A Detective’s History of Psychology

Are you captivated by detective fiction and mystery stories? Do you enjoy solving puzzles or explaining other people’s behavior? Have you ever thought Miss Marple would make a good therapist or Sherlock Holmes an excellent researcher? If so, you probably have already seen the connection between detective fiction and the field of psychology. This book introduces key concepts and theories of psychology through the lens of mystery fiction. Designed for curious readers of all backgrounds, it explores the crossroads of detective fiction and psychology. Thought-provoking activities and questions enhance readers’ inquisitiveness, deductive reasoning, critical thinking, and psychological insights.

Diane Mello-Goldner is a social and personality psychologist and currently is a senior lecturer in the department of psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. Previously she spent 28 years at Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, as a professor of psychology and academic dean.

Diane Mello-Goldner
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 234
Bibliographic Info: 3 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-8628-8
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5229-0
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments ix
Preface 1
1. The Psychologist as Detective 5
2. Structuralism, Functionalism, and the Move to Psychoanalysis 25
3. The Shift to Behaviorism and Overt Action 54
4. The Humanistic Approach 75
5. Cognitive Psychology 97
6. Focus on Culture 130
7. Neuropsychology and Forensic Psychology 166
8. Putting It All Together 191
Murder at the Manor: A Play in One Act 199
Author’s Notes 211
Index 219

“The author’s use of examples from the detective genre, exercises and questions for students, and supplementary notes and references makes this manuscript a great tool—either for a teacher developing and implementing a class or for a student learning on his own.”—Laird Blackwell, author, Clues from the Couch: Psychology in Detective Fiction from Wilkie Collins to Winspear and Penny