Students entering college need to be reminded that from the moment they enter they must be critical readers, listeners and thinkers. Critical thinking skills are of particular importance in a field such as psychology that is relatively new as an independent field of experimental science. The topics of study and the methods used to study them are growing and developing. This little guide offers a beginning perspective on the study of psychology its history and the issues that have shaped it.

Author Daniel N. Robinson touches on philosophical psychology, psychology as science, including Darwinian evolutionary theory, behaviorism, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience, Freud and depth psychology, social psychology, and human development. Where appropriate, short biographies of noted figures mentioned in the text are included in the book. These include Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Rene Descartes, John Stuart Mill, Wilhelm Wundt, William James, Charles Darwin, Ivan Pavlov, John B, Watson, B.F. Skinner, and Sigmund Freud. An annotated list of further suggested reading is also provided.

This guide is billed as "an indispensable orientation to this [psychology] culturally influential field." I agree that those planning on taking psychology courses at college should prepare by reading this guide and by honing their critical thinking skills.