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Too often, textbooks turn the noteworthy theories, principles, and experiments of psychology into tedious discourse that even Freud would want to repress. Psych 101 cuts out the boring details and statistics, and instead, gives you a lesson in psychology that keeps you engaged - and your synapses firing.
From personality quizzes and the Rorschach Blot Test to B.F. Skinner and the stages of development, this primer for human behavior is packed with hundreds of entertaining psychology basics and quizzes you can't get anywhere else.
So whether you're looking to unravel the intricacies of the mind, or just want to find out what makes your friends tick, Psych 101 has all the answers - even the ones you didn't know you were looking for.
Psychology has always been something I devoured! When I was in high school, I have always been intrigued by the brain, behavior, and how it all plays out. I don’t mind reading the textbook versions of psychology, but it would help if they made it more interesting for the students/readers.
That’s what Psych101: A Crash Course in the Science of the Mind does. It breaks down all the Psychologists that have made the theories and/or tests that have proven and made Psychology what it is today.
Although Sigmund Freud is probably the most well known psychologist to date, there are tons more. Without these people we wouldn’t know about dreams, reactions, or mental illnesses. I have written extensive notes on all of these psychologists- yet never comprehended as much as I did just reading this book.
As humans, we tend to learn more when it’s in the form of entertainment or lightly written. Textbooks have very small letters, which make it hard to concentrate and read more than a few chapters at a time. They are hard to curl up with and get cozy. This book is very small, fits in my hands and is an amazing read.
It’s more an interesting “here’s this and this is how and why it came along.” He gets straight to the point. I think for most people the reason textbook writing is so hard to comprehend is because they beat around the bush. They make the chapters with less detail, yet more “factual” which is harder to understand for normal readers.
It doesn’t start from the discovery and Psychology and go from there. It jumps around without any significant reason, but that’s what makes it interesting and so fun to read. It doesn’t overwhelm you with just the facts.
It feels like talking to a friend in a way. It’s put in a “perspective” that if someone were telling you firsthand about the tests, psychologists, and hypothesis of behavior. If you’re interested in why people do the things they do, you’ll love this book!
Excerpt from the book: Oral Stage (birth-18 months) "In this stage, a child focuses on oral pleasure like sucking because they create a sense of comfort and trust. If there is too little or too much gratification in this stage, the child will develop an oral personality or oral fixation and become preoccupied with oral behaviors. According to Freud, people with this type of personality are more likely to bite their nails, smoke, drink, or overeat, and will be gullible, depend on other people, and will always be followers”
Facts like this interest me, so naturally I love the entire book. There is cool facts like this throughout the entire book. There is a wide range of topics, and I’m sure that even someone who wouldn’t otherwise be interested—would love this book.
Here are some random topics that the book covers:
- Dreams
- Hypnosis
- Leadership theories
- Theories of Intelligence
- Memory
- Bystander effect
- Conformity
- Left and Right Brained
It breaks down all the tests, why they were given, who they were given to, and how it helped us look into the human behavior, mind, and emotions.
Author Biography
Paul Kleinman grew up in White Plains, New York, and currently resides in New York City. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 2009 with degrees in Art and Communication Arts: Radio, Television and Film. Out of fear that his author bio is painfully boring, he began making things up. He is an astronaut. He trains cobras. He is very tall and in no way sickly pale. He is also a humor writer. That one is true. Maybe.
Buy it: Psych101: A Crash Course in the Science of the Mind
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