Hardly anything in psychology is as irking as the trait concept. Psychologists and laypersons alike use primarily adjective trait-names to characterize and even concep tualize the individuals they encounter. There are more than a hundred well-defined personality traits and a great many questionnaires for their assessment, some of which are designed to assess the same or very similar traits. Little is known about their ontogenetic development and even less about their underlying dynamics. Psy choanalytic theory was invoked for explaining the psychodynamics underlying a few personality traits without, however, presenting sufficient empirical evidence for the validity of these interpretations. In a reductionistic vein, behaviorally inclined psy chologists have propounded the thesis that all traits are acquired behaviors. Yet, this view neither reduces the number of personality tests nor explains the resistance of traits to modification by means of reward and punishment. Dissatisfied with these and some other less well-known approaches to person ality traits, we decided to explore whether applying our psychosemantic theory of cognition to the trait concept would do better. The way we had to follow was anything but easy."

This collection examines the many internal and external factors affecting cognitive processes. Editor Shulamith Kreitler brings together a wide range of international contributors to produce an outstanding assessment of recent research in the field. These contributions go beyond the standard approach of examining the effects of motivation and emotion to consider the contextual factors that may influence cognition. These broad and varied factors include personality, genetics, mental health, biological evolution, culture and social context. By contextualizing cognition, this volume draws out the practical applications of theoretical cognitive research while bringing separate areas of scholarship into meaningful dialogue.

Hardly anything in psychology is as irking as the trait concept. Psychologists and laypersons alike use primarily adjective trait-names to characterize and even concep tualize the individuals they encounter. There are more than a hundred well-defined personality traits and a great many questionnaires for their assessment, some of which are designed to assess the same or very similar traits. Little is known about their ontogenetic development and even less about their underlying dynamics. Psy choanalytic theory was invoked for explaining the psychodynamics underlying a few personality traits without, however, presenting sufficient empirical evidence for the validity of these interpretations. In a reductionistic vein, behaviorally inclined psy chologists have propounded the thesis that all traits are acquired behaviors. Yet, this view neither reduces the number of personality tests nor explains the resistance of traits to modification by means of reward and punishment. Dissatisfied with these and some other less well-known approaches to person ality traits, we decided to explore whether applying our psychosemantic theory of cognition to the trait concept would do better. The way we had to follow was anything but easy."

The book "Conceptions of Meaning" was edited by Shulamith Kreitler and Toma Urbanek, two psychologists who are known for their contributions to the study of meaning in psychology. The purpose of the book is to introduce Meaning back into psychology. Indeed, it has always been there, but it has not been developed and applied sufficiently to become prominent in the mainstream of science. The editors believe that the potentials of Meaning are too great and too important to be overlooked. The book includes 12 chapters by prominent researchers and thinkers who present different aspects and manifestations of meaning. In this book, the reader will find new conceptions of meaning, new methodologies, a variety of methods for its assessment, and innovative applications in familiar and new domains. There are four parts in this book.

Death and Grief are inseparable constituents of our life. Nevertheless, the fear of dying and death is one of the fundamental fears of our existence. This book deals with the varied faces of grief. As such, it includes 'cutting edge' theoretical models and research in a variety of fields from the more general, such as the Staging Model -- a new conceptualisation of grief; the politicisation of grief, Positive Psychology; post-traumatic growth; survivor's guilt; death education; rescue transplantation and psychic communication, to the more specific, such as the normalisation of parental bereavement; child and adolescent traumatic grief, and the unique form of grief and bereavement that of survivors of missing persons. The diversity of the themes discussed in the different chapters serves to highlight the rich potentialities of overcoming bereavement and reinstating life and creativity where death and bereavement have touched us.

This book is exceptional in that it treats death as it has not yet been treated before. It presents a comprehensive updated overview of what happened to death in the last decades since the taboo against death has been lifted. The book is based on contributions from experts in different disciplines from the US, Europe and Israel, each focused on treating the death situation from a specific point of view. The first part of the book presents death from the viewpoint of various disciplines and concludes with an exceptional discussion of near-death experiences. The second part of the book deals with various more specific issues involved in death. In addition, the book also provides theoretical background and practical guidance for professionals and others concerned with helping dying individuals as well as their families and caretakers.

Human beings seem to have been always aware of something they called consciousness and have not stopped wondering what it is, what it does, where it came from, and why we have it. This book is testimony to the continuous attempts to crack the riddle, in the 21st century no less, if not even more than before. The book expresses two major convictions. One is that consciousness has a multiplicity of aspects, which need to be considered in order to deepen understanding of this phenomenon and of ourselves. These include in the very least biology, philosophy, religion, mathematics, physics, physiology, and psychology. The other is that the next phase of human evolution may well be the evolution of consciousness - its expansion, development, and enhanced ability on our part to recognise and control it, shape it and put it to our use for improving our chances of survival and enhancing our happiness. This book is aimed at contributing towards the attainment of this goal.