability to devour food means it has some form of consciousness).
Behaviorism
The most famous behaviourists were, obviously, Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner. But what I found fascinating was Joseph Wolpe's research that shows that you can 'unlearn' fear by relaxing and facing your fears head on.
Psychotherapy
Besides learning more about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, I learned about Fritz Perls who developed the very zen Gestalt prayer with principles that I would love to live by.
"I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to live up to your expectation, and you are not in this world to live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped."
On the other spectrum of loving and respecting yourself, is Donald Winnicott's notion of 'healthy hatred' - where he claims that it's natural and completely appropriate for parents to hate their children in a healthy way by acknowledging and tolerating the hate (without acting on it, of course).
"People and things do not upset us. Rather, we upset ourselves by believing that they can upset us" - Albert Ellis
Cognitive Psychology
This was probably my favourite chapter as it focuses on the fascinating topic of how the mind works (especially in terms of memory - how we remember things, and why our memories are unreliable). For example, Bluma Zeigarnik discovers that the human mind remembers details of an interrupted task better than a completed task. Furthermore, Gordon H. Bower realized that we store memories of events and emotions together (when we are happy, we remember happy things and when we are sad, we recall sad memories). Daniel Schacter and Elizabeth Loftus' research shows that our memories are unreliable - what we believe is not necessarily the truth. Meanwhile, Leon Festinger realizes that people with unshakeable conviction are difficult to change - they will find ways to create new evidence that is aligned with their beliefs (I'm sure we all know stubborn people like this).
Social Psychology
Famous social psychologists include Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo but have you heard of Robert Zajonc? Robert Zajonc's experiments showed that 'the more you see it the more you like it.' Meaning that we tend to like things that we're familiar with, or that we've been exposed to frequently. For example, you may not like the design of a poster in your classroom, but the more you see it, the more it starts to grow on you. This causes an attitude change on a subconscious level - you can start liking things that you didn't like without even realizing it! (Which is, I suppose, is why advertisements are such an important aspect of marketing)
Developmental Psychology
This was also a fascinating chapter on the development of the brain from childhood to adulthood, and how psychologists have revolutionized educational curriculums worldwide based on their discoveries on how children process information.
What I found to be the most interesting part of this chapter was the section on 'Who teaches a child to hate and fear a member of another race?' Here, Kenneth Clark made very important discoveries on how society teaches kids to form prejudices at an early age.
Psychology of Difference
What I found to be absolutely entertaining to read in this section, was David Rosenhan's experiment that led to the discovery that psychiatric hospitals in the 1970s were incapable of distinguishing the sane from the insane.
goldshard13's review against another edition
3.0
Honestly a bit disappointed with this one. I learned some interesting things from it, but I wish it would have talked about things like dopamine, addiction, decision-making, etc., as well as how psychological concepts are implemented in real life.
Still a fun read though. I'm just proud of myself for turning it into the library on time lol.
Still a fun read though. I'm just proud of myself for turning it into the library on time lol.