Rom Harre – författare

Positioning theory is the study of the nature, formation, influence and ways of change of local systems of rights and duties as shared assumptions about them influence small scale interactions. Evolving from linguistics origins, the theory concerns conventions of speech and action that are labile, contestable, and ephemeral. With this theory, researchers are able to examine the dynamic flow of social interaction as well as give equal weight to the role of discourse and the psychological resolution of conflict.

This volume applies positioning theory in order to achieve a fuller and more in-depth understanding of conflict and its psychological resolution. The editors approach positioning from the micro (interpersonal) level all the way to the macro (intergroup and international) level.

Rom Harré has used his experience of both the natural and the human sciences to create a text on which exciting and insightful courses can be built in many ways. The text is based on the idea that underlying the long history of attempts to create a scientific psychology there are many unexamined presuppositions that must be brought to light. Whether describing language, categorization, memory, the brain or connectionism the book always links our intuitions about how we think, feel and act in the contexts of everyday life to the latest accounts of the neural tools with which we accomplish the cognitive tasks demanded of us. Computational and biological models are used to link the discursive analysis of everyday cognition to the necessary activities of the brain and nervous system.

Fluently written and well structured, this is an ideal text for students who want to gain a comprehensive view of the current state of the art with its seeming divergence into studies of meanings and studies of neurology. The book is divided into four basic modules, with suggestions for three lectures in each. The plan is related to the overall pattern of the semester programme. The reader is guided with helpful learning points, sections of study questions for review, and key readings for each chapter.

Cognitive Science: A Philosophical Introduction, with its remarkable sweep of themes, past and present, truly introduces 'the science of the mind' for a new generation of psychology students.

Cognitive Science should be indispensable reading for students at all levels taking courses in cognitive science and cognitive psychology, and useful additional course reading in other areas such as social psychology, artificial intelligence, philosophy of the mind and linguistics.

Key Points

· First major textbook to provide a link between computational, philosophical and biological models in an accessible format for students. Presents a new vision of psychology as a scientific discipline.

· Breadth of coverage - ranging from artificial intelligence, to key themes & theories in cognitive science (past and present) - language, memory, the brain and behaviour - to recent discursive and cultural theories.

· Plenty of student features to help the student and tutor including helpful learning points, study and essay questions and key readings at the end of every chapter.

This landmark work draws on material from psychology, philosophy, anthropology and linguistics to develop a hierarchical and structured concept of personhood. Rom Harr[ac]e shows that despite the centrality of our social and cultural identities, the self must ultimately be understood as autonomous, distinct and continuous - as a shifting but unified pattern of multiplicities and singularities.

This masterly analysis offers an opportunity to develop a truly scientific account of personhood. By charting a path across the psychological landscape that acknowledges both the symbolic and the physiological aspects of our being, from language to biology, Harr[ac]e maps the terrain of what it is to be a person in the context of discursive psychology.

The book provides a well-structured guide to methods, containing a range of qualitative approaches (for example, semi-structured interviews, grounded theory, discourse analysis) alongside a reworking of quantitative methods to suit contemporary psychological research. A number of chapters are also explicitly concerned with research as a dynamic interactive process. The internationally respected contributors steer the reader through the main stages of conducting a study using these methods.

This volume shows how to put these theoretical and methodological insights to work in the investigation of concrete problems in psychology. The internationally renowned contributors re-examine a range of traditional psychological topics, from decision-making, memory and attribution to emotions, learning and the self, and in the process map out the foundations of a new psychology.

This volume shows how to put these theoretical and methodological insights to work in the investigation of concrete problems in psychology. The internationally renowned contributors re-examine a range of traditional psychological topics, from decision-making, memory and attribution to emotions, learning and the self, and in the process map out the foundations of a new psychology.

This fascinating book overviews the psychology of the emotions in its broadest sense, tracing historical, social, cultural and biological themes and analyses. The contributors - some of the leading figures in the field - produce a new theoretical synthesis by drawing together these strands.

From the standpoint of the function of the emotions in everyday life, the authors focus on: the discursive role played by the emotions in expressing judgements about, attitudes to and contrition for actions done by the self and others, and how certain emotions - such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, chagrin and regret - seem to play a role in social control; the variation and diversity in emotion, which provides scope for exploring how patterns of emotion contrast in different societies, across gender lines, at different historical times, and between children and adults; and the way in which the body is shaped and its functions influenced by culturally maintained patterns of emotion displays.

This fascinating book overviews the psychology of the emotions in its broadest sense, tracing historical, social, cultural and biological themes and analyses. The contributors - some of the leading figures in the field - produce a new theoretical synthesis by drawing together these strands.

From the standpoint of the function of the emotions in everyday life, the authors focus on: the discursive role played by the emotions in expressing judgements about, attitudes to and contrition for actions done by the self and others, and how certain emotions - such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, chagrin and regret - seem to play a role in social control; the variation and diversity in emotion, which provides scope for exploring how patterns of emotion contrast in different societies, across gender lines, at different historical times, and between children and adults; and the way in which the body is shaped and its functions influenced by culturally maintained patterns of emotion displays.

This textbook ambitiously aims to and succeeds in providing this unity. Fathali M. Moghaddam and Rom Harré have designed a textbook brought together with additional voices that speak to the similarities and differences of these two seemingly distinctive domains. This bridge-building will encourage a new generation of undergraduate students studying psychology to more fully appreciate the real potential for the study of human behaviour, and as such it will represent a more provocative alternative to standard general psychology textbooks. It also support teaching in a host of courses, namely 2nd and 3rd courses on the conceptual and philosophical nature of psychology, social psychology, critical psychology and cognitive science. Selectively, it will also represent a very interesting and different choice for foundation level students too.