Psychology: A Factual Textbook by Edwin G. Boring

Why This Book Matters

Few textbooks shaped the teaching of psychology in the twentieth century as directly as this one. Written when experimental psychology was still defining itself as a science, Psychology: A Factual Textbook set out to give students a rigorous, evidence-first introduction to the mind and behavior — grounded in laboratory findings rather than speculation.

Its lead author, Edwin G. Boring of Harvard, was among the most influential figures in the history of American psychology. This text distills that authority into a clear, systematic survey that remains a valuable window into the foundations of the modern discipline.

What Is Psychology: A Factual Textbook? A Complete Overview

First published in 1935 by John Wiley & Sons and written by Edwin G. Boring, Herbert S. Langfeld, and Harry P. Weld, this is a comprehensive introductory psychology textbook built around established experimental facts. It walks the reader through the core domains of the field as they were understood at the height of early experimental psychology.

Coverage spans sensation and perception, attention, learning and memory, thinking, emotion, motivation, and individual differences — each presented with the “factual,” research-anchored approach the title promises.

What You’ll Take Away

• A systematic, evidence-based survey of the classical topics of general psychology
• Insight into how experimental psychology framed the mind before mid-century
• The perspective of Edwin G. Boring, one of the discipline’s foundational scholars and historians
• A primary-source reference for students of the history of psychology

Who Should Read This

Students and instructors of psychology and its history, and anyone interested in the intellectual roots of the modern science of mind. It reads both as a classical introduction to general psychology and as a historical document of how the field defined itself.