Psychology is part of everyone's experience: it influences the way we think about everything from education and intelligence, to relationships and emotions, advertising and criminality. People readily behave as amateur psychologists, offering explanations for what people think, feel, and do. But what exactly are psychologists trying to do? What scientific grounding do they have for their approach? This book provides an understanding of some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical relevance, making it a stimulating introduction for anyone interested in understanding the human mind. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Psychology is part of everyone's experience: it influences the way we think about everything from education and intelligence, to relationships and emotions, advertising and criminality. People readily behave as amateur psychologists, offering explanations for what people think, feel, and do. But what exactly are psychologists trying to do? What scientific grounding do they have for their approach? This Very Short Introduction explores some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical relevance. In this new edition, Gillian Butler and Freda McManus explore a variety of new topics and ways of studying the brain. Until recently it was not possible to study the living human brain directly, so psychologists studied our behaviour, and used their observations to derive hypotheses about what was going on inside. Now - through neuroscience - our knowledge of the workings of the brain has increased and improved technology provides us with a scientific basis on which to understand the structure and workings of the brain, and allows brain activity to be observed and measured. Exploring some of the most important advances and developments in psychology - from evolutionary psychology and issues surrounding adolescence and aggression to cognitive psychology - this is a stimulating introduction for anyone interested in understanding the human mind. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

"Fully updated new edition"--Label on cover.

Lie detection, offender profiling, jury selection, insanity in the law, predicting the risk of re-offending , the minds of serial killers and many other topics that fill news and fiction are all aspects of the rapidly developing area of scientific psychology broadly known as Forensic Psychology. Forensic Psychology: A Very Short Introduction discusses all the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process as a whole. It includes explanations of criminal behaviour and criminality, including the role of mental disorder in crime, and discusses how forensic psychology contributes to helping investigate the crime and catching the perpetrators. It also explains how psychologists provide guidance to all those involved in civil and criminal court proceedings, including both the police and the accused, and what expert testimony can be provided by a psychologist about the offender at the trial. Finally, David Canter examines how forensic psychology is used, particularly in prisons, to help in the management, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders, once they have been convicted. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Clinical psychology makes a significant contribution to mental health care across the world. The essence of the discipline is the creative application of the knowledge base of psychology to the unique, personal experiences of individuals who are facing difficulties or changes in their lives. Rather than addressing such experiences as primarily a medical, political or legal problem, clinical psychologists approach personal distress as an unhappy outcome of certain ways of thinking, behaving and relating, often occurring within difficult social, cultural or economic circumstances. Clinical psychologists work with people to try and help them change what is distressing or concerning them, based on a belief in the value of the individual to determine what happens to them and on the importance of using approaches which have been demonstrated through research to be effective. In this Very Short Introduction Susan Llewellyn and Katie Aafjes-van Doorn provide insights into the world of clinical psychologists and their clients or patients, and cover the range of domains of practice, the difficulties tackled, and the approaches and models used. They consider the challenges and controversies facing the profession today, and also how it varies across the globe. Finally, they discuss the key questions surrounding clinical psychology, such as whether it should compete or collaborate with psychiatry, how far it is yet another instrument of social control, what new technology can offer in the future, and whether clinical psychology can ever really be considered a science. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This volume tracks child development from birth to early adolescence. Exploring the process of attachment and psychological relationships, as well as methods of active learning, including language and reasoning, Usha Goshwami explains how children develop as they do and how we can understand developmental differences.

What happens when we listen to music? Why are certain forms pleasing and others not? John Davies was both a psychologist and a talented musician and The Psychology of Music, originally published in 1978, explores the nature of man’s eternal need for, and love of, music. Drawing on current research in psychology and social psychology at the time, he explores the processes beneath this love affair in an easy and fluent style liberally punctuated with amusing and, occasionally, startling examples.