Review of Psychology by G. Neil Martin, Neil R.Carlson & William Buskist 2013. ED

The book introduces psychology and discusses its development into modern psychology.  It overviews methods and ethics, introduces socio-biology and evolutionary psychology, includes a part on neuroscience which is the study of the brain itself.  The role of sensory processing is discussed such as: vision, sound/audition, taste and smell/gustation and olfaction and somatosenses and also perception of space and emotion, form and visual perception.  The book also discusses learning and behaviour which includes classical and operant conditioning which then leads us to chapter eight with an overview of sensory memory, short-term and working memory, learning encoding, remembering, long-term memory organisation and the biological basis of memory.  The nature of consciousness is discussed with a focus on hypnosis, sleep and attention. Also discussed are language skills, how they are acquired and language disorders.  In chapter eleven intelligence and thinking are overviewed.  This includes theories behind intelligence such as the general intelligence factor, the testing of intelligence, the roles of nature, nurture or heredity and environment, aging and intelligence and thought.  Chapter twelve discusses developmental psychology which starts from conception/prenatal and ends at adolescence.  Chapter thirteen is about motivation and emotion such as: sexuality, aggression and eating and drinking.  Personality is discussed in chapter fourteen, this includes trait theories of personality, heritably traits, social learning, the psychodynamic approach which focuses on the conflicts of the conscious and unconscious mind, and the humanistic approach.  The book also discusses social cognition and attitudes, interpersonal and group processes, health psychology and abnormal psychology.

The book gives a great overview of psychology for the beginner or first year undergraduate.  However, there are sections where the book fails to aknowlowledge updated information.  Such as in the developmental psychology section. The book does not take into consideration that most developmental psychologists now consider development to continue throughout the human lifespan, or from ‘cradle to grave’ which is a common phrase in the field.  The book could also be accused of attempting to separate people suffering with mental health disorders from the rest of the world by titling this section ‘abnormal psychology’.  Some would argue that these behaviours are completely normal in the twenty first century with 1 in 4 people experiencing mental health problems each year and 1 in 6 experiencing regular mental health issues.  For A 2013 edition the book also forgets to include important symptoms of mental health diagnoses and only very briefly discusses a few disorders.  It could seem from a reader’s perspective that the book also classes psychopathy, narcissism and sociopathy as the same disorder, blurring the line between the three.

Despite some minor faults and missing information, Psychology is a great book for first year undergraduates.  It touches base with many necessary topics that psychologists require knowing in order to provide a high-quality standard of care and work.  It is a great introduction to the field and manages to touch base with a great handful of topics.  I would recommend the book to undergraduate students as it is a great way of becoming familiar with the topics.