Product Description

The Penguin Dictionary of Psychology has become a byword for demystifying the language of this complex subject. Now fully updated for its fourth edition, this wide-ranging and accessible dictionary is invaluable for both students and professionals, and an indispensable guide to all areas of psychology and psychiatry. –Covers related fields such as neuroscience and social psychology –Describes how terms are employed, their wider connotations and past usage –Looks in detail at such key concepts as addiction and instinct

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53951 in Books
• Published on: 2009-03-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 928 pages

Review
'Provides keen insights on concepts...I highly recommend it' Henry L Roediger III, President, American Psychological Society 'Reber brings humour and common sense to defining some 17,000 terms...[it] deserves to become a classic of its kind' The Times Education Supplement

From the Publisher

Some sample entries:

EXCITATION

1 In physiology, a process whereby some stimulus energy pattern sets up a change or pattern of changes in a receptor. The energy here may be either physical or other neutral activity; see STIMULATION. 2 In the study of learning, a general high level of activity in the whole nervous system; a reasonable synonym here is drive state. 3 In social psychology, an increase in psychological tension; this meaning is intuitively close to conventional usage.

TROXLER'S EFFECT

A visual phenomenon. When an observer maintains fixation on a point directly in front while attempting to view a stationary line off to one side, this peripheral stimulus disappears. It is especially striking at low illumination levels but occurs at high levels as well, when a sort of visual fog seems to creep in from the periphery, obscuring objects. A slight movement in the periphery causes the peripheral stimuli to reappear.

SEROTONIN

A neurotransmitter found in neural pathways of peripheral ganglia and in the central nervous system. Also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT, it is an inhibitory transmitter the actions of which have been implicated in various processes, including sleep, pain, and the psychobiology of various affective disorders, specifically depression and bipolar disorder. At the time or writing, at least nine different types of serotonin receptors have been identified. Interestingly, while serotonin is involved in mediating many important behaviours, only some 1-2% of the body's serotonin is found in the nervous system: most is in the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal system and blood platelets.

About the Author
Rhianon Allen was born in Dinbych, in the north of Wales in 1950. She completed her BA at the University of British Columbia and her PhD at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. She is a Professor Emerita at Long Island University in New York, where she began work in 1985. Arthur S. Reber was born in 1940 in Philadelphia. He took his BA degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1961 and his PhD at Brown University in 1967. He is Broeklundian Professor of Psychology, Emeritus at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Emily Reber (Roberts) was born in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1969. She did her BA in Behavioural Science at the University of Chicago and her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at Princeton University.

Customer Reviews

An invaluable tool for the psychology undergraduate
This book saw me through my undergraduate years and is still useful now that I'm postdoctoral! The clarity of expression and the range of individual entries provide an excellent start to any essay or topic. There are also some gems which you'll come across by accident - try the entry for psychoceramics!

The best quick and easy reference book around
Reber's text is thoroughly excellent; if possible, an improvement even on the second edition. Terms and perspectives are clearly explained with the occasional thought provoking comment thrown in (see the entry for 'binding'!). Moreover, Reber opts for a personal prose which distances the text from more stock, 'cookbook' competitors. Highly recommended and valuable at all levels of professional attainment. Buy it -- you won't regret it.

Good general dicitionary but don't rely totally on it
It is good for people who are new to Psychology. If you are a degree student, it is worth bearing in mind that it is of most use in the first year. As the course gets more advanced, you are unlikely to find many new terms in the dictionary. Since the field of Psychology is so wide, it is difficult for a dicitionary of this size to give detailed definitions and explanations: if these are what you want, you are better off looking them up in the glossary in a more specialised textbook.