TY - JOUR
AU - Symonds, Percival M.
AB - Reviews the book The Psychology of Pleasantness and Unpleasantness by J. G. Beebe-Center . The psychology of pleasantness and unpleasantness is on the face of it a topic which concerns practically every human being. Experimental studies of this subject were started by Fechner in 1871. Many contributions to the study have been made since that time, but the knowledge is scattered in many journals and is not easy to get at. This book in a sense represents the first attempt to gather and organize this knowledge from the many sources into the confines of a single volume. Individuals who are at all familiar with philosophy as well as psychology are acquainted with the fact that the problem of pleasantness and unpleasantness, particularly as it is related to happiness, has concerned philosophers of all ages. Justified, therefore, is the statement made by the author in his introduction to the effect that "an adequate understanding of pleasantness and unpleasantness would constitute not merely an advance of psychology, but a contribution to human welfare." To what extent it would represent a contribution to either of the foregoing would depend upon the author's biases and selection of materials as well as his interpretation of them. To what extent the author succeeds in making contributions to either of the foregoing points of interest is the focus of this review. The reviewer concludes that Beebe-Center has made a very conscious attempt to present the results of studies he reports in their experimental settings and to separate conclusions from results. In this effort he succeeds to a fair extent. However, one familiar with the literature will have no great difficulty in placing Dr. Beebe-Center in terms of methods, attitudes and interpretations that he approves and disapproves.
TI - Review of 'The Psychology of Pleasantness and Unpleasantness'
JF - Journal of Educational Psychology
DO - 10.1037/h0052183
DA - 1935-04-01
UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/american-psychological-association/review-of-the-psychology-of-pleasantness-and-unpleasantness-Fp8l5f45Ip
SP - 315
EP - 317
VL - 26
IS - 4
DP - DeepDyve
ER -