Although Hart-Davis occasionally puts in a critical comment, often the outcome of the experiment is accepted without question - despite doubts about the sample size, relevance of sample (they often used university students, for example, an atypical population) and reproducibility of many classic psychology experiments. Inevitably with this kind of format, the main drawback is that you really want the experiments to be critically analysed, not just described and accepted. Which these are will vary from reader to reader - I lapped up the likes of 'can dogs get depressed?' and 'why can't you tickle yourself (and what's the connection with schizophrenia?)'. While it's fun to see familiar old friends, it's the ones that are a novelty that inevitably stand out. There's plenty here that will be familiar to anyone who has grazed the surface of popular psychology, from Pavlov in the book's title and the infamous Milgram electric shock experiments, up to very late 20th century work (there are just two from the 21st). However, a combination of the topic - 50 experiments that revolutionised psychology - and a slight variant of the format - Adam Hart-Davis was allowed significantly more text than is often the case in this type of book - meant that it was surprisingly effective. Although books of this format with 50 heavily illustrated things you need to know about something, seem to sell well, they usually irritate me. There's plenty here that will be familiar to anyo This was a book I was not expecting to like.
This was a book I was not expecting to like.
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