Book Description
Lahey has built a superior reputation of student success through a sound pedagogical system.A highly respected researcher, Lahey applies learning theory to his text and the result is a system that leads to student learning.Want proof?Open any chapter and you'll see each begins with an advanced organizer that tells the student what the chapter is about and gives him or her a "cognitive structure" on which to hang new information.Each main section is followed by a review to reinforce the cognitive structure, a self quiz to check the learning of facts and critical thinking questions to encourage deep processing.Each of the subsequent sections are tied together in a similar fashion and the chapter is summarized in a hierarchical outline at the chapter conclusion.In short, he tells them what he is going to tell them, then he tells them, then he tells them what he told them.This edition marks the introduction of visual reviews, increased technology utilization, and a new section on study skills.All of this adds up to a text that presents psychology in a way that instructors can trust and that students can learn.This Essentials edition was created for instructors who prefer a more concise text with a soft cover and is based on Lahey's successful Psychology: An Introduction, 7th edition. The content differences between the two books are as follows: the chapters on Research Methods, Gender and Sexuality, and Psychology Applied to Business have been deleted from this edition. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Decent but no CD
THis user did a decent job of communicating with me. They also got the book to me in a decent speed. I did not expect it next day, but made it withing the time frame I expected. The pages do have alot of writing on the pages and alot of highlighting. This is handy, but my teacher does not focus on the same points as the previous user. I am not unsatified.
This book was listed with a CD and that is why I chose it. It did not come with one. I was rather upset about that becasue I could have gotten one without the CD and saved money. I just feel they were trying to boost the price. THat is not an honest thing to do. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (6)

Thorough, leisurely study of the principles of musical harmony and scales
Part 1 discusses how tones may be perceived as built up by the base tone and the "harmonic upper partial tones". These upper partial tones are what distinguishes different instruments and they determine the "quality of the tone"; e.g. "if only the unevenly numbered partials are present ... the quality of the tone is hollow, and, when a large number of such upper partials are present, nasal", etc. (p. 119). Helmholtz's model of the ear has it that there is a spectrum of hairs in the ear, each with its own mode of vibration. When we hear a tone it is decomposed into its partials through "sympathetic resonance" of the corresponding hairs, and it is this information--i.e. essentially Fourier coefficients--that is sent to the brain. Part 2 discusses the theory of consonance. Again, the Fourier analysis point of view is the key. The consonance or dissonance of two tones is determined by the interaction of the partials of the tones, giving mathematical precision to the idea that "two consonant tones flow on quietly side by side in an undisturbed stream; dissonant tones cut one another up into separate pulses of tone" (p. 226). Thus one can claim that "ultimately, then, the reason of the rational numerical relations of Pythagoras is to be found in the theorem of Fourier, and in one sense this theorem may be considered as the prime source of the theory of harmony" and so "the enigma which, about 2500 years ago, Pythagoras proposed to science ... 'Why is consonance determined by the ratios of small whole numbers?' has been solved by the discovery that the ear resolves all complex sounds into pendular oscillations ... and that it regards as harmonious only such excitement of the nerves as continue without disturbance" (p. 229). Part 3 studies scales; quoting from the conclusion: "the construction of scales ... is a product of artistic invention, and by no means furnished by the natural formation or the natural function of our ear, as it has been hitherto most generally asserted. Of course the laws of the natural function of our ear play a great and influential part in this result; these laws are, as it were, the building stones with which the edifice of our musical system has been erected, and the necessity of accurately understanding the nature of these materials in order to understand the construction of the edifice itself, has been clearly shewn by the course of our investigations upon this very subject. But just as people with differently directed tastes can erect extremely different kinds of buildings with the same stones, so also the history of music shews us that the same properties of the human ear could serve as the foundation of very different musical systems." (p. 366).

Good, but very old; read Jeans instead (or something modern)
This book is of historical interest only, I think; it's very well written, but a lot of its content is mind bogglingly outdated, ancient. If you need a readable quick intro into sound, read Jeans's book (the first part of it is updated Helmholtz). Then, if you still need to (as in "know specifically what I'm after and it can be found only in Helmholtz"), you can pick this book; but otherwise, resorting to modern literature will be a much better investment of your time.

Misprints.
I found two misprints:

Page 412, last equation on that page, x_2 = -b/(2a). ... : On the right-hand side, there are five terms. Terms number 2 to 5 have to be multiplied by b. In term number 3, replace u^2 by v^2.

Page 417, second of the two equations, r_p = 16 B' B" . ... : The second of the two brackets in the denominator must be squared.

These two misprints occur also in the German original, possibly since 1863.

I concur.
This is worthwhile for the reasons already cited (so I need not rehearse them), but it is important to recognize that much of it has been superceded or disproved. I hope those prospective purchasers who have found their way here are aware of Juan Roederer's THE PHYSICS AND PSYCHOPHISICS OF MUSIC--very much recommended!

An undisputed classic in the science of hearing and music
Helmholtz's Sensations of Tone became an almost instant classic in the study of hearing when it was published in 1863.It combined the physics, physiology and psychological aspects of hearing in an attempt to explainthe origins of musical harmony and dissonance.Though not easy reading, itis accessible to the non-specialist.However it also provides an importanthistorical resource for the specialist and helps one to understand theorigins of so much of contemporary hearing research.Indeed, in many waysHelmholtz reads more like a contemporary than a long-past founding father. The appendices provided by the translator are helpful as well.Finally,the inexpensive paperback edition from Dover makes this book an excellentbargain. ... Read more

Book Description
These multiple-choice practice tests give you a glimpse of the type of test questions you may encounter on the material covered in an Introduction to Psychology course. The practice tests provide a sample of the types of questions that often appear on exams. Each chapter begins with a list of learning objectives to guide your studying. The questions will be similar to those found on exams, but it is doubtful an instructor would use these exact questions. For futher study aids, see if your particular textbook offers a student study guide. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1880 edition by C. Kegan Paul & Co., London. ... Read more

Book Description
This book explores our eleven senses: taste, smell, pressure, heat, cold, pain, muscle and joint awareness, rotation, balance, sight and hearing. ... Read more

Book Description
A significant revision of Jane Halonen and John Santrock's groundbreaking textbook representing psychology as a science while emphasizing its real world contextual dimensions, this edition has expanded its scope to incorporate information about applications and skills related to the discipline.Streamlined by more than 100 pages, making it more accessible and affordable, the text provides students with a proven pedagogical program designed to facilitate comprehension.Despite significant changes in design and structure, the paramount goals for this text remain true. First, to present the field of psychology as a science in as solid and interesting way as possible, and secondly to engage and challenge students with real world information that will motivate them to learn.

... Read more

Book Description
Bringing together neural, perceptual, and behavioral studies, The Merging of the Senses provides the first detailed review of how the brain assembles information from different sensory systems in order to produce a coherent view of the external world. Stein and Meredith marshall evidence from a broad array of species to show that interactions among senses are the most ancient scheme of sensory organization, an integrative system reflecting a general plan that supersedes structure and species. Most importantly, they explore what is known about the neural processes by which interactions among the senses take place at the level of the single cell.

The authors draw on their own experiments to illustrate how sensory inputs converge (from visual, auditory, and somatosensory modalities, for instance) on individual neurons in different areas of the brain, how these neurons integrate their inputs, the principles by which this integration occurs, and what this may mean for perception and behavior. Neurons in the superior colliculus and cortex are emphasized as models of multiple sensory integrators.

Barry E. Stein is Professor of Physiology and M. Alex Meredith is Associate Professor of Anatomy, both at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. ... Read more