Psychology in Perspective

The overall conception of this book is impressive, and Tavris and Wade's writing is so consistently clear and interesting that it is a joy to read. This makes the job of reviewing their work somewhat difficult. It is analogous to my saying, Well, the Mona Lisa is certainly an excellent piece of art. But I wonder how she would look with a pair of small diamond earrings or perhaps a butterfly tattoo just below her left eye. -Walter J. Lonner, Western Washington University

I am very enthusiastic about this project. It seems to be just what the discipline, as well as the market, needs at this point in psychology's development. Students have less and less chance of finding their way out of the maze that the field has become. The forest becomes ever more indiscernible because of the trees. Psychology in Perspective provides the forest. -Keith E. Stanovich, University of Toronto, Author of How to Think Straight About Psychology

I often go ballistic reading what introductory psychology texts have to say about behavioral genetics. In contrast, I was so pleased with your coverage that I had to write to say thanks. Yours is one of the clearest, most honest, and most balanced presentations of this difficult material that I have seen. -Robert Plomin, University of London

Most books do not adequately get across how profoundly different the perspectives within psychology are. Students need to learn that disagreements and controversies are part of the scientific endeavor, and not a sign of arbitrary opinion. Surely that is one of this text's most important messages-that science is open-ended, constantly changing and evolving. -Timothy E. Moore, Glendon College, York University

My students and I are impressed with the narrative style and reading level. Virtually nothing is sacrificed in terms of complexity, yet the text remains entertaining. This book will appeal to professors who favor critical thinking over pieces of information, and who wish to organize the content of psychology into a coherent portrait of the discipline. -Anne L. Law, Rider University

CAROL TAVRIS earned her Ph.D. in the social psychology program at the University of Michigan, and as a writer and lecturer she has sought to educate the public about the importance of critical and scientific thinking in psychology. She is author of The Mismeasure of Woman; Anger: The Misunderstood Emotion; and, with Carole Wade, Psycholoy; Invitation to Psychology; and The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective. She has written on psychological topics for a wide variety of magazines and professional publications; many of her opinion essays and book reviews for The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times Book Review, Scientific American, and other publications have recently been collected in Psychobabble and Biobunk: Using Psychology to Think Critically About Issues in the News. Dr. Tavris lectures widely on, among other topics, critical thinking, pseudoscience in psychology and psychiatry, anger, and the science and politics of research on gender. She has taught in the psychology department at UCLA and at the Human Relations Center of the New School for Social Research in New York. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a charter Fellow of the American Psychological Society; a member of the board of the Council for Scientific Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry; and a member of the editorial board of the APS's Psychological Science in the Public Interest. When she is not writing or lecturing, she can be found walking the trails of the Hollywood Hills with her border collie, Sophie.

CAROLE WADE earned her Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at Stanford University. She began her academic career at the University of New Mexico, where she taught course in psycholinguistics and developed the first course at the university on the psychology of gender. She was a professor of psychology for ten years at San Diego Mesa College, then taught at the College of Marin, and is now affiliated with Dominican University of California. She is author, with Carol Tavris, of Psychology, Invitation to Psychology, and The Longest War: Sex Differences in Perspective. Dr. Wade has a long-standing interest in making psychology accessible to students and the general public through lectures, workshops, and general interest articles. For many years she has focused her efforts on the teaching and promotion of critical-thinking skills, diversity issues, and the enhancement of undergraduate education in psychology. She chaired the APA Board of Educational Affairs Task Force on Diversity Issues at the Precollege and Undergraduate Levels of Education in Psychology, is a past chair of the APA's Public Information Committee, has been a G. Stanley Hall Lecturer, and currently serves on the steering committee for the National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology. Dr. Wade is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and a charter member of the American Psychological Society. When she isn't busy with her professional activities, she can be found rising the trails of northern California on her Arabian horse, Conde.