Psychology: 50 Essential Ideas

by Emily Ralls, Tom Collins

How do we learn? What is memory? How do we know how to behave?

The formal study of psychology as a scientific enterprise began in Germany in the late 19th century but the observation of human behaviour dates back to Ancient Greece. Defined as the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes, psychology has attained a range of branches including clinical, cognitive, developmental, evolutionary, forensic, health and neuropsychology. In a wide ranging, highly illustrated book, readers are introduced to the world of psychology and those who formed the science as we know it.

With discussion of a number of key ideas including prejudice and discrimination, social cognition, how we develop attitudes and why and how we fall in love, as well as reference to the people who developed these ideas, the book is an accessible guide to this fascinating subject.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Inspirational, Sociology, Science

337 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 1, 2022

Reviews

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect holiday nerding material :)

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Psychology is such an interesting subject and this book was absolutely amazing in touching upon so many areas but in a such a succinct and easy to understand way.

It was a whistlestop tour around our brain and how it works, from perception, memories, origins of psychology and dreams to different types of conditioning, it covered a lot of ground! It piqued my interest immediately and I found myself whipping through the chapters in no time. They are kept short and to the point, conveying the basics but also detailed enough to tell you enough of what you need to know.

There were so many interesting studies featured here, it was great. I loved hearing about them and how they revealed more about us, our brains and how we think. It was all so interesting and I couldn’t stop listening!

It was an easy audiobook, in the sense the narrator (and author) did a fab job at making the complex words and concepts easy to follow without being overwhelming.

It appeals to both psychology lovers and those who are simply intrigued by our brains and how they work. You don’t need to know science or anything about psychology at all as this book will teach you the basics and all you need to know! I loved it.

Thank you to the author and publisher for this audiobook on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.

[J Earl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psychology: 50 Essential Ideas by Emily Ralls is a good brief introduction to psychology, both the practice and the history. Like any attempt at presenting a large and diverse topic in basic terms, it won't satisfy everyone, but even with its flaws it is still a success.

The more familiar you are with psychology, its history, and neuroscience the more you will likely feel some things were too glossed over and/or left out. It isn't that you'd be wrong but rather that such drawbacks are unavoidable. Decisions have to be made (what to include and what not) as well as depth considerations (offer a slightly questionable explanation that gets the main point across or offer a better explanation that will require going into more depth to make it accessible) for the lay reader. I think Ralls did a commendable job at trying to make a brief yet extensive presentation of such a broad and everchanging field.

While not even close to being a book for classroom use (and it was never intended to be, so that is not a negative) it would be ideal for someone who is either considering the field(s) or for someone who simply wants to learn the basics about a field they have never studied.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

[Kristjan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good (and brief) survey of the history and current state of psychology today perfect for anyone interested in a basic understanding in how we learn and process events/inputs. Each chapter is a specific idea and is generally organized chronologically so that you can see how our understanding evolved and perhaps realize how much we still don’t know. It begins with Introspection (Wilheim Wundt) which attempted to move the study of the mind away from its previous philosophical foundations (such as dualism) and into a more scientific or experimental exploration despite the “black box” nature of what they were observing and the tension between only measuring individual elements what can be seen (structuralism) and postulating a response that could be predicted by controlling inputs (functionalism). Eventually you come to realism that there are basic truths in most of these approaches, yet none of them give us anything close to a unified theory of the mind …

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#Psychology50EssentialIdeas #NetGalley

[Tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very informative and interesting read. The book explores popular and important psychological theories and studies throughout the decades and provides condensed yet thorough details, such as their relevance, their findings, their benefits in understanding human behaviour and even their biases or flaws. I was very invested and intrigued throughout. I particularly enjoyed the sections on illusions, the brains of sociopaths, and the one about animal behaviour (especially the details about Clever Hans, the horse who solved math problems by studying human body language, so fascinating!). I learned some things and was never bored. If you are interested in the human mind and some of the studies conducted in trying to understand the human mind, then I definitely recommend. Remember, it is a condensed version of the, I guess, most influential studies and theories throughout. All your pressing psychological questions will not be answered, but I would say it is a good starting point.

Thank you to NetGalley, Arcturus Publishing and the authors for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Anita Salát · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and easy audiobook even if I couldn't take the narrator seriously at first. I'm not sure if she adjusted her reading to the nonfiction topic as the chapters went by or I got used to her, but after a half an hour I stopped feeling that this is some kind of romance and started to enjoy it.
The book is listing the most important ideas that's worth knowing in the field of psychology and provides a great overview of this science.

Thanks to NetGalley and Arcturus Digital Audio for an Advance Review Copy.

[Carol Keogh (Goodfellow) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly written, well laid out and full of fascinating information on the science of Psychology. Designed to be read by the lay reader it offers insights into why people behave the way they do and think how they do. An easy book to hop straight to what interests the reader, I would recommend that it is read in its entirety. Well done the authors. Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and of course the authors.

[Aria Harlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really quick and interesting introduction into psychology and the key ideas/theories that underpin thr principle. I took psychology in A level so I knew some of them but there were a lot that I didn't know so I learnt a lot from the book and it has definitely ignited my interest to look more into it.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice collection of core ideas within Psychology briefly, but also satisfyingly, explained. Might not go in depth the way books entirely devoted to any of the 50 ideas would do, but this does a great job introducing these ideas, so it’s great for newbies or anyone that wants to refresh their minds.

[bruna · Rating 4 out of 5]

muito bom!!! adorei

[Shishir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent backgrounder to many Psychology concepts