Excellent, clear and full of informationCurrently using this book for a third year Psychology course in the UK and find it very clear, and covers a wide variety of topics. It definitely is worthy of praise. Well-layed out, and each topic is supplemented by informative diagrams, info boxes, etc. A must for studying social Psychology.
FantasticIt took until the third year of my psychology course to appreciate the true value of this wonderful textbook. For those with a love of Social Psych - this is the text for you. The film and book suggestions at the end of each chapter are great ways of exploring various themes.
All you need to know!I have read some very negative (and badly spelt) reviews of this book on these pages but I'm at a loss to know why this would be so. This book is ideal if you are studying Psychology at degree level and is even accessible enough for 'A' Level students as it covers some of the topics on the 'A' Level syllabus. The reviewer who found the book 'too articulate' must only enjoy books that are incomprehensible and badly written - how can a text-book be TOO articulate? It's like accusing George Clooney of being too handsome - sort of a pointless criticism really.
This book is well put together, explains terminology clearly and goes into the depth you'd expect from a degree-related text. It's engaging and interesting and will provide useful accompaniment to a Social Psychology module. And no, I'm not the author, I'm just a very satisfied customer!
Long winded and never seems to get to the pointWell my very own lecturer is quoted in the official review "I will never use another textbook for my social psychology courses" but frankly that should only be true if all other books out there are indescribably bad.
To give the book its due, it is generally quite readable but of the 600 plus pages I feel it could quite easily be condensed down to less than half that without losing any information or general flow. Through much of the book the writing is so long winded and often meanders so far from the central point that it is all too easy to read a whole chapter without taking any information away from it. While this is probably an honest attempt on the part of the authors to make the book more readable it is after all a text book and making it harder to find the central concepts and evidence certainly won't help you pass any exams.
I'm afraid I don't know the alternatives well enough to be able to recommend another book, but I strongly advise scouting around as for me this book simply became an expensive and oversized doorstop.
Good BookI'm a post-grad masters degree student at the moment. I found this book a very pleasant read compared to most of the other boring clinical and dull psychology texts Ive read over the last 5 years. I especially like the use of colour through the book making it aesthetically pleasing to the eye. All areas are well covered and I especially impressed with how the authors are able to relate their subject to the real world and also to recommend films where the reader can view what has been explained in action. This would be very useful for visual learners. The section at the back of each chapter recommending further reading on areas which might be of interest is also a nice touch. The book is also scattered with useful and relevant pictures and diagrams. I also like how the author sometimes poses questions in between the text getting the readers gray matter working and making the reader thing about what they are reading while reading rather than just skimming by. Clearly they are rather passionate about their subject matter. Over all an excellent text if you are interested in learning about Social Psychology. (If your an undergrad looking for a quick fix to copy out of for an assignment then go for a more boring book)
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