Featured Books
Click on the photo of the book you are interested in and you will be taken directly to the blog posting for that book.

What comes to mind when you think of science? Are you picturing a large textbook and scientists lecturing facts or are you picturing beakers, microscopes, and lab coats? Do you think of science as a body of knowledge, as a process, or both? According to the authors of The Worth Expert Guide to Scientific Literacy: Thinking Like a Psychological Scientist, “For scientific literacy is not just about what we know; it is about how we know it, and how we conduct our lives.” The focus of this text is on why scientific literacy is important and how to increase it through psychology. Teachers in psychology have the ability to enhance their students’ critical thinking and help their students go beyond what they know and start to question how they know it is true.

This is Gina Perry`s second landmark book in the field of social psychology. After uncovering new information about the infamous Milgram “shock” study, Perry takes on Muzafar Sherif. Perry takes the reader on a behind the scenes look at the formation of in and out groups and makes one question the results were organic as we were initially led to believe or, if they were highly manipulated and controlled by Sherif and the other researchers as Perry suggests. Perry tracks down some of the participants in the study who never knew they were being researched. She visits the camp and the researchers who are still living who played a role in this historic study, much of what she discovers will make you think twice about your previous notions regarding this study.

Luke Dittrich spent 6 years researching the infamous story of H.M. whose sad fate made him one of the most widely known case studies in psychological history. Dittrich recounts H.M.`s personal story and contributions to the knowledge of the workings of the hippocampus and different types of short-term memory. Dittrich`s grandfather was the surgeon Dr. Scoville who conducted the highly controversial surgery which makes the story more intriguing. Further, Dittrich recounts the battle between psychologists over access to H.M. in an effort to make a name for themselves in the field. Sadly, these efforts continued after H.M. s brain was cut into over 2,000 pieces in a live stream. Lawsuits over who really owned the brain continued long after the owner had passed. H.M.s story is set against the background of a field of psychological rapidly changing from experimental surgery to more modern methods and provides an interesting historical view of psychosurgery and treatment for disorders.

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If you are interested in learning more about these books and many others, click on the Blog link at the top of the page. Each of the book review postings includes a brief explanation of the book, a related classroom activity, key psychological concepts referenced in the book, and other resources such as websites or podcasts.