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Big Ideas The Little Book Of Psychology

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How does the brain remember faces? What makes us choose one decision over another? Where does language come from? Can we really measure intelligence?

DK's The Little Book of Psychology answers all these questions and provides an insight into this fascinating field of science. Whether you are a student, an expert, a novice, or have a general interest in the human mind, this portable guide is the perfect choice to start exploring and understanding psychology.

From cognitive to behavioural psychology, this stimulating guide covers all major schools in the field. It includes doctrines and quotes from major thinkers including Sigmund Freud, Noam Chomsky, and Kurt Lewin. Small biography boxes provide brief biographical details of all the thinkers.

With the use of powerful and witty illustrations and easy and jargon-free explanations, The Little Book of Psychology demystifies hard-to-grasp concepts and shows how these ideas have shaped our knowledge of the human mind.

199 pages, Paperback

First published June 7, 2018

101 people are currently reading
642 people want to read

About the author

Catherine Collin

17 books12 followers

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5 stars
49 (24%)
4 stars
94 (46%)
3 stars
48 (23%)
2 stars
8 (3%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
Profile Image for Mr Shahabi.
532 reviews122 followers
April 24, 2019
This is a book-extension to the illustrator edition, or is the illustration edition is the extension of the book? But who is the eye of the storm that has manifested itself as an equilibrium factor between the two and decided that one is an extension to the other? Yet again who THOUGHT about the eye of the storm in the first place.. Etc

I just love these headaches.
Drink Tea.
182 reviews1 follower
May 20, 2019
Yeah not bad, a nice succinct intro into psychology, starting with its philosophical roots and ends with personality studies lolol. V fun set up every 2-3 pages is a new thinker and there's the context of what came before and after to keep it fresh bby. Overall enjoyable! I think good enough for a beginner to actually understand the evolution and then you can jump off from there and continue researching.
Profile Image for Muhammad Noman.
1 review
December 26, 2020
Psychology is not just for psychiatrist - everyone needs to learn how his mind and behaviour works!

Read most part of this book and found it be Wonderful for as first read for those interested in Psychology.

When you read theories in this book, presented in beautifully interactive way - must commend the visual aids and the introductory panel - you realise that partly you already know it and thus the book arouses great interest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
1 review
April 20, 2024
I loved this book because it really encapsulates so much information in such a small book! I love that the topics come in little bite-sized sections so you don’t have to read more on a topic than you’d like and if you want to know more there are examples you can look up and research to find more of. It is a very good starter psychology book and taught me a lot about little questions most people have at some point. Very interesting!
Profile Image for Jenna.
958 reviews42 followers
June 28, 2020
The Little Book of Psychology is a very good introduction for the study and understanding of psychology. It details major theoretic fields and contributors, as well as their experiements. The addition of a very brief history of each psychologist was a nice extra.
4 reviews
February 1, 2023
I really enjoyed this book, it was very informative and I enjoyed the diversity of the information provided. The main characteristic I enjoyed about this book was the dive into social psychology. Looking into how other people act and react they way they do is a good trait to learn and apply to understanding everyday interactions. Adding on, behaviorism explained goes into how we react to our environment, as well as the history behind the philosophers themselves. Lastly, a new concept that sparked as interest for me, was psychotherapy. The exploration into how the unconscious is what drives us to be the way we are. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to see if psychology would be a good path for them. High-school students especially.
Profile Image for Avesta.
472 reviews34 followers
September 1, 2021
Despite Catherine Collin lulling the reader into a sense that this book is 'little' (i.e. making the font size tiny in an attempt to minimise the number of pages), I must say, this is an incredible book for psychologists of all levels - regardless of whether you're an aspiring psychologist who's just graduated with a PhD in the field or someone stuck between going into psychology or another field... this book is for you.

I found The 'Little' Book of Psychology incredibly fascinating and eye-opening, and it is definitely worth a read, as you can learn so much from it. The additional information on the side of each page for each topic/psychologist was also incredibly useful.

Profile Image for LestradeZ0.
117 reviews
February 17, 2022
I think 4 stars is the best I can give for this book. This book is very informative and has helped a lot in understanding psychology theories which I'm very grateful for as a psychology student. The book offered many interesting perspectives on the subject. The diagrams are just the best because there was a time when it was hard to understand the topic so I had to refer myself to the diagrams to comprehend it better. And it's nice of them to put the bio of many psychologists.
1 review
January 20, 2026
An amazing summary of the evolution of psychology. It briefly explains how each big psychologist contributed to each specific branch and how they've helped painting the bigger picture we can see today.
The downside is that some of them are really short, and I wish I could have gotten a bit more information about their approach.
But overall, a really good easy read book if you're interested in the subject and don't know where to start.
Profile Image for Greg Potchen.
37 reviews
July 21, 2025
Lowkey just a boring book. A good review with good information, but felt almost like a chore to read. I do like that it is extensive with what it gives you, but it almost felt like it was droning on and on.

I would say that my biggest issue with the book is the formatting. It just felt hard to read, but that may just be me.
Profile Image for Oisín Hoy.
25 reviews1 follower
July 24, 2020
Good for a light introduction to many different people and their theories who have influenced psychology. Nice illustrations and short bios of each person
Profile Image for Bethany.
113 reviews1 follower
January 2, 2021
I really appreciate this book for what it does and naturally found myself more interested in some parts than others.
Profile Image for Sophia Abid.
Author 7 books14 followers
June 2, 2021
Simple, yet interesting.
The graphical representations are the best.
57 reviews2 followers
October 25, 2021
This book is very informative and offers a great review of theories and approaches in psychology.
Profile Image for Kyle Berry.
107 reviews1 follower
November 11, 2021
I found this to be an intriguing and useful summary of landmark findings in psychology. It offered many interesting perspectives about the subject.
Profile Image for MrsIcarusPain.
61 reviews1 follower
November 27, 2021
The information is useful, I just can't stand the layout. It's so busy and hard to follow.
Profile Image for Marita Mazanishvili.
65 reviews12 followers
August 7, 2019
Nice short introduction in Psychology. Mostly for those who want to grasp ideas of psychology and its theories in general.
Profile Image for Neverland.
139 reviews
October 13, 2021
An interesting and easy introduction to psychology. Each concept is summed up in 2-4 pages and there are diagrams that help the readers understand the concepts easily.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews