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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Philosophy & theory of psychology > Behavioural theory (Behaviourism)
Numerous challenges exist in respect to integrating work and family institutions and there is remarkable cross-national variation in the ways that societies respond to these concerns with policy. This volume examines these concerns by focusing on cross-national variation in structural/cultural arrangements. Consistent support is found in respect to the prospects of expanding resources for working families both in the opportunity to provide care, as well as to remain integrated in the workforce. However, the studies in this volume offer qualifiers, explaining why some effects are not as strong as might be hoped and why effects are sometimes restricted to particular classifications of workers or families. It is apparent that, when different societies implement similar policies, they do not necessarily do so with the same intended outcomes, and usage is mediated by how policies are received by employers and workers. The chapters in this book speak to the merits of international comparative analysis in identifying the strategies, challenges and benefits of providing resources to workers and their families. This book was originally published as a special issue of Community, Work & Family.
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?
In arguably the finest text ever written in the philosophy of social science, Abraham Kaplan emphasizes what unites the behavioral sciences more than what distinguishes them from one another. Kaplan avoids the bitter disputes among people doing methodology, claiming instead that what is important are those qualities intrinsic to the overall aspirations of the social sciences. He deals with special problems of various disciplines only so far as may be helpful in clarifying the general method of inquiry. "The Conduct of Inquiry "is a systematic, rounded, and wide-ranging inquiry into behavioral science. Kaplan is guided by the experience of sciences with longer histories, but he is bound neither to their problems nor to their solutions. Instead, he addresses the methodology of behavioral science in the broad sense of both method and science. The work is not a formal exercise in the philosophy of science but rather a critical and constructive assessment of the developing standards and strategies of contemporary social inquiry. He emphasizes the tasks, achievements, limitations, and dilemmas of the newer disciplines. Philosophers of science usually choose to write about the most fully developed sciences because problems are clearer there. The result is ordinarily of little benefit to the behavioral scientist, whose task is clarification of method; here the precedents and analogies of physical science are obscure or inappropriate. "The Conduct of Inquiry "goes a long way in drawing upon the strengths of social research insights without simplifying the common concerns of the scientific enterprise as a whole. As Leonard Broom noted when the book initially appeared: "Kaplan fills a gap and does so with admirable clarity and often engaging wit. It lacks pomposity, pedantry, and pretension, and it is bound to make an impact on the teaching of and, with luck, research in the behavioral sciences."
This is the only available comprehensive monograph on
interrelations and interdependencies between agonistic and sexual
behaviors. Integrating theory and research from biology,
anthropology, neurophysiology, endocrinology, psychophysiology, and
psychology, this book focuses on the mechanisms that govern the
mutual influences between sexuality and aggression in behavior
sequences and especially in admixtures of aggressive-sexual
behaviors.
How do customers decide what products and brands to buy? With the rise of sophisticated advertising and marketing research methods in this century, business leaders have spent billions of dollars attempting to answer this perplexing question. Occasionally, analysts emerge with suggestive trends, but ultimately with little hard evidence to support any definitive "laws" of customer choice. Now, in this much-anticipated major work, Eric Marder reveals how universal patterns in survey responses lead not only to general principles in marketing but to empirically verifiable laws of human nature itself. Drawing on forty years of applying his pioneering experimental design techniques to marketing research surveys, Marder presents a global theory of choice behavior, supported by original data reported here for the first time from thousands of massive real-life experiments based on millions of interviews. His dramatic findings about pricing, optimal marketing tactics, product evaluation, the relative role of product and image, and advertising effectiveness will make this book required reading for the entire marketing community. Of special interest to social scientists and survey research practitioners will be Marder's powerful research designs and techniques, including the unbounded write-in scale for measuring desirability (attitude) and his methodological analyses of the relationships among beliefs (perceptions), desires, choice, and behavior. In the Preface, he writes: "At the core of the theory are three laws of choice behavior the Law of Congruence, the Law of Primacy, and the Law of Persistence. These laws are both general and self-evident. At first glance, they are so self-evident that you might say: 'I have known this all along.' My reply is: 'Of course you have known it all along. But there is a difference between knowing and knowing, between the passive knowing that allows us to persist in actions that are inconsistent with what we know, and the active knowing that helps us change the way we do things.' I believe that knowing the laws of choice behavior-really knowing them -- changes the way we do things. My crass but stringent criterion has been that a good theory should enable someone equipped with it to make more money than someone who isn't. I believe my theory has passed this test."
Cognitive style may well turn out to be the missing element in the study of individual differences. This book reviews and integrates research on style differences in learning and behavior and describes the Cognitive Styles Analysis, which provides a simple and effective method of assessing style in children and adults. As both a textbook and a source of reference for professionals working in a range of contexts, it will help teachers and trainers reflect on and assess their effectiveness. The authors provide insights into personal and professional behavior for counselors and personnel professionals and offer a framework for future research for psychologists.
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.
Interactional dilemmas occur when participants are required to
engage in two contradictory activities at the same time or orient
to two conflicting goals. The existence of such dilemmas provides a
context for interactants to be creative, pro-active, and indeed
strategic as they maneuver between the numerous demands placed on
them and produce behavior that fits the ongoing communication
episode. Trials are one such episode in which the various
participants -- in this case, the judge, the defendant, and lawyers
-- experience interactional dilemmas and work to resolve these
through their behavior.
This volume is intended to fill a niche in the statistical toolbox of behavioural scientists. Most know two important concepts - how to analyze continuous data from randomly assigned treatment groups of subjects and how to assess practice effects for a single group of subjects given a constant treatment at each of several stages of practice. However, except in the case of the repeated measures Latin square design, researchers are not facile in analyzing data from different subjects receiving different treatments at various times in an experiment. As the opening chapter states and later chapters elaborate, randomization of treatment sequences for different subjects may lead to unbiased conventional estimates of treatment effects and of time-related effects. Yet, the standard errors of such estimates may be unduly large because the error sums of squares include contributions from nuisance variables such as stage-of-practice effects when treatment effects are of interest.
Interactional dilemmas occur when participants are required to
engage in two contradictory activities at the same time or orient
to two conflicting goals. The existence of such dilemmas provides a
context for interactants to be creative, pro-active, and indeed
strategic as they maneuver between the numerous demands placed on
them and produce behavior that fits the ongoing communication
episode. Trials are one such episode in which the various
participants -- in this case, the judge, the defendant, and lawyers
-- experience interactional dilemmas and work to resolve these
through their behavior.
Decision making plays a major role in virtually every theory of
organizational behavior. However, decision theory has not provided
organizational theorists with useful descriptions of how decisions
are made, either by individuals or by individuals in organizations.
The earliest offering came from economics in the form of the
"normative" rational view of decision making. The underlying
presumption was that decision makers are all striving to maximize
return or minimize loss, that decisions are based upon unlimited
information, and that they have the capacity to use the information
efficiently. They know the options open to them and the
consequences of pursuing one or another of those options. The
optimal course of action is revealed by applying the appropriate
analysis and choosing the most profitable option. The key concepts
are rationality, analysis, orderliness, and maximization, and even
a moment's thought demonstrates the gap between these concepts and
real-life experience. From the viewpoint of organizational theory,
the primary problem with the normative view of decision making, and
by analogy with much behavioral decision research, is its reliance
on the "gamble metaphor." That is, decisions are characterized as
gambles in an effort to capture the inherent risk. This metaphor
has the advantage of simplicity, but it is a flawed simplicity.
During the past two decades there has been a growing level of concern worldwide regarding the importance of ethical issues within the conduct of behavioral sciences research. This book seeks to reflect that concern, attempting throughout to strike a balance between the rights and welfare of the participants of research and the rights of the researchers to pursue a fuller understanding of behavior. Discussion within the text ranges from problems encountered in the conduct of human subject and animal subject research in both laboratory and field settings to the issues surrounding integrity in the analysis of data and professional ethical principles. Each chapter includes illustrative case studies of ethically controversial investigations which, combined with a full bibliography, encourage the reader to more in-depth study.
This scholarly yet highly readable and practical text
systematically covers the importance, development, assessment, and
treatment of social skills of children and adolescents. Combining
scientific rigor with a highly approachable and readable style of
writing to create a practical and unique book, this volume provides
a comprehensive overview of the increasingly important topic of
child and adolescent social skills. A wide variety of tables,
figures, and practical step-by-step guides enhance the material
presented, making it particularly useful for practitioners while
offering an extensive array of recent research and models of
interest to researchers. The authors present a solid foundation of
scientific knowledge written in a manner accessible to
nonscientists and having ample practical implications and examples
for educational and clinical practice. The book is divided into two
parts--the first features a foundation for conceptualizing and
assessing child and adolescent social skills, whereas the second
focuses on the arena of intervention. An up-to-date and unique
addition to the literature, this volume will be of interest to
professionals who work with or study children across several
disciplines including school and clinical child psychology, special
education, counseling, and social work.
Why are people often so unpredictable? Why do they do things which can often cause great personal harm even whey they know this to be the case? This volume seeks to address these and many other enduring questions through a detailed discussion of the chaotic nature of human existence. It explores three general areas, the first of which is neurobiology and genetics. The evolution of the mind is examined from a Darwinian perspective, drawing attention to the way chance and uncertainty in development are structured by natural selection. Key findings from current biological and medical research are reviewed, the interrelationship between genetics and experience is explored, and Gerald Edelman's theory of the evolution of the mind through natural selection is discussed. The second theme, cognition and collective action, is considered in the light of evidence indicating that the way we think is also subject to natural selection. Furthermore, it is argued that there is a meaningful distinction between reason (adaptive rationality) and formal rationality. Finally, recent research into chaos theory, order and complexity is reviewed.
Why are people often so unpredictable? Why do they do things which can often cause great personal harm even whey they know this to be the case? This volume seeks to address these and many other enduring questions through a detailed discussion of the chaotic nature of human existence. It explores three general areas, the first of which is neurobiology and genetics. The evolution of the mind is examined from a Darwinian perspective, drawing attention to the way chance and uncertainty in development are structured by natural selection. Key findings from current biological and medical research are reviewed, the interrelationship between genetics and experience is explored, and Gerald Edelman's theory of the evolution of the mind through natural selection is discussed. The second theme, cognition and collective action, is considered in the light of evidence indicating that the way we think is also subject to natural selection. Furthermore, it is argued that there is a meaningful distinction between reason (adaptive rationality) and formal rationality. Finally, recent research into chaos theory, order and complexity is reviewed.
This book is about reactions to interpersonal conflict such as avoiding, negotiating, and fighting. It breaks away from the prevailing assumption that conflict behaviours are mutually isolated reactions having mutually isolated effects. Instead, reactions are viewed as components of complex conflict behaviour that influence each other's impact on the substantive and relational outcomes. The simultaneous and sequential occurrence of, for example, problem solving and fighting should therefore be studied together and not separately. The author presents a ladder of stepwise increases in theoretical quality, and designs the sequence of chapters in such a way that the theoretical value increases step by step. The lower steps lead to the description of behavioural components and to a model of integrative and distributive dimensions. The upper steps lead to the dimensions of dual concern for one's own and the other's goals and to complexity explanations in terms of the novel paradigm of conglomerated conflict behaviour. The chapters are summarised into thirty-four interrelated propositions. Six empirical studies demonstrate the validity of crucial propositions at each level of the theoretical framework. This monograph primarily reaches out to an academic readership. However, due to its clear structure, its comprehensive propositions, its frequent use of figures, and its glossary, the book will also provide an invaluable resource for any student and practitioner interested in conflict management and negotiation.
A new, counterintuitive theory for how social networks influence the spread of behavior New social movements, technologies, and public-health initiatives often struggle to take off, yet many diseases disperse rapidly without issue. Can the lessons learned from the viral diffusion of diseases improve the spread of beneficial behaviors and innovations? How Behavior Spreads presents over a decade of original research examining how changes in societal behavior-in voting, health, technology, and finance-occur and the ways social networks can be used to influence how they propagate. Damon Centola's startling findings show that the same conditions that accelerate the viral expansion of an epidemic unexpectedly inhibit the spread of behaviors. How Behavior Spreads is a must-read for anyone interested in how the theory of social networks can transform our world.
This book challenges the assumptions of the event-dominated DSM
model of posttraumatic stress disorder. Bowmam examines a series of
questions directed at the current mental health model, reviewing
the empirical literature. She finds that the dose-response
assumptions are not supported; the severity of events is not
reliable associated with PTSD, but is more reliably associated with
important pre-event risk factors. She reviews evidence showing the
greater role of individual differences including trait negative
affectivity, belief systems, and other risk factors, in comparison
with event characteristics, in predicting the disorder. The
implications for treatment are significant, as treatment protocols
reflect the DSM assertion that event exposure is the cause of the
disorder, implying it should be the focus of treatment. Bowman also
suggests that an event focus in diagnosis anad treatment risks
increases the disorder because it does not provide sufficient
attention to important pre-exisiting risk factors.
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