Customer Reviews

Forty Studies that Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I would expect a book on such intricate studies such as this to be difficult to read and confusing, but instead it leaves the reader with an incredible clarity of mind. The writing style is so engaging and effortless that you find yourself in the middle of a difficult subject before you know it. Actually, it reads like a novel, a novel of discovery.

This book is simply fantastic and here is why:
1) It is written so that the average individual can understand the historical and hypothesis driven factors underlying these key studies
2) I am not in the psychological field, and I found the book a joy to read, and easy to grasp
3)I have had an undergraduate psychology course, and this book was a wonderful refresher of some of the things I heard about, yet provides more detail without being dry and/or uninteresting
4)Multiple psychology fields are presented and the criticisms of each paradigm shifting study are revealed
5) I can re-read select chapters and get something new out each time

It is rare that I find a book that is worth reading again after I have finished it the first time. This is one such rare book, and so I have to say thanks to Roger Hock for providing such a delightful little tome.

I read this book when I took Introduction to Psychology several years ago, and now I use it in the classes I teach. It's a wonderful collection of classic studies organized by topic. The original articles have been edited, so that they are easy for the beginning student to read. This book is a great way to introduce the science of psychology to students.

Roger Hock's book reviews forty studies which have heavily influenced the direction of psychology. Many will be familiar to even a first-year psychology major. And you may feel he has left out a few--I was surprised not to find George Miller's "The Magic Number Seven Plus or Minus Two" in the Intelligence, Cognition and Memory chapter, for example. The studies he has chosen are good ones, though.

My five favorites among the chapters:

"Little Emotional Albert" is based on Watson, J.B. and Raynor, R. (1920). Conditioned emotional responses. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 3, 1-14. This article describes applied research that scared a little boy with a loud noise while he was looking at a white rat. The researchers then documented how this fear generalized to similar objects. The study was groundbreaking in its time and a good stimulus for a discussion of research ethics.

"What You Expect is What You Get" is based on Rosenthal, R. and Jacobson, L. (1968). Teachers' expectancies: Determinates of pupils' IQ gains. Psychological Reports, 19, 115-118. The study shows that students may become more or less intelligent depending on what their teacher's have been told about their intelligence.

"In Control and Glad of It!" is based on Langer, E.G. and Rodin, J. (1976). The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 191-198. The article shows the benefits of choice and self-determination in elder care. It is an early produce of Jean Langers work on Mindfulness and its effects in a number of settings.

"Learning to be Depressed" is based on Seligman, M.E.P. and Maier, S.F. (1967). Failure to escape traumatic shock. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74, 1-9. This study shows that dogs which cannot escape an electrical shock will stop trying, even when conditions are changed so that escape is not possible. It is an early piece of Seligman's research (See Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life) which has led to effective diagnosis and treatment of depression.

"To Help or Not to Help" is based on Darley, J. M. and Latane, B. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social psychology, 8, 371-378. It links failure to respond to those needing help to the number of people available to respond.

WARNING: Contrary to what you may expect, the book does NOT reprint the actual studies. I found this initially annoying since the title implies otherwise. It does contain a reference to each study, a review of its contents and significance, and pointers to other related references. The book is useful as a guide to supplemental readings in an introductory psychology class. The professor just needs to supply copies of or links to the studies themselves.

This book does an excellent job of summarizing the most important contributions of psychological research in its relatively young history. As a psychology professor, I plan to use this book in the classroom -- many of my colleagues already do. It gives students a great history lesson and also familiarizes them with past and current theories in the field of psychology. We especially love how the author includes more recent studies that have resulted from the original 40 studies -- current directions, so to speak. Great book!

The book was fine - I just thought it was excessive to have to wait 4 days for Amazon to get it together and another 5 days until my son received it. I know it was within your terms but it still should not have taken that long to process.

I'm a psych major in college, so I naturally enjoyed reading about these important studies. However, I think anyone could enjoy this book. It's very readable and covers crucial research from all areas of psychology. Read about one study or all forty; this is a great book!

This book was required reading for a graduate class I am taking. Most of the studies I had already learned in
undergraduate classes. But this book was a nice review of those theories and was an easy read.

This is a great book. If you are an undergraduate, don't sell your book. YOu may think you've heard about these studies and you wouldn't refer back to the book, but I wish I hadn't sold mine. They are the landmark studies that I keep wishing I could use for a paper, and will probably be on the GRE. Little Albert afraid of every furry thing, Bandura's learning through observation, and even some Freud, though he didn't really do any studies and it ticked off my prof that he was in there. I'm now re-buying the book because there have been too many times I've wished I've had it since the class was over a semester ago.

Book came in very quickly...(thank you)... it was needed for a school project.
The book was in used condition, but still holding up pretty well.