At every point in the lifespan, individual differences in a sense of control are strong predictors of motivation, coping and success and failure in a wide range of domains. What are the origins of these individual differences, how do they develop and what are the mechanisms by which they exert such an influence on psychological functioning? To answer these questions, this book draws on theories and research covering key control constructs, including self-efficacy, learned helplessness, locus of control and attribution theory. Skinner also considers such issues as: the origins of control in social interaction; environmental features that promote or undermine control; developmental change in the mechanisms by which experiences of control have effects on action; and the implications for intervening in competence systems - including interventions with people who are in uncontrollable circumstances.
Why do people forget some skills faster than others? What kind of training is most effective at getting people to retain new skills over a longer period of time? Cognitive psychologists address these questions in this volume by analyzing the results of experiments which used a wide variety of perceptual, cognitive and motoric training tasks. Studies reported on include: the Stroop effect; mental calculation; vocabulary retention; contextual interference effects; autobiographical memory; target detection; and specificity and transfer in choice reaction time tasks. Each chapter explores the extent to which reinstatement of training procedures during retention and transfer tests accounts for both durability and specificity of training.
Why do people forget some skills faster than others? What kind of training is most effective at getting people to retain new skills over a longer period of time? Cognitive psychologists address these questions in this volume by analyzing the results of experiments which used a wide variety of perceptual, cognitive and motoric training tasks. Studies reported on include: the Stroop effect; mental calculation; vocabulary retention; contextual interference effects; autobiographical memory; target detection; and specificity and transfer in choice reaction time tasks. Each chapter explores the extent to which reinstatement of training procedures during retention and transfer tests accounts for both durability and specificity of training.
Conversation analysis has contributed enormously to the understanding of social life, social structure, the meaning ascribed by individuals to interaction, and the rules and structures of conversation. George Psathas' succinct introduction outlines its procedures and its major accomplishments, with discussions on verbal sequence, institutional constraints on interaction and the deep structure of talk.
This lucidly argued volume covers the key philosophical revolutions that are shaping contemporary psychology. Harr[ac]e and Gillett herald a new paradigm in psychology, dissolving the Cartesian distinction between mind and body in favour of the discursive turn in psychological theory. The authors explore the discursive origins of the self, the problem of agency and social understanding of personality. In the process, they elevate the emotions to a significant place in our understanding of mind, action and being. The theoretical breadth of the book is matched by its treatment of a wide range of subjects, including: consciousness; the brain; perception; thought; personality; and the emotions.
Fear and ignorance have run rampant throughout human history. This book aims to expose the roots of such mental maladies as witchcraft and its persecution, asceticism, and unbridled hedonism, the crusades and millenarianism, nazism's monumental conceit, and the tactics of McCarthyism, as well as the belief in nostrum vendors and bogus messiahs.
This volume provides a precise and comprehensive description of human motivation. Drawing on psychology, education and management, Ford integrates classic and contemporary motivation theory into a unified framework - Motivational Systems Theory - from which he derives 17 principles for motivating people. The book provides concrete examples throughout and includes a chapter on practical applications such as: promoting social responsibility in young people; increasing motivation for learning and school achievement; increasing work productivity and job satisfaction; and helping people lead emotionally healthy lives.
Viewpoints contains challenging essays on Freud, his fellows and critics, and on the contribution of modern figures such as Bruno Bettelheim, Thomas Azasz and Eric Berne. Charles Rycroft also pursues his enduring fascination with the place of memory and imagination in the work of artists and writers , such as Wilkie Collins, Rousseau and Sartre, ......
Draws upon evidence from infant observation and linguistics as well as from information theory in order to make two related points. This title demonstrates how our prevailing theories of meaning have failed to account for how we distort meaning.
