Book reviews
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Child Development
Brian Hopkins, Ronald G. Barr, George F. Michel & Philippe Rochat (Eds)
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2005; Hb £80.00 (ISBN 0 521 65117)
Reviewed by Deborah Riby
THIS is a substantial encyclopedia
covering various aspects of developmental psychology. It is rare that a
reader is able to obtain information on theory and methods as well as
current themes of research all in the same book, but this extensive
volume on child development fulfils all these goals.
Beginning with the concept of ‘development’, this book takes the reader
on a journey through the history of developmental psychology. The
reader then embarks on a survey of the relevant and important theories
of development (e.g. the traditional nature/nurture debate) with
chapters devoted to each theory in turn. The next section of the
encyclopedia addresses the methods used to delve into the world of the
infant or child to help formulate these theoretical arguments.
Subsequent chapters are concerned with selected topics relevant to
developmental psychologists today (each written by prominent
researchers in their field). Just
to give a taste of the topics included, we see chapters devoted to
social development, language, memory, temperament and imitation.
Developmental pathology is included in a following section, again with
chapters written by leading experts, for example Simon Baron-Cohen
discusses autism and Margaret Snowling tackles issues relevant to
dyslexia. At the very end of this volume the link between developmental
psychology and other areas of research is discussed to give the ‘bigger
picture’. For example, links with behavioural genetics and cognitive
neuroscience are addressed, emphasising the way forward for these
disciplines and domains of developmental research.
With just a small number of pages dedicated to each topic of research
(each chapter) the reader is provided with a brief but concise
introduction, along with suggestions for further reading. Pulling
together aspects of theory, methodology and interesting research on a
variety of developmental topics, this comprehensive guide makes a
useful reference source for students, whether asking a question of a
specific topic of research, or seeing where this topic fits in with
other aspects of development. But this hardback book comes with a high
price tag and is therefore more likely to be a good library source.
n Deborah Riby is a postgraduate student at Stirling University.
Excellent Dissertations!
Peter Levin
Maidenhead: Open University Press; 2005; Pb £7.99 (ISBN 0 335 21822 9)
Reviewed by Miriam Landor
I THOUGHT sadly from the opening pages that Dr Levin wasn’t writing for
me – a mature postgraduate approaching a first dissertation after
decades of academic and professional studies – but rather for
first-time undergraduates. The tone seemed didactic and avuncular.
Nevertheless, I had a review to write, so I kept reading. And I have to
admit, this book is, well… excellent! Simply and succinctly it takes
you through each stage of planning a dissertation. You are helped to
clarify mutual expectations with your supervisor, to distinguish
between your project and your dissertation, and to explore literature
before selecting your subject. There are useful chapters on making your
literature review manageable and on managing the ‘end-game’ by
assessing how much (or little) more project work is needed before
beginning to write.
Somewhat sheepishly, I am recommending this book to my fellow students
– and adopting it as my road map for the next nine months.
n Miriam Landor is an educational psychologist in training at Dundee University.
Not a classical approach
Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Psychology
Graham Davey (Ed)
London: Hodder Arnold; 2005; Hb £125.00 (ISBN 0 340 81252 4)
Reviewed by Helen Ross
THIS encyclopedia aims to give definitions and short articles about
the main topics within psychology, at a level suitable from school to
postgraduate. It thus represents a view of the current syllabus for
academic psychology.
It would seem that students learn much detailed physiology and
statistics, and a lot of social and clinical psychology. They also
study cognitive psychology, but they no longer learn much about
classical approaches to perception and learning. Helmholtz and Hull are
not listed in the index. Size constancy is reduced to a short
definition – ‘the tendency to perceive the size of a rigid object in a
consistent manner, despite variations in viewing distance’. If I didn’t
know better, I would find this confusing. What about wobbly objects and
inconsistent manners? Meanwhile, on the opposite page, the Stroop
effect gets a long entry with a diagram and five references. Perhaps
this is a fair representation of what is taught nowadays.
Some of the definitions seem exceedingly obvious. Even schoolchildren
can guess what is meant by ‘partners-in-crime’, ‘grammar’ and ‘paternal
interaction’. It would be a better use of space to cut down on this and
give more detailed definitions of difficult concepts.
A large section of the book is devoted to research methods and
statistics, even including a table of z scores and p values. This is
unusual for an encyclopedia, and
I wonder whether the editors hoped that this book might take the place
of a statistics textbook. It is unlikely to do so at the hardback
price. Students would be well advised to wait for the paperback
edition, which is due out this month at £35. The book would then be a
useful supplement to their other course texts, particularly if they
read through the section on conceptual and historical issues.
n Dr Helen Ross is with the University of Stirling.
The Science of Reading: A Handbook
Margaret Snowling & Charles Hulme (Eds)
Oxford: Blackwell; 2005; Hb £95.00
(ISBN 1 4051 1488 6)
Reviewed by Lucy Brown-Wright
THIS compendium presents a
state-of-the-art review of research investigating the science of
reading. The distinguished contributions made by both editors to the
area, offer an indication of the quality of work included throughout.
A multidisciplinary and international overview of contemporary
knowledge about reading and related skills is offered. It follows a
logical sequence and considers the fundamental domains, including
processes of word recognition, theories of literacy development,
reading comprehension and impairments. The handbook is comprehensive,
and it considers recent trends in cross-linguistic research alongside
studies of dyslexia in different languages. A focus is placed on
disorders of reading and spelling and current research on acquired and
developmental dyslexia. The impact of hearing and language impairments
on the process of reading is also included.
Throughout the book, the reader is reminded of the historical
perspective as theoretical models are reviewed and subsequently
integrated with contemporary thinking, informed by empirical research
at every juncture. A biological framework of reading is upheld, and
both brain-imaging and genetic approaches are discussed. Technical
advances are introduced and methodological issues, alongside the
dangers of over-interpretation, lend further credibility to the
information presented.
In order to grapple successfully with the central issues discussed in
the majority of the chapters, some prior knowledge of current empirical
thinking is assumed. However, some contributions are impressively
accessible, given the intricacy of material discussed. Kate Nation’s
chapter on reading comprehension is a case in point: she takes the
reader through the central issues and points of discussion with immense
clarity.
A section on the teaching of reading and proposed interventions is
obviously a fundamental part of the handbook. However, the relatively
small section given to remediation was disappointing. The question of
how best to assimilate current research into intervening and effective
teaching in the current educational system was left without adequate
discussion. For someone seeking to inform themselves about application,
the lack of weight placed on this section failed to do justice to the
intricacy of thought put forward in the majority of the book.
All in all, this handbook undoubtedly offers a definitive collection of
papers summarising current thinking on the science of reading. It will
appeal to those with a specialist interest, who seek to inform their
knowledge further through empirical research.
n Dr Lucy Brown-Wright is a clinical psychologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London.
How to Be a Student: 100 Great Ideas and Practical Habits for Students Everywhere
Sarah Moore & Maura Murphy
Maidenhead: Open University Press; 2005; Pb £12.99 (ISBN 0 335 21652 8)
Reviewed by Jeremy Dean
FLICKING through this handbook for students entering higher education,
it's easy to find practical and sensible information. It has 100 topics
ranging from developing study skills through to managing your social
life. With all this information crammed into 135 pages, the book is
broad in scope but, ultimately, a victim of its format.
There are relevant topics throughout, dealing with boredom, watching
out for study drift and understanding plagiarism. The authors even
tackle more novel topics, like appreciating that students are not
customers, while lecturers are not primarily entertainers. There are
also helpful insights into the harsh criticisms sometimes doled out by
markers to written work.
Unfortunately, much of the book suffers from the limited space. As a
result, the authors are forced to equivocate: study enough, but not too
much, sleep enough, but not too much. In some areas a more focused
approach would have better served the reader. To accommodate this, less
important advice, like sitting up straight, could have been cut to make
way for more on, for example, playfulness in learning and the use of
memory techniques.
There is certainly much here to help students through higher education, but it is somewhat diminished by the limited depth.
n Jeremy Dean is a freelance writer on psychology.
Handbook of Resilience in Children
Sam Goldstein & Robert B. Brooks (Eds)
New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Press; 2005; Hb £95.00 (ISBN 0 306 48571 0)
Reviewed by Chris Boyle
WHILST the vast majority of research
referred to in this publication is US-based, there is definite
generalisablility across national boundaries. Goldstein and Brooks
present an authoritative and seemingly exhaustive account of the many
issues around resilience in children. The hardback ‘manual’ is split
into five areas, which provide an overview of the current research
literature through to considering what can be done to shape the future
of children in a positive way. Strategies are discussed that reflect
the influence of parents, schools and, in Shure and Aberson’s chapter,
the concept of ‘effective thinking’.
There is some interesting discussion about whether a child who is
inwardly displaying signs of distress can be regarded as resilient,
continuing into the debate of what exactly is resilience. Also
discussed is the role that schools can serve as a protective factor for
children’s development and functioning, which hitherto has been
neglected in general child development literature.
Overall, this publication is remarkable in its depth and impressive in
its general readability and accessibility to the reader. the Handbook
of Resilience is a complete compendium of current research in this area
and complements the excellent Resilience and Vulnerability edited by
Suniya S. Luthar (Cambridge University Press, 2003).
n Chris Boyle is a Chartered Educational Psychologist with South Lanarkshire Council Psychological Services.
Understanding the context
Rome or Death: The Obsessions of General Garibaldi
Daniel Pick
London: Jonathan Cape; 2005; Hb £16.99 (ISBN 0 224 07179 3)
Reviewed by Lorraine Childs
HOW much do we need to know about
people to understand the development of their psychopathology? In
clinical practice it is always a problem to know when to stop
collecting the biographical facts and when to move towards a
formulation.
In this book Pick has indulged in exploring his subject from every
angle, intertwining facts and formulation without apology. Not only
does he describe the life of the man, General Giuseppe Garibaldi, but
also the historical and social context
of the time, placing the individual psyche within the contemporary
zeitgeist. How much passion Pick must have for his subject is evident.
His literary knowledge of this age is worthy of a seat in Mastermind;
furthermore, answerable to no one in the sphere of psychological
practice, he has illustrated his text with gilded romanticism. This,
however, does not distract the reader from the core storyline of the
book, which highlights Garibaldi’s military role in the unification of
Italy and his ongoing passion, thwarted by bureaucracy to re-route the
Tiber from its destructive, malarial course through Rome.
This was a fascinating glimpse into Italian history with a biographical
backdrop and a psychoanalytical formulatory framework. This reflects
the author’s professional background in cultural history and
psychoanalysis. It’s committed, inspiring and demonstrative of the need
to understand the context within which an individual exists, in order
to understand the individual themselves. From this perspective it’s a
great semi-professional read. However, it’s also an enjoyable
socio-historical text that’s a pleasure in itself and would be of
particular interest to those who are thinking of taking a trip to Rome!
n Dr Lorraine Childs is a clinical psychologist at St Andrews Hospital, Northampton.
Gain and loss
On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss
Elizabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler
London: Simon & Schuster; 2005; Pb £10.99
(ISBN 0 7432 6344 8)
Reviewed by Tina Perry
KÜBLER-Ross once said: ‘Listen to the dying, they will tell you all you
need to know.’ Never has this statement been truer than in reference to
this, her last, book. While Kübler-Ross, who died in August 2004, was a
forerunner in grief research, this is by no means an academic text,
recounting stories of individual loss and discussing issues such as
angels and the afterlife.
Yet, this is not a weakness. For those in the midst of grief, the text
verbalises those unspoken feelings that you feel no one else could
understand. For those caring for someone grieving, it offers you
previously unavailable insight into their world. An essential guide to
grieving.
n Tina Perry is a postgraduate student at the University of Central Lancashire.
Has Science Displaced the Soul?
Debating Love and Happiness
Kevin Sharpe
Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield; 2005; Hb £14.99
(ISBN 0 7425 4264 5)
Reviewed by Thomas Marshall
WITH chapter titles like, ‘Happiness,
love, and the divine’, no one could suggest that Kevin Sharpe is being
tentative with regard to subject matter. In fact, in addressing these
topics Sharpe is turning his attention to problems that have been the
focus of intellectual and artistic endeavour for thousands of years:
those of love and happiness. And it is a challenge to which he rises
admirably.
Boasting doctorates in theology and mathematics, Sharpe makes his
unifying approach clear from the outset. This is not a rejection of
religious dogma, nor (thankfully) is it a treatise on the proof of
intelligent design theory. Instead the book takes us on a journey
through ancient and modern perspectives on love and happiness,
systematically pointing out where the two differ and – perhaps more
importantly – where they do not. The book is peppered with interesting
anecdotes from world religion and philosophy – Mohists, Confucianists
and Taoists share space with Aristotle and Plato. These are juxtaposed
in turn with very recent research in neuroscience and evolutionary
psychology, the latter forming the bulk of the central portion of the
book.
Sharpe’s own conclusions – including a reworking of fundamental
assumptions regarding the divine – are not as dramatic as is suggested
in the book itself. They are in fact sensible and measured, and will
offer hope to many readers who – like myself – believe strongly in the
utility of scientific and spiritual insights. Where so much of the
debate in this area involves pointing out the flaws in alternative
arguments, it is refreshing to have the positives on both sides so
clearly laid out. Even the penultimate chapter concerning the
subjectivity of science – a topic so often misunderstood and badly
explained – is comprehensible and succinct.
This is above all an accessible book, with short chapters and few
references. Weighing in at a mere 154 pages (for the main body of the
text) it can be read without a dictionary on standby, and absorbed in
one sitting. Not bad considering it covers the most hotly debated
topics in human history. An excellent, enjoyable introduction to the
topic.
n Thomas Marshall is a graduate of the University of Cardiff.
Metaphor in Culture:
Universality and Variation
Zoltán Kövecses
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2005;
Hb £45.00 (0 521 84447 9)
Reviewed by Ange Drinnan
THE title of this book intrigued me with
the bait of metaphor, but I was momentarily alarmed on opening it by
the cognitive linguistic language of ‘master tropes’, ‘target domains’
and ‘cross space mappings’. However, I was soon sucked in by some
fascinating cross-cultural and anthropological examples.
Kövecses sets out to explain universality and diversity in metaphorical
thought, with the wider aim of working towards an understanding of the
role of metaphor in culture(s). En route, he explores how metaphors
vary between and within cultures and asks fundamental questions, such
as whether metaphors occur in thought rather than simply in language. I
was particularly interested in the notion of ‘embodiment’ – how our
sensory experiences influence the metaphors we develop.
The book is certainly thorough and provides a good overview of existing
theories before going on to develop these. At points, the examples
become somewhat repetitive and risk losing some of the magic of
metaphor, however this is balanced by later discussion of metaphor in
literature, film and in the rhetoric and performance of politics.
As a clinical psychologist working within a community mental health team,
I was disappointed not to see any reference to psychosis and the
relationship between metaphor and delusion. However, this was perhaps
beyond the scope of what is essentially an informative, readable and at
times entertaining overview of metaphor and culture.
n Dr Ange Drinnan is with Stepping Stones CMHT, Bromley.
(Please note that some pictures may have been removed for copyright reasons)
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