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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Physiological & neuro-psychology
In the study of the computational structure of biological/robotic sensorimotor systems, distributed models have gained center stage in recent years, with a range of issues including self-organization, non-linear dynamics, field computing etc. This multidisciplinary research area is addressed here by a multidisciplinary team of contributors, who provide a balanced set of articulated presentations which include reviews, computational models, simulation studies, psychophysical, and neurophysiological experiments. The book is divided into three parts, each characterized by a slightly different focus: in part I, the major theme concerns computational maps which typically model cortical areas, according to a view of the sensorimotor cortex as "geometric engine" and the site of "internal models" of external spaces. Part II also addresses problems of self-organization and field computing, but in a simpler computational architecture which, although lacking a specialized cortical machinery, can still behave in a very adaptive and surprising way by exploiting the interaction with the real world. Finally part III is focused on the motor control issues related to the physical properties of muscular actuators and the dynamic interactions with the world. The reader will find different approaches on controversial issues, such as the role and nature of force fields, the need for internal representations, the nature of invariant commands, the vexing question about coordinate transformations, the distinction between hierachiacal and bi-directional modelling, and the influence of muscle stiffness.
In recent years, considerable professional attention has centered on the behavioral aspects of various childhood illnesses and injuries. Indeed, child health psychology has grown exponentially over the past decade. One index of this growth is found in the number of texts that have recently appeared in the area (Gross & Drabman, 1990; Karoly, 1988; Krasnegor, Arasteh, & Cataldo, 1986; Levine, Carey, Crocker, & Gross, 1982; Routh, 1988; Russo & Varni, 1982; Tuma, 1982; Varni, 1983). In general, these texts provide summaries of the psychological literature across a variety of established (e.g., oncology) and emerging (psychoneuroimmunology) areas of child health. Until recently, many books on the psychological aspects of pediatric health provided no or minimal information about the psychosocial plight of child burn victims. In some instances, pediatric burns might be men tioned parenthetically as another example of a population for which behavioral treatment procedures (e. g., pain management) may be of value. In part, the relative inattention devoted to this population may be related to the perception that the literature in this area is sketchy and charac terized by significant methodological and substantive shortcomings. In many instances, this perception is largely justified. However, it is also the case that the pediatric burn literature has evolved considerably over the past decade and that the incidence of, and morbidity associated, with severe burn injuries mandates immediate and increased attention by mental health professionals."
The book provides a comprehensive state-of-the-art overview of
current research on cognitive and applied aspects of eye movements.
The contents include peer-reviewed chapters based on a selection of
papers presented at the 11th European Conference on Eye Movements
(Turku, Finland 2001), supplemented by invited contributions. The
ECEM conference series brings together researchers from various
disciplines with an interest to use eye-tracking to study
perceptual and higher order cognitive functions.
The chapters of this book were prepared as task force reports under the aegis of the Biofeedback Society of America (BSA). The impetus for the present generation of task force reports can be dated back to 1982, when John D. Rugh, as President-Elect of the Society, announced that the updating of the task force reports would be given high priority during his term as President. An ad hoc Task Force Committee was appointed in 1983, and the committee set the following objectives: (1) solicit a widely based stream of input from all segments of the Biofeedback Society of America, (2) establish a peer review system to assure the highest degree of scholarship and an unbiased approach, (3) select for area authors only individuals who have profound knowledge of the area and who have demonstrated the ability to extend understanding by reviewing and criticizing the literature, (4) prepare all reports according to a standard ized format, and (5) publish all the reports simultaneously. Input came from several sources. Many people responded with ideas and suggestions to an announcement in the BSA Newsletter that the task force reports were being revised. In 1984, a symposium was conducted at the BSA annual meeting, which included round table dis cussions and dialogues between task force report authors and the BSA membership."
Introduction to Quantitative EEG and Neurofeedback, Third Edition offers a window into brain physiology and function via computer and statistical analyses, suggesting innovative approaches to the improvement of attention, anxiety, mood and behavior. Resources for understanding what QEEG and neurofeedback are, how they are used, and to what disorders and patients they can be applied are scarce, hence this volume serves as an ideal tool for clinical researchers and practicing clinicians. Sections cover advancements (including Microcurrent Electrical Stimulation, photobiomodulation), new applications (e.g. Asperger's, music therapy, LORETA, etc.), and combinations of prior approaches. New chapters on smart-phone technologies and mindfulness highlight their clinical relevance. Written by top scholars in the field, this book offers both the breadth needed for an introductory scholar and the depth desired by a clinical professional.
The Springer Handbook of Auditory Research presents a series of comprehen sive and synthetic reviews of the fundamental topics in modern auditory research. The volumes are aimed at all individuals with interests in hear ing research including advanced graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and clinical investigators. The volumes are intended to introduce new investi gators to important aspects of hearing science and to help established investi gators to understand better the fundamental theories and data in fields of hearing that they may not normally follow closely. Each volume is intended to present a particular topic comprehensively, and each chapter will serve as a synthetic overview and guide to the lite rature. As such, the chapters present neither exhaustive data reviews nor original research that has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed journals. The volumes focus on topics that have developed a solid data and conceptual foundation rather than on those for which a literature is only beginning to develop. New research areas will be covered on a timely basis in the series as they begin to mature."
The second edition of Neuroscience for Counselors and Therapists: Integrating the Sciences of the Mind and Brain presents students with an accessible, insightful discussion of the virtues and vices of integrating neuroscience into existing models of counseling practice. The text boasts an emphasis on practical application, helping readers better understand the relationship between particular theories and neuroscience, then offering guidance as to how they can incorporate this knowledge into personal practice. The book begins with an introduction to neuroscience and a chapter dedicated to exploring the structure and function of the brain. The four major theoretical paradigms are discussed in individual chapters, integrating neuroscience into each and demonstrating this integration through a client vignette. Four prominent disorders that appear frequently in therapy are covered in a comparative, integrative way across the four treatment paradigms. For the second edition, all references have been updated to reflect cutting-edge research within the discipline. Additionally, newly developed Cultural Considerations sections, which appear in each chapter, help students identify the challenges of integration as they relate to diverse populations and individual cultural experiences. Neuroscience for Counselors and Therapists is an innovative yet reader-friendly text that is well suited for courses in counseling and psychotherapy.
Stress is an increasingly popular subject and is studied across a range of areas within psychology. Examples relate to everyday issues like school, family and stress within the workplace. New edition examines stress related to current hot topics, like stress and technology.
This volume will provide an important contemporary reference on hearing development and will lead to new ways of thinking about hearing in children and about remediation for children with hearing loss. Much of the material in this volume will document that a different model of hearing is needed to understand hearing during development. The book is expected to spur research in auditory development and in its application to pediatric audiology.
According to the Sentencing Project, between 1980 and 2017, the number of incarcerated women increased by more than 750%, rising from a total of 26,378 in 1980 to 225,060 in 2017 and the number continues to rise. Dealing with incarcerated women and specifically psychopathic women can be challenging. Understanding Female Offenders: Psychopathy, Criminal Behavior, Assessment, and Treatment provides readers with a better conceptualization of the psychopathic/non-psychopathic female. This includes better ways of interviewing, assessing, and treating these women, and clinical caveats with case examples to assist with clinical applications. This is the only comprehensive resource that provides specific knowledge about female offenders, particularly on female psychopathy and assessment.
WALTER A. ROSENBLITH Footnotes to the Recent History of Neuroscience: Personal Reflections and Microstories The workshop upon which this volume is based offered me an opportunity to renew contact fairly painlessly with workers in the brain sciences, not just as a participant/observer but maybe as what might be called a teller of microstories. I had originally become curious about the brain by way of my wife's senior thesis, in which she attempted to relate electroencephalography to certain aspects of human behavior. As a then-budding physicist and communications engineer, I had barely heard about brain waves, nor had I studied physiology in a systematic way. My work on noise dealt with the effects of certain acoustical stimuli on biological structures and entire organisms. This was the period immediately after World War II when many scientists and engineers who had done applied work in the war effort were trying to find their way among the challenging new fields that were opening up. Francis Crick, among others, has described such a search taking place in the cafes of the "other" Cambridge, the one on the Cam. At that time the brain sciences, in his opinion, offered much less promise than molecular biology. However, he was sufficiently attracted by what they might eventually have to offer to keep an eye on them, and several decades later his work turned toward the brain.
Understanding visual perceptual organization remains a challenge for vision science. Perceptual Organization in Vision: Behavioral and Neural Perspectives explores ideas emanating from behavioral, developmental, neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and computational approaches to the problem of perceptual organization. The growing body of research on perceptual organization has converged on a number of critical issues, most of which are addressed in this volume. These include issues concerning the nature and order of organizational processes, the stimulus factors that engage the mechanisms of organization, the developmental stage at which the mechanisms of organization are available, the role of past experience and learning in organization, the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual organization, and the relations between perceptual organization and other cognitive processes, in particular, object recognition and visual attention. Divided into four parts, the book is designed not only to detail the current state of the art in the field but also to promote an interdisciplinary approach to the study of perceptual organization. Part I presents an overview of the problem of perceptual organization, different frameworks for understanding perceptual organization, and a state-of-the-art summary of the domain. Part II details which organizational processes are hardwired in the perceptual system, which are acquired through experience, and how object perception relates to other aspects of cognition. Part III describes various attempts to understand the neural mechanisms underlying perceptual organization using two different approaches--neurophysiological and neuropsychological. Part IV offers a computational approach to the problem. This book is intended for cognitive psychologists, neuroscientists, computational vision scientists, and developmental psychologists.
This series aims to illustrate how social organization and private, emotional experience are different phases of the social process. It shows the steps by which emotional experience is shaped by social structural process and how these processes are changed by individuals' emotional experience.
By 2010, 15% of the U.S. population will be Hispanic.
"Neuropsychology and the Hispanic Patient: A Clinical Handbook"
brings together internationally recognized authorities to address
the cultural, methodological, research, and forensic issues that
must be considered by neuropsychologists seeking to be maximally
effective in their work with members of the fastest-growing
American minority group. It includes:
Within the last three decades, interest in the psychological
experience of human faces has drawn together cognitive science
researchers from diverse backgrounds. Computer scientists talk to
neural scientists who draw on the work of mathematicians who
explicitly influence those conducting behavioral experiments.
This book constitutes a clear, comprehensive, up-to-date
introduction to the basic principles of psychological and
educational assessment that underlie effective clinical decisions
about childhood language disorders. Rebecca McCauley describes
specific commonly used tools, as well as general approaches ranging
from traditional standardized norm-referenced testing to more
recent ones, such as dynamic and qualitative assessment.
Highlighting special considerations in testing and expected
patterns of performance, she reviews the challenges presented by
children with a variety of problems--specific language impairment,
hearing loss, mental retardation, and autism spectrum disorders.
Three extended case examples illustrate her discussion of each of
these target groups. Her overarching theme is the crucial role of
well-formed questions as fundamental guides to decision making,
independent of approach.
What are the boundary zones between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD)? Are many elderly people whom we regard as normal actually in the early stages of AD? Alzheimer's disease does not develop overnight; the early phases may last for years or even decades. Recently, clinical investigators have identified a transitional condition between normal aging and and very early Alzheimer's disease that they have called mild cognitive impairment, or MCI. This term typically refers to memory impairment beyond what one would expect in individuals of a given age whose other abilities to function in daily life are well preserved. Persons who meet the criteria for mild cognitive impairment have an increased risk of progressing to Alzheimer's disease in the near future. Though many questions about this condition and its underlying neuropathology remain open, full clinical trials are currently underway worldwide aimed at preventing the progression from MCI to Alzheimer's disease. This book addresses the spectrum of issues involved in mild cognitive impairment, and includes chapters on clinical studies, neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neuropathology, biological markers, diagnostic approaches, and treatment. It is intended for clinicians, researchers, and students interested in aging and cognition, among them neurologists, psychiatrists, geriatricians, clinical psychologists, and neuropsychologists.
Analogy and Structure provides the necessary foundation for understanding the nature of analogical and structuralist (or rule-based) approaches to describing behavior. In the first part of this book, the mathematical properties of rule approaches are developed; in the second part, the analogical alternative to rules is developed. This book serves as the mathematical basis for Analogical Modeling of Language (Kluwer, 1989). Features include: A Natural Measure of Uncertainty: The disagreement between randomly chosen occurences avids the difficulties of using entropy as the measure of uncertainty. Optimal Descriptions: The implicit assumption of structuralist descriptions (namely, that descriptions of behavior should be corrected and minimal) can be derived from more fundamental statements about the uncertainty of rule systems. Problems with Rule Approaches: The correct description of nondeterministic behavior leads to an atomistic, analog alternative to structuralist (or rule-based) descriptions. Natural Statistics: Traditional statistical tests are eliminated in favor of statistically equivalent decision rules that involve little or no mathematical calculation. Psycholinguistic Factors: Analogical models, unlike, neural networks, directly account for probabilistic learning as well as reaction times in world-recognition experiments.
Most brain related activity has focussed on specialized interests
within individual disciplines. Recent multidisciplinary activity
has provided the impetus to break down these boundaries and
encourage a freer exchange of information across disciplines. This
text reflects these developments. It spans the landscape of brain
science to provide core information from 12 disciplines (including
evolution, philosophy, anatomy, chemistry, computer science, brain
dynamics, psychology, neurology, psychiatry, psychotherapy and
brain imaging). |
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