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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Philosophy & theory of psychology > Behavioural theory (Behaviourism)
This volume provides a primarily nontechnical summary of
experimental and theoretical work conducted over the course of 35
years which resulted in a developmental framework capable of
integrating causal influences at the genetic, neural, behavioral,
and ecological levels of analysis. It describes novel solutions to
the nature-nurture problem at both the empirical and theoretical
levels. Following field observations, laboratory experiments led to
the discovery of the nonobvious prenatal experiential basis of
instinctive behavior in two species--ground-nesting mallard
ducklings and hole-nesting wood ducklings. This work also describes
the experiences that lead to the rigid canalization of behavioral
development as well as the social and sensory experiences that
favor the continuance of flexibility. The author also describes in
detail a developmental psychobiological systems view that supports
a behaviorally and psychologically mediated pathway to evolutionary
change in humans and other species. Written in a way that is
readable to even the nonspecialist, the text is accompanied by
numerous photographs that illuminate and add personal meaning to
the written words. Readers will be engaged by the emphasis on the
human aspect of the scientific enterprise.
As Skinner argued so pointedly, the more we know about the
situational causes of psychological phenomena, the less need we
have for postulating internal conscious mediating processes to
explain those phenomena. Now, as the purview of social psychology
is precisely to discover those situational causes of thinking,
feeling, and acting in the real or implied presence of other
people, it is hard to escape the forecast that as knowledge
progresses regarding social psychological phenomena there will be
less of a role played by free will or conscious choice in
accounting for them. In other words, because of social psychology's
natural focus on the situational determinants of thinking, feeling,
and doing, it is inevitable that social psychological phenomena
increasingly will be found to be automatic in nature.
There is a tremendous concern and interest in the number of
chemical dependents with co-existing compulsive behaviors. However,
no one has developed a theory that can explain the high prevalence
of compulsive behaviors in chemical dependents, and more
importantly, describe the treatment and recovery implications. The
literature and professionals are divided with the
counselors/clinicians on one side and the researchers on the other.
The authors try to bridge this obvious gap by writing a book that
can bring recent genetic/biochemical research to the
counselor/clinician in a way that will help them diagnose and treat
their patients.
The novelist Joseph Conrad expressed a great truth when he said: "The mind of man is capable of anything--because everything is in it, all the past as well as the future," Our evolutionary history of noble acts and foul deeds, leading to survival and reproduction, guarantees that we understand the most essential facets of our physical and social environment. The nature of our struggles--our lusts, our fears, our objectivity, our irra-tionality--lies embedded in our cellular DNA and the neurons of our mind, there to play itself out much like it did in the past and much like it will in the future. Many have seen the links between our minds and the universe, the common thread of our existence and the inevitability of our loves and hates. This book includes many demonstrations that our nature has been on the minds and lips of many--poets, play-wrights, philosophers, historians, novelists, kings, slaves, religious leaders, and the great-est of knaves. From Ralph Waldo Emerson to Arthur Schopenhauer, from Aldous Huxley to Arthur Conan Doyle, from Aristotle to William Shakespeare, the truths about our-selves have come tumbling out. Reflecting on their thoughts we see ourselves. The universal nature of our being reflects our common origins and our bittersweet destiny. In A Sociobiology Compendium, Del Thiessen mines the richness of biological inves-tigations of human behavior, comparing current views of human behavior with expres-sions by non-scientists who have, in one way or another, touched the evolutionary strings of men and women. He begins each section with a brief account of biological notions of human behavior. The book shows in astonishing ways how the earlier thoughts of men and women from all cultures anticipate the biological observations about our being. A Sociobiology Compendium will be engaging reading for all psychologists, sociologists, and biologists.
Why do some young adults substantially change their patterns of
smoking, drinking, or illicit drug use after graduating from high
school? In this book, the authors show that leaving high school and
leaving home create new freedoms that are linked to increases in
the use of cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. They also
show that marriage, pregnancy, and parenthood create new
responsibilities that are linked to decreases in drug use.
One of the most profound insights of the dynamic systems
perspective is that new structures resulting from the developmental
process do not need to be planned in advance, nor is it necessary
to have these structures represented in genetic or neurological
templates prior to their emergence. Rather, new structures can
emerge as components of the individual and the environment
self-organize; that is, as they mutually constrain each other's
actions, new patterns and structures may arise. This theoretical
possibility brings into developmental theory the important concept
of indeterminism--the possibility that developmental outcomes may
not be predictable in any simple linear causal way from their
antecedents.
Everyday conversations including gossip, boasting, flirting,
teasing, and informative discussions are highly creative,
"improvised" interactions. Children's play is also an important,
often improvisational activity. One of the most improvisational
games among 3- to 5-year-old children is "social pretend
play"--also called fantasy play, sociodramatic play, or role play.
Children's imaginations have free reign during pretend play.
Conversations in these play episodes are far more improvisational
than the average adult conversation. Because pretend play occurs in
a dramatized, fantasy world, it is less constrained by social and
physical reality.
Speech and language therapists are becoming increasingly involved in working with people who have progressive neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. This management pack encompasses initial assessment, regular reviews, support for both client and carer and the possibility of individual or group therapy. The programme is designed to give a framework for setting up and running a comprehensive speech/language therapy service for those with Parkinson's disease and related conditions. The first section considers some theoretical issues associated with Parkinson's disease and Parkinsonism explaining terminology and common drugs used for these conditions. It also describes the management programme insome detail, and gives suggestions for increasing referral rates to speech/language therapy. The second section provides all the information needed to run the course, including helpful hints on do's and don'ts, a timetable of all the necessary activities and photocopiable standard letters and forms. The final section is the information pack that is given to participants. It includes exercises to improve facial expression, breathing, volume of voice, speed of speech and stress, intonation and some ideas to help eating and drinking.
Seen in modern perspective, the concept of national character poses fundamental problems for social science theory and research: To what extent do conditions of life in a particular society give rise to certain patterns in the personalities of its members? What are the consequences? Alex Inkeles surveys various definitions of national character, tracing developments through the twentieth century. His approach is to examine the regularity of specific personality patterns among individuals in a society. He argues that modal personality may be extremely important in determining which new cultural elements are accepted and which institutional forms persist in a society. Reviewing previous studies, Inkeles canvasses the attitudes and psychological states of different nations in an effort to discover a set of values in the United States. He concludes that, despite recent advances in the field, there is much to be done before we can have a clear picture of the degree of differentiation in the personality structure of modern nations. Until now, there were few formal definitions and discussions on national character and the limits of this field of study. This book will be of great interest to psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, and political theorists.
Originally published in 1989, this title presents a view of adaptive behaviour which integrates both evolutionary and psychological perspectives on learning. The study of learning, and in particular conditioning, had evolved in isolation from the rest of the biological sciences, and until the late 1980s had largely ignored the fact that learning processes are adaptive functions subject to the pressures of evolutionary selection. This text is designed to give a thorough insight into contemporary views of learning mechanisms, at the same time incorporating an evolutionary perspective on the function and performance of learning. Graham Davey gives a detailed introduction to evolutionary approaches to behaviour and basic learning phenomena such as Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. He also provides a comparative introduction to both learning and performance aspects of conditioning. He covers ecological approaches to adaptive behaviour (e.g. foraging theory), specialized learning processes such as concept formation, spatial learning, and language learning. Innovative in its integration of ecological and evolutionary approaches with more traditional associative views of learning, the book introduces the reader to learning in a very wide variety of species other than the traditional laboratory rat and pigeon. It will be valuable to anyone with a general interest in animal behaviour, and also to those with a specific interest in learning, adaptive behaviour, and evolutionary approaches to behaviour.
Perhaps one-fifth of all marriages are tainted by violence, and an equal number of children are harmed by parents. Abuse of elderly relatives is just beginning to be recognized as a major social problem, but the most common form of family violence occurs between siblings. "Violence Within the Family" connects the study of child, partner, sibling, and elderly abuse to the varied disciplinary perspectives of social psychology, drawing on research on aggression, attitude formation and change, self-perception, social cognition, gender roles, and group dynamics. The book covers the biological and social causes of aggression, the consequences of violence towards an intimate family member, and prevention and treatment strategies.Sharon Herzberger also addresses important policy issues and explores today's hard questions: Does a child who is abused grow up to become an abuser? Can anyone, given the right circumstances, inflict violence on a family member? Why do victims of partner abuse remain with the perpetrator? Should we arrest perpetrators of family violence, and under what conditions does arrest do more harm than good? Why can't we prosecute family violence more effectively?Answering widespread interest in this compelling topic, Herzberger's book will appeal to laypeople and professionals in criminal justice, family systems, public policy, psychology, and sociology. It will also serve as a valuable text for advanced courses or as a supplementary text for introductory courses.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer of men and
women in industrialized countries. In older age groups, CVD is also
the most important cause for hospitalization, and, in many
countries, it is the basis of early retirement from work. Thus, CVD
is associated with enormous costs for care and loss of
productivity, as well as for disabilities, pensions, etc. All this
has motivated clinicians and scientists to develop and implement
new methodologies and technologies to better care for patients who
are hospitalized for heart disease.
In one grand effort, this is an anatomy of power, a history of the ways in which it has been defined, and a study of its forms (force, manipulation, authority, and persuasion), its bases (individual and collective resources, political mobilization), and its uses. The issues that Dennis Wrong addresses range from the philosophical and ethical to the psychological and political. Much of the work is punctuated with careful examples from history. While the author illuminates his discussion with references to Weber, Marx, Freud, Plato, Dostoevsky, Orwell, Hobbes, Arendt, and Machiavelli, he keeps his arguments grounded in contemporary practical issues, such as class conflicts, multi-party politics, and parent-child relationships. In his new introduction, prepared for the 1995 edition of Power, the author reconsiders the concept of power, now locating it in the broader traditions of the social sciences rather than as a series of actions and actors within the sociological tradition. As a result. Wrong emphasizes such major distinctions as "power over" and "power to," and various conflations of power as commonly used. The new opening provides the reader with a deeper appreciation of the non-reductionist character of the book as a whole.
Emotion is something we all talk about in everyday conversations, and studies make an implicit assumption that emotions are "out there" or "in there", somewhere in psychological reality waiting to be isolated and dissected. Brian Parkinson looks at emotion in encounters between people, expressed in gesture and movement, talk and silence. He presents a clear and concise overview of research into emotion focusing on cognitive appraisal, bodily changes, action tendencies and expressive displays. This text challenges the idea of emotion as an individual intrapsychic phenomenon, and formulates a conceptual framework based on the idea of emotion as interpersonal communication, a social practice influenced by culture and language. The book should prove valuable to all those approaching emotion from a social psychological perspective, whether at advanced undergraduate or graduate level.
Why do men behave the way they do? The "science" of gender studies is less than 25 years old and it is only recently that scholars and popular authors interested in gender have started to examine the issues associated with masculinity. This text is based on over 10 years research, and constructs a comprehensive theory of masculinity by exploring in great detail how men form their gender identities and how those identities influence their behaviour. The book examines the influence of 24 male messages, or gender norms - such as "be like your father", "faithful husband", "superman", and "nurturer" - that represent cultural expectations for masculinity in western societies. Drawing on a diverse sample of over 500 men from different classes, backgrounds, races and ethnic groups, the author describes how men learn these messages, how individual men respond to them, and how their influence changes over the course of a man's life. This accessible text presents a general framework for masculinity and breaks new ground in understanding the construction of male gender identity.
Focusing on language and the assessment of its meaning, this volume
concentrates on a method of content analysis developed by the
author and Goldine Gleser. Applicable to transcripts of speech or
verbal texts, this method uses the grammatical clause as its
smallest unit of communication, considers whether or not a verb is
transitive and involves an object, or is intransitive and describes
a state of being. It derives scores on many scales that have been
tested for reliability of scoring and for construct validity with
concurrently administered measures, such as rating and self-report
scales as well as biochemical and pharmacological criteria.
Finally, this volume provides detailed descriptions of the clinical
and basic research establishing the validity of these scales, so
that a reader can locate studies that have pertinence to any
special interest area.
Human interaction with the natural environment has a dual character. By turning increasing quantities of natural substances into physical resources, human beings might be said to have freed themselves from the constraints of low-technology survival pressures. However, the process has generated a new dependence on nature in the form of complex "socionatural systems," as Bennett calls them, in which human society and behavior are so interlocked with the management of the environment that small changes in the systems can lead to disaster. Bennett's essays cover a wide range: from the philosophy of environmentalism to the ecology of economic development; from the human impact on semi-arid lands to the ecology of Japanese forest management. This expanded paperback edition includes a new chapter on the role of anthropology in economic development. Bennett's essays exhibit an underlying pessimism: if human behavior toward the physical environment is the distinctive cause of environmental abuse, then reform of current management practices offers only temporary relief; that is, conservationism, like democracy, must be continually reaffirmed. Clearly presented and free of jargon, Human Ecology as Human Behavior will be of interest to anthropologists, economists, and environmentalists.
Blending academic theory with policy guidelines and practical suggestions, this book provides a review of current approaches to assessment and Intervention For Children With Emotional And Behavioural Difficulties. It incorporates a discussion of government guidelines on policy and provision with schools and LEAs and reviews a range of successful innovations in intervention. Specific areas are covered, including Exclusion, Integration And Emotional Abuse.; Five Recurring Themes permeate the whole book, these being: the effects of government legislation on all aspects of EBD assessment and provision; the recognition that children with EBD come from economically and socially disadvantaged families and the implication that this has for assessment and provision; the problems of agreeing on an acceptable definition of EBD; the fact that children labelled as EBD do not have an equal opportunity to assessment and provision; and the belief that schools can make a substantial contribution to the prevention of EBD.
Every child knows what it means to play, but the rest of us can merely speculate. Is it a kind of adaptation, teaching us skills, inducting us into certain communities? Is it power, pursued in games of prowess? Fate, deployed in games of chance? Daydreaming, enacted in art? Or is it just frivolity? Brian Sutton-Smith, a leading proponent of play theory, considers each possibility as it has been proposed, elaborated, and debated in disciplines from biology, psychology, and education to metaphysics, mathematics, and sociology. Sutton-Smith focuses on play theories rooted in seven distinct "rhetorics"--the ancient discourses of Fate, Power, Communal Identity, and Frivolity and the modern discourses of Progress, the Imaginary, and the Self. In a sweeping analysis that moves from the question of play in child development to the implications of play for the Western work ethic, he explores the values, historical sources, and interests that have dictated the terms and forms of play put forth in each discourse's "objective" theory. This work reveals more distinctions and disjunctions than affinities, with one striking exception: however different their descriptions and interpretations of play, each rhetoric reveals a quirkiness, redundancy, and flexibility. In light of this, Sutton-Smith suggests that play might provide a model of the variability that allows for "natural" selection. As a form of mental feedback, play might nullify the rigidity that sets in after successful adaption, thus reinforcing animal and human variability. Further, he shows how these discourses, despite their differences, might offer the components for a new social science of play. |
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