This book presents a comprehensive overview of findings from the Children's Worlds project - the most extensive and diverse study to have been conducted globally on children's own views of their lives. It provides a unique comparative insight into the similarities and differences in children's lives and well-being around the world, including findings that challenge prevailing assumptions of where, and in what contexts, children might experience a 'good childhood'. The book draws out the key messages and implications from the study and identifies directions for future work on child well-being. It will be of interest to researchers and students in the field of childhood studies, as well as a wide range of professionals and organisations concerned with improving children's quality of life.

When we fail to achieve our goals, procrastination is often the culprit. But how exactly is procrastination to be understood? It has been described as imprudent, irrational, inconsistent, and even immoral, but there has been no sustained philosophical debate concerning the topic.
This edited volume starts in on the task of integrating the problem of procrastination into philosophical inquiry. The focus is on exploring procrastination in relation to agency, rationality, and ethics-topics that philosophy is well-suited to address. Theoretically and empirically informed analyses are developed and applied with the aim of shedding light on a vexing practical problem that generates a great deal of frustration, regret, and harm. Some of the key questions that are addressed include the following: How can we analyze procrastination in a way that does justice to both its voluntary and its self-defeating dimensions? What kind of practical failing is procrastination? Is it a form of weakness of will? Is it the product of fragmented agency? Is it a vice? Given the nature of procrastination, what are the most promising coping strategies?

Wagman gives a broad, structured, and detailed account of advancing intellectual developments in both psychological and computational theories of the nature of problem- solving. Known for originating the PLATO computer-based Dilemma Counseling System, psychologist Wagman is the author of 17 books, including "Scientific Discovery Processes in Humans and Computers "(Praeger, 2000).

In this book, Professor Emeritus Morton Wagman gives a broad, structured, and detailed account of advancing intellectual developments in both psychological and computational theories of the nature of problem solving. Known for originating the PLATO computer-based Dilemma Counseling System, psychologist Wagman is the author of 17 books, including "Scientific Discovery Processes in Humans and Computers, "(Praeger, 2000)

Of special interest to readers will be Wagman's conclusion that artificial intelligence problem-solving systems are deepening and broadening theories of human problem solving from scientific to everyday approaches. Scholars and professionals in psychology, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science will consider this a volume a valuable addition to their collections.

Advances in Motivation Science, Volume Four is the latest in Elsevier's brand new serial on the topic of motivation science. For this release, users will find comprehensive chapters on a variety of topics, including Self-regulatory functions supporting motivated action, Motivating personality: Approach, avoidance, and their conflict, Incentives and pay for performance in the workplace, Culture and motivation: A socio-ecological approach, The evolving understanding of physical activity behavior: A multi-process action control approach, and a chapter on Motivated emotion regulation: Principles, lessons, and implications of a motivational analysis of emotion regulation. The advent of the cognitive revolution in the 1960 and 70s eclipsed the emphasis on motivation to a large extent, but in the past two decades motivation has returned en force. Today, motivational analyses of affect, cognition, and behavior are ubiquitous across psychological literatures and disciplines. This series brings together internationally recognized experts who focus on cutting-edge theoretical and empirical contributions in this important area of psychology.

Despite the proliferation of pain clinics and various pain-oriented therapies, there is an absence of data supporting any substantial change in the statistics regarding the incidence, development and persistence of pain. As renowned pain clinician and scientist Daniel M. Doleys argues, there may be a need for a fundamental shift in the way we view pain. In this thoughtful work, Doleys presents the evolving concept and complex nature of pain with the intention of promoting a broadening of the existing paradigm within which pain is viewed and understood. Combining neuroscience, psychology, and philosophy of science, this book reviews the history of pain and outlines the current concepts and theories regarding the mechanisms involved in the experience of pain. Experimental and clinical research in a broad array of areas including neonatal pain, empathy and pain, psychogenic pain, and genetics and pain is summarized. The notion of pain as a disease process rather than a symptom is highlighted. Although there is a continued interest in activation of the peripheral nociceptive system as a determining factor in the experience of pain, the growing appreciation for the brain as the intimate 'pain generator' is emphasized. The definition of consciousness and conscious awareness and a theory as to how it relates to nociceptive processing is discussed. Finally, the author describes the potential benefit of incorporating some of the concepts from systems and quantum theory into our thinking about pain. The area of pain research and treatment seems on the precipice of change. This work intends to provide a glimpse of what these changes might be in the context of where pain research and therapy has come from, where it currently is, and where it might be headed.

The phenomenon of learning has always been of fundamental interest to psychologists. Although much of the research in this area approaches the process of learning as a consequence of direct experience, this volume is principally concerned with learning by example. A widening interest in modeling and vicarious processes of learning has been apparent in recent years. Psychological Modeling highlights the most important work done in the subject and offers an extensive review of the major theories of learning by modeling. In his introductory essay, the editor identifies the most important controversial issues in the field of observational learning and reviews a large body of research findings. Among the questions debated in this volume are: How do observers form an internal model of the outside world to guide their actions? What role does reinforcement play in observational learning? What is the relative effectiveness of models presented in live action, in pictorial presentations, or through verbal description? What is the scope of modeling influences? What factors determine whether people will learn what they have observed? What types of people are most susceptible to modeling influences, and what types of models are most influential in modifying the behavior of others? This volume deals with an important problem area in a lively fashion. Its special organization makes it a stimulating adjunct to all courses in psychology - undergraduate and graduate - in which psychological modeling is discussed. It also provides a readable introduction for educators and other professionals seeking reliable information on the state of knowledge in this area.

This book offers a history of the interdisciplinary development of Victorian psychology alongside detailed studies of three leading writers: Alexander Bain, Herbert Spencer, and G. H. Lewes. Examining work in several different fields, including evolutionary theory, philosophy, literature, and the bio-medical sciences, it sets the development of psychology in the context of the social and intellectual pressures of the time. The book includes detailed analyses of the work of George Eliot, whose writing is saturated with ideas developed alongside those of the great psychologists who formed her circle.

This text is a one-stop resource on modern dream psychology, from the pioneering theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung to the revolutionary findings of the sleep laboratory. An introduction to the 20th century's major psychological theories about dreams and dreaming, this work offers a detailed historical overview of how these theories have developed from 1900 to the present. To help readers understand the many different approaches modern psychologists have taken, the book examines each approach in terms of three basic questions: How are dreams formed? What functions do dreams serve? How can dreams be interpreted? The book begins with a brief historical review of the most important ideas about dreams proposed in Western antiquity. It then presents comprehensive descriptions of the dream theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, and other clinical psychologists. It further discusses the revolutionary discoveries of the modern sleep laboratory and the most important research findings of experimental psychologists. The book concludes with an examination of dreams in contemporary popular psychology, a multifaceted analysis of a sample dream, and an extensive bibliography on dream research.

In this broad overview of humanity's predicament, psychiatrist Benjamin Kovitz illustrates the parallels between anxiety in the individual and discord in civilisation as a whole. Kovitz emphasises that civilisation rests upon the precarious foundation of human nature, with its age-old tendencies toward self-deception, violence, and pursuit of power. He argues that resistance to facing our hidden motives is what lies at the core of political and religious strife as well as individual anxiety. At the heart of the book is an illuminating chapter on the meaning of anxiety, explaining with clarity and detail how the pathology arises, how it is expressed, and how it can be relieved. The complexities of the condition are portrayed in vivid clinical examples, often using the patients' own words. Kovitz takes issue with the current practice of relying solely on psychiatric medication without addressing the patient's understanding of what his or her symptoms mean.On the societal level, Kovitz shows how evasion of reality complicates our efforts at progress and peaceful coexistence, despite the advances of science and democracy, and how defensive behaviour among nations can culminate in war. Turning to religion, Kovitz explores the psychological underpinnings of our need for religion and briefly summarises the major world faiths with an eye to their underlying attitudes and assumptions. While pointing out the contradictions inherent in a literal approach to religious dogma, the author appreciates the need for faith that transcends logic. In a psychiatric evaluation of the life of Saint Teresa of Avila, Kovitz recognises pathological anxiety yet respects the therapeutic value of her religious visions. Writing with eloquence while avoiding psychological jargon, Kovitz elucidates our human dilemmas with a clarity and depth that can help us move toward sanity in an unpredictable and troubled world.

Narrative psychology proceeds from the assumption that understanding human experience and behavior necessarily involves reviewing the relevant historical and cultural contexts in which they occur. This book is an argument for and example of narrative psychology. It contains an autobiographical essay by Theodore Sarbin, a "duography" by Mary and Kenneth Gergen, and a "teleography" by George Howard, and nine other life stories by people whose scholarship has reflected a contextualist or narrative root metaphor. Psychologists will find these essays useful to the interpretation of contemporary theories and research focused on narrative, scripts, and discourse processing. This anthology will also be interesting to students of autobiographical memory and biography because of the conscious reflexivity expressed in the essays and comments by each of the contributors on the effects of writing one's life story.

This book is a collection of essays advancing the discourse in well-being science, authored by key thought leaders in positive psychology and its variants, including positive education, character education, and positive organizational scholarship. The authors address topics such as the next big ideas in well-being research and practice, potential strategies , as well as current gaps and limitations of the field. This book will be of particular interest for policy makers, educators and practitioners, as well as researchers.

Becoming: An Introduction to Jung's Concept of Individuation arose from Jungian psychoanalyst Deldon McNeely's reflections on her lifelong work in psychoanalysis, as well as her sadness at the dismissal by current trends in psychology and psychiatry of so many of the principles that had guided her. The teaching of Jung's psychology is discouraged in some schools, and, while Jung's ideas generate lively conversations among diverse groups of thinkers that are presented in journals and conferences, little of this reaches mainstream psychology. Dr. McNeely realized the need for a new explication of Jung's process of individuation, one written for twenty-first century readers who have little or no knowledge of Jung. Becoming begins by identifying the historical and philosophical contexts in which Jung was situated and then addressing the question of where this approach fits with the cultural issues of today. Dr. McNeely addresses contemporary issues such as gender identity, addiction, the collective, depression and mental health, and the view from outside a western cultural lens. The volume touches upon topics like the overvaluing of the heroic ego, elitism, the function of introspection in an extraverted culture, and the role of inner resources in self-development. Religious parallels include perspectives on eastern thought, mysticism, spiritual experience, and the development of a "new myth" for modern times. Her chapter "The Opus: Finding the Spirit in Matter" delves into Jung's description of alchemist Gerhard Dorn's three stages of individuation.In the half century since Jung's colleague, Jolande Jacobi, wrote her now-classic The Way of Individuation, modern, post-modern, and post-post-modern thought has raised many questions that color the images of individuation Jacobi presented. Becoming addresses these, offered for those whose minds are receptive to the unknown, in the hope that "it will help some of us to think - more with respect than dread - of the possibility that we act unconsciously.Deldon Anne McNeely received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Louisiana State University and is a member of the International Association for Analytical Psychology. A senior analyst of the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, she is a training analyst for their New Orleans Jungian Seminar. Publications include Touching: Body Therapy and Depth Psychology; Animus Aeternus: Exploring the Inner Masculine; and Mercury Rising: Women, Evil, and the Trickster Gods.

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER** Why do human beings behave as they do? 'Awe-inspiring... You will learn more about human nature than in any other book I can think of' Henry Marsh, bestselling author of And Finally. We are capable of savage acts of violence but also spectacular feats of kindness: is one side of our nature destined to win out over the other? Every act of human behaviour has multiple layers of causation, spiralling back seconds, minutes, hours, days, months, years, even centuries, right back to the dawn of time and the origins of our species. In the epic sweep of history, how does our biology affect the arc of war and peace, justice and persecution? How have our brains evolved alongside our cultures? This is the exhilarating story of human morality and the science underpinning the biggest question of all: what makes us human? 'One of the best scientist-writers of our time' Oliver Sacks

The aim of this practical and user-friendly A to Z handbook is to enable the interested reader to gain quick and easy access to entries relating to or associated with emotional and behavioral difficulties. It focuses on adult problems as well as those of children and adolescents. The entries clearly and succinctly define and explain emotional behavioral terms and some of the different ways in which emotional and behavioral problems can be approached or treated. Where appropriate, entries are accompanied by a brief bibliography. Useful addresses and contact phone numbers are also provided where appropriate. This guide is useful for all teachers, mentors, social workers, educational social workers, educational psychologists, counselors, care workers, students and other professionals and voluntary workers in allied fields. It will also be of interest to parents and carers.