A Student's Guide to Psychology

A small book to introduce anyone to psychology. I enjoyed this read. The author gave 2 sides to the major arguments and clearly showed an outline of many of the major players in the world of psychology, and philosophy for that matter. I think its also important to note that he gave a bit of a history to many of them too, just to show where they came from and why they might have such a view. I think this is important, in that we should also look critically at where we are at in psychology today. This book is very clear and to the point, as it should be for such a small book!

This book offers an excellent orientation to phychology: the history of psychology dating back to ancient Greece the main branches of study (behaviorism, genetics, neuroscience,etc..) the key thinkers in each branch the interconnection between branches Like all good writing should be, it is very easy to read and follow but very dense with information. My greatest praise for this book is the perspective that Daniel Robinson maintains on psychology as a whole. He very cleary shows the tendency of each branch of phychology to attemt to reduce the whole of psychology to itself, e.g. neuroscience says that psychology is nothing more than brain chemicals, behaviorism says that psychology is nothing more than conditioning, etc.. He maintains perspective on the role of each branch within the whole of psychology. This is an overview for beginners or those seeking a general understanding, not an in depth study of any branch in particular. It is also important to note that this book studies psychology from a Western perspective, and as such makes little note of any contributions from Eastern thinkers. I highly recommend this book to those thinking about going into the study of psychology, or those wanting a broader understanding of the subject as a whole.