Key Thinkers in Psychology
- Rom Harre - University of Oxford & Georgetown University, Washington
History of Psychology
`This is a highly enjoyable, erudite and beautifully written manuscript. It conveys a rare depth of understanding and ability to strike at the core debates. The lively style, concentration on the biopic, use of text features such as links between names, and formal division of each sub-section will all appeal.… I have taught History of Psychology for nearly 6 years. This text will prove for more palatable to students than any of the competitors' - Dr Steve Brown, Loughborough University
`This book is well-written. It is clever, flowing and engaging. The balance between biography and contribution is excellent and makes it almost un-put-downable' - Professor Adrian Furnham, University College London
The 20th Century was rich in attempts to characterize and explain psychological phenomena and so to understand the human mind. These projects were undertaken by a huge and diverse list of characters from B F Skinner to James Gibson, from Gordon Allport to Hans Eysenck. It is important for every student of psychology, wherever they might be in the world, to understand the classic scholars, the classic studies, and the subsequent generations of people and ideas that have come to define the broad discipline that is `psychology'.
This book achieves this in the most accessible and engaging manner possible. Rom Harré presents a unique textbook orientation, combining the biopic with the significance of the major protagonists of the last century, organized by `schools of thought', yet with cross-references throughout the text.
`This is a highly enjoyable, erudite and beautifully written manuscript. It conveys a rare depth of understanding and ability to strike at the core debates. The lively style, concentration on the biopic, use of text features such as links between names, and formal division of each sub-section will all appeal.… I have taught History of Psychology for nearly 6 years. This text will prove for more palatable to students than any of the competitors' - Dr Steve Brown, Loughborough University
`This book is well-written. It is clever, flowing and engaging. The balance between biography and contribution is excellent and makes it almost un-put-downable' - Professor Adrian Furnham, University College London
"Without a doubt, this volume provides a wealth of information on selected key thinkers in psychology. The details of each of them are thoroughly covered and well presented in palatable length for a quick but informative reference. Reading this volume makes one marvel at the difficulties some of these key thinkers had to deal with in their research lives. Given the breadth of psychology covered in this volume, libraries of higher institution should consider to have it in their collection as there is always some relevant information for the readers irrespective of their areas of specialization."
Just the book I need - the fact that the chapters are grouped into Psychology's sub-areas will make for a very handy lecture structure.
This will make a very useful addition to the core set of texts for this module. It provides a clear and lucid breakdown of the contributions of key thinkers in the discipline and also ties their work into the development of psychology over time and to important questions in the philosophy of science.
Whilst the book does tie the development of psychology to underlying epistemological issues, this is not quite a strong enough focus for this particular module (though I have recommended adoption for another module).
