Psychology and Practical Life
- Author:
Marv Collins, M.A., B.Ed., Ph.D.,
and James Drever, M.A., D.Sc., D.Phil. Published by The University of London Press. Price 5/-. To quote from the Preface:
” This book has a twofold purpose. On the one hand, its object is to place before the intelligent reading public, a general account of the various directions in which modern psychology has been, or may be applied. On the other hand, it is intended to provide an elementary textbook for students of Applied Psychology.”
One doubts at the outset whether it is possible satisfactorily to combine these two aims. Will not the student of applied psychology need, even in an elementary textbook, a quantity of scientific detail that will both hinder and hamper the average intelligent reader who is ignorant of psychological theories and unversed in psychological terminology? After reading the book one is left with the impression that it is too elementary for the serious student, while for the general reader it is too full of facts that are insufficiently related and explained. In short, the aims are not achieved with unqualified success.
The book makes very factual reading. The completeness with which each topic is discussed demands systematic study rather than the more cursory reading that one usually bestows on a subject in which one is not a specialist. To the student its value lies in the comprehensive treatment of the various applications of psychology rather than in the extent to which any one of these applications is followed out.
The general reader will be interested by the chapter headings, several of which are bound to attract his notice (e.g., Psychology and Advertising, Psychology and Health, Psychology and Social Problems), but after reading the chapters that interest him he will probably only glance through the remainder of the book.
He will put it by, knowing that he can consult it, from time to time, on the variety of topics included under Applied Psychology. This rapid consulting is made easy by an excellent index.
There is, also, a bibliography carefully arranged under subject headings which correspond to the chapter headings, though this bibliography would be of more use to the general reader, if some indications were given as to the technical or non-technical nature of the matter contained in the volumes mentioned.
The book cannot be said to have failed outright in either of its aims, but it contains explanation and reference to many items that are common knowledge to anyone who has made a study of psychology; yet, in spite of this, it may annoy the intelligent reading public by the somewhat casual reference to a wealth of interesting experiment and research. It is too heavily laden with facts for armchair reading, but the facts need selecting and presenting with more detailed explanation if they are to meet the needs of the uninitiated who wish to appreciate fully (without spending time searching out references) reliable information on the actual and possible applications of psychology.
The book is most accurately described as an elementary textbook. It should be of considerable use to students of Applied Psychology. G.R.
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