Review of The achievement motive.

Reviews "The achievement motive," by D. C. McClelland, J. W. Atkinson, R. A. Clark, and E. L. Lowell (see record 2006-09558-000). This book is primarily a progress report on a program of research which thus far has shown very promising results. The authors have worked out a scheme for measuring the achievement motive under standardized conditions, thus making available for controlled study one of the most important human strivings. The device for measuring the achievement motive is derived from the Thematic Apperception Test: subjects are asked to write stories in response to four pictures. The scoring scheme has been worked out with great care and is both efficient and reliable. This basic experiment was repeated with several different groups, including a group of Navaho boys. In their theory of motivation the authors are strongly influenced by Hebb: "our own theory in many respects picks up where he leaves off." Their system, moreover, follows Young's lead in basing motives on affective arousal. All motives are learned; what is unlearned is affect, which occurs whenever stimuli or situations produce a significant change in the organism's adaptation level. Changes in adaptation level, with their accompanying affect, become the basis for learning motives. These few sentences must suffice here to indicate the general nature of the theory, which though still tentative is worked out in considerable detail with abundant reference to current research. To me it seems an important broadening of the concept of motivation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The achievement motive.

Reviews the book, The achievement motive by David C. McClelland, John W. Atkinson, Russell A. Clark, & Edgar L. Lowell (1953). This book reports a swarm of little experiments, no one of which is more than a pilot study, but all of which are focused on one human need. The host of miniature demonstrations creates a fascinating pattern, from which the reader, like the authors, may learn "not only a lot about the achievement motive but other areas of personality as well". At the same time, the reader keeps glimpsing idea after idea for use in his own future research. He finds provocative inductive treatment of the nature of the achievement motive, its effects on behavior, especially school performance, and its origins in infancy and culture. All this "builds up the total picture out of many small experiments by a slow process of going from fact to hypothesis and back to fact again". It makes a methodologically fascinating illustration of what can be done inductively to explore a new field when the explorers possess the proper wit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Neuropsychological validation of learning disability subtypes.

Rourke's present edited work, a welcome sequel or "companion volume" to his 1985 book, focuses primarily on evaluating the internal and external validity of existing learning disabilities (LD) typologies within a "confirmatory hypothesistesting framework" initially described by Skinner (1981). Within this framework, studies examining the internal validity of typologies are concerned with issues relating to their reliability and replicability (i.e., the degree to which the typologies' derivation is independent of specific statistical or sampling techniques). External validation studies, on the other hand, attempt to demonstrate that reliably-derived subtypes differ in a meaningful and predictable manner on variables (i.e., external criteria) not initially used to develop the typology. This edited volume will be of interest to research scientists, both within and outside the realm of neuropsychology, interested in classification theory and methods; to clinicians faced with the dual tasks of assessing disabled learners and facilitating rational and productive instructional decisions; and to academics, especially at the college and university level, entrusted with the education of learning-disabled adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Handbook of pain assessment, second edition.

Reviews the book, Handbook of pain assessment, second edition edited by Dennis C. Turk and Ronald Melzack (see record 2001-05101-000). This book is a comprehensive review of the state of the art of pain assessment. The book consists of 36 chapters organized in six major sections, an introduction and a conclusion. The sections are: measurement of pain, assessment of behavioural expressions of pain, medical and physical evaluations, psychological evaluation, specified pain states, and methodological issues. The Handbook of pain assessment should be in every university and health centre library. All health professionals and students who see patients who have pain (and that is probably all of them) should have this text readily available. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The science of learning disabilities.

Reviews the book, The science of learning disabilities, by K. A. Kavale and S. R. Forness (1985). Kavale and Forness assert that the field of learning disabilities has become a pseudoscience. They state that the purpose of their book is to demonstrate how the field of learning disabilities strayed from its scientific course and suggest how it can regain its scientific status. To accomplish their goals, the authors emphasize the importance of scientific inquiry, the history of the learning disabilities field, and possible solutions to the problems they depict as currently being characteristic of the field. The field of learning disabilities, they assert, strayed from the scientific method by emphasizing empirical associations per se without the proper formulation of theories regarding learning disabilities. The authors fulfill their stated goals of describing how many in the learning disabilities field drifted away from the scientific method and by outlining how the field can regain its scientific status. The review of the history of the learning disabilities field is comprehensive and informative. This book is written in a scholarly, unemotional style. Although its exploration of the scientific method, that forms the basis of the authors' arguments, is simple and consistent with that provided in most introductory texts in the sciences, the authors' discussions of research findings are, at times, complex. Readers who are not familiar with meta-analytical techniques are encouraged to obtain some familiarity with these before reading this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives, second edition.

Reviews the book, Psychology: Theoretical-historical perspectives, second edition by Robert W. Rieber and Kurt D. Salzinger (see record 1998-06434-000). Like its predecessor, this second edition is a useful volume with a broad scope and any psychologist perusing even a portion of its 500 plus pages will likely come away convinced that there is more to history than a tedious collection of names and dates. As a pedagogical supplement and general introduction to the history of psychology field, this book succeeds admirably. However, in publishing a second edition, Rieber and Salzinger set themselves a more ambitious agenda. One of the goals of the book was to acknowledge the growth and vibrancy of recent scholarship in the history of psychology and to "present some synthesis within the confines of one book." Using these commendable goals as a metric, the book is somewhat disappointing. The book is too much like the first edition in both its choice of questions and authors. This sort of repetition is not a problem in and of itself; however the history of psychology has changed dramatically since the publication of the first edition 18 years ago. There is relatively little in the second edition to indicate that there have been any significant historiographic developments within the history of psychology field since the 1970s. By ignoring these changes, the book left me unable to answer a fundamental question that all second editions must face: Why is a new edition needed? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The clinical interaction: with special reference to the Rorschach.

Reviews the book, The clinical interaction: with special reference to the Rorschach by Seymour B. Sarason (1954). The argument of this discursive but always piquant book runs about as follows: Rorschachers too often jump from test scores to a prediction of behavior. The reader finds obvious flaws in each step of the argument. The whole thesis depends upon setting up straw men. The empirical studies mentioned are interesting--and the book is valuable as a compilation of recent validation experiments--but most of them measure the usefulness of the Rorschach against some paper and pencil test, with shocking unconcern for the known flimsiness of such instruments. Reading Sarason's introspective accounts of his analysis of six Rorschachs, the reader who is himself a Rorschacher will find little evidence that what Sarason does is different from standard usage. It would seem that the incendiary tone occasionally adopted in the theoretical section of the book was inappropriate, however stimulating it may have been. That more such examples of the interpretative process should see the light of print is very desirable, however, and their inclusion alone might justify calling attention to this book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychology of disability.

Reviews the book, The psychology of disability by Carolyn L. Vash (see record 1978-12832-001). The goal of this book, according to the author is "to dislodge preconceptions, thus opening up new ways of looking at the disability experience." This book was designed as a textbook for students in rehabilitation training programs and as a resource for practitioners in the various rehabilitation professions. This book is a one person's view of the meaning of disability, based on personal experience and professional observations. It also contains suggestions and recommendations for rehabilitation practitioners and disabled people as well. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Personnel management: Canadian second edition.

Reviews the book, Personnel management: Canadian second edition by Gary Dessler and John F. Duffy (1984). This book is directed at readers who have an interest in the practical aspects of personnel management. In the preface to the book, the authors state that the book "provides students in Human Resource Management and Personnel Management with a complete, comprehensive review of essential personnel management concepts and techniques in a highly readable and understandable form" (p. xiii). In the concluding chapter, they add that "throughout this book we have emphasised the nuts and bolts of personnel management by focusing mainly on the concepts and techniques all managers need to carry out their personnel related tasks" (p. 512). For the most part, the book appears to live up to the authors' claims. It is, in fact, very readable and is organized in such a way as to maximize learning. Each chapter begins with a list of the things students should know or be able to do after reading the chapter, as well as an overview of the material to be covered. The authors make frequent use of examples to illustrate major points, and the cases and exercises included at the end of each chapter will be helpful in allowing students to get some experience at the kind of activities involved in personnel management (e.g., constructing application forms, conducting interviews, dealing with motivation problems). Personnel Management probably comes about as close as a textbook can to providing both the background information and "hands-on experience" that are required of individuals aspiring to careers in the field of personnel management. Moreover, in this Canadian edition, Professor Duffy has revised Professor Dessler's earlier text to make it more relevant to the issues facing personnel managers in Canada. Although most of the issues dealt with in the book are relevant to personnel management in both Canada and the U.S., the reference to Canadian cases, research, and legal issues will probably be a refreshing change to many students. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Cognition and emotion: From order to disorder, second edition.

Reviews the book, Cognition and emotion: From order to disorder, second edition by Mick Power and Tim Dalgleish (see record 2007-10431-000). In this book, the authors provide a detailed analysis of emotion with an explicit focus on differences and similarities between "disordered" emotion and normative emotional experience. What sets this text apart from other books on cognition and emotion is its attempt to describe the philosophical and historical underpinnings of work on emotion. Another unique feature of this text is that the authors go beyond just describing the various theories of emotion by comparing and contrasting the arguments advanced by the theories and highlighting the strengths and limitations of each theory. This book is divided into two parts: Part 1 is a review of the major theories of emotion, and Part 2 consists of reviews of research on five basic emotions, as well as illustrations of how the SPAARS framework can be used to explain normative and nonnormative variants of these emotions. Power and Dalgleish suggest that readers can choose either to read the book in its entirety or to focus on the sections that are of interest. Overall, this second edition of Cognition and Emotion is a readable and engaging book. This book is not a primer; as noted earlier, some parts of it are conceptually heavy. For this reason, the most appropriate audience for this book is advanced graduate students who already have some background in research on basic emotion or psychopathology and who are looking to enhance their knowledge base. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The authoritative guide to self-help books.

Reviews the book, The authoritative guide to self-help books by J. W. Santrock, A. M. Minnett, and B. C. Campbell (see record 1994-98055-000). This text is the result of an extensive survey of psychologists regarding the self-help literature. It is directed both to lay and professional audiences. The guide is a relatively concise, well-written text that has been very thoroughly and painstakingly constructed. It contains individual reviews of every text listed in the original survey, under criteria set by the authors with respect to frequency of ratings. The guide also is distinctive in that it not only appraises books that the survey indicated were valuable resources, but it also identifies texts that were panned in the original survey material. On the negative side, as far as treatment is concerned, readers will probably note a relatively strong cognitive bias in such topical areas as Depression and Anxiety. This may be a result of the population of psychologists who comprised the original survey. For an audience of therapists, however, the principle difficulty with the guide is the lack of a self-help text on the therapy process itself. However, the reviewer found the book to be a very useful and stimulating resource, and suggests it to any therapist who values self-help books as an adjunct to treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The social psychology of reading.

Reviews the book, The Social Psychology of Reading by John Edwards (Ed.) (1981). This volume, unlike many edited books, consists of original papers. Unlike many current volumes in reading, this one addresses broad socio- and psychological correlates of reading achievement. This book is a unique collection of data-based chapters, surveys and reviews. If the aim of the volume was to provide a perspective within which reading can be better understood, the authors have achieved success. It is an excellent reference and has good potential for senior undergraduate or early graduate required reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Core Program: A cognitive behavioural guide to depression.

Reviews the book, The Core Program: A cognitive behavioural guide to depression by Randy J. Paterson, Lynn E. Alden, and William J. Koch (Narrated by Randy J. Paterson). Depression is one of the most common mental health concerns, and efforts to alleviate its burden are truly commendable. Emerging from the Changeways Clinic in Vancouver, this book is one of such recent efforts. This program, developed by Paterson and his colleagues, is delivered in both audio and text formats, with the audio portion narrated by Paterson. The program guides the reader to listen to the audio segment then read through its complementary section in the manual, but it emphasises the importance of working through the examples and completion of the provided worksheets. Overall, the Core Program is a well-developed manual for the treatment of depression. It uses the knowledge derived from cutting-edge research in the field of cognitive science, as well as sound evidence-based practise methods, to provide a valuable tool in the fight against depression. It is replete with pertinent examples and homework assignments, and clearly reflects the authors’ collective expertise in the field of clinical psychology. This program is recommended for use by depressed and/or anxious clients during the course of formal therapy and under the supervision of a licensed practitioner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The Psychological Assessment of Children.

Reviews the book, The Psychological Assessment of Children by James O. Palmer (see record 1970-20599-000). The Palmer text begins with a nod to the science-practitioner model. It is ego-oriented and depends heavily of the case history approach viewed within developmental constructs. Psychiatric taxonomy is largely avoided. The organisation of material covers 5 parts; I Hypotheses of Assessment, II Methods of Data Collection, III Procedure in Assessment, IV Analyses of the Assessment, and and V Assessment and Recommendations. The final chapters comprise a linking of assessment for psychotherapy and other kinds of intervention. Test manual kinds of materials, test norms, and scoring procedures are not covered. Nor are specific tests reviewed, the assumption being that the student will be receiving technical training concurrently. Palmer's purpose seems to be the provision of holistic kinds of conceptual frameworks within which the technician can function instead as a professional. Worth examining for class adaption. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The therapeutic dialogue: A theoretical and practical guide to psychotherapy.

Reviews the book, The therapeutic dialogue: A theoretical and practical guide to psychotherapy by Sohan Lai Sharma (1986). Sharma has taken on the Herculean task of reviewing the whole of the available literature on psychotherapy, organizing it, and using the data to try to instruct the student therapist in the ways of a fundamentally eclectic, existential-humanistic model of psychotherapy. While I appreciate this effort, and wholeheartedly agree with this as the correct and necessary course for the future survival of psychotherapy, the way has already been more compellingly articulated by such writers as Jung, Rank, Rogers, Perls, R. D. Laing, Szasz, and May. Regrettably, though well-intentioned, Sharma's book lacks the requisite elegance, style, depth, and dynamism needed to help spark the essential resurrection of real psychotherapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The science game: An introduction to research in the behavioral and social sciences, seventh edition.

Reviews the book, The science game: An introduction to research in the behavioral and social sciences, seventh edition by Neil McKinnon Agnew and Sandra W. Pyke (2007). In 1969, Neil Agnew and Sandra Pyke published the first edition of The Science Game, a 182-page survey of the major components of what they call the game of "sciencing," a game, they claim, that "like all other games of consequence, is a mixture of art, enterprise, and invention held loosely together by man-made rules." Using the same quirky but engaging style as in the original, in the seventh and latest edition, Agnew and Pyke dedicate a full 471 pages to the task, tackling a host of topics bearing on the activities of science, ranging from the strengths and weaknesses of humans' cognitive capacity for problem solving to debates in the philosophy of science regarding the nature of knowledge. Although this most recent edition elaborates on many of the same themes presented in earlier versions, it is much grander in scope and includes a number of new features, including the introduction of a central theme and memory aid throughout the book (i.e., a puzzle-solving theme), the inclusion of statements of chapter goals, and chapter-end summaries and self-test quizzes. The Science Game provides a fairly comprehensive set of "sound bites" pertaining to the techniques, procedures, and conventions adopted by social science researchers and is accessible to either students encountering these topics for the first time or more advanced students in need of a refresher. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Clinical assessment of malingering and deception, 3rd edition.

Reviews the book, Clinical assessment of malingering and deception, 3rd edition by Richard Rogers (see record 2008-09622-000). Over the past 10 years, psychologists who have been engaged in clinical assessment or evaluation have become more sensitised to the fact that client variables such as noncredible performance can substantially interfere with accurate evaluation and interpretation of obtained psychological or neuropsychological test scores. The chapters in this book clearly indicate that noncredible performance and deception are common in many assessment populations, that it is difficult if not impossible to always obtain accurate information when relying on self-report data, and that objective methods exist to enhance detection of noncredible responding. The first two chapters were written by Rogers himself and set the conceptual framework for the entire text. The book is then divided into four additional sections, with chapters provided by some of the best known names in malingering and defensiveness research. In Section II, specific diagnostic issues are considered, leading with an overview of symptoms associated with deception. Section III discusses psychometric methods to assess response styles. Section IV deals with specialised methods of detection and will likely be of interest to a very limited number of psychologists working in specific fields such as corrections or forensics. Section V deals with specialised applications, including deception in children and adolescents, forensic examinations, and assessment of law enforcement personnel. Overall, this is an excellent reference book, and it certainly provides enough specific, clinically relevant information in the four chapters that flank the book to give most clinicians a good summary of the issues, available instruments, and research findings to date. The chapters dealing with specific diagnostic issues and specialised methods are likely to be referenced heavily by those who work in these specific fields and might provide a good theoretical base for individuals still in the process of clinical training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Exploring research, seventh edition.

Reviews the book, Exploring research, seventh edition by Neil J. Salkind (2009). This is the seventh edition of an introductory text on research methods. It is intended for “upper-level undergraduate students and graduate students in their first research methods course in the social, behavioural, and health sciences fields” (p. xvii). The intention of the book is to introduce the important topics in research methods in a “nonintimidating and informative way” (p. xvii). Changes in this edition include a new chapter on ethics, with more material on ethical issues when doing online research, the use of children as participants, and updated general ethical guidelines; updated and new coverage of software for dealing with both qualitative data and for bibliographies; updated information on the use of the Internet for research and for conducting research and literature reviews online; as well as changes to the questions and exercises at the end of the chapters and to the Web site that accompanies the book. The Web site also contains an appendix with an introduction to SPSS 16 (which was not available at the time of this review). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of The psychoeducational assessment of preschool children.

Reviews the book, The psychoeducational assessment of preschool children edited by Kathleen D. Paget and Bruce A. Bracken (1983). This is is a multidisciplinary text that covers a wide variety of components of preschool assessment. As indicated in the preface, the intent of the editors was to provide a comprehensive book that would reflect the diversity of professions involved with assessment of preschoolers. To achieve this purpose, Paget and Bracken compiled a text that is comprehensive in both breadth and depth. The ambitious range of topics includes history of preschool assessment, legal issues, and the assessment of special preschool groups, such as the mentally handicapped, physically handicapped, gifted, creative, and culturally different. In addition, the assessment of a wide variety of domains of functioning such as cognitive, perceptual-motor, fine and gross motor, and social-emotional, are addressed. The editors intended for the book to be used by advanced undergraduate and graduate students, as well as by current practitioners in such diverse areas of practice as psychology, education, social work, and medicine. We concur that the text offers new information for established practitioners and provides extensive background for those new to the field of assessment of preschool children. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)