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Thinking About Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior
Special David G. Myers, Hope College, Holland, Michigan
Appropriate High school-level psychology [not Advanced Placement]
In a convenient and effective modular format, Thinking About Psychology offers a rigorous presentation of psychological science in a non-threatening way with numerous and immediate examples that help high school students bridge the abstract to the familiar. This book closely follows the American Psychological Association (APA) National Standards for the Teaching of High School Psychology, for which both Blair-Broeker and Ernst served as Task Force members.
Appropriate High school-level psychology [not Advanced Placement]
In a convenient and effective modular format, Thinking About Psychology offers a rigorous presentation of psychological science in a non-threatening way with numerous and immediate examples that help high school students bridge the abstract to the familiar. This book closely follows the American Psychological Association (APA) National Standards for the Teaching of High School Psychology, for which both Blair-Broeker and Ernst served as Task Force members.
671 pages, Hardcover
First published March 21, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 1, 2017
This is a high school level textbook from my local school. I never had a psychology class in high school or college, so my perspective on the entire topic going in was limited to a combination of general awareness of the big names, plus all the juicy bits that filtered through the lens of culture and time.
The textbook did a great job in introducing a lot of information with historical background and context. So instead of simply saying "your superego is what makes you do ____", they gave the background of who Freud was, where and when he proposed his theories, problems and limitations with them, and the impact they made on psychologists who followed.
From a parent perspective, the book seemed to be considerate of the audience and tread carefully in areas of suicide, sexual activity, drug use, and similar items. It also navigated an interesting area when it emphasized that people will be more successful in life with optimism, but they should also be aware of injustice in the culture.
On the topic of evolutionary psychology, the treatment was somewhat mixed. The book indicates that there is much disagreement about nature vs. nurture in the explanation of modern traits; so far, so good. But when discussing the "nurture" side, it parrots the typical shallow overconfidence and circular logic so often found on this topic. (We have some traits through evolution because 'anscestors' had them. How did you know ancestors had them? Well they must have had them -- otherwise how would we have evolved with them?)
This is most glaring when providing convoluted explanations for traits that don't seem beneficial, such as our memory working better for storing where and when something occurred, but not what.
But for the most part, the author sticks to "our ancestors probably did ____", which is at least honest about the lack of information such assumptions are built on.
Overall, I would say this textbook is a pretty interesting primer on a really broad topic, and doesn't sound off too many alarm bells.
The textbook did a great job in introducing a lot of information with historical background and context. So instead of simply saying "your superego is what makes you do ____", they gave the background of who Freud was, where and when he proposed his theories, problems and limitations with them, and the impact they made on psychologists who followed.
From a parent perspective, the book seemed to be considerate of the audience and tread carefully in areas of suicide, sexual activity, drug use, and similar items. It also navigated an interesting area when it emphasized that people will be more successful in life with optimism, but they should also be aware of injustice in the culture.
On the topic of evolutionary psychology, the treatment was somewhat mixed. The book indicates that there is much disagreement about nature vs. nurture in the explanation of modern traits; so far, so good. But when discussing the "nurture" side, it parrots the typical shallow overconfidence and circular logic so often found on this topic. (We have some traits through evolution because 'anscestors' had them. How did you know ancestors had them? Well they must have had them -- otherwise how would we have evolved with them?)
This is most glaring when providing convoluted explanations for traits that don't seem beneficial, such as our memory working better for storing where and when something occurred, but not what.
But for the most part, the author sticks to "our ancestors probably did ____", which is at least honest about the lack of information such assumptions are built on.
Overall, I would say this textbook is a pretty interesting primer on a really broad topic, and doesn't sound off too many alarm bells.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review