Review of: Physiological Psychology

Reviews the book "Physiological Psychology," by C. T. Morgan . The reviewer contends that psychophysiology has recently become the scene of intensified activity. New techniques have been developed and applied to psychophysiological problems, and a large body of new data has accumulated. Acquired largely through the study of individual problems, these data need to be coordinated and to be integrated with the body of already existing facts in this general field. Dr. Morgan's new Physiological Psychology constitutes a preliminary attempt to meet this need. The materials are organized with respect to twenty-six, essentially psychological, chapter-headings. The author's plan of treatment seems to be two-fold: (1) to summarize the various experimental data which fall under each general heading, and (2) to evaluate views that have been expressed regarding mechanisms that are conceived to be involved when the given phenomena are eventuated. The definition submitted for physiological psychology-the study of the physiological mechanisms of behavior-seems to emphasize the second aspect of this plan, but the text makes clear that physiological mechanisms are of interest as a means to the elucidation of the relevant phenomena. The treatment in the chapters concerning the several senses is notably different. The several varieties of visual acuity are not differentiated, and an extensive literature on tactual acuity, containing significant physiological meaning, is not included. Although the appended bibliography contains 980 references, it nevertheless fails to include many important studies in physiological psychology which are indispensable to the needs of the graduate student, let alone the more advanced specialist.