An Introduction to the Event-Related Potential Technique


Steven J. Luck - 2005
    In " An Introduction to the Event-Related Potential Technique," Steve Luck offers the first comprehensive guide to the practicalities of conducting ERP experiments in cognitive neuroscience and related fields, including affective neuroscience and experimental psychopathology. The book can serve as a guide for the classroom or the laboratory and as a reference for researchers who do not conduct ERP studies themselves but need to understand and evaluate ERP experiments in the literature. It summarizes the accumulated body of ERP theory and practice, providing detailed, practical advice about how to design, conduct, and interpret ERP experiments, and presents the theoretical background needed to understand why an experiment is carried out in a particular way. Luck focuses on the most fundamental techniques, describing them as they are used in many of the world's leading ERP laboratories. These techniques reflect a long history of electrophysiological recordings and provide an excellent foundation for more advanced approaches.The book also provides advice on the key topic of how to design ERP experiments so that they will be useful in answering questions of broad scientific interest. This reflects the increasing proportion of ERP research that focuses on these broader questions rather than the "ERPology" of early studies, which concentrated primarily on ERP components and methods. Topics covered include the neural origins of ERPs, signal averaging, artifact rejection and correction, filtering, measurement and analysis, localization, and the practicalities of setting up the lab.

Salsa Dancing Into the Social Sciences: Research in an Age of Info-Glut


Kristin Luker - 2008
    But trust me. Salsa dancing is a practice as well as a metaphor for a kind of research that will make your life easier and better.""Savvy, witty, and sensible, this unique book is both a handbook for defining and completing a research project, and an astute introduction to the neglected history and changeable philosophy of modern social science. In this volume, Kristin Luker guides novice researchers in: knowing the difference between an area of interest and a research topicdefining the relevant parts of a potentially infinite research literaturemastering sampling, operationalization, and generalizationunderstanding which research methods best answer your questionsbeating writer's blockMost important, she shows how friendships, nonacademic interests, and even salsa dancing can make for a better researcher.""You know about setting the kitchen timer and writing for only an hour, or only 15 minutes if you are feeling particularly anxious. I wrote a fairly large part of this book feeling exactly like that. If I can write an entire book 15 minutes at a time, so can you.""

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day


Joan Bolker - 1998
    Joan Bolker, midwife to more than one hundred dissertations and co-founder of the Harvard Writing Center, offers invaluable suggestions for the graduate-student writer. Using positive reinforcement, she begins by reminding thesis writers that being able to devote themselves to a project that truly interests them can be a pleasurable adventure. She encourages them to pay close attention to their writing method in order to discover their individual work strategies that promote productivity; to stop feeling fearful that they may disappoint their advisors or family members; and to tailor their theses to their own writing style and personality needs. Using field-tested strategies she assists the student through the entire thesis-writing process, offering advice on choosing a topic and an advisor, on disciplining one's self to work at least fifteen minutes each day; setting short-term deadlines, on revising and defing the thesis, and on life and publication after the dissertation. Bolker makes writing the dissertation an enjoyable challenge.

Foundations of Cognitive Psychology: Core Readings


Daniel J. Levitin - 2002
    Cognitive psychology, the science of the human mind and of how people process information, is at the core of empirical investigations into the nature of mind and thought.This anthology is based on the assumption that cognitive psychology is at heart empirical philosophy. Many of the core questions about thought, language, perception, memory, and knowledge of other people's minds were for centuries the domain of philosophy. The book begins with the philosophical foundations of inquiry into the nature of mind and thought, in particular the writings of Descartes, and then covers the principal topics of cognitive psychology including memory, attention, and decision making.The book organizes a daunting amount of information, underlining the essentials, while also introducing readers to the ambiguities and controversies of research. It is arranged thematically and includes many topics not typically taught in cognition courses, including human factors and ergonomics, evolutionary psychology, music cognition, and experimental design.ContributorsDaniel Dennett, Daniel Kahneman, Jay McClelland, Donald Norman, Michael Posner, Stephen Palmer, Eleanor Rosch, John Searle, Roger Shepard, and Anne Treisman

Foucault: A Very Short Introduction


Gary Gutting - 2005
    Born in 1926 in France, over the course of his life he dabbled in drugs, politics, and the Paris SM scene, all whilst striving to understand the deep concepts of identity, knowledge, and power.From aesthetics to the penal system; from madness and civilisation to avant-garde literature, Foucault was happy to reject old models of thinking and replace them with versions that are still widely debated today. A major influence on Queer Theory and gender studies (he was openly gay and died of an AIDS-related illness in 1984), he also wrote on architecture, history, law, medicine, literature, politics and of course philosophy, and even managed a best-seller in France on a book dedicated to the history of systems of thought.Because of the complexity of his arguments, people trying to come to terms with his work have desperately sought introductory material that makes his theories clear and accessible for the beginner. Ideally suited for the Very Short Introductions series, Gary Gutting presents a comprehensive but non-systematic treatment of some highlights of Foucault's life and thought. Beginning with a brief biography to set the social and political stage, he then tackles Foucault's thoughts on literature, in particular the avant-garde scene; his philosophical and historical work; his treatment of knowledge and power in modern society; and his thoughts on sexuality.

Statistics Without Tears: An Introduction for Non-Mathematicians


Derek Rowntree - 1981
    With it you can prime yourself with the key concepts of statistics before getting involved in the associated calculations. Using words and diagrams instead of figures, formulae and equations, Derek Rowntree makes statistics accessible to those who are non-mathematicians. And just to get you into the spirit of things. Rowntree has included questions in his argument; answer them as you go and you will be able to tell how far you have mastered the subject.

Writing Your Journal Article in 12 Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success


Wendy Laura Belcher - 2008
    Each week, readers learn a particular feature of strong articles and work on revising theirs accordingly. At the end of twelve weeks, they send their article to a journal. This invaluable resource is the only guide that focuses specifically on publishing humanities and social science journal articles . Key Features Has a proven record of helping graduate students and professors get published: This workbook, developed over a decade of teaching scholarly writers in a range of disciplines at UCLA and around the world, has already helped hundreds to publish their articles in peer-reviewed journals. Demystifies the academic publishing process: This workbook is based on actual research about faculty productivity and peer review, students′ writing triumphs and failures, as well as the author′s experiences as a journal editor and award-winning author. Proceeds step by manageable step: Within the context of clear deadlines, the workbook provides the instruction, exercises, and structure needed to revise a classroom essay, conference paper, dissertation chapter, master′s thesis, or unfinished draft into a journal article and send it to a suitable journal. Targets the biggest writing challenges: This workbook focuses squarely on the most difficult tasks facing scholarly writers, such as getting motivated, making an argument, and creating a logical whole.Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks can be used individually or in groups, and is particularly appropriate for graduate student professional development courses, junior faculty orientation workshops, post-doc groups, and journal article writing courses.Wendy Laura Belcher is assistant professor of African literature at Princeton University in the Department of Comparative Literature and Center for African American Studies. She has taught journal article writing workshops in North America, Europe, and Africa. Praise for Wendy Belcher and Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve WeeksA comprehensive, well-written and beautifully organized book on publishing articles in the humanities and social sciences that will help its readers write forward with a first-rate guide as good company.--Joan Bolker, author of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a DayHumorous, direct, authentic ... a seamless weave of experience, anecdote, and research. --Kathleen McHugh, professor and director of the UCLA Center for the Study of WomenA useful text that will be an excellent resource for any writer attempting to publish their work.--Larry Chandler, Graduate StudentWendy Belcher′s book is revolutionizing the way younger scholars perceive academic publishing and radically transforming their level of access to it (and consequently to the profession). It is by far the most readable or practical guide to academic writing on the market. --Beth Goodhue, UCLAWendy′s guidance has been a tremendous help to me, and the book is great for grad students, junior faculty, or anyone who wants to learn how to write and publish more effectively.-Jake Dorman, The University of KansasYour book struck such a nerve because there is a long chain of assumptions in academia that scholars should just know how to do certain things. The relief among faculty is palpable when I explain in groups that few of us -- even those who have been published in journals -- were ever taught properly. And although it helps everyone who cracks it, your book is especially a godsend for faculty from other cultures. -Carole Sargent, Georgetown University Thanks for your wonderful book! -Georgina Green, Graduate StudentAbsolutely LOVE the book! -Karra Bikson, Graduate Student

How College Affects Students: Volume 2 - A Third Decade of Research


Ernest T. Pascarella - 2005
    The authors review their earlier findings and then synthesize what has been learned since 1990 about college's influences on students' learning. The book also discusses the implications of the findings for research, practice, and public policy. This authoritative and comprehensive analysis of the literature on college-impact is required reading for anyone interested in higher education practice, policy, and promise3/4faculty, administrators, researchers, policy analysts, and decision-makers at every level.

Understanding Abnormal Behavior


David Sue - 1981
    The first abnormal psychology book to present a thoroughly integrated multicultural perspective--based on the authors' view that cross-cultural comparisons can greatly enhance the understanding of disorders--the text provides extensive coverage and integration of multicultural models, explanations, and concepts. The book also helps you gain an understanding of abnormal behavior as scientific and clinical endeavors, while providing insight into the tools that mental health professionals use to study and treat disorders.

SPSS Survival Manual: A Step by Step Guide to Data Analysis Using SPSS for Windows


Julie Pallant - 2001
    It helps in the process of choosing the right statistical technique and includes a detailed guide to interpreting SPSS ouput.

The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception


Michel Foucault - 1963
    For the first time, medical knowledge took on a precision that had formerly belonged only to mathematics. The body became something that could be mapped. Disease became subject to new rules of classification. And doctors begin to describe phenomena that for centuries had remained below the threshold of the visible and expressible.In The Birth of the Clinic the philosopher and intellectual historian who may be the true heir to Nietzsche charts this dramatic transformation of medical knowledge. As in his classic Madness and Civilization, Michel Foucault shows how much what we think of as pure science owes to social and cultural attitudes — in this case, to the climate of the French Revolution. Brilliant, provocative, and omnivorously learned, his book sheds new light on the origins of our current notions of health and sickness, life and death.

Statistical Methods for Psychology


David C. Howell - 2001
    This book has two underlying themes that are more or less independent of the statistical hypothesis tests that are the main content of the book. The first theme is the importance of looking at the data before formulating a hypothesis. With this in mind, the author discusses, in detail, plotting data, looking for outliers, and checking assumptions (Graphical displays are used extensively). The second theme is the importance of the relationship between the statistical test to be employed and the theoretical questions being posed by the experiment. To emphasize this relationship, the author uses real examples to help the student understand the purpose behind the experiment and the predictions made by the theory. Although this book is designed for students at the intermediate level or above, it does not assume that students have had either a previous course in statistics or a course in math beyond high-school algebra.

Psychological Testing


Anne Anastasi - 1961
    KEY TOPICS: This book familiarizes the reader with the basics of test construction and prepares the reader to effectively evaluate different tests, choose tests for particular purposes and individual examines, and interpret scores properly.

Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioner-Researchers


Colin Robson - 1993
    These include teachers, social workers and health service professionals, managers and specialists in business, architects, designers, criminologists and accountants among many others.Real World Research provides a clear route-map of the various steps needed to carry out a piece of applied research to a high professional standard. It is accessible to those without a social science background while providing rigorous and fully up-to-date coverage of contemporary issues and debates. It brings together materials and approaches from different social science disciplines, seeing value in both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as their combination in mixed-method designs.

Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating Health Promotion Programs: A Primer


James F. McKenzie - 1992
    The Fifth Edition features updated information throughout, including new theories and models such as the Healthy Action Process Approach (HAPA) and the Community Readiness Model (CRM), sections on grant writing and preparing a budget, real-life examples of marketing principles and processes, and a new classification system for evaluation approaches and designs. Health Education, Health Promotion, Health Educators, and Program Planning, Models for Program Planning in Health Promotion, Starting the Planning Process, Assessing Needs, Measurement, Measures, Measurement Instruments and Sampling, Mission Statement, Goals, and Objectives, Theories and Models Commonly Used for Health Promotion Interventions, Interventions, Community Organizing and Community Building, Identification and Allocation of Resources, Marketing: Making Sure Programs Respond to Wants and Needs of Consumers, Implementation: Strategies and Associated Concerns, Evaluation: An Overview, Evaluation Approaches and Designs, Data Analysis and Reporting. Intended for those interested in learning the basics of planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs