The Encyclopedic Nature of Introductory Psychology

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 2000, Vol 45(1), 101–104. The reviewer notes that instructors who teach introductory psychology at one time or another may momentarily think about writing their own textbook. Before doing this, the reviewer encourages them to carefully review current introductory textbooks, such as Coon's (see record 1998-06469-000) and Weiten's (see record 1998-06472-000). A careful reading of these books reveals the gargantuan effort needed to complete an overview of an entire discipline. Both of these authors succeed in providing a comprehensive, encyclopedic review of psychology, and the reviewer in awe of the amount of work that occurred in the creation of these texts. This review is organized around two sections–strengths and limitations and the encyclopedic nature of today's psychology textbook. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)