Psychology: A Very Short Introduction

By Gillian Butler, Freda McManus, Freda McManus Gillian Butler

Book Overview

Psychology is part of everyone's experience: it influences the way we think about everything from education and intelligence, to relationships and emotions, advertising and criminality. People readily behave as amateur psychologists, offering explanations for what people think, feel, and do. But what exactly are psychologists trying to do? What scientific grounding do they have for their approach? This Very Short Introduction explores some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical relevance.

In this new edition, Gillian Butler and Freda McManus explore a variety of new topics and ways of studying the brain. Until recently it was not possible to study the living human brain directly, so psychologists studied our behavior, and used their observations to derive hypotheses about what was going on inside. Now - through neuroscience - our knowledge of the workings of the brain has increased and improved technology provides us with a scientific basis on which to understand the structure and workings of the brain, allowing brain activity to be observed and measured. Exploring some of the most important advances and developments in psychology - from evolutionary psychology and issues surrounding adolescence and aggression to cognitive psychology - this is a stimulating introduction for anyone interested in understanding the human mind.

About the Series:
Oxford's Very Short Introductions series offers concise and original introductions to a wide range of subjects--from Islam to Sociology, Politics to Classics, Literary Theory to History, and Archaeology to the Bible. Not simply a textbook of definitions, each volume in this series provides trenchant and provocative--yet always balanced and complete--discussions of the central issues in a given discipline or field. Every Very Short Introduction gives a readable evolution of the subject in question, demonstrating how the subject has developed and how it has influenced society. Eventually, the series will encompass every major academic discipline, offering all students an accessible and abundant reference library. Whatever the area of study that one deems important or appealing, whatever the topic that fascinates the general reader, the Very Short Introductions series has a handy and affordable guide that will likely prove indispensable.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B019SEPN96
• ISBN13: 9780199670420
• Release Date: March 2014
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.3" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Psychology: a Very Short Review

Psychology: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)Very helpful overview of psychology- with some particular personalities missing (Freud, for example).

A Great Refresher

The other reviews of this book mention its benefits for those looking to fulfill their curiosity of the subject, but this small book is also a great refresher for people who have previously studied Psychology. As a teacher, I just found out I will be teaching Psychology as an elective course. I couldn't be more excited, but it has been a few years since I took courses, both at the high school and college level. This was a great, quick overview of the field that got my mind back in focus. I would highly recommend this to others.

A broad scope and a straightforward approach

A sleeves-rolled-up, business-like, straightforward survey of the field. Psychoanalysis is given short shrift. Freud gets a brief mention, but Jung, Adler and Reich get none at all. Not surprisingly, parapsychology, hypnotherapy and other fringe theories and therapies are also totally ignored. This is mainstream, orthodox psychology as taught at undergraduate level, the tradition that began with William James and is current in the profession. The authors go for breadth rather than depth and manage to cover a surprising array of topics, and do so in a reliable and authoritative manner. They do slip up a couple of times, for example when mentioning linguistic relativity and reiterating the old myth about the plethora of Eskimo words for 'snow'. They wisely stay well away from the philosophical dimensions of the subject, such as the nature of consciousness. They simply use 'consciousness', 'awareness' and 'mindfulness' as if their meanings were transparent, which is fair enough in a book of this nature. In these Very Short Introductions, space is at a premium and the few illustrations should be carefully chosen. Here we have a picture of a happy couple standing atop a hill, supposedly to illustrate the difficulty of distinguishing drives from goals. Would I be right in assuming it is actually a picture of one of the authors with a friend? A touch of irritating self-indulgence. So, not the best entry in this series, but if you are looking for a current introduction to mainstream psychology and psychiatry, readable and informative, this is an excellent choice.

Excellent introduction to a fascinating subject

This is the second book I've read it the Very Short Introduction series and it has proved to be a continued success. This is a subject that has interested me for a few years but I've never got around to finding out about properly; now I know the basics and am very interested to learn more. It is superbly written in an accessible style with witty and thought-provoking examples and simple format and balanced writing that puts forward various competing theories as well as the facts. Although it does not go into detail of theories of specific psychologists, there are whole volumes in the series of Freud and Jung, which I intend to purchase soon. This book has really opened up my mind to a fascinating topic and I am now considering studying it further. The two authors benefit from a combination of real expertise with the ability to speak to a novice. Whole-heartedly reccomended.