Psychology

Abstract

THOUGH emanating from India, this book is in fact an American production. Not only have the authors been very largely influenced by American writings on the subject, but also they have adopted the American form of presentation. Within the limits of this class of literature, it is a careful and competent production. But the limits of usefulness of text-books of social psychology are obvious. On one hand, the foundations are in many respects anything but firm in the present state of our knowledge. On the other hand, concrete studies of the behaviour of man in society are few. Of necessity, therefore, a text-book is unsatisfactory. It gives the impression of vague inexactness and fails to achieve the one result of value which may at present be looked for from social psychologists. They can at times throw light into dark corners and so illuminate social problems; but this they do, not by a methodical working over the whole field of social organisation, but here and there as they are enabled to relate some social activity to some psychological characteristic. The attempt to reduce the subject to the form of a sciencecan scarcely end in anything but failure. It is presumably made to satisfy the call upon teaching institutions to include social psychology in their courses.

Introduction to Social Psychology: Mind in Society.

By Dr. Radhakamal Mukerjee Dr. Narendra Nath Sen-Gupta. Pp. xv + 304. (London and Sydney: D. C. Heath and Co., 1928.) 7s. 6d. net.