This book presents the results of the most complete and updated assessment of cognitive resources of students in Latin America: the Study of Latin American Intelligence (SLATINT). During four years, top researchers of the region used a standardized set of cognitive measures to assess 4,000 students aged between 14 and 15 years from six countries: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru. The data collected and now analyzed in this volume is a first step to understand the human cognitive capital of the region, a crucial resource for any country today. Intelligence research has shown that the cognitive skills of a population are strongly associated with the school performance of its students and the development of a nation. This makes Intelligence Measurement and School Performance in Latin America a valuable tool both for Latin American researchers and authorities engaged in the improvement of each country's human resources and for psychologists, educators and other social scientists dedicated to the study of the impact of intelligence in the development of nations.

This book is about some topical philosophical and methodological prob lems that arise in the study of behavior and mind, as well as in the treatment of behavioral and mental disorders. It deals with such questions as 'What is behavior a manifestation of?', 'What is mind, and how is it related to matter?', 'Which are the positive legacies, if any, of the major psychological schools?', 'How can behavior and mind best be studied?', and 'Which are the most effective ways of modifying behavioral and mental processes?' These questions and their kin cannot be avoided in the long run because they fuel the daily search for better hypotheses, experimental designs, techniques, and treatments. They also occur in the critical examination of data and theories, as well as methods for the treatment of behavioral and mental disorders. All students of human or animal, normal or abnormal behavior and mind, whether their main concern is basic or applied, theoretical or em pirical, admit more or less tacitly to a large number of general philosophi cal and methodological principles."

This contributed volume is a real "who is who" in Latin American psychology. Edited by the most prominent psychology researcher alive in the region, the book presents a comprehensive panorama of psychology in Latin America as a science, as a profession and as a way of improving the quality of life of individuals and communities. Despite its achievements, Latin American psychology is little known by the international psychological community. In order to fill this gap, Dr. Ruben Ardila has invited the most important researchers and practitioners in the region to present an overview of psychology as both a profession and a research field in Latin America in the following areas: * Scientific research * Professional issues * Clinical and health psychology * Developmental psychology * Educational and school psychology * Organizational and work psychology * Social psychology * Community psychology * Legal and forensic psychology Psychology in Latin America - Current Status, Challenges and Perspectives seeks to place Latin American psychology on the map of international psychology, and by doing so it aims to foster cooperation between researchers, practitioners and students from the region with its peers from all over the world.

This book presents the results of the most complete and updated assessment of cognitive resources of students in Latin America: the Study of Latin American Intelligence (SLATINT). During four years, top researchers of the region used a standardized set of cognitive measures to assess 4,000 students aged between 14 and 15 years from six countries: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru. The data collected and now analyzed in this volume is a first step to understand the human cognitive capital of the region, a crucial resource for any country today. Intelligence research has shown that the cognitive skills of a population are strongly associated with the school performance of its students and the development of a nation. This makes Intelligence Measurement and School Performance in Latin America a valuable tool both for Latin American researchers and authorities engaged in the improvement of each country's human resources and for psychologists, educators and other social scientists dedicated to the study of the impact of intelligence in the development of nations.