Book review: „The Psychology Student’s Survival Guide” by Robert S. FELDMAN and Sara Pollak LEVINE (2011.06.15)

„The Psychology Student’s Survival Guide” by Robert S. FELDMAN and Sara Pollak LEVINE – I’ve read this book three times. Bellow, my feed-back after the third reading.

History?

In the summer of 2003, MV Doulos Phos got to Constanza, Romania, and got some press attention.

I went on the ship in that summer, and bought a few books, one of them: “Essentials of Understanding Psychology” by Robert FELDMAN (see my review, in Romanian, here: Singura carte pe care o recomand oricui spre lectură – Fii eficient!).

The book came with another book, smaller one: „The Psychology Student’s Survival Guide” by Robert S. FELDMAN and Sara Pollak LEVINE. I’ve read them both that summer. I will read „Essentials …” again, this time a newer edition, as a PDF file (I do not own the book anymore) and write a review on this blog. But, recently, I had the occasion of spending some time waiting for things, and read „The Psychology Student’s Survival Guide” two times (on 2011.06.15), after an initial reading in 2003.

Basic feed-back?

– Style: the authors are very funny; see this example: in a section with a test called „How do I feel about computers?”, there is a question like this: „When confronted with a computer, which of Snow White’s companions do you most resemble: Sleepy, Sneezy, Doc, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy, or Bashful?”;
– Style: on the other hand, the authors use easy-to-understand words/examples; as a Romanian student, I felt I could easily read this book; nothing fancy, although the subject is unusual; simple words, simple structure, simple procedures; everyone could get this; simple & clear, so nice for a student;
– Style: another thing which is great is their balance of paradoxical things; a lot of people tend to „sell” you things, by only providing one point of view; so, if I try to convince you that this book is great, I will only present you positive things; but if the authors would present their books, they would also have a look on the downsides of their book; it’s a balance in opposite things (paradoxical, some time), which is very pleasant for me as a reader;
– Style: they apply their own rules (from psychology); this book doesn’t state all that many principles psychology, but the authors do (in my opinion) apply the rules from „Essentials …”; they walk the talk;
– Contents: the contents itself is a surprise – who writes a book about reading/note-taking/learning/test-taking/memory-forming/time-management/information research? We tend to take things for granted – „But of course I know how to do all this stuff; what can you teach me about reading a book?” Apparently, a lot; there is a whole bug (although not a huge one, but, still, a book) on these subjects;

Awesomeness?

What I like most about the book is not the style (funny & simple, paradoxical & walking the talk), it’s not even the contents (how to do stuff, from reading to looking for information); it’s great stuff to say unusual things (how to do stuff which we take for granted) in a nice style. But what’s better than this is the process of presenting information.

If you can look at the way the authors speak about the subject, I think you can learn some things. They start with real-life examples, they use words & situations which are familiar to the students of Psychology, they have a style which is easy to comprehend, they reinforce learned information, they ask you to do things, they surprise you. The coolest thing about this book is not the style, nor the contents, but the way in which information is presented. Something the NLP people would call: „The structure of magic”. Ahh, the structure…

Proof: just have a look at the following example, and try to focus on how the authors make you understand the concept:

OK, as a final note, my top three negative thoughts about the book:

• …
• …
• …

(that would be all)

Convinced?

Update: There’s a new book on the subject: „P.O.W.E.R. Learning: Strategies for Success in College and Life” (9780073375168): Robert Feldman: Books; judging a book by it’s contents, it seems like an update version of the book above:

Part 1. Getting Started
Chapter 1. P.O.W.E.R Learning: Becoming a Successful Student
Chapter 2. Making the Most of Your Time
Chapter 3. Recognizing How You Learn, Who You Are, and What You Value

Part 2. Using P.O.W.E.R for Academic Success
Chapter 4. Taking Notes
Chapter 5. Taking Tests
Chapter 6. Building Your Reading Skills
Chapter 7. Writing and Speaking
Chapter 8. Memory
Chapter 9. Choosing Your Courses and Major
Chapter 10. Technology and Information Competency

Part 3. Life Beyond the Classroom
Chapter 11. Making Good Decisions
Chapter 12. Diversity and Your Relationship with Others
Chapter 13. Money Matters
Chapter 14. Stress, Health, and Wellness