Results of the content analysis of 60 introductory psychology textbooks published or revised between 1969 and 1975 were compared with another analysis of 52 texts published or revised between 1980 and 1989. Recent texts were found to be not only more voluminous and more comprehensive but also more readable than their predecessors. However, within the set of newer texts, book length was negatively correlated with readability scores. Examination of the most frequently and least frequently used terms revealed some interesting trends in the contents of introductory psychology textbooks since 1975.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
FleschR. (1943). Marks of readable style: A study in adult education. New York: Bureau of Publications, Teachers College Columbia University.
2.
FleschR. (1948). A new readability yardstick. Journal of Applied Psychology, 32, 221–233.
3.
FleschR. (1951). How to test readability. New York: Harper.
4.
GillenB. (1973). Readability and human interest scores of thirty four current introductory psychology texts. American Psychologist, 28, 1010–1011.
5.
GorenfloD. W.McConnellJ. V. (1991). The most frequently cited journal articles and authors in introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 18, 8–12.
6.
KaessW. A.BousfieldW. A. (1954). The use of citation of authorities in textbooks of introductory psychology. American Psychologist, 9, 144–148.
7.
KnappT. J. (1985). Who's who in American introductory psychology textbooks: A citation study. Teaching of Psychology, 12, 15–17.
8.
OgdonD. P. (1954). Flesch counts of eight current texts for introductory psychology. American Psychologist, 9, 143–144.
9.
QuereshiM. Y. (1989). Logical versus empirical readability and human interest scores for introductory texts published between 1977 and 1988. Teaching of Psychology, 16, 4–7.
10.
QuereshiM. Y. (1991). Logical versus empirical readability and human interest scores: Refinement and update. Psychological Reports, 68, 1035–1040.
11.
QuereshiM. Y.BuchkoskiJ. E. (1979). Logical versus empirical estimates of readability and human interest of general psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 6, 202–205.
12.
QuereshiM. Y.SackettP. R. (1977). An updated content analysis of introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 4, 25–30.
13.
QuereshiM. Y.ZulliM. R. (1975). A content analysis of introductory psychology textbooks. Teaching of Psychology, 2, 60–65.
14.
StevensS. S.StoneG. (1947). Psychological writing, easy and hard. American Psychologist, 2, 230–235.