This book applies a range of ideas about scientific discovery found in contemporary philosophy of science to psychology and related behavioral sciences. In doing so, it aims to advance our understanding of a host of important methodological ideas as they apply to those sciences. A philosophy of local scientific realism is adopted in favor of traditional accounts that are thought to apply to all sciences. As part of this philosophy, the implications of a commitment to philosophical naturalism are spelt out, and a correspondence theory of truth is defended by showing how it helps explain various features of scientific practice. The central chapter of the book presents a broad theory of scientific method that comprises the detection of empirical phenomena and their subsequent understanding by constructing explanatory theories through the use of abductive methods. This theory of scientific method is then used as a framework to reconstruct the well-known qualitative method of grounded theory, and to present a systematic perspective on clinical reasoning and case formulation. Relatedly, an abductive or explanationist understanding of methods is employed to evaluate the knowledge credentials of evolutionary psychology. In addition, the conceptual and methodological foundations of a variety of quantitative methods are examined. Exploratory factor analysis and tests of statistical significance are given special attention.

Horrified by the Holocaust, social psychologist Stanley Milgram wondered if he could recreate the Holocaust in the laboratory setting. Unabated for more than half a century, his (in)famous results have continued to intrigue scholars. Based on unpublished archival data from Milgram's personal collection, volume one of this two-volume set introduces readers to a behind the scenes account showing how during Milgram's unpublished pilot studies he step-by-step invented his official experimental procedure-how he gradually learnt to transform most ordinary people into willing inflictors of harm. Volume two then illustrates how certain innovators within the Nazi regime used the very same Milgram-like learning techniques that with increasing effectiveness gradually enabled them to also transform most ordinary people into increasingly capable executioners of other men, women, and children. Volume two effectively attempts to capture how step-by-step these Nazi innovators attempted to transform the Fuhrer's wish of a Jewish-free Europe into a frightening reality. By the books' end the reader will gain an insight into how the seemingly undoable can become increasingly doable.

Science, Pseudo-science, Non-sense, and Critical Thinking shines an unforgiving light on popular and lucrative 'miraculous' practices that promise to offer answers during times of trouble. Throughout the book, the authors unfold the fallacies underlying these practices, as well as consumers' need and desire to believe in them. Adopting a scientific approach, the book critically evaluates research into cold-reading practices, such as those that claim to be able to communicate with the afterlife or posess supernatural powers, before considering a range of pseudo-sciences including graphology and polygraph interrogation, exposing the pretensions of these practices in a clear and logical fashion. The book seeks to encourage critical thinking throughout, asking whether there is any scientific evidence to support these practitioners' abilities to supply us with reliable answers, and discussing the various factors that comprise the psychological mechanism of belief. Written in a fluent and accessible style, Science, Pseudo-science, Non-sense, and Critical Thinking is aimed at interested professionals and the public at large.

Subjectivity, the Unconscious and Consumerism is a unique and imaginative psycho-sociological exploration of how postmodern, contemporary consumerism invades and colonises human subjectivity. Investigating especially consumerism's unconscious aspects such as desires, imagination, and fantasy, it engages with an extensive analysis of dreams. The author frames these using a synthesis of Jungian psychology and the social imaginaries of Baudrillard and Bauman, in a dialogue with the theories of McDonaldization and Disneyization. The aim is to broaden our understanding of consumerism to include the perennial consumption of symbols and signs of identity - a process which is the basis for the fabrication of the commodified self. The book offers a profound, innovative critique of our consumption societies, challenging readers to rethink how we live, and how our identities are impacted by consumerism. As such it will be of interest to students and scholars of critical psychology, psychoanalysis, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, but is also accessible to anyone interested in the complex psychology of contemporary subjectivity.

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently administer, score, and interpret behavioral assessment tests

Behavioral assessment tests analyze and assess a broad range of behavioral problems found among children and adolescents, including hyperactivity, impulsivity, and ADHD. To use these tests properly, professionals need an authoritative source of advice and guidance on how to administer, score, and interpret them. Cowritten by leading experts in the behavioral assessment field and the creators of the BASC (Behavioral Assessment System for Children), Essentials of Behavioral Assessment is that source.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health professionals quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of major psychological assessment instruments. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Essentials of Behavioral Assessment is the first book to provide state-of-the-art interpretive and administrative guidelines to using the BASC, CRS-R (Conners’ Rating Scales-Revised), and CBCL (Achenbach Child Behavior Checklists), the leading and most highly recognized behavioral assessment tests used in the field. The authors also offer expert assessment of the tests’ merits and include classroom observations.

Other titles in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series:

Essentials of WJ IIITM Tests of Achievement Assessment
Essentials of WJ IIITM Cognitive Abilities Assessment
Essentials of WMS®-III Assessment
Essentials of Individual Achievement Assessment
Essentials of Nepsy® Assessment
Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment
Essentials of Cognitive Assessment with KAIT and Other Kaufman Measures
Essentials of Nonverbal Assessment
Essentials of WISC-III® and WPPSI-R® Assessment

Item response theory (IRT) is widely used in education and psychology and is expanding its applications to other social science areas, medical research, and business as well. Using R for Item Response Theory Model Applications is a practical guide for students, instructors, practitioners, and applied researchers who want to learn how to properly use R IRT packages to perform IRT model calibrations with their own data. This book provides practical line-by-line descriptions of how to use R IRT packages for various IRT models. The scope and coverage of the modeling in the book covers almost all models used in practice and in popular research, including: dichotomous response modeling polytomous response modeling mixed format data modeling concurrent multiple group modeling fixed item parameter calibration modelling with latent regression to include person-level covariate(s) simple structure, or between-item, multidimensional modeling cross-loading, or within-item, multidimensional modeling high-dimensional modeling bifactor modeling testlet modeling two-tier modeling For beginners, this book provides a straightforward guide to learn how to use R for IRT applications. For more intermediate learners of IRT or users of R, this book will serve as a great time-saving tool for learning how to create the proper syntax, fit the various models, evaluate the models, and interpret the output using popular R IRT packages.

This book explores the practice and transmission of Lacanian and Freudian theory. It discusses the pure versus applied analysis of Lacanian and Freudian theory in practice; and the hierarchical versus circular transmissions within psychoanalytic organizations. Underpinned by extensive practical knowledge of the clinic, this work examines the differences between Freud and Lacan in their understanding of the subject and the unconscious and pushes them in new directions. The book also offers an analysis and commentary of several key Lacanian texts including an accessible study of the notoriously challenging text L'etourdit. Offering both divergent and reinforcing takes on Lacan, the author explores the traits that separate out the psychoanalyst from other twentieth-century thinkers and theorists. This book offers a clear clinical picture of where Lacanian psychoanalysis is today, both in the US and internationally.

This book examines test validity in the behavioral, social, and educational sciences by exploring three fundamental problems: measurement, causation and meaning. Psychometric and philosophical perspectives receive attention along with unresolved issues. The authors explore how measurement is conceived from both the classical and modern perspectives. The importance of understanding the underlying concepts as well as the practical challenges of test construction and use receive emphasis throughout. The book summarizes the current state of the test validity theory field. Necessary background on test theory and statistics is presented as a conceptual overview where needed. Each chapter begins with an overview of key material reviewed in previous chapters, concludes with a list of suggested readings, and features boxes with examples that connect theory to practice. These examples reflect actual situations that occurred in psychology, education, and other disciplines in the US and around the globe, bringing theory to life. Critical thinking questions related to the boxed material engage and challenge readers. A few examples include: What is the difference between intelligence and IQ? Can people disagree on issues of value but agree on issues of test validity? Is it possible to ask the same question in two different languages? The first part of the book contrasts theories of measurement as applied to the validity of behavioral science measures.The next part considers causal theories of measurement in relation to alternatives such as behavior domain sampling, and then unpacks the causal approach in terms of alternative theories of causation.The final section explores the meaning and interpretation of test scores as it applies to test validity. Each set of chapters opens with a review of the key theories and literature and concludes with a review of related open questions in test validity theory. Researchers, practitioners and policy makers interested in test validity or developing tests appreciate the book's cutting edge review of test validity. The book also serves as a supplement in graduate or advanced undergraduate courses on test validity, psychometrics, testing or measurement taught in psychology, education, sociology, social work, political science, business, criminal justice and other fields. The book does not assume a background in measurement.

This book addresses the premise that therapy can be understood, practiced, and researched as a discursive activity. Using varied forms of discourse analysis, it examines the cultural, institutional, and face-to-face communications that shape, and occur within, therapies that are discursively understood and practiced. By first providing an overview of commonalities across discursive therapies and research approaches, the authors discursively examine general aspects of therapy. Topics explored include subjectivity, psychological terms, institutional influences, therapeutic relationships, therapists' ways of talking and questioning, discursive ethics, and assessment of therapeutic processes and outcomes. This book offers a macro-analysis of the conversational practices of a discursively informed approach to therapy; as well as a micro-analysis of the ways in which language shapes and is used in a discursively informed approach to therapy. This book will interest practitioners seeking to better understand therapy as a discursive process, and discourse analysts wanting to understand therapy as discursive therapists might practice it.

This book sheds new light on the life and the influence of one of the most significant critical thinkers in psychology of the last century, Theodore R. Sarbin (1911-2005). In the first section authors provide a comprehensive account of Sarbin's life and career. The second section consists in a collection of ten publications from the last two decades of his career. The essays cover topics such as the adoption of contextualism as the appropriate world view for psychology, the establishment of narrative psychology as a major mode of inquiry, and the rejection both mechanism and mentalism as suitable approaches for psychology. The book is historically informed and yet focused on the future of psychological theory and practice. It will engage researches and scholars in psychology, social scientists and philosophers, as well general readership interested in exploring Sarbin's theories.

This book combines autobiography and innovative narrative research to create an original psychosocial perspective on the often taboo subject of sudden, unexpected child death. Beginning with the author's own experience, the book investigates manifold aspects of sudden, unexpected child death, including the professional rapid response; contemporary cultural reactions to death; theories of grieving; child death inquiries and popular media reporting. At the heart of the book are intimate personal stories, drawn from unprecedented psychosocial research on this topic, which combine to create a unique record of parent's experiences following the sudden and unexpected death of a child. Additionally, the book offers original guidance on the Biographic Narrative Interpretive methodology, which extends knowledge of group data analysis. The book will be of great methodological interest to the psychosocial community, as well as to health and social care professionals and lay readers interested in both sudden, unexpected child death and the wider field.

Behavioral, biobehavioral, and biomedical interventions are programs with the objective of improving and maintaining human health and well-being, broadly defined, in individuals, families, schools, organizations, or communities. These interventions may be aimed at, for example, preventing or treating disease, promoting physical and mental health, preventing violence, or improving academic achievement. This book provides additional information on a principled empirical framework for developing interventions that are more effective, efficient, economical, and scalable. This framework is introduced in the monograph, "Optimization of Behavioral, Biobehavioral, and Biomedical Interventions: The Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST)" by Linda M. Collins (Springer, 2018). The present book is focused on advanced topics related to MOST. The chapters, all written by experts, are devoted to topics ranging from experimental design and data analysis to development of a conceptual model and implementation of a complex experiment in the field. Intervention scientists who are preparing to apply MOST will find this book an important reference and guide for their research. Fields to which this work pertains include public health (medicine, nursing, health economics, implementation sciences), behavioral sciences (psychology, criminal justice), statistics, and education.

This collection of essays by scholars from Europe, Asia, North America, and Latin America offers new perspectives of the phenomenological investigation of experiential life on the basis of Husserl's phenomenology. Not only well-known works of Husserl are interpreted from new angles, but also the latest volumes of the Husserliana are closely examined. In a variety of ways, the contributors explore the emergence of reason in experience that is disclosed in the very regions that are traditionally considered to be "irrational" or "pre-rational." The leading idea of such explorations is Husserl's view that perception, affectivity, and volition are regarded as the three aspects of reason. Without affectivity, which is supposedly irrational, no rationality can be established in the spheres of representation and volition, whereas volitional and representational acts consistently structure the process of affective experience. In such a framework, it is also shown that theoretical and practical reason are inseparably intertwined. Thus, the papers collected here can be regarded as a collaborative phenomenological investigation into the entanglement and mutual dependency of the supposedly "rational" and the "irrational" as well as that of the "practical" and the "theoretical."

"[A] fascinating read... Contrary to what the title might suggest, this is an upbeat exploration of suicide with a positive message." --Jeanine Connor, Therapy Today, December, 2018 This thought-provoking volume offers a distinctly human evolutionary analysis of a distinctly human phenomenon: suicide. Its 'pain and brain' model posits animal adaptations as the motivator for suicidal escape, and specific human cognitive adaptations as supplying the means , while also providing a plausible explanation for why only a relatively small number of humans actually take their own lives. The author hypothesizes two types of anti-suicide responses, active and reactive mechanisms prompted by the brain as suicide deterrents. Proposed as well is the intriguing prospect that mental disorders such as depression and addiction, long associated with suicidality, may serve as survival measures. Among the topics covered: * Suicide as an evolutionary puzzle. * The protection against suicide afforded to animals and young children. * Suicide as a by-product of pain and human cognition. * Why psychodynamic defenses regulate the experiencing of painful events. * Links between suicidality and positive psychology. * The anti-suicide role of spiritual and religious belief. In raising and considering key questions regarding this most controversial act, The Evolution of Suicide will appeal to researchers across a range of behavioral science disciplines. At the same time, the book's implications for clinical intervention and prevention will make it useful among mental health professionals and those involved with mental health policy.

This proceedings volume compiles and expands on selected and peer reviewed presentations given at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (IMPS), organized by the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and held in Asheville, North Carolina, July 11th to 17th, 2016. IMPS is one of the largest international meetings focusing on quantitative measurement in psychology, education, and the social sciences, both in terms of participants and number of presentations. The meeting built on the Psychometric Society's mission to share quantitative methods relevant to psychology, addressing a diverse set of psychometric topics including item response theory, factor analysis, structural equation modeling, time series analysis, mediation analysis, cognitive diagnostic models, and multi-level models. Selected presenters were invited to revise and expand their contributions and to have them peer reviewed and published in this proceedings volume. Previous volumes to showcase work from the Psychometric Society's meetings are New Developments in Quantitative Psychology: Presentations from the 77th Annual Psychometric Society Meeting (Springer, 2013), Quantitative Psychology Research: The 78th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society (Springer, 2015), Quantitative Psychology Research: The 79th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Madison, Wisconsin, 2014 (Springer, 2015), and Quantitative Psychology Research: The 80th Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Beijing, 2015 (Springer, 2016).

Called one of the best books ever about human communication, and a perennial bestseller, Pragmatics of Human Communication has formed the foundation of much contemporary research into interpersonal communication, in addition to laying the groundwork for context-based approaches to psychotherapy. The authors present the simple but radical idea that problems in life often arise from issues of communication, rather than from deep psychological disorders, reinforcing their conceptual explorations with case studies and well-known literary examples. Written with humor and for a variety of readers, this book identifies simple properties and axioms of human communication and demonstrates how all communications are actually a function of their contexts.

Topics covered in this wide-ranging book include: the origins of communication; the idea that all behavior is communication; meta-communication; the properties of an open system; the family as a system of communication; the nature of paradox in psychotherapy; existentialism and human communication."

This book describes mindfulness and meditation practices and programs for adolescents by situating the topic in a bio-psychosocial-cultural approach. Using this framework, the benefits of these practices and programs for adolescents- with an emphasis on evidence-based practices-are explored. In addition to programs based on mindfulness, meditation programs using Transcendental Meditation, Herbert Benson's Relaxation Response, and the Center for Mind Body Medicine's group programs are discussed. The book is targeted toward educators, mental health professionals, researchers, and graduate students interested in the application, development, and study of mindfulness and meditation practices and programs for adolescents.

This graduate-level textbook is a tutorial for item response theory that covers both the basics of item response theory and the use of R for preparing graphical presentation in writings about the theory. Item response theory has become one of the most powerful tools used in test construction, yet one of the barriers to learning and applying it is the considerable amount of sophisticated computational effort required to illustrate even the simplest concepts. This text provides the reader access to the basic concepts of item response theory freed of the tedious underlying calculations. It is intended for those who possess limited knowledge of educational measurement and psychometrics. Rather than presenting the full scope of item response theory, this textbook is concise and practical and presents basic concepts without becoming enmeshed in underlying mathematical and computational complexities. Clearly written text and succinct R code allow anyone familiar with statistical concepts to explore and apply item response theory in a practical way. In addition to students of educational measurement, this text will be valuable to measurement specialists working in testing programs at any level and who need an understanding of item response theory in order to evaluate its potential in their settings.

This book examines and explores Jacques Lacan's controversial topologisation of psychoanalysis, and seeks to persuade the reader that this enterprise was necessary and important. In providing both an introduction to a fundamental component of Lacan's theories, as well as readings of texts that have been largely ignored, it provides a thorough critical interpretation of his work. Will Greenshields argues that Lacan achieved his most pedagogically clear and successful presentations of his most essential and notoriously complex concepts - such as structure, the subject and the real - through the deployment of topology. The book will help readers to better understand Lacan, and also those concepts that have become prevalent in various intellectual discourses such as contemporary continental philosophy, politics and the study of ideology, and literary or cultural criticism.

This book focuses on quantitative survey methodology, data collection and cleaning methods. Providing starting tools for using and analyzing a file once a survey has been conducted, it addresses fields as diverse as advanced weighting, editing, and imputation, which are not well-covered in corresponding survey books. Moreover, it presents numerous empirical examples from the author's extensive research experience, particularly real data sets from multinational surveys.

This book describes a series of ground-breaking residential workshops in therapeutic counselling in the 1960s, for people working in mental health and social care disciplines seeking to expand and deepen their reach. The work is unique in the scope of its research into the process and outcomes of such active immersive enquiry in this area. Besides a wealth of more systematic features, the author invites us into the initial conversations in the meeting room, and then follows the group members back into their lives, allowing us to see both early outcomes and the impact of participation up to ten years later. Finally, Barrett-Lennard reflects on the extended history of the intensive workshops and the related group work in other contexts they led into. He makes a compelling argument that such an intensive participatory process is as powerful today as it was in the 1960s. The blend of rich qualitative and empirical data and theory is a unique strength. It will be a great resource for students and scholars in applied psychology and psychotherapy, as well as for practicing therapists and trainees committed to meaningful work with their client groups.

This book reflects the current thinking and research on how consumers' perception of product risks and benefits affects their behavior. It provides the scientific, regulatory and industrial research community with a conceptual and methodological reference point for studies on consumer behavior and marketing. The contributions address various aspects of consumer psychology and behavior, risk perception and communication, marketing research strategies, as well as consumer product regulation. The book is divided into 4 parts: Product risks; Perception of product risks and benefits; Consumer behavior; Regulation and responsibility.

This book offers original knowledge, debate, and understanding from frontline fieldwork data and the relations between mental health difficulties, mental healthcare provision, and social theory. Dominant discourse of the last half century has followed a medical perspective. This has marginalised contributions from social science. Furthermore purely medical approaches to mental healthcare have profound shortcomings. Thus, this book draws upon innovative research findings to rejuvenate the relationship between psychiatry and social science. It frames this by reference to certain inevitable and uncertain elements of mental health which characterise this field. Over nine chapters the volume is a unique contribution to several intersecting areas of intellectual enterprise, research, and learning - as well as a source of insight into how mental health practice and policy might be modified and improved. As a result, it appeals to a wide range of audiences including social scientists, mental health practitioners, mental health researchers, social theorists, mental health service users, and policy-makers.

This book traces the theory and methodology of multivariate statistical analysis and shows how it can be conducted in practice using the LISREL computer program. It presents not only the typical uses of LISREL, such as confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation models, but also several other multivariate analysis topics, including regression (univariate, multivariate, censored, logistic, and probit), generalized linear models, multilevel analysis, and principal component analysis. It provides numerous examples from several disciplines and discusses and interprets the results, illustrated with sections of output from the LISREL program, in the context of the example. The book is intended for masters and PhD students and researchers in the social, behavioral, economic and many other sciences who require a basic understanding of multivariate statistical theory and methods for their analysis of multivariate data. It can also be used as a textbook on various topics of multivariate statistical analysis.

This accessible, highly interactive book presents a transformative approach to communication in leadership to meet workplace challenges at both local and global levels. Informed by neuroscience, psychology, as well as leadership science, it explains how integrating and properly balancing two key focal points of management-the tasks at hand and the concerns of others and self-can facilitate decision-making, partnering with diverse colleagues, and handling of crises and conflicts. Case examples, a self-test, friendly calls for reflection, and practical exercises provide readers with varied opportunities to assess, support, and evoke their readiness to apply these real-world concepts to their own style and preferences. Together, these chapters demonstrate the best outcomes of collaborative communication: greater effectiveness, deeper empathy with improved emotional fulfillment, and lasting positive change. Included in the coverage: * As a manager, can I be human? Using the two-agenda approach for more effective-and humane-management. * Being and becoming a person-centered leader and manager in a crisis environment. * Methods for transforming communication: dialogue. * Open Case: A new setting for problem-solving in teams. * Integrating the two agendas in agile management. * Tasks and people: what neuroscience reveals about managing both more effectively. * Transforming communication in multicultural contexts for better understanding across cultures. As a skill-building resource, Transforming Communication in Leadership and Teamwork offers particular value: * to diverse business professionals, including managers, leaders, and team members seeking to become more effective * business consultants and coaches working with people in executive positions and/or teams * leaders and members of multi-national teams * executives, decision makers and organizational developers * instructors and students of courses on effective communication, social and professional skills, human resources, communication and digital media, leadership, teamwork, and related subjects.