This book is an expanded and revised edition of the author's critically acclaimed volume Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences. In twenty-six succinct chapters, Jon Elster provides an account of the nature of explanation in the social sciences. He offers an overview of key explanatory mechanisms in the social sciences, relying on hundreds of examples and drawing on a large variety of sources - psychology, behavioral economics, biology, political science, historical writings, philosophy and fiction. Written in accessible and jargon-free language, Elster aims at accuracy and clarity while eschewing formal models. In a provocative conclusion, Elster defends the centrality of qualitative social sciences in a two-front war against soft (literary) and hard (mathematical) forms of obscurantism.

A substantially revised edition of Jon Elster's critically acclaimed book exploring the nature of social behavior and the social sciences.

First Published in 1998. This book is about the development of children's social behaviour, about their abilities to engage in social interactions and to form social relationships. More specifically, it is about the development of good and bad, or prosocial and antisocial behaviours. Its aim is to contribute to children's social education by providing teachers with a set of classroom tasks and activities which will foster children's prosocial behaviour by encouraging them, on a regular basis, to discuss interpersonal feelings and behaviours, and to consider the feelings and points of view of other children.

This book reviews some of the most recent advances in research exploring the links between how people think and behave in interpersonal situations. This cutting-edge volume will interest those in the social and behavioral sciences, clinical and counseling psychology, and sociology, communication studies, and social work.

When John Harsanyi came to Stanford University as a candidate for the Ph.D., I asked him why he was bothering, since it was most un likely that he had anything to learn from us. He was already a known scho lar; in addition to some papers in economics, the first two papers in this vol ume had already been published and had dazzled me by their originality and their combination of philosophical insight and technical competence. However, I am very glad I did not discourage him; whether he learned any thing worthwhile I don't know, but we all learned much from him on the foundations of the theory of games and specifically on the outcome of bar gaining. The central focus of Harsanyi's work has continued to be in the theory of games, but especially on the foundations and conceptual problems. The theory of games, properly understood, is a very broad approach to social interaction based on individually rational behavior, and it connects closely with fundamental methodological and substantive issues in social science and in ethics. An indication of the range of Harsanyi's interest in game the ory can be found in the first paper of Part B -though in fact his owncontri butions are much broader-and in the second paper the applications to the methodology of social science. The remaining papers in that section show more specifically the richness of game theory in specific applications.

This second edition presents the core fundamentals of the subject in 11 manageable chapters while maintaining the book's scientific integrity. The research methods students need to understand, interpret, and analyze social psychological research are emphasized throughout. The streamlined approach provides an economical textbook for students and a flexible format that allows instructors to cover the entire book in a single semester. A book specific Web site contains a free online study guide and a variety of teaching tools. An Instructor's Manual/Test Bank and a Computerized Test Bank are also available.

This user-friendly volume provides evidence-based tools for meeting the needs of the approximately 15% of K to 6 students who would benefit from more support than is universally offered to all students but do not require intensive, individualized intervention. With a unique focus on small-group interventions for both academic and behavioral difficulties, the book addresses externalizing behavior, internalizing behavior, reading, and mathematics. Step-by-step guidelines are presented for screening, selecting interventions, and progress monitoring. Ways to involve families and ensure that practices are culturally responsive are described. In a convenient large-size format, the book includes more than 20 reproducible handouts and forms. This book is in The Guilford Practical Intervention in the Schools Series, edited by Sandra M. Chafouleas.

This volume describes frontiers in social-behavioral modeling for contexts as diverse as national security, health, and on-line social gaming. Recent scientific and technological advances have created exciting opportunities for such improvements. However, the book also identifies crucial scientific, ethical, and cultural challenges to be met if social-behavioral modeling is to achieve its potential. Doing so will require new methods, data sources, and technology. The volume discusses these, including those needed to achieve and maintain high standards of ethics and privacy. The result should be a new generation of modeling that will advance science and, separately, aid decision-making on major social and security-related subjects despite the myriad uncertainties and complexities of social phenomena. Intended to be relatively comprehensive in scope, the volume balances theory-driven, data-driven, and hybrid approaches. The latter may be rapidly iterative, as when artificial-intelligence methods are coupled with theory-driven insights to build models that are sound, comprehensible and usable in new situations. With the intent of being a milestone document that sketches a research agenda for the next decade, the volume draws on the wisdom, ideas and suggestions of many noted researchers who draw in turn from anthropology, communications, complexity science, computer science, defense planning, economics, engineering, health systems, medicine, neuroscience, physics, political science, psychology, public policy and sociology. In brief, the volume discusses: Cutting-edge challenges and opportunities in modeling for social and behavioral science Special requirements for achieving high standards of privacy and ethics New approaches for developing theory while exploiting both empirical and computational data Issues of reproducibility, communication, explanation, and validation Special requirements for models intended to inform decision making about complex social systems

That children are capable of pathology—not only such conditions as ADHD and learning disabilities, but also such "adult" disorders as anxiety and depression—stands as a defining moment in psychology’s recent history. Within this recognition is the understanding that the social skills deficits that accompany these disorders must be targeted for assessment and treatment to ensure optimal functioning in school, with peers, and in later transitions to puberty and adulthood. Social Behavior and Skills in Children cuts across disciplinary lines to clarify the scope of assessment options and interventions for a wide range of disorders. A panel of leading scholars reviews current research, discusses social deficits unique to specific disorders, and identifies evidence-based best practices in one authoritative, approachable reference. This volume: Discusses theoretical models of social skills as they relate to assessment and treatment. Analyzes the etiology of social behavior problems in children and the relation between these problems and psychopathology. Reviews 48 norm-referenced measures of social skills in children. Examines the range of evidence-based social skills interventions. Addresses challenging behaviors, such as aggression and self-injury. Focuses on specific conditions, including developmental disabilities, conduct disorders, ADHD, chronic medical illness, depression, anxiety, and severe psychopathology. Social Behavior and Skills in Children is an essential reference for university libraries as well as a must-have volume for researchers, graduate students, and clinicians in child, and school psychology, special education, and other related fields.

The study of the relationship between the person and the situation has had a long history in psychology. Many theories of personality are set on an interpersonal stage and many social phenomena are played out differently as the cast of characters change. At times the study of persons and situations has been contentious, however, recent interest in process models of personality and social interaction have focused on the ways people navigate, influence, and are influenced by their social worlds. Personality and Social Behavior contains a series of essays on topics where a transactional analysis of the person and situation has proved most fruitful. Contributions span the personality and social psychology spectrum and include such topics as new units in personality; neuroscience perspectives on interpersonal personality; social and interpersonal frameworks for understanding the self and self-esteem; and personality process analyses of romantic relationships, prejudice, health, and leadership. This volume provides essential reading for researchers with an interest in this core topic in social psychology and may also be used as a text on related upper-level courses.