Annette I have used the book in the past- 9 years ago, to be precise. I found it quite helpful in forming highly thoughtful and vigorous class discussions - with one caveat. It needs the support of an academically rigorous foil (like a textbook or active pursuit of primary literature). I think the reviews are correct that it is a bit "optimistic" in it's presentation- for an advanced undergraduate or a class project I'm less certain- it would depend on the "scope" and aims of the project. I think I would tend to urge another and more current text and reserve this one for the illustrations for classes. :) Tim _______________________________ Timothy O. Shearon, PhD Professor and Chair Department of Psychology The College of Idaho Caldwell, ID 83605 email: [email protected]
teaching: intro to neuropsychology; psychopharmacology; general; history and systems "You can't teach an old dogma new tricks." Dorothy Parker ________________________________________ From: [email protected] [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, October 05, 2009 4:09 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: [tips] Mapping the Mind I have a student who wants to read Mapping the Mind by Rita Carter, for a class assignment in honors intro. I do not know the book well and so looked to amazon for some reviews. Interestingly the only 3 bad reviews all said the same things and provided evidence for their statements, namely, that as a journalist and not a scientist, she makes some broad generalizations that do not reflect accurately bwhat is going on in the brain. Here are some quotations: "Few examples: 1) large parts of the brain are not active at birth -- a straightforward lie. 2) The putamen control activities like riding bicyvle -- a confabulation 3) "The caudate nucleus automatically prompts you to wash" -- a confabulation." Another reviewer noted: "I was surprised when Carter identified the amygdala as the "source of negative emotions of anger, fear and sadness" (p. 103). And she writes: "the amygdala, as we have seen, does not convey concepts, it simply creates emotional feelings." These are misleading formulations that you'd never read in anything written by Antonio Damasio." Another reviewer: "The first line of the book summary says it all: "Today a brain scan reveals our thoughts, moods, and memories as clearly as an X-ray reveals our bones. We can actually observe a person's brain registering a joke or experiencing a painful memory." The fallacy in the first sentence should be obvious." My fear is that a freshman student, even an honors freshman, will not have the sophistication to evaluate this. On the other hand 42 people gave it 5 stars. Such as this comment: "This book is probably the most comprehensive, rounded and best in the genre of brain/mind science that I have read. It is complimented with impressive colour illustrations and a prose that is light and readable, for the enthusiastic, but non-brain specialist like myself. Excerpts and comments from related fields such as philosophy, psychiatry, evolutionary psychology, anthropology, and even archaeology etc have been inserted in highlighted boxes, which provide welcome and complimentary notes." I am at a loss of what to think of the book so if any tipsters have read it I'd like to hear their views. Also, is there a favorite other place for quality reviews other than Amazon? Annette Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110 619-260-4006 [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
