The Psychology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained Paperback – February 21, 2017

Somewhere between a textbook and a coffee table book, The Psychology Book is a surprisingly valuable. Initially drawn to the fun cover and positive reviews of The Philosophy Book, I decided to give this a shot and ordered a copy. My initial reaction was disappointment, it seemed a too textbooky. But as I read and skimmed further (it's a book that I suspect few will read cover to cover), I started to appreciate the helpful effectiveness of what the DK editors have done, allowing one to get important, core ideas quickly.After presenting the philosophical roots of psychology (think the intersection of philosophy and phsyiology), the book is organized according to different psychological approaches or schools of thought such as behaviorism, psychotherapy, cognitive psychology, and social psychology. There is a timeline and brief history for each school followed by an encapsulated entries of key thinkers in that discipline. Here is where the design and editorial approach shines, as you can peruse the pages and find psychological thinkers who you may know little or nothing about and get the essence of what they focused on quickly. Each heading has a "capture the essence" quote which makes it easy to know whether you want to explore further. My one complaint is the book, just glancingly mention Irv Yalom, who is both a great writer and highly respected psychotherapist. If you haven't read or listened (I loved the audio version, which includes an interview with Yalom) to his master work, Love's Executioner: & Other Tales of Psychotherapy, I strongly recommend it and have given it as a gift many times. Definitely a must for anyone with a literary bent and an interest in psychology.Some quotes/outtakes I liked:>"The good life is a process, not a state of being" --Carl Rogers (p.130)>"Suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds meaning." --Viktor Frankl (p. 140)>"Compulsive behavior rituals are attempts to control intrusive thoughts." --Paul Salkovskis (p.212)I especially like this last one, as it's interesting to think of our obsessive thoughts (even if we don't engage in compulsive behavior) as attempts to control or prevent uncomfortable thoughts or emotions instead of just trying to experience them directly, as they are.There are many nuggets like that in the recommended book.

This is my kind of book. I am always furthering my education beyond what I am learning at University. Because I am still in college and reading constantly I really appreciate the format of this book. It is organized by the different divisions of psychology from social to child and within are the most significant people, theories, experiments, and concepts in a short story format. This makes it easy to learn a lot of information on limited time. This book is to the point on each subject and filters though unnecessary information and gives you what you need to know right away. I can enjoy learning new things outside my coursework because this book gives information in this short story format. I have taken a couple of courses in psychology but this book does not require the reader to have previous information in psychology in order to appreciate the knowledge the book contains. After this book I bought the religions and philosophy book by this publisher and will buy the business one as well when it comes out. Overall for the learner who is limited on time this (and others by the publisher) are for you. If you want something that is more specific, get something else because this one is an overview of all.

There is a lot of information and ideas here, so many perspectives. The human mind is complex. The history of psychology has many conflicting views, all of which are worth considering. It was hard to put it down.

This book is just what I expected. It’s essentially a basic overview of everything related to the vast field of psychology. I bought this book purely for my intellectual curiosity and for having a fun and quick reference guide.I’m currently in my second year of a Masters program for clinical psychology, so I’m studying to become a therapist. Throughout the program, I’ve learned about so many interesting concepts, therapeutic techniques, and of course, psychologists. I’ve added all my professor’s book recommendations and kept a mental note of all the theories and psychologists that interests me.This review is from someone who has more in-depth knowledge in psychology and by no means an expert. But I can safely say this is a great book to own! Each theory and essential figure in psychology gets a 1-2 page overview. The descriptions are very helpful and get right to the point. For example, pages discussing psychologists give you a short biography, historical context, summary of main ideas, list of key works, and suggestion of related psychologists. So for what this book is, it’s a perfect reference guide that you can always go back to and refresh your memory. The format is well-executed; I like the table of contents, index, colors, and illustrations, and the text is easy to read. The text gives you just enough so that if anything piques your interest, you can turn to the original works.So why only four stars? Well, this book is by no means perfect. I think the book could have been more comprehensive. I base this off of my comparison to other works in the encyclopedia category like The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy by Robert Audi, which is very extensive. For example, the book doesn’t cover big topics like Object Relations Theory or Family Systems Theory. Or doesn’t include prominent, influential psychologists like John Gottman or Daniel J. Siegel. There may be some bias on my part, but I think a new edition of this book should cover the ideas and figures mentioned above.Overall this is a great book to own if you’re in the field of psychology or if you have a general interest in psychology. By no means is this a book that discusses therapies and treatments. It’s purely a foundational and historical guide to psychology. I just received this book, but after browsing through it, I was impressed. I would highly recommend it as I think it’s an excellent book to have in anyone’s library.