Robert L. Solso
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By: Allyn & Bacon
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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8
Average rating: 4.0 of 5
One of the best texts in the field?!?! 1 out of 5 stars.
14 of 16 people found this review helpful.
I'm a graduate psychology student (not from the author's hometown of Reno, NV) and was looking forward to my cognitive psychology class. However, this text has made this class a negative experience. Solso would be better served by not belaboring the basics of cognitive psychology (short-term memory, visual perception, etc.) while then jumping into inadequately explained models. For example, on pages 331-333, Solso exposes us to the Whorfian hypothesis. However, he never says exactly what it postulates. Instead, he talks about "what Whorf concluded" or "what the hypothesis suggests". Unfortunately, this is common. These models are frequently illustrated with "boxes" that are not adequately explained in the text and are therefore confusing (flip to the figure on p. 501 for an example). In contrast, explanations of simple concepts are repeatedly explained. This gives the text a "cut and paste" feel. Also contributing to this feel is the structure. What is the point of two different sections on neurology in chapter 11? I'm at a loss as to why he interrupts any flow there may have been to do this. Also, Solso would also benefit from summarizing sections- he seems wrapped up in the details but frequently misses the bigger picture. He would also serve his readers by occasionally letting them in on how this information is applicable (and this would help make those annoying models that he loves seem relevant). This text is woefully inadequate in this area. Another complaint is the material covered. Solso suggests that the text covers a lot of ground (he's correct) and that it may be best to cover this material over two terms. I recommend that the text could be made more concise by simply sticking to cognitive psychology and avoid devoting entire chapters to development and AI.
Having said that, Solso does show potential and his dry sense of humor creeps out now and then and is welcomed. It is the content that makes this text a frustrating experience (I loved cognitive psychology as an undergrad). I'm amazed that this is a text that has gone through six editions. The seventh needs a major overhaul. Not in terms of keeping up with current research (which, Solso seems to do), but in terms of readability. I will recommend that our department use another text (I refuse to believe that there are no better cognitive texts out there). To any instructors out there who are rating this book favorably, I would ask your students what they think. And to any scholars out there who are asked by Solso to provide suggestions for the next addition, I beg you to take this seriously rather than being content as a mere "acknowledgement."
Editorial Review:
One of the top sellers in the field, Cognitive Psychology is well-written, humorous, and remains the most comprehensive and balanced text in the area of undergraduate cognition. MacLin and MacLin, inheriting the textbook from the late Robert L. Solso, boldly revised and reorganized the Eighth Edition to reflect emerging trends in the field, while retaining the strengths that made it one of the most popular texts among students and professors. The text features a sequential model of human cognition from sensation to perception, to attention, to memory, to higher-order cognition, and features new cutting-edge coverage of consciousness, cognitive neuroscience, memory and forgetting, and evolutionary psychology.
