Abstract
Reviewed by: Shawn P. Gallagher, Psychology, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, USA
In the preface to Forty Studies That Changed Psychology, Roger R. Hock states that his goal is to “fill the gap between all those psychology textbooks and the research that made them possible.” Hock’s narrative arc is familiar and common to many introductory psychology textbooks, beginning with the biological basis of behavior and ending with social and abnormal psychology. He has organized psychology into ten broad categories and surveyed each one with four readings that summarize specific published reports. Hock’s intended audience is “anyone, in any course, who wishes a greater understanding of the true roots of psychology.”
Before delving into the studies, Hock takes care to explain his strategy for presenting each one, the importance of understanding scientific methodology and, quite presciently, the ethical guidelines of the American Psychological Association. From the outset, he admirably encourages his readers to reflect on the costs and benefits of the studies they are about to explore and consider how each one shaped our current understanding of psychology.
This book is as much an introduction to the scientific method as it is to the discipline of psychology. Each reading has the basic structure of a journal article (Theoretical Propositions, Method, Results, and Discussion) and, together, they familiarize the reader with the nature of printed scientific communication. Hock concludes each reading by putting the study in historical context and addressing subsequent criticisms and applications.
Chapter one presents four readings on the biological basis of behavior and the first reading describes the “split brain” work of Michael Gazzaniga and Roger W. Sperry. The reading presents foundational topics like basic neuroanatomy and perception and describes scientists using a clear, hypothesis-driven approach to explore the consequences of bisecting the corpus callosum. While a great place to start, it is important to note that this reading, like six others, is a synopsis of a report published in Scientific American, a popular science magazine written for a general, educated audience. As such, Hock’s report is a review of a review and only slightly more accessible than the original.
Other readings in chapter one address the works of Mark Rosenzweig and Eleanor Gibson, in an effort to give readers an appreciation for how psychology has addressed nature-versus-nurture questions; again, these are common and appropriate first topics for an introductory course.
Chapters two and three address consciousness and learning and, like the readings in chapter one, describe controlled scientific studies. Watson's work with “Little Albert,” an orphaned nine-month-old, while not the most scientific study reviewed, gives Hock a suitable platform for discussing the ethical treatment of children in psychological research. The next three chapters present studies in cognition, development, and motivation. A review of Edward C. Tolman's work clearly explains how behavioral studies contributed to the foundation of modern cognitive psychology and invites students to consider how psychologists infer cognition from behavior. A description of Elizabeth Loftus' work explains how psychology has informed the criminal justice system, and the reading on Masters and Johnson is appropriately framed within the sexual revolution. In most cases, the historical significance is obvious and fosters an appreciation for the interdisciplinary impact of psychological research. The fact that Masters and Johnson are the featured characters in a television series and that Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo are about to become featured characters in major motion pictures validates not only the disciplinary but also the cultural significance of their studies.
Forty Studies That Changed Psychology does not have the substance of a core text but it can support primary course material and offer students the opportunity to explore the research mentioned in a primary textbook. No survey is perfectly comprehensive and instructors could argue incessantly over what should or should not be included in such a review. Rather than challenging the global merit of Hock’s selections, however, I would question how well a few of the readings fit his specific goal of providing a “glimpse into the birth and growth of the science of psychology.” For example, Anna Freud’s paper on defense mechanisms is little more than a theoretical proposition; there is no methodology to explain her theoretical proposition, and the summary of her position feels like an obligatory, albeit indirect, nod to her father, Sigmund Freud, who is otherwise overlooked. Similarly, the readings on the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Tests are also mostly theoretical statements that offer students little science to discuss. Hock’s plan to present “a detailed account of the experimental design and methods used to carry out the research” is compromised by an attempt to cover the breadth of the discipline. These three readings describe ideas, not studies, and break the rhythm of a useful and otherwise consistent pedagogical process. They serve, somewhat paradoxically, as illustrations of how some of psychology’s biggest ideas were not scientifically derived.
Hock's claim that this text is for “anyone, in any course” undermines his objectives and risks trivializing his accomplishment. In my professional experience, this book (like its previous U.S. editions) best serves students at the extremes of their undergraduate careers. As stated, the book is organized as though it was intended to complement an introductory psychology textbook and it reads like a friendly invitation to the field. By describing the methodology behind the big ideas, Hock takes novice students into the realm of psychological research, topic by topic. The readings can be used to bridge the gap between brief descriptions in an introductory textbook and the original, primary source reports which all psychology students should eventually explore. That said, for the most advanced students, the text is a concise review that can remind them of material they learned months or years before. I recommend Forty Studies That Changed Psychology for students who are preparing for the U.S.-based Graduate Record Exam (GRE) subject test for Psychology.
Finally, I would note that only one reviewed study, an fMRI investigation by Philip Ross, was conducted in the past 25 years and this might give a novice the impression that the discipline is stagnant. Of course, the true impact of a study cannot be measured immediately but the field of neuroscience, alone, is replete with recent discipline-changing discoveries like the place cell work that won John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard I. Moser the 2014 Nobel Prize.
This is a useful and enjoyable text and, for more than twelve years, I have always had a copy of Forty Studies That Changed Psychology within easy reach, but the current text could be improved with a consistent scientific perspective and the inclusion of just a few more recent, revolutionary discoveries. Hopefully, that will change in subsequent editions.