Sometimes we forget the basics in the field of psychology. This overviews the 50 classics - from William James in 1890 to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink. Take a tour through and see how many you remember from your intro to psych class and how many you can apply at work.

1. 50
PSYCHOLOGY
CLASSICS
WHO WE ARE,
HOW WE THINK,
WHAT WE DO
INSIGHT AND INSPIRATION
FROM 50 KEY BOOKS

2. 1979
PEOPLE
SKILLS
ROBERT
BOLTON
85% of our communication is
nonverbal.
WATCH
75% of oral communication is
ignored, misunderstood, or quickly
forgotten.
LISTEN

3. “Emotional intelligence matters
twice as much as
technical and analytic skill
combined for star
performances...
And the higher people move up
in the company, the more
crucial emotional intelligence
becomes.”
Daniel
Goleman
1998
WORKING
WITH
EMOTIONAL
INTELLIGENCE

4. Malcolm
Gladwell
Blink
2005
ASSESSMENTS WE
MAKE IN THE BLINK OF
AN EYE CAN BE AS
GOOD AS THOSE WE
MAKE AFTER MUCH
DELIBERATION.

5. David Burns
1980
FEELINGS ARE NOT
FACTS;
YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR
FEELINGS BY CHANGING
YOUR THINKING

6. WILLIAM
JAMES
1890
THE
PRINCIPLES
OF
PSYCHOLOG
Y
THE FORMULA FOR SELF-ESTEEM
SELF-ESTEEM = SUCCESS .
PRETENSIONS

7.  The games we play are like
worn-out loops of tape we
inherit from childhood and
continue to let roll.
 Though limiting and
destructive, they are also a
sort of comfort, absolving
us of the need to confront
unresolved psychological
issues.
1964
GAMES
PEOPLE
PLAY
ERIC
BERNE

8. Nathaniel
Branden
1969
SELF-ESTEEM OCCURS
NATURALLY WHEN WE
CHOOSE TO LIVE
ACCORDING TO REASON
AND OUR OWN
PRINCIPLES.

9. STEVEN
PINKER
2002
THE BLANK
SLATE
Genetic science and
evolutionary psychology show
that human nature is not simply
a result of socialization by our
environment.
We are not blank slates.

10.  Generating alternatives—to have better solutions you must have more
choices to begin with.
 Challenging assumptions—though we need to assume many things to
function normally, never questioning our assumptions leaves us in
thinking ruts.
 Quotas—come up with a certain predetermined number of ideas on an
issue. Often it is the last or final idea that is the most useful.
 Analogies—trying to see how a situation is similar to an apparently
different one is a time-tested route to better thinking.
 Reversal thinking—reverse how you are seeing something, that is, see
its opposite, and you may be surprised at the ideas it may liberate.
Finding the dominant idea—not an easy skill to master, but extremely
valuable in seeing what really matters in a book, presentation,
conversation, and so on.
 Brainstorming—not lateral thinking itself, but provides a setting for that
kind of thinking to emerge.
 Suspended judgment—deciding to entertain an idea just long enough to
see if it might work, even if it is not attractive on the surface.
TECHNIQUES OF CREATIVE THINKERS
1970 Lateral Thinking Edward de Bono

11. Projection Repression
Regression Sublimation
THE EGO AND
THE MECHANISMS OF DEFENSE
ANNA FREUD 1936

12. Personality Types at Work
 With a sensing type you have to
articulate the problem very quickly
before you can expect them to
provide a solution.
 Intuitives will only be interested in
helping if an enticing possibility is
dangled before them.
 Thinkers need to know what sort of
result they are looking for and to
have the situation explained in a
set of logical points.
 Feeling types will need to have the
situation framed in terms of what
it means to the people involved.
1980
ISABEL
BRIGGS
MYERS

13. 1984
Influence
by
Robert
Cialdini
INFLUENCE IS A GREAT PRIMER
ON HOW MARKETERS SUCCEED
IN GETTING US TO BUY, BUT ON
A DEEPER LEVEL IT IS ABOUT
THE WAY WE MAKE DECISIONS.
ARE YOUR DECISIONS THE
RESULT OF SOMEONE TRYING
TO PULL YOUR MENTAL OR
EMOTIONAL STRINGS, OR ARE
YOU THINKING RATIONALLY?

14. HARRY
HARLOWE
1958
THE
NATURE OF
LOVE
WE NEED LOVE

15. The Gestalt Poem…..
I do my thing, and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you and I am I,
And if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped.
FRITZ PERLS 1951
GESTALT THERAPY

16. Real creativity can
only emerge once we
have mastered the
medium or domain in
which we work.
Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi
1996
CREATIVITY

17. A Guide to Rational Living helps us understand H2:
 Understand how emotions are generated
 Lessen the need for approval
 Conquer anxiety
 Eliminate fear of failure
 Lead a reasonably happy and productive life
through more care and discipline in your thinking.
1961 Albert Ellis & Robert A. Harper
A GUIDE TO RATIONAL LIVING

18. THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND
IS A WELL OF
WISE SOLUTIONS
AND FORGOTTEN
PERSONAL POWER.
SIDNEY
ROSEN
1982

19. 1958
ERIK
ERICKSON
CRISES OF IDENTITY,
WHILE PAINFUL AT THE TIME,
ARE NECESSARY
TO FORGE
A STRONGER, MORE
COMMANDING SELF.

20. 1947
Hans Eysenck
TWO SUPERTRAITS
EXTRA/INTROVERSION
NEUROTICISM*
*HOW UPSET, NERVOUS, WORRIED, ANXIOUS, OR
STRESSED WE HAVE A TENDENCY TO BE

21. 1997
Emotional
Blackmail
Susan
Forward
BLACKMAILERS CREATE
A ―FOG‖ OF ―FEAR,
OBLIGATION, AND
GUILT,‖ WHICH MAKES IT
SOMETIMES DIFFICULT
TO SEE HOW WE ARE
ACTUALLY BEING
TREATED

22. There is room for free will;
to choose to develop certain
values or a particular course
in life, or to retain our dignity
in difficult situations.
1969
THE WILL
TO
MEANING
VIKTOR
FRANKL

23.  Dreams have a preference for using impressions from days just
past, yet they also have access to early childhood memories.
 The method of memory selection in dreams is different to that of
the waking mind—the unconscious mind generally does not focus
on major events, but remembers the trivial or unnoticed.
 Despite their reputation as being random or absurd, in fact
dreams have a unifying motive that easily pulls disparate people,
events, and sensations into one ―story.‖
 Dreams are always about the self.
 Dreams can have multiple layers of meaning, and a number of
ideas can be condensed into a single image. Equally, ideas can
be displaced (a familiar person can become someone else, a
house takes on a different purpose, and so on).
 Nearly all dreams are ―wish fulfillments,‖ that is, they reveal a
deep motivation or desire that wants to be fulfilled, often a wish
going back to earliest childhood.
THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS
SIGMUND FREUD 1900

24. WHAT SEEM LIKE VERY
PERSONAL CHANGES
ARE OFTEN SIMPLY
TRANSITIONS FROM
ONE SEASON OF LIFE TO
ANOTHER.
1976
PASSAGES
GAIL
SHEEHY

25. ALFRED
ADLER
1927
UNDER-
STANDING
HUMAN
NATURE
WHAT WE THINK WE
LACK DETERMINES WHAT
WE WILL BECOME IN
LIFE.

26. 2006
Stumbling
on Happiness
Daniel Gilbert
DUE TO WAY THE BRAIN
WORKS, OUR PREDICTIONS
OF HOW WE WILL FEEL IN
THE FUTURE ARE NOT
ALWAYS ACCURATE, AND
THAT INCLUDES WHAT WILL
MAKE US HAPPY.

27.  Linguistic IQ
 Musical IQ
 Visual-spatial IQ
 Kinesthetic IQ
 Interpersonal IQ
 Intrapersonal IQ
 Logical-mathematical IQ
HOWARD
GARDNER
1983
FRAMES
OF MIND

28. Most of Gottman‘s principles for creating
sustainable and happy marriages revolve around
one crucial factor:
FRIENDSHIP
The best three things you can do?
Have familiarity and interest in your spouse‘s world
Turn toward your partner – it‘s the little every day things
Allow yourself to be influenced – share the power
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES
FOR MAKING MARRIAGE WORK
JOHN GOTTMAN

29. It‘s tough to get to the ―I‘m
OK—You‘re OK‖ position. We
may experience it on occasion,
but for it to become more or
less ingrained it has to be a
conscious decision (not merely
a feeling), based on faith in
people in general. It is a little
like the concept of grace; that
is, total acceptance of our-
selves and of others.
Thomas Harris
1967
I‘M OK—
YOU‘RE OK

30. Eric Hoffer
1951
The True
Believer
PEOPLE ALLOW
THEMSELVES TO BE SWEPT
UP IN LARGER CAUSES
IN ORDER TO BE FREED OF
RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THEIR LIVES,
AND TO ESCAPE THE
BANALITY OR MISERY OF
THE PRESENT.

31. 1945
Our Inner
Conflicts
Karen
Horney
LIVING WITH
UNRESOLVED CONFLICTS
INVOLVES PRIMARILY A
DEVASTATING WASTE OF
HUMAN ENERGIES,
OCCASIONED NOT ONLY
BY THE CONFLICTS
THEMSELVES BUT BY ALL
THE DEVIOUS ATTEMPTS
TO REMOVE THEM.

32. Whether he understands
them or not, man must
remain conscious of the
world of the archetypes,
because in it he is still a part
of Nature and is connected
with his own roots. A view of
the world or a social order
that cuts him off from the
primordial images of life not
only is no culture at all but,
in increasing degree, is a
prison or a stable.
1968
THE
ARCHETYPES
AND THE
COLLECTIVE
UNCONSCIOU
S
CARL JUNG

33. MELANIE
KLEIN
1957
ENVY AND
GRATITUDE
• If kids can fully express love for their mother
in infancy, this sets them up to be able to
enjoy life and love fully in adulthood.
• However, some kids are more aggressive
and greedy than others, and bear more of a
grudge against their mother when they do
not feel their needs are being met.
• Feelings of envy make children less able to
enjoy and be grateful for the sustenance and
attention they receive – these kids become
envious people as adults.
• Infants who get the good aspects of their
parent(s) have a fundamentally positive and
grateful view of life

34. 1960
The
Divided
Self
R. D. Laing
WE TAKE A STRONG
SENSE OF SELF
FOR GRANTED,
BUT
IF WE DON‘T HAVE THIS,
LIFE CAN BE TORTURE

35. People allow themselves to
be swept up in larger causes
in order to be freed of
responsibility for their lives,
and to escape the banality or
misery of the present.
ERIC
HOFFER
1951
THE TRUE
BELIEVER

36. “People selected as self-actualizing subjects……………
go about it in these little ways:
They listen to their own voices; they take
responsibility; they are honest; and they work hard.
They find out who they are, not only in terms of their
mission in life, but also in terms of the way their feet
hurt when they wear such and such a pair of shoes and
whether they do or do not like eggplant or stay up all
night if they drink too much beer.”
ABRAHAM MASLOW 1971

37. Obedience to Authority
Ordinary people, simply
doing their jobs, and without
any particular hostility on
their part, can become
agents in a terrible
destructive process.
STANLEY
MILGRAM
1974

38. 1989
Brainsex
Anne
Moir &
David
Jessel
THE SEXES ARE DIFFERENT
BECAUSE THEIR BRAINS ARE
DIFFERENT. THE BRAIN, THE
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE AND
EMOTIONAL ORGAN OF LIFE, IS
DIFFERENTLY CONSTRUCTED IN
MEN AND IN WOMEN; IT
PROCESSES INFORMATION IN A
DIFFERENT WAY, WHICH
RESULTS IN DIFFERENT
PERCEPTIONS, PRIORITIES AND
BEHAVIOUR

39. IN THE WAY
THAT OUR MINDS ARE
CONDITIONED,
WE ARE LESS
AUTONOMOUS THAN WE
THINK
1927
CONDITION
ED
REFLEXES
IVAN
PAVLOV

40. Knowing how to pick a psychopath
 recklessness and bravado
 single-mindedness
 not being shocked at things that would
appall other people
 being weirdly calm in conflict
 the need to be in control.
GAVIN DE BECKER, 1997
THE GIFT OF FEAR

41. The ―world of make believe,‖
as we tag it in our superior
way, has the feel of cold, hard
reality to younger children,
because within it everything
makes sense according to
their own intentions and
motivations. In fact, as Piaget
wryly observed, a child‘s world
seems to work so well that,
according to their
understanding, logic is not
required to support it.
1923
THE
LANGUAGE
AND
THOUGHT
OF THE
CHILD
JEAN
PIAGET

42. 2006
LOUANN
BRIZENDINE
In a nutshell……..
Men and women experience the
world differently thanks to each
gender‘s vastly different exposure to
sex hormones.

43. 1998
Phantoms in
the Brain
V.S.
Ramachandran
―A PIECE OF YOUR BRAIN
THE SIZE OF A GRAIN OF
SAND WOULD CONTAIN
ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND
NEURONS,
TWO MILLION AXONS AND
ONE BILLION SYNAPSES,
ALL ‗TALKING‘ TO EACH
OTHER.‖

44. Carl
Rogers
1961
On
Becoming
a Person
HE CAME TO THE
CONCLUSION THAT IT WAS
MORE EFFECTIVE TO LET
PATIENTS (OR CLIENTS)
GUIDE THE DIRECTION OF
THE PROCESS. THIS WAS
THE BEGINNING OF HIS
FAMOUS CLIENT-CENTERED
FORM OF THERAPY.

45. It is only when something goes
neurologically wrong that we realize how
much we take for granted the effort that
goes into keeping up the feeling of being
an autonomous being, always in control.
THE MAN WHO MISTOOK HIS WIFE
FOR A HAT: OLIVER SACKS 1970

46. Paradoxically,
happiness may lie
in limiting our choices
rather than
increasing them
2004
THE
PARADOX
OF CHOICE
BARRY
SCHWARTZ

47. 2002
AUTHENTIC
HAPPINESS
MARTIN
SELIGMAN
Whether or not we are happy every
moment is largely irrelevant. Like
Truman, what matters is whether or
not we choose to develop what is
within us—happiness does not
―come along‖ but involves choices.
One of the best features of
Authentic Happiness are the tests
you can take to determine your
levels of optimism, your signature
strengths, and so on.

48. “The nomad on horseback in Outer Mongolia
and the astronaut in outer space
are different people, but, as far as we know,
if they had been exchanged at birth,
they would have taken each other’s place.”
BF SKINNER 1971
BEYOND FREEDOM AND DIGNITY

49. 3 Parts: Difficult Conversations
What happened? – both from my
perspective and yours
How do we feel about what was
said? Are our feelings valid?
Does what we have just said to the
other person, or what they have
just said to us, shake our sense of
who we are? Our identity?
1999
DIFFICULT
CONVERSAT
IONS
DOUGLAS
STONE,
BRUCE
PATTON, &
SHEILA
HEEN

50. 1990
Darkness
Visible
William Styron
MUCH OF THE LITERATURE
AROUND DEPRESSION IS
BREEZILY OPTIMISTIC.
WHEN YOU THINK THAT
DEPRESSION
IS A DISEASE THAT DISTORTS
OR BRINGS TO THE FORE
ISSUES TO DO WITH OUR VERY
SENSE OF SELF,
SURELY IT IS NOT SURPRISING
THAT CURES ARE NOT INSTANT.

51. GIVEN THEIR EFFECT ON OUR
QUALITY OF LIFE, IT IS VITAL
THAT WE DISCOVER WHAT
MAY CAUSE OUR MOODS
1996
THE ORIGIN
OF
EVERYDAY
MOODS
ROBERT E.
THAYER