'If you only read one book this year, make it this one' CATHY RENTZENBRINK

'This book must be read by as many people as possible - only when people change their view of human nature will they begin to believe in the possibility of building a better world' GRACE BLAKELEY

'It'd be no surprise if it proved to be the Sapiens of 2020' GUARDIAN

It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. From Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Dawkins, the roots of this belief have sunk deep into Western thought. Human beings, we're taught, are by nature selfish and governed by self-interest.

Humankind makes a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. The instinct to cooperate rather than compete, trust rather than distrust, has an evolutionary basis going right back to the beginning of Homo sapiens. By thinking the worst of others, we bring out the worst in our politics and economics too.

In this major book, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman takes some of the world's most famous studies and events and reframes them, providing a new perspective on the last 200,000 years of human history. From the real-life Lord of the Flies to the Blitz, a Siberian fox farm to an infamous New York murder, Stanley Milgram's Yale shock machine to the Stanford prison experiment, Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think - and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.

It is time for a new view of human nature.

This textbook focuses on the connections between psychological theory and human resource management within the South African context.

Features:

• South African text with local examples and case studies makes text more accessible and easier for students to relate
• Review questions challenge students to analyse material with the aim of broadening their understanding of content
• Suitable activities for class discussion and written assignments Easy reference for key concepts and themes
• New case studies, new examples and updated references
• Research trends and practices in the field

This text provides an accurate, comprehensive, and contemporary description of applied behavior analysis in order to help readers acquire fundamental knowledge and skills Applied Behavior Analysis provides a comprehensive, in-depth discussion of the field, offering a complete description of the principles and procedures for changing and analyzing socially important behavior. The 3rd Edition features coverage of advances in all three interrelated domains of the sciences of behavior-theoretical, basic research, and applied research-and two new chapters, Equivalence-based Instruction (Ch. 19) and Engineering Emergent Learning with Nonequivalence Relations (Ch. 20). It also includes updated and new content on topics such as negative reinforcement (Ch. 12), motivation (Ch. 16), verbal behavior (Ch. 18), functional behavioral assessment (Ch. 27), and ethics (Ch. 31). The content of the text is now connected to the BCBA(R) and BCABA(R) Behavior Analyst Task List, 5th Edition.

This second European edition of this classic textbook brings the exceptional introduction to organizational behaviour written by the masters of the subject, and adapts it to meet the needs of students studying in Europe today. Fully updated and revised, this adaptation continues the tradition of making current, relevant research come alive for students, while maintaining its hallmark features - clear writing style, cutting-edge content and compelling pedagogy. This new edition offers real-life examples drawn from a global range of organizations including Google, Cadbury, Apple, Capital One, Microsoft, Lego, Ferrari and more, plus up-to-date insights into the latest research and hot topics from across the world. Key features include: 'Myth or science?' boxes, which provide repeated evidence that common sense can often lead us astray in the attempt to understand human behaviour, and that behavioural research offers a means for testing the validity of common-sense notions. 'OB in the news' which prepares students to recognise and evaluate OB issues which often appear in the news when presented with them in newspapers, magazines, TV, etc. 'Face the facts': these boxes highlight interesting facts from recent surveys that emphasise key aspects of the text. For example, diversity across Europe, the extent of employee engagement, and the popularity of working in teams. "As a whole, the content of the book is strong, and is well-structured with a European focus." Mohammad Lafiti, Uppsala University, Sweden

One of the greatest challenges that teachers face when starting out in their careers is learning how to deal with unruly and badly behaved learners so that the rest of the class can get on with the lesson. Teachers often say that they are not paid to discipline learners, they are paid to teach them. However, without discipline there can be little learning.

For undergraduate students taking classes in behavior management and behavior analysis. A popular, practical, and comprehensive guide for educators regarding how to create positive, healthy, and pro-social classroom settings. Long an established and popular text in its field, Behavior Management: A Practical Approach for Educators successfully balances theory and practice to provide readers with a comprehensive manual for creating a positive, pro-social educational environment in which all children can truly learn and enjoy that learning experience. By presenting students with both research and the proven practices that developed from that research, the authors are able to fully explain behavior management from four perspectives-behavioral, psychodynamic, biophysical, and environmental-in straightforward, jargon-free prose. At the same time, real-life case studies, classroom techniques, clear examples, and helpful plan designs allow preservice and inservice teachers to easily bring what they have learned into the classroom. The new tenth edition has been revised and rewritten to improve its usability and readability, and includes recently identified evidence based practices. A new chapter on response-to-intervention, and its relationship to functional behavioral assessment has also been added, as well as updated information on designing individualized behavior plans.

For students taking courses in classroom or behavior management. ' An essential how-to guide to positive behavior support in schools. ' Written as a methods manual for positive behavior support (PBIS) in school settings, this first edition text focuses on practical strategies for the classroom with step-by-step application examples. After an opening chapter that reviews the key literature and concepts related to evidence-based practice in positive behavior support, the text quickly moves on to a well-organized collection of indispensible tutorials, methods, and applications for teachers written in clear, down-to-earth language and supplemented with real-life examples.

A leading expert in animal behavior takes us into the wild to better understand and manage our fears. Fear, honed by millions of years of natural selection, kept our ancestors alive. Whether by slithering away, curling up in a ball, or standing still in the presence of a predator, humans and other animals have evolved complex behaviors in order to survive the hazards the world presents. But, despite our evolutionary endurance, we still have much to learn about how to manage our response to danger. For more than thirty years, Daniel Blumstein has been studying animals' fear responses. His observations lead to a firm conclusion: fear preserves security, but at great cost. A foraging flock of birds expends valuable energy by quickly taking flight when a raptor appears. And though the birds might successfully escape, they leave their food source behind. Giant clams protect their valuable tissue by retracting their mantles and closing their shells when a shadow passes overhead, but then they are unable to photosynthesize, losing the capacity to grow. Among humans, fear is often an understandable and justifiable response to sources of threat, but it can exact a high toll on health and productivity. Delving into the evolutionary origins and ecological contexts of fear across species, The Nature of Fear considers what we can learn from our fellow animals-from successes and failures. By observing how animals leverage alarm to their advantage, we can develop new strategies for facing risks without panic.

With polarizing events like Trump and Brexit in mind, Black and White Thinking argues that by understanding the evolutionary programming of our binary brains we can adapt our thinking to make subtler, better decisions.

It is human instinct to sort, categorize and frame everything in binary black and white. It's how our brains work. Migrant or refugee? Muslim or Christian? Them or us? Rather than reaching out to those who are different, we bond with those who are just like us, which means the difference between polarized beliefs becomes ever greater. Dangerous possibilities arise. The Arab Spring. Brexit. Trump. Through persistent binary thinking our capacity for rational thought - seeing the grey, rather than merely black and white - begins to erode. Black and White Thinking is an alarm call. Amidst a rising tide of religious intolerance and political extremism, it argues that by understanding the evolutionary programming of our binary brains we can overcome it, make sense of the world and in future make much subtler - and far better - decisions.

South Africa has a broad and complex history that has greatly influenced the unique, diverse and democratic country that we know today. One of the many challenges South Africa faces is crime, with those crimes committed by youthful offenders being the most distressing - it is sadly not unusual to hear of youths who have been involved in murder, rape or robbery. In addition, sexual offences among children are occurring more frequently, and the number of child victims of abuse and domestic violence is also on the rise. An added and escalating danger for children is falling prey to ruthless traffickers and being used as sex workers or slaves. Despite specific laws having been promulgated to protect them, many children are still growing up in unforgiving environments that never allow them the opportunity to develop morally according to the prescriptions of a democratic society. Child and youth misbehaviour in South Africa addresses the complex and poorly understood phenomenon of youth misbehaviour. It discusses and analyses various theories on the nature and causes of deviant behaviour, and assesses them critically with regard to their applicability to South Africa. The book presents the relevant legal processes pertaining to young people, and reinforces theoretical explanations with research and real-world examples. The female youth offender is also discussed in depth in this edition. Child and youth misbehaviour in South Africa is aimed at enabling both practitioners and students to address the plight of the South African youth in a constructive way so they can become part of creating a safer South Africa for all its people. Professor Christiaan Bezuidenhout holds a BA (Criminology), BA Honours (Criminology), MA (Criminology), DPhil (Criminology) and an MSc (Criminology and Criminal Justice) from the University of Oxford. He is currently attached to the Department of Social Work and Criminology, University of Pretoria, where he teaches psychocriminology, criminal justice and contemporary criminology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Why is there evil, and what can scientific research tell us about the origins and persistence of evil behavior? Considering evil from the unusual perspective of the perpetrator, Baumeister asks, How do ordinary people find themselves beating their wives? Murdering rival gang members? Torturing political prisoners? Betraying their colleagues to the secret police? Why do cycles of revenge so often escalate?
Baumeister casts new light on these issues as he examines the gap between the victim's viewpoint and that of the perpetrator, and also the roots of evil behavior, from egotism and revenge to idealism and sadism. A fascinating study of one of humankind's oldest problems, "Evil" has profound implications for the way we conduct our lives and govern our society.

A study of man's destructive nature that utilizes evidence from psychoanalysis, neurophysiology, animal psychology, paleontology, and anthropology and is documented with clinical examples.

Brain and behaviour are intrinsically linked. Animals demonstrate a huge and complex repertoire of behaviours, so how can specific behaviours be mapped onto the complicated neural circuits of the brain? Highlighting the extraordinary advances that have been made in the field of behavioural neuroscience over recent decades, this book examines how behaviours can be understood in terms of their neural mechanisms. Each chapter outlines the components of a particular behaviour, discussing laboratory techniques, the key brain structures involved, and the underpinning cellular and molecular mechanisms. Commins covers a range of topics including learning in a simple invertebrate, fear conditioning, taste aversion, sound localization, and echolocation in bats, as well as more complex behaviours, such as language development, spatial navigation and circadian rhythms. Demonstrating key processes through clear, step-by-step explanations and numerous illustrations, this will be valuable reading for students of zoology, animal behaviour, psychology, and neuroscience.

The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior and Aggression presents the current state of knowledge related to the study of violent behaviors and aggression. An important extension of the first Handbook published ten years ago, the second edition maintains a distinctly cross-disciplinary focus by representing the newest scholarship and insights from behavior genetics, cross-cultural comparative psychology/criminology, evolutionary psychology, criminal justice, criminology, human development, molecular genetics, neurosciences, psychology, prevention and intervention sciences, psychiatry, psychopharmacology, public health, and sociology. The Handbook is divided into introductory and overview chapters on the study of violent behavior and aggression, followed by chapters on biosocial bases, individual and interpersonal factors, contextual factors, and prevention and intervention work and policy implications. It is an essential resource for researchers, scholars, and graduate students across social and behavioral science disciplines interested in the etiology, intervention, and prevention of violent behavior and aggression.

Would you ask a honeybee to point at a screen and recognise a facial expression? Or ask an elephant to climb a tree? While humans and non-human species may inhabit the same world, it's likely that our perceptual worlds differ significantly. Emphasising Uexkull's concept of 'umwelt', this volume offers practical advice on how animal cognition can be successfully tested while avoiding anthropomorphic conclusions. The chapters describe the capabilities of a range of animals - from ants, to lizards to chimpanzees - revealing how to successfully investigate animal cognition across a variety of taxa. The book features contributions from leading cognition researchers, each offering a series of examples and practical tips drawn from their own experience. Together, the authors synthesise information on current field and laboratory methods, providing researchers and graduate students with methodological advice on how to formulate research questions, design experiments and adapt studies to different taxa.

Social psychology is about the people who populate our everyday lives, and how they affect our 'personal universe', defining who we are, and shaping our behaviour, beliefs, attitudes, and ideology. In an age where we've mapped the human genome and explored much of the physical world, the study of people's behaviour is one of the most exciting frontiers of scientific endeavor. In this Very Short Introduction Richard Crisp tells the story of social psychology, its history, concepts and major theories. Discussing the classic studies that have defined the discipline, Crisp introduces social psychology's key thinkers, and shows how their personal histories spurred them to understand what connects people to people, and the societies in which we live. Taking us from the first ideas of the discipline to its most cutting edge developments, Crisp demonstrates how social psychology remains profoundly relevant to everyday life. From attitudes to attraction, prejudice to persuasion, health to happiness - social psychology provides insights that can change the world, and help us tackle the defining problems of the 21st century. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

How challenger parties, acting as political entrepreneurs, are changing European democracies Challenger parties are on the rise in Europe, exemplified by the likes of Podemos in Spain, the National Rally in France, the Alternative for Germany, or the Brexit Party in Great Britain. Like disruptive entrepreneurs, these parties offer new policies and defy the dominance of established party brands. In the face of these challenges and a more volatile electorate, mainstream parties are losing their grip on power. In this book, Catherine De Vries and Sara Hobolt explore why some challenger parties are so successful and what mainstream parties can do to confront these political entrepreneurs. Drawing analogies with how firms compete, De Vries and Hobolt demonstrate that political change is as much about the ability of challenger parties to innovate as it is about the inability of dominant parties to respond. Challenger parties employ two types of innovation to break established party dominance: they mobilize new issues, such as immigration, the environment, and Euroscepticism, and they employ antiestablishment rhetoric to undermine mainstream party appeal. Unencumbered by government experience, challenger parties adapt more quickly to shifting voter tastes and harness voter disenchantment. Delving into strategies of dominance versus innovation, the authors explain why European party systems have remained stable for decades, but also why they are now increasingly under strain. As challenger parties continue to seek to disrupt the existing order, Political Entrepreneurs shows that their ascendency fundamentally alters government stability and democratic politics.

The definitive work on the profound and surprising links between manic-depression and creativity, from the bestselling psychologist of bipolar disorders who wrote "An Unquiet Mind."
One of the foremost psychologists in America, "Kay Jamison is plainly among the few who have a profound understanding of the relationship that exists between art and madness" (William Styron).
The anguished and volatile intensity associated with the artistic temperament was once thought to be a symptom of genius or eccentricity peculiar to artists, writers, and musicians. Her work, based on her study as a clinical psychologist and researcher in mood disorders, reveals that many artists subject to exalted highs and despairing lows were in fact engaged in a struggle with clinically identifiable manic-depressive illness.
Jamison presents proof of the biological foundations of this disease and applies what is known about the illness to the lives and works of some of the world's greatest artists including Lord Byron, Vincent Van Gogh, and Virginia Woolf.

When The Dance of Deception was published, Lerner discovered that women were not eager to identify with the subject. "Well, I don't do deception" was a common resonse.

We all "do deception", often with the intention to protect ourselves and the relationships we depend on. The Dance of Deception unravels the ways (and whys) that women show the false and hide the real -- even to our own selves. We see how relationships are affected by lying and faking, by silence and pretending and by brave -- but misguided -- efforts to tell the truth.

Truth-telling is at the heart of what is most central in women's lives. It is at the foundation of authenticity and creativity, intimacy and joy. Yet in the name of "honesty", we can bludgeon each other. We can approach a difficult issue with such a poor sense of timing and tact that we can actually shut down the lines of communication rather than widening the path of truth-telling.

Sometimes Lerner's advice takes a surprising turn -- for example, when she asks us to engage in a bold act of pretending in order to discover something "more real"; or when she tells us not to parachute down on our family to bring up a "hot issue" without laying the necessary groundwork first.

Whether the subject is affairs, family secrets, sexual faking or the challenge of "being oneself", Lerner helps us to discover, speak and live our own truths.

For over a century and a quarter, the science of learning has expanded at an increasing rate and has achieved the status of a mature science. It has developed powerful methodologies and applications. The rise of this science has been so swift that other learning texts often overlook the fact that, like other mature sciences, the science of learning has developed a large body of knowledge. The Science of Learning comprehensively covers this knowledge in a readable and highly systematic manner. Methodology and application are discussed when relevant; however, these aspects are better appreciated after the reader has a firm grasp of the scientific knowledge of learning processes. Accordingly, the book begins with the most fundamental and well-established principles of the science and builds on the preceding material toward greater complexity. The connections of the material with other sciences, especially its sister science, biology, are referenced throughout. Through these frequent references to biology and evolution, the book keeps in the forefront the recognition that the principles of learning apply to all animals. Thus, in the final section the book brings together all learning principles studied in research settings by demonstrating their relevance to both animals and humans in their natural settings. For animals this is the untamed environment of their niches; for humans it is any social environment, for Homo sapiens is the social and learning animal par excellence.

Blocking out, turning a blind eye, shutting off, not wanting to know, wearing blinkers, seeing what we want to see ... these are all expressions of 'denial'. Alcoholics who refuse to recognize their condition, people who brush aside suspicions of their partner's infidelity, the wife who doesn't notice that her husband is abusing their daughter - are supposedly 'in denial'. Governments deny their responsibility for atrocities, and plan them to achieve 'maximum deniability'. Truth Commissions try to overcome the suppression and denial of past horrors. Bystander nations deny their responsibility to intervene.

Do these phenomena have anything in common? When we deny, are we aware of what we are doing or is this an unconscious defence mechanism to protect us from unwelcome truths? Can there be cultures of denial? How do organizations like Amnesty and Oxfam try to overcome the public's apparent indifference to distant suffering and cruelty? Is denial always so bad - or do we need positive illusions to retain our sanity?

"States of Denial" is the first comprehensive study of both the personal and political ways in which uncomfortable realities are avoided and evaded. It ranges from clinical studies of depression, to media images of suffering, to explanations of the 'passive bystander' and 'compassion fatigue'. The book shows how organized atrocities - the Holocaust and other genocides, torture, and political massacres - are denied by perpetrators and by bystanders, those who stand by and do nothing.

How do we find the life that's right for each of us? More and more of us are feeling overwhelmed by the everyday struggle to lead the lives to which we aspire. Children are placed under unbearable pressure to achieve; adults fight a constant battle to balance family life with work and economic demands; old people suffer from social isolation and a lack of emotional security. People of every age are feeling increasingly at odds with the world, and less able to live a life that corresponds to their individual needs and talents. At the root of this problem, argues internationally renowned child development expert Remo Largo, is a mistaken idea of what makes us human. A distillation of forty years of research and medical experience, The Right Life sets out a new theory of human thriving. Tracing our development as individuals from the beginnings of evolution to the twenty-first century, he sets out his own theory, the 'Fit Principle', which proposes that every human strives to live in harmony with their fellow humans and their environment. Rather than a ceaseless quest for self-improvement and growth, he argues, our collective goals should be individual self-acceptance, as we embrace the unique matrix of skills, needs and limitations that makes each of us who we are. Not only, Largo suggests, can a true understanding of human thriving help people find their way back to their individuality; it can help us to reshape society and economy in order to live as fully as possible.