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76 Books that these concepts would appeal to the young minds for which he is writing, if only because the deeper Earth processes are viewed from the point of view of a dynamic model in the way he treated the surficial processes. The book is richly illustrated and contains over a score of color plates. What the book may lack in text is at least partly made up for by the visual stimulation provided by the various geological phenomena illustrated. Artists may find the book interesting from the viewpoint of the many kinds of forms to be found in inorganic nature. A number of the illustrations are sensitively composed and the forms contained therein may heighten an artist’s awareness of their suitability for artistic expression. Contemporary Psychology. Readings from Scieiirifc American. Introduction by Richard C. Atkinson. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco, Calif., 1971. 484 pp., illus. Paper $5.95. Reviewed by Marc H. Bornstein* Many of those who have an interest in science and technology , whether professionals or laymen, have at one time or another come into contact with Scieritifc Ainericuii. The reason is that SA has carried for more than a century articles on a wide range of topics written by the principal investigators involved. Although necessarily technical, articles are composed in a highly comprehensible manner and are accompanied by engaging and informative illustrations . Practically the only criticism made of SA is that its contents are usually introductory in nature and, therefore , whet the appetite more often than sate it. Recently, related articles began to be collected into books, such as Corifeiiiporary Psycliology. Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and, as such, it is doggedly empirical, multidisciplinary and interspecific . The articles collected here reflect its breadth. Atkinson has organized the contents to follow a program of increasingly molar interests from biological bases of behavior through sensory, developmental, learning and thinking processes to social influences on behavior. He has kept the promise of contemporaneity as well, as 49 of the 55 articles date from 1960 or later. Much is to be gained from a reading of this book. Aside from its diversity, the particular research methods of psychology are clearly elucidated and the interdependence of the sciences as well as the fruitfulness of their cross-fertilization is made clear to the reader. Over and above their high intrinsic interest value-psychology’s province includes the phenomena of life-many of these articles are of direct value to persons concerned with the arts. It is still with great amazement and joy that anyone who is interested in art and the scientific study of psychology can find so many points of mutual contact between the two. Literally every division of psychology has some application or is of some value to better understanding the arts-production, perception or appreciation. On the biological level, studies of brain-damaged patients show consequent disorganization of drawing skills, while studies of pleasure centers in the brain can be related, as Berlyne has done, to aesthetical appreciation. Developmental studies show which visual perceptions depend upon learning and which appear to be innate. Studies of sensory and perceptual processes, of which vision is the most thoroughly investigated (and well represented here) always contribute to further understanding the arts. As is the research reported here, relevant studies of vision may be physiological, sensory, developmental , purely psychological, phenomenal or applied. Investigations of learning, memory and thinking as they relate to storage of pictorial information or problem solving, a recent analogy for both artist and audience, are germane, as studies of personality, pathology and states of awareness are of interest for the light they shed on alternative modes of perception and production of art. Examples abound. *Dept. of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06510, U.S.A. Lastly, there are social-psychological contiguities with art evident where researchers study social perceptions, reactions, attitudes and interests. Aspects of these relations between psychology and art are covered bur !rot inrentionally. So also are the reciprocal relations between art and psychology, i.e. the psychological functions of art in perception and in diagnosis and therapy. The fact that I have written such a biased review of a book not intentionally directed at...

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