Book Description

LEARNING AND BEHAVIOR looks at learning as an evolutionary mechanism. Chance's book is stimulating, interactive, and peppered with high-interest queries and examples. Chance provides the depth of conceptual knowledge usually associated with books twice as dense and infinitely less interesting. Chance's engaging work has become a favorite of students because of his ability to illuminate how the psychology of learning can offer insight into their own behavior. ... Read more

Book Description

"Different minds learn differently," writes Dr. Mel Levine, one of the best-known learning experts and pediatricians in America today. Some students are strong in certain areas and some are strong in others, but no one is equally capable in all. Yet most schools still cling to a one-size-fits-all education philosophy. As a result, many children struggle because their learning patterns don't fit the way they are being taught.

In his #1 New York Times bestseller A Mind at a Time, Dr. Levine shows parents and those who care for children how to identify these individual learning patterns, explaining how they can strengthen a child's abilities and either bypass or help overcome the child's weaknesses, producing positive results instead of repeated frustration and failure.

Consistent progress can result when we understand that not every child can do equally well in every type of learning and begin to pay more attention to individual learning patterns -- and individual minds -- so that we can maximize children's success and gratification in life. In A Mind at a Time Dr. Levine shows us how. ... Read more

Reviews (56)

EXCELLENT BOOK ON CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
Anyone who has a child in the school system knows that the educational process does not allow for one-on-one assessment of a child's learning abilities. A child either keeps pace or in many cases, falls behind. The author has written an excellent book on what a child needs in order to grow, learn, and develop his or her full potential.

It would be wonderful if all children learned at the same rate and possessed the same aptitude for learning; however, each child is a unique individual. The educational system today does not structure its learning process around that fundamental fact. A good many of the behavioural problems we see surfacing today stem from the fact a child becomes frustrated, bored, overwhelmingly challenged, or discouraged by the educational process, and their actions are often a result of what is lacking in the education system. Some parents, as well, do not take that fact into consideration and often expect Mary to keep up with brother John, because John seems to excel in everything, while Mary struggles to achieve.

There are a variety of topics to be found in the book, including development of memory, language, and motor skills. If you are an educator or have a child who is experiencing difficulties in this area, this book provides excellent resource material. It is one parents and individuals with the authority to make changes in the system should read and take to heart. The book contains a valuable message, is well researched, and is equally as well written.

Significant, enlightening, and a good read too
Other reviewers have discussed the pros and cons of Dr. Levine's theories in depth, so I won't go into those; in the field of cognitive psychology, I'm an interested (and, I think, fairly well-read) amateur rather than a professional.

That said, I feel that this is an important book for both parents and educators. The child's "job" of learning how to function in the world, and mastering the many tasks set for him/her by the educational system, isn't an easy one. The human mind is complex and multifaceted, but our schools tend to think of "intelligence" as a narrowly defined set of skills, and anyone who doesn't do well in those must be either stupid or lazy. (Levine notes that the moral implications of such judgments, e.g., that a student "doesn't try hard enough" or is "unmotivated," can be devastating to a child, and are often grossly unfair.) The irony is that -- as Levine points out -- the abilities that enable a child to succeed in school aren't necessarily those that conduce to success in later life; so, by rewarding performance only in certain areas, we doom many children to a low opinion of their abilities and ignore a wide spectrum of human potential.

Although the subject isn't exactly lightweight, I found the book appealing and highly readable. Dr. Levine clearly has great respect and affection for his young subjects, so his anecdotes are engaging and (often) amusing. I was especially tickled when he urged a young client not to let his teachers "catch him doing something right" because from then on they'd hold it against him. In school, I was a "divergent thinker" to the max: if a subject interested me, I'd do a brilliant job, but if not I'd blow it off. So my occasional successes turned into threats: "See how well you can do if you just TRY hard enough." Trying hard had nothing to do with it! (When I got into college and graduate school, where I could study the subjects that interested me, my GPA soared.)

Although Levine's work is often compared with Howard Gardner's, in fact they're complementary. Levine deals with cognitive skills (such as learning to filter stimuli), while Gardner deals with innate abilities or faculties in various subject areas (such as affinity for music). A child's learning difficulties could result from either one -- for example, problems with math might mean that the child can't focus on details, or has little math ability -- or they could be caused by something totally unrelated to intelligence, such as eye problems. As Levine memorably points out, every child's mind is different, and "one size fits all" solutions rarely address the real problem.

A excellent resource for academia, parents, & future parents
The author Mike Levine provides us a book of rare quality and singular distinction as it relates to child development. Drawing from his experiences, Levine shares many interesting stories about children and their learning struggles. The universal theme running through his book is how to identify a child's weakeness, focusing on the child's strengths and interestes, and finding techniques or methods to circumvent the weaknesses. I rank this book among great writtings, such as, "Now discover your strengthens." The primary difference being, Levine provides a more clinical examination of children learning disabilities. Levine explores more of the neurological disorders that plague children than "Now discover your strengths". Levine helps us gain a more awareness about how these disorder effect children. Additionally, he helps us to understand the level of fustration and pain these disorders cause children. Levines book increases ones self awareness of the challenges associated with learning. Levine doesn't classify minds as good, fair, or poor rather he states that each mind learns differently. By accomodating the different types of learning weaknesses are circumvented.

Some of the weakness Levine addresses are short term memory problems, sequencing handicaps, spatial orientation, gross motor skills, relations, higher conceptualization, word and grammer challenges, and when a mind falls behind. The book has a fair number of diagrams which visually assist the reader in understanding various learning models being expressed by the author. I like the book because it provides a list of do's and don'ts at the end of each chapter. The reader learns about many ineffective behaviors they may have no effect on a struggling child.

Highly overrated
Mel gave a presentation at our school a number of years ago. He was am impassioned, motivational speaker. Last year this book was required reading for all the teachers at the school where I am employed. Most of us did not read very much of it because we were put off by the book. In fact, there is a running joke among the teachers that Mel really thinks "there are no lazy students". Other reviewers have mentioned the lack of literature research. Personally, I think that Howard Gardner's work on learning styles is far more useful that Levine's.

My Best Advice
This book is a must read for educators and students alike. And I mean ALL educators and students. You will be grateful for the information and advice. I am. And, I must say, I am also grateful for the advice of a previous reviewer who recommended that, after I read Mel Levine's great "A Mind at a Time", I also read Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Thomas Jefferson: Character Leadership Education". It WAS an education. This is my best advice. ... Read more

Book Description

Dr. David Burns is one of the prime developers of cognitive therapy, a fast-acting, drug-free treatment for designed to help the clinically depressed. In The Feeling Good Handbook, he adapts cognitive therapy to deal with the wide range of everyday problems that plague so many (chronic nervousness, panic attacks, phobias, and feelings of stress, guilt, or inferiority). The Feeling Good Handbook teaches how to remove the mental obstacles that bar you from success--from test anxiety and fear of public speaking to procrastination and self-doubt.

Filled with charts, quizzes, weekly self-assessment tests, and a daily mood log, The Feeling Good Handbook actively engages its readers in their own recovery. With a new section on the latest prescription drugs for treating depression and anxiety disorders, The Feeling Good Handbook is an indispensable guide to help change thinking, control mood swings, deal with disasters, and feel better about yourself and those around you.

"A wonderful achievement.The best of what modern psychotherapy has to offer to people suffering from anxiety, depression, and marital problems." --M. Anthony Bates, Clinical psychologist, Presbyterian Medical Center, Philadelphia

"If you are looking for sound, workable advice on how to change your life a little or a lot, this is the book for you." --Robert L. Leahy, Ph.D., Director, Center for Cognitive Therapy, New York ... Read more

Reviews (42)

A moderately effective course in cognitive therapy
Many people don't buy into the whole "root of your problems" mentality that seems to infect the mental health fields nowadays. That's understandable. There certainly is something to be said for a more pragmatic, straightforward approach to the treatment of certain mental states. It is to this group of people that Dr. David Burns addresses his Feeling Good Handbook.

The methods in The Feeling Good Handbook are aimed at helping those suffering from depression, anxiety, and other "mild" mental issues to train themselves into healthy mental patterns. Burns has put together a series of writing exercises and journaling that is intended to help readers recognize fallacies in their thought processes. He then spends a great deal of time on each of these fallacies of thought and how to overcome them.

Burns is an avid supporter of cognitive therapy. It is obvious that Burns feels the best way to mental health is through learning to master these negative thought processes. Furthermore, he states outright that it is possible to train yourself to be positive and happy by following these exercises.

Like most self-help books, Burns' popular book has both positive and negative attributes. Burns has managed to accurately classify the thought traps that those suffering from clinical depression and anxiety fall into. He also presents them in such a way that they are easily memorable and will often return to the reader's mind throughout the course of the day. Burns also includes a surprisingly accurate quiz to gauge the progress of the reader.

However, Burn's book depends very heavily on the reader following his instructions with exactness--and some of them are extremely tedious. This is, perhaps, not the best way to help those suffering with depression. Usually depression saps an individual of their desire to do anything at all. Additionally, Burns tends to be a little over-simplistic about his methods and even more over-enthusiastic about their results.

On its own, The Feeling Good Handbook is a moderately useful book in the amateur diagnosis and treatment of mild depression. When used in conjunction with a counselor who understands cognitive therapy, this book is an excellent tool in training the reader to think in a new way.

Conquer your depression and fears
The advice in this book is extremely beneficial. It does work. Some of the things Dr. Burns states a depressed person must do is get out of bed and get busy. He also states you must face your fears and suggests that you make yourself "crack up" It is impossible. You can face your fears or phobias using a proces he calls "flooding." I forced myself to face my fear of going back to work. Once I made it through the first day and was successful, I had disproved my distorted thoughts. Dr. Burns gives some incredible writing exercises to do. You state your automatic (negative) thoughts . He has you identify the distortions and then write a realistic thought. You then rate your realistic thought and then again rate your belief in your "automatic" thought. The writing exercises really help, but it does take time and practice. You start feeling gradually better and within a month of hard work, you actually do feel good most of the time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with any level of depression, phobia, or anxiety attacks.

Very important book
This is a crucial book to evaluate for those suffering from depression but skeptical of the effectiveness of most psychologists and self-help books.

Burns is one of the biggest popularizers of cognitive-behavioral therapy, one of extremely few therapeutic forms that have stood up to any scientific scrutiny. Over the last 20 years, CBT has become the predominant form of therapy practiced by psychologists. This book is intensive CBT, much more involving and direct than the form practiced in most psychologists' offices.

Burns takes a very simple approach: he does not place any weight on diagnostic categories or figuring out "why" people behave the way they do or the roots of their problems. Instead, every depressed thought is traced to irrational thought processes. Why those thought processes were developed is irrelevant; the challenge is identifying one's distortions and learning to think more rationally.

Contrary to some reviewers' opinions, I believe this book is best for people who have long-term depression in the medium range (recurrent major depression or dysthymia), with substantial experiences with psychologists. Clearly for more extreme cases - a manic depressive or a suicidal person - the first course of action should be a psychiatrist or psychologist, not a self-help book. This book requires a very high level of involvement and personal responsibility. I believe that it is patients who think of themselves as having a medical problem, seeing psychologists and taking medication for years and perhaps feeling dependent on them, who will at some crisis point become frustrated, develop the energy and motivation to work through a book like this and benefit the most from it. Patients with more minor depression will not feel sufficiently motivated to actually do the exercises, which take a substantial amount of time and clash with other life priorities.

CBT encourages short-term (only 12 weeks on average if seeing a psychologist!) therapy and extreme personal responsibility. For most problems, I believe CBT, either in the form of this book or combined with short-term therapy, is much better than seeing a psychologist long-term. Long-term psychotherapy without very clear goals strongly encourages dependence on the psychologist or medication and reinforces the idea that one is permanently ill. This dependence produces further irrational thinking and can very easily lead to continual depression. Reading a book like this and doing its exercises is an exercise in independence and self-reliance and a major accomplishment in itself. The ability to solve one's own problems is difficult to achieve but extremely powerful - perhaps the only solution - for relieving long-term depression.

Burns feels that virtually no one should be on medication long-term - more than about a year - a view that is somewhat debatable (he excludes, obviously, bipolar and schizophrenic patients). The long-term effectiveness of SSRIs is unproven, but Burns' one-year limit seems purely arbitrary.

CBT is also more art than science - although anyone with any experience with psychologists or self-help books will realize that this is true of the entire field. Often Burns' methods and categorizations of irrational thoughts seem completely arbitrary and hardly authoritative. They could probably use more refinement and clarity. What I think is important is that CBT, and even simply reading Burns' book "Feeling Good", have been demonstrated through scientific means - double-blind testing - to produce considerable improvement.

All in all, this is a book with a clear philosophy that has stood up to scientific scrutiny, unlike psychoanalysis or most other therapeutic methods practiced by psychologists. It requires high involvement and emphasizes personal responsibility, and one has to develop considerable motivation to make any use of it. But the results can be extremely worthwhile.

Excellent practical advice!
Because I suffer from bipolar disorder (manic-depression), I have been looking for a something that can help me in some way. Most self-help type books have not helped me. This is the first book that really enabled me to see some light. It has excellent practical advice regarding how to manage your emotions by behaving and thinking in new ways. It takes you through the process step by step and can be understood by ordinary people like myself without rereading it five times. After benefiting from reading this book for a while, I became curious of why this type of thing works so well for my depression. After a long search, I discovered a book called "The Ever-Transcending Spirit" by Toru Sato that explained this beautifully. Sato's book is more theoretical but it is full of truly amazing insights that I can understand. I feel that it is a true blessing to have people like this share their insights and knowledge to the rest of the world.

Very Helpful Sequel to Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
I found this book to be very helpful as an adjunct to Burns's previous book Feeling Good. While not absolutely essential, I think most people would benefit from reading and applying the techniques from Feeling Good prior to studying The Feeling Good Handbook. Once you have the basics down from the former book, you can more easily benefit from the specific techniques in the Handbook. I especially found the chapters on procrastination to be very helpful. I was able to go from extremely depressed to normal and happy using the techniques in Feeling Good alone, but I enjoyed Burns's writing so much that I just had to pick up this book, too, as well as his other books.
If you only purchase one self-help book I'd recommend Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy. If you want to read more I'd recommend this book as a second purchase for help with applying cognitive therapy techniques to specific problems such as procrastination, anxiety problems and communication problems. If you need help with shyness or relationships I'd recommend Burns's Intimate Connections. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (4)

Excellent Book Used in My Dialectical Behavior Therapy Class
We are using this book in my dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) class and it has been extremely helpful in understanding mindfulness. I highly recommend this as an addition to DBT for consumers of borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. Wonderful!

A good presentation of a treatment and its develpment
A very well-written, comprehensive, clinician-friendly account of a treatment that appears to capture much of the essence of mindfulness and its benefits. Straight forward enough so that clinicians from all theoretical orientations should be able to appreciate the nature of the approach. It is very nice to see, in the past 15 years or so, psychologists finally trying to take a serious scientific stab at traditionally Eastern approaches like mindfulness and acceptance. The only drawback of the book, for me, was the relative lack of a serious scientific technical analysis of the approach, as the description of how the treatment theoretically works is largely discussed in metaphorical and somewhat lay-language. This may simply be because the book is aimed primarily at practicing clinicians, rather than academic psychologists and other researchers. Readers intrigued by this approach should also read Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (1999), by Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson.

Cognitive Therapy meets Mindfulness Meditation
If your interests include psychotherapy (especially cognitive therapies), or meditation (especially Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction), or if you are interested in research on depression, then I suspect that you will find this book as compelling as I did.

Here is what I found profound about this book, from a cognitive therapy perspective. Cognitive therapists have long known that automatic thoughts are related to various psychopathologies, but they typically theorized that CHANGING those thoughts was the royal road to psychological health. The alternative studied and developed by the authors is that carefully ATTENDING to cognitions fully as they arise and fall is itself healing. Rather than focusing on cognitive restructuring of thoughts and thinking, this cognitive therapy postulates that observing thoughts, feelings, perceptions, bodily sensations, and world events in a compassionate, "non-attached" manner liberates one from the suffering that accompanies them. The authors have begun to collect outcome data consistent with this unusual cognitive theory.

I found the authors' review of the depression literature quite informative, and the evidence in support of MBCT is described clearly. At the same time, I couldn't help noting that the MBCT approach is specifically designed to target recovering depressives, with an eye toward preventing relapse. So although MBCT is "for depression, " it is not currently intended to treat depression per se, and it is intended as an adjunct to other treatments (e.g., medication, individual psychotherapy, etc.). So, the authors focus, at least for now, on a narrowly defined population. This is not a criticism of the book or MBCT. But for now, MBCT is quite limited in scope by its infancy. I expect that someone eventually will attempt to systematize a form of MBCT for depression in general, for individuals, or for other clinical populations.

I'm always tempted to buy another book on meditation and psychotherapy. I have to be careful here. There is a glut of excellent, relevant books (e.g., books by Mark Epstein, Daniel Goleman, Ken Wilber). Buying or reading yet another book is the easy, habitual behavior when books are your drug of choice, and your cluttered house is screaming at you with volumes of printed matter. Practicing mindfulness continuously, noticing a habitual tendency, and attending fully to the present moment, presents itself as the mindful, non-habitual alternative choice. Did I really need yet another book?

Well, I'm glad I read yet another book on this topic. This book shares many elements with Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), an influential meditative approach that has considerable empirical support and is finding its way into many medical and psychological settings (seeJon Kabat-Zinn's "Full Catastrophe Living"). Initially the authors attempted to bolt MBSR approaches onto previously existing variants of Cognitive Therapy. But as their methods and awareness evolved, MBCT increasingly came to resemble Kabat-Zinn's MBSR. Their current MBCT approach is an 8-week group program that strongly resembles the UMASS MBSR program, with some elements of traditional cognitive therapy added. I think that the MBCT variant of MBSR will be valuable in that it provides additional tools and strategies for running Mindfulness-based groups in a clinical setting. Additionally, I think MBCT nicely integrates empirically-validated components of CT with empirically-validated components of MBSR. It is worth noting that the MBCT approach is specifically psycho-educational, and takes place in a group setting. This could be the beginning of a beautiful psychotherapy.

A Suprisingly Readable and Useful Book
This is a fantastic book for a variety of audiences: (1) practicing psychologists and therapists who want to learn about a useful -- and empirically supported -- skill for treating depression; (2) people who think may suffer from sad moods -- even if not full-blown depression -- and who want a medicine-free and therapy-free way to feel better; (3) academic researchers who want to know more about varieties of meditation and how to adapt meditation programs to more specific goals; (4) people interested in mindfulness meditation who want to see a psychological angle on why it works so well; (5) academic researchers who want to know more about some theories about why cognitive-behavioral therapy works so well.

Whew! So many good things to say:

The book actually reads very well -- not just by the minimal standards of academic writing, but by popular standards as well. It's clear, unpretentious and has a surprising amount of drama to it.

Many people now try to adapt some kind of mindfulness a la John Kabat-Zinn to a variety of needs for people to overcome this or that disorder, pain, etc. Nearly all assume that one can just take the whole Kabat-Zinn plan and just throw anyone into it. As someone who has taken a class based on the Kabat-Zinn program, and someone who has tried to adapt it to teaching law students and others about negotiation, I can tell you this does not work too well. Among other things, few people really manage to meditate 45 minutes a day.

The book explains how the researchers tried to adapt the program to a more specific need: preventing people from getting depressed again after they've been treated. They explain how they changed their thinking about meditation and how to teach it.

One of the most beautiful parts of the book is how frankly the authors admit how their first attempts fell short. They also frankly explain how they needed to meditate themselves before they could teach it.

Highly recommended! ... Read more

Book Description

Known for its currency and clear writing style, this book provides a comprehensive and systematic introduction to elementary forms of learning that have been the focus of research for much of the twentieth century. The book covers habituation, classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning, stimulus control, aversive control, and their applications to the study of cognition and to the alleviation of behavior problems. Biological constraints on learning are integrated throughout the text, as are applications boxes that relate animal research to human learning and behavior. The book closely reflects the field of research it represents in terms of topics covered, theories discussed, and experimental paradigms described. ... Read more

Book Description

These are all classic examples of the passive-aggressive man. This personality syndrome -- in which hostility wears a mask of passivity -- is currently the number one source of men's problems in relationships and on the job. In Living with the Passive-Aggressive Man, Scott Wetzler draws upon numerous case histories from his own practice to explain how and why the passive-aggressive man thinks, feels, and acts the way he does. Dr. Wetzler also offers advice on:

• How to avoid playing victim, manager, or rescuer to the "P-A"
• How to get his anger and fear into the open
• How to help the "P-A" become a better lover, husband, and father
• How to survive passive-aggressive game playing on the job

Living with a man's passive aggression can be an emotional seesaw ride. But armed with this book, you can avoid the bumpy landings. ... Read more

Reviews (35)

Should be required reading for every woman in America!
If you're on the dating scene and you've thought you were making progress with a relationship--only to have the guy start getting cold feet, or your formerly passionate husband has become incommunicative and disinterested, then you need to read Living with the Passive-Aggressive Man. All will become clear within 200 pages.

The passive-aggesive personality disorder in men is reaching epidemic proportions in this country, due to the fact that most American men over 30 were raised with one set of values (women should be submissive and stay at home) and are today supposed to live with another set of values (women are men's equal and should follow their own ideas). And then there are all the p/a's who inherited their problems from upbringing by troubled parents.

All I know is that every single one of my female friends has pondered "how can you possibly understand men?" Well, Scott Wetzler does, and explains their inexplicable p/a behavior. I thought it was interesting that the negative reviews of this book were all by men--no doubt guys who had had the book given to them because they had a problem, and as the book says, are incapable of taking responsibility for their actions!

I found it chilling that Dr. Wetzler described my husband as if he knew him personally. The problems that I had blamed myself for were all there: the abstinence, the emotional withdrawal, the subtle criticisms, the narcissim. What a huge relief to know that all this was not my fault!

Comprehensive and useful information. Could not put it down.
I am married to and have two children with a passive aggressive man. I have searched local bookstores for a book on the topic for 2 years. One night, in desperation, I searched Amazon for a book on the subject and thankfully, I found this book by Scott Wetzeler.

Scott Wetzler clearly outlines the personality of a passive aggressive and concise terms and offers comprehensive solutions in how to deal with this personality.

What I loved most about the book were the validating stories told by other women that have experienced the, frustration, humiliation and emotional abuse, while involved with a "PA". I read their words over and over again in partial disbeleif, that my exact feelings and discription of the behavior, were staring back at me in black and white.

I urge anyone (male or female) who is in a relationship with someone who sulks, does not respond to a direct question or insists they are not angry even though their actions tell you otherwise, to read this book. It will save your life, as it has mine.

THANK GOD... IT FINALLY MAKES SENSE
This is a must read for every woman. If I had read this book 5 years ago it's possible I could have avoided a very damaging on again, off again relationship with a PA man. Many of the scenarios and behaviors outlined in the book were exactly what I have allowed myself to live with for far too long. The author gives many suggestions on how to live with and adapt to the PA behavior. He also points out that there may come a time when you have no choice but to get out of the relationship in order to save yourself. In my experience with the PA man he is very immature, does not fight fair, does not know the meaning of unconditional love and is unwilling to change any aspect of himself. I had bought into the PA behavior completely. I found it very reassuring to read the words "it's not your fault". It is sad how much of ourselves we (the women who love the PA man) are expected to give up in order to try and make these relationships work. Truly successful relationships are made up of give and take, working through issues together, accepting the good times with the bad, communication and compromise. Life is too short to be spent with a man who takes more than he gives and leaves you feeling anything less than secure about your role in his life. I am very grateful to Scott Wetlzer for bringing the PA behavior to light in such an easy to read (and read again) book. His outline of the PA behavior helped me to accept that I have done all I can do and for me the only option left was to move on.

RISE ABOVE HIS RAISING - THE FUNCTIONAL DYSFUNCTIONAL
I strongly recommend this book for anyone seeking to find help for their therapy resistant partner who has mood disorders, any type of addiction, identity issues, self-esteem issues, reoccurring unresolved anger, troubling relationship, boundry and trust issues.

Excellent compliments to this book are: The Angry Heart: Overcoming Borderline and Addictive Disorders by Joseph Santoro and Ronald Cohen; The Narcissistic Family: Diagnosis and Treatment by Stephanie Donaldson-Pressman and Robert Pressman; Why Is It Always About You?: The Seven Deadly Sins of Narcissism by Sandy Hotchkiss and James Masterson; Emotional Blackmail: When People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate You by Susan Forward and Donna Frazier; Understanding the Borderline Mother: Helping Her Children Transcend the Intense, Unpredictable and Volatile Relationship by Christine Ann Lawson; Malignant Self Love: Narcissism Revisited by Sam Vaknin and Lidija Rangelovska (Editor); Children of the Self-Absorbed: A Grown-Up's Guide to Getting Over Narcissistic Parents by Nina Brown; Treating Attachment Disorders: From Theory to Therapy by Karl Heinz Brisch and Kenneth Kronenberg; Toxic Coworkers: How to Deal with Dysfunctional People on the Job by Alan Cavaiola and Neil Lavender; Bully in Sight: How to Predict, Resist, Challenge and Combat Workplace Bullies by Tim Field.

And if you want to pursue the subject even further, you may be interested in reading The Narcissistic / Borderline Couple: A Psychoanalytic Perspective On Marital Treatment; Addicted to Unhappiness: Free yourself from the moods and behaviors that undermine relationships, work and the life you want by Martha Heineman Pieper and William Pieper; Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility by Jim Fay and Foster Cline.

Schlock!
From the reviews, many have given this book high marks because the anedotal evidence confirms their own experiences. This is undoubtedly true. Everyone can relate to some story in the book to a person they knew and say to themselves: "That person was passive-aggressive." The main criticism people seem to have is that the author singles out men when clearly women are capable of the same behavior. I can't argue with that. I think the omission of women provides some insight into the author and the political agenda he's trying to advance. This whole book might be an exercise into the author's own passive-aggressiveness against men. If you disagree, re-read the introduction. The author states that Men have failed (or refused?) to become a NEW MAN that feminism's rise has allowed the opportunity to emerge. Not only is this just pretentious and plays on people's stereotypes about men, but the author seems to be pandering to his audience. Moreover, the omission of women is essential to the political agenda the author is advancing: that an epidemic of passive-aggressiveness is in response to feminism. Any acknowledgment that women could be passive-aggressive would undermine this agenda.
But my fundamental criticism of this book is that it's worthless beyond the confirmation or comfort it brings to certain readers. Even this confirmation is fundamentally flawed. The book is entirely based on labeling the person as "passive-aggressive". Labeling is a classic cognitive distortion. It leaves out the fact that almost everyone has some passive-aggressive moments and other moments when they can be open and caring. [I think if you're honest with yourself you'll find out this applies to you too. Though admittedly, some people act more passive-aggressive than others.] Just labeling someone passive-aggressive is not only inaccurate but it's counter-productive. It will just elicit a negative response in the other person. It will turn them off. This may give the finger-pointer a false sense of superiority but does nothing to solve the behavior. And solving the behavior should be the whole point! The book is not based on any solid research, only the author's own observations. What evidence, besides the author's assertion, that there is an epidemic of male passive-aggressiveness? (This absence of evidence points to a basic problem in identifying "personality disorders" in psychotherapy. Are there double-blind studies that have determined whether the "passive-aggressive personality disorder" even exists? Sure passive-aggressive behavior exists but does it rise to the level of a personality disorder? I'm very skeptical) More importantly, the book offers no solutions beyond bringing the poor guy into therapy. You are better off buying one of the good cognitive-behavioral books available. Changing oneself or getting another person to change is hard work. You don't need to make it harder by name-calling and then not providing any solutions. ... Read more

Book Description

Sternberg's text balances accessible writing, practical applications and research scholarship, including biologically oriented information. It explores the basics of cognitive psychology through its coverage of cognitive neuroscience, attention and consciousness, perception, memory, knowledge representation, language, problem solving and creativity, decision making and reasoning, cognitive development, and intelligence. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent, Comprehensive Introduction
Covers all the main areas of Cognitive Psychology extremely well. It is very easy to read, despite being written in a scientific style. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

An easy-to-read primer on faulty reasoning
This book's strength lies in Gilovich's ability to make science, statistics, and the tools of critical thinking accessible to anyone. Armed with the examples and reasoning of this excellent work, anyone would be able to stand up to the most fervent proponents of bogus "phenomena" like certain alternative therapies and the easy lure of seeing "extra-sensory" connections where none exist. Most importantly, Gilovich is able to explain in simple language why the average reader should be wary of anecdotal evidence, and should not fail to look at such "evidence" in its overall context. In other words, the book brings home the importance of the scientific method and tenaciously holds to that standard. Interestingly, in the case of the smallest bit of empirical evidence for ESP ("Ganzfeld" experiments), the book recites the data without bias against such phenomena. Instead, as is his way, Gilovich simply follows the data where it leads. The author should rank in the same league as Steven Jay Gould and Carl Sagan in terms of bringing science to the lay reader.

Invaluable, practical analysis of WHY we think the way we do
This is not the easiest-to-read book on the subject. The beginning of the book gets a little bogged down in some jargon. The book's greatest asset is its application of the thought processes to specific examples of faulty thinking, e.g., on "alternative medicine" and ESP. One weakness of the book is that it seems to totally discount anecdotal evidence. True, someone saying they were cured because of some "alternative" therapy is almost always bogus, as the body has a wonderful tendency to heal itself despite the New Age investment. But (1) not all of us have the time or expertise to be absolutely scholarly in our analysis and (2) there can be some value in anecdotal evidence; it is, after all, experience. (Incidentally, the author covers too why we are often NOT challenged by those whom we'd assume would challenge our faulty thinking. And that's another of the book's assets, and something useful to think about!) Nonetheless, I do recommend the book to anyone wondering, as I often do, why people get caught into ridiculous movements and the like. The book offers some valuable explanations why.

Avoids the pitfalls of most sceptics
i.e. "these people must be stupid &/or crazy to believe this nonsense". Fact is, many of our fallacies are based on strategies that work or have worked in other situations. Many scientific advances are because someone found a pattern -- that others scorned laughed at back then. (Warning: they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.) People who are most involved and best informed are just as, or more likely to be deceived. Obstetric nurses and cops believe they see more action during a full moon; not true. Coaches believe in 'hot streaks'; not true. Look at the numbers.
We humans are so good at finding patterns that we can find them when they aren't there.

Hit the nail on the head
I've read a lot of books on logic, argument, and critical thinking. This is the best one I've read for explaining the psychological reasons behind faultly logic. This book is going on my list of books to read every few years so as to inoculate myself from the described fallibilities in human reasoning. I will be recommending this to everyone I know. Unfortunately, the ones who need to read it the most probably won't.

How People Don't Think
This is a fascinating discourse on the pitfalls of human reasoning. Gilovich covers everything from the counter-intuitiveness of many facts governing probability, to the effects of absent data, to debunking often reported stories of older research, such as the case of "Little Albert," a toddler who was made to be afraid of white rats, by pairing any contact with white rats with an unpleasant stimulus.

Gilovich has personally conducted numerous research trials exploring the ways people learn and reason, and draws on this background, as well as a thorough command of other research into relevant areas. In one experiment, students were asked to guess their class rankings in regard to leadership abilities: only 2% thought they were below average, while a full 60% thought they were in the top 10%!

Gilovich has a very smooth writing style, and he is writing here for laymen. In spite of the huge amount of valuable information presented, the 215 page book is easy-going, and I think most people would finish it in a few days.

This is a book you will refer back to time and again, so buying a personal copy is a good idea. ... Read more

Book Description

This contemporary survey of the field of learning offers comprehensive coverage of both classic studies and the most recent developments and trends—with an emphasis on the importance of learning principles in everyday life. Many real-world examples and analogies make the often abstract concepts and theories of the field more concrete and relevant, and most chapters include sections that describe how the theories and principles have been used in the applied field of behavior modification.Simple Ideas, Simple Associations, and Simple Cells. Innate Behavior Patterns and Habituation. Basic Principles of Classical Conditioning. Theories and Research on Classical Conditioning. Basic Principles of Operant Conditioning. Reinforcement Schedules: Experimental Analyses and Applications. Avoidance and Punishment. Theories and Research on Operant Conditioning. Stimulus Control and Concept Formation. Comparative Cognition. Learning by Observation. Learning Motor Skills. Choice.For educators, social workers, and anyone interested in human learning behavior. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

excellent
I have taught from this book in New Zealand and America. If your students are used to being spoon fed they may rebel at its complexity -- but if they are given proper guidance it will be useful first introduction and enduringly useful text for them. If you are graduating students with degrees in psychology and they cannot comprehend this book -- then their degree is not worth the paper it is printed on.

A Student Reader
This text is much too complex for even an advanced undergraduate student. I found the chapters to be poorly organized, repetitious and over emphatical on small points, and vague on many important points. For a reader who has a good deal of previous exposure to behavior psychology, this may be a good text. For the majority of readers using this as a text to obtain an undergraduate degree without an emphisis on behavior, it is not. It seems to require quite a bit of previous exposure to behaviorist theories that most readers I have encountered do not have.

A must for anyone serious about behavior.
This book is not for the faint of heart but is indispensable for anyone seriously into the field of behavior. In the animal training field it is one of the five top books that I and many other trainers recommend.

Marked four stars only because it is not for the casual reader.

Overly technical for the undergraduate, needs simplified.
I found this book to be too technical and dry for the average undergraduate. It contained information that seemed both relevent and useless to the consumer. For instance, the chapters explained a mild version of the topic of discussion, then, went into detail on that topic later on. Instead of breaking the topics up so much it would be preferrable to read it all at once. I read the book numerous times, and still had some problems comprehending the exact meanings of many of the subjects. Learning and Behavior was more technical than the average undergraduate can learn, or should be tested on. ... Read more

Book Description

While people have known for centuries that facial expressions can reveal what people are thinking and feeling, it is only recently that the face has been studied scientifically for what it can tell us about internal states, social behavior, and psychopathology.Today, due to the availability of sophisticated measuring systems, a wealth of new research on facial behavior has contributed enormously to our understanding of human psychology. The chapters in this volume represent the state-of-the-art in this critical field.They address such key issues as the dynamic and morphological differences between voluntary and involuntary expressions, the relationship between what people show on their facesand what they say they feel, and whether it is possible to use facial behavior to distinguish among psychiatric populations. The book also includes updated commentary by the authors on those works which may have appeared previously in the journal literature.As an essential reference for all those working in the field of facial analysis and expression, this volume will be indispensable for a wide range of professionals and students in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral medicine. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Emotion, Personality, Theraputic Outcomes, and More
I am a contributor to this book and know many of the other authors therein, but receive no
compensation from its sale. Having declared this possible conflict of interest, I can recommend
purchase of this book if you are interested in learning what can be discovered from the face
through measurement of facial muscular action in scientific research. Its approximately 500
pages contains 22 scientific articles, mostly published previously in journals, that report
research studies conducted in the late 1970s to the early 1990s, most towards this later date.
These articles cover a diverse range of topics, methods, and principles having to do with the
relationship between facial expression and emotion; clinical diagnosis, treatment, and outcome;
and other related issues. The editors's selection process, based on the use in the study of the
Facial Action Coding System (FACS, a method for measuring facial behavior), has included
competent research with above average interest, thoughtful reflection, theoretical and practical
relevance, and plain good sense that generally exceeds what you might find, for example, in your
typical social psychology journal. The authors of the articles work in many places around the
world and represent most of the people in the vanguard of the FACS movement and the new
approaches to studying behavior and emotion. This book is particularly helpful if you are new to
the study of facial behavior or have not been diligent in collecting the important articles using
facial measurement, which are published many different journals. The book provides an efficient
vehicle to catch up on the significant issues, findings, trends, and controversies in the areas
covered, including the quality and usefulness of the information provided by the face, the
relationship of facial expression to emotion, whether emotion is a coherent response system,
differences between genuine and false smiles, expression in pathological states, affect in the
psychotheraputic process, etc. The included works provide a solid foundation for understanding
how facial measurement contributes to investigating behavioral science problems. Even in the
unlikely event that you have previously read all the published works reprinted here, this volume
has value because each chapter has at least one afterward that expands on the original work in
revealing and useful ways that bring you up to date on the topic, and there is one thought
provoking article by Ekman et al. on the relation between facial behavior and psychiatric
outcomes that you will not find elsewhere. Also, the editors include their own new chapters
introducing, and finally, summarizing and integrating the works included. A table of contents,
forward by M. Brewster Smith, original source references, author list, and a lengthy subject
index are included. Take a look at the table of contents provided on this site to see more
details. The overall statement of this book is that the face contains important data about
concepts that are vital to diverse behavioral science issues. You will find that the perspective
of this book is different from several other books on facial expression currently in print. If
you are contemplating research on emotion, facial behavior, non-verbal behavior, and related
topics, this book is a helpful guide containing useful background; if you are currently planning
research in these fields, it is indispensible reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (7)

Better Than 6 Months of Therapy (at least for me)
I'm an extremely rational and intelligent person.Over the course of my life, I've spent months and months in touchy-feely therapy being told to "be IN my emotions", which I will be the first to admit is better than being "out of my emotions", but never really gave me the "ah ha" I was looking for.

Dr. Ekman's book did. It was so nice to be able to learn the science behind emotions and how they work on many different levels.It was beyond nice to have a book rooted in science, rather than what some person thinks may be true about a subject.I have a totally different relationship with my emotions now and they seem almost like brand new toys that I get to play with all day long!

OK, I admit the writing style could be better, a few more tables and a more spartan use of the word 'I', but it wasn't hard to get past that and the content more than made up for it.This book has gone onto my life list of books everybody should read.

Interesting science, but poorly organized and written.
Who isn't captivated by the unspoken language of expression.Very few in science today would dispute that non-verbal expression contributes a signficant amount of "information rate transfer" in every human to human exchange.

That's why I ordered this book.I was curious to know how the mechanics of non-verbal expression (manifested in the face) generally worked.Paul Ekman has been at the forefront of this research since the mid-sixties.Before ordering, I spent some time at his site (of same name as the book) and was impressed enough to do what the site pushes you to do: order the book...

I was mildly dissapointed.While the book has plenty of interesting factoids, from the beginning it felt way overwritten.Almost like the author had a 24 page lesson plan and decided to stretch it out to 240 pages.In my opinion, there is allot of "fluff".Granted, some may be interested in reading 20 pages about the fact that emotions are nature (vs. nurture) across all cultures...well, that was hotly debated 20 years ago, now it's generally accepted as fact...move on.

The meat of my issue with the book is that it should have been a lesson plan.My favorite part of the book is at the end when there are 14 pages of faces with barely registered emotion on them that you have to discern the meaning in.I wanted that throughout the book.

If you have a particular fascination with this subject, I'd recommend ordering the CD's and using the interactive lesson plan.Skip the book.

Hope this was helpful.

Not a lot of useful information
I got this book after reading Malcolm Gladwell's lovely New Yorker piece on Paul Ekman.I was looking for an accessable introduction to FACS, Ekman's facial coding system, but this book wasn't it.Emotions Revealed is perhaps too accessable, with copious fluff and very little real content.

After an introduction to Ekmans work, the book is divided into chapters on each emotion.Each chapter is further subdivided into: 1) anecdotes about people feeling emotions (useless), 2) at most two pages on the facial expression associated with the emotion (the meat, if you will), 3) speculation on why you might feel the emotion (useless), and 4) suggestions on how to react if you see this emotion on others (situation dependant & therefore useless).

Ekman's strength is in the clinical study of facial expression, not in writing anecdotal psychobabble.Skip this book if you already know the gist of his work.

Get the training CDs as well!
The book is outstanding but you should definitely get the 2 TRAINING CDs on microexpressions, available from the website of the same name as the book.

WOW, Great Information for all professions
This is an exceptionally well written book with ideas that would benefit all professionals.There are several concepts in this book that I personally found interesting.I highly recommend this book to all that deal with adverse environments, which of course is all of us. ... Read more

Book Description

In this important theoretical treatise, Jean Lave, anthropologist, and Etienne Wenger,computer scientist, push forward the notion of situated learning--that learning is fundamentally a social process and not solely in the learner's head. The authors maintain that learning viewed as situated activity has as its central defining characteristic a process they call legitimate peripheral participation. Learners participate in communities of practitioners, moving toward full participation in the sociocultural practices of a community. Legitimate peripheral participation provides a way to speak about crucial relations between newcomers and oldtimers and about their activities, identities, artifacts, knowledge and practice.The communities discussed in the book are midwives, tailors, quartermasters, butchers, and recovering alcoholics, however, the process by which participants in those communities learn can be generalized to other social groups. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

situated learning
The book is easy to read, extremely interesting and gives a new perspective on learning. In this type of learning the learner models behavior of the teacher. Questions are not asked, behavior is not explained and all of the learning takes place as a result of observation and immitation of observed behavior.

You'll need a light-heart to bear the blacksmith's anvil.
I wonder if two people have ever had so much fun writing a book together as Jean Lave and Etiene Wenger. Lave's choice of a cover illustration supports my point: she found the artwork at a beer-fest while visiting friends and studying in Europe. Lave and Wenger are world reknowned scholars who would rather spend the afternoon in a butcher's kitchen than hobb-knobbing at the faculty lounge. With "Situated Learning," the reader is invited to follow Lave and Wenger as they ponder the consequences of doors, tables, timeclocks, work schedules, and union contracts on human development and potential.
After reading "Situated Learning," it is difficult to imagine the constellation of concepts that make up our modern thinking of what learning is without Lave and Wenger's contributions. Like the artwork on the book's cover, and the story of its origins, Lave and Wenger's analysis restoke the fires fueling the learning sciences. It is not an overstatement to say that this short, sometimes difficult to follow book, is responsible for a whole new generation of thinking and research on learning and its sociocultural consequences.
Their analytical objective was simple: dethrone the dominant conceptions of learning in the social sciences and everyday life. In their place, Lave and Wenger offer and illustrate a handful of concepts that students of learning across the social and applied sciences are now usings to inspire new insights on the origins of social ascension and strife.
I recommend that the reader, too, pick up this book with the intent of having some fun: let your inhibitions, and intellectual reservations, down for a couple of hours and enjoy the show as Lave and Wenger take off the Emporer's (modern psychology's, that is) clothes. Readers need to approach this book with a light-heart, as its simplicity and substance leave one feeling as if the dominant, 20th century schools of thought on learning have placed a blacksmith's anvil on the center of one's chest. Thank goodness Lave and Wenger have brought our attention to this matter.
Needless to say, I highly recommend the book. ... Read more

Book Description

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist implodes the myth of the dumbed-down mom, offering startling scientific evidence that motherhood gives women unexpected mental advantages

Generations of mothers have been told-and believed-that having a baby means checking their own brains at the delivery room door.

"The Mommy Brain" usually refers to a head full of feeding times, soccer schedules, and nursery rhymes, at the expense of creative or challenging ideas. But recent scientific research paints a dramatically different and far rosier picture.

Journalist Katherine Ellison draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to demonstrate that, contrary to long-established wisdom that having children dumbs you down, raising children may make moms smarter. From enhanced senses in pregnancy and early motherhood to the alertness and memory skills necessary to manage like a pro, to a greater aptitude for risk-taking and a talent for empathy and negotiation, these advantages not only help mothers in raising their children, but in their work and social lives as well.

Filled with lively (and often hilarious) stories of multitasking moms at home and on the job, The Mommy Brain encourages all of us to cast aside conventional thinking and discover the positive ways in which having children changes mothers' brains for the better. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A little thin
I was disappointed with this book.In an effort to keep the book from being too scientific, Ellison waters down the material too far for my comfort.Also, there are a lot of unanswered questions in this field of research.Time after time, Ellison poses an interesting question, and then is forced to answer her own question by saying, "We don't know yet."Then she moves on to idle speculation to fill in the blanks.

Also, my copy of the book was missing pages 17-40, and had two copies of pages 41-64. ... Read more

Book Description

An invaluable resource for any manager or professional, this book offers a collection of proven, practical methods for simplifying any problem and making faster, better decisions every time. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

A nice reference book...a cookbook for decision making
This book is a nice reference that captures the majority of problem solving techniques: a cookbook for decision making. The analytical techniques range from problem restatement to constructing an advanced utility matrix. It's useful in both daily life, business, and science.

Thinker's Toolkit also contains very useful examples and exercises. They immediately demonstrate to the reader where common decision making falls short.

On the down side, the book is a 'dry' read at times.

Good reference for problem analysis - Bush should read this
I found this book whilst searching for a framework for basic problem solving. This book provides 14 good techniques, the most important I believe are Causal Flow Diagram, Hypothesis Testing and Utility Matrix.

Actually I was triggered to buy this book is because the author was an ex-CIA. I guess when he left, he brought all his techniques with him in his head!

I wish the Bush Administration and Tony Blair should refer to this book (especially the Hypothesis Testing) when they have "irrefutable evidence" that Saddam Hussein has WMD in his cellar.

The reason I did not give him 5-stars is because it is all texts and tables which makes it a dry read.

A worthwhile read
Some of the material reminds me of operations research techniques. Gives you something hang your hat on as you think about a problem.

Mildly interesting. Horrible writing.
The books begins with a series of interesting stories on the psychology of decision-making. Once it gets into the Powerful Techniques it becomes trite, boring and difficult to read. Poorly explained ideas, and poorly worded exercise questions make the book unbearable.

For example, throughout the book the author provides different stories describing different problems (say, that a bakery's bread is coming out of the oven inexplicably burned) and then it asks you to state the problem. The problem is that the bread is burned! But what the author actually *means* to ask (which is clear only upon reading the sample answers he provides) is "What are the potential causes of the problem?" These are two very different questions, both of which are important. Problem solving is an exercise in symbolic logic. A book that has its roots firmly planted in symbolic logic cannot afford to suffer from poor editing and word choice.

Anyone that is reasonably adept in a technical field (engineering, software, et cetera) will find it interesting at first, but it quickly becomes boring and of questionable value. I give it one star - despite the fact that it may be valuable to some people - because I believe that authors who write poorly should not publish books on technical subjects.

Solid decision making made easy
Enjoyed the book immensely. Here, in amongst much 'release your genius' type stuff is something a little less salesmanship (on offer is just a toolkit and not the possibility of 'unleashing' your latent 'genius') and a good deal more of useable material.
In a business context the ability to establish a framework might not, at first, seem to be something missing - but after sitting through too many meetings where the criteria for establishing a decision is not known the ability to pick one of the tools from this book and get everyone thinking through the same process is worth more than the price alone. Less angst, better decisions. ... Read more

Reviews (30)

Easy Intro to Jung
In Man and his Symbols (1961), Jung's last book, Jung and four of his disciples (Von Franz, Henderson, Jaffé, and Jacobi) team up to introduce the world to the collective unconscious and its manifestations in mythology, art, dreams, and even science.

Jung suggests that man's greatest adventure lies in the exploration of the inner world of the psyche. By getting in touch with the unconscious (esp