Author: Simona Amenta
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889198596
Category : Cognition
Languages : en
Pages : 137
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Book Description
Model building is typically based on the identification of a set of established facts in any given field of research, insofar as the model is then evaluated on how well it accounts for these facts. Psychology – and specifically visual word identification and reading – is no exception in this sense (e.g., Amenta & Crepaldi, 2012; Coltheart et al., 2001; Grainger & Jacobs, 1996). What counts as an established fact, however, was never discussed in great detail. It was typically considered, for example, that experimental effects need to replicate across, e.g., individuals, experimental settings, and languages if they are to be believed. The emphasis was on consistency, perhaps under a tacit assumption that the universal principles lying behind our cognitive structures determine our behaviour for the most part (or at least for that part that is relevant for model building). There are signs that a different approach is growing up in reading research. On a theoretical ground, Dennis Norris’ Bayesian reader (2006, 2009) has advanced the idea that models can dispense of static forms of representation (i.e., fixed architectures), and process information in a way that is dynamically constrained by context-specific requirements. Ram Frost (2012) has focused on language-specific constraints in the development of general theories of reading. On an empirical ground, the most notable recent advance in visual word identification concern the demonstration that some previously established (in the classic sense) effects depend heavily on language (Velan and Frost, 2011), task (e.g., Duñabeitia et al., 2011; Marelli et al., 2013; Kinoshita and Norris, 2009), or even individual differences (Andrews & Lo, 2012, 2013). Variability has become an intrinsic and informative aspect of cognitive processing, rather than a sign of experimental weakness. This Research Topic aims at moving forward in this new direction by providing an outlet for experimental and theoretical papers that: (i) explore more in depth the theoretical basis for considering variability as an intrinsic property of the human cognitive system; (ii) highlight new context-dependent experimental effects, in a way that is informative on the dynamics of the underlying cognitive processing; (iii) shed new light on known context-dependent experimental effects, again in a way that enhances their theoretical informativeness.
Author: Kris Deschouwer
Publisher: ECPR Press
ISBN: 1786605422
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 416
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Book Description
Mind the Gap is a book on the difficult times of modern representative democracy, and on the way in which political science is trying to make sense of it. Forecasting election results has become a very risky business, and explaining the often-surprising results must increasingly rely on case-by-case ad hoc interpretations. Old and formerly stable political parties now appear to be very vulnerable, because many of their traditional voters seem willing to desert them. If voters turn out to vote at all, they tend to be very volatile and send out complex messages, to decide later than ever what to do in the polling booth, to react to short-term factors and to follow candidates rather than parties. Low levels of trust in political actors and institutions reveal a gap between the elites and the people. Belgium is one of the countries where one can witness these debates. Yet Belgium is also a special case. Not only a gap between elites and citizens but also a gap between north and south animates the political debates. The territorial division of the country in two language groups has led to the complete split of the parties and the party system and to the transformation of the unitary state into a complex federal system. With on top of all that the European level the lines of representation and accountability in Belgium are extremely opaque. Decision making requires subtle compromises between party leaders and sometimes take a very long time to come about. Voting in Belgium is however compulsory, which means that exiting the scene of democratic representation is not an obvious option. Citizens do turn out to vote and do express their views and their discontent. Some political parties however do suggest that leaving Belgium behind altogether might be better than just muddling through. This book is based on ten years of research on political participation and representation in Belgium by the interuniversity research team PartiRep. Using several surveys among the population and politicians, voting aid applications, focus groups and experiments it draws a picture of a parliamentary and representative democracy that faces multiple tensions and multiple gaps. It discusses a wide range of political processes and actors, placing them in a comparative perspective, and exploring to what extent the Belgian case fits into the general picture. The chapters of the book deal with political socialization, political parties, representation, economic voting, preference voting and personalized voting, democratic preferences, identity politics and campaign effects and on the way in which elites and citizens try to find their way and make sense of this complex multi-level and linguistically divided country in the heart of the European Union.
Author: Robert J. Sternberg
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316790797
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 541
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Book Description
Scientists Making a Difference is a fascinating collection of first-person narratives from the top psychological scientists of the modern era. These readable essays highlight the most important contributions to theory and research in psychological science, show how the greatest psychological scientists formulate and think about their work, and illustrate how their ideas develop over time. In particular, the authors address what they consider their most important scientific contribution, how they got the idea, how the idea matters for the world beyond academic psychology, and what they would like to see as the next steps in research. The contributors, who were chosen from an objectively compiled list of the most eminent psychological scientists, provide a broad range of insightful perspectives. This book is essential reading for students, researchers and professionals interested in learning about the development of the biggest ideas in modern psychological science, described firsthand by the scientists themselves.
Author: Brenda Rapp
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1317710231
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 672
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Book Description
This volume reviews the full range of cognitive domains that have benefited from the study of deficits. Chapters covered include language, memory, object recognition, action, attention, consciousness and temporal cognition.
Author: Tobias Kalenscher
Publisher: Frontiers E-books
ISBN: 288919096X
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 164
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Book Description
The experimental analysis of animal behavior has a rich tradition in psychology, behavioral ecology and many other scientific branches dedicated to the study of decision making. However, it has never enjoyed a similar popularity in economics. This has recently changed with the dawn of neuroeconomics – a discipline combining the analytic and experimental tools of psychology and economics with the technologies available in neuroscience to unravel the neurobiological mechanisms underlying economic behavior. Since many of the sophisticated neuroscientific techniques can only be used on animals, neuroeconomists have come up with a large and ever-growing repertoire of animal models to probe economic decision making. Besides the value of using animals as model systems to emulate human economic behavior, the discipline of animal economic decision making exists in its very own right: an abundance of animal species at various evolutionary stages show behavior that complies with many of the predictions of economic theory, whilst, at the same time demonstrating violations of optimal choice models that are reminiscent of similar anomalies found in human behavior. Hence, the analysis of animal choice does not only offer insights into the evolutionary origins of economic decision making, it also testifies that the analysis of animal behavior is a convenient, economical and sound way to test competing economic decision models in optimally controlled experimental environments, to probe their neural implementation and to yield common denominators in choice behavior. In short, economic theory provides more than just an alternative language to describe animal psychology: its combination with biology, psychology and neuroscience gives way to synergy effects that open up new venues for studying economic choice. In this special issue, we would like to gather the latest results from this cross-disciplinary topic, address the overlap and discrepancies in (the neurobiology of) economic decision making found between species and identify the challenges that lie ahead in translating results from species to species, and ultimately to humans. The exclusive focus on non-human animals makes this Research Topic unique and distinct from previous special issues which covered a broader range of matters and subjects in the neurobiological analysis of decision making.
Author: Todd D. Little
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199934878
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 507
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Book Description
The Oxford Handbook of Quantitative Methods in Psychology provides an accessible and comprehensive review of the current state-of-the-science and a one-stop source for learning and reviewing current best-practices in a quantitative methods across the social, behavioral, and educational sciences.
Author: Jeffrey C. Ives
Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
ISBN: 1451175892
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 347
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Book Description
Ives' "Motor Behavior" takes a functional approach to motor control and learning that is in keeping with the modern use and understanding of these topics. This title is truly unique in that it goes beyond just explaining motor control and motor learning to help students understand how these disciplines interact with each other to affect behavior. Throughout the text, the interaction between the mind and the body and how these come together in the context of practice, training, and performance is presented. The book provides not only clear, research-based examples, but also provides step by step guidelines for implementation of mind and body training.
Author: Dilip Soman
Publisher:
ISBN: 1487537166
Category : BUSINESS & ECONOMICS
Languages : en
Pages : 325
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Book Description
Using case studies and best practices as examples of success this book helps managers understand why and how they can embed behavioral insights into the structure and operations of any organization.
Author: Anol Bhattacherjee
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781475146127
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 156
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Book Description
This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.
Author: Stanley Finger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461577233
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 429
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Book Description
It has long been recognized that damage to the mammalian central nervous system may be followed by behavioral recovery, but only re cently has close attention been directed to specific factors which may enhance or retard restitution. This is evident in the rapidly growing number of journal articles and scientific paper sessions dealing with "recovery of function," as well as in the publicity given by the popular press to some of the findings in this field. The present text seeks to examine the foundations of brain lesion research, to review recent material on a number of factors which ap pear to contribute to recovery after brain damage, and to present mod els which have been proposed to account for these effects. In order to best accomplish these goals, a number of key workers in these areas were asked to examine and describe research literatures dealing with specific problems or methodological manipulations associated with brain damage and behavior, using their own experiments and those of others to illustrate important points. In addition, significant interpre tive and theoretical issues were to be evaluated in each chapter.
