Legal psychology. A bibliography and a suggestionSlesinger, D.; Pilpel, E. M.
doi: 10.1037/h0072406pmid: N/A
167 titles represent the literature on this topic through 1926 and later years; they fall into four types: psychiatric, sociological, legal, and psychological. Legal psychology is defined as the behavior of people in situations created by the law; and in place of the case material methods of the law student and the laboratory precision methods of the psychologist, it is suggested that research in legal psychology take the form of systematic analysis of the gross behavior of people in legal situations (e.g., judges), perhaps similar in technique to the observational methods being developed in child clinics.
Review of 'Gestalt Psychology'Fernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0063819pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, Gestalt Psychology by W. Köhler . The salient features of the author's views are presented in ten chapters, all written in essay-form and each one perfectly selfcontained, yet all held together by a sort of fugal theme which divides at times into four or five parts. The style of writing is a delight. The author has not written the book for quick or superficial reading. To come to anything like close grips with the burden of the thesis which Gestalttheorie is trying to present, the book must be read slowly and carefully, reread, and then read again. Through the course of the first three chapters the author presents a beautiful analysis of the differences between behaviorism and introspectionism, and a splendid defense of a point of view which would include the data of both these schools and much also which both have neglected because of artificially established boundaries.
Review of 'An Outline of Social Psychology'Fernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0064364pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, An Outline of Social Psychology by J. R. Kantor . The author presents a valuable and much-needed review and appraisement of the diverse presuppositions found in the literature on the subject. His style might well be called "Kantornese." The author brings to the reader a panorama of the various contributions from the special fields of anthropology, biology, sociology, history, etc., betraying a background of reading far in excess of his bibliographical citations. The volume as a whole is an insight rather than an outline. One lays the book down with a feeling that somehow social psychology may one day become a science. The author outlines the perspective problems of social psychology. The author finds a variety of reasons for the present unsatisfactory status of social psychology as a science. In the final pages an enlightening sketch of the vast possibilities of applied social psychology is set forth, completing the picture of our present knowledge of social psychology from the dual standpoint of subject-matter and methods for investigating it.
Review of 'Social Psychology'Fernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0066723pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, Social Psychology by Carl Murchison . In the somewhat belligerent opening pages we read that social psychology at present is a futile chaos. The simple fact that individual differences exist is called upon in this volume to sustain considerable burden. Individual differences are most apparent m respect to strength, that is, in the ability to dominate. The author is certainly stepping beyond "a description of the mere facts of inequality" and is assuming a drive, when he writes, There is not the slightest question concerning the certainty with which stronger interests in the community will rule the entire community. This book is merely a sketch or outline of a point of view. The point of view is original, however loosely it may be worked out. It gives the reader a feeling that the present standard formulations of social psychology are the merest beginning. The use of allusion to the classics, which is a distinguishing feature of the book, serves very well to remind the reader how superficial the field of social psychology may become unless there is a revival of interest in social philosophy.
Review of 'The Psychology of Religious Awakening'Fernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0065585pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, The Psychology of Religious Awakening by Elmer T. Clark . The records of the present study constitute the largest collection of personal religious experiences ever brought together. Three types of religious awakening are distinguished: the definite crisis (conversion) comprising only about 7 per cent of the cases; the gradual awakening, in which religion dawns by a developmental process unaccompanied by significant upheaval, containing 66 per cent of the cases; and the emotional stimulus type of awakening which though essentially gradual yet has some specific event as the beginning of the religious consciousness, in 27 per cent of the cases.
Scientific Method in AestheticsFernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0064643pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, Scientific Method in Aesthetics by Thomas Munro . Skeptical of the alleged ineffability and uniqueness of aesthetic experience, the author subscribes heartily, if in rather general terms, to the naturalistic ideal for aesthetics. He sketches briefly a program of inquiry, not comprehensive, but in respect to many points quite original.
Review of 'Clinical and Experimental Studies in Personality'Fernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0069115pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, Clinical and Experimental Studies in Personality. by Prince Morton . In the preface to this volume, written only eight months before his death, the author Briefly sketches the growth of interest in abnormal psychology during the past forty years. Speaking of psychoanalysis he says, "There is much, very much, that every experienced investigator accepts, but this 'much' is not especially Freudian, but is common to dynamic psychology." It is convenient to have the best and most representative of Prince Morton's numerous papers gathered into a single volume.
Review of 'Introduction to Social Psychology'Fernberger, Samuel W.
doi: 10.1037/h0067280pmid: N/A
Reviews the book, Introduction to Social Psychology by R. Mukerjee and N. N. Sen-Gupta . This is an elementary text covering the general subject of social psychology. There is frequent use of psychoanalytic terminology and principles, including a chapter on "Social Neuroses," and a strong insistence on the social importance of motor responses; but in general the tone of the book is sociological rather than psychological.