Buy Psychology Books

Review by M. Hightower:

While this book is very well written, the subject matter is fairly basic broad review of psychology. This book is more intended for the most novice scholar in this subject matter. For someone who knows a lot about this field, this book is a fairly basic review of a lot of the most basic of theories, such as Freud and Jung. I recommend this book to beginners for certain, but I don’t think it’s really meant for people who know a lot about the subject because it really doesn’t go in detail enough.

Review by Joseph C. Helton:

Having an interest in psychology, mainly the treatment of anxiety and depression, I picked this book up. The only other book on psychology I had read was my college textbook (which was actually a pretty darn good book too). Anyways, don’t let the unfortunate title ‘For Dummies’ mislead you. This book was a very good, very readable, and most importantly enjoyable initiation into the topic of psychology I think anyone could find. The subject is treated with respect, explored in adequate depth and when finished leaves the reader not only with a better understanding of what psychology is about, but also with a hunger to learn more. Outstanding book and highly recommended.

Review by William C. Andersen:

Psychology for Dummies provided a lot of very good information, but also was plagued with some poor editing and factual inaccuracies.

Positives:

1. Writing style: The author writes with a good ‘conversational’ writing style that is easy to follow and made reading the entire book very easy.

2. Use of examples: The author’s use of examples were effective in helping me understand the ideas being explained.

Negatives:

1. Typos: There were quite a few typos that detract from an otherwise high quality writing

2. Factual mistakes: There were a few minor mistakes of fact which, while not material to the subject of the book, do cause further detraction from the book (for example: Sun Tzu was from what is today China, not Japan.. he was a General, not a Judo expert… and his book was “The Art of War”, not “The Art of Peace”). Again, this is not material to the subject covered in the book, but is a bit of a distraction.

3. Covered some unrelated material that should have been let out of the book. As only on example, the book spends time going over the physical development of the body of a fetus during the nine months of pregnancy. Removing this part could have left more room to cover psychology (such as human development beyond adolescence).

Overall, I was highly impressed with the book. I am a slow reader, but was still able to read it cover to cover in less than two weeks. The author is clearly very knowledgeable, and does a very good job synthesizing information and explaining it in a way that us “dummies” can understand. I do recommend this book if you are interested in getting a broad overview of psychology, theories, and types of treatment. I particularly liked the discussions about personality, forensic (criminal) psychology, etc.

William

Review by D. Leybman:

Personally I have to say that this is one of the better books on psychology written specifically(hence the title “Pyschology for BEGINNERS). To illustrate, the book is 176 pages with a fairly good index and some interesting and quite explanatory pictures and lots of good information on different psychological tecnhinques. It starts out explaining what psychology is and what it is NOT. It goes back to the philosophers to find its origins(psychology) and traces to the future where we learn and know more about genes, our brain. The book tackels subjects, whcih are quite controversial in teh psychological industry quite tamely and does give different points of view. Like on the nature-nurture debate. It explains some of the new techniques psychology uses and used to classify behavior. It, the book, gives information on psychological and psychiatric associationn. The book explains the courses to take if you want to major in psychology. There are also lots of good graphs showing different information on different behaviors. The author’s explantions are interseting and simple even for the layman reader. Some words can be quite techniquel but in all in all, its quite manageable. The author profiles different people and psychologists providing a paragraph to a couple of pages on the figure depending on improtance. The book also gives a good explanation of Freud’s theories though does not delve into Jung as much. But thats good. Cause getting into Jung or other psychiatrists would have been to techniquel and not for the “beginner.” Buy the book if you are interested in psychology. You will not be disappointed.

Review by :

This book is a pretty good introduction into the basics of psychology. It explains the different perspectives and approaches to studying the mind and the different therapies used to treat disorders and undesirable behavior. The illustrations are rather helpful, and there are insights into the history of this science. It’s worth a quick study for someone who may be thinking of making psychology their college major or considering therapy or counseling for him/herself.

Review by ltp1:

The only possible flaw in this book is that *a few* of the entries might be a little opaque to those who don’t already know something about the given topic, but by far most of this book is extremely useful and understandable. I bought this book as an undergraduate studying for the GRE in Psychology (and yes, I think it did help) and have continued to use it as a doctoral student. It’s been helpful at all levels. I recommend it to undergrads who are just interested in psychology, to anyone wanting to brush up on any area of psychology, and to psychologists or psychologists-in-training who want a handy reference to look up new or unfamiliar terms. It contains clear illustrations — for example, of the eye and of some optical illusions — and includes a separate list of common statistical formulas, a list of Greek symbols found in psychology, and a list of abbreviations commonly found in psychology. It has entries for everything from the most broad topics, e.g. “behaviorism”, which gets a lengthy encyclopedic-like entry, to the most narrow, e.g. “phobophobia: fear of fearing”, “bad trip”, and “Barnum effect”. It includes biographical entries. It includes many entries concerning statistial analyses used in psychology — factor analysis, Latin square, rank order correlation, etc. Every aspect of psychology is included here — the physiological, the psychoanalytic, the behavioral, you name it. All in a very small and concise package — ordinary paperback size and probably less thick than the latest John Grisham novel.Each entry leaves you with a good grasp of the basics of the term in question.This is a good book for picking up and browsing if you’re just trying to edify yourself, and it’s a good book to have handy if you are surrounded by psychologists (or books) who occasionally hit you with a term you aren’t quite sure of or would like to know more about.Highly recommended.

Review by :

Has basic information and definitions about psych terms but once you get past the basics the book looses its value. Hasn’t a clue about neuropsychology and info on theory is sparse.

Review by Rich Jakielski:

Kings who sent out explorers would eagerly await the gems, riches, and exotica with which the explorers returned. We all live like relative kings now, and our explorer, Tom Butler-Bowdon has returned once again, this time with rich insights into the human mind.

What determines our personality? Is it our genetics, our environment, or circumstantial conditioning? What about our primary motivation? Is it sexual, our will to power, sheer survival, or our desire to close our personal existential gap? Since your mind was already focused on sex, how does our sex affect the way our minds work, and how is the way our minds feel about sex affected by our sex to begin with? And what is going on in the minds of others and how do we best communicate with them?

For lifelong learners, this book is another joy. We have the same time leverage provided by 50 Self-Help Classics, 50 Success Classics, and 50 Spiritual Classics. For each work, Tom gives us his consistent format of introductory quotes, the main idea in one sentence, related chapters, the distillation of the work, final comments, and relevant author biographical information. These books have raised the content level of my professional speaking and training faster than any other series. This is high density mind food!

Unlike the kings of old, we can easily experience the explorer’s destinations by using Butler-Bowdon’s book as a travel guide. When you do follow up by reading his chosen classics you will be impressed by his accuracy in crystallizing the essence of the works he has studied. Be the beneficiary of his intellectual journey!

ATTENTION: IF YOU ARE A COLLEGE STUDENT TAKING LOW LEVEL PSYCH COURSES, BUY AND READ THIS BOOK. IT WILL GIVE YOU AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE IN LECTURES, ON TESTS, AND WRITING PAPERS.

You will grow intellectually. You will grow personally. Your insights as you interact with others around you will increase.

Maybe you’ll come to the conclusion that even the possibility of our exchange of ideas is only because of the convenient fiction of personality produced by the mechanisms of our mind. Quick, read another chapter!

Get the whole set of 50 Classics. They are also a great listen in audio book format!

Review by Jennifer Baker:

I stumbled upon one of Tom’s 50 CLASSICS books while doing an internet search one day, and I was so excited about the concept! For a person like me– who loves books related to self-help, success, spirituality, and psychology and yet struggles to find time to read the many that are out there, this concept is absolutely ideal. In this busy and information-overloaded world, it’s impossible for most of us to read all of the books that Tom has read for each 50 CLASSICS, much less retain the information in each. Thankfully, Tom has done the challenging and time-consuming work to make this important information more accessible for all of us. He has identified some of the most influential authors in each area and summarized their work in a clear and well-organized manner. Furthermore, in the introduction to each of his books, Tom includes a well-written overview of all the authors and books included in each 50 CLASSICS. In these overviews, he further summarizes the books and themes in ways that make the information easy-to-understand and remember. All of this gives the reader extremely helpful and educational information in a clear, concise format– and in one book that easily can be reviewed often. I believe that’s what it takes to have any hope of truly retaining the main ideas of so many excellent books and truly applying them to make positive changes in one’s life. Furthermore, Tom’s identification of such interesting authors and books, some of which I hadn’t heard of before, has helped me identify some titles that I want to read in their entirety (when I can find the time, of course)–and thankfully, Tom’s summaries will always be helpful reminders of the main points. 50 PSYCHOLOGY CLASSICS is an excellent addition to the 50 CLASSICS collection, and I believe it’s very helpful for psychology professionals (my mom is one and greatly appreciates this book too), interested amateurs (as I am), and students as well. Thank you, Tom! I hope there will be more 50 CLASSICS in the near future!

Review by Ilya Farber:

I teach an interdisciplinary course in psychology and neuroscience, and my psych students have found this book helpful for getting up to speed on neuroanatomy. I’ve also started using some of the pages as overheads during my lectures, since the diagrams are uncluttered and easy to draw on.

I’m writing a review because I thought I should mention that I found this book *much* more useful than its better-known competitor. The other book has more fine-grained anatomical detail, of the sort that would be most useful to someone studying to be a neurosurgeon – but the result is that it’s very hard for a casual student to tell what’s worth studying or remembering. This book does a much better job of focusing on the important structures, the ones that you’re likely to see mentioned in popular science books and articles. The second half (Functional Neuroanatomy, with chapters devoted to the systems subserving different functions) is especially useful.

For anyone interested in self-study, or who just wants a quick reference source for neural structures that they see mentioned in other texts, I’d strongly recommend this book.

Review by Brad4d:

–I am a medical professional who has not had a formal neuroanatomy course for some time. I’ve “returned” to neuroanatomy because brain science is so interesting, and because I now need to know it more and more for professional reasons.
–This book is grrreat for its intended purpose — providing an accurate and reasonably entertaining BASIC introduction (or re-introduction) to functional neuroanatomy (and a good foundation is both rare and valuable). Without neuroanatomy, you are soon in the realm of “sophistry and delusion” while reading about extremely exciting recent brain research. This book seems to be a reasonably adequate BASIC text and is a good “piggyback” for further work. It isn’t intended to bog you down, and will probably provide most of the neuroanatomy you need to know to read a book by Edelman, D’Amasio, Ledoux, etc. more productively and enjoyably.
–If you’ve never had a neuroanatomy course, breaking out the Crayola colored pencils is a good way to learn. If you have had a neuroanatomy class in the distant past, you can clear the cobwebs pretty quickly with this text. It’s much less daunting than related texts, and you can always get to those later.

Review by John Chancellor:

Unless you are a hermit, you can definitely benefit from this book. For those interested in improving their lives,their parenting skills, their leadership skills, their teaching skills and their relationship skills, this is a must read.

Napoleon Hill, in Think and Grow Rich, stressed the importance of a positive mental attitude. Normal Vincent Peale, in The Power of a Positive Mental Attitude, stressed the importance of a positive mental attitude.

Dweck picks up where both of these very famous works fell short. Both Hill and Peale understood the importance of a positive mental attitude. But Dweck shows us how we develop fixed mindset attitudes in many areas of our lives and the damage our attitude inflicts on us and on those we interact with. Instead of dwelling on positive or negative attitude, Dweck used the term fixed mindset and growth mindset.

The book is not just theory. Dweck explains how the fixed mindset was in part responsible for the downfall of Enron. She also contrast the fixed mindset of basketball coach Bobby Knight with that of the growth mindset of legendary coach John Wooden (UCLA). The contrast and the results are startling.

As far as parenting and teaching skills, there are some very valuable lessons. We should learn to praise work and not talent. No one ever failed by striving for constant learning. History is littered with failures who relied on their God given talent.

The book is a real eye-opener. The fixed mindset verses growth mindset is not an either or situation. We can possess a growth mindset in certain areas but a fixed mindset in other areas of our lives. If you are honest, you will do some “Ahha” when you discover some fixed mindsets traits about yourself.

If you are a teacher, you will be challenged to ask yourself are you doing the best job you can do. There are some very inspiring stories about teachers doing outstanding jobs with childern everyone else had written off.

Lastly, Dweck tells how we can develop a growth mindset and improve our lives and the lives of those around us.

Review by C. Daly:

I’ll begin with a summary which allows you, dear reader, to decide if you should read any more of this review:

The irony of Dweck’s book is that if the reader understands and believes what she’s saying, then after the first chapter that reader has no reason to keep reading.

And now, the long (Dweck) version. I was first made aware of this book and its ideas in a seminar on motivating students about a month and a half ago. As presented in the seminar, these seemed like great ideas: intelligence is not fixed, it is learnable, changeable, even teachable. Asking the right questions and making the right comments in the classroom can change the way students approach learning and thinking, and encourage them to grow and learn much more than one might expect. Fantastic. The approach seemed sensible, the logic intuitive, the results believable. I adapted some of the material for a class and sought out the book.

It seemed odd when I found the book on the library shelf not with psychological or pedagogical research, but near books of self-help and affirmation, such as Julia Cameron’s `The Artists’s Way.’ Ah, I thought, it’s just a categorization issue. Not something to worry about. But I should’ve worried, as I’ll explain shortly.

Returning to Dweck, I found the ideas she presents – or rather, singular “idea,” since there really isn’t more than one – to be quite interesting, as I’d hoped. Unfortunately, the book itself isn’t. As I said earlier, reading a single chapter gets the point across: intelligence is not fixed, it can be changed. It is only our “mindset” that holds us back. If we believe we can’t learn, if we believe our abilities are restricted, then they will be. Our limitations are learned and set by ourselves. If we think we can improve ourselves, we will. If we insist that we’re unable to achieve, we won’t. (Dweck offers a few hasty caveats to prevent readers from believing they can will themselves to do absolutely anything, but always as afterthoughts.)

That’s it. That’s the core and kernel of the book, summarized in my few weak sentences. While it was only natural of Dweck to take more space than this, there are limits. Frankly, the main argument of the book could have been made convincingly in a twenty page pamphlet. With a thoughtful design and organization, perhaps a very readable, informative, and even inspirational, tome of 150 or so pages. But certainly not as the rambling, repetitive 288-page critter as this book now exists.

As I read the first three chapters of this book (and, in full disclosure, that is as far as I got, about one-third through), several things became clear to me. Besides the dearth of ideas – how far can one stretch this simple thought? – I began to understand why “Mindset” was categorized in the self-help section and not placed with more scholarly work. For one thing, there is little of scholarly weight here. Dweck frequently refers to studies and research, but most of this is not available to the interested reader. The endnotes are strangely non-standard, making it difficult to identify sources, let alone locate them. Much of the evidence cited appears to be unpublished and unvetted research by Dweck and her colleagues (or students). Several searches on Dweck and her co-researchers turned up nothing. The general bibliography, while something to go on, is also very thin. Dweck herself appears to have the credibility and scholarly bona fides one might expect from a PhD working at Columbia, but they are not in evidence here.

In addition, the format of the chapters was disappointing. It revealed why the book belongs in the self-help section. Each chapter consists of a mixture of assertions and affirmations from the author, impressive-sounding but undocumented research, and effusive testimonials – I can think of no other word to use – by students and others whose lives have been changed by Dweck’s idea. As a motivational tract, it works. As a scholarly work, to be taken seriously, to offer up convincing and repeatable proof of its ideas, it falls short. It is reasonably well-written, it is entertaining (numbing repetition aside), it is provocative and confident. As a useful piece of research, it disappoints.

As I’ve stated more than once, the idea of this book is excellent. It is the execution of which I am critical. I look forward to a future volume by Dweck or her colleagues that presents more tangible proof and documentation, with less reliance on feel-good anecdotes and faith in the author’s assertions.

Review by EnlightenmentDudes .com:

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Jim Ravenscroft

Review by Vesselin Gueorguiev:

I truly don’t know where to start with this. I’ve never read anything like it. Take that statement for what it’s worth. I’m a college student and for the past five years I’ve had a drive to read everything under the sun as it relates to personal growth and what it means to “be” human. As the saying goes, we’re human beings, we aren’t “human doings.” This is in a category of its own. It sounds funny and it is, but I could just feel becoming smarter as I read this book. So many “aha” moments just clicked into place. The book just feels *right.*

I can’t describe this book as just something that adds more “stuff” to your head. This book is a pointer to experience. It’s also an inspiration to be aware that a human being created something of such great value.

After all other readings I’ve done from psychology, leadership, eastern philosophy, you name it – this book becomes a unifying principle of everything. And it is immense. It isn’t everyday that I say that something becomes a unifying principle for many other seemingly contradictory or paradoxical “realities.” Yet this one somehow manages to do just that.

When you read a lot, when you experience a lot, you tend to let things just be scattered all over the place in your mind. When things in your mind are scattered, your experience of reality will equally be scattered. You will be like a leaf in the wind. And you will try to fight against any currents. This is a book that unifies everything together in a holistic manner that translates in direct experience. This book is not trying to convince you of anything, it does not, and cannot become a “belief.” It is trying to SHOW you, NOW. After it has shown you, you are free to do what you like. It’s a piercing expose of what it means to be human.

The advantages are clear: You walk around more centered in yourself, your mind will be clear, you will be more efficient and proactive in whatever it is that you do.

What are the flaws of the book? For the sake of staying balanced, I’ll throw you a bone and pretend that “it’s too long” is a flaw. There’s too much to take in. It’s so long, but paradoxically, it cuts to the chase. It’s to the point. You know when you have your first experience when you are at a loss of words? That’s where this book is trying to point you to. However, you will need to keep exposing yourself to influences that point you in the right direction. This book is long, but one read will not suffice. Your mind has too much momentum working for it, so you will probably want to make the decision of trying to slow it down by exposing yourself again and again to this book, and any other work that points to fulfillment or towards real experience.

What I love about all this is that it’s all very practical and down to Earth, as it is. I have an aversion to any “airy” concepts that sound good but can’t be nailed down. Anything too spiritual with too many wishy-washy words and examples can’t really do it for me. Another great practical book is “Buddha’s Brain” by Rick Hanson. If you’re interested in this topic (and I know you are, since you’ve read this far), check it out. =)

Review by H. Grove:

Psychology is a broad and complex subject and I was afraid any sort of overview meant for “the masses” would fall into one of two categories: too complex and dry to be considered appropriate for a Complete Idiot’s Guide (CIG), or too superficial to be considered a decent overview. I was amazed to find that this book was neither. Instead of dumbing down or over-simplifying her topic, Dr. Johnston instead chose to make it interesting by writing with personality, wit, and style, illuminating her points with anecdotes and illustrative examples, and making her points relevant to everyday life. This book strikes a surprising balance between covering the theories and history of psychology and applying it to things everybody cares about.

Make no mistake–this isn’t an afternoon’s beach reading. It took me some time to get through this book because it’s fat with information on everything from language development to schizophrenia. For anyone with an interest in studying psychology this book would make a fantastic introduction; I find it much easier to remember information about such figures as Jung and Freud when it’s made relevant to modern and everyday affairs than when it’s simply written as history. This book would also make a perfect resource for parents, as it delves quite a bit into how we develop as people, and how parents and childhood both do and don’t influence us–including plenty of practical tips.

This book is also wonderful for pretty much anyone who could use some help coping with stress or figuring out how to deal with their troubles, or who wants to better understand a mental illness they suffer from. In particular it would be handy for folks who might not need the full help of a therapist but who could use some tips for healthier living, or people who want to know how to cope with a loved one’s illness.

Whether you want an overview on the nature vs. nurture debate, the brain vs. mind delineation, issues of memory, emotions, motivation, stress, self-concepts, personality, or the difference between “normal” and “abnormal” behavior, it’s covered in here–and it’s covered in a fascinating and detailed manner.

Review by :

I am interested in psychology but I am only in 10th grade so I have had no formal training in psychology. I really liked this book because it gave me a quick overview of psychology without getting too technical. It was easy to read even for someone who does not know a lot about the subject. It gives an overview of every aspect of psychology and is a great book for anyone who is interested in psychology and just wants an overview.