Psychology Led Astray


Book Description

This book shows how scientific and psychotherapeutic practices change into worthless rituals called by the famous physicist, Richard Feynman, "cargo cult." It is a must-read for everybody who is interested in psychology, who is studying or intends to study it, but also for present and potential clients of psychotherapists and parents of mentally-disabled children. Readers will learn which parts of psychology and therapy are cargo-cult-like and which are reliable. This book is the second part of trilogy devoted to the dark side of psychology. The first volume was published under the title"Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Sides of Science and Therapy," also released by BrownWalker Press.




Psychology Astray


Book Description




Unscientific Psychology


Book Description

Philosopher and psychotherapist Fred Newman and developmental psychologist Lois Holzman challenge psychology's understandings of what a human being is, what mental illness is, and how people develop and learn. They show how these understandings were created, marketed and sold to the American public. Going beyond critique, the authors argue that instead of psychology, what people the world over need is a cultural, performatory approach to human life. Unscientific Psychology is based on the authors' twenty-five year practice of creating such an approach and the network of therapeutic and educational projects that have been built with it. Unscientific Psychology is at once a narrative of the history of philosophy, modern science and psychology, and a critique of psychology's methodology. Arguing that psychology is a pseudoscientific hoax, the authors deconstruct three of its most powerful myths: the myth of the individual; the myth of mental illness; and the myth of development. They tell the story of how these myths were constructed out of age-old philosophical abstractions to create a world and a discourse of psychological objects. Newman and Holzman invite readers to think in new ways about our lives and the world around us. Like similar books that make discoveries in the social sciences accessible and exciting to an educated audience, Unscientific Psychology taps into the desire of readers who are eager to learn what's on the cutting edge of scientific and cultural change.




Methodological Thinking in Psychology


Book Description

In recent years an increasing dissatisfaction with methods and thinking in psychology as a science can be observed. The discipline is operating under the tension between the traditional quantitative and the new qualitative methodologies. New approaches emerge in different fields of psychology and education—each of them trying to go beyond limitations of the mainstream. These new approaches, however, tend to be “historically blind” – seemingly novel ideas have actually been common in some period in the history of psychology. Knowledge of historical trends in that context becomes crucial because analysis of historical changes in psychology is informative regarding the potential of “new/old and forgotten” approaches in the study of psyche. Some approaches in psychology disappeared due to inherent limitations of them; the others disappeared due to purely non-scientific reasons. And some new approaches were rejected long ago for well-justified scientific reasons. This book brings together contributions from leading scholars in different fields of psychology – cognitive psychology, developmental psychology, cultural psychology, methodology of psychology. Each of the contributors discusses methodological issues that were more thoroughly understood more than half a century ago than they are now. Overall, the contributions support the idea that in important ways 60 years old psychology was far ahead of the most recent trends in mainstream psychology.




Psychology Gone Wrong


Book Description

Psychology Gone Wrong: The Dark Sides of Science and Therapy explores the dark sides of psychology, the science that penetrates almost every area of our lives. It must be read by everyone who has an interest in psychology, by all those who are studying or intend to study psychology, and by present and potential clients of psychotherapists. This book will tell you which parts of psychology are supported by scientific evidence, and which parts are simply castles built on sand. This is the first book which comprehensively covers all mistakes, frauds and abuses of academic psychology, psychotherapy, and psycho-business.







Psychology Gone Astray


Book Description

In the relatively short history of psychology as a science, our understanding of human behavior, cognition, emotion, and perception has moved forward in leaps and bounds. This knowledge is frequently applied today to help make improvements in people's lives, from more effective therapies for the mentally ill to educational strategies to increased work productivity. But if we step back in time only a few decades, we find psychologists playing a key role in a very different effort: the attempt to support racist and sexist attitudes and policies with results from experiments and other forms of research. This book provides a window into this period, reprinting over 20 journal articles from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with commentary from noted educators Abramson and Lack. Will we continue to twist science to fit our preformed beliefs or can we learn from the mistakes of our past? "This is an important contribution to the literature in psychology regarding a very uncomfortable time in our history. I applaud the authors for taking on this challenging topic and shining light on this dark time in the history of social science." Dr. Robert Mather, Associate Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Central Oklahoma




The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology


Book Description

The goal of cultural psychology is to explain the ways in which human cultural constructions -- for example, rituals, stereotypes, and meanings -- organize and direct human acting, feeling, and thinking in different social contexts. A rapidly growing, international field of scholarship, cultural psychology is ready for an interdisciplinary, primary resource. Linking psychology, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, and history, The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology is the quintessential volume that unites the variable perspectives from these disciplines. Comprised of over fifty contributed chapters, this book provides a necessary, comprehensive overview of contemporary cultural psychology. Bridging psychological, sociological, and anthropological perspectives, one will find in this handbook: - A concise history of psychology that includes valuable resources for innovation in psychology in general and cultural psychology in particular - Interdisciplinary chapters including insights into cultural anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, culture and conceptions of the self, and semiotics and cultural connections - Close, conceptual links with contemporary biological sciences, especially developmental biology, and with other social sciences - A section detailing potential methodological innovations for cultural psychology By comparing cultures and the (often differing) human psychological functions occuring within them, The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology is the ideal resource for making sense of complex and varied human phenomena.




The Psychology of Scientific Inquiry


Book Description

This brief sets out on a course to distinguish three main kinds of thought that underlie scientific thinking. Current science has not agreed on an understanding of what exactly the aim of science actually is, how to understand scientific knowledge, and how such knowledge can be achieved. Furthermore, no science today also explicitly admits the fact that knowledge can be constructed in different ways and therefore every scientist should be able to recognize the form of thought that under-girds their understanding of scientific theory. In response to this, this texts seeks to answer the questions: What is science? What is (scientific) explanation? What is causality and why it matters? Science is a way to find new knowledge. The way we think about the world constrains the aspects of it we can understand. Scientists, the author suggests, should engage in a metacognitive perspective on scientific theory that reflects not only what exists in the world, but also the way the scientist thinks about the world.




Critical Psychology


Book Description

`Do read this book - it will refresh you if you have not come across critical psychology before. If you are already "critical", this is an excellent, up-to-date overview of the area′ - THE (Times Higher Education) ′An excellent book in all respects - compulsory reading for scholars interested in a socio-political contextual analysis of complex human behaviour′ - Professor David F Marks, City University, London ′The arrival of a Second Edition of this classic is an exciting event. The editors have assembled a world class array of authors to bring students to the forefront of critical scholarship today. Adding to the work′s lustre are fresh new chapters on critical social issues, along with a set of new pedagogical aids. Bravo!′ - Kenneth J. Gergen, Senior Research Professor, Swarthmore College The Second Edition of Critical Psychology extends the original′s comprehensive and accessible critique of mainstream psychology. Fully revised, reconfigured and expanded, the Second Edition explores critical psychology′s continued growth and diversification, offering practical advice, and noting significant theoretical and political dilemmas confronting critical psychologists today. While other texts focus on narrower specialties within critical psychology or on specific theoretical or methodological perspectives, Critical Psychology retains its focus on critical psychology as a whole. Key features of the new edition include: - each chapter now also includes a summary of main points, a glossary of important terms, suggested readings and Internet sites, and questions for discussion - the book′s contributors - most of them new - have thoroughly updated the original chapters and provide multiple perspectives on critical psychology′s core concerns - reflecting recent developments, Parts Three and Four are completely new to this edition. Part Three provides in-depth coverage of critical psychology′s relevance to social justice, focusing on the issues of race, class, gender, disability, colonization/globalization, human rights/social justice in post-conflict settings, and oppression/empowerment in mental health systems. Part Four examines critical psychology practice, from theory, methodology and therapy to community organizing and the politics of resistance.




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