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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Philosophy & theory of psychology > Behavioural theory (Behaviourism)
This book stimulates thinking on the topic of detrimental
environmental change and how research psychologists can help to
address the problem. In addition to reporting environmentally
relevant psychological research, the author identifies the most
pressing questions from an environmental point of view. "Psychology
and Environmental Change: "
Ernest Dichter is famous as one of the founding fathers of motivational research. In applying the social sciences to a variety of problems, Dichter emphasized new approaches to problem solving, advertising, politics, and selling, and issues of social significance such as urban renewal, productivity, and drug addiction. As an author and corporate adviser, he used psychoanalytic theory and depth interviewing to uncover unconsciously held attitudes and beliefs. He goal was to help explain why people act the way they do and how positive behavioral change might be achieved. In The Strategy of Desire, Dichter both counters the argument that motivational research amounts to manipulation, and shows how the understanding and modification of human behavior is necessary for progress. Dichter's survey and analysis of behavior ranges widely. He examines everyday matters of product choice, as well as such broad civic issues as voter participation, religious toleration, and racial understanding. He shows that in order to achieve socially constructive goals, it is necessary to move beyond theological exhortation, which takes an unrealistic view of human morality, as well as beyond the limits of empirically oriented social science research, which only deals in appearances. Dichter sees human action as rooted in irrational and often unconscious motivation, which can usually be uncovered if the correct approach is used. In his consumer research, he analyzes the nonutilitarian importance of objects in everyday life, as well as how products and materials become bound with emotional resonance or acquire different meanings from different contexts or points of view. Dichter shows that success depends on the satisfaction of desires and a movement beyond the ethic of work and saving. Arguing that in an increasingly technological world, progress and social harmony are materially based, he advocates a morality of the good life in which prosperity and leisure lead to greater human self-assurance in the face of change. First published in 1960, The Strategy of Desire is especially timely in the age of the Internet and ever-increasing effect of sophisticated computer technology on consumer culture.
Process safety management seeks to establish a multi-level system to assess, document, maintain, and inspect equipment and work practices integral in controlling highly toxic and/or reactive materials. In a highly engineered environment, any variance can set off a chain of events that increases the probability of a process safety incident as violent as an explosion. Human behavior is often the biggest source of this variance, but it can also be the biggest asset for process safety management. Process industries are looking to understand sources of behavioral variance and build better processes based on sound behavioral science. Because of this clear link between behavior and process safety performance, the behavior science community has been challenged to research the behavioral root causes leading to variation that threaten process safety; create and evaluate behavioral interventions to mitigate this variation; and identify the system factors that would influence the behaviors necessary to promote process safety. This book seeks to translate behavior analysis into practical systems that can help reduce human suffering from catastrophic process safety events. All of the chapters in this book were originally published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management.
The quest to understand the role of affect in human affairs represents one of the last frontiers in psychology. Although many people have long been fascinated by the intriguing influence of emotion on our thoughts, memories, beliefs, and judgments, the psychological mechanisms responsible for these effects remained incompletely understood until very recently. Surprisingly, most of what we know about the role of feelings in social thinking and behavior has been discovered only during the last two decades. This book offers a comprehensive review and integration of the most recent research and theories on the role of affect in social cognition and features original contributions from leading researchers active in the field. The applications of this work to areas such as clinical, organizational, forensic, health, marketing, and advertising psychology receive special emphasis throughout. The book is suitable as a core textbook in advanced courses dealing with the role of affect in social cognition and behavior or as a reference tool for those interested in the subject.
The theories and practices of REBT have been revised, expanded, corrected and updated since its inception in 1995. This volume takes into consideration those REBT therapists who criticise the constant dissection of the therapy, claiming that these innovations make it too complicated for most clients and even for some therapists. Innovations are the life-blood of any therapy that wishes to remain dynamic. This work, written in an easy-to-read style, seeks to strip away the sophistication that can cause confusion and focuses on the essential elements of REBT.
The ability to learn is of crucial importance in human life, but understanding this ability has proved to be difficult. There have been many attempts to formulate scientific theories based on both animal experiments and human experience; and these have been applied to education and the treatment of psychological disturbance, with a certain amount of success. Originally published in 1984, this incisive guide to the research and its outcomes provides the background to one of the most debated topics in psychology today. Learning Theory and Behaviour Modification introduces the work of major figures, such as Pavlov and Skinner, which has strongly influenced theories in educational and clinical psychology, and formed the basis of the techniques known as 'behaviour modification'. As well as giving examples of these techniques the author relates new ideas about the scope and limits of behaviour modification to recent changes in the views of learning theorists. How much can experiments on animals tell us about human psychology?
Dedicated to the memory and work of Lisa Capps, this volume is a
forum for scholars and practitioners interested in the typical and
atypical development of persons with autism. Each chapter is
focused on theoretical considerations and the empirical evidence
regarding a specific aspect of functioning, but common themes of
development are considered throughout. Within this framework, the
contributors provide a detailed and comprehensive account of the
development of persons with autism.
The approach to psychology advocated by the radical behaviourists was often misunderstood and frequently gave rise to controversy. Originally published in 1974, this book introduced current research in operant conditioning and explains the attempt to understand behaviour inherent in such experiments at the time. After considering the philosophical context in which behaviouristic psychology developed, the author outlines the basic characteristics of operant research by reviewing single experiments on the effects of reinforcement on behaviour. Chapters on schedules of intermittent reinforcement extend this approach to more complex situations and emphasize that behaviour can be maintained and controlled in many different ways by environmental events. The author then discusses recent work on conditional reinforcement and on the discriminative control of behaviour and shows how operant research has changed our understanding of these important concepts in psychology. Subsequent chapters review research within the operant paradigm on the effects on behaviour of punishment, anxiety, aversive stimuli and drugs, again by emphasising the special contribution to these topics made by operant conditioning techniques and methodology. The final chapters consider the general implications of operant research for educational practice and for clinical psychology, and place this approach within the context of psychology as a whole. Dr Blackman argues that it should be recognized as one important attempt to further the scientific analysis of behaviour. This book, filled a long recognized need for an undergraduate text in this area at the time, and helped students form their own evaluation. Now it should be read in its historical context.
What makes good people capable of committing bad - even evil - acts? Few psychologists are as well-qualified to answer that question as Philip Zimbardo, a psychology professor who was not only the author of the classic Stanford Prison Experiment - which asked two groups of students to assume the roles of prisoners and guards in a makeshift jail, to dramatic effect - but also an active participant in the trial of a US serviceman who took part in the violent abuse of Iraqi prisoners in the wake of the second Gulf War. Zimbardo's book The Lucifer Effect is an extended analysis that aims to find solutions to the problem of how good people can commit evil acts. Zimbardo used his problem-solving skills to locate the solution to this question in an understanding of two conditions. Firstly, he writes, situational factors (circumstances and setting) must override dispositional ones, meaning that decent and well-meaning people can behave uncharacteristically when placed in unusual or stressful environments. Secondly, good and evil are not alternatives; they are interchangeable. Most people are capable of being both angels and devils, depending on the circumstances. In making this observation, Zimbardo also built on the work of Stanley Milgram, whose own psychological experiments had shown the impact that authority figures can have on determining the actions of their subordinates. Zimbardo's book is a fine example of the importance of asking productive questions that go beyond the theoretical to consider real-world events.
There has been a burgeoning of interest in the relation between
biological development--particularly brain development--and
behavioral development. This shift in focus does a better job of
reflecting the whole child and all of development. Not
surprisingly, many of the individuals who are concerned with the
theoretical side of brain-behavior relations are also concerned
with the more practical side. The chapters that comprise this 31st
volume of the Minnesota Symposium series collectively capture the
subtle dance between the biological and behavioral aspects of early
adversity as it influences neurobehavioral development. Individuals
interested in this volume represent the disciplines of
developmental psychology and psychopathology, child psychiatry,
toxicology, developmental and behavioral pediatrics, behavioral
neurology, and special education.
This book explores the ways in which anorexic women use their eating to control their bodies. It argues that the female body in modern Western culture is understood as open and accessible and female appetite as dangerous and voracious. Anorexia attempts to resist both these constructions in the creation of a closed, desireless body. Since anorexic women resist the power of collective ideologies their resistance cannot work - the closed body becomes its own prison.
Many people consider their weight to be a personal problem; when, then, does body weight become a social problem? Until recently, the major public concern was whether enough food was consistently available. As food systems began to provide ample and stable amounts of food, questions about food availability were replaced with concerns about "ideal" weights and appearance. These interests were aggregated into public concerns about defining people as "too fat" and "too thin." Social constructionist perspectives can contribute to the understanding of weight problems because they focus attention on how these problems are created, maintained, and promoted within various social environments. While there is much objectivist research concerning weight problems, few studies address the socially constructed aspects of fatness and thinness. This book however draws from and contributes to social constructionist perspectives. The chapters in this volume offer several perspectives that can be used to understand the way society deals with fatness and thinness. The contributors consider historical foundations, medical models, gendered dimensions, institutional components, and collective perspectives. These different perspectives illustrate the multifaceted nature of obesity and eating disorders, providing examples of how a variety of social groups construct weight as a social problem.
In "Exploring Borders, " Giuseppe Mantovani highlights and explores
the ways in which culture acts as framework organising our
experience. He emphasises the differences across and between
cultures and examines the depths to which these can go. He also
analyses the functions of culture, including: mediation,
meaning-making, and forming a repertory of values and principles.
Finally, he considers some of the challenges raised by taking a
cultural perspective and examines how these may be addressed in
society.
Most people now accept that human beings are the product of
millions of years of mammalian evolution and, more recently,
primate evolution. This landmark book explores the implications of
our evolutionary history for theories and therapies of depression.
In particular, the focus is on how social conflict has shaped
various behavioral and psychophysiological systems. Special
attention is given to the evolved mechanisms for dealing with
social defeat and subordination in both animals and humans. By
linking human depression to the activation of ancient
psychobiological programs for dealing with social conflict, one is
able to understand the function of depression within groups, family
systems, and between individuals and begin to distinguish
depressions that may have adaptive functions from those that are
the result of maladaptive feedback systems.
The concept of risk is an outgrowth of our society's great concern about coping with the dangers of modern life. The Perception of Risk brings together the work of Paul Slovic, one of the world's leading analysts of risk, risk perception and risk management, to examine the gap between expert views of risk and public perceptions. Ordered chronologically, it allows the reader to see the evolution of our understanding of such perceptions, from early studies identifying public misconceptions of risk to recent work that recognizes the importance and legitimacy of equity, trust, power and other value-laden issues underlying public concern.
Behavioral economics is a rapidly developing area of psychological
science that has synergistically merged microeconomic concepts with
behavioral research methods. A driving force behind the growth of
behavioral economics has been its recent application to behaviors
that significantly affect health. The book examines the latest
behavioral economic research on smoking, drug and alcohol abuse,
obesity, gambling, and other poor health habits, and explores the
implications for individual and community interventions and policy
directions.
The reasons why people do not always act in accord with their
attitudes has been the focus of much social psychological research,
as have the factors that account for why people change their
attitudes and are persuaded by such influences as the media. There
is strong support for the view that attitude-behavior consistency
and persuasion cannot be well understood without reference to the
wider social context in which we live. Although attitudes are held
by individuals, they are social products to the extent that they
are influenced by social norms and the expectations of others. This
book brings together an international group of researchers
discussing private and public selves and their interaction through
attitudes and behavior. The effects of the social context on
attitude-behavior relations and persuasion is the central theme of
this book, which--in its combination of theoretical exposition,
critique, and empirical research--should be of interest to both
basic and applied social psychologists.
The field of behavioural economics can tell us a great deal about cognitive bias and unconscious decision-making, challenging the orthodox economic model whereby consumers make rational and informed choices. But it is in the arena of health that it perhaps offers individuals and governments the most value. In this important new book, the most pernicious health issues we face today are examined through a behavioral economic lens. It provides an essential and timely overview of how this growing field of study can reframe and offer solutions to some of the biggest health issues of our age. The book opens with an overview of the core theoretical concepts, after which each chapter assesses how behavioral economic research and practice can inform public policy across a range of health issues. Including chapters on tobacco, alcohol and drug use, physical activity, dietary intake, cancer screening and sexual health, the book integrates the key insights from the field to both developed and developing nations. Also asking important ethical questions around paternalism and informed choice, this book will be essential reading for students and researchers across psychology, economics and business and management, as well as public health professionals wishing for a concise overview of the role behavioral economics can potentially play in allowing people to live healthier lives.
What is "too fat?" "Too thin"? Interpretations of body weight vary widely across and within cultures. Meeting weight expectations is a major concern for many people because failing to do so may incur dire social consequences, such as difficulty in finding a romantic partner or even in locating adequate employment. Without these social and cultural pressures, body weight would be only a health issue. While socially constructed standards of body weight may seem immutable, they are continuously re-created through social interactions that perpetuate or transform expectations about fatness and thinness. Understanding social constructions of body weight requires insight regarding how people develop and use constructions in their daily lives. While structural conditions and cultural environments make important contributions to weight constructions, the chapters in this book focus on the "social processes" in which people engage while they interpret, negotiate, resist, and transform cultural definitions and expectations. As such, most of the chapters in this volume borrow from and contribute to a symbolic interactionist perspective. Written by sociologists, psychologists, and nutritionists, all of the chapters in "Interpreting Weight" focus on how people construct fatness and thinness. The contributors examine different strategies used to interpret body weight, such as negotiating weight identities, reinterpreting weight, and becoming involved in weight-related organizations. Together, these chapters emphasize the many ways that people actively define, construct, and enact their fatness and thinness in a variety of settings and situations.
Do you know what makes boys tick? In recent years suicide has
drastically escalated among young males and academic
underachievement is common, so it is of vital importance that our
understanding of the young male psyche is well informed and not
merely 'received wisdom'. John Head gets to the heart - and mind -
of the matter, by tackling difficult, pertinent questions. Has male
behaviour in school worsened, or has media hype inflated the
proportions of a 'good story'? What is at the root of male
violence? Are biological or social explanations telling the whole
story? Head shows that it is only by engaging boys in new arenas of
thought and feeling that we can hope to understand and help
overcome the difficulties faced by boys today.
This book considers one of the most fundamental, but only
infrequently considered, issues in psychology--Are mental processes
accessible by means of verbal reports and/or experimental assays?
It is argues that this is the main characteristic distinguishing
between behaviorism and mentalistic cognitivism. The answer posed
by the author is that, with few exceptions and for the most
fundamental reasons, mental processes are not accessible and that
any psychology, such as contemporary cognitivism, based on a
putative analysis of mind into its mental components must be
fallacious.
In this volume leading academics explore the relationship between the experiences of terror and helplessness, the way in which survivors remember and the representation of these memories in the language and form of their life stories.
The management of discipline is an essential element in educational practice, and at a time when teachers and managers are anxious about reported increases in violence and other forms of anti-social behaviour there's a need for practical guidance and a review of current thinking. Based on the author's experience and research in a range of secondary and primary schools, this book presents accessible summaries of relevant legislation and guides the reader through management theories towards effective practice. By placing the teacher at the centre of the management of discipline in schools and focusing on teacher and pupil esteem, a disciplined environment is not only desirable, but achievable too. Written in an accessible style, the book; * highlights the real problems and offers real solutions * includes case-studies, recent research and legislation * considers the classroom as well as the whole-school context * describes the support networks within education * provides a multi-agency approach. This book is aimed at trainee and practising teachers, managers, and all those who work with children. |
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