Biological Psychology 24 (1987) 163-180

North-Holland

163

BOOK REVIEWS

M. FEURERSTEIN, E.E. LABBE, and A.R. KUCZMIERCYK (Eds.), Heahh Psychology - A Psychobiological Perspective (Plenum Press, New York, 1985) pp. 511, $35.40.

This volume developed from the authors’ course at McGill University on health psychology. Its purpose is to present the theoretical, empirical and clinical aspects of health psychology and it is directed primarily at senior undergraduates. The authors emphasise both through the title of the volume as psychobiological and in the text the importance of the health psychologist having a firm grounding in basic psychology but also being aware of the health system and developments in basic medical science. The volume is divided into three sections with the first four chapters covering what the authors refer to as the foundations, part two is headed current concepts and the final section considers aetiology and intervention in coronary heart dis- ease, smoking and pain.

Section 1 contains an interesting history of the beginnings of health psychology in the USA leading to the establishment of a health psychology section in the APA in 1978. It is instructive to note that some eight years later the British Psychological Society is setting up a health psychology section. In the authors’ view, the need for health psychology derived from the shift from acute to chronic illness with its multiplicity of causes including behaviour, the elevated costs of health care and the increasing emphasis placed on the quality of life. What follows is a rather prosaic chapter on research strategies which is followed by forty pages of a survey of psychophysiology. The latter will be useful as an overview to the non psychophysiologist but its brevity naturally restricts its depth.

Section 2 includes three chapters on stress, stress and illness and stress management. This topic is an obligatory requirement of any book on health psychology and the authors have assembled a readable and interesting set of chapters. The two chapters that follow cover health behaviour and illness behaviour. While they are readable, they lack the depth and comprehensive- ness that these areas demand.

The final chapters cover three topics to provide case studies of areas where health psychologists have performed detailed studies. Of the three chapters, coronary heart disease is by far the best. Here the authors present an excellent

0301-0511/87/$3.50 0 1987, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)

164 Book Reviews

overview to studies of the Type A personality. The chapters on smoking and pain are well written but a little pedestrian. There are many other areas which could have been included in these chapters but inevitably would have in- creased the length of the volume to an unacceptable size if they were to be tackled competently. The areas selected succeed in acting as case study demonstrations but confirm the difficulty of producing a comprehensive text in health psychology.

The number of text books appearing in health psychology is growing at an alarming rate. Most cover certain obligatory areas and they differ only in their selection and on the weighting given to certain topics. This volume emphasises the role of psychophysiology and is more selective than most in the areas that health psychologists have shown applications. Nonetheless, it is well written and gives comprehensive coverage in selected areas and will serve as a useful introduction to health psychology.

Stanton Newman Middlesex Hospital Medical School

L.C. HARTLAGE and CF. TELZROW (Eds.), The Neuropsychology of lndiuidual Differences: A Developmental Perspective (Plenum Press, New York, 1985) pp. xv + 329, 531.40.

If you despatch a convoy of ships from Southampton with the instruction ‘Set course for New York’, a few days later they may be spread over much of the Atlantic Ocean from the limit of icebergs south to the Azores. The goods may eventually arrive quite safely, although in haphazard fashion, and the benefits of travelling in convoy will be lost. Without detailed directions and without escort ships the enterprise is doomed to failure.

The Neuropsychology of Individual Differences lacks clear direction and purpose. Although it contains much that is scholarly and interesting, it fails to present a coherent approach to . . well, whatever it is about. Perhaps the choice of topic is too ambitious; perhaps the essential research base is lacking. Whatever the reason, the book fails to provide a satisfactory developmental approach to the study of the nervous system as a factor in generating individual variation in behaviour.

The editors admit that they have only undertaken ‘light editing’ on the contributions gathered here, with the aim to ‘preserve the integrity and focus of each chapter as a free-standing unit of individual reference merit’. At best this is a mistaken policy (and at worst an excuse for dereliction of duty) and has resulted in a most uneven collection of very distinctive contributions.