Neil R Carlson

Physiology of Behavior- with Neuroscience Animations and Student Study Guide CD-ROM- Eighth Edition

3 stars (ok) - the book came in a reasonable amount of time but was not the same quality as was initially stated. It said the book was brand new but it had bent corners. 3 stars (Book NOT in Good condition.) - Company was prompt and service was great. However, the book was listed in 'good' condition and it is not. I can ignore the writing and hilighting but it had a defect in which it was missing about 50 of it's pages. To me missing pages does not qualify as 'good' condition. These people obviously do not check the quality of thier books. 5 stars (Best Textbook I've Ever Read) - I would like to find Neil Carlson and shake his hand. This is is without a doubt one of the best textbooks I've had the pleasure of using. I'm in my senior year of studying cognitive sciences and so far I've had two courses that used this book. When studying for exams in those course I simply read the relevant chapters. The material is concise, well-organized, summarized just when you need it to be summarized, pockmarked with occasional interesting tidbits and stories, just to keep you interested. Every once in a while there's a small terminology box to refresh your memory on the terms you've just encountered. Simply put, it's a book that makes studying the (rather complex, actually) subject of physiology of behaviour easy. If you need this book for a course, I heartily recommend you buy it instead of just borrowing from friends. I'm not sure why you would want to buy such a book for non-academic purposes and just to read it for the hell of it - but if you do - it's a book that supplies a lot of information in a very easy to digest manner. Two thumbs up. Good job Dr/Prof/Mr/Whatever Carlson... ...
Allyn -amp- Bacon :: Social Science & General :: Sociology :: Psychophysiology :: Psychology :: Physiological Psychology :: Neuroscience :: General :: Neil R Carlson :: :: Physiology of Behavior- with Neuroscience Animations and Student Study Guide CD-ROM- Eighth Edition

Foundations of Physiological Psychology with Neuroscience Animations and Student Study Guide CD-ROM

5 stars (Love this book) - I borrowed the 4th ed. of this book from a friend of mine to write up a lecture on synaptic transmissions. It was the clearest, most well-written physio psych book I think I've ever seen. Usually when psychologist try to write about biology they end up doing things like describing neurons as "a fluid-filled balloon" (no joke. Actually saw that in my intro textbook), but Carlson is clear yet intelligent. I would definitely recommend this book and hope to use it in my classes in the future. 4 stars (basic physio psych text) - I am an undergraduate neuroscience major at Univeristy of Massachustts, Amherst, and I had the author of this book , Dr Neil Carlson, as my professor for both the undergrad and grad level of Physiological Psychology course. We used the slightly more advance book called "Physiology of Behavior," but they are both basically the same. I am now a TA for the course, so I know the book pretty well. It is written in exactly the same style as he lectures. This probably because the book was originally developed from notes he used to hand out, which you can tell when reading the book. He has little personal comments inserted in paragraphs; he writes in the first person; he has strange analogies; he sometimes jumps from subject to subject; but overall, the book is quite good. The best things about the book are the diagrams and the cd. They very clearly illustrate exactly what he's discussing, and make the subject at hand easier for students to understand. As for the breadth of the material covered, it seems to be quite wide. He starts off with the basics, like neuron structure and brain anatomy, but then quickly moves on from there to sleep mechanisms, eating behavior, learning and memory, etc. The concentration of the book is on the effects of hormones on the brain and our behaviors resulting from those effects. I would recommend taking some introductory biology courses before trying to tackle the book; my psych major friend ...
Allyn - Bacon :: Psychology & Psychiatry & General :: Psychology :: Physiological Psychology :: Neuroscience :: Neil R Carlson :: :: Foundations of Physiological Psychology (with Neuroscience Animations and Student Study Guide CD-ROM