A General Theory Of Behaviour

Psychologists like to claim that Psychology is a science, yet, until now, the discipline has lacked any real scientific laws, has had no overarching scientific paradigm and has been blighted by poor replicability of research, all of which have dogged the discipline. Attempts to place Psychology under a single scientific umbrella, e.g. Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Biological Science, Social Science or Human Science, have all failed for a host of reasons. This unique book presents a single paradigm for all of Psychology within a framework of Natural Science. For example, it employs as a model an organising principle known in another scientific discipline for over a century, the principle of Homeostasis. Findings across the entire discipline including perception, learning, emotion, stress, addiction, well-being and consciousness are all shown to be consistent with a new paradigm based on this, and other principles drawn from natural science.

Psychologists like to claim that Psychology is a science, yet, until now, the discipline has lacked any real scientific laws, has had no overarching scientific paradigm and has been blighted by poor replicability of research, all of which have dogged the discipline. Attempts to place Psychology under a single scientific umbrella, e.g. Behaviourism, Cognitivism, Biological Science, Social Science or Human Science, have all failed for a host of reasons. This unique book presents a single paradigm for all of Psychology within a framework of Natural Science. For example, it employs as a model an organising principle known in another scientific discipline for over a century, the principle of Homeostasis. Findings across the entire discipline including perception, learning, emotion, stress, addiction, well-being and consciousness are all shown to be consistent with a new paradigm based on this, and other principles drawn from natural science.

This original and lucid account of the complexities of love and its essential role in human well-being draws on the latest scientific research. Three eminent psychiatrists tackle the difficult task of reconciling what artists and thinkers have known for thousands of years about the human heart with what has only recently been learned about the primitive functions of the human brain. A General Theory of Love demonstrates that our nervous systems are not self-contained: from earliest childhood, our brains actually link with those of the people close to us, in a silent rhythm that alters the very structure of our brains, establishes life-long emotional patterns, and makes us, in large part, who we are. Explaining how relationships function, how parents shape their child’s developing self, how psychotherapy really works, and how our society dangerously flouts essential emotional laws, this is a work of rare passion and eloquence that will forever change the way you think about human intimacy.

Searching for an explanation to human superiority, Friedman and Lackey offer their General Theory of Purposeful Behavior: People seek control as an end in itself--the ability to make accurate predictions is the means to that end. This tight knit theory defines the dynamic relationship between and among predictive processes responsible for human control and success. A distinctly different view of intelligence, this volume includes discussions on "Human Motivation," "Gaining Control," "Maximizing Control," and "Impediments to Control." Important implications of the theory include "Achieving Success," "Working Effectively," "Educating For Control," and "The Pursuit of Happiness."

This book aims to facilitate the task of reviewing and selecting relevant theories to inform the design of behaviour change interventions and policies. The main goal is to provide on accessible source of potentially useful theories from a range of disciplines beyond those usually considered. It also provides on opportunity to analyse brood issues around the use of theory in the design of behaviour change interventions and examine areas where there is scope for improvement.

This book was originally published by Macmillan in 1936. It was voted the top Academic Book that Shaped Modern Britain by Academic Book Week (UK) in 2017, and in 2011 was placed on Time Magazine's top 100 non-fiction books written in English since 1923. Reissued with a fresh Introduction by the Nobel-prize winner Paul Krugman and a new Afterword by Keynes’ biographer Robert Skidelsky, this important work is made available to a new generation. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money transformed economics and changed the face of modern macroeconomics. Keynes’ argument is based on the idea that the level of employment is not determined by the price of labour, but by the spending of money. It gave way to an entirely new approach where employment, inflation and the market economy are concerned. Highly provocative at its time of publication, this book and Keynes’ theories continue to remain the subject of much support and praise, criticism and debate. Economists at any stage in their career will enjoy revisiting this treatise and observing the relevance of Keynes’ work in today’s contemporary climate.

The authors surveyed over 9,000 seventh grade students in the Houston Independent School District up to three times during their junior high school years and once as young adults between 1971 and 1980. Drawing on the extensive data gathered from this longitudinal survey, Kaplan and Johnson develop and test a comprehensive theoretical statement about the social and social psychological processes involved in the onset and course of deviant behavior.

Jaques presents a totally new general theoretical foundation for understanding the individual and social behavior of all living organisms. In contrast to existing theories of behavior which are static, Jaques has succeeded in breaking through to a truly dynamic orientation. This breakthrough, resulted from his fundamental research into work organizations that led to the realization that the difference between inanimate processes and all living behavior, is that all living behavior is composed of intentional goal-directed work. This continuous work entails the use of judgment in choosing goals and in making the decisions necessary to get to these goals. This work process is the same in all living organisms, including humans. It is an ineffable process of the total organism, inaccessible to direct observation and experience. Intentionality is the dynamic of behavior. This discovery has led over the past 50 years to extensive discoveries--objective measures of work complexity, and of the level of complexity (capability) of individuals in all species; how human language differs from communication in other species; the need to distinguish between horizontal evolutionary mutations within a given level of capability, and vertical evolution to species with higher levels of complexity; the nature of freedom within mutual-trust inducing constraints. Set forth to radically change the nature of all behavioral and social sciences in the new millenium, Jaques' analysis is essential reading for all scholars, students, and researchers as well as the general public involved with the behavior of living organisms.