Integrating Cultural and Neuroscience Perspectives
As the 21st Century opened, the discipline of psychology seemed to be separating into two radically distinct domains. Qualitative and Cultural Psychology focused on the discursive means for the management of meaning in a world of norms, while Neuropsychology and Neuroscience focused on the investigation of brain processes. These two domains can be reconciled in a hybrid science that brings them together into a synthesis more powerful than anything psychologists have achieved before. For the first time, there is the possibility of a general psychology in which the biological and the cultural aspects of human life coalesce into a unitas multiplex, unity in diversity. This textbook ambitiously aims to and succeeds in providing this unity. Fathali M. Moghaddam and Rom Harre have designed a textbook brought together with additional voices that speak to the similarities and differences of these two seemingly distinctive domains. This bridge-building will encourage a new generation of undergraduate students studying psychology to more fully appreciate the real potential for the study of human behaviour, and as such it will represent a more provocative alternative to standard general psychology textbooks. It also support teaching in a host of courses, namely 2nd and 3rd courses on the conceptual and philosophical nature of psychology, social psychology, critical psychology and cognitive science. Selectively, it will also represent a very interesting and different choice for foundation level students too.
Integrating Cultural and Neuroscience Perspectives
As the 21st Century opened, the discipline of psychology seemed to be separating into two radically distinct domains. Qualitative and Cultural Psychology focused on the discursive means for the management of meaning in a world of norms, while Neuropsychology and Neuroscience focused on the investigation of brain processes. These two domains can be reconciled in a hybrid science that brings them together into a synthesis more powerful than anything psychologists have achieved before. For the first time, there is the possibility of a general psychology in which the biological and the cultural aspects of human life coalesce into a unitas multiplex, unity in diversity. This textbook ambitiously aims to and succeeds in providing this unity. Fathali M. Moghaddam and Rom Harre have designed a textbook brought together with additional voices that speak to the similarities and differences of these two seemingly distinctive domains. This bridge-building will encourage a new generation of undergraduate students studying psychology to more fully appreciate the real potential for the study of human behaviour, and as such it will represent a more provocative alternative to standard general psychology textbooks. It also support teaching in a host of courses, namely 2nd and 3rd courses on the conceptual and philosophical nature of psychology, social psychology, critical psychology and cognitive science. Selectively, it will also represent a very interesting and different choice for foundation level students too.
Many diverse streams of thought have come together in an international movement to reject the traditional view that a "scientific" psychology must rely on an experimental methodology. Underpinning this movement is the principle that the main characteristics of human life are best understood as produced through discourse. This "discursive" psychology has found adherents across the range of psychological disciplines and has ushered in a revised understanding of the subject. This text shows how to put these theoretical and methodological insights to work in the investigation of concrete problems in psychology. A range of traditional psychological topics are examined, from decision-making, memory and attributions to emotions, learning and the self.
Many diverse streams of thought have come together in an international movement to reject the traditional view that a "scientific" psychology must rely on an experimental methodology. Underpinning this movement is the principle that the main characteristics of human life are best understood as produced through discourse. This "discursive" psychology has found adherents across the range of psychological disciplines and has ushered in a revised understanding of the subject. This text shows how to put these theoretical and methodological insights to work in the investigation of concrete problems in psychology. A range of traditional psychological topics are examined, from decision-making, memory and attributions to emotions, learning and the self.
In Philosophical Instruments, Daniel Rothbart argues that our tools are not just neutral intermediaries between humans and the natural world, but are devices that demand new ideas about reality. Just as a new spear can change a hunter's knowledge of the environment, so can the development of modern scientific equipment alter our view of the world. ......
`For anyone that has spent years rowing off into convoluted estuaries, and would like an entertaining and useful chart to remind them of River Psychology as a whole, I thoroughly recommend this book' - The Psychologist `This is a highly enjoyable, erudite and beautifully written manuscript. It conveys a rare depth of understanding and ability to strike at the core debates. The lively style, concentration on the biopic, use of text features such as links between names, and formal division of each sub-section will all appeal.... I have taught History of Psychology for nearly 6 years. This text will prove for more palatable to students than any of the competitors' - Dr Steve Brown, Loughborough University `This book is well-written. It is clever, flowing and engaging. The balance between biography and contribution is excellent and makes it almost un-put-downable' - Professor Adrian Furnham, University College London The 20th Century was rich in attempts to characterize and explain psychological phenomena and so to understand the human mind. These projects were undertaken by a huge and diverse list of characters from B F Skinner to James Gibson, from Gordon Allport to Hans Eysenck. It is important for every student of psychology, wherever they might be in the world, to understand the classic scholars, the classic studies, and the subsequent generations of people and ideas that have come to define the broad discipline that is `psychology'. This book achieves this in the most accessible and engaging manner possible. Rom Harre presents a unique textbook orientation, combining the biopic with the significance of the major protagonists of the last century, organized by `schools of thought', yet with cross-references throughout the text.
`For anyone that has spent years rowing off into convoluted estuaries, and would like an entertaining and useful chart to remind them of River Psychology as a whole, I thoroughly recommend this book' - The Psychologist `This is a highly enjoyable, erudite and beautifully written manuscript. It conveys a rare depth of understanding and ability to strike at the core debates. The lively style, concentration on the biopic, use of text features such as links between names, and formal division of each sub-section will all appeal.... I have taught History of Psychology for nearly 6 years. This text will prove for more palatable to students than any of the competitors' - Dr Steve Brown, Loughborough University `This book is well-written. It is clever, flowing and engaging. The balance between biography and contribution is excellent and makes it almost un-put-downable' - Professor Adrian Furnham, University College London The 20th Century was rich in attempts to characterize and explain psychological phenomena and so to understand the human mind. These projects were undertaken by a huge and diverse list of characters from B F Skinner to James Gibson, from Gordon Allport to Hans Eysenck. It is important for every student of psychology, wherever they might be in the world, to understand the classic scholars, the classic studies, and the subsequent generations of people and ideas that have come to define the broad discipline that is `psychology'. This book achieves this in the most accessible and engaging manner possible. Rom Harre presents a unique textbook orientation, combining the biopic with the significance of the major protagonists of the last century, organized by `schools of thought', yet with cross-references throughout the text.
`There is much that is fascinating here. Long-established experiments and conclusions are rubbished and reinterpreted, long-established assumptions and beliefs about emotions are soundly trounced, and generally a good going-over is delivered to the whole field... it is such a blockbuster that one can only reel backwards and tell anyone studying the subject that they would be crazy not to get it' - Self & Society This fascinating book overviews the psychology of the emotions in its broadest sense, tracing historical, social, cultural and biological themes and analyses. The contributors - some of the leading figures in the field - produce a new theoretical synthesis by drawing together these strands. From the standpoint of the function of the emotions in everyday life, the authors focus on: the discursive role played by the emotions in expressing judgements about, attitudes to and contrition for actions done by the self and others, and how certain emotions - such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, chagrin and regret - seem to play a role in social control; the variation and diversity in emotion, which provides scope for exploring how patterns of emotion contrast in different societies, across gender lines, at different historical times, and between children and adults; and the way in which the body is shaped and its functions influenced by culturally maintained patterns of emotion displays.
`Harr[ac]e draws on psychology, philosophy, anthropology, and linguistics to develop an intellectually rigorous and integrative understanding of selfhood as a unitas multiplex - a diversity in unity. The breadth of Harre[ac]e's scholarship and the rigor which he evaluates various conceptual positions are awe inspiring. Harr[ac]e's keen insights ......
