Contemporary Readings in General Psychology [antikvár]

Taste can be defined as good judgment concerning that which is appropriate and style as skillful execution. In this second edition of his CONTEMPORARY READINGS IN GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Dr. Dániel has shown the same taste and style that contributed to the first edition's great popularity with students and instructors across the country. This is no pedestrian book of readings: it is a genuine intellectual contribution to the educational literature of psychology. Dr. Dániel has adhered to clearly defined criteria in selecting every reading for this book. Each is truly contemporary. Each is written by or reports the work of a recognized scientist. Each is phrased in non-technical language presenting clearly the essential facts. Above all, no excerpt is given that is not at once intrinsically interesting, complete in itself, and scientifically significant. In many instances the student reads about new contributions to psychology in the words of the scientists who made them. It is one thing to study at second hand the ideas of such great modern scholars as J. B. Conant, B. F. Skinner and E. G. Boring, but far more rewarding, as in this book, to read the ideas of these authors in their own words. The material so conveniently presented in this volume could not be made available in any other way to members of large college and university classes. No library could put on its reserve shelves the many duplicates of current periodicals and books that would be required if students were to be referred to these readings as originally published. Beyond that, CONTEMPORARY READINGS makes it possible for the student to add permanently to his personal library these significant treatments of topics in modern psychology. The first edition offered 68 readings. This edition offers 75, and new material makes up 40 per cent of its pages. Many of the new selections were not available when the first collection was published. Indeed somé of these new articles were first printed in their originál sources only a few months before this edition went to press. In deciding on the retention of articles which appeared in the first edition, as well as on the selection of new readings, Dr. Dániel has not only employed his own excellent judgment, but has had the advice of other university teachers of psychology who have used the first edition with satisfaction in their own classes. In his introduction to the first edition the editor wrote "Shoemakers' children do not always have good shoes, and psychologists do not always use the best psychological principles in teaching psychology. But in this book an experienced and successful college teacher has used what seems to the editor to be sound psychology in preparing a volume that is both educationally effective and academically attractive." The same words as surely describe this second edition, but the editor's enthusiasm won't let him stop short of one more observation: Dr. Dániel has succeeded in making the new book even better! Leonard Carmichael Washington, D.C.