Psychology has always defined itself as a science and yet it has lacked the theoretical and methodological unity regarded as characteristic of the natural sciences. Nicolò Gaj explores the topical question of unification in psychology, setting out a conceptual framework for considerations of unity and disunity, and exploring the evidence of its fragmentation. He takes a critical look at the history of the most prominent attempts at unification, and at the desirability and feasibility of the whole project. The book represents a unique and valuable attempt to address the issue of unification from a philosophical perspective, and via a combination of theoretical and empirical research.

Is the human self singular and unified or essentially plural? This book explores the seemingly disparate ways that Christian theology and the secular human sciences have approached this complex question. The latter have largely embraced the idea of the plural self as an inescapable, even adaptive feature of psychological life. Contemporary Christian theology, by contrast, has largely neglected recent psychological accounts of the naturalness of self-plurality, and has sought to reaffirm the self's unity in opposition to those postmodern theorists who would dismantle it. Through an original analysis of recent theological and secular accounts of self and personhood, this book examines the extent of the intertheoretical disparity and its broader implications for theology's dialogue with the human sciences in general, and psychology in particular. It explains why theologians ought to take questions about the plurality of self very seriously, and how they overlap with many of the central concerns of contemporary theological anthropology, including the notions of relationality, particularity and human sinfulness. Introducing a novel psychological framework to distinguish various understandings of self-disunity, the author argues that contemporary theology's blanket condemnation of self-multiplicity is misconceived, and identifies a possible means of reconciling theological and human scientific accounts.

Examines ideas of pluralism in William James's writings and contemporary psychology.

This book highlights original and traditional African strategies for conflict resolution, based on four Basotho cultural concepts: namely, Botho (or unity of being), Pula (or universalism), Khotso (or communalism), and Nala (or humanism). In doing so, it provides the missing psychological and African cultural pieces in the puzzle of conflict and conflict resolution This paradigm, “AfroSymbiocity”, is Sub-Saharan African in scope, but will have universal relevance. The book transcends theory by demonstrating the application of traditional African peace and conflict resolution strategies through considering a historical personage, King Moshoeshoe, who effectively used authentic African conflict resolution strategies to forge harmony in Southern Africa, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The book represents a major contribution to research and literature in peace and conflict studies, and will be vital for students, researchers, and professionals in peace studies, national and international decision makers, and bodies which strive for world peace.

Like its predecessors, Volume III of the Handbook for Teaching Introductory Psychology provides introductory psychology instructors with teaching ideas and activities that can immediately be put into practice in the classroom. It contains an organized collection of articles from Teaching of Psychology (TOP), the official journal of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Division 2 of the American Psychological Association. Volume III contains 89 articles from TOP that have not been included in other volumes. Another distinction between this volume and its predecessors is its emphasis on testing and assessment. The book is divided into two sections. Section One, "Issues and Approaches in Teaching Introductory Psychology," contains 52 articles on critical issues, such as: how to approach the course; understanding students' interests, perceptions, and motives; students' existing knowledge of psychology (including their misconceptions); a comparison of introductory textbooks and tips on how to evaluate them; test questions and student factors affecting exam performance; an overview of different forms of feedback; giving extra credit; and how to deal with academic dishonesty. Section Two consists of 37 articles that present demonstrations, class and laboratory projects, and other techniques to enhance teaching and learning in both the introductory, as well as advanced courses in the discipline. This section is organized so as to parallel the order of topics found in most introductory psychology textbooks. Intended for academicians who teach the introductory psychology course and/or oversee grad assistants who teach the course, all royalties of the book go directly to the Society for the Teaching of Psychology to promote its activities to further improve the teaching of psychology.

Schachtel shared with his great contemporary David Rapaport the goal of scientifically reframing the psychoanalytic understanding of personality. Experiential Foundations of Rorschach's Test, first published in 1966, is in one sense Schachtel's extended dialogue with Rapaport (in the guise of Schachtel's interlocutor) about this ambitious task. In the course of his brilliant and lucid meditation on this topic, Schachtel attempted far more than the simple explication of particular test responses. His book contains, and should be read as, an entire theory of personality considered in terms of the ways in which one person may meaningfully and detectably differ from another.

Introduction: what's the problem? -- Out of context -- Out of the head -- Turning to narrative -- How narrating functions -- Making it so -- Interpreting interpretations -- Interpreting Ben's survival -- Interpretation in practice -- Reasoned interpretations -- Conclusion: unity in psychology?

Psychology in Social Context: Issues and Debates provides a critical perspective on debates and controversies that have divided opinion within psychology both past and present. Explores the history of psychology through examples of classic and contemporary debates that have split the discipline and sparked change, including race and IQ, psychology and gender, ethical issues in psychology, parapsychology and the nature-nurture debate Represents a unique approach to studying the nature of psychology by combining historical controversies with contemporary debates within the discipline Sets out a clear view of psychology as a reflexive human science, embedded in and shaped by particular socio-historical contexts Written in an accessible style using a range of pedagogical features - such as set learning outcomes, self-test questions, and further reading suggestions at the end of each chapter

Approximately 40 selections of enduring intellectual value--classic articles, book excerpts, and research studies--that have shaped the study of psychology and our contemporary understanding of it.

This book, a review of the psychological literatures with allied traditions in ethics, emphasizes parenting and educational strategies for influencing moral behavior, reasoning, and character development and charts a line of research for the "post-Kohlbergian era" in moral psychology.