Customer Reviews

How to Think Like a Psychologist: Critical Thinking in Psychology

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There is 49 2-3 page "sections" (chapters) each addressing a broad question or statement, such as "Why Do We Have to Learn about the Brain?" or "My mother went to a psychologist who was no help at all!"

It is clearly intended to be used as a supplement to an intro psychology textbook (the author discusses asking your professor, etc), but it covers a lot of broad topics, such as theories, free will, statistics, the naturalistic fallacy, common sense, coincidences, etc. While these topics are good for a more advanced class as well, this book[let] doesn't go into enough depth (intentionally).

I thought that the issues that it covered were important, and well addressed with a conversational tone, clear logic, good examples, humorous stories, and just enough references used to give credibility.

The problem is just where it fits in, and how it can be used. It almost seems as if it should be bundled with textbooks rather than as a stand-a-lone. I wish there was a version that was more broadly written such that I would want to give it to my family as a way of informing them about psych.

Donald McBurney's book targets common misconceptions that introductory psychology students have about psychology, philosophy and the scientific method. As noted in the introduction, the book's 46 sections are grouped into 11 groups that roughly correspond to the chapters in an introductory psychology textbook. Each section begins with a common question or misconception, a brief statement of the principle behind the answer, and a several-page explanation of how psychologists see the issue.

Some of the more interesting and useful sections are listed below.

--I Thought Psychology was about People, Not Numbers!
--Is It True That We Use Only 10% of Our Brains?
--Is Human Behavior Based on Nature or Nurture?
--What Would It Take to Make You Believe in ESP?
--Why Do Psychologists Study Such Artificial Situations?
--Why Can't Psychologists Predict Who Will Commit a Violent Act?
--Why Are Psychologists So Liberal?

The book is useful as a supplement in an introductory psychology class, although some students may need some guidance and encouragement to get the most out of it. Individual sections from the book can serve as the basis for homework assignments or group discussion. Inclusion of references to further reading in each section would strengthen the book and make it more useful to motivated students.

This book was on the syllabus for my senior seminar class. We never used it. It is currently sitting in a storage bin. It's probably a good resource if your professor will actually have you use it.