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Summers and sabbaticals
BOOK
85
REVIEWS
limitations and Block on its potential), and racial differences in intelligence (Jensen vs Williams). Pinpointing specific issues in this way reduces breadth of coverage, of course, but provides greater depth of information on which the student may base an opinion or practice. Both readers offer articles written by well-known and highly-respected psychologists, as well as by less famous colleagues, drawn from a variety of professional and semiprofessional (e.g., Psychology Today) sources. Optimally, they should both be available to students, each for its own strengths. If an instructor must choose only one, then the decision must rest on his/her own predilections. Lita Linzer Schwartz Pennsylvania FRED S. KELLER,
State University
Summers and Sabbaticals. Champaign, Illinois: Research Press Com-
pany, 1977 Summers and Sabbaticals is a delightful, informative collection of papers spanning Dr. Keller’s brilliant career. It is not an academic text, but rather the professional autobiography of a remarkable psychologist and educator. As such, it has something to offer psychologists and educators alike. Dr. Keller is one of those rare individuals who effectively bridges the gap between the two communities, particularly in the last paper entitled, “Psychologists and Educators.” Psychologists, and in particular applied behavior analysts, will enjoy the initial paper in which Keller describes his early days with Skinner at Harvard. They may also gain some fresh insights into the growth of behavioral psychology through the papers outlining Keller’s years at Columbia. Finally, the papers describing his work with Morse code reveal his commitment to the experimental analysis of the way the individual student learns. Enter Keller, the educator, as he and his colleagues build the psychology curriculum at Columbia in the 1940s.From this point on, the papers trace not only the development of the program at Columbia, but also the evolution of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) for which Keller is so well known. His dedication to the individual student never diminishes, and it is this dedication that I believe every educator will appreciate. Perhaps one of the most telling passages in the book is Keller’s quote of a “once authoritative” psychologist, E. B. Titchener, who encouraged students to begin their study of psychology by mastering one system thoroughly. “If you begin, on the contrary, by studying a number of works abreast, you are liable to become confused. And it is better to be wrong than to be muddled; for truth, as Bacon said, emerges more quickly from error than from confusion.“’ Keller follows this doctrine through his commitment to the field of the experimental analysis of behavior. Someday, someone may find him in error; I doubt that anyone will ever find his ideas confused. Keller’s personalized system of instruction (PSI) has probably had more impact on education, particularly postsecondary education, than any other educational innovation in the past three decades. It has affected nearly every academic and technical discipline. While psychology may thank Skinner for a comprehensive theory of behavior, education can thank Keller for a comprehensive system of instruction. I would recommend this book to any educator or psychologist. More importantly, I would recommend it to any student who seriously intends to pursue a career in teaching. It provides an excellent model of a truly outstanding scholar, innovator and teacher.
George Semb University ’ TITCHENER,
E. B. A beginner’s psychology.
of Kansas
New York: Macmillan, 1915.
85
REVIEWS
limitations and Block on its potential), and racial differences in intelligence (Jensen vs Williams). Pinpointing specific issues in this way reduces breadth of coverage, of course, but provides greater depth of information on which the student may base an opinion or practice. Both readers offer articles written by well-known and highly-respected psychologists, as well as by less famous colleagues, drawn from a variety of professional and semiprofessional (e.g., Psychology Today) sources. Optimally, they should both be available to students, each for its own strengths. If an instructor must choose only one, then the decision must rest on his/her own predilections. Lita Linzer Schwartz Pennsylvania FRED S. KELLER,
State University
Summers and Sabbaticals. Champaign, Illinois: Research Press Com-
pany, 1977 Summers and Sabbaticals is a delightful, informative collection of papers spanning Dr. Keller’s brilliant career. It is not an academic text, but rather the professional autobiography of a remarkable psychologist and educator. As such, it has something to offer psychologists and educators alike. Dr. Keller is one of those rare individuals who effectively bridges the gap between the two communities, particularly in the last paper entitled, “Psychologists and Educators.” Psychologists, and in particular applied behavior analysts, will enjoy the initial paper in which Keller describes his early days with Skinner at Harvard. They may also gain some fresh insights into the growth of behavioral psychology through the papers outlining Keller’s years at Columbia. Finally, the papers describing his work with Morse code reveal his commitment to the experimental analysis of the way the individual student learns. Enter Keller, the educator, as he and his colleagues build the psychology curriculum at Columbia in the 1940s.From this point on, the papers trace not only the development of the program at Columbia, but also the evolution of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) for which Keller is so well known. His dedication to the individual student never diminishes, and it is this dedication that I believe every educator will appreciate. Perhaps one of the most telling passages in the book is Keller’s quote of a “once authoritative” psychologist, E. B. Titchener, who encouraged students to begin their study of psychology by mastering one system thoroughly. “If you begin, on the contrary, by studying a number of works abreast, you are liable to become confused. And it is better to be wrong than to be muddled; for truth, as Bacon said, emerges more quickly from error than from confusion.“’ Keller follows this doctrine through his commitment to the field of the experimental analysis of behavior. Someday, someone may find him in error; I doubt that anyone will ever find his ideas confused. Keller’s personalized system of instruction (PSI) has probably had more impact on education, particularly postsecondary education, than any other educational innovation in the past three decades. It has affected nearly every academic and technical discipline. While psychology may thank Skinner for a comprehensive theory of behavior, education can thank Keller for a comprehensive system of instruction. I would recommend this book to any educator or psychologist. More importantly, I would recommend it to any student who seriously intends to pursue a career in teaching. It provides an excellent model of a truly outstanding scholar, innovator and teacher.
George Semb University ’ TITCHENER,
E. B. A beginner’s psychology.
of Kansas
New York: Macmillan, 1915.