Social sciences and humanities print books and ebooks | Elsevier

The Psychology of Efficient Thinking

1st Edition
January 26, 2016
Zbigniew Pietrasiński
English
eBook
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The Psychology of Efficient Thinking provides information concerning intellectual abilities and psychological principles of thinking that might be helpful in the solution of more complex problems encountered in the vocational field or in daily living. This book explores the ways and means of increasing the efficiency of thought. Organized into three parts encompassing six chapters, this book begins with an overview of the nature of intellect with special reference to intelligence and mental abilities. This text then examines the general field of mental development. Other chapters consider the application of intellect in such spheres as technical invention, problem solving, and general creativity. This book discusses as well the training of intellect, both by individual effort and at school. The final chapter deals with the continuous engagement in activities requiring thought, which is an essential condition for the improvement of intellectual skill. Psychologists, scientists, and teachers will find this book useful.

Planning and the Rural Environment

1st Edition
April 20, 2016
Joan Davidson + 1 more
English
eBook
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Planning and the Rural Environment examines the environmental issues affecting countryside planning. Emphasis is placed on the look and feel of the open countryside, the function and appearance of the rural environment, rather than the problems of its people and the settlements in which they live. Also discussed is the conflict of interest generated between some of the major planning systems concerned with the development of rural activities and the protection of rural resources. Comprised of 13 chapters, this volume begins with an assessment of conflicting views of how a countryside of the future should develop and the degree of control and direction that should take place. The following chapters consider how the emerging range of environmental problems and opportunities in rural planning can best be illustrated. In particular, the dominance of agriculture as a rural activity is analyzed, together with forest and woodland management; leisure activity in the countryside; and conservation of resources and wildlife. The next section is devoted to uplands and the urban fringe, paying particular attention to some of the ways in which rural interests interact in two very different areas. Finally, the development of rural planning is reviewed and issues that are expected to shape the countryside of the future are considered. This book should be of interest to postgraduate students of rural planning and specialists in various fields of countryside planning.

WJ IV Clinical Use and Interpretation

1st Edition
January 21, 2016
Dawn P Flanagan + 1 more
English
Hardback
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eBook
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WJ IV Clinical Use and Interpretation: Scientist-Practition... Perspectives provides clinical use and interpretive information for clinical practitioners using the Woodcock-Johnson, Fourth Edition (WJ IV). The book discusses how the cognitive, achievement, and oral language batteries are organized, a description of their specific content, a brief review of their psychometric properties, and best practices in interpreting scores on the WJ IV. Coverage includes the predictive validity of its lower order factors and the clinical information that can be derived from its 60 individual subtests. Part II of this book describes the clinical and diagnostic utility of the WJ IV with young children for diagnosing learning disabilities in both school age and adult populations, and for identifying gifted and talented individuals. Additionally, the book discusses the use of the WJ IV with individuals whose culture and language backgrounds differ from those who are native English speakers and who were born and raised in mainstream US culture.

Long Night's Journey into Day

2nd Edition
November 8, 2016
Alice L. Eckardt + 3 more
English
Paperback
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eBook
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Long Night's Journey Into Day is a stimulating and provocative attempt to deal with the impact and meaning of the Holocaust within contemporary Christian and Jewish thought. To Jews, the Holocaust is the most terrible happening in their history, but it must also be seen as a Christian event. The Eckardts call for a radical rethinking of the Christian faith in the light of the Holocaust, examining such issues as the relation between human and demonic culpability, the charge of God's guilt, and the reality of forgiveness. They clarify the theological meaning of the Holocaust and the responsibility that must be borne for it by the Christian Church, and discuss possible responses to it as exemplified in the writings of selected modern theologians and church councils. This enlarged and revised edition takes into account new topics and developments, including the issue of Austrian responsibility for the Holocaust, the significance and aftermath of Bitburg, and antisemitism in German feminism. More detailed attention is also given to other modern genocides and occasions of humanly-caused mass death. Additional literary, historical, and religious works are considered and appropriate quotations incorporated. The new edition also includes a revised preface, an updated bibliography and two new appendices.

Towards a Re-Definition of Development

1st Edition
January 21, 2016
Alain Birou + 2 more
English
Paperback
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eBook
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Towards a Re-Definition of Development: Essays and Discussion on the Nature of Development in an International Perspective reconsiders the generally accepted definition of development based on the assumption that there is no universal method for comprehending development and no one major principle for elucidating its evolution. The emphasis is on the so-called white, Western, and wealthy developed countries. Divided into two parts, this book begins with a critical analysis of the nature of development and the conditions necessary for a developed world. The irreversibility of technical and industrial evolution is considered, along with the role of science and technology in development; the control of evolution and the meaning of progress; the role of the major political and economic units in world development; and conditions for the economic and political independence of developing countries. The second part explores various facets of development strategy and theory, paying particular attention to conceptions and misconceptions of development as well as the notion of peace. This monograph should be of interest to economists, social and political scientists, and social and economic policymakers.

Policy Reform in Developing Countries

1st Edition
July 29, 2016
Bela Balassa
English
Paperback
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eBook
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Policy Reform in Developing Countries deals with questions of policy reforms in selected countries. This book is a collection of essays describing the application of general principles of policy reforms made in countries with an industrial base, such as Mexico, Portugal, Venezuela, Chile, the Andean Common Market, Egypt, and Korea. Through these essays, the author evaluates the general principles that make up desirable policy reforms in these countries, and describes the application of these principles in various actual situations. One essay presents the reforms needed to improve the system of incentives, which include credit, labor market, and public utility pricing. For example, this book analyzes the tariff reform proposed in Chile and the guidelines for the common external tariff used in the Andean Common Market. Another essay evaluates the role of the manufacturing sector in the economic growth of Portugal, and recommends other strategies for this sector. This book then recommends proposals in the development strategy of Korea for the Fourth Five-Year Plan Period, while one other essay reviews the system of incentives that will serve the objectives of the Fourth Five-Year Plan of this country. This collection of essays is suitable for economic planners, heads of state ministries, academic and non-profit institutions dealing with developmental planning, and students and professors in history and political science.

Psychophysics

2nd Edition
January 4, 2016
Frederick A.A. Kingdom + 1 more
English
Hardback
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eBook
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Psychophysics: A Practical Introduction, Second Edition, is the primary scientific tool for understanding how the physical world of colors, sounds, odors, movements, and shapes translates into the sensory world of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell; in other words, how matter translates into mind. This timely revision provides a unique introduction to the techniques for researching and understanding how the brain translates the external physical world to the internal world of sensation. The revision expands and refines coverage of the basic tools of psychophysics research and better integrates the theory with the supporting software. The new edition continues to be the only book to combine, in a single volume, the principles underlying the science of psychophysical measurement and the practical tools necessary to analyze data from psychophysical experiments. The book, written in a tutorial style, will appeal to new researchers as well as to seasoned veterans. This introduction to psychophysics research methods will be of interest to students, scholars and researchers within sensory neuroscience, vision research, behavioral neuroscience, and the cognitive sciences.

Evaluating Demand-Driven Acquisitions

1st Edition
October 2, 2016
Laura Costello
English
Paperback
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eBook
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Evaluating Demand-Driven Acquisitions examines recent research in demand-driven acquisitions in an effort to develop an evaluation framework specific to demand-driven programs. The chapters in this volume focus on the criteria and methods that are used to evaluate the results of demand-driven programs in research. Case studies and pilot programs from all types of libraries—including interlibrary loan to purchase programs, catalog integrated strategies, and evidence-based collection development—help illuminate the current best practices and benchmarks for demand-driven evaluation. This book helps librarians and practitioners evaluate their existing demand-driven programs and make adjustments that could decrease costs or expand existing strategies. It is also suitable for librarians with new or emerging demand-driven programs to use as a framework for developing ongoing assessment programs or evaluating pilot programs.

The Academic Librarian as Blended Professional

1st Edition
April 6, 2016
Michael Perini
English
Paperback
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eBook
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The Academic Librarian as Blended Professional employs a model that allows for individual and managerial reconceptualization of the librarian's role, also helping to mitigate obstacles to professional development both internal and external to the library. Using traditional and personal narrative, the book extends Whitchurch’s blended professional model, designed to consider the merging of academicians’ roles across several spheres of professional and academic influence in a higher education setting, to academic librarians. The book is significant due to its use of higher education theory to examine the professional identity of academic librarians and the issues impacting librarian professional development. The work offers a constructive, replicable research design appropriate for the analysis of librarians in other academic settings, providing additional insights into how these professionals might perceive their roles within the larger context of a higher education environment. Following the application of the blended professional model, this book contends that academic librarians have similar roles concerning research, instruction, and service when compared to an institution’s tenure-track faculty. The scope of professional productivity and the expectation of the librarians, though, are much less regimented. Consequently, the academic librarians find themselves in a tenuous working space where their blended role is inhibited by real and perceived barriers.

Pathways into Information Literacy and Communities of Practice

1st Edition
September 26, 2016
Dora Sales + 1 more
English
Paperback
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eBook
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Pathways into Information Literacy and Communities of Practice: Teaching Approaches and Case Studies considers the specific information literacy needs of communities of practice. As such, the book fills a gap in the literature, which has treated information literacy extensively, but has not applied it to the area of communities of practice. Since every community of practice generates, seeks, retrieves, and uses resources and sources related to the cognitive structure being researched or studied, and the tasks being performed, the need arises to undertake studies focused on real user communities, especially at a graduate level. This edited collection presents contributions from an international perspective on this key topic in library and information science. Contributions are arranged into two sections, the first exploring teaching and learning processes, and the second presenting case studies in communities of practice, including, but not limited to, health, research environments, college students, and higher education.

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