Textbook Of Psychology Psychology Revivals

Donald Hebb was one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century and the first version of this textbook was written in 1958. This 4th edition, co-authored with Donderi, was originally published in 1987 and the object of the book was to introduce the student to the scientific study of the human mind and behaviour. The authors’ concern was with scientific psychology and fundamental principles. They felt this understanding was the best preparation to following future developments in psychological knowledge and to understand the changes in how that knowledge was applied. Although psychology has developed in many directions since its publication, much of the information in this book is still relevant today.

Originally published in 1926, the aim of this textbook was the ‘interpretation of human behaviour and conduct’. Beatrice Edgell is an important figure in the history of psychology. She was the first British woman to receive a PhD in psychology, the first female psychology professor in Britain and the first woman president of the British Psychological Society (1930-1931), of which she had been a founding member in 1901. As the Head of Psychology at Bedford College, she established one of the first psychological laboratories in the UK. She also taught a number of women who went on to become prominent in the field. One of her many publications this book was thought to be ‘suitable for students training for social work or for the general reader interested in educational and social questions’.

Originally published in 1973, this book contains the 1971 William James Lectures at Harvard, the first by that name to be given by a British psychologist. In addition, there are reprints of four shorter lectures which had not been easily available before. Together the resulting collection gave a broad picture of a number of advances in human psychology in the previous ten years. Memory, attention, language, and the processes of decision are discussed, and typical recent ideas and experiments described. Each topic is presented, however, with continual reference to the reasons why the research was done, its implications for philosophy and for scientific method, and its connection with an attitude to politics and life as a whole. The author not only describes little known facts about the way people take decisions or remember, but also argues that we are living through a change in our attitudes to human nature: and that proper concern for human values, or understanding of people with minds different from our own, must demand a more scientific and less intuitive analysis of man. Experiments on human beings still strike many of us as cold-blooded and inhuman; this book tries to explain why some scientists devote themselves to this approach. It makes the connection between measurements of reaction time or of ability to see a written word in a brief flash, and our political and personal beliefs. Donald E. Broadbent is well recognised as a major influence on cognitive psychology today. This reissue is an opportunity to see his exceptional writing in print again and should be read with equal interest by psychologists as well as laymen who would like to know about some of the more practical aspects of psychological enquiry of the time.

The vast majority of research in social psychology focuses on momentary events: an attitude is changed, dissonance is reduced, a cognition is primed, and so on. Little attention is a paid to the unfolding of events over time, to social life as an ongoing process in which events are related in various ways as life unfolds. Originally published in 1984, Historical Social Psychology opens a space for theory and research in which temporal process is central. Contributors to this broad-ranging work provide a rich range of perspectives, from the theoretical to the methodological, from micro-sequences to the life-span, and from contemporary history to the long durée. Together, these authors set the stage for a major shift in the focus of social psychological inquiry.

Psychology has influence in almost every walk of life. Originally published in 1997, A Century of Psychology is a review of where the discipline came from, where it had reached and where the editors anticipated it may go. Ray Fuller, Patricia Noonan Walsh and Patrick McGinley assembled an internationally recognised team of mainly European experts from the major applications and research areas of psychology. They begin with a critical review of methodology and its limitations and plot the course of gender and developmental psychology. They go on to include discussion of learning, intellectual disability, clinical psychology and the emergence of psychotherapy, educational psychology, organizational psychology, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and many other topics, in particular community psychology, perception and alternative medicine. Enlightening, reflective and sometimes provocative, A Century of Psychology is required reading for anyone involved in psychology as a practitioner, researcher or teacher. It is also a lively introduction for those new to the discipline.

Originally published in 1983, fifteen well-known psychologists and psychotherapists write about their personal interests to give the reader a vivid picture of the complexities of psychotherapy in Britain at the time. They explore aspects of the interaction and intersection of the psychological and psychotherapeutic worlds, paying particular attention to the practical and theoretical controversies involved in this overlap. The first half of the book concerns itself with problems of theory and practice in psychology and psychotherapy, while the second half deals with professional conflicts and political issues impinging upon the practice of psychotherapy by psychologists. Areas of concern and controversy that are scrutinised include the problematic relationship between academic psychology and psychotherapy; doubts and certainties in psychotherapy; the psychology of helping; the relevance of the psychodynamic tradition; inter-professional disputes; women and psychotherapy; and social class issues in psychotherapy.

First published in 1922, this popular title by R. S Woodworth was revised several times. This twentieth edition from 1949 brought D.G. Marquis on board and was thoroughly revised again, originally published in its current form in 1963. One of the most famous and successful introductions to psychology ever published, this book was very popular in universities and training colleges at the time. Now available again after many years it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

The fields of social behaviour and personality had for the most part been studied separately, originally published in 1986, this title was one of the first to consider them together. Social behaviours and contexts are analysed and distinctions are suggested. Social behaviours not previously seen as similar are linked. This a great opportunity to rediscover the work of Arnold Buss one of the greats in Social Psychology.