Reference Reviews

Doug’s Student Reference Room

How Psychology Applies to Everyday Life, by Charles I. Brooks and Michael A. Church. 155 p. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-313-36486-0. $49.95.

One of the joys of working with young people is witnessing their wonderment as they begin to ask probing questions about what it means to be human. Brooks and Church have created a text sure to appeal to students interested in psychology. Fifty three questions are arranged into six chapters; the first section, “Sex, Booze and Other Fun Things” includes questions such as “Is Beauty in the Nose of the Smeller?” and “Can You Blame It (Risky or Violent Behavior) on the Booze?” Other chapters include “Raising the Little Ones,” “Cops, Robbers and Forensics,” “Memory and Intelligence,” “Anxiety, Stress and Staying Cool,” and “Odds and Ends.” For each question, the authors provide an overview of the topic, ask a focused question and provide a yes or no answer. Several paragraphs of analysis summarize major research that has addressed the question, followed by both primary and additional research references. The last chapter, “Notes from the Shrink,” shifts the approach by not dealing with questions answered by published research, but through clinical experience with clients. Here, actual case studies from one of the authors are used to explain answers to questions such as “Are psychotropic medications overused?” and “Should couples go to marital counseling together?” The language and tone of the text are inviting and will be accessible to most high school students. This work will engage those interested in psychology with fun questions and surprising answers; it also will give students an easy entry into the methodology of research and clinical practice in the field of psychology. Teachers might use this text to supplement textbook material or as a springboard to individual research. Highly recommended for high school, public and university libraries.