Stupid Textbook Tricks

[lydy]

Allow me to quote from my Psychology textbook, Essentials of Psychology by Stephen L. Franzoi. "How do you know something is a reinforcer? Simple. Observe whether it increases the behavior it follows. While 'friend play' reinforces my daughters' room-cleaning, I have learned that allowing them to watch a football game on television with me is not a reinforcer." What a boneheaded sentence. It's not a matter of not being able to guess at what he means. It's just that his sentence doesn't say that. (No, football watching had not been referenced earlier, nor is it referenced later.)

I hate textbooks. They're full of crap like this. It drives me mad.

Comments

Ah, textbooks

[nancymcc.livejournal.com]

In the '90s I was hired by a publisher to illustrate several textbooks, and I was totally unimpressed with the intellectual caliber of the authors. (The pay for illustration didn't elicit my most brilliant graphics, either.)

I always reject the cliche that "those who can't, teach," since I've been teaching part-time for 14 years. But perhaps, "those who can't, get textbook contracts."

Re: Ah, textbooks

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I've copyedited a fair number of textbooks, and ... yeah. When I, with no degree in the subject, catch authors with degrees in the subject, and impressive-seeming credentials, in an error in the subject, there's a problem. And I have done, in almost every textbook I've worked on.