JAMES S. NAIRNE, MARTIN S. SMITH, AND D. STEPHEN LINDSAY Psychology: The Adaptive Mind Toronto, ON: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2001, 805 pages (ISBN 0-17-616858-3, C$99.75, Hardcover) Reviewed by MAXINE GALLANDER WINTRE Borrowing the organizing theme of this text, I posed the adaptive question as to how to write an interesting book review of an Introductory Psychology textbook, especially one that purports to be a Canadian text. My initial response was to employ the same standards I use annually when reviewing textbooks for adopting for my class of 500, then add comments about what I feared would be the gratuitous Canadian content. To my delight, I found the Canadian content so well integrated into the text that I had to abandon my initial plan. I soon realized (amidst chuckles upon reading "behaviour" spelt with a "u" and -modelling" with a double "1") that the content and goals of the text are thoroughly Canadian. There are references to Canadian researchers past and present and to Canadian websites, pictures of Canadian researchers, references to Canadian incidents (the Swissair flight crash off the coast of Nova Scotia opens the text), citations to the Canadian Psychological Association as well as to Canadian funding agencies (e.g., SSHRC, NSERC), and mentions of Canadian institutions. I was particularly impressed with the number of young Canadian researchers cited. Even more relevant, moreover, is the fact that the authors accomplish their Canadian task without compromising any of the classic topics and studies in the field. What a treat! Nonetheless, given that we are trained to be critical reviewers, I did notice a few minor lapses in Canadian content. For instance, the authors could have used the Canadian penny rather than the American penny in illustrating the Nickerson and Adams (1979) findings. I was also surprised that although the authors did an excellent job of referencing Canadian researchers, there were some notable Canadian psychologists missing (e.g., Juan Pascual-Leone as a sorely undercited neo-Piagetian, Robbie Case as a more cited neo-Piagetian, and the work by Polivy and Herman on eating disorders). However, these minor omissions may just reflect the fact that the authors are from Western Canada and the reviewer is from Eastern Canada. With regard to rules for text consideration, my personal list includes: use of APA style referencing, attractive presentation of material, a sound organizing theme, a glossary of terms, at least one chapter on statistics, mention of ethical guidelines, "user friendly techniques" for students, and good auxiliary supplements. This text by Nairn, Smith, and Lindsay achieves all of these. Concerning the "user friendly techniques," the authors include the now fairly standard definitions and key concepts in the margins as well as the expected summaries at the end of the chapters. In addition, they include "inside the problem boxes," learning goals in the margins, "test yourself"boxes, summaries throughout the chapters, and final chapter review summaries, including mini pictorial reproductions for the visual learners. This "integrated pedagogical system" also includes a list of recommended readings and websites at the end of each chapter. As well, the text is amply augmented for the students with a related study guide, Learning Web Tutor, Interactive Learning Modules, and online library. With regard to the level of difficulty of the text, I would put it on a par with the Weiten and the Myers Introductory Psychology texts. …