Textbook Review

Title of Book: Psychology & Adjustment: Values, Culture and Change
Author: Ronald Jay Cohen (St John’s University)
Publisher: Allyn and Bacon

From my point of view, this textbook is reader friendly and is a big aid to all students out there who is taking Psychology as a subject for their course. For a start, there is a table of contents complete with the pages which will make it easier for the students to find information that they need instead of browsing through every pages. With the index too, they will have a general idea of what they will be learning for the subject and of course, the table of contents show a logical arrangement and development of subject; from an easier one to the most difficult. Like most textbooks, it contains references and bibliographies for students to check the sources used in the book if they need more detailed explanations. At the back of the page, there is a useful glossary that gives meaning to specific terms and words to help students understand more. At the beginning of every chapter, there is a brief introduction to capture the reader’s attention as it relates the topic with examples that are very close to us. The summaries that is provided at the end of every chapter is a short summary of every sub-topics and it definitely enlightens and strengthen students' understanding.

On the content, it is useful for both local and national standards as issues and examples given are very universal and it too can be considered as current because it is only published in the year 1999 and could be used for many more years. The language used is appropriate and very direct for college students thus making it easier to comprehend by them. The lessons are however not all are linked to each other and does not contain end-of-lesson questions or quizzes to test the students' understanding. They should have questions on the chapter so that students can relate well with their daily applications. Despite the weakness, they do have activities in between lessons that is interesting and appealing. Students can have a break in between reading and learning and try the fun activities prepared for them.

From the physical aspect, the front cover with the striking colours and designs can attract any readers easily but the size of the book is too big and it is quite heavy for students to carry along in their bags or just by holding it. This condition will only lead to students becoming lazy to bring their textbooks and even to read it! It is a hardcover book but I doubt the pages are durable. The font is appropriate for college and university students and they should be able to read it comfortably. The illustrations of the books and the tables, figures, graphs, and also charts are very relevant and useful in my opinion; and of course every illustrations are appropriate to students with various ethnicity, sex, socioeconomic background and their physical and mental background. It helps students to generate and memorize the facts and figures without any hurdles.

In my point of view, these are the important and crucial criterias that need to be put forward when selecting a textbook. This Psychology textbook has its weaknesses that can be overcome and the strength that can benefit the students using it.