Psychology in Bite Sized Chunks

by Joel Levy

All the most important and interesting bits of psychology, including what it really means to dream you are flying and exactly why Freud smoked that cigar

Freudian Slips presents the essential facts and findings of psychology in an accessible and thoroughly enjoyable way, leaving no Freudian slip or phallic symbol unexamined. From Bobo dolls to invisible gorillas, Clever Hans to Little Albert, the halo effect to the Stockholm syndrome, the book charts a path through the subject's controversial history and along its most intriguing diversions. Discover how Pavlov made a dog neurotic and electroconvulsive therapy turned a man bisexual, why schizophrenics can tickle themselves, and how the U.S. military developed a pigeon-guided missile.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Science, Education, Self Help, History

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 19, 2013

About the author

Joel Levy is a writer and journalist specializing in science and history. He is the author of over a dozen books, including The Little Book of Conspiracies and Scientific Feuds: From Galileo to the Human Genome Project. Phobiapedia is his first book for children.

Reviews

[Sarah Pieraccini · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of non fiction November and i found it very accessible and easy to read.

You don’t have to have any prior knowledge on psychology as it’s all explained in simple terms and each chapter takes a brief look at different theories / experiments etc.

It is perfect for someone looking for an overview on the topic rather than an in depth study.

[Nick Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

This did what it said on the tin, and as a consequence I am awarding this an objective four stars, as opposed to three to reflect the moderate amount of enjoyment and stimulation I got from this concise book on psychology. The book sets out a variety of key concepts and paradigms over the course of a couple of hundred pages, and does a good job of explaining these without getting too bogged down. Alas as someone who'd read quite a few books in the field previously, three quarters of this was stuff I was already pretty familiar with hence it felt a bit basic at times. However, there was a little which has stimulated further reading, and some interesting reminders too. A good primer for those starting to show an interest in the field.

[Nergis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing i did not read before, but in a more casual way. It was OK and worth reading.

[Amy Marsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty basic. I didn't learn anything new, and tbh it seems a little outdated now. Still, it's a good introduction to psychology for those who are just starting the subject.

[Lucy Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin. I found this helpful when completing my Scottish Higher SQA qualification on Psychology. I read this through the year and it did help me gain some understanding before learning about sub-topics in depth.

Overall a great starter if you’re looking to get into psychology.

[Tom Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin. A base level understanding of some psychological theories and where they came from.

[moomoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

good soup.

[Jakob Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grabbed this book quickly from a bookstore in Toronto without knowing much about it. It was much more elementary than I had expected, but fun to learn some basic terminologies!

[Ida Debley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting

[Inken · Rating 3 out of 5]

solide für basics oder um schnell mal was nachzuschauen. durch die doch sehr simple sprache einfach zu verstehen und gut um wenigstens grobe konzepte zu verstehen. veranschaulicht paar experimente gut, hätte ich mal vor der social psychology klausur lesen sollen

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

very accessible and dose exactly what was advertised. would recommened for anyone that is looking for a very brief over view of the discipline

[Alexei · Rating 4 out of 5]

What it says on the tin.

[Chris Jaffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an enjoyable book that's less than the sum of its parts. Levy looks at a few dozen major issues, theories, and people from the history of psychology and spends 4-5 pages on each of them. What determines what issues he covers? Well, that's why the book gets only three stars.

Best I can tell, it feels like Levy did a google search of what are popular pysch things people do google searches on. As a result, you get coverage of a ton of things that are badly out of date, very controversial, totally discredited - and often all of the above. So you'll get section on penis envy or Wilhelm Reich, or the Little Albert Experient - but nothing on, say, cognitive behavior therapy, which is quite a bit more relevant to modern psychology. I don't mind a few chapters on the outmoded stuff, but far too many chapters spend much of their time discussing why the chapter subject is total bunkum. OK - so why did you put so many of these things in the book? Why are you making me read about all of them?

It reads quick. I'll give it that.

[Sarah Jobin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something could have been explained a little better.

[Prathiksha · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐

This book is so disappointing. It is the complete opposite of what I thought. For starters, it is bite sized but not chunks that are chewable. It’s the kind of chunks that result out of ‘biting more than we can chew’. The chapters are loaded with too much information and jargon that a regular person wouldn’t understand. The book seems to have been written for people who are already professionals in psychology. It has potential but the execution seems to be weak.

This book would be perfect for a psychology student who wants to quickly revise concepts before going for an exam. As a person who has learnt psychology in their master’s, this is confusing to me too. This book also starts discussing topics randomly and doesn’t have a proper chronology.

I would definitely not suggest someone who is new to psychology to pick this book up for learning about psychology. You would be better off with some other book.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is great as a beginner in psychology.

I was looking for an entry level book to begin with and this book does a great job at presenting some of the mainstream theories of psychology, keeping them short sweet and interesting. It does a good job in attempting to present criticism of the ideas it discusses though finding this balance is no easy task.

I suspect many of the inclusions in the book however are included because they’re entertaining, quirky and interesting (I.e the gorilla video) rather than notable developments in psychology. I could be wrong, though. I prefer the introduction of the Skinners, Freuds and Maslows.

I must also note that one particular line suggests that dreams must hold utility as they are ‘expensive’ in energy, and otherwise evolution would have weeded these activities out. I believe that dreams likely hold a purpose, but I don’t think that it is accurate to suggest that we cannot have inefficiencies as a result of evolution.

[Noceur · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a psycholgy lover like myself, this book is great for beginners who are invested deeply in this very simple yet complex book. It is recommended for those who want to be explained briefly on known social experiments, famous psychologists, and even phenomena that we as humans are unaware of the unconscious mind. Some of the experiments are known for its brutality and might even give a fright to its readers with a fragile heart. After completely reading this, I have known to realise how easily we get swayed by our animalistic desire while throwing values out of the window. (As always, Sigmund Freud has interesting theories that are yet to be proven.) If you wish to get started on psychology as a complete newbie, then this book is the one for you.

[Foxglove · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a lot of interesting concepts that I definitely want to read up on, outlined in enough detail to give you a taster. I was surprised to find that I’d actually already heard about a lot of these concepts, but there were quite a few that completely stunned me (e.g the Stanford Prison Experiment). I’d definitely recommend this as you need little to no prior experience with psychology to understand and enjoy this book, and I think it’s a pretty good starting point for anyone who wants to know more about the subject.

[elarigato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in two sittings- it’s a brilliant introduction to basic psychological theories and psychologists, and I really appreciated the clarification of the differences between psychiatry/psychology in the intro. I think it probably lends itself more as a handy reference guide for certain concepts explained in layman’s terms than to a deep dive into different theories, but it provides a great overview and provides a bibliography for further exploration of its ideas.

[Burçin · Rating 3 out of 5]

bahsedilen başlıkların hepsinden yüzeysel olarak bahsedilmiş. Bu anlamda derinlikli bir kitap olmasa da psikolojiye merakı olan, bir yerden başlamak isteyen, kavramları başlangıç düzeyinde okumayı arzulayan ve gündelik hayattan çok kopmayıp bilimsel jargonda fazlaca boğulmak istemeyenler için yerinde bir seçim olacaktır.

[Sandy Morley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Does what it says on the tin. Brief descriptions of interesting people, experiments, and theories in the field of psychology. There's not much new here, but that's not really the point, and there are probably a few surprises even for those with a real interest in the subject. I like a little more detail, but all credit to the author for never once leaving me going "...and?"

[Debi Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really insightful and interesting read. It covers so many different theories, some which are controversial and will have you saying “that cannot be true.” Very much recommended for those that want to have more knowledge on the subject of psychology, as no prior knowledge is needed. Everything is explained to you with minimal jargon. Concepts are not difficult to grasp.

[Claire Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic introduction to psychological concepts that I'll be exploring more in depth when I begin my psychology degree. Ironically, the only critique I have is that some explanations were seemingly too basic and missed out on some details which I believe would have made the explanations make more sense.

[zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

just an overview in psychology including popular theories, studies and individuals. pretty brief and good for people who are just getting started in psychology or wanting to start. easy to read as well 👍

this book mainly gave me basic information on different topics in psychology, made me want to read more on different specific aspects of psychology. bought this in y11

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is exactly what the title says it is. Some of the psychology studies I found interesting other I didn’t. I will be passing this on to my daughter to use as she is studying psychology at college and I am sure it will come in handy for her to recap some of the studies.

[Suzanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting but brief overview of various psychological syndromes, experiments, beliefs and effects. I would say it's a good beginners book to pique your interests in the various subjects to perhaps go on to purchase a book solely on one of the discussed topics.

[Veronika · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this, I found the information was very clear and easy to understand. Some of the content covered may be a bit too simplistic to anyone who has a a wider understanding of psychology but I think if you want to learn about physiology, it's defiantly a useful book.

[virgoreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief introduction to a number of popular psychology theories. It feels a bit outdated, however. I will admit I’m not knowledgeable about this topic (hence why I read the book) but I felt as though there wasn’t really much on modern psychology.

Still, fairly interesting and quick read.

[Gwen Prell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and simple introduction to some basic psychology concepts. Nothing too deep to confuse most readers and it provided some new ideas to me.

[Anneliese Pearson · Rating 4 out of 5]

some sophisticated language- you may need prior knowledge on some topics- but overall a really good book!!