psychology can be an extremely fascinating subject, even if it’s hard to remember when you’re surrounded by a stack of textbooks preparing for exams.
Whether you’ve studied psychology for a long time or your first year of college is just around the corner, here are eight books that will not only help you with your coursework, but also help you rediscover what I loved psychology in the first place. .
You are reading: Psychology books for students
enrich your mind by reading about the mind; makes sense, right?
coming down the rabbit hole: extraordinary journeys into the human brain by dr allan ropper and brian david burrell.
Coming down the rabbit hole is a book about the front lines of clinical neurology and the struggle of trying to heal the body when the mind is under attack.
by observing and listening to the patient, he is able to quickly deduce what the problem is. Just like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, absurdities are a daily occurrence for Dr. ropper, and he explains some of the more interesting cases he comes across.
Read about cases like the man found circling in traffic because he couldn’t find his way home, a child molester who after slipping on ice has a dead brain in a living body, and a mother diagnosed with her who has to decide if it’s worth living a life locked inside her own head.
Written more like a story than simply stating the facts, and going into detail with each case, this is a good book to teach psychology students about the different symptoms of brain disease. the book manages to be both compassionate and informative, offering a better understanding of the complexity of a neurologist’s job.
elephants on acid: and other strange experiments by alex boese
elephants on acid is an exploration of the craziest psychological experiments that have occurred throughout time (but mostly in the 1970s) in the name of science. The experiment referred to in the title is one in which an elephant named Tusko was selected for an experiment to determine what happens to an elephant given a massive dose of LSD.
Other experiments discussed include: Will babies instinctively choose a well-balanced diet? Will the average dog call for help in an emergency? why can’t we tickle ourselves? And is it possible to bring the dead back to life?
This is a book full of strange, often terrifying experiments in a time when there were no measures to protect the person being experimented on.
Every psychology student should read this because it really makes you appreciate the importance of established ethical procedures for psychological experiments in the 21st century. this is a book that is both horrible and funny.
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note: this can be quite an upsetting book for animal lovers, as many of the experiments written in this book are extremely disturbing.
carol tavris and elliot aronson made mistakes (but not me)
Have you ever wondered how strong the power of suggestion really is? Have you ever bought the more expensive of two similar items and then spent a lot of time telling yourself that the cheaper one would have been completely unreliable? if so, then this is the book for you.
Written by two social psychologists, the book discusses cognitive dissonance, confirmation bias, and other cognitive biases, and explains why when people make mistakes, they convince themselves they are right to avoid the embarrassment of be wrong.
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“If mistakes were made,” say the authors, “memory helps us remember that someone else made them.” For example, when you swear that you put an object somewhere and it is in a different place, you proceed to convince yourself that someone else must have moved it.
tavris and aronson explore whether we ever truly believe the stories we tell ourselves and others, and what this has meant throughout history.
jonathan haidt’s happiness hypothesis
In The Happiness Hypothesis, award-winning psychologist Jonathan Haidt takes ancient wisdom and ideals that people thought were necessary to live meaningful lives and tests them under the scrutiny of modern science. he then uses the results of these tests to apply these lessons to everyday life in the 21st century.
In his book, Haidt looks at behavioral biases, beliefs, religions, morality, and conscience, using published scientific and psychological studies to dissect them.
If you are someone who enjoys a mixture of philosophy and psychology, then this is the perfect book for you. Praised for its originality, the book tests well-known ideals such as “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and “do to others what you would like them to do to you.” this is a book to help you reflect on human behavior.
the private life of the brain by susan greenfield
this is on the oxford university psychology course reading list, so you know it’s worth a read. the private life of the brain explores “the effects of neurological disorders and injuries, the actions of drugs, the character of thought in dreams, in schizophrenia, in daydreaming, and in childhood.”
Although this book can, at times, be quite heavy reading, it is a good read if you want to get a solid overview of neuroscience research. The book offers a fascinating insight into the human mind and explains how physiology and experience intertwine to define an individual.
greenfield challenges common assumptions about the brain while answering interesting questions like “what is the relationship between pleasure and pain?” and “how might understanding the science of emotions help us better understand schizophrenia and depression?”
This book is a must-read for any psychology student who wants to better understand the human brain.
the little psychology book by emily ralls and caroline riggs
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all the best parts of psychology without any of the fluff. this is a good book to read if you want to get a basic overview of psychology and learn about the key theories.
The book provides an overview of famous psychologists, theories, psychological studies, and topics you need to know for your course.
At just 128 pages, this book is a great place to start if you’re a psychology major heading into college.
the lucifer effect: understanding how good people turn bad by philip zimbardo
Written by renowned social psychologist Philip Zimbardo, and the basis for the award-winning film The Stanford Prison Experiment, The Lucifer Effect explores why good people can be convinced to act badly and where the truth is drawn. line between good and evil.
zimbardo gives a first-hand account of his infamous stanford prison experiment, in which a group of volunteer college students were placed in a simulated prison environment and randomly divided into “prisoners” or “guards” (with zimbardo serving as the superintendent.
The experiment had to stop after a week, as both groups quickly assumed their roles and guards subjected some prisoners to psychological abuse. in this environment, the prisoners became unstable, with several leaving early due to psychological crises.
Although there has been much criticism of the experiment, this book is an interesting read for both psychology students and non-psychology students. it also provides an excellent insight into the power of roles and group identity, and how humans can turn cruel very quickly in the right situation.
In the book, Zimbardo examines the psychological causes behind the surprising results of this experiment and confronts the terrifying reality of human nature.
the psycho test: a journey through jon ronson’s madness industry
Successful journalist Jon Ronson learns how to spot a psychopath from an influential psychologist who is convinced that many top CEOs are psychopaths.
You are told that it is possible to do this by looking at a variety of verbal and non-verbal cues. He then goes to talk to several suspected psychopaths: a death squad leader, a patient at an asylum for the criminally insane who insists he’s not a psychopath, and a legendary CEO whose psychopathy has been speculated about in the press. /p>
While this book is unlikely to help you significantly in your course, it is an enjoyable and enjoyable read for psychology majors.
other interesting non-fiction psychology books
if you can’t get enough psychology, some other books we recommend for psychology majors are:
- the man who mistook his wife for a hat (mentioned in books for medical students)
- thinking, fast and slow (mentioned in books for economics students)
image credit: goodreads
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