History of Psychology

by David Hothersall

Hothersall and Lovett's History of Psychology is a lively survey of the evolution of the field from 1850 to the present. Built around the lives of fascinating thinkers who proposed bold new ways of studying human behavior and mental processes, and telling the true stories behind their famous experiments, this textbook provides students with an intimate understanding of how psychology came to be what it is today. Thoroughly updated with the latest historical scholarship, the fifth edition includes greater focus on the contributions of women and people of color, and a new chapter on the late twentieth century and the cognitive revolution. It also features updated pedagogy such as chapter discussion questions and unique archival photographs, while instructor resources include a test bank, lecture slides, and an instructor manual.

Genres: Psychology, History

590 pages, Paperback

First published May 19, 1988

Reviews

[Jacob Barnum · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book dives deep into the different historical figures and experiments that have shaped psychology today. From ancient Greece to Stanford today, it outlines many different ideas that psychologists based their beliefs on. Although this was helpful, especially as someone who hopes to pursue psychology, the book did get boring very quickly. It often focused too much on the little details of a figure's life and not as much on how they contributed to psychology. It was still an interesting book and helpful with learning about the different psychological principles. It is probably still important if you are hoping to study or work in psychology, but I gave this a 2/5 stars because it does not draw the attention of many readers. In fact, the tone is so boring and too serious that it will most likely push readers away. I would not be quick to recommend this book to anyone because there are many more psychology (or history books, for that matter) that provide the same information in a much more fascinating style.

[Marinho Lopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gostei muito desta História biográfica dos nomes que moldaram a Psicologia deste a antiguidade até à década de 90 do século passado. Para contextualizar, David Hothersall até oferece uma pequena descrição de alguns dos avanços científicos mais relevantes que influenciaram a Psicologia, em particular aqueles com aplicação ao estudo do cérebro (por exemplo, em Fisiologia e Neurocirurgia). O autor escreve de forma fluída, focando-se em muitos detalhes deliciosos da História e das biografias de forma a manter o interesse do leitor. De louvar também a imparcialidade de Hothersall em relação a imensas questões controversas que surgem ao longo do livro, bem como a sua sobriedade a julgar os sucessos da sua disciplina. Livro muito interessante!

[Serotonin · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mejor libro de historia de psicología del mundo, gracias a él disfruté mucho de la asignatura.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Edit: Ok, I concede that the section about Darwin is very interesting, but I think that's only because it's hard to make Darwin uninteresting. Because he was so completely rad. DID YOU KNOW that, prior to his voyage on the HMS Beagle, where he visited the Galapagos islands and studied all the finches and turtles and stuff.. he totally was a creationist..and completely religious. And though he abandoned this (completely illogical) way of thought, he continued to have good relationships with religious people. Maybe this is common knowledge, but I really had no idea. And, though clearly the writers of this book have a bias in that they are psycholgists and they probably believe in evolution and they like Darwin, it really seems as if he was a pleasant, brilliant, and completely unpretentious guy. Darwin ftw. I still think the book is lame though.

I thought I'd take a break from reading and taking detailed notes on this book to mention that IT FUCKING SUCKS. It's so dry and wordy and full of unnecessary background information. I just don't care that Stumpfs father was the country court physician - it's uninteresting and useless. GRR @ History of Psychology class.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

yes, i read this book. and yes, i'm a nerd. but it was really interesting to see how psychology emerged as a field of study. it reminded me of a class i took in undergrad called, "changing views of the universe." this book was great at introducing the main characters of psychology and what their accomplishments were. what i found most interesting were the stupid facts that this book employed about certain people's backgrounds--such as freud's quasi cocaine addiction and skinner's heir-raising child rearing which included putting his own daughter in a box for 2 years. if you're a nerd and are into this crap, read this book. but take breaks often to caffeinate. it is a textbook.

[Roberta Frontini (Blogue FLAMES) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It talks about the most important author in this field!