Provides new empirical study data that explores the influence of linguistic variables within developmental contexts on theory of mind development and functioning

Establishes context for usage, including personal, social, and business interactions

Offers a comprehensive overview on the most current studies that address the relationship between language and theory of mind

This book examines the evidence-based interventions that can be used to promote creative thinking skills for children and adolescents in schools. It begins by explaining the theoretical basis of these training programmes, before presenting a coherent framework for the application of creativity theory in education. The authors describe and analyse programmes that have drawn on this framework, before offering an overview of the results of experimental studies which have validated the authors' approach. This book provides practical guidance on how the programmes can be applied in the classroom and discusses potential future directions for research and practice for increasing children's creativity. This book will be a valuable resource for teachers and teacher trainers, as well as to researchers in the psychology of creativity, education, and educational psychology.

This book explores how music can improve skills that are impaired in some neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), autism, and Rett syndrome. Rehabilitation interventions based on the use of music, termed "music therapy", are relatively widespread, but not all are supported by empirical evidence. This book offers readers an updated and scientifically grounded perspective on this theory and argues that music can be effective in promoting the acquisition of some basic mental abilities. Chapters present some of the latest research and data on how musical activities can lead children affected by neurodevelopmental disorders to improve those skills, including examples of training programs and exercises. The book will be a valuable resource for therapists, rehabilitators, psychologists, educators, musicians, researchers, as well as anyone interested in exploring the potential in music for human growth.

Until quite recently, mind-body dualism has been regarded with deep suspicion by both philosophers and scientists. This has largely been due to the widespread identification of dualism in general with one particular version of it: the interactionist substance dualism of Rene Descartes. This traditional form of dualism has, ever since its first formulation in the seventeenth century, attracted numerous philosophical objections and is now almost universally rejected in scientific circles as empirically inadequate. During the last few years, however, renewed attention has begun to be paid to the dualistic point of view, as a result of increasing discontent with the prevailing materialism and reductionism of contemporary scientific and philosophical thought. Awareness has grown that dualism need not be restricted to its traditional form and that other varieties of dualism are not subject to the difficulties commonly raised against Descartes' own version of it. Interest in these alternative versions of dualism is growing fast today, because it seems that they are capable of capturing deep-seated philosophical intuitions, while also being fully consistent with the methodological assumptions and empirical findings of modern scientific work on the human mind and brain. The object of this book is to provide philosophers, scientists, their students, and the wider general public with an up-to-date overview of current developments in dualistic conceptions of the mind in contemporary philosophy and science."

This volume examines the role that culture plays in the acquisition of cognitive, linguistic, and social skills. Taking reflective thinking as a central analytical concept, the contributors investigate the role of personal reflection in a series of mental activities, including the creation of social relationships, the creation of a mental narrative to make sense of events, and metacognition. These three types of cognition are usually conceived of as separate research fields. Reflective Thinking in Educational Settings draws these discrete subfields into dialogue, exploring the connections and interplay among them. This approach yields insight into a range of topics, including language acquisition, cognitive processes, theory of mind, cross-cultural interaction, and social development. The volume also outlines the implications of these findings in terms of further research and possible social policy initiatives.

Anche il marketing, come tanti ambiti professionali, vive oggi l'opportunita di aggiornare i paradigmi e le metodologie tradizionali grazie a contributi provenienti da altre discipline, soprattutto da quelle di piu recente sviluppo. Tra queste, si segnalano oggi la psicologia cognitiva e le neuroscienze. Il libro intende offrire al lettore uno spaccato di quanto questi due settori possono offrire alla comprensione delle dinamiche di acquisto, mostrando come la conoscenza dei meccanismi di pensiero e dei processi cerebrali aiuti a identificare cio che accade nella mente del destinatario della comunicazione pubblicitaria e di colui che si trova a dover valutare e scegliere se e che cosa comprare. Psicologia e neuroscienze mettono oggi a disposizione di chi studia i comportamenti di acquisto sia nuovi modelli concettuali, sia nuovi strumenti e procedure di analisi. I contributi raccolti nel volume offrono al lettore da un lato delle rassegne circa i piu recenti contributi di queste discipline al marketing, dall'altro esempi di ricerche da cui e possibile ricavare spunti applicativi. Nel complesso risulta un quadro generale di alcune delle piu promettenti tendenze e linee di indagine che si stanno affermando nel settore."

Creativity is a topic that has gained increasing interest over the past decades and, unlike other topics which have sudden "moments of glory" and then quickly become neglected, it is an issue that continues to attract the attention of researchers and practitioners, overcoming the fluctuating fashions and curiosity of the moment. For this reason, it can be useful to consider periodically what is new about creativity. The aim of this book is to discuss recent developments in the field of creativity. More precisely, attention has been paid to four aspects. Firstly, the concept of creativity changes as a consequence of transformations in the social and cultural environment. Thus, the way creativity is meant needs to be always updated by referring it to new requests and goals. Secondly, new theoretical constructs are proposed or unsuspected links between creativity and other notions are explored, so as to revise the old concepts. Thirdly, new research methods and instruments are devised and investigators have new opportunities to shed light on further aspects of creativity. Finally, both researchers and professionals discover new fields where creativity can be cultivated and trained, broadening the range of possible applications. A variety of subjects are addressed by following different approaches and by considering different aspects of creativity. Hopefully this should allow readers to have an updated view of what is currently debated and investigated in the field of theory and research about the psychological processes involved in creativity.

This book examines conceptions of learning, that is, systematic sets of beliefs concerning learning that people develop. Such beliefs encompass issues such as what learning means, where, when and how it occurs, what happens in our minds while we are learning, and so on. Conceptions of learning are not mere subjective representations, but they play a causal role in the learning/teaching processes. In fact, it has been shown that the quality of the learning outcomes and the approaches to the learning tasks, as well as the general level of school achievement, are related to the students' conceptions of learning.

This volume examines the role that culture plays in the acquisition of cognitive, linguistic, and social skills. Taking reflective thinking as a central analytical concept, the contributors investigate the role of personal reflection in a series of mental activities, including the creation of social relationships, the creation of a mental narrative to make sense of events, and metacognition. These three types of cognition are usually conceived of as separate research fields. Reflective Thinking in Educational Settings draws these discrete subfields into dialogue, exploring the connections and interplay among them. This approach yields insight into a range of topics, including language acquisition, cognitive processes, Theory of Mind, cross-cultural interaction, and social development. The volume also outlines the implications of these findings in terms of further research and possible social policy initiatives.