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.
Although many acknowledge the need for an integrated, biopsychosocial theory of psychopathology, there continue to be great divisions among social, psychological, and biological approaches. Sloman and Gilbert have brought together leading scientists and clinicians representing different disciplines and schools to present a provocative new evolutionary model of depression. This model illuminates old problems in new ways, links a common disabling condition to evolved mental mechanisms, and points to potential new approaches to prevention and intervention. The book will be of compelling interest to all those who study or treat mood disorders.

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.
This innovative book describes new concepts and methods developed in behavioral economics and applies them to understanding health behavior change. The richness of behavioral economic concepts provides novel methods and measures that lend to an understanding of health behavior that is different from previous work in the field.
Featuring contributions from experimental and clinical psychologists and economists, this book will be of interest to a broad range of students and professionals concerned with health behavior, including researchers, clinicians, and policymakers, as well as psychologists, educators, and all those who work with people who are currently attempting to make positive health and lifestyle changes.

Michael Balint addresses himself to a variety of subjects of interest to both the layman and the practicing clinical psychologist or psychiatrist: among others, sex and society, masturbation, discipline, menstruation, punishment, aging, and parapsychology.

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.

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.
Essential reading for teachers, headteachers, researchers in education, gender, youth, community and social workers.

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.
Classic and modern arguments against both mentalism and behaviorism are reviewed. In general, it is concluded that most antibehaviorist arguments are based on second order humanistic considerations rather than those underlying the usual scientific standards. Behaviorism represents the best that can be done in a situation of fundamental immeasurability and uncertainty. A modern version is offered in the final chapter of this book.

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.
Essential reading for teachers, headteachers, researchers in education, gender, youth, community and social workers.

A comprehensive resource for analyzing a variety of categorical data, this book emphasizes the application of many recent advances of longitudinal categorical statistical methods. Each chapter provides basic methodology, helpful applications, examples using data from all fields of the social sciences, computer tutorials, and exercises. Written for social scientists and students, no advanced mathematical training is required. Step-by-step command files are given for both the CDAS and the SPSS software programs.

Obtaining accurate information about behaviors, symptoms, and experiences is critical in many areas of behavioral and biomedical research and in clinical practice. Rigorous methodological techniques have been developed in the last decade to improve the reliability and accuracy of these self reports from research volunteers and patients about their pain, mood, substance abuse history, or dietary habits. This book presents cutting-edge research on optimal methods for obtaining self-reported information for use in the evaluation of scientific hypothesis, in therapeutic interventions, and in the development of prognostic indicators. ALTERNATE BLURB: Self-reports constitute critically important data for research and practice in many fields. As the chapters in this volume document, psychological and social processes influence the storage and recall of self-report information. There are conditions under which self-reports should be readily accepted by the clinician or researcher, and other conditions where healthy scepticism is required. The chapters demonstrate methods for improving the accuracy of self-reports, ranging from fine-tuning interviews and questionnaires to employing emerging technologies to collect data in ways that minimize bias and encourage accurate reporting. Representing a diverse group of disciplines including sociology, law, psychology, and medicine, the distinguished authors offer crucial food for thought to all those whose work depends on the accurate self-reports of others.

Originally published in 1987, Human Evolution looks at theories of the evolution of human behaviour (contemporary at the time of publication). The book reviews competing theories of psychological and social evolution and provides a detailed historical introduction to the subject. A key theoretical concern which emerges in the book includes the psychological significance of the human evolution issue itself. The period of human evolution covered ranges from the demise of the Miocene hominoids, to the emergence of 'civilization'. Topics covered include: functions of 'origin myths', history of the study of human evolution, methods and data-bases, theories of the nature of 'hominisation', origins of bipedalism, language and tool-use, theories of social evolution, theories of cave art and the spread of Homo sapiens to America and Australia.

Originally published in 1951, Homo Faber is an examination of the scientific outlook on human mental evolution through the lens of parapsychology. The book aims to undermine what its terms, the 'scientific outlook' examining the human interpretation of the world, and the preconceived scientific concepts that reality does not extend beyond the realm that our senses reveal. The book expands upon this and moves to examine the broader human understanding of the entire cosmos, challenging the scientific conception that this can be grasped in principal by human intellect, arising from the chance combination of material particles. The book argues that the scientific outlook prevents humans from discovering in the Universe the meaning and purpose which are everywhere to be found if sought in the appropriate contemplative states of mind. This book provides a unique take on the examination of human psychology and the evolution of the brain from an alternative scientific stance. It will be of interest to anthropologists, historians and psychologists alike.

Originally published in 1933 Functional Affinities of Man, Monkeys and Apes gives a taxonomic and phylogenetic survey and the findings of diverse experimental investigations of lemurs, monkeys, and apes. The book discusses the inter-relationships of different Primates and emphasizes seldom-used approaches to the question of primate phylogeny. The book attempts to show how little they have been systematically tried, and argues for a regard to the proper place of functional investigations in the study of the classification and evolution of Primates. This book will be of interest to anthropologists, scientists and historians alike.

Developments in methodology and applications in travel behaviour research continue to diversify to capture the growing complexity of human travel activity and coping strategies. The random utility theory (RUM) paradigm on which many econometric and empirical studies have been based since the mid-1970's has been challenged by the bounded utility maximisation or satisficing paradigm. More recently, the rules-based paradigm from psychology has attracted considerable interest and shows signs of offering a serious 'alternative' paradigm to RUM.
This book highlights the competition between these ideas and shows how the rules-based paradigm has opened up opportunities to reflect the activity-based decision-making process. In six specially commissioned resource papers - including one by Nobel laureate Daniel McFadden - it describes the state of the art in travel behaviour research, from the fundamentals of data collection to the frontiers of e-commerce. The next 14 chapters then set out a series of research directions for ongoing inquiry. Thirty-three further chapters then offer detailed leading edge contributions within seven themes: methodological developments in choice analysis; longitudinal perspectives in choice modelling; incorporating schedules, uncertainty and reliability; challenges facing micro-simulation; integrated transport planning models; driver information and route choice; and data structures.
Based on research presented at the Ninth International Conference of the International Association for Travel Behaviour Research (IATBR), this volume captures major developments in the field since the publication of the last IATBR volume in 1998, and will therefore be of value toall researchers and practitioners needing to keep abreast of current work on travel behaviour.

How does the sense of basic fairness--or selflessness versus selfishness--arise? How is it exhibited behaviorally? How is it maintained? Few topics hold more contemporary significance or have proved more elusive to specification in precise scientific terms. Current research perspectives on altruism, narcissism, and comity by distinguished behavioral scientists from around the world were brought together in a special issue of Current Psychology (Summer 1998) and are offered here in a useful compendium.

Chapters and contributors include: "Equity, Justice, and Altruism" by Graham F. Wagstaff; "Reactions to the Fate of One's Brainchild After Its Disclosure" by Sidney Rosen and Shannon Wheatman; "Need Norm, Demographic Influence, Social Role, and Justice Judgment" by Helen E. Linkey and Sheldon Alexander; "Adaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism" by Robert W. Hill and Greg Yousey; "Perceptions of Self-Oriented and Other-Oriented Help-Providers" by Mark A. Barnett, Guy D. Vitaglione, Jeffrey S. Bartel, Birgit S. Valdez, Lee Ann Steadman, and Kimberly K. G. Harper; and "Pathological Narcissism and Serial Homicide" by Louis B. Schlesinger. Altruism, Narcissism, Comity will benefit students, researchers, and practitioners in the psychological sciences, sociology, political science, philosophy, law, and other disciplines concerned with the nature of selflessness, heroism, justice, and their variants.

Social trust is a crucial issue to many aspects of modern society. Policy makers continually aspire to winning it and corporations frequently run the risk of losing it. The 'trust deficit' raises vital questions and problems to which until recently there have been few answers or solutions. Experts from both sides of the Atlantic explore the importance for trust of various influences, from individual perceptions to organizational systems, and consider the conditions involved in building or undermining trust. Several authors examine practical hazard management issues, including medical vaccination programmes and popular participation in pollution control and waste management as strategies for enhancing social trust. This book provides insightful analysis for researchers and students of environmental and social sciences and is essential reading for those engaged in risk management in both the public and private sectors.

This volume addresses topics related to the nature of the stress response, the role of environment in individual differences in stress, and the different strategies used for coping with stressful events. The chapters present theoretical and empirical work focused on a wide range of issues related to stress, soothing, and coping. Authored by recognized authorities with innovative research programs in the field, this volume addresses topics from diverse perspectives in child development, clinical psychology, pediatrics, psychophysiology, and psychobiology. Adaptive and maladaptive outcomes of stress and coping are addressed in various pediatric, medical, and clinical populations. This book also covers recent research on the effects of both prenatal and postnatal stress on subsequent coping, stress reactivity, and socioemotional functioning in the human and nonhuman primate. With this diversity of papers, this volume should be of special value to child development professionals with interests in behavioral and physiological approaches to temperament, emotional expression, and emotional regulation; to those interested in mother-child interaction; and to researchers and clinicians in many different disciplines.

During the past decade a diverse group of disciplines have simultaneously intensified their attention upon the scientific study of emotion. This proliferation of research on affective phenomena has been paralleled by an acceleration of investigations of early human structural and functional development. Developmental neuroscience is now delving into the ontogeny of brain systems that evolve to support the psychobiological underpinnings of socioemotional functioning. Studies of the infant brain demonstrate that its maturation is influenced by the environment and is experience-dependent. Developmental psychological research emphasizes that the infant's expanding socioaffective functions are critically influenced by the affect-transacting experiences it has with the primary caregiver. Concurrent developmental psychoanalytic research suggests that the mother's affect regulatory functions permanently shape the emerging self's capacity for self-organization. Studies of incipient relational processes and their effects on developing structure are thus an excellent paradigm for the deeper apprehension of the organization and dynamics of affective phenomena. This book brings together and presents the latest findings of socioemotional studies emerging from the developmental branches of various disciplines. It supplies psychological researchers and clinicians with relevant, up-to-date developmental neurobiological findings and insights, and exposes neuroscientists to recent developmental psychological and psychoanalytic studies of infants. The methodology of this theoretical research involves the integration of information that is being generated by the different fields that are studying the problem of socioaffective development--neurobiology, behavioral neurology, behavioral biology, sociobiology, social psychology, developmental psychology, developmental psychoanalysis, and infant psychiatry. A special emphasis is placed upon the application and incorporation of current developmental data from neurochemistry, neuroanatomy, neuropsychology, and neuroendocrinology into the main body of developmental theory. More than just a review of several literatures, the studies cited in this work are used as a multidisciplinary source pool of experimental data, theoretical concepts, and clinical observations that form the base and scaffolding of an overarching heuristic model of socioemotional development that is grounded in contemporary neuroscience. This psychoneurobiological model is then used to generate a number of heuristic hypotheses regarding the proximal causes of a wide array of affect-related phenomena--from the motive force that drives human attachment to the proximal causes of psychiatric disturbances and psychosomatic disorders, and indeed to the origin of the self.

Considering both feminist approaches to male violence and those perspectives that treat such violent behaviour as pathological, Adam Jukes explores how depth psychology can be used to treat men who batter women.

The area of applied psychology known as behaviour modification or behaviour therapy had progressed remarkably in the ten years, prior to publication. Illustrative of this progress is the variety of therapeutic and behaviour management techniques now available to the applied psychologist. This volume, originally published in 1981, describes some of the important characteristics of this development, and in particular, the relationship between behaviour change techniques and the principles of conditioning theory that generated them. This brief gives rise to three main themes. First, the book describes some of the reasons underlying the adoption of the conditioning paradigm and the epistemological advantages of the paradigm for behaviour modification. Second, a number of chapters discuss the current trends in specific areas of applied psychology where conditioning principles play an important heuristic role. These chapters deal with the uses made of conditioning theory in the areas of mental handicap, psychiatric therapy, work organizations, and the treatment of brain injury. Third, later chapters discuss some of the more recent theoretical developments in the field of behaviour modification/therapy, in particular the drift from strict behaviouristic applications of conditioning principles to more cognitive ones.

Humor permeates every aspect of society and has done so for thousands of years. People experience it daily through television, newspapers, literature, and contact with others. Rarely do social researchers analyze humor or try to determine what makes it such a dominating force in our lives. The types of jokes a person enjoys contribute significantly to the definition of that person as well as to the character of a given society. Arthur Asa Berger explores these and other related topics in An Anatomy of Humor. He shows how humor can range from the simple pun to complex plots in Elizabethan plays.

Berger examines a number of topics--ethnicity, race, gender, politics--each with its own comic dimension. Laughter is beneficial to both our physical and mental health, according to Berger. He discerns a multiplicity of ironies that are intrinsic to the analysis of humor. He discovers as much complexity and ambiguity in a cartoon, such as Mickey Mouse, as he finds in an important piece of literature, such as Huckleberry Finn. An Anatomy of Humor is an intriguing and enjoyable read for people interested in humor and the impact of popular and mass culture on society. It will also be of interest to professionals in communication and psychologists concerned with the creative process.

Human behavior often violates the predictions of rational choice theory. This realization has caused many social psychologists and experimental economists to attempt to develop an experimentally-based variant of game theory as an alternative descriptive model. The impetus for this book is the interest in the development of such a theory that combines elements from both disciplines and appeals to both.
The editors have brought together leading researchers in the fields of experimental economics, behavioral game theory, and social dilemmas to engage in constructive dialogue across disciplinary boundaries. This book offers a comprehensive overview of the new insights into the motivation of human behavior under a variety of naturally or artificially induced incentive structures that are emerging from their work. Amnon Rapoport--a pioneer and leader in experimental study and quantitative modeling of human decisions in social and interactive contexts--is honored.

Originally published in 1969, Behavioral Problems in Geography unpacks and identifies elements of behavioral models and theories. The book seeks to examine their specific effects on spatial activity and to operationalize some of the concepts previously used in a subjective and descriptive manner. All papers, are united by a common concern for the building of geographic theory regarding human behavior. Contributions in the volume vary a great deal in their emphasis ranging from philosophy and review, to theorizing and operationalization. Each paper recognizes the importance of examining the behavioural basis of spatial activity. This book will appeal to scholars of geography and psychology alike.

In writing The Psychology of Politics, Hans Eysenck had two aims in mind: to write a book about modern developments in the field of attitude studies which would be intelligible to the layman; and one that would integrate into one consistent theoretical system a large number of contributions on the topic from different fields. Eysenck believes that science has something to say about such problems as anti-Semitism, the origin and growth of fascist and communist ideologies, the causal determinants of voting behavior, the structure of opinions and attitudes, and the relationship between politics and personality. He seeks to rescue these factual findings from the obscurity of technical journals and present them in a more accessible form.

The research presented in this book outlines the main principles of organization and structure in the field of attitudes. These principles account in a remarkably complete and detailed manner for the systems of political organization found in Great Britain, that is, the Conservative, Liberal, and Socialist parties, and the communist and fascist groups. Next, Eysenck relates these principles to the system of personality structure which for many years formed the main focus of research activity at the Institute of Psychiatry in London.

The Psychology of Politics integrates attitude research with modern learning theory. In his new introduction, Eysenck writes that his research and personal experiences in Germany led him to believe that authoritarianism could appear equally well on the left as on the right. He saw Stalin as equally authoritarian as Hitler, and communism as equally totalitarian as Nazism. The Psychology of Politics contains the evidence and arguments Eysenck used to demonstrate his approach. This volume is of enduring significance for psychologists, political theorists, and historians. It is by indirection a major statement in modern liberalism.

In answering these questions, Janet Sayers highlights the revolution wrought in both sexes' psychology by adolescence, particularly by its fantasies of divided selves and loves and of 'boy crazy' grandiosity and romance.
Illustrated throughout with fascinating examples from a groundbreaking study of adolescent memories and dreams, Boy Crazy presents an engaging account of this little-researched period of human development. Sayers also draws on her own work as a therapist, and weaves in vignettes from fiction and film, to demonstrate the significance we attach in adulthood to our experiences as adolescents. She suggests that men and women respond differently to the sexual awakening that takes place during their teens, and to their own memories of that part of their life. In relating the findings of her research the author also explores to what extent the theories of Freud, Jung and feminism shape our understanding of the formative effect of adolescent experiences and emotions.
Boy Crazy provides a fascinating insight into the repercussions of adolescence on our adult lives and loves and will appeal to the general and specialist reader alike.

Related link: Free Email Alerting

Epidemiological surveys have provided key information about the prevalence and degree of seriousness at different ages of a wide array of problem behaviors such as delinquency, substance use, early sexual involvement, and mental health disorders. Knowledge of the extent of these problems and changes in their course over time is important. In its absence, interventions and health planning in general can be difficult. Understanding which risk and protective factors are relevant to which problem behaviors is also essential for the formulation of theories that constitute the basis of intervention. This book draws on the results of the major Pittsburgh Youth Study complemented by follow-up tracking of juvenile court records for more than six years, to address the following questions: *What is the prevalence and age of onset of delinquency, substance use, and early sexual behavior for three samples of boys age 8, 11, and 14? What are the average mental health problems for these ages? How strong are the relationships among these problem behaviors in each of the samples? *Which variables best explain individual differences among the boys in their manifestations of delinquency, substance use, early sexual behavior, and mental health problems? To what extent do explanatory factors vary with age? How accurately can boys with different outcomes be identified by risk scores based on hierarchical multiple regressions? *To what extent are explanatory factors associated with one outcome that are also associated with other outcomes? Are explanatory factors that are especially characteristic of a multiproblem group of boys--who display many different problem behaviors--different from explanatory factors associated with boys with few problems? *Do the results fit a general theory of juvenile problem behaviors, or is a differentiated theory more applicable?