I use Huffman, Vernoy, & Vernoy (2000) (5th Ed.) in my classes.
The text is different in that it presents topics that include cultural
and gender perspectives. The authors are extremely careful in the
accuracy of their presentation of materials and it's apparent they value
the integrity of the scientific approach. I believe their approach
stimulates critical thinking and interest. The text includes
a companion website with many useful resources for both students and instructors.
It is published by Wiley & Sons (ISBN 0-471-24932-7). Each
semester I have students evaluate the course text and I am very pleased
with their qualitative and quantitative support for this text.
Hope this is helpful.
Mark Eastman wrote:
I am looking for a different
type of intro. text. One that is not organized in the usual fashion
of offering a broad survey approach to the course. I am finding many
of these texts unwieldy and boring. Is there a text out there that
organizes intro. psychology around topics or issues, for an example?
Any suggestions on recent, somewhat "unusual" introductory texts would
be appreciated. Mark EastmanDiablo Valley CollegePleasant
Hill, CA 94523
Dear Mark,
If you are looking for a different type of textbook, I suggest that
you consider Understanding Human Behavior, by Clifford Mynatt and Michael
Doherty, 1999, Allyn and Bacon. I received a review copy, and I have
been blown away by it. I think that the book is great, and it may
be what some people are looking for.
To begin with, it breaks the traditional chapter structure.
At 404 pages, the book covers a good deal of material, but it consists
of 42 chapters. Each chapter, developing one core idea, is more focused
on an area than are traditional texts. The core ideas for the chapters
came from different sources. For example, they asked colleagues what
single idea would they want students to remember twenty years after having
taken the course. Also, they surveyed students at the end of the
course, asking what was the most important idea they learned. From
answers to questions such as these, Mynatt and Doherty came up with 42
chapters to structure the book. I think that this structure works
great, and it makes for very readable chapters.
And that brings me to a second point: the book reads well.
Among traditional textbooks, I have admired several, but my favorite has
been David Myers, because he has a smooth flow to his writing that makes
his book readable. I think that Mynatt and Doherty have also achieved
that goal. They have a real sense of pace, striking an excellent
balance between concrete facts and general ideas. The writing is
smooth and clear, and it is an example of good science writing. For
me, reading the book has been like ice-skating on smooth ice: a lot of
ground covered with very little effort.
A third point about the book is that they stress reasoning over
facts. In their introduction to the book, Mynatt and Doherty note
that intro texts have become encyclopedic. As Mark Eastman put it,
unwieldy. Rather than a book that was an unweildy compendium of facts,
Mynatt and Doherty aimed to produce a book that stressed reasoning.
I think they succeeded.
A fourth point about the book is that it tries to convey what science
is. This is a major attraction for me. My teaching experience
here in Louisiana suggests to me that many students here see science as
dogma. They think that a scientific theory is merely a matter of
opinion or personal preference. After all, they will say, a scientific
theory is not a fact; it is only a theory. I think that much of this
attitude may be attributed to scientific education that just presents a
compendium of facts. Mynatt and Doherty do a good job of presenting
scientific reasoning, of demonstrating how scientific theory is based on
evidence. This is a real strength of the book and a major attraction
for me.
A few months ago, there was a fine discussion here on TIPS about
scientific theory. I found the discussion informative, and the discussion
led to some changes in my teaching. If you also found that discussion
informative, you might like what Mynatt and Doherty do in this book.
I know that this book will not be to everyone's taste, but I was
deeply impressed with it, and if you are looking for an alternative to
the traditional structure of intro texts, this is a book that deserves
your serious consideration.
Dave Kerby
Department of Psychology
Northeast Louisiana University
Monroe, Louisiana
