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Books in Social sciences and humanities

  • Investment Efficiency in a Socialist Economy

    • 1st Edition
    • Henryk Fiszel
    • English
    Investment Efficiency in a Socialist Economy compiles results of research on the dynamics of socialist economies. This book furnishes a method of accounting investment efficiency that allows many factors in influencing optimal results, endeavoring to provide an answer to the question how investment means, and presenting the extent to which investment policies could become regulators of the balance of trade and payments within an economic alignment of socialist countries. The topics discussed include the problem of efficiency of investments; optimum programming of investments; adjustment of the general method to selected problems; efficiency of investments and international trade; and optimum production in a socialist economy. This book is intended to economists, but is also valuable to students aiming to gain knowledge on socialist economics.
  • Railroads and Land Grant Policy

    A Study in Government Intervention
    • 1st Edition
    • Lloyd J. Mercer
    • English
    Railroads and Land Grant Policy: A Study in Government Intervention attempts to replace a major part of the railroad land grant legend (according to which the granting of federal and state land to private railroad firms benefitted these firms more than it contributed to society as a whole) with some real numbers and analysis. An attempt is made to put the income and wealth distribution impact of the railroad land grants in perspective, but thorough analysis of this issue is not undertaken. The primary question this study does try to illuminate is that of the effect of the railroad land grants on economic efficiency. This emphasis was chosen because it seems clear that improvement of economic efficiency was the major goal that Congress and various state legislatures sought to attain, and thus the examination of economic efficiency questions is fundamental to evaluation of railroad land grant policy. This study will not completely replace the railroad land grant legend (because much is not covered here), but it does represent a considerable diminution of that legend.
  • Studies in Verbal Behavior

    An Empirical Approach
    • 1st Edition
    • Kurt Salzinger + 1 more
    • English
    Studies in Verbal Behavior: An Empirical Approach summarizes the results of empirical studies on the variables that control verbal behavior. These studies explore the response properties of verbal behavior already acquired, with respect to size of unit, mode of emission, and the constraining effects of sentence frames. The stimulus situation in which the behavior is emitted, the use of verbal material as stimulus, and the relationship between sequential guessing of sentences and the marking off of ""idea unit"" boundaries in the same material are also discussed. This volume first introduces the reader to situations which will best allow us to view the basic lawfulness inherent in the control of verbal behavior. In particular, it explores response bias and serial effects in a modified Shannon Guessing Game and compares oral and written verbal behavior. Attention then turns to the manner in which the verbal stimulus controls various forms of behavior, paying particular attention to search time as a function of target location and frequency in language, along with some stimulus properties of syntagmatic and paradigmatic word sequences. The next section analyzes the effects of limiting the generation of sentences by length and by the presence of certain words or grammatical endings (bound morphemes) in particular positions of each sentence. Some characteristics of sentences as response units are highlighted. This book will be of value to psychologists and those who are interested in verbal behavior.
  • Progress in Behavior Modification

    Volume 10
    • 1st Edition
    • Michel Hersen + 2 more
    • English
    Progress in Behavior Modification, Volume 10 covers the developments in behavior modification. The book discusses the conceptual structure for the assessment of social skills; the statistics to evaluate measurement accuracy and treatment effects in single-subject research designs; and the behavioral treatment of obesity in children and adolescents. The text also describes social cueing processes; the therapeutic utility of abbreviated progressive relaxation; and social skills training for the job interview. The role and uses of psychopharmacologica... agents in behavior therapy are also considered. Psychologists, psychiatrists, and sociologists will find the book invaluable.
  • Boundary Areas in Social and Developmental Psychology

    • 1st Edition
    • John C. Masters + 1 more
    • English
    Boundary Areas in Social and Developmental Psychology is based largely on the proceedings of a conference at Vanderbilt University in June 1981. One of the goals is to highlight some examples of research that illustrate facets of the important boundary area between social and developmental psychology. The book opens with a chapter that deals with the broad issues of boundary areas in psychology, ending with specific consideration of the boundary between social and developmental psychology. This is followed by separate chapters that consider general propositions regarding the importance of integrating concepts and methods from social and developmental psychology in the study of social relationships; show how integrating social and developmental considerations can assist in the understanding of relationships between parents and children; and apply developmental and social concepts to identify and study some of the aspects of the marital relationship that may lead to its dissolution. Subsequent chapters deal with boundary area issues focusing primarily on children's social behavior. These include the complexity of social processes inherent in children's peer relationships and the role of social exchange processes in social relationships from infancy to adulthood.
  • Critical Food Issues of the Eighties

    Pergamon Policy Studies on Socio–Economic Development
    • 1st Edition
    • Marylin Chou + 1 more
    • English
    Critical Food Issues of the Eighties: Pergamon Policy Studies — 39 focuses on the problems of the food industry, including food and nutrition policies and impact of regulation on food and agricultural productivity and agricultural chemicals. The selection first discusses the preoccupation with food safety, as well as advances in agricultural productivity and food processing; cultural and social changes affecting the food industry; and diet-related health concerns. The book then takes a look at food price inflation, as well as price trends in the food systems, economic efficiency in the food system, imported foods, and profitability. The text reviews changing food policies and national nutrition goals. Concerns include expanded constituency and components of food policies; conquering nutrition deficiency diseases; nutrient food disclosure; and difficulty of identifying nutrient usage or food group needs. The selection also tackles the effects of government policies on technological innovation in the food industry; assessment of future technological advances in agriculture and their impact on the regulatory environment; and changing attitudes and lifestyle shaping food technology in the 1980s. The book is a vital source of data for readers interested in the issues of the food industry in the 1980s.
  • Model Analysis of Plane Structures

    The Commonwealth and International Library: Structures and Solid Body Mechanics Division
    • 1st Edition
    • T. M. Charlton
    • B. G. Neal
    • English
    Model Analysis of Plane Structures deals with simple techniques of analysis plane structures with the aid of scale models. Model analysis of the kind considered herein is a means of replacing the numerical work of formal structural analysis by mechanical operations. It utilizes the same assumptions as formal analysis and offers nothing more in the end-product, but the user gains unique insight into structural behavior. The book begins with a discussion of early approaches to systematic model analysis and the limitations and accuracy of model analysis. This is followed by separate chapters on the approach to flexural similarity, which consists essentially of determining directly the conditions for the properties of deformation of two geometrically similar structures to be similar; the theory of indirect model analysis; and models of frame networks. The final two chapters deal with the use of models for indirect analysis and direct analysis, respectively; these conclude with sample problems to enable readers to test their understanding of the subject matter.
  • Dimensions of Behavior

    The Psychiatric Foundations of Medicine
    • 1st Edition
    • Leon Wurmser + 1 more
    • English
    Dimensions of Behavior: The Psychiatric Foundations of Medicine provides the general background of the field and lays the foundations of the origins of behavior. It is a modern textbook of psychiatry written specifically for medical students and physicians. In its comprehensive scope, it contains the contributions of all the disciplines that are relevant to the behavioral, psychological, social, and humanistic aspects of medicine, as well as the contributions of clinical psychiatry that constitute an integral part of the healing art and science of medicine. The book is organized into six parts. Parts I and II are introductory and present the historical development of psychological thinking in medicine and the evolving status of psychiatry in the contemporary scene, with an emphasis on the need for a new medical model. They further attempt to sketch a general conceptualization of human behavior that transcends the disciplinary boundaries of biological and psychosocial sciences, through an introduction into the philosophical and epistemological approaches to studying man and his behavior. Part III introduces basic concepts related to an evolutionary understanding of human behavior, together with contributing extrapolations from ethological and laboratory animal studies. Parts IV through VI present the developmental dimension of behavior. Human development is discussed from the point of view of its biological foundations and genetic determinants, from the point of view of the various psychological theories of personality development, and in terms of the developmental stages of man. This longitudinal perspective of behavior provides the fundamental considerations for understanding the uniqueness of the individual.
  • Contemporary Scientific Psychology

    • 1st Edition
    • Albert R. Gilgen
    • English
    Contemporary Scientific Psychology is a compendium of papers dealing with the scientific method in action in psychology. The first two papers introduce the paradigm, progress, and problems found in scientific psychology, as well as the observation, discovery, and confirmation used in theory building (including fallacies pertaining to theory construction). Other papers deal with research areas such as the neurobehavioral foundations of the biology of mind. This research area includes the mechanism-specific approaches in behavior genetics, particularly the genetic effect as such effect is considered dependent on the mechanisms altered by the environment or the genetic equivalent of a stimuli. Another paper discusses comparative psychology in studies involving animal behavior, while another author tackles the significant trends in the field of developmental psychology, especially as this relates to the early learning processes of humans. This book can be helpful for students and teachers in courses related to experimental psychology, psychological theories, philosophy of science, and other academicians and professionals who are interested in general psychology.
  • Psychopathic Disorders and Their Assessment

    • 1st Edition
    • Michael Craft
    • English
    Psychopathic Disorders and their Assessment considers the diverse views and significant developments in understanding psychopathic disorders. This book is composed of 12 chapters, and begins with a description of the primary and negative features of the condition. The subsequent chapters are concerned with the methods of disposal of a psychopath under English law, the safeguards available both to the individual and to society within and without the Mental Health Act, and the extent to which this disposal mechanism was used. These topics are followed by discussions on the causation of psychopathic disorder; the electroencephalograp... and psychological techniques for the disorder evaluation; and various methods of patient care. The last chapters consider the law and practice relating to psychopathic disorder and British facilities for the treatment of psychopaths. This book is of value to psychologists and psychiatrists.