Psychology (8th Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Psychology 8th edition
Review: Lefton and Brannon take on an ambitious project in attempting to detail the entire field of Psychology in one book. Overall the presentation is good, but the book falls short of being a reliably definitive guide to the field in that it contains some concepts and definitions that are simply incorrect. If you have an understanding of how Latin derivatives are the basis of the English language, you will be unnerved by the casual way that words like "advocate" and "prototype" (and many others) are defined and applied.

Also disappointing is the cursory review of John Lilly's sensory deprivation tank research. The concepts of his work are reduced to an incomprehensible blurb.

Chapters that are generally well written include Development, Sensation and Perception, and Neuroscience.

Study guides are available online. They are helpful. If one is to master Lefton and Brannon's spin on Psych, I would highly recommend using the "My Psych Lab" resource. If you buy a used copy of the book, the learning site costs an additional $30 for a semester.

If you have an interest in Psych and do not have to read this book as a requirement, I would not receommend it. Instead, I would suggest you bite off smaller chunks of info via topic- specific books.

If, however, you must read and master this book as part of your curriculum, you will have to forgive the odd glitches in definitions and concepts that appear throughout the book and the tests.