Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology (Allyn & Bacon Classics Edition) (2nd Edition)
by Robert V. Guthrie
List Price:
Our Price: $45.47
You Save: $15.93 (26%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $31.85 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Robert V. GuthrieEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-04-07
ISBN: 0205392644
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Allyn & Bacon
Book Reviews of Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology (Allyn & Bacon Classics Edition) (2nd Edition)
Book Review: "Even The Whites Were Rats"
Summary: 4 Stars
Robert V. Guthrie's Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology, (2nd edition) provides insight to the racial bias within the field of psychology throughout history. Dr. Guthrie details how the field of psychology was influenced by the same ignorance, prejudice and racial stereotyping that dominated the culture of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Early "scientific" psychological research, considered to be "objective" since apparently based on observation, measurement and the scientific method, was extremely biased by the prevailing cultural racism. Guthrie builds his case through extensive citations from the journals, reports, and texts of the time that a primary motive of the research was to establish a basis for the accepted belief that whites of European descent were superior to non-whites. However, he never clearly states whether this was, in his opinion, a conscious intent of the psychologists or an unconscious reflection of the attitudes prevalent at that time in history.
In his concluding chapter entitled "The Past Is Prologue", Guthrie summarizes the historical data documented in his text and suggests that even in the early 21st century "some of the dubious research of the 1920s has lingered as a phantom-like apparition of pseudointellectualism" in contemporary psychology. Although the issue that he focuses on is specifically related to the "research" on the inferiority vs. superiority of different races, the issues are relevant to psychological research in general. Psychometric tests need to be used only for the purpose for which they were developed and used with the group that it applies. Secondly, the results must be interpreted with caution for underlying bias and oversimplification of what is considered "normal." Finally, the general conclusions from research should be used carefully when making policy decisions in education or other areas.
Guthrie may have overstated the case in his section on "The Myth of Mental Measurement." He makes a strong case for the inadequacy of "attempts to measure and report individual and group intellectual capabilities in the form of a single score" (IQ tests). He suggests that IQ testing ("the holy grail in the profession") has led to persistent racial biases and beliefs as well as misguided social and education policies and programs. However, he goes on to state that "the IQ concept is null and void" and would be discarded except for the "billions of dollars (that) have been poured into the psychometric profession." Some of Guthrie's issue with traditional IQ testing seems to be that it has been misused to support ideas of innate or genetic as opposed to learned or environmental differences between groups, which obviously has been true in particular cases throughout history. A glaring example of this was in the sexist opinion of Gustave Le Bon in the 19th century who contended "this inferiority is so obvious that no one can contest it for a moment; only its degree is worth discussion). Other contemporary psychologists such as Howard Gardner Ph.D. would agree that traditional IQ tests do not capture the full range of human intelligence but do not reject the concept of "mental measurement" in general. The issue is to recognize the variety and range of multiple intelligences rather than the limited scope measured by traditional IQ tests. The measurement of mental ability or "intelligence" does not (or should not) always lead to labeling or stigmatization. The fact that psychological testing has been used to promote racist ideas does not mean the tests themselves are inherently racist, rather the results were used to promote a racist point of view.
More Even the Rat Was White: A Historical View of Psychology (Allyn & Bacon Classics Edition) (2nd Edition) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Newest Review
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Newest Review
Psychology & Counseling Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Psychology & Counseling Books
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Valuesby Robert M. Pirsig
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers, and Providers (4th Edition)by E. Fuller Torrey
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2001-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers and Providersby E. Fuller Torrey
Perennial; Published: 1995-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.68
Price in other shops:
The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millenniumby Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Harper Perennial; Published: 1994-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.75
Price in other shops:
How People Changeby Allen Wheelis
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1975-07-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.47
Price in other shops:
Sleeping Through the Night, Revised Edition: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night's Sleepby Jodi A. Mindell
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2005-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.44
Price in other shops:
Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate Youby Susan Forward, Donna Frazier, Susan Frazier
Harpercollins; Published: 1997-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Viewby Stanley Milgram
Harpercollins; Published: 1974-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $532.97
My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderersby Helen Morrison, Harold Goldberg
William Morrow; Published: 2004-05-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Stressby Jeffrey P.; Davidson, Jeff Davidson
Macmillan Distribution; Published: 1996; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.33
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
A History of Modern Psychologyby C. James Goodwin
Wiley; Published: 2008-02-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $57.08
A History of Modern Psychologyby Duane P. Schultz, Sydney Ellen Schultz
NA; Wadsworth Publishing; Published: 2007-03-22; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $94.87
Price in other shops:
The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Cultureby Fritjof Capra
Bantam; Published: 1984-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops:
History and Systems of Psychology (6th Edition)by James F. Brennan
Prentice Hall; Published: 2002-07-25; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $104.50
Price in other shops:
Barrio Professorsby Lloyd H. Rogler
Left Coast Press; Published: 2008-03-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.95
Psychology of Blacks: Centering Our Perspectives in the African Consciousness (4th Edition)by Thomas A. Parham, Adisa Ajamu, Joseph L. White
Prentice Hall; Published: 2010-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $55.10
Price in other shops:
A History of Psychology: A Global Perspectiveby Eric E. Shiraev
Sage Publications, Inc; Published: 2010-10-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $59.94
Price in other shops:
A Brief History of Modern Psychologyby Ludy T. Benjamin Jr.
Wiley-Blackwell; Published: 2006-08-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.02
Untold Lives: The First Generation of American Women Psychologists (Kings Crown)by Elizabeth Scarborough
Columbia University Press; Published: 1989-03-29; Paperback; Book
Best price: $29.06
Price in other shops:
A History of Psychology: Main Currents in Psychological (6th Edition)by Thomas H. Leahey
Prentice Hall; Published: 2003-07-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $80.00
Price in other shops: