Excellent Psychological Treatise
589458
Just loved reading this book. Gives a relatively detailed overview of the Pattern System and all of its dimensions. Very enlightening.
4552653
Daniel Kahneman is absolutely brilliant! This book discusses all of the cognitive processes we use in decision making, citing a vast array of studies, including much of Kahneman's own work. I have run across dozens of other prominent books on behavioral economics/finance, psychology, and general business that rely heavily on the work of this giant of the field. The book is well-written, meticulously researched, and thoroughly enjoyable to read. The style is very approachable. I never thought I would find a "psychology book" being hard to put down. This is.
4214916
I had the opportunity to read this chapter online- what a beautiful conceptualization of a complex topic.  I was impressed with the clarity of the discussion, the integration of multiple perspectives and a very clear and concise critique on the topic. If the other chapters in this book, written by leaders in the field of psychology, in their respective fields, are anything like these authors, this book would be a prized addition for students in psychology or "life-long" learners. Excellent!
1173952
A useful review of modern psychological academic thinking. In that sense it's a  very well written guide to the field. The author's conclusions, and his extension of these conclusions into modern life, economics especially, seemed tenuous to me. I enjoyed his recapitulation of experimental psychology over the last 50 years or so, but found myself resisting the sweeping nature of the conclusions the author drew from them. I suspect that our minds and our identities are subtler than that. I would like to remind him of a famous statement of Einstein's, if you'll forgive the German: "Raffiniert ist Herr Gott, aber borsaft is er nicht."
3200880
This book grounds many Buddhist precepts in Evolutionary Psychology. I had lot of transformative changes in my thought processes after reading this book. Our minds have evolved thoughts and feelings which are due to natural selection. Such thoughts are grounded in feelings and may be regarding acquisition, mate selection or jealousy. These thoughts and feelings are harmful. They are explained nowadays by the modular theory of mind in which various modules get activated in the brain subconsciously due to external stimuli. These has been proven by many experiments in psychology. By  not associating with these thoughts and feelings and letting them dissipate we refuse the concept of "self". This is also core to Buddhist precept called "non self" which ties to this finding. This is brought out very lucidly. The next chapter deals with the concept of "essence". Are things by nature good, bad or ugly? Is a buzz saw noise disturbing? The author illustrates through his own meditation experiences that you can argue that the nature of essence is not permanent or a property of the objective but a matter of psychological perception. He quotes numerous psychological theories including the fundamental attribution error. He then discusses the concept of "tanha" or "desire" and how it feeds on itself and is proven to be harmful psychologically. Further the author stresses that we need a ethical and moral theory along with benefits that accrue from discovering "non self" and "emptiness" via meditation. However, he claims that meditation will bring us close to truth and thus to morality and we will lose all the tribalism that besets modern people.

I enjoyed the book very much. The summary at the end are the core hypothesis on "non self", "dukkha", "tanha", "emptyness" and "conditioning"  that the author has put forward as having a basis in evolutionary psychology. His descriptions on meditation will be useful to both beginners and experts in actually understanding the "Why" behind the processes. The book includes the authors personal experiences and quotes from various Buddhist masters he has practiced which is quite entertaining and very in-depth analysis.

A must for anyone who wants to understand Buddhism and meditation scientifically.
3857862
Many depressed people have a negative self-image and are always expecting something bad to happen. Beck's theory is that this is the cause, rather than a result, of depression. The depressed make "depressogenic assumptions" and have to be shown that these are false. It sounds as if zealous Beckian therapists must spend a lot of time arguing with their patients.
 "Cognitive Therapy of Depression" is an excellent book, obviouly written by a wise and experienced clinician. It reads as if directed at other professionals, and is full of sound advice to them.
 Like other neo-Freudians (and I would classify him as a neo-Freudian) Beck recommends ignoring the patient's childhood memories. I suspect this is an effort to distinguish them from the orthodox Freudians. Sometimes it makes sense but in cases it is like "apart from that Mrs. Lincoln how did you enjoy the play?" (For example childhood bereavement is well-documented as associated with depression).
 I thought Chapter 10 "Specific Techniques for Dealing with the Suicidal Patient" could have been improved or else the reader referred to a general psychiatry text. The authors seem undecided as to whether they are writing a comprehensive review of how to handle the suicidal or merely giving advice about the content of therapy sessions. Suicidal risk factors are covered in an incomplete way. Suicide hotlines are not mentioned.
 Chapter 14 on "Technical Problems" could be read with profit by anyone who works with the depressed.
 Chapter 17 "Cognitive Therapy and Anti-depressant Medications contains a wonderfully succinct and clear summary of the taxonomy and natural history of depression. (My copy want printed in 1979 but I did not think the information was outdated). It contains a frank and full list of the kind of patient who does NOT respond to cognitive therapy, which is basically the kind of patient psychotherapists avoid. (Although in non-academic real life we do have to spend time, often a lot of time, talking to such patients and have to know how to do it)
 Beck and his co-authors (all male judging by their first names) write in a pleasant, readable and old-fashioned style, with frequent references to "our clinic" and an assumption that the therapist is male. Most of the advice is completely in accordance with psychodynamic technique and common sense. The warm (but not too warm) and empathetic (but not too empathetic) therapist is to let the patient talk and to be nice to to her. The talking will uncover previously unsuspected conflicts, at which point the patient may show strong emotion, which is to be encouraged because it produces "catharsis" (sic). Freudian mechanisms of defense are assumed. One case described is a woman suffering from fatigue and lack of energy, which were finally found to be due to her struggle to avoid unpleasantness in her relationship with her husband. All was well when she learned to accept his imperfections. One detects a flavor of old Vienna.
 The biggest selling point of Beckian therapy has been its use of controlled trials to demonstrate its superiority to other brands of psychotherapy. Controlled trials run by psychotherapists are often in the same category as Dr Johnson's preaching woman and dancing dog. The evidence is well presented in Chapter 18 "Outcome Studies of Cognitive Therapy." Obviously you don't go to a book by Beck to get and completely unbiassed meta-analysis of the evidence for Beckian therapy, so you'd have to supplement this with following the reviews in the professional journals.
4127079
I absolutely love this book!  If you are a psychology major or just interested in human behavior, this book is for you.  Its explanations, pictures, and diagrams are so easy to read and follow! It includes the history of concepts as well as current findings and thinking on the subjects.  I love how the book is divided up - philosophical roots, behaviorism, psychotherapy, cognitive psych, social psych, developmental philosophy, and psych of difference (personality & intelligence).  I have learned so many interesting facts from this book.  For example, one of the concepts on the cover of the book is - A Man with Conviction is a Hard Man to Change.  Read about cognitive dissonance and why it is so hard to change someone's opinion and thought processes when they really believe in it, no matter how insane or impractical it may be.  You won't be sorry with the amount of information, ease of reading, and layout of the book.
433482
This is an excellent overview of the practical insights of cognitive science. And Simon adds a genuinely original contribution to the field: The idea that all our depressing thoughts spring from our universal tendency to  compare ourselves or our circumstances to someone or something else. If the  comparison is good, we feel good; if it is bad, we feel bad.
Of course,  if you look at your own life in an overly negative or pessimistic way, your  comparison may turn out worse than it really is, making you feel bad  unnecessarily. And if you decide you're helpless to improve your state,  that will make you depressed. From the simple idea of comparison, all the  different modes of cognitive science are clarified and fit into the larger  picture. Simon normally writes on economics. He wrote this book because of  his own personal struggle with depression.
2701626
This 1400-page work in two volumes, published in 1890, is probably the best single survey of psychology ever written.

The work is of imposing size, but James covers such a wide field, so thoroughly and so engagingly, that to my own surprise I read both volumes cover to cover, back to back. The two volumes comprise 28 chapters, including "The Functions of the Brain", "Habit", "The Stream of Thought", "Attention", "Association", "Memory", "Imagination", "The Perception of Reality", "Reasoning", and "Will"--to name just a few that I found the most fascinating.

James's reasoning is sharp and subtle, his writing clear and vigorous. The qualities of his own mind, which come through in the prose, are astonishing: he is both skeptical and open-minded, deeply versed in the existing literature, and an original and fearless thinker. He must have been a fantastic prof.

I was a little afraid that the age of the book would make it antique, with fusty 19th-century notions that have long since been disproved. Not a bit! With few exceptions, the material is as fresh and relevant today as it was in 1890. Even the material on brain physiology and function, an area where the 20th century can claim to have made some progress, was sharp, perceptive, and interesting.

The advent of Freud, Pavlov, and others in the 20th century seemed to push certain theoretical ideas about the mind to the forefront, putting other, older ideas in the shade. My prejudice was that they had made 19th-century psychology irrelevant. I was wrong. There were many able minds studying psychology long before Freud, and their findings and views are well worth knowing. Among other things, James's book is a treasure-trove of psychological thinking up to the time of his writing, including many extracts by other researchers, both those he admires and those he is critical or dismissive of.

James, of course, was not merely a psychologist; he was also a philosopher. If I had to give a single reason why I think this book is excellent, it would be that James fearlessly tackles questions lying at the boundary of what today are seen as distinct disciplines. Here you'll find penetrating, persuasive insights into the nature of reasoning, logic, and the will, as well as the origin of aesthetic and moral ideas. James is as thoroughly versed in the works and ideas of Kant, Hume, Berkeley, Locke, and Mill as he is in those of his fellow psychologists. He confronts the thinking of the greatest minds with complete confidence, using his laserlike intellect to discover their obscurities and contradictions. He is their peer.

At the same time, James is humane and folksy in his style, often making references to his own experience, domestic life, and the little experiments he often performed on himself or his students. He writes with candor, humanity, and honesty. Time and again he comes to conclusions or makes observations that cut to the core of human experience altogether.

Technically this is a textbook surveying psychology, probably for a first-year introductory course. It bears almost no resemblance to the dry, cautious tomes that usually fill that role. It is an impassioned work by a learned, deep, and original mind explaining his own conclusions on this vast and elusive topic, based on long study, experiment, and careful thought. It is one of a kind. If you're interested in the human mind, this book is for you.
3000816
this is a wonderful book. it is well-organized and puts the often elusive concept of psychodynamic theory into real, practical considerations and methods. it includes basic principles, information on defense mechanisms (very useful), and a great deal of information on various psychodynamic theoretical perspectives. the chapters on understanding and treating personality disorders were my favorite, and the author spent a great deal of time on cluster b personality disorders, probably the most often seen and difficult to treat of the personality disorders. i particularly liked the chapter on borderline personality disorder. throughout the book, the theory and concepts are easy to read and understand, and the interventions are practical and well-explained.
2636133
Book review by Richard L. Weaver II, Ph. D.

This is an outstanding book for a large number of reasons.  The first and most obvious reason is that it is well written.  The 222 pages of text information pass by in a moment for the precise reasons that you become involved in the book, the information is essential and important, the book is well-organized, but especially because it is an easy, comfortable read.

Second, there are thirteen pages of excellent notes.  Friedman and Martin are researchers of the utmost credibility and reputation, and their notes reveal not just their expertise but, too, their desire to footnote (or credit) all sources they consulted.  I feel that if readers can refer to such a complete set of references or notations (even if they choose not to!), not only does this add to the trustworthiness of the authors, but, too, to the believability, reliability, and dependability of the information.

Third, is a feature I included in an early edition of my textbook, COMMUNICATING EFFECTIVELY, 10th ed. (McGraw-Hill, 2012), and have continued throughout all editions since (by popular demand) -- self-assessment scales with simple-to-understand explanations about how to score each of the quizzes.  Now, you may think these quizzes are valuable for readers simply because they provide a way for them to measure how they rate on the chapter's topic of concern.  That is one issue.  More important for me, however, is how each of the self-assessment quizzes breaks down the topic into specific, practical, applicable items.  For example, on the "neuroticism" quiz, you get ten items that cover such things as being affected by praise or blame, feeling miserable, being touchy on certain topics, being bothered by useless thoughts or burdened by a sense of remorse or regret, worry over humiliating experiences, feeling happy or sad, getting your feelings easily hurt, moodiness, and emotionality (pp. 42-43).  You learn that that is how neuroticism is defined.

Fourth, I liked the findings of THE LONGEVITY PROJECT, and using the "eyeball test," I found they offered some valuable and worthwhile insights.  For example, it has always been thought that your level of education was a good predictor of later health and longevity.  Yes, this was a factor; however, "it was not an important factor compared to other personal and social predictors of health and long life" (p. 75).  Conscientiousness, discussed in the first chapter of the book, and persistence were of greater importance.  These are the kind of people "who were better able and better motivated to navigate life's personal and social challenges" (p. 75).  This is just one of many examples. (There are 15 chapters in the book plus an epilogue.)

Fifth, the authors end each of their chapters with a section, "What It Means for You: Guideposts to Health and Long Life."  If there is any thought that this book is just a series of reports about research results, these sections should dispel that notion.  They serve various functions.  They often review the material of the chapter; they sometimes offer a transition to the next chapter; they may examine some unanswered questions or areas where more research is needed.  I found their most important function, however, is the  motivation they offer readers for their pursuit of the trait or characteristic under discussion.  I thought this was a brilliant and useful way to end the chapters.

Sixth, let me group a number of items here.  I liked the short sections, the personal stories that enliven the research, the way research is incorporated, how the authors were able to relate their findings to other studies by researchers, and the manner in which Friedman and Martin came to definite and precise conclusions when they could.

Everyone will find something of value in this book.  For me, it was the total package.  This is an incredibly valuable and worthwhile book with great, relevant suggestions for living a longer, more vibrant, healthy life.
2947564
This is one of the best books in psychology ever. A benchmark book. It helps understanding how the human mind--conscious and nonconscious-- works in general and in everyday life. The book is well written, in an engaging manner.
591822
The tone and content of this book, as well as the price, targets it at university libraries.  (I got it through an inter-library loan from my local library.)  But if you have some background in the topics being discussed, this is very worthwhile reading.

The book is the output of an international, multi-disciplinary symposium on empathy and fairness. The 12 papers presented run from cognitive neuroscience to anthropology to social psychology to economics to  philosophy, presenting recent research and analysis in a particular specialty.

Because every academic discipline has its own terminology, this means, for example, that if you're into philosophy you probably won't be able to follow very well the discussions of brain anatomy. Conversely, if you know cognitive neuroscience but aren't familiar with John Rawls, you may have a similar problem. Still, the reader can get something out of many of the papers, some more than others depending on his own background.

Each paper is followed by a Q&A/discussion session among the sympsium participants.

The papers are:
Vittorio Gallese:  Embodied simulation: from mirror neuron systems to interpersonal relations
Tania Singer: The neuronal basis of empathy and fairness
Marc Hauser:  What's fair?  The unconscious calculus of our moral faculty.
Josep Call and Keith Jensen:  Chimpanzees may recognize motives and goals, but may not reckon on them
Nancy Eisenberg: Empathy-related responding and prosocial behavior
Paul A.M. Lange and others: A social interaction analysis of empathy and fairness
Raymond A. Mar and C. Neil Macrae: Triggering the intentional stance
James Blair: Dissociable system for empathy
Ralph Adolphs: Looking at other people: mechanisms for social perception revealed in subjects with focal amygdala damage
Johanthan Wolff: Models of distributive justice
Frederique de Vignemont: When do we empathasize
Robert Frank: Cooperation through moral commitment

Personally, among what I found most interesting was Prof Singer's phrase, an "empathy for fairness".  Think of fairness in two situations: where something has been done to you that you feel is unfair, and where something is done to a third party that is unfair.  In the first case, nearly everyone, including chimpanzees, will get upset.  In the second case, chimpanzees may or may not get upset, according to one study, probably depending on whether or not that third party is a family member.  So, with limited empathy, there's more toleration for unfairness happening to others.

A couple of the participants talked about how/when we turn off empathy, but more research is needed there.  My own theory, based more on history than anything else, which I described in "Why Liberalism?", is that there's often an "Us vs Them" dynamic in operation, where we feel empathy for "Us" but not for "Them".

Also in Prof Singer's paper, she reported on an experiment showing human males as not feeling empathy for people in pain who are regarded as untrustworthy people -- a sort of just desserts kind of thing -- while females made no such distinction.  (Hmm.)

Another paper I particularly liked was that of Prof Wolff, who discussed three competing philosophical concepts of justice:  mutual advantage, reciprocity and impartiality.  (I'm in the impartiality camp.)

There's a lot of interesting research and analysis going on in the topics covered by this book, and this is a good way to both get an overview of what that is, as well as find out -- through the discussions -- what some of the flaws/criticism are and what is still missing and needs further study.
1375612
This was one of three books recommended by a Psychologist who helped me to understand my wife.  This was also recommended by others during that time.  She had every secondary trait, almost as if she was the subject of this book.  It sure as heck helped me protect myself.  Highly recommended.
3565050
This book provides a great overvieuw of the latest developments in positive psychology.
This is the first really new thing I learned in the field of psychology since i obtained my master (2004)

It is written very well and is a must for every person who seeks to understand the psychology of happiness (no real a-priori knowledge needed)

minor remarks: I'm not sure whether his interpretation of the Harlow experiments are accurate. And he doesn't accredit Nuttin for the letter-effect
421621
This book is comprehensive, referenced, it is a solid indictment of modern psychiatry.

The basic premise of the book is that current psychiatric treatments (ie: drugs and ECT) are:
-Not evidence based (ie: they don't work). Ex: Antidepressants have no efficacy over placebo in double blind trials.
-Psychiatric drugs are dangerous. Breggin provides AMPLE evidence for this.
-Psychiatric works by lobotomizing patients. The evidence that antipsychotics work in this manner is very convincing.

The first chapter where Breggin explains concepts like patient dependency and "spell-binding" are really enlightening.

The chapter on how to withdraw from psychiatric drugs (ie: how to taper there use) is very enlightening.

I would love to hear Peter Breggin's thoughts on:

-The notion of spell-binding, isn't it somewhat circular reasoning? I definitely see the usefulness, though.
-SSRIs for anxiety disorders
-Anticonvulsivants for bipolar disorder (he mentions Depakote only briefly)

Paul 3rd year medical student
paultheo2004@yahoo.ca
2635052
Eisold's book is powerful extension of traditional psychoanalytic ideas into areas generally neglected by theorists who generally concern themselves only with matters of personal mental health.  It does a great job of pulling together material from disparate fields - economics, organizational behavior, neuroscience, dynamic systems theory, as well as the boisterous clashes within psychoanalysis proper - to craft a careful treatment of contemporary views of the unconscious.  Contrary to the harsh statements in the reviews that precede mine (written, I suspect, by people who haven't bothered to read the book), my take is that Eisold's synthesis is quite fresh.  It's also written in a clear and engaging style, no mean feat with material this complex.