Psychopathology

Bchav

Rcs. & Therapy.

1967. Vol.

5. pp. 261.

Pergamon

Press Ltd

BOOK P. VEWBLES

and I. MARTIN

(Eds.):

Pnntcd

in England

REVIEWS

.2~aanuol of Psycho-Physidogicai

Merhods.

North-Holland,

Amsterdam.

90s. Ttus Manual is the first to appear in the quickly expanding field of psychophysiological measurement, Written by experts in the various fields covered, and edited very and it deserves a very warm welcome. carefully and conscientiously by Britain’s two leading exponents in the field, it is an indispensable companion for anyone concerned with the measurement of physiological actions, whether he be psychologist. physiologist or psychiatrist. Behaviour therapists in .particular may be recommended to study this Manual because of the obvious necessity of monitoring the processes’of therapy and change on the,polygraph. The coverage is remarkably complete (skin resistance and potential. heart-rate, blood pressure, photoplethysmography, gastric motility, electromyography, oculography and pupillography, as well as electroencephalography); in addition there are several excellent chapters dealing with more general problems. Of the fields not covered the reviewer most missed the measurement of salivary reactions, which have unfortunately been neglected. There are very few misprints, but on p. 122 “complier” for “compiler” seems to suggest Freudian overtones inappropriate for a work of this character!. H. J. EYSENCK

A. H. Buss:

Pqchoporhology.

John

Wiley.

New

York.

483 pp.;

60s.

THIS book is an important and useful contribution to the literature on adult psychopathology. Two primary areas of abnormal behaviour-the neuroses and the psychoses-are given detailed consideration. Other chapters deal with psychosomatic and conduct disorders and there is one chapter devoted to psychotherapy (psychoanalytic therapy and the methods of treatment derived from theories of learning). The organization and content of each chapter make the book ideally suited to undergraduate teaching: after describing clinical features, the author goes on to present fairly and comprehensively the major theoretical views relating to the forms of psychopathology considered. Following this, and it is here that the book provides its major contribution, there is a critical presentation of the current experimental evidence supporting or negating aspects of the theory. The emphasis on a methodologically sound experimental basis sets Buss’ book apart from many of the more familiar texts on psychopathology and places it in the category of necessary reading for the clinician and researcher in psychology and psychiatry. An interesting feature of this book is the presentation of factor analytic studies in symptomatology and personality. Unfortunately, although relevant, the discussion of the factor analysis of neurotic symptoms is somewhat brief, and that on psychotic symptomatology tends to be one-sided. Also, in a book of this scope, there are bound to be minor lapses. For example, it does not necessarily follow that because schizophrenics show atypical form-responses on the Rorschach, we may therefore conclude that “schizophrenics tend to have perceptual distortions of the stimuli around them” (p. 188). Nor does one need to label the neurotic’s attempts to avoid anxiety as “immature” (p. 432). Such minor points however, do not detract from the significance of Buss’ exposition. M. BERGER

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