New IB Psychology Textbook

[saori]

So..there is a new book for the IB psychology. : http://www.oup.com/oxed/international/ibdiploma/psychology/

So i was wondering, does anybody have it?

Is it good?

What are your opinions on this book?

I really need a book for psychology but I would love tyo have somebodys opinion before I buy it.

[MarianaHP]

HI! ok. well i dont have the book and i dont really know what comes in the new syllabus, but one of the authors of the book is John Crane, who has an amazing website for psychology, which has helped me soo much in the past two years, so just because of him id guess it is good and worth having, just make sure that it covers the topics that you need, whether it is based on the new or old syllabus...

[emmak]

I bought this book recently and used it to study for my mocks. The information in it is relevant to the course... but is slightly confusing. For example, there are no clear sections for the 4 different perspectives, they're kind of all scattered throughout. I don't know why John Crane would make it this way! *shrug* It has a lot of information and makes links with TOK often. Overall, I would recommend the book, but the organization of it threw me off a bit. Hope this helps!

[saori]

I am pretty sure it covers new syllabus. It's new book so they wouldn't make it for the old one. So also have noticed that the way in which chapters are organized is a little bit confusing. But I guess it is worth having. Thank you for your help!

[Eternalx]

It's pretty good without the learning perspective.

[Haslam123]

It's for the new syllabus that starts in fall this year (2009).

[Rentle]

That book may be useful, but I wouldn't go for it. Actually, you should better try to look for some primary-source psychology books. In that way, it may be more enjoyable (at least it is for me) to grasp all the necessary ideas.

[saya]

I'm sure whoever has been doing psychology and using the Crane site must have been really excited about the publishing of this book, right? After all, his website has been key in helpping us achieve those higher marks.

But, hang on.

This book has been made especially for the new syllabus. Put in my teachers words “It’s not a better textbook, it’s better for the new syllabus” I say, if you are not following the new syllabus, don’t use this book as your bible; use his site. However, there are some parts that are useful for all of us, like how to write your internal assessment and how to write an extended essay in psych.

Edited August 18, 2009 by saya

[Saransh]

i agree that this book lacks in organization of the topics...i used this book for my EE..it's not my school's official pscho textbook

i would recommend it

[iotabebraindead]

In my opinion, the new Course Companion is beast. I really think all of the Course Companions are beyond helpful.

We just had a sample essay with IB questions in my SL class recently, and I used all the information from that book, and I got the highest possible marks

So yes, I highly recommend that you buy it, since it covers almost everything that IB asks you. You don't want to buy a general psychology book and learn everything from that just to find that IB wasn't even gonna test you on half of the things in there. The Course Companions practically teach you everything IB wants you to know, with proper terminology.

It's all about the perspectives:

SL (2010)

- biological level of analysis

- cognitive

HL (2011)

- bio

- sociocultural

[Nurin Ayesha]

Personally, I love my textbook now, Psychology, McGraw Hill

[aya91]

Awesome! Sadly it's for the new syllabus but our psychology teacher is ordering it for us too, because our old textbook has too much information. Actually it's like that with all my classes, now i think about it - one text book with waaay too much information, one with condensed info. So useful

[Slex13]

Hi all,

I know this topic is a bit outdated, but i thought i'd mention a few books you should all look at (im a student not a publisher so this information is not just me trying to get you to buy books haha!)

First, my teacher supplied us with the book Psychology, by Whetham and Day. Its useful, it contains lots of little boxes about key ideas and key studies you should know. However, it doesnt include the humanistic perspective, or much information about research methods (needed for paper 3 i think). The book has however been written for IB students.

Psychology

He also told us to buy the textbook Approaches to Psychology. This book is used a lot in schools in the UK. It isnt written for IB, however it contains so much, detailed information about the different approaches and also things like development, dysfunctional behaviours etc, etc - but it also has things like cultural and gender issues (again things we need to know). I would recommend this, it is now in its 5th edition, circa 2009.

Approaches to Psychology

Finally, there is a book called 50 Psychology Classics. As it says in the title, it is 50 key thinkers and their studies in the field of psychology. Its a handy book, rather than a textbook, for getting deep into those studies. Fully recommend.

50 Psychology Classics