The Nature Of Psychology

This volume is comprised of contributions to the 67th Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, which brought together various research disciplines such as psychology, education, health sciences, natural resources, environmental studies to investigate the ways in which nature influences cognition, health, human behavior, and well-being. The symposium is positioned to explore two proposed mechanisms in the most depth: 1) the psycho-evolutionary theory of stress recovery and 2) Attention Restoration Theory. The contributions in the volume represent research guided by both of these posited mechanisms, rigorously examine these theories and processes, and share methodological innovations that can be utilized across programs of research. This volume will be of great interest to researchers on natural environments, practitioners and clinicians working with an environmental lens at the intersection of psychology, social work, education and the health sciences, as well as researchers and students in environmental and conservation psychology. Chapter 5 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

The field of work psychology investigates the origins of human work behaviour -- and its ramifications for the individual worker, the employing organisation, and those with whom the individual interacts -- both on and off the job. This volume presents new concepts in the field, framing issues and topics in creative ways that encourage the reader to rethink how we study and think about people at work. Part 1 focuses on understanding the meanings we attach to work, a topic that has been neglected by researchers. The chapters in this part reconceptualise the normal entry points for studying work and working and identify new areas to explore. Part 2 highlights advances in theory that help us better understand and integrate important workplace concepts; two chapters explore less traditional topics -- the psychology of greed, and identity issues that are relevant to retirement. Part 3 highlights some key advances in measurement that permit researchers to examine more sophisticated and complex relationships. Part 4 provides insight into bridging the gap between practice and research and making research on the psychology of work relevant and applicable. This volume will be of interest to organisational psychologists, organisational behaviour researchers, and those interested in human resource management, organisational development, and labour relations. The contributors honour the work of Daniel Ilgen and Neal Schmitt, pioneers in the field, whose influence and lifetime contributions have shaped the field of work psychology as it is known today.

This book examines the origins, presence, and implications of scientistic thinking in psychology. Scientism embodies the claim that only knowledge attained by means of natural scientific methods counts as valid and valuable. This perspective increasingly dominates thinking and practice in psychology and is seldom acknowledged as anything other than standard scientific practice. This book seeks to make this intellectual movement explicit and to detail the very real limits in both role and reach of science in psychology. The critical chapters in this volume present an alternative perspective to the scholarly mainstreams of the discipline and will be of value to scholars and students interested in the scientific status and the philosophical bases of psychology as a discipline.

A leading expert in animal behavior takes us into the wild to better understand and manage our fears. Fear, honed by millions of years of natural selection, kept our ancestors alive. Whether by slithering away, curling up in a ball, or standing still in the presence of a predator, humans and other animals have evolved complex behaviors in order to survive the hazards the world presents. But, despite our evolutionary endurance, we still have much to learn about how to manage our response to danger. For more than thirty years, Daniel Blumstein has been studying animals’ fear responses. His observations lead to a firm conclusion: fear preserves security, but at great cost. A foraging flock of birds expends valuable energy by quickly taking flight when a raptor appears. And though the birds might successfully escape, they leave their food source behind. Giant clams protect their valuable tissue by retracting their mantles and closing their shells when a shadow passes overhead, but then they are unable to photosynthesize, losing the capacity to grow. Among humans, fear is often an understandable and justifiable response to sources of threat, but it can exact a high toll on health and productivity. Delving into the evolutionary origins and ecological contexts of fear across species, The Nature of Fear considers what we can learn from our fellow animals—from successes and failures. By observing how animals leverage alarm to their advantage, we can develop new strategies for facing risks without panic.

This book is designed to help students organize their thinking about psychology at a conceptual level. The focus on behaviour and empiricism has produced a text that is better organized, has fewer chapters, and is somewhat shorter than many of the leading books. The beginning of each section includes learning objectives; throughout the body of each section are key terms in bold followed by their definitions in italics; key takeaways, and exercises and critical thinking activities end each section.

In his only complete work of any length, Kenneth Craik considers thought as a term for the conscious working of a highly complex machine.

Psychology and 'Human Nature' problematizes what psychology usually takes for granted - the meaning of the psyche or 'human nature'. Peter Ashworth provides a coherent account of many of the major schools of thought in psychology and its related disciplines, including: sociobiology and evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, radical behaviourism, existentialism, discursive psychology and postmodernism. For each approach he considers the claims or assumptions being made about 'human nature', especially regarding issues of consciousness, the self, the body, other people and the physical world. Psychology and 'Human Nature' will be essential reading for all students of psychology. Series Details; The Psychology Focus Series provides students with a new focus on key topic areas in psychology. Each short book: * presents clear, in-depth coverage of a discrete area with many applied examples * assumes no prior knowlede of psychology * has been written by an experienced teacher * has chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary of key terms