This volume takes the next step in the evolution of mass communication research tradition from effects to processes -- a more detailed and microanalytical analysis of the psychological processes involved in receiving and reacting to electronic media messages. This domain includes investigations into those psychological processes that occur between the process of selecting media messages for consumption and assessments of whatever processes mediate the long-term impact such message consumption may have on consumers' subsequent behavior. The editors strive to further understanding of some of the basic processes underlying the ways we gain entertainment and information.

The past several decades have witnessed thousands of studies into children and the media. Yet, much academic research is still in its infancy when it comes to our knowledge about the uses, preferences, and effects of different media. This distinctive volume moves the field forward in this regard, with its insights into the latest theories and research on children and the media. Author Patti M. Valkenburg explores "screen" media (i.e., television, films, video and computer games, and the Internet), and focuses her study on the most fundamental topics in the study of children and the media. In each chapter, Valkenburg examines an essential topic on children and the media: the effect of media violence, children's emotional reactions to news and entertainment, the intended and unintended effects of advertising, and the uses and effects of computer games and the Internet. She has structured the chapters to provide an overview of existing theories and research on a particular topic, and supplements the work of others with her own ground-breaking research findings. She provides a careful and even-handed treatment of research in children's media, and includes current and noteworthy studies. As a resource for study in children and media and media psychology, this volume provides a timely and thorough examination of the state of theory and research. It will serve as a valuable reference for scholars and as an engaging text for advanced students.

In the past decade, the field of comparative cognition has grown and thrived. No less rigorous than purely behavioristic investigations, examinations of animal intelligence are useful for scientists and psychologists alike in their quest to understand the nature and mechanisms of intelligence. Extensive field research of various species has yielded exciting new areas of research, integrating findings from psychology, behavioral ecology, and ethology in a unique and wide-ranging synthesis of theory and research on animal cognition. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Cognition contains sections on perception and illusion, attention and search, memory processes, spatial cognition, conceptualization and categorization, problem solving and behavioral flexibility, and social cognition processes including findings in primate tool usage, pattern learning, and counting. The authors have incorporated findings and theoretical approaches that reflect the current state of the field. This comprehensive volume will be a must-read for students and scientists who want to know about the state of the art of the modern science of comparative cognition.

The volume presents an up-to-date collection of methodologically sensitive contributions providing mainly enthusiastic, at times also critical support for the cognitive-linguistic enterprise. The book is important for the advancement of cognitive linguistics because the contributions demonstrate the seriousness of its ambitions to develop into a set of testable linguistic approaches. For the same reason, the volume is a contribution to our understanding of language in general, since it puts a promising modern approach on firmer ground. Assets of the book include the wide range of linguistic phenomena studied (individual concepts, fundamental semantic problems like vagueness and polysemy, grammatical issues incl. gender and tense, collocations, constructions and speech acts) and the scope of applied perspectives including lexicographical, computational, developmental and critical discourse ones. The languages investigated are English, German, Dutch, Polish and Italian. Common to the contributions is the desire to bring together observed patterns of linguistic usage with concepts and models established in cognitive linguistics. In addition, all contributions have an empirical basis and emphasize the need to rely on a sound methodology. The linguistic phenomena investigated span the range from the lexico-conceptual and collocational level to constructions, grammatical categories and functions. Two complementary perspectives of language and cognition are represented in the volume: In one group, the established methods of psycholinguistic experimentation, quantitative corpus analysis and computational simulation are exploited to demonstrate the viability and to increase the plausibility of cognitive-linguistic thinking. The second group tests well-known cognitive-linguistic approaches like Conceptual Metaphor Theory, the Theory of Idealized Cognitive Models and Construction Grammar against authentic data demonstrating their applicability and explanatory potential. Both groups include contributions reaching beyond the scope of traditional cognitive-linguistic topics, e.g. by taking a critical stance of reductionist cognitive thinking. The volume is of interest to cognitive linguists, psycholinguists, theoretical linguists, lexicologists, and lexicographers.

Multitasking refers to performance of multiple tasks. The most prominent types of multitasking are situations including either temporal overlap of the execution of multiple tasks (i.e., dual tasking) or executing multiple tasks in varying sequences (i.e., task switching). In the literature, numerous attempts have aimed at theorizing about the specific characteristics of executive functions that control interference between simultaneously and/or sequentially active component of task-sets in these situations. However, these approaches have been rather vague regarding explanatory concepts (e.g., task-set inhibition, preparation, shielding, capacity limitation), widely lacking theories on detailed mechanisms and/ or empirical evidence for specific subcomponents. The present research topic aims at providing a selection of contributions on the details of executive functioning in dual-task and task switching situations. The contributions specify these executive functions by focusing on (1) fractionating assumed mechanisms into constituent subcomponents, (2) their variations by age or in clinical subpopulations, and/ or (3) their plasticity as a response to practice and training.

With an updated edition including new material in additional chapters, this one-of-a-kind handbook covers not only current standardization efforts, but also anthropometry and optimal working postures, ergonomic human computer interactions, legal protection, occupational health and safety, and military human factor principles. While delineating the crucial role that standards and guidelines play in facilitating the design of advantageous working conditions to enhance individual performance, the handbook suggests ways to expand opportunities for global economic and ergonomic development. This book features: Guidance on the design of work systems including tasks, equipment, and workspaces as well as the work environment in relation to human capacities and limitations Emphasis on important human factors and ergonomic standards that can be utilized to improve product and process to ensure efficiency and safety A focus on quality control to ensure that standards are met throughout the worldwide market

Research has clearly established a link between omega fatty acids and general health, particularly cardiovascular health. Omega Fatty Acids in Brain and Neurological Health, Second Edition, illustrates the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in longevity, cognitive impairment and structure and function of the brain's neurons and also the adverse effects of omega-6 fatty acids on neurological function. This book encompasses some of the most recent research on the links between omega fatty acids and the developing brain, aging, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, including the role of omega-3 fatty acid supplements on hippocampal neurogenesis, substantia nigra modulation, migraine headaches, the developing brain in animals, sleep and neurodegenerative diseases. This completely updated second edition focuses on the counterbalancing dietary and tissue omega-6 fatty acids as well as it studies the effects in pregnancy and early infancy, animal model studies and autoimmune neurological diseases. - Provides a comprehensive introduction to omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in neurological health and directions for future research - Features novel focus on the adverse effects of omega-6 fatty acids on neurological function and the counterbalancing of dietary and tissue omega-6 - Illustrates the importance of omega-3 fatty acids in longevity and cognitive impairment - Features new chapters on early effects in pregnancy and early infancy, animal model studies and autoimmune neurological diseases - Discusses links between omega fatty acids and the developing brain, aging, dementia, Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis, including the role of omega-3 fatty acid supplements