The movement from young adulthood through coupling and the transition to parenthood may be among the most universal adult developmental transitions. These passages hold interest for all of us, but especially for those who study the psychological, familial, and sociocultural components of development, all of which interact and influence each other. This book enhances understanding of family-life development by shedding light on the meanings that family members ascribe to the developmental process of becoming a family. This is achieved through qualitative analysis of narratives through which individuals and families explain themselves, their thinking, and their behavior. These family narratives are windows into individual and family identity, as well as descriptions of connections to others. The book addresses issues including identity, child characteristics, social support, and work. Each chapter includes a review of seminal literature, parents' comments and ideas about the topic, and a discussion of practice, policy, and research implications.

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.
This highly original and eminently readable narrative will be invaluable to scholars of psychology, media and cultural studies, and to all those fascinated by culture and eager to make the cultural dimension visible to all.

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.

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.

It is important for health workers to be effective and confident in their daily communications with clients/patients in order to develop therapeutic relationships. For new students this can be a particularly daunting task, since often this confidence comes from personal experience. This book provides examples of the type of clinical experiences students are likely to have on their student placements and offers a theoretical framework for them to understand and learn from these interchanges. The book illustrates three main theoretical approaches taught to students: Psychodynamic, person-centred and behavioural. The book takes a lifespan approach, covering the care of the child, the adolescent, the adult and the elderly person, including mental-health issues. Each chapter recounts a student's experience of working with a particular client group, enabling the reader to identify with the personal account and relate their own experience to the theoretical approaches under consideration. The reader is encouraged to reflect on the value of each of the theoretical approaches, thereby increasing effectiveness in communicating with patients.

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.

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.

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.

The book gives a broad overview of recombinant DNA techniques for the behavioral neuroscientist, with illustrative examples of applications. Species covered include rodents (mainly mice), "Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans" and "Danio rerio." Experimental techniques required to characterize the behavioral phenotypes of mutant animals is provided. Several aspects of novel molecular-genetic techniques are overviewed and possible research strategies are explained. The sections of the book start with general descriptions of techniques followed by illustrative examples.
It is divided into six sections. Section 1, bioinformatics and genomics research. Section 2, top-down strategies, where the researcher starts with the phenotype and then analyzes the associated genes; bottom-up strategies, where the physiological chain leading to a phenotype is analyzed starting from the gene product. Section 3, transgenic approaches in rodents including overexpressing foreign genes and gene-targeting; systemic manipulation approaches directly targeting the central nervous system and methods used with invertebrates. Section 4, methods used to evaluate relevant behavioral phenotypes, including learning and aggression. Section 5, examples on molecular brain research in man. Section 6, ethical aspects of research in this field.

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.

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.

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.

In an era where students suffer more than ever from fatigue and tension, and when, because of television and other factors, their concentration is in serious need of improvement, the subject of Suggestopedia is more relevant than ever. Studies consistently show that Suggestopedia and its adaptations alleviate stress and improve focusing and memorization. Suggestopedia and Language Acquisition examines methods for unconscious assimilation, and in particular, Suggestopedia, its variants, its adaptations, and its background elements.

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.

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.

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.

First published in 1999, this book provides answers to many of the problems associated with the design and application of auditory warnings. It represents the position of contemporary auditory warnings research and development in a single unique volume. Application domains include air traffic control, aviation, emergency services, manufacturing, medicine, military and nuclear power. The contributors constitute many key experts in this area, some of whom are psychoacousticians, some psychologists and some ergonomists. Correspondingly, the chapters range from those covering basic topics such as audibility and localization of warnings, through psychological issues concerned with the relationship between design, understanding and the behavioural response, to the more general ergonomic issues of implementing the warnings in a particular context. Although each of the chapters takes a slightly different perspective, they all balance theoretical underpinning with practical application. The editors have undertaken to draw all of the contributions together by providing an overview of warnings research at the beginning of the book and summary of the contributions at the end. This book will appeal to all involved in the research, development, design and implementation of auditory warnings.

Negotiation is an integral and pragmatic tool. Churchman provides a concise and practical guide to negotiation as it actually occurs. He outlines and defines key terms and concepts behind negotiation tactics that have proven effective throughout history thereby providing a clear introduction for the novice, while also offering an organized framework for the experienced.

Presently, doctors and psychiatrists are professing their inability to develop theoretical approaches that lead to effective clinical methods to help women suffering from eating disorders. Michelle Lelwica puts forward a hypothesis that has both theoritical and clinical implications. She identifies eating disorders as a specifically religious problem and contends that it can be addressed with religious resources. She argues that the remnants of religious legacies that have historically effaced the diversity and complexity of women's spiritual yearnings and struggles are alive and well under the guise of a host of "secular" practices, pictures and promises. Until these legacies are recognized, contested, and changed, she predicts, many girls and women will continue to turn to the symbolic and ritual resources most readily available to them --- food and their bodies --- in a passionate but precarious quest for freedom and fulfilment.

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.

conduct disorder and under-achievement

The young people who are the subject of this book are responsible for a disproportionate amount of difficulty for society. They are the chronic rule-breakers and bullies. They may threaten, intimidate, manipulate, steal, and use violence to get what they want. Many are drug abusers and drug dealers.

Most have problems with self-control and self-discipline. Nearly all of them are academic underachievers. Unfortunately, they are also incredibly resistant to psychological intervention. Exhibiting a range of behaviors grouped under the DSM rubric "Conduct Disorder," these children and adolescents are legion and their numbers continue to grow at an alarming rate.

In Conduct Disorder and Underachievement, a leading authority on CD underachievers explores the causes, assessment, treatment, and prevention of disruptive behavioral problems in underachieving children and adolescents. He summarizes many of the assessment tools developed for CD underachievers and provides a unique, comprehensive risk-factor model which can be used to help identify disorder problems before they occur. And, perhaps most importantly, he describes a dynamic cognitive/developmental treatment model which has proven to be extraordinarily successful with certain types of CD underachievers.

Conduct Disorder and Underachievement offers new hope for finding psychological solutions to one of today's most pressing social problems.

Much has been unearthed in recent years about the origins and development of conduct disorder (CD) in children and adolescents. Yet there is still considerable disagreement about the role academic underachievement plays in CD. Is underachievement acontributing factor to or a result of CD? While the jury is still out on this issue, one thing is certain: eventually, the relationship between them becomes a dialectical one--bad grades and antisocial behavior usually go hand in hand. Can this seemingly facile observation provide the basis for interventions with certain types of conduct disorders? In Conduct Disorder and Underachieve-ment, a leading authority on underachievement answers that question with a resounding "Yes" and demonstrates how.

Dr. Mandel begins with a thorough review of the latest research findings on the etiology, assessment, and treatment of conduct disorder in children and adolescents. From there, the focus narrows to issues of CD underachievement. While most forms of conduct disorder and underachievement are discussed, the clinical emphasis is on less severely disturbed children for whom underachievement is still manageable but, if left unchecked, can lead to more severe conduct problems. Through the window of two case histories complete with test results and diagnostic interviews, Dr. Mandel explores the full range of assessment issues, critically examines predominant treatment strategies, and provides helpful prevention guidelines.

In the prescriptive portion of the book, the author delineates a cognitively oriented approach to treating CD underachievers. He espouses a treatment strategy based on the assumption that, from one case to the next, underachievement may either contribute to or result from conduct disorder. The most constructive approach, therefore, is to reconstruct the unfolding of individual scenarios and then determine what can be done to mend fractured developmental pathways. Through aseries of therapy excerpts which take the reader inside a treatment session, Dr. Mandel brings to vivid life the issues that must be dealt with, the struggles that must be overcome, and the complex interactions that develop between child and therapist during therapeutic intervention.

Combining a comprehensive review of the latest findings with a dynamic new approach to intervention, Conduct Disorder and Underachievement is a valuable resource for mental health professionals, guidance counselors, and educators who deal with this increasingly common problem.

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.