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Books in Arts and humanities

Elsevier's Arts and Humanities titles encompass a rich spectrum of scholarship that explores human culture, history, philosophy, and creative expression. These works offer deep insights into language, literature, visual arts, and critical theory, supporting the academic community in understanding diverse perspectives and cultural legacies. Designed for scholars, educators, and students, this collection bridges classic studies with contemporary issues, fostering a deeper appreciation and knowledge of the human experience.

  • The Abilities and Achievements of Orientals in North America

    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Philip E. Vernon
    • David T. Lykken
    • English
    The Abilities and Achievements of Orientals in North America is concerned with the study of the abilities, achievements, and personality characteristics of oriental immigrants and their descendants in North America. The book attempts to set a correlation between the cultural background from which the immigrants came and their history in North America, and to discover the implications for psychological theory. The text contains discussions on the problems of heredity, environment, and acculturation; racial and ethnic differences; and a comparison of biological, environmental and cultural differences between orientals and occidentals. Sociologists, psychologists, ethnologists, historians, and people who wish to study oriental character traits will find the book very insightful.
  • Sociological Dilemmas

    Toward a Dialectic Paradigm
    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Piotr Sztompka
    • English
    Sociological Dilemmas: Toward a Dialectic Paradigm aims to build a new paradigm in sociological theory by using the method of dialectical critique, patterned on the approach utilized by Karl Marx. The book explores the sociological heritage, with the theoretical works of Karl Marx as the primary basis of exposition and analysis. Chapters are devoted to the discussion of the theoretical crisis of sociology; the division of sociology between two opposing methodologies; dissociation of sociology from the prescientific traditions of social thought; and the conclusion reached by the author after an extensive analysis of sociological theories presented in the book. The book will be of value to sociologists, teachers, and students of the social sciences.
  • Inequality in American Communities

    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Richard F. Curtis + 1 more
    • Peter H. Rossi
    • English
    Inequality in American Communities is an empirical study of inequality in U.S. communities and its impact on individual Americans. The data for this study come from sample surveys in six American cities differing in size and region. In each survey, male heads of households were asked about attributes that ranked them in the system of inequality and about a variety of attitudes and behaviors that might be affected by their ranks. The analyses seek to determine how social rank affects various attitudes and behaviors and compare these effects from community to community. Comprised of 12 chapters, this book begins with an overview of theoretical assumptions about community stratification, with particular reference to how a person's life is shaped by his position in a local structure of inequality. The discussion then turns to patterns of social stratification in six cities: Columbus (Ohio), Linton and Indianapolis (Indiana), and Yuma, Safford, and Phoenix (Arizona). The distributions of various rank variables, such as income and education, in these cities are described, along with the ways in which they are related to form systems of inequality. A basic model of the processes of stratification is also presented. The remaining chapters explore the consequences of social rank and cover topics ranging from social participation and political ideology to anomia and intolerance. This monograph will be of interest to sociologists.
  • Communication in Development

    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • W. P. Robinson
    • English
    Communication in Development is composed of papers derived from two sources. An International Conference on Social Psychology and Language was held in Bristol in July 1979. Considerations of space rather than merit prevented some of the papers, given in supplementary sessions on language development, from being published in the proceedings. These papers are published in this volume. Also included are recent and hitherto unpublished papers from European researchers working in the field of language and cognitive development. The contents of this volume range from the early non-verbal communication to the emergence of the child's understanding about referential communication, and to between and within socio-economic status differences in maternal and child behavior. The kinds of verbal and non-verbal experience that promote intellectual development are considered within the frames of both observed changes within children and cross-sectional studies of individual differences in mother-child interaction. The idea that the child's performance is context sensitive is one of the general ideas that has been taken increasingly into account. Two chapters pay close attention to this issue; both treat it as a challenge to experimental and theoretical ingenuity, recognizing that the child is an active participant in situations where he is observed and that the challenge is to divine the principles regulating the child's behavior.
  • Casebook of Organizational Behavior

    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Andrew J. Dubrin
    • English
    Casebook of Organizational Behavior provides a panorama of absorbing, appropriately complex, modern cases from a diversity of work and organizations. The cases chosen are designed to illustrate a wide range of organizational behavior concepts and principles, those ordinarily described and discussed in any comprehensive textbook in organizational behavior. This book is organized into five parts encompassing 44 chapters. It rests upon a foundation of cases about human behavior in organizations drawn from a wide variety of settings. Cases in each chapter are chosen to illustrate concepts that fall under the particular chapter heading, but the classification is not rigid. Each case is accompanied by several questions designed to focus the student's attention upon some of the more important issues raised by the case. After a brief introduction to guidelines for case analysis, this book goes on focusing on individual cases, structured under the general topics of work motivation, the human element in decision making, stresses in managerial and professional life, and political maneuvering in organizations. The next two parts are devoted to cases of small-groups and organizational behavior. Emphasis in small groups is places upon cases that have the most relevance for knowledge workers, including managers, professionals, technical and sales personnel, while in organization behavior focuses on bringing about changes in organizations, yet many of these changes are initiated at the individual and small-group level. This book is of value to college and university undergraduate and masters level courses, and in programs of management development.
  • Pattern Recognition by Humans and Machines

    Speech Perception
    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Eileen C. Schwab + 1 more
    • English
    Pattern Recognition by Humans and Machines, Volume 1: Speech Perception covers perception from the perspectives of cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, and brain theory. The book discusses on the research, theory, and the principal issues of speech perception; the auditory and phonetic coding of speech; and the role of the lexicon in speech perception. The text also describes the role of attention and active processing in speech perception; the suprasegmental in very large vocabulary word recognition; and the adaptive self-organization of serial order in behavior. The cognitive science and the study of cognition and language are also considered. Psychologists will find the book invaluable.
  • The Women's Liberation Movement

    Europe and North America
    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Jan Bradshaw
    • English
    The Women's Liberation Movement: Europe and North America is a collection of articles that tackle various issues concerning the Women's Liberation Movement in Europe and North America. Consists of nine chapters, the book covers the feminist movement in a specific geographical region, specifically the Netherlands, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and North America. The book will be of great interest to readers concerned with the condition of feminist movement in Western countries.
  • The Balance of Payments Adjustment Process in Developing Countries

    Pergamon Policy Studies on Socio-Economic Development
    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Sidney Dell + 1 more
    • English
    The Balance of Payments Adjustment Process in Developing Countries deals with the manner in which the burden of adjustment to balance of payments disequilibrium in the 1970s was distributed between developed and developing countries. The book discusses the evidence on changes in the volume of trade; the evidence on price changes and their effects on the accounts of various groups of countries; and the general considerations regarding the character of the deficits of developing countries. The text also describes the mechanisms through which external disturbances are transmitted to the domestic economy, as well as certain questions relating to the financing of the deficits of developing countries. The changes in the world economy; the ways in which changes in the world economy affected the external accounts of the countries; and the effects of changes in the external accounts on developments in the domestic economy are also considered. The book further tackles the policy measures adopted to counter the deterioration in external balance and in growth performance and prospects; as well as the main issues that arise in the course of the adjustment process, at both national and international levels.
  • Sensory Restriction

    Effects on Behavior
    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Duane P. Schultz
    • English
    Sensory Restriction: Effects on Behavior focuses on the presentation of experimental findings on sensory deprivation and their connection to behavior. The book first offers information on the theoretical framework and physiological effects of sensory restriction. Discussions focus on arousal and the reticular activating system; cortical arousal as a function of level of stimulus variation; possible basis for individual differences in level of arousal; galvanic skin response; biological changes; and other physiological findings. The manuscript also ponders on perceptual and motor effects, affective changes, and differences in tolerance for sensory restriction. Topics include sensory restriction research, therapeutic effects of sensory restriction, and tolerance as a function of need for stimulation. The text also ponders on the effects of social isolation, including individual and small group social isolation. The book is a valuable source of data for readers interested on the effects of sensory restriction on behavior.
  • People: An International Choice

    The Multilateral Approach to Population
    • 1st Edition
    • September 11, 2013
    • Rafael M. Salas
    • English
    People: An International Choice: The Multilateral Approach to Population focuses on the United Nations Fund for Population Activities' (UNFPA) international population policy, with emphasis on its multilateral approach to the world population problem. It examines how the UNFPA has tied its population programs with general social and economic progress. The methods that were used in building up the Fund to serve as an honest broker between the developed and the developing countries, as well as its successes and failures in responding to requests for aid, are discussed. This book is comprised of 10 chapters and begins with an overview of the UNFPA and its principles with respect to population problems. UNFPA has three quite different constituencies within the United Nations system whose support it needs to remain viable and to develop effective programs: the donors (primarily in the developed world), the recipients (primarily in the developing world), and the organizations carrying out UNFPA-financed programs. Subsequent chapters consider the UNFPA's early population programs and the steps it has taken to address the growing population worldwide, including staff recruitment and fundraising. This monograph should be of interest to those concerned with public sector management, development assistance, and population programs, or with improving international relations.