Although neural network models have had a dramatic impact on the cognitive and brain sciences, social psychology has remained largely unaffected by this intellectual explosion. The first to apply neural network models to social phenomena, this book includes chapters by nearly all of the individuals currently working in this area. Bringing these various approaches together in one place, it allows readers to appreciate the breadth of these approaches, as well as the theoretical commonality of many of these models.
The contributors address a number of central issues in social psychology and show how these kinds of models provide insight into many classic issues. Many chapters hint that this approach provides the seeds of a theoretical integration that the field has lacked. Each chapter discusses an explicit connectionist model of a central problem in social psychology. Since many of the contributors either use a standard architecture or provide a computer program, interested readers, with a little work, should be able to implement their own variations of models.
Chapters are devoted to the following topics and models:
* the learning and application of social categories and stereotypes;
* causal reasoning, social explanation, and person perception;
* personality and social behavior;
* classic dissonance phenomena; and
* belief change and the coherence of large scale belief systems.

After a minor car accident shatters her equilibrium, forty-three-year-old Amanda Ferguson wakes up to a memory of being terrorized by her older brother Adrian, whom she holds responsible for the death of her twin brother thirty years before. Their mother, Eva, blinded by devotion to her eldest son, has locked the truth inside her now-failing memory. When a client from work invites Amanda to a performance of Harold Pinter's Betrayal, a haunting series of events related to the play resurfaces, including the suicide of Amanda's college lover and mentor, Sarah Moore. As Amanda puts her fractured life back together, the present increasingly echoes her traumatic past, propelling her toward the truth about Duncan's and Sarah's deaths--and toward Adrian. Set against the background of the theater, The Day after Death explores how loss and family trauma affect our ability to connect, trust, and love.

The characters—young and old, queer and straight, contemporary and historical—who inhabit Lynn C. Miller’s stories often find themselves in defining moments and crisis situations. As they search through the archives of memory, truth, and experience, they seek to understand not only the past and present but themselves. Stretching the definition of “archive,� Miller builds interconnected webs that surprise, much like the seemingly random papers collected in a box of materials. Fraught relationships, mistaken identities, mysterious disappearances, and the search for love play out in these stories. Friendships are celebrated, ex-husbands cross the line, and Gertrude Stein attempts to write her memoir.  An unusual collection that proves greater than the sum of its parts, The Lost Archive will haunt readers with the intensity of its vision.

Best friends Bettina, Miriam, and Fiona are shocked when their dean of liberal studies dies in a single-car accident amid accusations of mishandling university funds. They suspect murder, especially after learning that the dean's estranged wife will inherit three million dollars. Events take a surprising turn when they travel from Austin, Texas, to a Chautauqua performance in Silver City, New Mexico, where they join several others, some with questionable motives, including the dean's wife and her lover. In the close confines of the lodge, the group brings to life remarkable women from history - including Victoria Woodhull, Gertrude Stein, Edith Wharton, Mabel Dodge Luhan, and Virginia Woolf. But when one woman is kidnapped and another disappears, the friends' lives are forever changed as they realize that the masks we wear often hide chilling truths.

Master the skills revealed in this comprehensive "A" to "Z" guide and be armed with straight forward solutions to the difficult and complex questions you will encounter daily. Other books tell you ABOUT the tools of business. This book tells you HOW TO . . . Avoid the traps that kill companies Master your financial statements, the easy way Reverse the negative trends in your business Convert losses into profits Protect your company and yourself Master cash management Avoid legal snarls Build and follow your business plan Avoid burnout BE A WINNER

In" Death of a Department Chair," protagonist Miriam Held recounts the events of the previous fall when she was suspected of killing Isabel Vittorio, the chair of her department and her former lover. The controversial and contrary Vittorio was, at the time of her death, attempting to block the hire of a brilliant African American female professor. Already under siege for her attempts to increase diversity on campus, Miriam is forced to defend her reputation and her life. As she searches for the truth, Miriam amasses evidence that leaves few friends and colleagues free from suspicion. Both a classic whodunit and a witty satire, "Death of a Department Chair" dramatizes how communities can create the very climate of mistrust and paranoia that victimizes them.

In this first novel of delicious wit and sharp observation, Austin playwright and professor Lynn C. Miller displays an unerring eye for the foibles of male-dominated departmental politics at fictional Austin University.

When Fiona Hardison, a blocked Edith Wharton scholar, is passed over for promotion at the behest of her lover -- memorably slimy departmental chairman Sigmund Froelich -- she embarks on a journey toward self discovery with surprising consequences.

Aided by insights provided in a perceptive Tarot reading, Fiona finds herself reevaluating her academic focus, her personal relationships, and her future prospects for happiness.

As she examines her life, she discovers unexpected parallels with Edith Wharton's personal development. These present her with a fresh approach to her biography of this great American author, excerpts of which are interspersed throughout.

With sure satiric pacing and much good humor, The Fool's Journey immerses us in a academic atmosphere rife with devious plots.

Miller skewers pretensions with a certain hand while she portrays a memorable cast of supporting characters: goddess-y Bettina, wife of botanist Marvin, beloved by all sexes; Dean Darryl Hansen, lover to Fiona and Bettina; solid and supportive fellow Wharton enthusiast Miriam Held; and outrageous gadfly Blake Burnois, whose mischievous publication of Fiona's biting satire in the Chronicle of Higher Education shatters everyone's status quo into tiny shards.

Lovers of the work of Edith Wharton will take particular pleasure from the interweaving of her journey with that of the protagonist in this lively and entertaining tale.