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This is a well-intended book, the author stating at the beginning that he wishes to present modern psychology in terms of its physiological aspects. However, Zangwill finds himself in the unenviable position of attempting to treat psychology as a body of verificable data but unable to by-pass the wealth of psychoanalytic findings.
Since this book is reviewed from the psychoanalytic point of view, I consider this contradiction one of the major shortcomings of the book. Interestingly enough, Chapter 7, Psychoanalysis and General Psychology, is adequate within the scope of the book. In his introduction to this chapter, however, Zangwill states that to the academic psychologist the data of Freud's theory ought to be viewed with suspicion and scepticism, and admonishes the reader to bear in mind 'the shrewd verdict of the Scottish legal code—not proven'. In other words, from Zangwill's point of view, psychoanalysis has no place in a book on psychology.
The author's attitude can be further demonstrated by his naïve comments, as in the chapter Modern Physiological Psychology (p. 130): 'In the unfolding of instinct, then, the vicissitudes of early environment may prove to have greater significance than is commonly supposed'. Or (p. 156), in speaking of identical twins reared apart he says, 'In one such pair a difference of nearly four years in mental age was ascertained. This finding leads one to think that the influence of education and environment upon test performance is somewhat greater than is often supposed.' In the same chapter (p. 161) he presents the supposition, and proceeds to support it on the basis of one single investigation, that 'the more intelligent an individual, the more capably will he cope with his personal problems'; conversely, 'the duller an individual the more prone will he be to succumb to psychoneurotic illness'!
While the reviewer could not recommend this book without a correction of those parts, he would like to point out the excellent chap