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How to Think Straight about Psychology
Teaching students to become better consumers of psychological research." Keith Stanovich's widely used and highly acclaimed book presents a short introduction to the critical thinking skills that will help students to better understand the subject matter of psychology. "How to Think Straight about Psychology, 10e" helps students recognize pseudoscience and be able to disti
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Paperback, 239 pages
Published
September 29th 2012
by Pearson
(first published January 28th 1985)
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Community Reviews
(showing 1-30 of 1,306)
I was fortunate to take Dr. Stanovich's Research Design and Cognitive Psychology classes as an undergrad psychology student. I think the book was in its first edition back then, but I still buy the update every so often. This book not only introduced me to - and gave me respect for - the scientific method, but it also has been hugely influential over the years in the way I view mainstream culture's often erroneous approach to interpreting scientific studies (i.e. fallacies, research bias, correl
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This is a must-read, not just for people specially interested in psychology but also for consumers of psychology (which includes just about everyone!). This book will change your entire perspective on psychology and allow you to investigate psychological claims critically. I guarantee you will learn something new!
I found this book a surprisingly compelling read.
Surprising because I thought it would be very dry and text-book-y. Actually what I found was a well written clear book debunking some of the myths surrounding psychology, a comparison to other sciences as well as an introduction as to why an understanding of statistics is so importance. http://wp.me/p10Vn0-2O
Surprising because I thought it would be very dry and text-book-y. Actually what I found was a well written clear book debunking some of the myths surrounding psychology, a comparison to other sciences as well as an introduction as to why an understanding of statistics is so importance. http://wp.me/p10Vn0-2O
از متن کتاب:
سالها پس از آن که دانشجوسان اطلاعات مربوط به درس های روانشناسی مقدماتی را فراموش کنند، اصول بنیادی کتاب حاضر را برای ارزیابی ادعاهای روانشناختی به کار خواهند برد.... اگرچه این مهارت های تفکر انتقادی را میتوان برای هر رشته ای از دانش به کار برد، اما در روانشناسی اهمیت ویژه ای دارند زیرا رسانه های همگانی این رشته را به شکل تحریف یافته ای عرضه می کنند.
سالها پس از آن که دانشجوسان اطلاعات مربوط به درس های روانشناسی مقدماتی را فراموش کنند، اصول بنیادی کتاب حاضر را برای ارزیابی ادعاهای روانشناختی به کار خواهند برد.... اگرچه این مهارت های تفکر انتقادی را میتوان برای هر رشته ای از دانش به کار برد، اما در روانشناسی اهمیت ویژه ای دارند زیرا رسانه های همگانی این رشته را به شکل تحریف یافته ای عرضه می کنند.
Apr 17, 2011
Mythack
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
favourite-nonfiction,
psychology
ESSENTIAL.
Clearly this book is able to shape your view on life as a whole. I believe that after reading it few are the people who will not use the information revealed in this piece of solid gold as responsible as possible at their own risk.
Clearly this book is able to shape your view on life as a whole. I believe that after reading it few are the people who will not use the information revealed in this piece of solid gold as responsible as possible at their own risk.
Mandatory reading for anyone doing science, not only psychology!
Contents:
(view spoiler) ...more
(view spoiler) ...more
This book changed my perspective on life, love, and liberty!!
All hail Keith Stanovich!!
Seriously, I almost moved to Toronto to follow the golden beacon of the Stanovich.
Here he presents the basic tenets of Psychology and science. In doing so, he presents a world of hope. There is a hope that we may learn about our world. This enriches our lives.
There is no need for a giant FSM in the sky. Science is religion.
That's only my personal view, though.
Read, and be enlightened!!
All hail Keith Stanovich!!
Seriously, I almost moved to Toronto to follow the golden beacon of the Stanovich.
Here he presents the basic tenets of Psychology and science. In doing so, he presents a world of hope. There is a hope that we may learn about our world. This enriches our lives.
There is no need for a giant FSM in the sky. Science is religion.
That's only my personal view, though.
Read, and be enlightened!!
Required reading for my Senior Project in Psychology class. Not a bad book, author provides way too many examples for each concept. The book does a great job breaking down the scientific process.
Would be a really good introduction to psychological issues for undergraduate students who are taking a psych class for the first time. Interesting topics and interesting writing style.
Awesome! Should be required reading prior to doing any kind of science course. Also a great book to learn how think critically--something everyone lacks in one way or another.
a must read for anyone looking to learn how think critically about any of fields in the social sciences. read it.
Jul 17, 2016
Ville Kokko
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
If you want to learn the secret behind science in 200 pages.
How to Think Straight about Psychology is an introductory textbook for psychology students — but it’s also a great introduction to what I might call practical philosophy of science.
A lot of philosophy of science, when it’s under that label, is about things like “Can science be true if it’s socially constructed?” or “How can we prove induction works when we can’t use induction to do it?” I’ve heard it’s largely uninteresting to actual scientists. But there’s something else, too, something I’ve ma ...more
A lot of philosophy of science, when it’s under that label, is about things like “Can science be true if it’s socially constructed?” or “How can we prove induction works when we can’t use induction to do it?” I’ve heard it’s largely uninteresting to actual scientists. But there’s something else, too, something I’ve ma ...more
Though I have read this book for many years. I would like to recommend this book to every one I know in my life.
This book is not only talking about what psychology is scientific and what is not, it is talking about how to judge what ever a theory is a scientific theory or not. In another words, it is a first book I have ever read talking about what Karl Poper's falsifiability means.
But to use the falsifiability to judge something is so difficult, that is why it needs a book to describe it. In f ...more
This book is not only talking about what psychology is scientific and what is not, it is talking about how to judge what ever a theory is a scientific theory or not. In another words, it is a first book I have ever read talking about what Karl Poper's falsifiability means.
But to use the falsifiability to judge something is so difficult, that is why it needs a book to describe it. In f ...more
Mar 12, 2013
no_more_color
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
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I took a general psychology class in college and one of the earliest loads of bull-plop the professor asked us to swallow was that psychology is a science and not a collection of half baked unprovable theories. I did not believe her, despite enjoying her and the class quite a lot. I had a good deal of experience with psychologists prior to taking the class and found that they tended to be thoughtful, creative people. Therefore, even after finishing my Gen Psych course, I continued to believe tha
...more
I might be partial as I myself is a soon to be psychologist. But I think this is a great book. For the first time in many, many years I am proud of psychology. You slowly learn to dislike it and hate it when you study it at the university and discover how little scientific reasoning they use at the department and how few things they are even willing to discuss critically. Professors and students alike here in Denmark refused to use scientific data, could not understand statistics and systems and
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great book. I hate I did not read it earlier. It is a guide, not only for think about Pyschology, but also everything, in right way.
I really liked his narration and humour style. Reading his book was like conversing with a university professor in an informal environment.
Another good thing was that no claims were left hanging from the air—each had the corresponding researches cited in the same sentence or paragraph.
Another good thing was that no claims were left hanging from the air—each had the corresponding researches cited in the same sentence or paragraph.
Well presented, clearly laid out general overview of what it means to study in the field of psychology.
Boring but incredibly useful for understanding analytical thinking and psychology.
Buku ini menjelaskan kembali bahwa psikologi adalah science. Banyak penekanan yang disertai dengan contoh-contoh yang relevan. Menurut saya, mahasiswa Psikologi yang sedang membuat rancangan penelitian sebaiknya membaca buku ini agar dapat lebih dapat memahami apa yang seharusnya dia lakukan agar tetap memenuhi persyaratan kaidah ilmiah. Daripada dijejali dengan berbagai temuan dalam ilmu Psikologi, rasanya mahasiswa akan mendapatkan lebih banyak manfaat jika diajarkan untuk berpikir kritis, sep
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Good stuff. I'm not convinced that psychology *has* to be a science at every level, but I do appreciate the critical thinking skills that the author applies (and invites his readers to apply) to psych studies. Stanovich's sense of humor helps make the topic go down easier.
This is a quite good book about methodology, it defends psychology as a branch of science, and I have absorbed some quite profound ideas about science itself. But I have admit it is book requiring my patience, cause its language is quite acadamic.
my brain hurts and this guy is seriously opinionated omg
and too much science lbr (cries)
guess who has finished reading their first textbook for uni (i also took notes)
and too much science lbr (cries)
guess who has finished reading their first textbook for uni (i also took notes)
I am learning so much about the field that I am going into and the misconceptions about it as a science... very thought-provoking!
Jul 04, 2016
Jesse D
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
all-time-favourites
Find out why you may never solve a problem if you go looking for The Cause. Or why evidence goes to town hall meetings to die.
great book for understanding the science of psychology and what makes something pseudoscience. i'm lovin' it.
General concepts with good examples. Useful for psychology majors and non-majors.
Good book. Talks about how to think straight about science, not just psychology.
Boring boring boring... Had to read it for a class
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