Kaplan GRE Subject Test: Psychology, 2009-2010 Edition [Paperback]

Kaplan (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1419553062 | ISBN-13: 978-1419553066 | Publication Date: August 5, 2008 | Edition: 4th

2 full-length practice tests

Intensive psychology review, including social psychology, developmental psychology, personality, abnormal psychology, statistics, and more

Effective strategies for scoring higher on the test

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Kaplan Publishing; 4th edition (August 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1419553062
• ISBN-13: 978-1419553066
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #365,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This book was a very important part of my preparation, December 21, 2009

By 

Sassy D'lish "State College" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kaplan GRE Subject Test: Psychology, 2009-2010 Edition (Paperback)

I am perfectly happy that I bought this book, because it did exactly what I had hoped it would do - help me score in the 99th percentile (830) on the psych GRE. But it is not enough by itself! If you rely on this book as your primary means of test preparation, you probably won't get a stellar score.

This book was only ONE PART of my overall preparation strategy. More important to my preparation was reading a Psych 101 textbook. Specifically, I bought a cheap used copy of Gleitman's introductory psych book (Psychology - 6th (Sixth) Edition) and read it section by section. When I completed a section of the textbook (e.g. Sensation and Perception), I would go the Kaplan book and read the corresponding chapter there. That way I covered the material twice. After reading both the textbook and the Kaplan chapter, I would then go to the website for the Gleitman textbook where you can find online quizzes and vocabulary reviews. After taking the quizzes online, I knew if there were any areas I didn't understand and/or needed to review further. Fortunately, there are lots of resources on the web for studying any areas you need to work on.

And of course I made flashcards of vocabulary, theories, and important psychologists. And I took practice tests. And I re-reviewed everything. A lot. Basically what I'm saying is that it takes a good amount of time and effort. The Kaplan review book isn't going to work miracles by itself.

While the Kaplan review book was helpful in my preparation, in my opinion it has two deficiencies. 1.) The methodology and statistics section of the book is not thorough enough. Do what I did and go to internet to get bit more information on things like ANOVAs and factorial design. 2.) The practice tests are almost worthless. They are incredibly poorly written (as far as diagnostic tests go), and in no way do they approximate the real Psych GRE tests. I took the first one, but I didn't bother with the second. Do yourself a favor and find the real ones.

It has been 10 years since I graduated with my bachelor's in psych, so I had forgotten a fair amount of stuff. Despite that, using the Kaplan book as an important part of my preparation, I managed to score very well on the test. If you devote a few months to your preparation and take it seriously, you should be able to do the same. If you don't, I'm not sure how much this book is going to help you.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Did a copy editor get fired?, September 16, 2008

By 

L. Wilcox "psych applicant" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Kaplan GRE Subject Test: Psychology, 2009-2010 Edition (Paperback)

This book is full of typos, spelling errors, and errors in formatting. Also, there is at least one incomplete sentence in the section about REM- I had to look up the topic in other books to figure out what they were trying to say. I have very little confidence in the book, so I've been studying it along with textbooks on each topic. It makes me think that if they spent so little time editing maybe they didn't spend adequate time fact checking either. I'm about to go out and buy a different company's prep book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Practice Tests!!, December 11, 2008

By 

psych student "psych student" (Tallahassee, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kaplan GRE Subject Test: Psychology, 2009-2010 Edition (Paperback)

This book was by-far the best study tool I had for preparing to take the Psych GRE. The information is laid out in a way that makes studying easier. My favorite part overall are the two practice tests that are included in the book. I took these tests after finishing all of the material and scored a 710 both times. This is also the score I got when I took the practice test that ETS sends you. I just got my scores back from the Nov. 2008 test date and I got a 710!! These practice exams were extremely reliable indicators of how I did on the the test. I highly recommend this book!