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The term "folkbiology" refers to people's everyday understanding of the biological world—how they perceive, categorize, and reason about living kinds. The study of folkbiology not only sheds light on human nature, it may ultimately help us make the transition to a global economy without irreparably damaging the environment or destroying local cultures. This book takes an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together the work of researchers in anthropology, cognitive and developmental psychology, biology, and philosophy of science. The issues covered include: Are folk taxonomies a first-order approximation to classical scientific taxonomies, or are they driven more directly by utilitarian c...
Presents research on the topic of young children's naive biology, examining such theoretical issues as processes, conditions and mechanisms in conceptual development using the development of biological understanding as the target case.
The idea that the language we speak influences the way we think has evoked perennial fascination and intense controversy. According to the strong version of this hypothesis, called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis after the American linguists who propounded it, languages vary in their semantic partitioning of the world, and the structure of one's language influences how one understands the world. Thus speakers of different languages perceive the world differently. Although the last two decades have been marked by extreme skepticism concerning the possible effects of language on thought, recent theoretical and methodological advances in cognitive science have given the question new life. Research i...
This volume brings together a distinguished, international list of scholars to explore the role of the learner's intention in knowledge change. Traditional views of knowledge reconstruction placed the impetus for thought change outside the learner's control. The teacher, instructional methods, materials, and activities were identified as the seat of change. Recent perspectives on learning, however, suggest that the learner can play an active, indeed, intentional role in the process of knowledge restructuring. This volume explores this new, innovative view of conceptual change learning using original contributions drawn from renowned scholars in a variety of disciplines. The volume is intended for scholars or advanced students studying knowledge acquisition and change, including educational psychology, developmental psychology, science education, cognitive science, learning science, instructional psychology, and instructional and curriculum studies.
“A philosophical look at the history of our species which alternated between fascinating and frightening . . . like reading Dean Koontz or Stephen King.” —Rocky Mountain News The Lucifer Principle is a revolutionary work that explores the intricate relationships among genetics, human behavior, and culture to put forth the thesis that “evil” is a by-product of nature’s strategies for creation and that it is woven into our most basic biological fabric. In a sweeping narrative that moves lucidly among sophisticated scientific disciplines and covers the entire span of the earth’s—as well as mankind’s—history, Howard Bloom challenges some of our most popular scientific assumpt...
Reembedding Translation Process Research is a rich collection of empirical research papers investigating important new facets of the relationship between translation and cognition. The common thread running through the collection is the notion of “re-embedding” the acts of translating and interpreting—and the ways we understand them. That is, they all aim to re-situate these acts within what we now know about the brain, the powerful relationship of brain and body, and the complex interaction between cognition and the environment in which it is embedded. Each chapter focuses on a particular aspect of the overall notion of re-embedding, thereby expanding the breadth of empirical research about translating. This book refuses Descartes' distinction between mind and brain, and reaffirms the highly dynamic, emergent, and interactive nature of cognitive processes in translation. The overarching conclusion is that translation studies should reconsider, re-embed, any model of translation processes that arises without properly accommodating the interdependence of brain, body, and environment in the emergence of cognition.
A systematic look at how relationships determine the success of leaders and their enterprises, along with tools to help strengthen and change them Since time immemorial, relationships have determined the fate of leaders. But today they are more critical to success than ever. No longer can leaders count on long time horizons or sloppy competition to make up for the inefficiencies that poor relationships create. Leaders must make decisions and take actions quickly and well with others, even those with whom they share very little?perhaps not even a time zone. This new world puts relationships at the center of what leaders must understand and master to succeed. Uses in-depth observational studies and clinical research to explore how relationships at the top of organizations work, develop, and change Shows how to understand, strengthen, and transform these relationships, so they can withstand the most intense pressures and conflicts This important book features a Foreword by Peter Senge, author of The Fifth Discipline.
In this fresh and often playful interdisciplinary study, Lisa Zunshine presents a fluid discussion of how key concepts from cognitive science complicate our cultural interpretations of “strange” literary phenomena. From Short Circuit to I, Robot, from The Parent Trap to Big Business, fantastic tales of rebellious robots, animated artifacts, and twins mistaken for each other are a permanent fixture in popular culture and have been since antiquity. Why do these strange concepts captivate the human imagination so thoroughly? Zunshine explores how cognitive science, specifically its ideas of essentialism and functionalism, combined with historical and cultural analysis, can help us understan...
Originally published in 1986. In literate societies around the world, children begin instruction in reading somewhere between the ages of five and seven years. On one level their tasks are very similar – learn the sound-symbol relationship of their languages and apply their linguistic and cognitive skills to gain meaning from print. On another level their tasks seem to vary – orthographies and sound-symbol relationships differ, and cultures’ attitude towards reading and children’s motivation to achieve range widely. This book considers both universal and culturally constrained aspects of the process of learning to read, with the first four chapters exemplifying cognitive universal approaches to reading, and the last four highlighting cultural constraints. It will be of use to researchers and students, as well as teachers requiring an insight into how reading skills are acquired.
The International Handbook of Psychology is an authoritative resource covering all the main areas of psychological science and written by an outstanding set of authors from around the world. The 31 chapters cover not only scientific but also applied cross-disciplinary aspects. Supervised by an International Editorial Advisory Board (IEAB) of 13 eminent psychologists and edited by Professors Kurt Pawlik and Mark R Rosenzweig, it is being published under the auspices of the International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) by SAGE Publications Ltd in London. The International Handbook of Psychology will be invaluable to advanced undergraduates, graduate students and academics in psychology...