The first and foremost concrete fact which every one will affirm to belong to his inner experience is the fact that consciousness of some sort goes on. I -William James, 1893 We are witnessing today a mounting interest among behavioral and biological scientists in problems long recognized as central to our understanding of human nature, yet until recently considered out of the bounds of scientific psychology and physiology. Sometimes thrown into the heading of "altered states of consciousness," this growing research bears directly upon such time-honored questions as the nature of conscious experience, the mind-body relationship, and volition. If one broadly views this research as encompassing the two interrelated areas of consciousness and self-regulation, one can find many relevant contemporary examples of creative and experimentally sophisticated approaches, including research on the regulation of perception and sensory experience, attention, imagery and thinking, emotion and pain; hypnosis and meditation; biofeedback and volun tary control; hemispheric asymmetry and specialization of brain func tion; drug-induced subjective states; and biological rhythms. Because the material is spread over many different kinds of publications and disciplines, it is difficult for anyone person to keep fully abreast of the significant advances. The overall aim of the new Plenum Series in Consciousness and Self-Regulation: Advances in Research is to provide a scholarly forum for discussing integration of these diverse areas by presenting some of the best current research and theory.

The Study of Lives reveals for the first time the extent of Henry A. Murray's considerable influence on the study of personality. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he has either trained or strongly influenced some of the world's leading psychologists, eighteen of whom have written fascinating essays for this book. The range of topics presented here is as diverse and highly original as Murray's own ideas about personality. Everyone concerned with the study of personality will find this book an excellent sampling of the best work being done in the field. "The study of lives" is a phrase Henry A. Murray has often used to describe his own work, and it suggests his central conviction that living beings must be studied as living wholes. Personality, he has repeatedly pointed out, is a dynamic process-a constantly changing configuration of thoughts, feelings, and actions occurring in a social environment and continuing throughout life. If small parts and short segments of human affairs have to be isolated for detailed scrutiny, they must still be understood as parts of a patterned organic system and as segments of a lifelong process. This has never meant for him that all research should take the form of collecting life histories, although his contributions along this line have been outstanding. It implies simply that isolating, fragmenting, and learning just a tiny bit about a lot of people tend to carry us away from what is most worth studying. The essays in this book are grouped under headings that represent some of Murray's strongest interests: His conception of personality as a dynamic process is reflected in Part I, which deals with continuities and changes in the course of life. His interest in devising procedures suitable for disclosing live feelings, fantasies, and adaptations and his insistence on the necessity for an adequate taxonomy of carefully discriminated, carefully defined variables are represented in the papers of Part II. His view that creativity is a central property of human nature has contributed to the reflections and researches that make up Part III. Finally, his concern with values--the great blind spot of traditional science but so obviously a momentous problem for contemporary lives and societies--has been taken up in several different ways by the authors of Part IV.

The Student Workbook is designed to lead you through a personal life-application study of God’s Word, using the Self-Confrontation manual as a reference. The Workbook leads you through key Scripture passages and points you to relevant portions of the Self-Confrontation manual. It can be used: • for your own personal study • in a one-on-one discipleship format, or • in a small group setting. The lessons have blank portions to complete, based on passages from the Bible. This is part of what you might call your written homework. The Self-Confrontation Bible Study is a great way for you to spend daily time in God’s Word, with the emphasis on your own walk with the Lord and your relationships with others. These principles are timeless and cultureless; and they will change your life, when applied with God’s enabling power.