Psychology [Hardcover]

Peter O. Gray (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0879014806 | ISBN-13: 978-0879014803 | Publication Date: June 1991

Peter Gray's Psychology has become a favorite of instructors with its exploration of psychology's major theories, and the evidence that supports and refutes these theories.  Each edition incorporates an exceptional amount of contemporary research, encouraging students to probe for the purposes and biological origins of behavior--the "whys" and "hows" of human psychology.  Peter Gray's engaging, readable writing style makes the science of psychology, and its interactions with biology, accessible and meaningful.  With the new edition, Gray has taken care to ensure that his comprehensive, thought-provoking, and contemporary coverage is well-attuned to the needs and interests of today's students.

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

PETER GRAY, Psychology Department, Boston College, USA. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Worth Pub (June 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879014806
• ISBN-13: 978-0879014803
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 9.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,901,229 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Psychology Textbook, April 25, 2000

By 

psychephile - See all my reviews

This review is from: Psychology (Hardcover)

As an Intro Psych instructor, I reviewed dozens of psychology texts. Gray's "Psychology" is clearly the best.

First, because it is written by a single author, it maintains a consistent style and viewpoint throughout--that is, the application of evolutionary biology and cognitive science to the study of the mind and behavior. Consequently, he does not shy away from putting forward strong arguments where they are needed. On this, see especially his superb discussion of the fall of behaviorism and the rise of cognitivism.

Second, the author has a powerful command of several lines of important research, and he uses this to "smarten up" the text to make it *more* understandable. As an example, see particularly his discussions of the heritability of intelligence.

Third, the text is beautifully organized.

The text does, however, suffer from two small weaknesses: the discussion of self-esteem owes too much to James, with James' errors especially, and the discussion of mental health and happiness needlessly bore little imprint from the chapters on cognition.

Still, Gray produced a superlative volume.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great, November 30, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Psychology, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

I thought this text was great--it provides information in a very clear and well-explained manner for the student who has never taken a psychology course before. Gray proves he has a sense of humor as well, injecting funny lines every now and then. It provides a lot of pertinent information in an interesting manner, and covers everything from theories on development and society to cognition and neuroscience. After finishing my intro psych class I even found myself wishing I could still use the text for my other classes (in fact I still refer to it every now and then).

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars introduction of the basics of psychology, November 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Psychology (Hardcover)

The book gives you in comprehensive English a good introduction of nowadays psychology. We (psychology students, RUG) use it in the first year as an introduction and I liked it very much. It is not going too deep but gives you a good impression of what psychology is and means!