Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

A compilation of updated selections from Wolman's 12-volume International Encyclopedia (1977), this volume "is intended to serve as a basic reference book for graduate, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs" in all fields concerned with "the human mind and its ills." There is no indication whether or how much any authors participated in the condensation of articles, and while the bibliography contains some entries as late as 1994, the articles vary in timeliness. The "Hypnosis" entry has one reference dated 1948, for instance; the "Depression" entry includes a current summary of pharmacology, while those on anxiety and psychosis omit this factor, as does the index, surprisingly. Erik Erikson's developmental chart appears, but his main entry by Robert Coles is reduced to a short paragraph; Charles Darwin gets four lines. This hodge-podge is not suitable for advanced students; nor can it be recommended for general readers given the recent, excellent Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology (LJ 5/15/96. 2d ed.).‘E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, D.C. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Jean Piaget's foreword to International Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Neurology (CH, Apr'78) described it as an "ambitious but infinitely useful ... great work." The primary drawback to this impressive reference source was its price. Twenty years later its editor-in-chief Wolman has assembled a single-volume synthesis that contains the "best of the best" from the original set in an abridged, revised, and updated version. It has new entries, a new bibliography, the original easy-to-use alphabetical arrangement, and coverage of the most significant advances in the field since 1977. This reference source both updates the original publication and makes it affordable to researchers, students, and practitioners in the mental health field. Wolman decided that neurology warranted a separate volume, omitted descriptions of developments in other countries, and shortened the biographical entries, but he reviewed every entry from the original publication. More than 680 authors are represented in the hundreds of entries. Although no single volume can contain knowledge of all the fields of psychology, this encyclopedia will serve as an excellent starting place for research. Very highly recommended for general readers and upper-division undergraduates through faculty. J. M. Coggan; University of Florida

Booklist Review

Designed to be an affordable but comprehensive single-volume reference in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, and psychoanalysis, this work was carefully culled from the 12-volume set of The International Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, Psychoanalysis, and Neurology. Revised and updated with new entries, this abridged volume offers the reader a concise, current reference to psychology and related fields. More than 2,500 entries are included, covering such topics as aging, cognitive theories in social psychology, genetic influences on personality development, and sleep and dream research. Arranged alphabetically, the entries range from brief descriptions to multipage articles, depending on the importance of the subject. Entries were provided by experts in the various fields; a list of all of the contributors is included at the beginning of the text. The format and layout of this volume make it an easy-to-use reference tool. The reader can quickly locate topical headings, which appear in bold type. Subheadings are provided in the lengthier articles for ease of use. A comprehensive index includes cross-references to all of the subheadings, allowing the reader to search either by topic or by subtopic. There are brief biographical descriptions of major figures in the fields. These descriptions, reduced in size from the original set, reflect the person's major contributions to psychology and psychiatry exclusively and are sometimes as short as a single sentence. An extensive 18-page bibliography is provided for reference and further reading. This source is more scholarly than The Gale Encyclopedia of Psychology [RBB D 15 96], which is aimed at high-school students, undergraduates, and general readers. Intended to be an affordable alternative for "individual faculty members, clinicians, researchers, and graduate students," the Holt title is a one-volume psychology and psychiatry resource for larger public and academic libraries that can't afford the entire 12-volume set. Those libraries that do own the original set will want to acquire this volume as an update.