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Mind Is Flat: The Remarkable Shallowness of the Improvising Brain
By Nick Chater. 2018
In a radical reinterpretation of how the mind works an eminent behavioral scientist reveals the illusion of mental depth…
Psychologists and neuroscientists struggle with how best to interpret human motivation and decision making The assumption is that below a mental surface of conscious awareness lies a deep and complex set of inner beliefs values and desires that govern our thoughts ideas and actions and that to know this depth is to know ourselves In this profoundly original book behavioral scientist Nick Chater contends just the opposite rather than being the plaything of unconscious currents the brain generates behaviors in the moment based entirely on our past experiences Engaging the reader with eye-opening experiments and visual examples the author first demolishes our intuitive sense of how our mind works then argues for a positive interpretation of the brain as a ceaseless and creative improviserDimensions of Human Behavior: The Changing Life Course (3rd Edition)
By Elizabeth D. Hutchison. 2008
Hutchison (social work, Virginia Commonwealth University) examines the life-course in nine age-grade periods, from infancy through young, late, and very…
late adulthood. This third edition features material that places the human life course in a global context, and incorporates insights from neuroscience throughout the chapters. Greater attention has been given to the role of fathers, and there is new material on the effects of gender, race, ethnicity, social class, sexual orientation, and disability on life course trajectories. Learning features include composite cases, key points and glossary terms, summaries of implications for social work practice, exercises, and discussion questions. The text was developed for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses on human behavior in the social environment, in departments of social work and psychology. Its companion volume is Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment. Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)Unequal Crime Decline: Theorizing Race, Urban Inequality, and Criminal Violence
By Karen F. Parker. 2008
2009 Choice Outstanding Academic TitleCrime in most urban areas has been falling since 1991. While the decline has been well-documented,…
few scholars have analyzed which groups have most benefited from the crime decline and which are still on the frontlines of violence--and why that might be. In Unequal Crime Decline, Karen F. Parker presents a structural and theoretical analysis of the various factors that affect the crime decline, looking particularly at the past three decades and the shifts that have taken place, and offers original insight into which trends have declined and why.Taking into account such indicators as employment, labor market opportunities, skill levels, housing, changes in racial composition, family structure, and drug trafficking, Parker provides statistics that illustrate how these factors do or do not affect urban violence, and carefully considers these factors in relation to various crime trends, such as rates involving blacks, whites, but also trends among black males, white females, as well as others. Throughout the book she discusses popular structural theories of crime and their limitations, in the end concentrating on today's issues and important contemporary policy to be considered. Unequal Crime Decline is a comprehensive and theoretically sophisticated look at the relationship among race, urban inequality, and violence in the years leading up to and following America's landmark crime drop.The Changing Nature of Happiness
By Sandie McHugh. 2017
This book shines a light on the meaning of happiness and how public perceptions of it have changed over time.…
A question that has engaged philosophers from the days of Aristotle, happiness is a subject of growing academic interest, and its recent integration into government policy is provoking increased debate into its definition and nature. Sandie McHugh and her associates build on the work of social anthropologist Tom Harrison's 'Worktown' Mass Observation study from 1938, repeating the original study today. Together these accounts show how perceptions of happiness have changed over the years for the people of Bolton, UK, and reveal major difference between its definition then and now. This unique study is a useful tool in the understanding and study of happiness, offering invaluable insights for scholars and practitioners working in the fields of social psychology, positive psychology, health psychology and wellbeing.A Legacy of Madness
By Tom Davis. 2011
The story of a loving family coming to grips with its own fragilities, A Legacy of Madness relays the author's…
journey to uncover, and ultimately understand, the history of mental illness that led generations of his suburban American family to their demise.Dede Davis had worried, fussed, and obsessed for the last time: Her heart stopped beating in a fit of anxiety. In the wake of his mother's death, Tom Davis knew one thing: Helplessly self-absorbed and severely obsessive compulsive, Dede led a tormented life. She spent years bouncing around mental health facilities, nursing homes, and assisted-living facilities, but what really caused her death? A Legacy of Madness portrays Tom Davis's captivating discoveries of mental illness throughout generations of his family. Investigating his mother's history led to that of Davis's grandfather, a top administrator at one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the country; his great-grandfather who died of self-inflicted gas asphyxiation during the Depression; and his great-great grandmother who, with her eldest son, completed suicide one tragic day. Ultimately, four generations of family members showed clear signs of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and alcoholism--often mistreated illnesses that test one's ability to cope. Through this intimate memoir, we join Davis on a personal odyssey to ensure that he and his siblings, the fifth generation,--recover their family legacy by not only surviving their own mental health disorders but by getting the help they need to lead healthy, balanced lives. In the end, we witness Davis's powerful transition as he makes peace with the past and heals through forgiveness and compassion for his family--and himself. About the author Tom Davis is the Jersey Shore regional editor for Patch.com and an adjunct professor of journalism at Rutgers University. This is his first book. He lives in Metuchen, New Jersey.Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide
By Claudia M ller-Ebeling, Christian R tsch. 2003
An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas • Analyzes the symbolism of the…
many plants associated with Christmas • Reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan rituals that center on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance. It is an evolving feast that over the centuries has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world--practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual. Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child. Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which is red and white, to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples, which figure heavily in Christmas baking, are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun. In fact, the authors contend that the emphasis of Christmas on green plants and the promise of the return of life in the dead of winter is just an adaptation of the pagan winter solstice celebration.How Statesmen Think: The Psychology of International Politics
By Robert Jervis. 2017
Robert Jervis has been a pioneering leader in the study of the psychology of international politics for more than four…
decades. How Statesmen Think presents his most important ideas on the subject from across his career. This collection of revised and updated essays applies, elaborates, and modifies his pathbreaking work. The result is an indispensable book for students and scholars of international relations.How Statesmen Think demonstrates that expectations and political and psychological needs are the major drivers of perceptions in international politics, as well as in other arenas. Drawing on the increasing attention psychology is paying to emotions, the book discusses how emotional needs help structure beliefs. It also shows how decision-makers use multiple shortcuts to seek and process information when making foreign policy and national security judgments. For example, the desire to conserve cognitive resources can cause decision-makers to look at misleading indicators of military strength, and psychological pressures can lead them to run particularly high risks. The book also looks at how deterrent threats and counterpart promises often fail because they are misperceived.How Statesmen Think examines how these processes play out in many situations that arise in foreign and security policy, including the threat of inadvertent war, the development of domino beliefs, the formation and role of national identities, and conflicts between intelligence organizations and policymakers.Criminal Sociology
By Enrico Ferri.
A new departure in science is a simple phenomenon of nature, determined in its origin and progress, like all such…
phenomena, by conditions of time and place. Attention must be drawn to these conditions at the outset, for it is only by accurately defining them that the scientific conscience of the student of sociology is developed and confirmed. The experimental philosophy of the latter half of our century, combined with human biology and psychology, and with the natural study of human society, had already produced an intellectual atmosphere decidedly favourable to a practical inquiry into the criminal manifestations of individual and social life. To these general conditions must be added the plain and everyday contrast between the metaphysical perfection of criminal law and the progressive increase of crime, as well as the contrast between legal theories of crime and the study of the mental characteristics of a large number of criminals.Powerful Prayers for Your Children (Powerful Prayers Series)
By Heather Kopp, David Kopp. 1997
From Spelling Tests to Future Mates-Learn to Pray for Every Aspect of Your Kids' Lives.AS A PARENT, you want your…
prayers to have an impact on the lives of your children. But how can you ensure that will happen? What are some of the vital things you should pray for? How can you claim God's glorious promises for your kids? In Powerful Prayers for Your Children, you'll find the answers to these questions, along with rich, Scripture-based prayers that will show you how to communicate more confidently, more fervently, and more effectively with the Lord. Most important, your prayer life will be forever changed as you learn to pray more intimately and wisely to the One who loves your children most of all.From the Trade Paperback edition.Expecting: Everything You Need to Know about Pregnancy, Labour and Birth
By Anna McGrail, Daphne Metland. 2013
Anna and Daphne have combined their many years of experience, producing an interesting and well written book based on fact…
rather than opinion, covering conception to postnatal. Most expecting mothers will not be seen by the NHS until around 12 weeks of pregnancy, and this book provides the advice and reassurance needed during this time. It also features a 'read your week of pregnancy', which offers mothers the opportunity to monitor symptoms that can indicate different things at different stages of the pregnancy. Issues broached in the book include: conception difficulties, what tests to opt for, how to break the news at work, when to tell an older child, taking your partner to the scan, opting for a caesarean.The 8 Motivational Challenges
By Heidi Grant Halvorson. 2013
From the author of Succeed and Focus, a quick and easy guide to motivating anyone – including yourself. There is…
no one-size-fits-all way to get people motivated. Anyone who tells you that you should do X to get the most out of your employees, your students, or even yourself, isn’t telling you that – at best – X only works for some of the people, some of the time. In this short guide Heidi Grant Halvorson identifies the eight different types of underperformers and draws on research from her books Succeed and Focus to offer tailored strategies for lighting a fire under each one. Underperformers range from the truly achievement challenged to those who are actually performing at a high level but could perform even better if someone knew the right way to motivate them. Halvorson explains how we can understand each profile in terms of the mindset and motivational focus they bring to their work, in addition to the confidence with which they approach it. For each profile, each she lays out specific, evidence-based strategies for increasing effectiveness and engagement. Succinct and focused, this prescriptive guide will appeal to readers of What Successful People Do Before Breakfast and 9 Things Successful People Do Differently.Agnostic Khushwant: There Is No God
By Khushwant Singh, Ashok Chopra. 2012
Instead of entering into a pointless debate on whether or not God exists it is more important to bear…
in mind that belief in the existence of God has little bearing on making a person a good or a bad citizen One can be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable villain believing in Him In my personalized religion there is NO GOD Khushwant Singh over the decades has built up a reputation for coming up with something new and controversial in each book and he does not disappoint his readers this time too He begins with a chapter on the need for a new religion without God in which he questions the relevance of God He then moves on to describe how religion has proved to be more harmful than beneficial and in the process debunks astrologers and the breed of so-called godmen However he is not dismissive of religion Through his lucid writing he brings out the beauty and significance of holy books such as the Bhagvad Gita the Quran and the Granth Sahib He provides relevant extracts to highlight the poetry and the music in such books The author next tries to dispel the prejudices held by many non-Muslims against their Muslim compatriots by giving down-to-earth examples He also emphasizes the importance of the Ramzaan fast Khushwant Singh s description of the life and times of Guru Nanak and Guru Gobind Singh and his in-depth analysis of the Granth Sahib throw new light on a particularly troubled period in India s history The chapter devoted to the interaction of the author a confirmed agnostic with the Dalai Lama probably the world s most renowned spiritual leader makes for fascinating reading Here s one book containing a wealth of knowledge and information that you would want to read or consult again and againKid Pirates: Their Battles, Shipwrecks, & Narrow Escapes (Ten True Tales)
By Allan Zullo. 2007
Some volunteered. Others were forced to serve. But each of these young people sailed with the world's most feared pirates…
-- from the notorious Blackbeard and Captain Kidd to Sir Henry Morgan and others. Some of these kids fought side-by-side with the pirates, and others tried to escape. You will never forget their incredible true stories.Our Cheating Hearts: Love and Loyalty, Lust and Lies
By Kate Figes. 2013
By the author known and respected for her acclaimed books on relationships.Most of us manage to be monogamous, most of…
the time, but who cannot imagine themselves committing the 'crime' of adultery? Does being 'faithful' mean the same to everyone? Why DO people have affairs?Using real life testimony alongside the most current research, Our Cheating Hearts looks at the big questions around love and commitment. It lifts taboos, asks the tough questions and shows how in our progressive time monogamy has become the new ideal.Some people manage monogamy. For the countless others that don't, Our Cheating Hearts opens the debate and provides the honest approach that's essential.Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence
By Sankar K. Pal, David Zhang, B. Uma Shankar, Kuntal Ghosh, Deba Prasad Mandal, Shubhra Sankar Ray. 2007
This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Second International Conference on Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence, PReMI 2007, held…
in Kolkata, India in December 2007. The papers are organized in topical sections on pattern recognition, image analysis, soft computing and applications, data mining and knowledge discovery, bioinformatics, signal and speech processing, document analysis and text mining, biometrics, and video analysis.Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad
By David B. Edwards. 2002
If you want to read one book to understand the background to the political conflicts in Afghanistan and the Taliban's…
rise to power, this is the book. Edwards tells the stories of three men--a Marxist politician, a tribal leader, and an Islamic militant--to explain the complex political culture of Afghanistan.Making Sense of Change Management
By Mike Green, Esther Cameron. 2015
The world we live in continues to change at an intense rate. In order to succeed over the next few…
years, organizations must adapt to tough market conditions by changing their strategies, their structures, their boundaries and of course their expectations of staff and managers.Ideal reading for anyone who is currently part of or leading a change initiative, Making Sense of Change Management, 4th edition, is the definitive text in the field of change management. Aimed at students and professionals alike, it provides comprehensive coverage of the models, tools and techniques of successful change management with a focus on individual, team and organizational change to help the reader apply each concept to unique situations.Now with a new chapter exploring the integration of change management with project management, it also contains a completely revised and updated chapter on culture change that takes into account emerging thinking and practice.The Management of Conflict: Interpretations and Interests in Comparative Perspective
By Marc Howard Ross. 1993
Precious Babies: Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting after Infertility
By Kate Brian. 2011
Infertility never leaves you no matter what the outcome is - it does shape you and it shapes the way…
you bring your children up.One in six couples finds it difficult to conceive, and many thousands of babies are born in the UK every year as a result of fertility treatment. For women who finally have that long-awaited positive pregnancy test, the expectation is that they will now be the same as any other pregnant woman. The reality is that the experience of infertility continues to resonate during pregnancy, birth and often long afterwards. Packed with case histories and informed by expert advice, this is the first book to address the specific practical and emotional issues experienced by women who have struggled to become pregnant and provides much-needed reassurance and support.Contents include: The long-awaited positive result; Pregnancy; Birth; The early days; Postnatal depression; Family life; Trying again; An only child; More than one (twins etc); The teenage years and beyond; Donor families; Miscarriage.Birth Order: What your position in the family really tells you about your character
By Linda Blair. 2013
On the basis of over 25 years' clinical experience and psychological research, Linda Blair reveals how your birth order position,…
as well as the spacing between you and your siblings and the sex of your siblings, impact your childhood, your adult life and your relationships.Packed with new research and written in a lively, personal style, Birth Order will inform and intrigue. By reading this unique book you will quickly understand yourself, your family and your partner better. It will also shed light on the dynamics of your other relationships, explain why you may repeat patterns within relationships, and suggest helpful strategies for dealing with other people. Chapters cover birth order and what being the eldest, middle, or youngest child reveals about you, the effect of large or small age gaps between you and your siblings, family size, the sex of your siblings, parental attitudes to each child, being an only child, being a twin, the impact of step-siblings, and much more.