[Review of the book Practical psychology

Abstract

Reviews the book, Practical psychology by Edward S. Robinson (1927). The reviewer states that this is not a treatise on psychotechnic; i.e., psychology applied to medicine, business, law, etc., but, as its sub-title suggests, deals with "Human Nature in Everyday Life." It goes through most of the conventional topics included in the average textbook but with somewhat greater emphasis on their practical application to everyday problems. Part I deals with the preparation for psychology, which is defined as the "Study of Human Nature" and embraces both mental life and behavior. Part II deals with habits and their acquisition. Part III deals with perception which is defined as a special type of activity and in which habit and expectation play a considerable role. Part IV deals with ideation. Ideas are not objects but activity. Part V deals with feelings and emotions. The last section deals with the individual. Personality is defined as all of one's habits and the organization of these habits. There are suggestions for a healthy personality. Finally, there is a discussion of abilities and their measurement with description of a few tests and distribution curves and a mention of correlation. The reviewer adds that the book ends rather abruptly, but it is rather refreshing to read a text that does not overemphasize some personal theory of the writer. Granted this point of view, the work as a whole is rather well done. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)