How to Prepare for the GRE in Psychology (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Psychology Graduate Record Examination in Psychology) [Paperback]

Edward Palmer (Author), Sharon L. Thompson-Schill (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764117041 | ISBN-13: 978-0764117046 | Publication Date: July 1, 2001 | Edition: 5

This revised and thoroughly updated edition reflects the latest GRE Psychology exams with six full-length model tests. Two of the tests are diagnostics especially designed to pinpoint the student's weak areas that need further study. All test questions are answered and explained. Other helpful features include a subject review and scoring grids that enable students to determine their performance at a glance within each subject area.

Product Details

• Paperback: 476 pages
• Publisher: Barron's Educational Series; 5 edition (July 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764117041
• ISBN-13: 978-0764117046
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,233,284 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Almost worse than no book at all, November 12, 2001

By 

Stephen J. Erdman (Phialdelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Prepare for the GRE in Psychology (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Psychology Graduate Record Examination in Psychology) (Paperback)

I just took the Psych GRE's and used both this book and the Princeton Review 5 th edition book.

There were many, many problems with the Baron's book. If I had to choose the main issue, I would have to say the the authors acted very irresponsibly putting it together. I'm not really sure what the goal they had was, but it didn't appear to be helping you do well on the GRE.

The review material in the book alternates between lengthy explanations of psychological matters and very brief listings in an outline format. Unfortunately, neither of these presentations work very well with giving you useful information. The paragraphs often are concerned with obscure topics that will not appear on the test and almost always contain a level of unusable detail that sometimes confuses what the actual important points are. The outlines, on the other hand, seem to be aimed more at giving you a list of stuff that you should go look up in other books. They give away as little information as possible. A good example of this is from the illusion section of perception, where they give you an (overly lengthy) list of visual illusions but never tell or show you what these illusions actually are. As a side note, none of the official reveiw material from ETS nor the test I took contained any questions on illusions.

This paradoxical trend of simultaneously giving you both more and less information that you need continues throughout the book. The authors have even included an entire chapter of what they call "Applied Psychology" that, as far as I can tell, has never and will never appear on a Psych GRE. At the same time, as they do at the end of every section, they give you a list of some 6 books that you should read if you want to learn about some of the stuff they've put incomplete references to. While I wouldn't complain so much if the grossly expanded information covered all of the information on the GRE, there were more than a few questions from the real test whose principles I couldn't find in this book, even after going back after the test.

Another example of this irresponsiblity comes from the slant that they take on some of the material, most specifically the drug section. Far from psychologists trying to prepare you for a test on the effects of these drugs, the authors sound more like Nancy Regan or a couple of 50 year olds trying to write an afterschool special. Readers are warned that because of alcohol's addictive nature, withdraw symptoms could include irritability, sleeplessness, siezures, or even death! In another section, we are told that alternate names for nicotine delivering drugs are "smokes", "weeds", or "coffin nails".

A final complaint is with the six tests that are included with the books. Billed as being accurate judges of your possible performance on the GRE and thus giving you a good idea of which areas you are weak in, these tests instead bombard you with questions about the obscure information and minute details that the authors included in the book. My score in these tests didn't correspond well with other indepent assessments or the score I got on the two previously given Psych GRE tests I got from ETS, nor hopefully will it reflect my score on the actual test.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Many flaws, but stilled helped me a great deal, November 16, 2001

By 

Liese M. Zitzkat - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How to Prepare for the GRE in Psychology (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Psychology Graduate Record Examination in Psychology) (Paperback)

I completely agree with Mr. Stephen Erdman's review of this book. However, I will say that the book was very helpful to me, and I feel that I significantly improved my score as a result of using this study aid. Unfortunately, the ETS study guide does not contain any sort of review section, and while I did review all my class notes (I have a Master's degree in psych), even they did not fully prepare me (as evidenced by my first ETS practice test score of 520). After utilizing the Barron's review section, I took a second ETS practice test (from the paperback study guide ETS mails you when you register for the test) and got 690. I took the actual test last Saturday, and felt good about my performance.

The best way to use the Barron's book is to supplement it with other texts and look up the undefined terms presented in the outlines. This was particularly helpful to me with the perception section because I had not taken a perception course, and my physiological psych course had not covered perception in any depth. The bottom line is, yes, the book has many faults - in fact, Mr. Erdman's evaluation is very accurate. However, if you combine the Barron's book with other study tools, and if you know what to ignore (i.e. the applied section, the names of obscure people, etc.), it will probably help you improve your score. I'm glad I bought it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Have the authors ever taken the Psychology GRE?, April 5, 2004

By 

L. Williams (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Prepare for the GRE in Psychology (Barron's How to Prepare for the Gre Psychology Graduate Record Examination in Psychology) (Paperback)

I bought this book because it had six supposedly accurate practice tests. Instead of helping, however, I believe this book may have actually hurt my score. Each practice test had numerous (at least 50% of the total) questions on specific and often obscure theorists. As I had never heard of many of them, I focused my study time on learning their individual theories and areas of research. Much to my surprise, the actual GRE was primarily conceptual, with questions on specific psychologists limited to important researchers that were extrememly influential within their areas of specialization. I am greatly disappointed in this book.