Person. indiuid. LX% Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 755-756, 1992 Pergamon Press Ltd. Printed in Great Britain

N. BIRBAUMER and R. D.M. 88.00, Hardback.

BOOK REVIEWS

F. SCHMIDT: Biologische Psychologie. 2. At&age. Springer-Lehrbuch, Berlin (1991). 695 pp.

This second edition of a book I have reviewed enthusiastically previously does not differ in essence from the first edition. Errors have been corrected, newer studies included, but there has not been any attempt to extend the coverage to areas like intelligence and personality. These topics surely are at the heart of psychology, and equally there has been a great deal of work in recent years to assess the importance of biological factors (physiological, neurological, hormonal), in producing individual differences in intelligence (e.g. Eysenck, 1986 and personality, e.g. Zuckerman, 1991). None of all this work is represented in this volume which concentrates on more elementary functions, never attempting to link these with higher-level functions except when clinical conditions are involved. Thus there is a chapter on nourishment and digestion, but no mention of work showing the correlation between brain uptake of glucose and IQ, or the increase in IQ following vitamin and mineral supplementation.

One can understand the reluctance of the authors of a 700-page book to extend coverage in this fashion; the Zuckerman book runs to almost 500 pages, and studies on IQ would add another 100 or so Nevertheless, as it stands the title is misleading; readers might with some justification expect such topics to be included. Perhaps the third edition will add these topics; given the authors’ outstanding ability to clarify complex problems, and to review difficult lines of research critically but sympathetically, such an extension would be well worth waiting for.

H. J. EYSENCK

REFERENCES

Eysenck, H. J. (1986). The theory of intelligence and the psychophysiology of cognition. In Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.), Advances in the psychology of human intelligence (Vol. 3). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Zuckerman, M. (1991). Psychobiology of personality. Cambridge University Press.

JOSEPH F. RYCHLAK: Artificial Intelligence and Human Reason: A Teleological Critique. Columbia University Press (1991). ix + 201 pp. $43.50. Hardback, ISBN O-2231-007290-2.

This is a curious book in many ways, philosophical rather than psychological. The list of references has Sheldrake rather than Spearman, Wittgenstein rather than Thurstone, Plato rather than Cattell. When Rychlak deals with psychological phenomena, he usually avoids proper discussion and fails to mention important new theories. Thus he discusses “The Decline of Traditional Conditioning Theory” without a mention of either preparedness theory, or the distinction between Pavlovian A and B conditioning, both of which are absolutely essential for an understanding of the issues he raises. He reviews empirical research which he says demands explanations taking account of predicational and teleological processes; he goes on to argue that contemporary cognitive psychology has simply ignored these. All this is rather philosophical, and would be more impressive if Rychlak had dealt in a more objective fashion with the actual theories currently held, i.e. for instance the substitution of S-S instead of S-R conditioning theories. The book may be of interest to those who enjoy philosophical debates, but it will not convince behaviourists (or indeed cognitive psychologists) who prefer a more practical basis for the argument.

H. J. EYSENCK

ELIZABETH LOFTUS and KATHERINE KETCHAM: Witnessfor the Defense. St Martin’s Press, New York (1991). $19.95. 288 pp.

A few years ago in America, the most damaging evidence against an accused person was the testimony of an eyewitness. A typical courtroom scenario might be: Prosecuting attorney: “And, Mrs Churchland, were you able to catch a glimpse of the man who broke into your home and stole your jewellery ?’ Mrs Churchland, “Yes.” PA: “And, do you see him in this courtroom?” MC: “Yes, he is the wicked man sitting at the defendant’s table. I’ll never forget his face.” Recently however, reliable research has shown that Mrs Churchland’s eyewitness account may indeed be in error. Furthermore, American courts have heard from experts in the field of memory who address the issue of the reliability (or the questionable reliability) of eyewitness accounts of criminal acts. This change in American jurisprudence has been brought about largely through the efforts of Elizabeth Loftus who, along with Katherine Ketcham, have written a book, not about the technical side of memory research, but about the actual practice of a distinguished scientist as she performs in the “real world” as a “Witness for the Defense”. In a number of celebrated, and not so celebrated, criminal cases Loftus (and her co-author Ketcham) tell of the conflict, the joy, the embarrassment, the anguish, the doubts, the anxiety, the humor, and the satisfaction involved in assisting defense attorneys as they go about establishing the innocence of a criminally accused person.

755