Psychology Books and Journals

Projective, Objective & Situational judgement test

2008-09-24T18:44:00.000-07:00

Projective test

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A projective test, in psychology, is a personality test designed to let a person respond to ambiguous stimuli, presumably revealing hiddenemotions and internal conflicts. This is different from an "objective test" in which responses are analyzed according to a universal standard (for example, a multiple choice exam). The responses to projective tests are content analyzed for meaning rather than being based on presuppositions about meaning, as is the case with objective tests.

Projective tests have their origins in psychoanalytic psychology, which argues that humans have conscious and unconscious attitudes and motivations. Unconscious attitudes and motivations form very early in life and are stored visually rather than verbally, and therefore cannot be verbally retrieved using objective tests. Unconscious attitudes and motivations can also be kept from consciousness by defense mechanisms, such as repression and projection. Conscious attitudes and motivations are formed after language skills have developed and are therefore easily articulated.

The general theoretical position behind projective tests is that whenever you ask a "question," the response that you get will be consciously-formulated and socially determined. These responses do not reflect the respondent's unconscious or implicit attitudes or motivations. The respondent's deep-seated motivations may not be consciously recognized by the respondent or the respondent may not be able to verbally express them in the form demanded by the questioner. Advocates of projective tests stress that the ambiguity of the stimuli presented within the tests allow subjects to express thoughts that originate on a deeper level than tapped by explicit questions.

The best known projective test is the Rorschach inkblot test, in which a subject is shown a series of irregular but symmetrical inkblots, and asked to explain what they see. The response is then analyzed in various ways, noting not only what the patient said, but the time taken to respond, what aspect of the drawing was focused on, and how the response compared to other responses for the same drawing. For example, if someone consistently sees the images as threatening and frightening, the tester might infer that the subject may suffer from paranoia. There is some evidence showing showing that Rorschach's test is as effective as other, non-projective, methods such as Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.^[1]

Another popular projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) in which an individual views ambiguous scenes of people, and is asked to describe various aspects of the scene; for example, the patient may be asked to describe what led up to this scene, the emotions of the characters, and what might happen afterwards. The examiner then evaluates these descriptions, attempting to discover the conflicts, motivations and attitudes of the respondent. In the answers, the respondent "projects" their unconscious attitudes and motivations into the picture, which is why these are referred to as "projective tests."

These tests lost popularity during the 1980s and 1990s because many theorists incorrectly equated psychoanalysis with Freudian theory, even though the two are clearly different. Psychoanalysis includes many theories in addition to Freud's, including those formulated by Carl Jung,Erich Fromm, Theodor Adorno and Karen Horney, who either rejected or heavily modified Freud's theories. Carl Jung actually developed one projective test, called the word association test, which asks respondents to state the first word that enters their mind when given another word. Adorno used projective tests exensively in the classic study, The Authoritarian Personality.

Today, many social and cognitive psychlogists now recognize the existence of the unconscious, and distinguish between explicit and implicit attitudes. Explicit attitudes are those that are conscious; implicit attitudes exist below conscious awareness. To study implicit attitudes, cognitive psychologists use a derivation of Jung's word association test, called the implicit association test. This test flashes pictures, names or other associational stimuli rapidly on a computer screen and respondents indirectly evaluative the stimuli as positive or negative.

Projective techniques, including TATs, are used in qualitative marketing research, for example to help identify potential associations betweenbrand images and the emotions they may provoke. In advertising, projective tests are used to evaluate responses to advertisements. The tests have also been used in management to assess achievement motivation and other drives, in sociology to assess the adoption of innovations, and in anthropology to study cultural meaning. The application of responses is different in these disciplines than in psychology, because the responses of multiple respondents are grouped together for analysis by the organisation commissioning the research, rather than interpreting the meaning of the responses given by a single patient.

References

^ Hiller, J. B., Rosenthal, R., Bronstein, R. F., Berry, D. T. R., and Brunell-Neuleib, S. (1999) "A Comparative Meta-analysis of Rorschach and MMPI Validity"Psychological Assessment 11: 278-296.

Theodor W. Adorno, et al. (1964). The Authoritarian Personality. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Lawrence Soley & Aaron Lee Smith (2008). Projective Techniques for Social Science and Business Research. Milwaukee: The Southshore Press.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_test

Objective test

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

are psychological tests that measure an individual's characteristics in a way that is independent of rater bias or the individual's own beliefs. Objective tests are often contrasted with subjective tests, which are sensitive to rater or examinee beliefs. They can also be contrasted withprojective tests which are based on Freudian Psychology (Psychoanalysis), and seek to expose the unconscious perceptions of people. Objective tests tend to be more reliable and valid than projective or subjective tests.

An objective test is built by following a rigorous protocol which includes the following steps:

Making decisions on nature, goal, target population, power.
Creating a bank of questions.
Estimating the validity of the questions, by means of statistical procedures and/or judgement of experts in the field.
Designing a format of application (a clear, easy-to-answer questionnaire, or an interview, etc.).
Detecting which questions are better in terms of discrimination, clarity, ease of response, upon application on a pilot sample.
Applying a revised questionnaire or interview to a sample.
Use appropriate statistical procedures to establish norms for the test.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_test

Situational judgement test

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) or Inventories (SJIs) are a type of psychological test which present the test-taker with realistic, hypothetical scenarios and ask them to identify an appropriate response.^[1] These are generally in amultiple choice format, but represent a distinct psychometric approach from the common knowledge-based multiple choice item.^[1]^[2] They are often used in industrial-organizational psychology applications such as personnel selection.

Unlike most psychological tests SJTs are not acquired 'off-the-shelf', but are in fact designed as a bespoke tool, tailor-made to suit the individual role requirements.^[1] This is because SJTs are not a type of test with respect to their content, but are a method of designing tests.

History

The earliest judgement test was a scale in the George Washington University Social Intelligence Test published in 1926.^[2]

Situational judgement tests then went on to be used in World War II by psychologists in the US military.^[2]

Today, SJTs are used in many organisations, are promoted by various consulting firms, and are researched by many.^[2]

Example

Everyone in your work group has received a new computer except you. What would you do?

A. Assume it was a mistake and speak to your supervisor.
B. Confront your supervisor regarding why you are being treated unfairly.
C. Take a new computer from a co-worker's desk.
D. Complain to human resources.
E. Quit.^[2]

Advantages over other measures

They show reduced levels of adverse impact, by gender and ethnicity, (Hoare, Day & Smith, (1998)) compared to cognitive ability tests.^[1]^[3]

They use measures that directly assess job relevant behaviours.^[1]

They can be administered in bulk, either via pen and paper or on-line.^[1]

The SJT design process results in higher relevance of content than other psychometric assessments (e.g. Motowildo, Hansen & Crafts,(1997)).^[3] They are therefore more acceptable and engaging to candidates compared to cognitive ability tests since scenarios are based on real incidents^[1]

It is unlikely that practice will enhance candidate performance as the answers cannot be arrived at logically a response to a situation may be appropriate in one organisation and inappropriate in another.^[1]

They can tap into a variety of constructs ranging from problem solving and decision making to interpersonal skills.^[1] Traditional psychometric tests do not account for the interaction between ability, personality and other traits.^[3]

They can be used in combination with a knowledge based test to give a better overall picture of a candidate's aptitude for a certain job.^[4]

Criticisms

The scenarios in many SJTs tend to be brief; therefore candidates do not become fully immersed in the scenario. This removes some of the intended realism of the scenario and reduces the quality and depth of assessment that can be obtained.^[3]

SJI responses can be transparent, providing more of an index of best practice knowledge in some cases and therefore failing to discriminate between candidates' work-related performance.^[3]

The response formats in some SJIs do not present a full enough range of responses to the scenario. Candidates can be forced to select actions or responses that do not necessarily fit their behaviour. They can find this frustrating and this can affect the validity of such measures (e.g. Chan & Schmitt, (2005); Ployhart & Harold, (2004); Schmit & Ryan, (1992)).

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ "Situational Judgement Tests: Are they just measures of cognitive ability?". Human Assets. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e McDaniel, Michael A.; Whetzel, Deborah L.. "Situational Judgment Tests. An IPMAAC Workshop" (PDF). IPMA-HR Assessment Council. Retrieved on2007-08-07.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Technical Information". Harcourt Assessment. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.

^ Rahman, Mahibur. "Tackling situational judgment tests". BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-08-07.

Other References

^{^} Hoare, S., Day, A., & Smith, M. (1998). The development and evaluation of situations inventories. Selection & Development Review, 14(6), 3-8.

^{^} Motowildo, S.J., Hanson, M.A., & Crafts, J.L. (1997). Low fidelity simulations. In D.L. Whetzel & G.R. Wheaton (Eds.), Applied Measurement in industrial Psychology. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black.

^{^} Chan, D., & Schmitt, N. (2005). An agenda for future research on applicants' reactions to selection procedures: A construct-orientated approach. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 12, 9-23.

^{^} Ployhart, R.E., & Harold, C.M. (2004). The applicant attribution-reaction theory (AART): An integrative approach of applicant attributional processing. International Journal of Selection & Assessment, 12, 84-98.

^{^} Schmit, M.J., & Ryan, A.M. (1992). Test-taking dispositions: A missing link? Journal of Applied Psychology, 77, 629-637.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situational_judgement_test

Employment testing

2008-09-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

Employment testing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Employment testing is the practice of administering written, oral or other tests as a means of determining the suitability or desirability of a job applicant. The premise is that if scores on some test correlate with job performance, then it is economically useful for the employer to select employees based on scores from that test.

Background

As long as there have been employers and employees, employers have looked to various means to pre-qualify applicants for various jobs or positions, or test existing employees to help determine which employee or employees may best qualified for a new position or promotion. Although some employers have misused testing as a discriminatory tool, most employers sincerely want a win-win situation for their employees.^{[citation needed]}

If employees are evaluated and determined to have the right background, personality, education and experience for the job, they are more likely to perform better for the employer and have a higher degree of personal job satisfaction.^{[citation needed]}

Legal context (United States)

The United States Supreme Court has decided several cases which have clarified the place of employment testing in the context of discrimination law, in particular, for the discriminatory use of tests when considering employees for promotion by requiring tests beyond the education that may be required for the job. A central finding is that the employer must demonstrate (or be prepared to demonstrate) that their selection process is job-related.^[1]

Employers considering using employment tests, particularly knowledge and aptitude-based tests, should perform due diligence to assure that questions are reasonably related to the job; advice from counsel may be sensible. An example of "reasonably related" might be giving a math test to applicants for engineering positions, as math is used as part of such jobs. In order to comply with the decision in Griggs, the employer must assure the test is a reasonable measure of job performance. Therefore, if the math questions were engineering related, and not from other disciplines, and it were documented that employees lacking a reasonable knowledge of math capabilities did not succeed as engineers, the test would likely meet the Griggs test. Conversely, requiring a math test for a receptionist may be considered unreasonable as math it may be unrelated to the daily requirements of the job. for all employment tests, common sense and reasonableness must apply.

Test types used

Different types of assessments may be used for employment testing, including personality tests, intelligence tests, work samples, and assessment centers. Some correlate better with job performance with others; employers often utilize more than one to maximize predictive power.

Personality tests

Personality Tests can be useful in personnel selection: of the well-known "Big Five" personality factors, only conscientiousness correlates substantially with job performance, but that correlation is strong enough to be predictive.^[2]

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a highly validated psychopathology test generally used in a clinical psychology setting that may reveal potential mental health disorders. Official MMPI-2 Description However, this can be considered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as the employer having knowledge of a medical condition prior to an offer of employment, which is an illegal basis on which to base a hiring decision in the United States. Employers considering personality tests should focus on those designed for that purpose and do not provide any information regarding an applicant's mental health or stability.

Notable situations in which the MMPI may be used, and is sometimes mandated, are in final selection for police officers, fire fighters, and other security and emergency personnel, especially when required to carry weapons. In that context, an assessment of mental stability and fitness can be argued as "reasonably related" and necessary in the performance of the job.

Intelligence tests

Tests of general intelligence are said to correlate very highly with job performance.^[3] All other things being equal, supporters claim that a more intelligent person is able to perform more efficiently. This is especially true in cognitive loaded professions, although observed correlations be low due to range restriction (e.g., most brain surgeons are highly intelligent). Those opposed to the use of these tests note that there are substantial cultural effects on scores, and that many prominent psychologists do not agree that there is a single measure of intelligence (eg, Professor Howard Gardner).

Job-Knowledge tests

"Job knowledge tests are used in situations where applicants must already possess a body of learned information prior to being hired." - U.S. Office of Personnel Management^[4] Job knowledge tests are particularly useful in situations where applicants are required to have specialized knowledge or technical know-how that can only be acquired through extended periods of either experience or training. Examples of such fields are computer programming, law, financial management. Licensing exams and certification programs are also types of job knowledge tests. Passing such exams indicate competence in the field's subject or area. A major consideration of job knowledge tests is validity. Tests must be representative of the tested field, otherwise complaints in the form of litigation can be brought against the test-giver. Companies such asRamsay Corporation offer validity studies to avoid such litigation.[2]

References

^ Griggs v. Duke Power Co. :401 U.S. 424 (1971)
^ Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The big five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, 1-26.
^ Schmidt, F.L., & Hunter, J. (2004). General Mental Ability in the World of Work: Occupational Attainment and Job Performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(1), 162173.[1]
^ "Assessment Decision Guide". Retrieved on 2008-08-14.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_testing

Psychological testing

2008-09-24T18:35:00.001-07:00

Psychological testing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Psychological testing is a field characterized by the use of samples of behavior in order to infer generalizations about a given individual. The technical term for the science behind psychological testing is psychometrics. By samples of behavior, one means observations over time of an individual performing tasks that have usually been prescribed beforehand, which often means scores on a test. These responses are often compiled into statistical tables that allow the evaluator to compare the behavior of the individual being tested to the responses of a norm group.

Psychological testing is not the same as psychological assessment. Psychological assessment is a process that involves the integration of information from multiple sources, such as psychological tests, and other information such as personal and medical history, description of current symptoms and problems by either self or others, and collateral information (interviews with other persons about the person being assessed). A psychological test is one of the sources of data used within the process of assessment; usually more than one test is used. All psychologists do some level of assessment when providing services to clients or patients, and may use for example, simple checklists to assess some traits or symptoms, but psychological assessment is a more complex, detailed, in-depth process. Typical types of focus for psychological assessment are to provided a diagnosis, assess level of function or disability, help direct treatment, and assess treatment outcome. ^[1]

A useful psychological measure must be both valid (i.e., actually measures what it claims to measure) and reliable (i.e., internally consistent or give consistent results over time).

Types of Psychological Tests

There are several broad categories of psychological tests:

Norm-referenced

Norms are statistical representations of a population. A norm-referenced test compares an individual's results on the test with the statistical representation of the population. In practice, rather than testing a population, a representative sample or group is tested. This provides a group norm or set of norms. One representation of norms is the Bell curve (also called "normal curve"). Norms are available for standardized psychological tests, allowing for an understanding of how an individual's scores compare with the group norms. Norm referenced testing is used to assess characteristics, e.g., MMPI, achievement Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

IQ/achievement tests

IQ tests are measures of ability, while achievement tests are measures of the use and level of develop of use of the ability. IQ (or cognitive) tests and achievement tests are common norm-referenced tests. In these types of tests, a series of tasks is presented to the person being evaluated, and the person's responses are graded according to carefully prescribed guidelines. After the test is completed, the results can be compiled and compared to the responses of a norm group, usually comprised of people at the same age or grade level as the person being evaluated. IQ tests which contain a series of tasks typically divide the tasks into verbal (relying on the use of language) and performance, or non-verbal (relying on eye-hand types of tasks, or use of symbols or objects). Examples of verbal IQ test tasks are vocabulary and information (answering general knowledge questions). Non-verbal examples are timed completion of puzzles (object assembly), making designs out of coloured blocks (block design).

IQ tests (e.g., WAIS-III, WISC-IV, Cattell Culture Fair III, K-BIT (Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990), Universal Nonverbal Intelligence Test) and academic achievement tests (e.g., WIAT, WRAT) are designed to be administered to either an individual (by a trained evaluator) or to a group of people (paper and pencil tests). The individually-administered tests tend to be more comprehensive, more reliable, more valid and generally to have better psychometric characteristics than group-administered tests. However, individually-administered tests are more expensive to administer because of the need for a trained administrator (psychologist, school psychologist, or psychometrician) and because of the limitation of working with just one client at a time.

Neuropsychological tests

Main article: Neuropsychological test

These tests consist of specifically designed tasks used to measure a psychological function known to be linked to a particular brain structure or pathway. They are typically used to assess impairment after an injury or illness known to affect neurocognitive functioning, or when used in research, to contrast neuropsychological abilities across experimental groups.

Personality tests

Main article: Personality test

Psychological measures of personality are often described as either objective tests or projective tests. Some projective tests are used less often today because they are more time consuming to administer.

Objective tests (Rating scale)

Objective tests have a restricted response format, such as allowing for true or false answers or rating using an ordinal scale. Prominent examples of objective personality tests include the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (Millon, 1994), Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001), and the Beck Depression Inventory (Beck & Steer, 1996). Objective personality tests can be designed for use in business for potential employees, such as the NEO-PI, the 16PF, and the Occupational Personality questionnaire, all of which are based on the Big Five taxonomy. The Big Five, or Five Factor Model of normal personality has gained acceptance since the early 1990s when some influential meta-analyses (e.g., Barrick & Mount 1991) found consistent relationships among the Big Five personality factors (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism [OCEAN])

Projective tests (Free response measures)

Projective tests allow for a freer type of response. An example of this would be the Rorschach test, in which a person states what each of ten ink blots might be. The terms "objective test" and "projective test" have recently come under criticism in the Journal of Personality Assessment. The more descriptive "rating scale or self-report measures" and "free response measures" are suggested, rather than the terms "objective tests" and "projective tests," respectively.

As improved sampling and statistical methods developed, much controversy regarding the utility and validity of projective testing has occurred. The use of clinical judgement rather than norms and statistics to evaluate people's characteristics has convinced many that projectives are deficient and unreliable (results are too dissimilar each time a test is given to the same person). However, many practitioners continue to rely on projective testing, and some testing experts (e.g., Cohen, Anastasi) suggest that these measures can be useful in developing therapeutic rapport. They may also be useful in creating inferences to follow-up with other methods. Possibly they have lingered in usage because they have a mystical and fascinating reputation, and are more attractive to uninformed people than answering objective tests, e.g., true/false questionnaires. The most widely used scoring system for the Rorschach is the Exner system of scoring (Exner & Erdberg, 2005). Another common projective test is the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT; Murray, 1943), which is often scored with Drew Westen's (1991) Social Cognition and Object Relations Scales and Phebe Cramer's Defense Mechanisms Manual (1991, 2002). Both "rating scale" and "free response" measures are used in contemporary clinical practice, with a trend toward the former.

Other projective tests include the House-Tree-Person Test, Robert's Apperception Test, and the Attachment Projective.

Direct observation tests

Although most psychological tests are "rating scale" or "free response" measures, psychological assessment may also involve the observation of people as they complete activities. This type of assessment is usually conducted with families in a laboratory, home or with children in a classroom. The purpose may be clinical, such as to establish a pre-intervention baseline of a child's hyperactive or aggressive classroom behaviors or to observe the nature of a parent-child interaction in order to understand a relational disorder. Direct observation procedures are also used in research, for example to study the relationship between intrapsychic variables and specific target behaviors, or to explore sequences of behavioral interaction.

The Parent-Child Interaction Assessment-II (PCIA; Holigrocki, Kaminski & Frieswyk, 1999) is an example of a direct observation procedure that is used with school-age children and parents. The parents and children are video recorded playing at a make-believe zoo. The Parent-Child Early Relational Assessment (Clark, 1999) is used to study parents and young children and involves a feeding and a puzzle task. TheMacArthur Story Stem Battery (MSSB; Bretherton et al., 1990) is used to elicit narratives from children. The Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-II (Eyberg, 1981) tracks the extent to which children follow the commands of parents and vice versa and is well suited to the study of children with Oppositional Defiant Disorders and their parents.

See also

Employment testing

Objective test

Projective test

Self-report inventory

Situational judgement test

Footnotes

^ Standards for Education and Training in Psychological Assessment: Position of the Society for Personality Assessment - An Official Statement of the Board of Trustees of the Society for Personality Assessment. Journal of Personality Assessment, 87, 355-357.

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for the ASEBA School-Age Forms and Profiles. Burlington: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.

Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd ed. San Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.

Bretherton, I., Oppenheim, D., Buchsbaum, H., Emde, R. N., & the MacArthur Narrative Group. (1990). MacArthur Story-Stem battery.Unpublished manual.

Cramer, P. (2002). Defense Mechanism Manual, revised June 2002. Unpublished manuscript, Williams College. (Available from Dr. Phebe Cramer.)

Exner, J. E. & Erdberg, P. (2005) The Rorschach: A comprehensive system: advanced Interpretation (3rd Edition. Vol 2). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley and Sons.

Holigrocki, R. J, Kaminski, P. L., & Frieswyk, S. H. (1999). Introduction to the Parent-Child Interaction Assessment. Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic, 63(3), 413-428.

Kaufman, A. S., & Kaufman, N. L. (1990). K-BIT: Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test manual. Circle Pines, Minnesota: American Guidance Service.

Millon, T. (1994). Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.

Murray, H. A. (1943). Thematic Apperception Test manual. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Westen, D. (1991). Social cognition and object relations. Psychological Bulletin, 109(3), 429-455.

External links

[1] "What is Psychological Testing?" More information from the Web-TV series "Contemporary Psychology".

[2] HR Tests - Employment testing, personnel selection, and assessment

International Public Management Association for Human Resources Assessment Counsel (IPMAAC)

[3] Society for Personality Assessment: Standards for Education and Training in Psychological Assessment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_testing

List of important publications in psychology

2008-09-24T18:07:00.000-07:00

List of important publications in psychology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from List of publications in psychology)

This is a list of important publications in psychology, organized by field.

Some reasons why a particular publication might be regarded as important:

Topic creator A publication that created a new topic
Breakthrough A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly
Introduction A publication that is a good introduction or survey of a topic
Influence A publication which has significantly influenced the world
Latest and greatest The current most advanced result in a topic

Introducing Psychology

Joni E. Johnston The Complete Idiot's Guide to Psychology, 3rd edition. 2006. Penguin Books, U.S.A. An introduction to psychology for general public and students.

Nigel Benson Introducing Psychology, 1998. Totem/Icon Books. An introduction to psychology for general public and students. Popular, International best-selling, 14 languages

Principles of Psychology

William James Principles of Psychology, 1890. This monumental text can be viewed as the beginning of psychology. Online versionhttp://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/Principles/index.htm

Psychoanalysis and psychotherapy

The Interpretation of Dreams

Sigmund Freud The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900. Online version http://www.psywww.com/books/interp/toc.htm. Dream interpretation became a part of psychoanalysis due to this seminal work.

Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis

Sigmund Freud Introductory Lectures on Psycho-analysis, 1920. Book available in several translations. Discussion of slips, transference, and dream analysis. Includes classic case studies.

Personality

A Theory of Human Motivation

Abraham Maslow A Theory of Human Motivation. Psychological Review 1943;50:370-396. Online version Online version. In this paper theMaslow's hierarchy of needs was described.

Behaviorism

Psychology as the behaviorist views it

John B. Watson Psychology as the behaviorist views it. Psychological Review 1913;20:158-177. Online version [http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Watson/views.htm. With his behaviorism, Watson put the emphasis on external behaviour of people and their reaction to a given situation, rather than the internal, mental state of those people. In his opinion, the analysis of behaviour and reactions was the only objective way to get insight into human actions.

Science and Human Behavior

B.F. Skinner. Published in 1953. An online version is available [1]. This is Skinner's seminal textbook, in which he discusses many subjects that are not usually covered, such as psychotherapy, self-control, and thinking. It was written as part of a publishing deal so that he could get his utopian fiction novel published. It has proven to be an enduring Radical Behaviorist treatment of the person and society. Pavlovian behaviorism has been absorbed into and obliterated by other theories of behavior, including Radical Behaviorism.

Cognitivism

Alan Turing (1950) "Computing machinery and intelligence". Mind, vol. LIX, no. 236, October 1950, pp. 433-460. eprint
Jerry Fodor (1975) The Language of thought
Zenon Pylyshyn (1984) Computation and Cognition
Stevan Harnad (1994) Computation Is Just Interpretable Symbol Manipulation: Cognition Isn't. Minds and Machines 4: 379-390.

Folk psychology

Michael White (2001) Folk psychology and narrative practice. Dulwich Centre Journal 2: 1-37.

Functionalism

Gestalt psychology

Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement

Max Wertheimer. Experimental Studies of the Perception of Movement, 1912. Considered to be the founding article for Gestalt psychology. The article described the Phi phenomenon.

The Gestalt Approach & Eye Witness to Therapy

Fritz Perls. The Gestalt Approach & Eye Witness to Therapy, 1973. This is Perls' final and most complete formulation of gestalt psychology and therapy.

Humanistic psychology

Phenomenology

Medard Boss, Existential Foundations of Medicine and Psychology (Jason Aronson, 1984; ISBN 1-56821-420-0)
Medard Boss, Psychoanalysis and Daseinsanalysis (Da Capo Pr, 1982; ISBN 0-306-79708-9)
Medard Boss, The Analysis of Dreams (Philosophical Library, 1958)
Amedeo Giorgi, Psychology as a Human Science (Harper & Row, 1970)
R. D. Laing, The Divided Self (Penguin, 1965)
Robert D Romanyshyn, Mirror and Metaphor: Images and Stories of Psychological Life (Trivium, 2001)
Ernesto Spinelli, The Interpreted World: An Introduction to Phenomenological Psychology (Sage, 2nd Edition, 2005)
Erwin Straus, Man, Time and World (Humanities Press, 1982)
Erwin Straus, The Primary World of the Senses (Free Press of Glencoe, 1963)
Jan Hendrik van den Berg, A Different Existence (Duquesne University Press, 1973)

Structuralist psychology|Structuralism

Cognitive psychology

Albert Bandura. Transmission of Aggression Through Imitation of Aggressive Models
Keith Holyoak and Robert Morrison. The Cambridge Handbook of Thinking and Reasoning (2005). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-53101-2. A recent comprehensive collection of survey chapters on topics in higher cognition.

Evolution and psychology

Genetic Psychology

Baldwin, JM. (1896). A New Factor in Evolution. The American Naturalist, 30(354), 441-451.
Piaget, Jean. (1979). Behaviour and Evolution (D. Nicholson-Smith, Trans.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1976)
Simpson, GG. (1953). The Baldwin Effect. Evolution, 7(2), 110-117.
Weber, BH. & Depew, D. J. (Eds.). (2003). Evolution and Learning: The Baldwin Effect Reconsidered. Cambridge, MA: Bradford/MIT Press.

Evolutionary Psychology

Jerome Barkow, Leda Cosmides and John Tooby (1992). The Adapted Mind. NY: Oxford University Press.
Buss, D.M.(2004).Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind.Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.

Evolutionary developmental psychology

Bjorklund DF, Pellegrini AD. (2002). The Origins of Human Nature: Evolutionary Developmental Psychology. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Burgess RL, MacDonald. (Eds.) (2004). Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Development, 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Ellis BJ, Bjorklund DF. (Eds.) (2005). Origins of the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and child development . New York: Guilford Press.

Evolutionary educational psychology

Geary, D. C. (2002). Principles of evolutionary educational psychology. Learning and Individual Differences, 12, 317-345.

Geary, D. C. (2005). Folk knowledge and academic learning. In B. J. Ellis & D. F. Bjorklund (Eds.), Origins of the social mind (pp. 493-519). New York: Guilford Publications.

Clinical psychology

Emil Kraepelin. "Textbook" of Psychiatry, 1893. This publication was the foundation of the classification systems used in today's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Developmental psychology

Baldwin, JM. (1894). Mental development in the child and the race. New York: Macmillan.
Beilin, H. (1992). Piaget's Enduring Contribution to Developmental Psychology. Developmental Psychology, 28(2), 191-204.
Bringuier, JC. (Ed.). (1980). Conversations with Jean Piaget. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1977)
Chapman, M. (1988). Constructive Evolution: Origins and Development of Piaget's Thought. Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge Press.
Gruber, HE, Vonèche JJ. (Eds.). (1993). The Essential Piaget: An Interpretive Reference and Guide (2nd ed.). Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson.
Lourenço, O, Machado A. (1996). In Defense of Piaget's Theory: A Reply to 10 Common Criticisms. Psychological Review, 103(1), 143-164.
Piaget, Jean. (1952). The Origins of Intelligence in Children (M. Cook, Trans. 2nd ed.). New York: International Universities Press. (Original work published 1936)
Piaget, Jean. (1985). The Equilibration of Cognitive Structures: The Central Problem of Intellectual Development (T. Brown & K. J. Thampy, Trans.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1975)
Siegler, RS. (1996). Emerging Minds: The Process of Change in Children's Thinking. New York: Oxford University Press.

Educational psychology

Anderson, JR, Corbett, AT, Koedinger, KR, Pelletier, R. (1995). Cognitive tutors: Lessons learned. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4, 167-207.
Bandura, A. (1993). Perceived self-efficacy in cognitive development and functioning. Educational psychologist, 28, 117-148.
Cronbach, LJ. (1957). The two disciplines of scientific psychology. American Psychologist, 12, 671-684.
Cronbach, LJ, Meehl, PE. (1955). Construct validity in psychological tests. Psychological Bulletin, 52, 281-302.
Mayer, RE. (1997). Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right questions? Educational Psychologist, 32, 1-19.
Palincsar, AS. (1998). Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 345-375.
Skinner, BF. (1958). Teaching Machines. Science, 128(3330), 969-977.
Spearman, C. (1904). "General intelligence," objectively determined and measured. American Journal of Psychology, 15, 201-293.
Sweller, J, van Merrienboer JJ, Paas FG. (1998). Cognitive architecture and instructional design. Educational Psychology Review, 10, 251-296.
Terman, LM. (1916). The uses of intelligence tests. From The measurement of intelligence (chapter 1). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Thorndike, EL. (1910). The contribution of psychology to education. Journal of Educational Psychology, 1, 5-12.
Thurstone, LL. (1934). The vectors of mind. Psychological Review, 41, 1-32.

Forensic psychology

Forensic Psychology

Alan M. Goldstein. Forensic Psychology, 2003. ISBN 0-471-61920-5. Forty seven forensic psychologists cover the theory and practice of forensic psychology in both civil and criminal litigation.

On the Witness Stand

Hugo Münsterberg. On the Witness Stand, 1908. Considered to be the first publication to apply psychology to legal matters. Among the topics discussed are the reliability of witnesses' testimony and memory, lie detection, and methods of interrogating suspects of crime.

Industrial and organizational psychology

Journals

The Journal of Applied Psychology
Personnel Psychology
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Review
The Journal of Organizational Behavior
The Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology
The Journal of Vocational Behavior
Administrative Science Quarterly
International Journal of Selection and Assessment

Neuropsychology

[Cooper, Bloom, Roth]. The Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology. Oxford University Press, 1996. ISBN 0-19-510399-8.

Social psychology

Classic Readings on Prejudice and Intergroup Relations

[Allport, GW]. (1954). The nature of prejudice. New York: Doubleday. This book expounds one of the most influential theories of prejudice reduction, known as the Contact Hypothesis: increasing contact between members of different groups is the foundation for reducing intergroup hostility.

[Tajfel H, Turner JC]. (1979). An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. In W.G. Austin & S. Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole. This is a classic paper on Social Identity Theory (SIT). SIT is one of the most prominent and influential theories concerning intergroup relations. SIT proposes that social context is the key factor shaping how different social groups are perceived and treated.

Perceptual Psychology

Gustav Fechner. Elements of Psychophysics, sections VII and XVI. Foundation of the field of psychophysics. Online versionhttp://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Fechner/

Journals

Health psychology

Critical psychology

Post-cognivitist psychology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_publications_in_psychology

Psychology

2008-09-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

Psychology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Psychological science" redirects here. For the journal, see Psychological Science (journal).

Not to be confused with Phycology.

Psychology is an academic and applied discipline involving the scientific study of mental processes and behavior. Psychologists study such phenomena as perception, cognition, emotion, personality, behavior, and interpersonal relationships. Psychology also refers to the application of such knowledge to various spheres of human activity, including issues related to daily life (e.g. family, education, and work) and thetreatment of mental health problems. Psychologists attempt to understand the role of these functions in individual and social behavior, while also exploring the underlying physiological and neurological processes. Psychology includes many sub-fields of study and application concerned with such areas as human development, sports, health, industry, media, and law.

History

Main article: History of psychology

Philosophical and scientific roots

The study of psychology in a philosophical context dates back to the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, China and India. Psychology began adopting a more clinical^[1] and experimental^[2] approach under medieval Muslim psychologists and physicians, who built psychiatric hospitalsfor such purposes.^[3]

Though the use of psychological experimentation dates back to Alhazen's Book of Optics in 1021,^[2]^[4] psychology as an independent experimental field of study began in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychological research atLeipzig University in Germany, for which Wundt is known as the "father of psychology".^[5] 1879 is thus sometimes regarded as the "birthdate" of psychology. The American philosopher William James published his seminal book, Principles of Psychology,^[6] in 1890, while laying the foundations for many of the questions that psychologists would focus on for years to come. Other important early contributors to the field include Hermann Ebbinghaus (18501909), a pioneer in the experimental study of memory at the University of Berlin; and the Russianphysiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), who investigated the learning process now referred to as classical conditioning.

Psychoanalysis

Auguste Rodin's The Thinker.

During the 1890s, the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud developed a method of psychotherapy known aspsychoanalysis. Freud's understanding of the mind was largely based on interpretive methods, introspectionand clinical observations, and was focused in particular on resolving unconscious conflict, mental distress and psychopathology. Freud's theories became very well-known, largely because they tackled subjects such as sexuality, repression, and the unconscious mind as general aspects of psychological development. These were largely considered taboo subjects at the time, and Freud provided a catalyst for them to be openly discussed in polite society. Freud also had a significant influence on Carl Jung, whose analytical psychology became an alternative form of depth psychology. Philosopher Karl Popper argued that Freud's psychoanalytic theories were presented in untestable form.^[7] Due to their subjective nature, Freud's theories are often of limited interest to many scientifically-oriented psychology departments. Followers of Freud who accept the basic ideas of psychoanalysis but alter it in some way are called neo-Freudians. Modification of Jung's theories has led to the archetypal and process-oriented schools of psychological thought.

Behaviorism

Founded by John B. Watson and embraced and extended by Edward Thorndike, Clark L. Hull, Edward C. Tolman, and later B.F. Skinner,behaviorism gained popularity as a guiding psychological theory during the early decades of the 20th century. Its development was partly due to the success of laboratory based animal experimentation and partly in reaction to Freudian psychodynamics which tended to rely on case studies and clinical experience. Freud's theories and practice focused on the resolution unconscious conflict often arising from childhood experiences to treat psychological trauma and psychosis. However, it was argued that Freud's theories were difficult to test empirically.

Behaviorism differs from other perspectives in a number of ways. Behaviorists focus on behavior-environment relations and analyze overt and covert (i.e., private) behavior as a function of the organism interacting with its environment ^[8]. Behaviorists do not reject the study of covert or private events (e.g., dreaming). What behaviorists reject is an autonomous causal entity inside the organism that causes overt (e.g., walking, talking) or covert (e.g., dreaming, imagining) behavior. Concepts such as "mind" or "consciousness" are not used by behaviorists because such terms do not describe actual psychological events (such as imagining) but are used as explanatory entities hidden somewhere in the organism. By contrast, behavorism treats private events as behavior, and analyzes them in the same way as overt behavior (hence the name "behaviorism"). Behavior refers to the concrete events of the organism, overt or private. Furthermore, the focus on behavior-environment relations does not neglect the importance of genes or biology in relation to behavior. Rather, the study of behavior-enironment relations provides a powerful tool to examine the effects of these and other variables. Skinner was also a proponent of introspection in the sense that he felt it could be used to point to environmental variables of which behavior (overt and covert) is a function (Skinner, 1974). To Skinner, however, what was "spected" in introspection was not mental phenomena, but the organisms physical body. Other behaviorists before Skinner had differing views regarding these matters. For instance, in "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It" (1913),^[9] Watson argued that psychology "is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science," that "introspection forms no essential part of its methods," and that "the behaviorist recognizes no dividing line between man and brute." Skinner rejected hypothesis testing as a research method, considering it to be too conducive to speculative theories that may desensitize the researcher to interesting and unanticipated happenings in his experiments.^[10]

Behaviorism was the dominant paradigm in American psychology throughout the first half of the 20th century. However, the modern field of psychology is largely dominated by cognitive psychology. Linguist Noam Chomsky's 1959 review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior challenged the behaviorist approaches to studies of behavior and language dominant at the time and contributed to the cognitive revolution in psychology. Chomsky was highly critical of what he considered arbitrary notions of 'stimulus', 'response' and 'reinforcement' which Skinner borrowed from animal experiments in the laboratory. Chomsky argued that Skinner's notions could only be applied to complex human behavior, such as language acquisition, in a vague and superficial manner. Chomsky emphasized that research and analysis must not ignore the contribution of the child in the acquisition of language and proposed that humans are born with a natural ability to acquire language.^[11] Work most associated with psychologist Albert Bandura, who initiated and studied social learning theory, showed that children could learn aggression from a role model through observational learning, without any change in overt behavior, and so must be accounted for by internal processes.^[12]

Existentialism and humanism

Humanistic psychology was developed in the 1950s in reaction to both behaviorism and psychoanalysis, arising largely from the existentialphilosophy of writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Søren Kierkegaard. By using phenomenology, intersubjectivity and first-person categories, the humanistic approach seeks to glimpse the whole person--not just the fragmented parts of the personality or cognitive functioning.^[13]Humanism focuses on uniquely human issues and fundamental issues of life, such as self-identity, death, aloneness, freedom, and meaning. There are several factors which distinguish the Humanistic Approach from other approaches within psychology, including the emphasis on subjective meaning, a rejection of determinism, and a concern for positive growth rather than pathology. Some of the founding theorists behind this school of thought were Abraham Maslow who formulated a hierarchy of human needs, Carl Rogers who created and developed Client-centered therapy, and Fritz Perls who helped create and develop Gestalt therapy. It became so influential as to be called the "third force" within psychology (along with behaviorism and psychoanalysis).^[14]

Cognitivism

As computer technology proliferated, so emerged the metaphor of mental function as information processing. This, combined with a scientific approach to studying the mind, as well as a belief in internal mental states, led to the rise of cognitivism as a popular model of the mind. Cognitive psychology differs from other psychological perspectives in two key ways. First, it accepts the use of the scientific method, and generally rejects introspection as a method of investigation, unlike symbol-driven approaches such as Freudian psychodynamics. Second, it explicitly acknowledges the existence of internal mental states (such as belief, desire and motivation), whereas behaviorism does not.

Links between brain and nervous system function also became understood, partly due to the experimental work of people such as Charles Sherrington and Donald Hebb, and partly due to studies of people with brain injury (see cognitive neuropsychology). With the development of technologies for measuring brain function, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience have become increasingly active areas of contemporary psychology. Cognitive psychology has been subsumed along with other disciplines, such as philosophy of mind, computer science, andneuroscience, under the umbrella discipline of cognitive science.

Psychology's Three Main Levels of Analysis

Psychology has adopted an integrated perspective towards understanding consciousness, behavior, and social interaction. This perspective is commonly referred to as the biopsychosocial approach. The basic tenet of the biopsychosocial model is that any given behavior or mental process affect and are affected by dynamically interrelated biological, psychological, and social factors. ^[15]

Psychological Level of Analysis

The psychological level of analysis refers to the role that cognition and emotions play in any given psychological phenomenon. For example, the effect of mood or beliefs and expectations on an individual's reactions to an event.

Biological Level of Analysis

The biological level of analysis refers to the role that biological factors (such as genetic variability or brain function and development) play in a psychological phenomenon. For example, the effect that the prenatal environment and brain development may have on an individual's future cognitive ability.

Social-Cultural Level of Analysis

The social-cultural level of analysis refers to the role that social and cultural environments play in a given psychological phenomenon. For example, the role of parental or peer influence in the behaviors or characteristics of an individual.

Introduced in the 1970s, the emergence of this model is described as a progressive reaction to the bio-reductionism of earlier approaches to psychology. ^[16]

Schools of thought

Main article: List of psychological schools

Various schools of thought have argued for a particular model to be used as a guiding theory by which all, or the majority, of human behavior can be explained. The popularity of these has waxed and waned over time. Some psychologists may think of themselves as adherents to a particular school of thought and reject the others, although most consider each as an approach to understanding the mind, and not necessarily as mutually exclusive theories. On the basis of Tinbergen's four questions a framework of reference of all fields of psychological research can be established (including anthropological research and humanities).

Subfields

Psychology encompasses a vast domain, and includes many different approaches to the study of mental processes and behavior. Below are the major areas of inquiry that comprise psychology. A comprehensive list of the sub-fields and areas within psychology can be found at the list of psychological topics and list of psychology disciplines.

Abnormal psychology

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Main article: Abnormal psychology

Abnormal psychology is the study of abnormal behavior in order to describe, predict, explain, and change abnormal patterns of functioning. Abnormal psychology studies the nature of psychopathology and its causes, and this knowledge is applied in clinical psychology to treat a patient with psychological disorders.

In the study of abnormal behavior, it can be difficult to define the line between which behaviors are considered normal and which are not. In general, abnormal behaviors must be maladaptive and cause an individual subjective discomfort (signs of emotional distress). Generally, abnormal behaviors are classified as:

Abnormal as in "infrequent" in relation to the overall population.

Abnormal as in "maladaptive". The behavior fails to promote well being, growth, and fulfillment of a person.

Abnormal as in "deviant". The behavior is not socially acceptable.

Abnormal as in "unjustifiable". The behavior that cannot be rationalized.

Biological psychology

Main articles: Biological psychology, Neuropsychology, Physiological psychology, Cognitive neuroscience, and Evolutionary psychology

MRI depicting the human brain. The arrow indicates the position of the hypothalamus.

Biological psychology is the scientific study of the biological bases of behavior and mental states. Because all behavior is controlled by the nervous system, it is sensible to study how the brain functions in order to understand behavior. This is the approach taken in behavioral neuroscience, cognitive neuroscience, andneuropsychology. Neuropsychology is the branch of psychology that aims to understand how the structure and function of the 'brain' relate to specific behavioral and psychological processes. Often neuropsychologists are employed as scientists to advance scientific or medical knowledge. Neuropsychology is particularly concerned with the understanding of brain injury in an attempt to work out normal psychological function. The approach of cognitive neuroscience to studying the link between brain and behavior is to use neuroimaging tools, such as to observe which areas of the brain are active during a particular task.

Cognitive psychology

Main article: Cognitive psychology

Cognitive psychology studies cognition, the mental processes underlying behavior. It uses information processing as a framework for understanding the mind. Perception, learning, problem solving, memory, attention, language and emotion are all well researched areas. Cognitive psychology is associated with a school of thought known as cognitivism, whose adherents argue for aninformation processing model of mental function, informed by positivism and experimental psychology.

On a broader level, Cognitive science is a conjoined enterprise of cognitive psychologists, neurobiologists, workers in artificial intelligence,logicians, linguists, and social scientists, and places a slightly greater emphasis on computational theory and formalization. Both areas can use computational models to simulate phenomena of interest. Because mental events cannot directly be observed, computational models provide a tool for studying the functional organization of the mind. Such models give cognitive psychologists a way to study the "software" of mental processes independent of the "hardware" it runs on, be it the brain or a computer.

Comparative psychology

Main article: Comparative psychology

Comparative psychology refers to the study of the behavior and mental life of animals other than human beings. It is related to disciplines outside of psychology that study animal behavior, such as ethology. Although the field of psychology is primarily concerned with humans, the behavior and mental processes of animals is also an important part of psychological research, either as a subject in its own right (e.g., animal cognition and ethology), or with strong emphasis about evolutionary links, and somewhat more controversially, as a way of gaining an insight into human psychology by means of comparison or via animal models of emotional and behavior systems as seen in neuroscience of psychology (e.g., affective neuroscience and social neuroscience).

Counseling psychology

Main article: Counseling psychology

Counseling psychology seeks to facilitate personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan with a focus on emotional, social,vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns. Counselors are primarily clinicians, using psychotherapy and other interventions in order to treat clients. Traditionally, counseling psychology has focused more on normal developmental issues and everyday stress rather than psychopathology, but this distinction has softened over time. Counseling psychologists are employed in a variety of settings, including universities, hospitals, schools, governmental organizations, businesses, private practice, and community mental health centers.

Clinical psychology

Main article: Clinical psychology

Clinical psychology includes the study and application of psychology for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically-based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and personal development. Central to its practice are psychological assessment and psychotherapy, although clinical psychologists may also engage in research, teaching, consultation, forensic testimony, and program development and administration.^[17] Some clinical psychologists may focus on the clinical management of patients with brain injurythis area is known as clinical neuropsychology. In many countries clinical psychology is a regulated mental health profession.

The work performed by clinical psychologists tends to be done inside various therapy models, all of which involve a formal relationship between professional and clientusually an individual, couple, family, or small groupthat employs a set of procedures intended to form a therapeutic alliance, explore the nature of psychological problems, and encourage new ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving. The four major perspectives are Psychodynamic, Cognitive Behavioral, Existential-Humanistic, and Systems or Family therapy. There has been a growing movement to integrate these various therapeutic approaches, especially with an increased understanding of issues regarding culture, gender, spirituality, and sexual-orientation. With the advent of more robust research findings regarding psychotherapy, there is growing evidence that most of the major therapies are about of equal effectiveness, with the key common element being a strong therapeutic alliance.^[18]^[19] Because of this, more training programs and psychologists are now adopting an eclectic therapeutic orientation.

Developmental psychology

Main article: Developmental psychology

Mainly focusing on the development of the human mind through the life span, developmental psychology seeks to understand how people come to perceive, understand, and act within the world and how these processes change as they age. This may focus on intellectual, cognitive, neural, social, or moral development. Researchers who study children use a number of unique research methods to make observations in natural settings or to engage them in experimental tasks. Such tasks often resemble specially designed games and activities that are both enjoyable for the child and scientifically useful, and researchers have even devised clever methods to study the mental processes of small infants. In addition to studying children, developmental psychologists also study aging and processes throughout the life span, especially at other times of rapid change (such as adolescence and old age). Developmental psychologists draw on the full range of theorists in scientific psychology to inform their research.

Educational psychology

Main article: Educational psychology

Educational psychology is the study of how humans learn in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching, and the social psychology of schools as organizations. The work of child psychologists such as Lev Vygotsky, Jean Piaget andJerome Bruner has been influential in creating teaching methods and educational practices.

Forensic psychology

Main article: Forensic psychology

Forensic psychology covers a broad range of practices primarily involving evaluations of defendants, reports to judges and attorneys, and courtroom testimony on given issues. Forensic psychologists are appointed by the court to conduct competency to stand trial evaluations, competency to be executed evaluations, sanity evaluations, involuntary commitment evaluations, provide sentencing recommendations, and sex offender evaluation and treatment evaluations and provide recommendations to the court through written reports and testimony. Most of the questions the court asks the forensic psychologist are not questions of psychology but rather legal questions. For example, there is no definition of sanity in psychology. Rather, sanity is a legal definition that varies from state to state in the United States and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Therefore, a prime qualification of a forensic psychologist is an intimate understanding of the law, especially criminal law.

Health psychology

Main article: Health psychology

Health psychology is the application of psychological theory and research to health, illness and health care. Whereas clinical psychology focuses on mental health and neurological illness, health psychology is concerned with the psychology of a much wider range of health-related behavior including healthy eating, the doctor-patient relationship, a patient's understanding of health information, and beliefs about illness. Health psychologists may be involved in public health campaigns, examining the impact of illness or health policy on quality of life and in research into the psychological impact of health and social care.

Human factors psychology

Main article: Human factors

Human factors psychology (sometimes called Engineering Psychology) is the study of how cognitive and psychological processes affect our interaction with tools and objects in the environment. The goal of research in human factors psychology is to better design objects by taking into account the limitations and biases of human mental processes and behavior.

Industrial/organizational psychology

Main article: Industrial and organizational psychology

Industrial and organizational psychology (I/O) applies psychological concepts and methods to optimize human potential in the workplace.Personnel psychology, a subfield of I/O psychology, applies the methods and principles of psychology in selecting and evaluating workers. I/O psychology's other subfield, organizational psychology, examines the effects of work environments and management styles on worker motivation, job satisfaction, and productivity. ^[20]

Personality psychology

Main article: Personality psychology

Personality psychology studies enduring psychological patterns of behavior, thought and emotion, commonly called an individual's personality. Theories of personality vary between different psychological schools. Trait theories attempts to break personality down into a number of traits, by use of factor analysis. The number of traits have varied between theories. One of the first, and smallest, models was that of Hans Eysenck, which had three dimensions: extroversionintroversion, neuroticismemotional stability, and psychoticism. Raymond Cattell proposed a theory of 16 personality factors. The theory that has most empirical evidence behind it today may be the "Big Five" theory, proposed by Lewis Goldberg, and others.

Psychology and Law

Main article: Legal psychology

Psychology and Law or Legal psychology is a research-oriented field populated with researchers from several different areas within psychology (although social and cognitive psychologists are typical). Legal psychologists explore such topics as jury decision-making, eyewitness memory, scientific evidence, and legal policy. The term "legal psychology" has only recently come into use, and typically refers to any non-clinical law-related research.

Quantitative psychology

Main article: Quantitative psychology

Quantitative psychology involves the application of mathematical and statistical modeling in psychological research, and the development of statistical methods for analyzing and explaining behavioral data. The term Quantitative psychology is relatively new and little used (only recently have Ph.D. programs in quantitative psychology been formed), and it loosely covers the longer standing subfields psychometrics andmathematical psychology.

Psychometrics is the field of psychology concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits. Measurement of these unobservable phenomena is difficult, and much of the research and accumulated knowledge in this discipline has been developed in an attempt to properly define and quantify such phenomena. Psychometric research typically involves two major research tasks, namely: (i) the construction of instruments and procedures for measurement; and (ii) the development and refinement of theoretical approaches to measurement.

Whereas psychometrics is mainly concerned with individual differences and population structure, mathematical psychology is concerned with modeling of mental and motor processes of the average individual. Psychometrics is more associated with educational psychology, personality, and clinical psychology. Mathematical psychology is more closely related to psychonomics/experimental and cognitive, and physiological psychology and (cognitive) neuroscience.

Social psychology

Main article: Social psychology (psychology)

Social psychology studies the nature and causes of social behavior.

Social psychology is the study of the nature and causes of human social behavior and mental processes, with an emphasis on how people think towards each other and how they relate to each other. Social Psychology aims to understand how we make sense of social situations. For example, social psychologists study the influence of others on an individual's behavior (e.g., conformity or persuasion), the perception and understanding of social cues, or the formation of attitudes or stereotypes about other people. Social cognition is a common approach and involves a mostly cognitive and scientific approach to understanding social behavior.

School psychology

Main article: School psychology

School psychology combines principles from educational psychology and clinical psychology to understand and treat students with learning disabilities; to foster the intellectual growth of "gifted" students; to facilitate prosocial behaviours in adolescents; and otherwise to promote safe, supportive, and effective learning environments. School psychologists are trained in educational and behavioral assessment, intervention, prevention, and consultation, and many have extensive training in research.^[21] Currently, school psychology is the only field in which a professional can be called a "psychologist" without a doctoral degree, with the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) recognizing the Specialist degree as the entry level. This is a matter of controversy as the APA does not recognize anything below a doctorate as the entry level for a psychologist. Specialist-level school psychologists, who typically receive three years of graduate training, function almost exclusively within school systems, while those at the doctoral-level are found in a number of other settings as well, including universities, hospitals, clinics, and private practice.

Research methods

Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (seated) was a German psychologist, generally acknowledged as a founder of experimental psychology.

Research in experimental psychology is conducted in broad accord with the standards of thescientific method, encompassing both qualitative ethological and quantitative statisticalmodalities to generate and evaluate explanatory hypotheses with regard to psychologicalphenomena. Where research ethics and the state of development in a given research domain permits, investigation may be pursued by experimental protocols. Psychology tends to be eclectic, drawing on knowledge from other fields to help explain and understand psychological phenomena. Qualitative psychological research utilizes a broad spectrum of observational methods, including action research, ethography, exploratory statistics, structured interviews, and participant observation, to enable the gathering of rich information unattainable by classical experimentation. Research in humanistic psychology is more typically pursued viaethnographic, historical, and historiographic methods.

The testing of different aspects of psychological function is a significant area of contemporary psychology. Psychometric and statistical methods predominate, including various well-known standardized tests as well as those created ad hoc as the situation or experiment requires.

Academic psychologists may focus purely on research and psychological theory, aiming to further psychological understanding in a particular area, while other psychologists may work in applied psychology to deploy such knowledge for immediate and practical benefit. These approaches are not mutually exclusive, and many psychologists will be involved in both researching and applying psychology at some point during their career. Many clinical psychology programs aim to develop in practicing psychologists both knowledge of and experience with research and experimental methods, which they may interpret and employ as they treat individuals with psychological issues.

When an area of interest requires specific training and specialist knowledge, especially in applied areas, psychological associations normally establish a governing body to manage training requirements. Similarly, requirements may be laid down for university degrees in psychology, so that students acquire an adequate knowledge in a number of areas. Additionally, areas of practical psychology, where psychologists offer treatment to others, may require that psychologists be licensed by government regulatory bodies as well.

Controlled experiments

Main article: Experiment

Experimental psychological research is conducted in a laboratory under controlled conditions. This method of research relies on the application of the scientific method to understand behavior. Experimenters use several types of measurements, including rate of response, reaction time, and various psychometric measurements. Experiments are designed to test specific hypotheses (deductive approach) or evaluate functional relationships (inductive approach). They are important for psychological research because they allow researchers to establish causal relationships between different aspects of behavior and the environment. Importantly, in an experiment, one or more variables of interest are controlled by the experimenter (independent variable) and another variable is measured in response to different conditions (dependent variable). (See also hypothesis testing.) Experiments are one of the primary research methodologies in many areas of psychology, particularlycognitive/psychonomics, mathematical psychology, psychophysiology and biological psychology/cognitive neuroscience.

As an example, suppose an experimenter wanted to answer the following question: does talking on a phone affect one's ability to stop quickly while driving? To answer this, the experimenter would want to show that a subject's stopping time is different when they are talking on a phone versus when they are not. If the experiment is properly conducted in a controlled environment and a difference between the two conditions is found, the experimenter would be able to show a causal relationship between phone use and stopping time. In addition to potential practical benefits, this type of experiment may have important theoretical results, such as helping to explain the processes that underlie attention in humans.

Experiments on humans have been put under some controls; namely informed and voluntary consent. After WWII, the Nuremberg Code was established, because of Nazi abuses of experimental subjects. Later, most countries (and scientific journals) adopted the Declaration of Helsinki. In the US, the NIH established the IRB in 1966. And in 1974, adopted the National Research Act (HR 7724). All of which cover informed consent of human participants in experimental studies. There were a number of influential studies which lead to the establishment of these rules, including the MIT & Fernald School radioisotope studies, the Thalidomide Tragedy, Willowbrook hepatitis study, Milgram's obedience to authority studies.

Animal studies

One of Pavlov's dogs with a surgically implanted cannula to measure salivation.

Animal learning experiments are important in many aspects of psychology such as investigating the biological basis of learning, memory and behavior. In the 1890s, physiologist Ivan Pavlov famously used dogs to demonstrate classical conditioning. Non-human primates, cats, dogs, rats and other rodents are often used in psychological experiments. Controlled experiments involve introducing only one variable at a time, which is why animals used for experiments are housed in laboratory settings. In contrast, human environments and genetic backgrounds vary widely, which makes it difficult to control important variables for human subjects.^[22]

Qualitative and descriptive research

Main article: Qualitative research

Observation in natural settings

Main article: Naturalistic observation

In the same way Jane Goodall studied the role of chimpanzee social and family life, psychologists conduct similar observational studies in human social, professional and family lives. Sometimes the participants are aware they are being observed and other times it is covert; the participants do not know they are being observed. Ethical guidelines need to be taken into consideration when covert observation is being carried out.

Survey questionnaires

Main article: Statistical survey

Statistical surveys are used in psychology for measuring attitudes and traits, monitoring changes in mood, or checking the validity of experimental manipulations. Most commonly, psychologists use paper-and-pencil surveys. However, surveys are also conducted over the phone or through e-mail. Increasingly, web-based surveys are being used in research.^[23] Similar methodology is also used in applied setting, such as clinical assessment and personnel assessment.

Longitudinal studies

A longitudinal study is a research method which observes a particular population over time. For example, one might wish to study specific language impairment (SLI) by observing a group of individuals with the condition over a period of time. This method has the advantage of seeing how a condition can affect individuals over long time scales. However, such studies can suffer from attrition due to drop-out or death of subjects. In addition, since individual differences between members of the group are not controlled, it may be difficult to draw conclusions about the populations. Longitudinal study is a developmental research strategy that involves testing an age group repeatedly over many years. Longitudinal studies answer vital questions about how people develop. This developmental research follows people over years and the outcome has been an incredible array of findings, especially relating to psychological problems.

Neuropsychological methods

Neuropsychology involves the study of both healthy individuals and patients, typically who have suffered either brain injury or mental illness.

Cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive neuropsychiatry study neurological or mental impairment in an attempt to infer theories of normal mind and brain function. This typically involves looking for differences in patterns of remaining ability (known as 'functional disassociation's') which can give clues as to whether abilities are comprised of smaller functions, or are controlled by a single cognitive mechanism.

In addition, experimental techniques are often used which also apply to studying the neuropsychology of healthy individuals. These include behavioral experiments, brain-scanning or functional neuroimaging - used to examine the activity of the brain during task performance, and techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, which can safely alter the function of small brain areas to investigate their importance in mental operations.

Computational modeling

Artificial neural networkwith two layers, an interconnected group of nodes, akin to the vast network of neurons in the human brain.

Computational modeling ^[24] is a tool often used in mathematical psychology and cognitive psychology to simulate a particular behavior using a computer. This method has several advantages. Since modern computers process extremely quickly, many simulations can be run in a short time, allowing for a great deal of statistical power. Modeling also allows psychologists to visualize hypotheses about the functional organization of mental events that couldn't be directly observed in a human.

Several different types of modeling are used to study behavior. Connectionism uses neural networks to simulate the brain. Another method is symbolic modeling, which represents many different mental objects using variables and rules. Other types of modeling include dynamic systems and stochastic modeling.

Criticism and controversies

Status as a science

A common criticism of psychology concerns its fuzziness as a science. Philosopher Thomas Kuhn's 1962 critique implied psychology overall was in a pre-paradigm state, lacking the agreement on overarching theory found in mature sciences such as chemistry and physics. Because some areas of psychology rely on research methods such as surveys and questionnaires, critics have claimed that psychology is not as scientific as many assume. Other phenomena that psychologists are interested in such as personality, thinking and emotion cannot be directly measured and often rely on subjective self-report which is considered inherently unreliable.

The validity of probability testing as a research tool has been called into question. There is concern that this statistical method may promote trivial findings as meaningful, especially when large samples are used.^[25] Some psychologists have responded with an increased use of effect size statistics, rather than sole reliance on the traditional p<.05 decision rule in statistical hypothesis testing.

In recent years, and particularly in the U.S., there has been increasing debate about the nature of therapeutic effectiveness and about the relevance of empirically examining psychotherapeutic strategies.^[26] One argument states that some therapies are based on discredited theories and are unsupported by empirical evidence. The other side points to recent research suggesting that all mainstream therapies are of about equal effectiveness, while also arguing that controlled studies often do not take into consideration real-world conditions (e.g. the high co-morbidity rate or the experience of clinicians); that research is heavily biased towards the methods of the cognitive behavioral therapies (CBT); and that it typically under-represents minority groups.

Concern about fringe clinical practices

There is also concern from researchers about a perceived gap between scientific theory and its application, in particular with the application of esoteric practices. Exponents of evidence-based approaches to clinical psychology practice say that the gap is increasing, and researchers such as Beyerstein (2001) say there has been a large increase in the number of mental health training programs that do not emphasize science training.^[27] According to Lilienfeld (2002) "a wide variety of unvalidated and sometimes harmful psychotherapeutic methods, includingpsychoanalysis, facilitated communication for infantile autism, suggestive techniques for memory recovery (e.g., hypnotic age-regression, guided imagery, body work), energy therapies (e.g., Thought Field Therapy, Emotional Freedom Technique), and New Age therapies of seemingly endless stripes (e.g., rebirthing, reparenting, past-life regression, Primal Scream therapy, neurolinguistic programming ) have either emerged or maintained their popularity in recent decades."^[28] Allen Neuringer made a similar point in the field of the experimental analysis of behavior in 1984.^[29] There are some differences of opinion over the actual extent of the research practitioner gap, but the consensus is on the concern about fringe or quack practices, and the legal view favours the use of empirical validation for any psychological intervention (Faigman and Monahan 2005). The emphasis on improvement of evidence based practice has been made in order to increase the general public's confidence in the health professions, and to avoid instances whereby clients forgo evidence based treatments in favour of unvalidated fringe therapies.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychology

Jung and Analytical Psychology News

2008-05-06T18:14:00.001-07:00

Jung and Analytical Psychology News:
Psychology and the Occult

A fifteen-year-old girl who claimed regular communications with the spirits of her dead friends and relatives was the subject of the very first published work by the now legendary psychoanalyst C.G. Jung.

Collected here, alongside many of his later writings on such subjects as life after death, telepathy and ghosts, it was to mark just the start of a professional and personal interest—even obsession—that was to last throughout Jung's lifetime.

Written by one of the greatest and most controversial thinkers of the twentieth century, Psychology and the Occult represents a fascinating trawl through both the dark, unknown world of the occult and the equally murky depths of the human psyche...

The American Journal of Psychology

2008-05-06T18:11:00.001-07:00

Book Reviews
(Book Review Editor - Dominic W. Massaro)

The American Journal of Psychology reviews books in various areas of cognitive/experimental psychology, philosophy of mind and science, neuroscience, and cognitive science more generally. Given our page limitations, we must be selective about what books we review. Rather than duplicate to some extent book review journals such as Contemporary Psychology, we are seeking a somewhat more ambitious type of book review. We aim to review books that present a latest statement in some area of interest. The goal of the book review would be to include within the context of the review the reviewer's opinion on the state of the art, important questions, productive and not-so-productive approaches to the questions, and prospects for future inquiry. Although the review is open-ended, the target length might be somewhere between 1500 and 3000 words. This charge should be much more challenging and enjoyable than a prototypical book review. In addition to soliciting authors or reviews for specific books of our choosing, we will also consider proposals from reviewers. Scholars interested in reviewing books for the journal should inform the book review editor. Scholars are also encouraged to submit a proposal for a book they would like to review for the journal. Publishers who would like their books considered for a review should send a review copy directly to the book review editor.

Business Psychology

2008-05-06T17:49:00.001-07:00

Business Psychology / Work & Organizational Psychology
We recommend:

Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour: A Student's Handbook (4th Edition)
by Eugene McKenna
ISBN: 978-1-84169-391-0 hbk
ISBN: 978-1-84169-392-7 pbk
www.workpsychologyarena.com

Also of Interest:

The Handbook of Communication Skills (3rd Edition)
edited by Owen Hargie
Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour: A Student's Handbook
Throughout the new edition of this highly-regarded textbook there is broad coverage and well-informed evaluation of different theoretical approaches. Insightful practical examples and vivid illustrations from the business world accompany the discussion, showing how the ideas and theories can be applied.

Business Psychology and Organisational Behaviour has been carefully revised and updated to cover recent developments in the field.

Among the new material are the following issues: self-monitoring and sensation seeking in personality, self-efficacy and social identity in motivation, extra-sensory perception, emotion, knowledge management in learning, investor psychology, trust, virtual teams, upward and lateral leadership, transformational leadership, political skills, virtual organization and other contemporary organisational issues, culture and diversity, business ethics, corporate governance, innovation, models of change, use of technology in selection, mentoring, career development, e-learning, continuous professional development, bullying at work, cognitive strategies to deal with stress, and workplace counselling.

There are a range of helpful features, including learning outcomes, chapter summaries, a comprehensive bibliography and full glossary of key terms. Pointers to additional reading are also provided.

An essential textbook for undergraduates and postgraduates studying psychology and organisational behaviour, it will also be welcomed as a rich source of information by practicing professionals.

To accompany this textbook, we provide a CD-ROM of teaching resources for qualifying adopters. These resources include:

A full chapter-by-chapter Flash slideshow lecture course
A multiple-choice question test bank comprising 20 questions per chapter
A set of sample discussions based on selected themes in each chapter to prompt seminar involvement.
See: www.workpsychologyarena.com/books/book.asp?isbn=184169391X

Comparative Psychology

2008-05-06T17:48:00.001-07:00

Comparative Psychology
We recommend:

Animal Learning and Cognition, 3rd edition
by John M Pearce
ISBN: 978-1-84169-655-3 hbk
ISBN: 978-1-84169-656-0 pbk
http://www.psypress.com/
animal-learning-and-cognition

Behavior Analysis and Learning, Fourth Edition
by W. David Pierce and Carl D Cheney
ISBN: 978-0-8058-6260-7 hbk
http://www.psypress.com/
pierceandcheney

Also of Interest:

Comparative Psychology: Evolution and Development of Behavior, 2nd Edition
by Mauricio R Papini
Pearce: Animal Learning and Cognition, 3rd Edition
Animal Learning and Cognition: An Introduction, 3rd Edition, provides an up-to-date review of the principal findings from more than a century of research into animal intelligence. This new edition has been expanded to take account of the many exciting developments that have occurred in the last ten years.

The broad range of topics covered in this book ensures it will be of interest to students of psychology, biology, zoology, and neuroscience. Since very little background knowledge is required, the book will also be of value to anyone interested in either animal intelligence, or the animal origins of human intelligence.

This textbook is accompanied by online instructor resources which are free of charge to departments who adopt this book as their text. They include chapter-by-chapter lecture slides, an interactive chapter-by-chapter multiple-choice question test bank, and multiple-choice questions in paper and pen format.

more information about Animal Learning and Cognition, 3rd Edition

Student Psychology - Resources for Undergraduate and Graduate level Psychology

2008-05-06T17:47:00.000-07:00

Student Psychology provides a gateway to Psychology Press' online interactive resources, revision aids and information for undergraduate psychology students or those interested in studying for a psychology degree. Student Psychology also contains links to multimedia eLearning materials to tie in with our best-selling psychology course textbooks.

Latest News
Goswami: Cognitive Development: The Learning Brain
Cognitive Development: The Learning Brain is a thoroughly revised and updated edition of the bestselling Cognition in Children.

This full-color textbook has been re-written from the perspective of brain science and shows how new discoveries in cognitive neuroscience force us to reconsider traditional theories of cognitive development.

Cognitive Development: The Learning Brain is supported by an extensive online Cognitive Development Student Learning Program (CogDevSLP) and CD-ROM of Instructor Resources, both of which are free of charge to qualifying adopters and their students.

more information about Cognitive Development: The Learning Brain

Smith & Mackie - Social Psychology
Social Psychology, 3rd Edition provides the only conceptually integrated undergraduate introduction to social psychology, offering a clear synthesis of the cognitive and social, and individual and group influences that shape social behavior.

Extensive feedback from reviews of prior editions has helped make this third edition comprehensive, contemporary, and relevant to social psychology students' and instructors' needs. Effective and helpful pedagogical features include chapter summaries, margin glossaries, tables, graphs, and photographs.

An attractive student-friendly format, and a narrative by two leading scholars that is both lively and rigorous, make this text one of the most respected and acclaimed on the market.

Visit the Smith & Mackie website

The Psychology of Language, 3rd Edition, is a thorough revision and update of the popular second edition.

It contains everything the student needs to know about the psychology of language: how we understand, produce, and store language. This new edition contains new chapters on how children learn to read, and how language is used in everyday settings. It also describes recent research on the impact of new techniques of brain imaging.

For the first time, a CD-ROM of supplementary materials is available to qualified adopters.

More information about The Psychology of Language, 3rd Edition

New Section - Careers & Student Resources
We've added a new section covering books which provide advice and guidance on studying Psychology at university, and the career opportunities available after graduating.

The four key books are:

A Student's Guide to Studying Psychology, by Thomas M. Heffernan
Giving Professional Presentations in the Behavioral Sciences and Related Fields, by Michael J. Platow
Life After Graduate School in Psychology, edited by Robert D. Morgan, Tara L. Kuther & Corey J. Habbea
How to Become a Clinical Psychologist, by Alice Knight
Please check out the new section, and of course you can also ask for (and give) advice on our Student Psychology Discussion Forum.

Student Psychology Discussion Forum launched
Psychology Press opens our new Student Psychology Discussion Forum, to give you the chance to talk about your Psychology studies (and topics affecting Psychology students).

Our Student Psychology Discussion Forum has been launched to further extend this website and to give undergraduate and graduate students of Psychology a forum for discussing the issues that matter to them.

The forum will be moderated to keep it clean and spam-free, but other than that, it's up to you. Joining the forum is free and simple - you just need to fill in the form and click on the link in the confirmation email.

Free Introductory Psychology Student Learning Program
Psychology Press is proud to present our Introductory Psychology student learning program, which is now free of charge to all users.

The Student Learning Program for our introductory textbook Psychology: An International Perspective by Michael Eysenck provides a unique set of revision notes with interactive resources, covering the whole of psychology.

It can be used as a standalone resource, but refers to page numbers in the textbook Psychology: An International Perspective for further reading.

We have also developed a more sophisticated Student Learning Program to support our best-selling textbook Cognitive Psychology, 5th edition by Michael Eysenck. This is available on a subscription basis to university psychology departments, but a sample chapter on memory is free.

Welcome to Student Psychology
Welcome to the Student Psychology section of the Psychology Press website.

Student Psychology provides online interactive resources, revision aids and information for undergraduate psychology students or those interested in studying for a psychology degree or a similar university or college qualification. Student Psychology also contains links to multimedia eLearning material to tie in with the best-selling psychology course textbooks.

Please bookmark this site as we are planning more free online resources for psychology students.

Psychology Press are a leading publisher of textbooks, research level books and journals in psychology. For more information, go to the Psychology Press Home Page.

International Journal of Psychology Special Section Issues

2008-05-06T17:45:00.001-07:00

International Journal of Psychology Special Section Issues Now Available for Individual Purchase

Since 2007 the IJP has been publishing Special Section Issues - editions of the journal where a number of articles cover a single subject or respond to a lead paper, alongside the usual varied journal content of unrelated original articles.

So far, the subjects covered are:

Agency and Human Development in Times of Social Change
Implicit Representationss and Personality
Psychological Research in Berlin, the Host City of ICP 2008

Due to the fact that these Special Section issues are likely to be of particular interest to researchers in those specific areas, we have decided to make the print editions available to buy on an individual basis, without need for a personal or institutional subscription.

Introducing Cognitive Neuroscience

2008-05-06T17:43:00.001-07:00

Introducing Cognitive Neuroscience

The following introductory chapter is reproduced from The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience by Jamie Ward, (© 2006 Psychology Press).

Written in an engaging style by a leading researcher in the field, this book will be invaluable as a core text for undergraduate modules in cognitive neuroscience. It can also be used as a key text on courses in cognition, cognitive neuropsychology or brain and behavior. Those embarking on research will find it an invaluable starting point and reference.

This book can be ordered online, or more information about it can be found on the Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience website.

"Jamie Ward has done a great service to the neuroscience community: he has written an easy to read, enjoyable introduction to cognitive neuroscience that will attract many students to the discipline. I will certainly use this book for my courses." - Professor Alfonso Caramazza, Harvard University

Between 1928 and 1947, Wilder Penfield and colleagues carried out a series of remarkable experiments on over 400 living human brains (e.g. Penfield & Rasmussen, 1950). The patients in question were undergoing brain surgery for epilepsy.

To identify and spare regions of the brain involved in movement and sensation, Penfield electrically stimulated regions of the cortex while the patient was still conscious. The procedure was not painful (the surface of the brain does not contain pain receptors) but the patients did report some fascinating experiences.

When stimulating the occipital lobe one patient reported "a star came down towards my nose". Upon stimulating a region near the central sulcus, another patient commented "those fingers and my thumb gave a jump". After temporal lobe stimulation, another patient claimed "I heard the music again; it is like the radio". She was later able to recall the tune she heard and was absolutely convinced that there must have been a radio in the operating theatre.

Of course, the patients had no idea when the electrical stimulation was being applied – they couldn't physically feel it or see it. As far as they were concerned, an electrical stimulation applied to the brain felt pretty much like a mental/cognitive event.

This book tells the emerging story of how mental processes such as thoughts, memories, and perceptions are organized and implemented by the brain. It is also concerned with how it is possible to study the mind and brain, and how we know what we know.

Key Terms
Cognition:
A variety of higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, imagining, speaking, acting and planning.
Cognitive Neuroscience:
Aims to explain cognitive processes in terms of brain-based mechanisms. The term cognition collectively refers to a variety of higher mental processes such as thinking, perceiving, imagining, speaking, acting and planning.

Cognitive neuroscience is a bridging discipline between cognitive science and cognitive psychology, on the one hand, and biology and neuroscience, on the other. It has emerged as a distinct enterprise only recently and has been driven by methodological advances that enable the study of the human brain safely in the laboratory.

It is perhaps not too surprising that earlier methods, such as direct electrical stimulation of the brain, failed to enter into the mainstream of research.

This chapter begins by placing a number of philosophical and scientific approaches to the mind and brain in an historical perspective.

The coverage is selective rather than exhaustive, and students with a particular interest in these issues might want to read more deeply elsewhere (e.g. Gross, 1998). The chapter then provides a basic overview of the current methods used in cognitive neuroscience.

A more detailed analysis and comparison of the different methods is provided in Chapters 3 to 5. Finally, the chapter attempts to address some of the criticisms of the cognitive neuroscience approach that have recently been articulated.

A timeline for the development of methods and findings relevant to cognitive neuroscience, from phrenology to present day.

Cognitive Neuroscience in Historical Perspective
Philosophical Approaches to Mind and Brain
Key Terms
Mind–body problem:
The problem of how a physical substance (the brain) can give rise to our feelings, thoughts and emotions (our mind).
Dualism:
The belief that mind and brain are made up of different kinds of substance.
Dual-aspect theory:
The belief that mind and brain are two levels of description of the same thing. Philosophers as well as scientists have long been interested in how the brain could create our mental world. How is it that a physical substance can give rise to our feelings, thoughts and emotions? This has been termed the mind–body problem, although it should more properly be called the mind–brain problem because it is now agreed that the brain is the key part of the body for cognition.

One position is that the mind and brain are made up of different kinds of substance, even though they may interact. This is known as dualism, and the most famous proponent of this idea was René Descartes (1596–1650). Descartes believed that the mind was non-physical and immortal whereas the body was physical and mortal. He suggested that they interact in the pineal gland, which lies at the centre of the brain and is now considered part of the endocrine system.

According to Descartes, stimulation of the sense organs would cause vibrations in the body/brain that would be picked up in the pineal gland, and this would create a non-physical sense of awareness.

There is little hope for cognitive neuroscience if dualism is true because the methods of physical and biological sciences cannot tap into the non-physical domain (if such a thing were to exist).

Even in Descartes' time, there were critics of his position. One can identify a number of broad approaches to the mind–body problem that still have a contemporary resonance. Spinoza (1632–1677) argued that mind and brain were two different levels of explanation for the same thing, but not two different kinds of thing.

This has been termed dual-aspect theory and it remains popular with some current researchers in the field (e.g. Velmans, 2000). An analogy can be drawn to wave-particle duality in physics in which the same entity (e.g. an electron) can be described both as a wave and as a particle.

Key Terms
Reductionism:
The belief that mind-based concepts will eventually be replaced by neuroscientific concepts.
Phrenology:
The failed idea that indivdual differences in cognition can be mapped on to differences in skull shape.
Functional specialization:
Different regions of the brain are specialised for different functions. An alternative approach to the mind–body problem that is endorsed by many contemporary thinkers is reductionism (e.g. Churchland, 1995; Crick, 1994). This position states that although cognitive, mind-based concepts (e.g. emotions, memories, attention) are currently useful for scientific exploration, they will eventually be replaced by purely biological constructs (e.g. patterns of neuronal firings, neurotransmitter release). As such, psychology will eventually reduce to biology as we learn more and more about the brain.

Advocates of this approach note that there are many historical precedents in which scientific constructs are abandoned when a better explanation is found.

In the seventeenth century, scientists believed that flammable materials contained a substance, called phlogiston, which was released when burned. This is similar to classical notions that fire was a basic element along with water, air and earth.

Eventually, this construct was replaced by an understanding of how chemicals combine with oxygen. The process of burning became just one example (along with rusting) of this particular chemical reaction.

Reductionists believe that mind-based concepts, and conscious experiences in particular, will have the same status as phlogiston in a future theory of the brain.

Those who favour dual-aspect theory over reductionism point out that an emotion will still feel like an emotion even if we were to fully understand its neural basis and, as such, the usefulness of cognitive, mind-based concepts will never be fully replaced.

Scientific Approaches to Mind and Brain
Our understanding of the brain emerged historically late, largely in the nineteenth century, although some important insights were gained during classical times.

Aristotle (384–322 BC) noted that the ratio of brain size to body size was greatest in more intellectually advanced species, such as humans.

Unfortunately, he made the error of claiming that cognition was a product of the heart rather than the brain. He believed that the brain acted as a coolant system: the higher the intellect, the larger the cooling system needed.

In the Roman age, Galen (circa AD 129–199) observed brain injury in gladiators and noted that nerves project to and from the brain. Nonetheless, he believed that mental experiences themselves resided in the ventricles of the brain.

This idea went essentially unchallenged for well over 1500 years. For example, when Vesalius (1514–1564), the father of modern anatomy, published his plates of dissected brains, the ventricles were drawn in exacting detail whereas the cortex was drawn crudely and schematically. Others followed in this tradition, often drawing the surface of the brain like the intestines. This situation probably reflected a lack of interest in the cortex rather than a lack of penmanship.

It is not until one looks at the drawings of Gall and Spurzheim (1810) that the features of the brain become recognizable to modern eyes.

Gall (1758–1828) and Spurzheim (1776–1832) received a bad press, historically speaking, because of their invention and advocacy of phrenology.

Phrenology had two key assumptions. First, that different regions of the brain perform different functions and are associated with different behaviours. Second, that the size of these regions produces distortions of the skull and correlates with individual differences in cognition and personality.

Taking these two ideas in turn, the notion of functional specialization within the brain has effectively endured into modern cognitive neuroscience, having seen off a number of challenges over the years (Flourens, 1824; Lashley, 1929). The observations of Penfield and co-workers on the electrically stimulated brain provide some striking examples of this principle.

However, the functional specializations of phrenology were not empirically derived and were not constrained by theories of cognition. For example, Fowler's famous phrenologist's head had regions dedicated to "parental love", "destructiveness" and "firmness". Moreover, skull shape has nothing to do with cognitive function.

Different drawings of the brain from Vesalius (1543) (top), de Viessens (1685) (bottom left), and Gall and Spurzheim (1810) (bottom right). Note how the earlier two drawings emphasized the ventricles and/or misrepresented the cortical surface.

Aside from inventing phrenology, Gall and Spurzheim made a number of important anatomical observations, such as delineating between the functions of white and grey matter, and the realization that the brain is folded to conserve space (see Gross, 1998).

Their empirical observations and theoretical insights paved the way for future developments in the nineteenth century, the most notable of which are Broca's reports of two brain-damaged patients (Broca, 1861).

Broca documented two cases in which acquired brain damage had impaired the ability to speak but left other aspects of cognition relatively intact. He concluded that language could be localized to a particular region of the brain. Subsequent studies argued that language itself was not a single entity but could be further subdivided into speech recognition, speech production and conceptual knowledge (Lichtheim, 1885; Wernicke, 1874).

This was motivated by the observation that brain damage can lead either to poor speech comprehension and good production, or good speech comprehension and poor production (see Chapter 10 for full details). This suggests that there are at least two speech faculties in the brain and that each can be independently impaired by brain damage.

This body of work was a huge step forward in terms of thinking about mind and brain. First, empirical observations were being used to determine what the building blocks of cognition are (is language a single faculty?) rather than listing them from first principles. Second and related, they were developing models of cognition that did not make direct reference to the brain. That is, one could infer that speech recognition and production were separable without necessarily knowing where in the brain they were located, or how the underlying neurons brought these processes about.

Key Terms
Cognitive neuropsychology:
The study of brain-damaged patients to inform theories of normal cognition.
Information processing:
An approach in which behaviour is described in terms of a sequence of cognitive stages.
Interactivity:
Later stages of processing can begin before earlier stages are complete.
Top-down processing:
The influence of later stages on the processing of earlier ones (e.g. memory influences on perception). The approach of using patients with acquired brain damage to inform theories of normal cognition is called cognitive neuropsychology and remains highly influential today (Chapter 5 discusses the logic of this method in detail).

Cognitive neuropsychology is now effectively subsumed within the term "cognitive neuroscience", where the latter phrase is seen as being less restrictive in terms of methodology.

Whereas discoveries in the neurosciences continued apace throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the formation of psychology as a discipline at the end of the nineteenth century took the study of the mind away from its biological underpinnings. This did not reflect a belief in dualism. It was due, in part, to some pragmatic constraints. Early pioneers of psychology, such as William James and Sigmund Freud, were interested in topics like consciousness, attention, and personality. Neuroscience has had virtually nothing to say about these issues until quite recently.

Another reason for the schism between psychology and biology lies in the notion that one can develop coherent and testable theories of cognition that do not make claims about the brain. The modern foundations of cognitive psychology lie in the computer metaphor of the brain and the information processing approach, popular from the 1950s onwards.

For example, Broadbent (1958) argued that much of cognition consists of a sequence of processing stages. In his simple model, perceptual processes occur, followed by attentional processes that transfer information to short-term memory and thence to long-term memory (see also Atkinson & Shiffrin, 1968). These were often drawn as a series of box-and-arrow diagrams.

The implication was that one could understand the cognitive system in the same way as one could understand the series of steps performed by a computer program, and without reference to the brain. The idea of the mind as a computer program has advanced over the years along with advances in computational science.

For example, many cognitive models contain some element of interactivity and parallel processing. Interactivity refers to the fact that stages in processing may not be strictly separate and that later stages can begin before earlier stages are complete. Moreover, later stages can influence the outcome of early ones (top-down processing).

Examples of box-and-arrow and connectionist models of cognition. Both represent ways of describing cognitive processes that need not make direct reference to the brain.

Parallel processing refers to the fact that lots of different information can be processed simultaneously (serial computers process each piece of information one at a time). Although these computationally explicit models are more sophisticated than earlier box-and-arrow diagrams they, like their predecessors, do not always make contact with the neuroscience literature (Ellis & Humphreys, 1999).

Key Terms
Parallel processing:
Different information is processed at the same time (i.e. in parallel).
Neural network models:
Computational models in which information processing occurs using many interconnected nodes.
Nodes:
The basic units of neural network models that are activated in response to activity in other parts of the network. Computational and Conenctionist Models of Cognition
In the 1980s, powerful computers became widely accessible as never before. This enabled cognitive psychologists to develop computationally explicit models of cognition (that literally calculate a set of outputs given a set of inputs) rather than the computationally inspired, but underspecified, box-and-arrow approach.

One particular way of implementing computational models has been very influential; namely the neural network, connectionist or parallel distributed processing (PDP) approach (McClelland, Rumelhart, & Group, 1986). These models are considered in a number of places throughout this book, notably in the chapters dealing with memory, speaking, and literacy.

Connectionist models have a number of architectural features. First, they are composed of arrays of simple information-carrying units called nodes. Nodes are information-carrying in the sense that they respond to a particular set of inputs (e.g. certain letters, certain sounds) and produce a restricted set of outputs. The responsiveness of a node depends on how strongly it is connected to other nodes in the network (the "weight" of the connection) and how active the other nodes are. It is possible to calculate, mathematically, what the output of any node would be, given a set of input activations and a set of weights. There are a number of advantages to this type of model.

For example, by adjusting the weights over time as a result of experience, the model can develop and learn. The parallel processing enables large amounts of data to be processed simultaneously. A more controversial claim is that they have "neural plausibility". Nodes, activation and weights are in many ways analogous to neurons, firing rates and neural connectivity, respectively.

However, these models have been criticized for being too powerful in that they can learn many things that real brains cannot (e.g. Pinker & Prince, 1988). A more moderate view is that connectionist models provide examples of ways in which the brain might implement a given cognitive function. Whether or not the brain actually does implement cognition in that particular way will ultimately be a question for empirical research in cognitive neuroscience.

The Birth of Cognitive Neuroscience
It was largely advances in imaging technology that provided the driving force for modern-day cognitive neuroscience.

Raichle (1998) describes how brain imaging was in a "state of indifference and obscurity in the neuroscience community in the 1970s" and might never have reached prominence if it were not for the involvement of cognitive psychologists in the 1980s.

Cognitive psychologists had already established experimental designs and information-processing models that could potentially fit well with these emerging methods. It is important to note that the technological advances in imaging not only led to the development of functional imaging, but also enabled brain lesions to be described precisely in ways that were never possible before (except at post mortem).

Present-day cognitive neuroscience is composed of a broad diversity of methods. These will be discussed in detail in subsequent chapters.

At this juncture, it is useful to compare and contrast some of the most prominent methods. The distinction between recording methods and stimulation methods is crucial in cognitive neuroscience. Electrical stimulation of the brain in humans is now rarely carried out.

The modern-day equivalent of these studies uses magnetic, not electric, fields and is called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). These can be applied across the skull rather than directly to the brain. This method will be considered in Chapter 5, alongside the effect of organic brain lesions.

Electrophysiological methods (EEG/ERP and single-cell recordings) and magnetophysiological methods (MEG) record the electrical/ magnetic properties of neurons themselves. These methods are considered in Chapter 3.

In contrast, functional imaging methods (PET and fMRI) record physiological changes associated with blood supply to the brain which evolve more slowly over time. These are called haemodynamic methods and are considered in Chapter 4. The methods of cognitive neuroscience can be placed on a number of dimensions:

Key Terms
Temporal resolution:
The accuracy with which one can measure when an event (e.g. a physiological change) occurs.
Spatial resolution:
The accuracy with which one can measure where an event (e.g. a physiological change) is occurring. The temporal resolution refers to the accuracy with which one can measure when an event is occurring. The effects of brain damage are permanent and so this has no temporal resolution as such. Methods such as EEG, MEG, TMS and single-cell recording have millisecond resolution. PET and fMRI have temporal resolutions of minutes and seconds, respectively, that reflect the slower haemodynamic response.
The spatial resolution refers to the accuracy with which one can measure where an event is occurring. Lesion and functional imaging methods have comparable resolution at the millimetre level, whereas single-cell recordings have spatial resolution at the level of the neuron.
The invasiveness of a method refers to whether or not the equipment is located internally or externally. PET is invasive because it requires an injection of a radio-labelled isotope. Single-cell recordings are performed on the brain itself and are normally only carried out in non-human animals.
The different methods used in cognitive neuroscience. Method Method type Invasiveness Brain property used
EEG/ERP Recording Non-invasive Electrical
Single-cell (and multi-unit) recordings Recording Invasive Electrical
TMS Stimulation Non-invasive Electromagnetic
MEG Recording Non-invasive Magnetic
PET Recording Invasive Haemodynamic
fMRI Recording Non-invasive Haemodynamic

The methods of cognitive neuroscience can be categorized according to their spatial and temporal resolution. Adapted from Churchland and Sejnowski, 1988.

Does Cognitive Psychology Need the Brain?
As already noted, cognitive psychology developed substantially from the 1950s, using information-processing models that do not make direct reference to the brain. If this way of doing things remains successful, then why change?

Of course, there is no reason why it should change. The claim is not that cognitive neuroscience is replacing cognitive psychology (although some might endorse this view) but merely that cognitive psychological theories can inform theories and experiments in the neurosciences and vice versa.

However, others have argued that this is not possible by virtue of the fact that informationprocessing models do not make claims about the brain (Coltheart, 2004b; Harley, 2004).

One could take many different measures in a forced-choice response task: behavioural (reaction time [RT], errors) or biological (electromyographic [EMG], lateralized readiness potential [LRP], lateralized BOLD response [LBR]). All measures could potentially be used to inform cognitive theory. Adapted from the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58A (2), 193-233, What can functional neuroimaging tell the experimental psychologist?, 2005, by kind permission of the Experimental Psychology Society.

Coltheart (2004b) poses the question: "Has cognitive neuroscience, or if not might it ever (in principle, or even in practice) successfully use data from cognitive neuroimaging to make theoretical decisions entirely at the cognitive level (e.g. to adjudicate between competing information-processing models of some cognitive system)?" (p. 21).

Henson (2005) argues that it can in principle and that it does in practice. He argues that data from functional imaging (blood flow, blood oxygen) comprise just another dependent variable that one can measure. For example, there are a number of things that one could measure in a standard forced-choice reaction-time task: reaction time, error rates, sweating (skin conductance response), muscle contraction (electromyograph), scalp electrical recordings (EEG) or haemodynamic changes in the brain (PET, fMRI). Each measure will relate to the task in some way and can be used to inform theories about the task.

To illustrate this point, consider one example. One could ask a simple question such as: "does visual recognition of words and letters involve computing a representation that is independent of case?" For example, does the reading system treat "E" and "e" as equivalent at an early stage in processing or are "E" and "e" treated as different letters until some later stage (e.g. saying them aloud)?

A way of investigating this using a reaction-time measure is to present the same word twice in the same or different case (e.g. radio-RADIO, RADIO-RADIO) and compare this with situations in which the word differs (e.g. mouse-RADIO, MOUSE-RADIO).

One general finding in reaction-time studies is that it is faster to process a stimulus if the same stimulus has recently been presented. For example, if asked to make a speeded decision about RADIO (e.g. is it animate or inanimate) then performance will be faster if it has been previously encountered. Dehaene et al. (2001) investigated this mechanism by comparing reaction-time measures with functional imaging (fMRI) measures.

In his task, the first word in each pair was presented very briefly and was followed by visual noise. This prevents the participants from consciously perceiving it and, hence, one can be sure that they are not saying the word. The second word is consciously seen and requires a response.

Dehaene et al. found that reaction times are faster to the second word when it follows the same word, irrespective of case. Importantly, there is a region in the left fusiform cortex that shows the same effect (although in terms of "activation" rather than response time). In this concrete example, it is meaningless to argue that one type of measure is "better" for informing cognitive theory (to return to Coltheart's question) given that both are measuring different aspects of the same thing.

One could explore the nature of this effect further by, for instance, presenting the same word in different languages (in bilingual speakers), presenting the words in different locations on the screen and so on. This would provide further insights into the nature of this mechanism (e.g. what aspects of vision does it entail, does it depend on word meaning). However, both reaction-time measures and brain-based measures could be potentially informative. It is not the case that functional imaging is merely telling us where cognition is happening and not how it is happening.

Both reaction times and fMRI activation in the left fusiform region demonstrate more efficient processing of words if they are preceded by subliminal presentation of the same word, irrespective of case. Adapted from Dehaene et al., 2001.

Another distinction that has been used to contrast cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience is that between software and hardware, respectively (Coltheart, 2004b; Harley, 2004). This derives from the familiar computer analogy in which one can, supposedly, learn about information processing (software) without knowing about the brain (hardware).

As has been shown, to some extent this is true. But the computer analogy is a little misleading. Computer software is written by computer programmers (who, incidentally, have human brains). However, information processing is not written by some third person and then inscribed into the brain. Rather, the brain provides causal constraints on the nature of information processing. This is not analogous to the computer domain in which the link between software and hardware is arbitrarily determined by a computer programmer.

To give a simple example, one model of word recognition suggests that words are recognized by searching words in a mental dictionary one by one until a match is found (Forster, 1976). The weight of evidence from cognitive psychology argues against this serial search, and in favour of words being searched in parallel (i.e. all candidate words are considered at the same time). But why should this be so? Computer programs can be made to recognize words adequately with both serial search and parallel search.

The reason why human information processing uses a parallel search and not a serial search probably lies in the relatively slow neural response time (acting against serial search). This constraint does not apply to the fast processing of computers.

Thus, cognitive psychology may be sufficient to tell us the structure of information processing but it may not answer deeper questions about why information processing should be configured in that particular way.

The media loves to simplify the findings of cognitive neuroscience. Many newspaper stories appear to regard it as counterintuitive that sex, pain and mood would be products of the brain. Sunday Times 21 November 1999; Metro 5 January 2001; The Observer 12 March 2000; The Independent 27 May 1999.

Does Neuroscience Need Cognitive Psychology?
It would be no exaggeration to say that the advent of techniques such as functional imaging have revolutionized the brain sciences.

For example, consider some of the newspaper headlines above that have appeared in recent years. Of course, it has been well known since the nineteenth century that pain, mood, intelligence and sexual desire would be largely a product of processes in the brain.

The reason why headlines such as these are extraordinary is because now the technology exists to be able to study these processes in vivo. Of course, when one looks inside the brain one does not "see" memories, thoughts, perceptions and so on (i.e. the stuff of cognitive psychology). Instead, what one sees is grey matter, white matter, blood vessels and so on (i.e. the stuff of neuroscience).

It is the latter, not the former, that one observes when conducting a functional imaging experiment. Developing a framework for linking the two will necessarily entail dealing with the mind–body problem either tacitly or explicitly. This is a daunting challenge.

Is functional imaging going to lead to a more sophisticated understanding of the mind and brain than was achieved by the phrenologists? Some of the newspaper reports in the figure suggest it might not.

One reason why phrenology failed is because the method had no real scientific grounding; the same cannot be said of functional imaging. Another reason why phrenology failed was that the psychological concepts used were naïve. It is for this reason that functional imaging and other advances in neuroscience do require the insights from cognitive psychology to frame appropriate research questions and avoid becoming a new phrenology (Uttal, 2001).

The question of whether cognitive, mind-based concepts will eventually become redundant (under a reductionist account) or coexist with neural-based accounts (e.g. as in dual-aspect theory) is for the future to decide. But for now, cognitive, mind-based concepts have an essential role to play in cognitive neuroscience.

Key Terms
Modularity:
The notion that certain cognitive processes (or regions of the brain) are restricted in the type of information they process.
Domain-specificity:
The idea that a cognitive process (or brain region) is dedicated solely to one particular type of information (e.g. colour, faces, words). Is the Brain Modular?
The notion that the brain contains different regions of functional specialization has been around in various guises for 200 years. However, one particular variation on this theme has attracted particular attention and controversy – namely Fodor's (1983, 1998) theory of modularity.

First, Fodor makes a distinction between two different classes of cognitive process: central systems versus modules. The key difference between them relates to the types of information they can process. Modules are held to be domain specific in that they process only one particular type of information (e.g. colour, shape, words, faces), whereas central systems are held to be domain independent in that the type of information processed is non-specific (candidates would be memory, attention, executive functions). According to Fodor, one advantage of modular systems is that, by processing only a limited type of information, they can operate rapidly, efficiently and in isolation from other cognitive systems. An additional claim is that modules may be innately specified in the genetic code.

Many of these ideas have been criticized on empirical and theoretical grounds. For example, it has been suggested that domain specificity is not innate although the means of acquiring it could be (Karmiloff-Smith, 1992). Moreover, systems like reading appear modular in some respects but cannot be innate because they are recent in evolution. Others have argued that evidence for interactivity suggests that modules are not isolated from other cognitive processes (Farah, 1994).

On balance, the empirical evidence does not strongly favour this version of modularity. However, the extent to which the brain contains regions of functional specialization and domain specificity is still an active area of debate.

Summary and Key Points of the Chapter
The mind–body problem refers to the question of how physical matter (the brain) can produce mental experiences, and this remains an enduring issue in cognitive neuroscience.
To some extent, the different regions of the brain are specialized for different functions.
Functional neuroimaging has provided the driving force for much of the development of cognitive neuroscience, but there is a danger in merely using these methods to localize cognitive functions without understanding how they work.
Cognitive psychology has developed as a discipline without making explicit references to the brain. However, biological measures can provide an alternative source of evidence to inform cognitive theory and the brain must provide constraining factors on the nature and development of the information processing models of cognitive science.
Example Essay Questions
What is the "mind–body problem" and what frameworks have been put forward to solve it?
Is cognitive neuroscience the new phrenology?
Does cognitive psychology need the brain? Does neuroscience need cognitive psychology?
Recommended Further Reading
Gross, C.G. (1998). Brain, vision, memory. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Subtitled "Tales in the history of neuroscience", the book does just that and in an engaging way.
Henson, R. (2005). What can functional neuroimaging tell the experimental psychologist? Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 58A, 193–233. An excellent summary of the place of functional imaging in psychology and a rebuttal of common criticisms.
Uttal, W.R. (2001). The new phrenology: The limits of localising cognitive processes in the brain. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. An interesting overview of the methods and limitations of cognitive neuroscience.
Velmans, M. (2000). Understanding consciousness. London: Routledge. In-depth coverage of the mind–body problem, drawing on some evidence from cognitive neuroscience.
from The Student's Guide to Cognitive Neuroscience by Jamie Ward

© 2006 Psychology Press.

Journal of Psychology Now Available Online

2008-05-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Free Editorial Article from the New Special Section Issue of the International Journal of Psychology Now Available Online

We have made the new Editorial Article of the International Journal of Psychology's latest Special Section issue, titled Culture and Human Development, by A. Bame Nsamenang, free to read online.

Human offspring develop into culturally competent citizens in a huge variety of ecological and cultural circumstances. The selection of papers for this Special Section deals with some dimensions of these issues in contemporary African societies. More explicitly, they provide research-based evidence and programmatic efforts to understand and intervene on factors perceived as thwarting the optimization of human potential in African cultural settings. The papers are special in one important sense - they place an accent on culture as a key determinant of developmental outcome.

Cognitive Neuroscience News

2008-05-06T17:38:00.000-07:00

Cognitive Neuroscience News:

New: Space and Sense
How do we perceive the space around us, locate objects within it, and make our way through it? What do the senses contribute?

This book focuses on touch in order to examine which aspects of vision and touch overlap in spatial processing. It argues that spatial processing depends crucially on integrating diverse sensory inputs as reference cues for the location, distance or direction response that spatial tasks demand.

Space and Sense shows how perception by touch, as by vision, can be helped by external reference cues, and that 'visual' illusions that are also found in touch depend on common factors and do not occur by chance.