Willem Doise - Böcker

Developmental Psychology examines human developmental processes and transitions in infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Renowned international contributors systematically present the theoretical paradigms and current methods relating to the many subfields of developmental psychology, including: the biological bases of development perceptual and motor development cognitive development communication and language development social development personality and emotional development moral development and wisdom developmental psychopathology This book's critical viewpoint, broad coverage and emphasis on processes and dynamic interactions, rather than plain states and stages, will be of wide appeal to undergraduate students of developmental and educational psychology. It will also be highly relevant to postgraduate students and specialists in psychology and education requiring a comprehensive, up-to-data account of the various subfields of developmental psychology.

A striking feature of many studies of the psychological development of the individual is their recourse to explanations of a social nature. This 1984 volume is centrally situated in this tradition of research, and its authors no longer view the child and adolescent as passively modelled by socializing processes but, rather, as actively constructing their own identity through interaction with the social environment. The volume includes studies of early interaction patterns from both ethological and sociological viewpoints; of reciprocity and directiveness in early socialization techniques; of the development of language in interaction settings; of the role of social factors in cognitive development; of the impact of the social and the cultural environment on adolescents; and finally, of the socialization process in relation to the world of work. This wide-ranging and authoritative survey will be of interest to psychologists and professionals working in education and the social services.

Relations between groups of people are determined both by the attitudes and behaviour patterns of the individuals who constitute these groups, and by their social, economic, political and ideological background. Intergroup relations are therefore open to both psychological and sociological explanations, and the study of intergroup relations represents a way in which these two levels of explanation, which so often fail to take account of each other, may be integrated. This is the thesis advanced here by Willem Doise. Professor Doise discusses psychological explanations of social stereotypes and prejudices by examining specific clinical psychologists and then approaches these phenomena sociologically. He also describes the psychological process of category differentiation and its role in intergroup relations. This book, first published in 1978, will be of particular interest to social psychologists, and to all social scientists interested in the problem of integrating psychological and sociological explanation.

This book presents a bold new theory of the processes of collective decision-making that draws on theoretical influences ranging from group decision theory through to the authors' own social representations theory. Moscovici and Doise offer a novel analysis of group conflict and the construction of consensus to produce a general theory of collective decisions.

Going beyond the traditional view that compromise is a negative process where group members merely comply in order to sustain cohesion, the authors argue that the conflict at the root of group decisions can be a positive force leading to changes in opinion and to innovation. Their theoretical framework is illustrated in depth with numerous empirical investigations from around the world.