Social Situations Books - Page 7

The Alphabet Versus the Goddess

Leonard Shlain

List Price: $24.95 By: Viking Adult Amazon Marketplace: 54 new & used starting at $4.82

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 157 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

first read understanding media 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Shlain's work was informed by Marchall Mcluhan. Read Understanding Media first (and related works) and you'll appreciate the truth of Shlain's insights re printing, reading, writing and technology. Gutenberg changed EVERYTHING. Hot vs Cool, Linear vs holistic. The power of myth and its demise. What Slain has done is include his knowledge of the brain & gender roles to an established construct. And please do read WAlker's "Women's Book of Myths and Secrets" to get a more thorough understanding of how patriarchal cultures (Greek Roman Hebrew) and the Catholic religion have savaged, usurpeed and manipulated early Pagan cultures to their own imperial purpose.

The Alphabet vs. The Goddess 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 7 people found this review helpful.

A couple of years ago, during a religious conversation with my daughter, I asked (somewhat plaintively) "What the hell ever happened to God the Mother?!" She smiled and walked over to her bookcase and brought back two books. One was "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter" and the other was "The Alphabet vs. The Goddess." Together they changed my thinking about a lot of things. Of course I had a little trouble adjusting to being joined at the hip with the Oxford Dictionery! I wish the fathers of the Church would give as much thought to this book as they do the writings of Augustine

Editorial Review:

A profound and provocative book which proposes that alphabetic literally rewired the brain and changed culture, religion, and history--written by the acclaimed author of "Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light" (soon to be a three-part MSNBC series). 35 illustrations.

Deviant behavior

Alex Thio

List Price: $29.50 By: Houghton Mifflin Co Amazon Marketplace: 10 new & used starting at $0.55

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

A sociologist that dislikes the book... 1 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

It seems that the negative reviews have come from individuals that find the material to be too "liberal," so I want to clarify up front that I am a liberal & have liberal viewpoints. Additionally, I am a 4.0 student (senior) with a double major in sociology & psychology. Unlike the other reviewers, my complaint is about the reliability of the content. One person did state that Thio does a poor job of updating the text for new editions. I fully agree with that. Most of the references cited are from the 1970s, 80s, & 90s. There are some updated references - but typically just piggy-backed onto old references. In places where it seems that he would learn something by reviewing a new source, there is no new reference.

I don't understand, for example, how he can justify using 70s & 80s data in the "mental disorders" section, as if the psychological field has remained static for 3 decades. On some pages, he used the term "psychoanalytic" interchangeably with "psychological." He claims that theories surrounding biological origins of mental disorder are in conflict with environmental causes of mental disorder, which any psychologist or psychiatrist today can tell you is untrue. Furthermore, he claims that biologic theories dominate the field today & that "psychoanalytic" (which he is also calling psychological) theories dominated the field in the 1950s & 60s, but are less popular today. However, he goes on to quote Freud, who has certainly long-since been discredited. Thio claims that there are 3 types of "functional" (which he essentially defines as "environmental") disorders: psychosis (schizophrenia & manic-depressive disorder), neurosis (anxiety "reaction," obsessive-compulsive "behavior," depressive "reaction," & psychophysiologic disorder), & personality disorders. He says, "This mental disorder has also been called character disorder or sociopathic (psychopathic) disorder." (p. 173) Hopefully you other psychology majors see the problems here. First of all, personality disorders are much more broad than just being a "catch-all" (as Thio implies on the same page) that is labeled as sociopathic. Personality disorders include Borderline Personality Disorder, Histrionic Personality Disorder, & Narcissistic Personality Disorder - among others. Secondly, no one in the psychological or psychiatric fields calls anything "character disorder." Third, he implies that he has covered the range of disorders, but even the "desk" version of the DSM-IV-TR is 370 pages long & details over 200 distinct disorders, which obviously means that he should clarify to potentially naïve students that his coverage is not exhaustive. Fourth, he repeatedly references the 1994 DSM-IV, neglecting to reference the 2000 DSM-IV-TR, which has obviously been updated more recently.

The problem is, Thio's tragically dated information is peppered throughout this text. In order for it to teach valid, reliable, & accurate information to eager, young students, the author will need to exert the effort to give it a dramatic overhaul.

Editorial Review:

This best-selling text offers comprehensive coverage of all aspects of deviance and is noted for its blend of style and substance. Deviant Behavior covers a wide spectrum of theories of deviance, and analyzes numerous specific deviant behaviors. The author uses an abundance of research data, including many that debunk our common assumptions about deviant behavior. Students are exposed to the full range of theories and data about deviance, and are challenged to think about and evaluate their own biases and preconceptions.

Effective Group Discussion, 8th Edition

John K. Brilhart, Gloria J. Galanes

List Price: $52.20 By: Brown & Benchmark Amazon Marketplace: 17 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

good communication book 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I bought this at Amazon.com from an Awesome Deal I found on DailyTool.com. This is a great book on communication theories. Also with the book you will have access to online learning center where you may find the chapter outlines and quizes over there.

Excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Excellent response from Amazon! We received this product quickly and saved a bundle off list price at the college bookstore.

Editorial Review:

Written for the small group communication course, Effective Group Discussion combines the most recent research findings relevant to understanding small groups with the practical tools students need to become productive group members. This text's implementation of research and theory in the systems approach framework provide students with a unique understanding of the scholarship in this field. This leading text is about secondary groups of all kinds: work groups, committees, task forces, self-directed work teams, and other small groups whose objectives include finding solutions to problems, producing goods, and creating policies.

Visual Communication: Images With Messages (Mass Communication)

Paul Martin Lester

List Price: $52.95 By: Wadsworth Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 1 new & used starting at $60.00

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Images with messages 4 out of 5 stars.
14 of 14 people found this review helpful.

Lester's text offers the most comprehensive overview of visual communication I have come across. His preferred framework is clearly semiotic, but he offers a fair treatment of other theories as well. Section one covers the biological functions of seeing, including the role of the brain, the retina and the eye. He favors the active version of visual processing over the passive version.

Section two covers what we see which can be summarized with four basic visual perception cues; color, form, depth and movement. Lester discusses how the brain divides and sorts visual messages and explains that how we see helps to explain why we see. Also in section two he introduces the theories of visual communication which he divides into two subdivisions, sensual and perceptual. Sensual theories are based on the physical senses and boil down to the idea that direct or mediated images are composed of light and little else. A visual sensation is a stimulus from the outside that activates nerve cells within your sense organs. These produce raw data and include such theories as gestalt, constructivism and ecological. Gestalt theories conclude that perception is a result of a combination of sensations, and not individual sensual elements (p 52). According to Gestalt laws, there are five factors that identify whether objects in a visual field can be recognized as being in the foreground (positive space) or background (negative space); symmetry, convexity, meaning, area, orientation and attention to visual forms that make up pictures (p 56). Perceptual theories are concerned with the meaning that humans associate with the images they see. In other words these theories have to do with what is done in the brain after combining all the information from your sensual organs. Lester categorizes semiotic and cognitive theories as the perceptual theories (p 67-68). Semiology is a complex system of analysis and the author's overview is quite helpful. Cognitive theories postulate that visual perception is a function of meanings that we associate with objects through learned behavior or intelligent assumptions. Key theorists are Irving Biederman who determined that only 36 geons (geometric ions) are needed to make all objects, Richard Gregory, and Carolyn bloomer who suggests that perception is not stable, rather activities such as habituation, dissonance, projection, expectation, memory selectivity, culture and words can affect visual perception.

In section three, Lester covers visual ethics; visual persuasion in advertising, PR and journalism, and pictorial stereotyping. Section four offers six perspectives for analyzing any image; personal, historical, technical, ethical, cultural and critical, using all of these perspectives he goes on to analyze examples of typography (chapter 8), graphic design (chapter 9), informational graphics (chapter 10), cartoons (chapter 11), photography (chapter 12), motion pictures (chapter 13), television/video (chapter 14), computers (chapter 15), and interactive media (chapter 16). Lester's perspective choices for visual analysis are somewhat unique to him, although there are similarities within or across categories to other perspectives for example his technical analysis is similar to a compositional analysis one might see described in an art history text. This book is an excellent jumping off point for further research into the emerging visual communication field.

Editorial Review:

This is the only text to offer substantial coverage of issues specific to all forms of visual communication. It helps students analyze visual messages using a technique similar to the one used to evaluate words. It offers physiological and theoretical background on visual perception, then moves to discussion of various media (including typography, graphic design, informational graphics, photography, television, video, and interactive media) and the very visible role they play in our lives.

Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)

Douglass C. North

Amazon Price: $74.13 List Price: $80.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Cambridge University Press Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $58.00

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Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Continuing his groundbreaking analysis of economic structures, Douglass North develops an analytical framework for explaining the ways in which institutions and institutional change affect the performance of economies, both at a given time and over time. Institutions exist, he argues, due to the uncertainties involved in human interaction; they are the constraints devised to structure that interaction. Yet, institutions vary widely in their consequences for economic performance; some economies develop institutions that produce growth and development, while others develop institutions that produce stagnation. North first explores the nature of institutions and explains the role of transaction and production costs in their development. The second part of the book deals with institutional change. Institutions create the incentive structure in an economy, and organizations will be created to take advantage of the opportunities provided within a given institutional framework. North argues that the kinds of skills and knowledge fostered by the structure of an economy will shape the direction of change and gradually alter the institutional framework. He then explains how institutional development may lead to a path-dependent pattern of development. In the final part of the book, North explains the implications of this analysis for economic theory and economic history. He indicates how institutional analysis must be incorporated into neo-classical theory and explores the potential for the construction of a dynamic theory of long-term economic change. Douglass C. North is Director of the Center of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and History at Washington University in St. Louis. He is a past president of the Economic History Association and Western Economics Association and a Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has written over sixty articles for a variety of journals and is the author of The Rise of the Western World: A New Economic History (CUP, 1973, with R.P. Thomas) and Structure and Change in Economic History (Norton, 1981). Professor North is included in Great Economists Since Keynes edited by M. Blaug (CUP, 1988 paperback ed.)

Intercultural communication : a reader

Larry A Samovar

By: Wadsworth Pub. Co Amazon Marketplace: 11 new & used starting at $2.07

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

The Text is Excellent. 5 out of 5 stars.
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.

I have taught with several of the major readers on the market: Samovar and Porter's, Nakayama and Martin, and others. This text has the most well written readings and contains articles on many seminal issues, context (Hall), time (Hall), etc. This text has the LEAST blatantly fluff filled articles intended only to titillate and pander to students. Additionally, if you review some of the other texts, you will see that they often have poorly referenced articles and the work is less than scholarly. It is possible to write a chapter for a reader such as this and support your content with support and references. The articles here are interesting, well written, well referenced, and more-grounded in theory and research than a lot of the competition. I recommend it highly. MLK

Editorial Review:

This eye-opening reader explores how communication values and styles can be similar or different for members of various cultures and communities. INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION: A READER focuses on practical strategies you can use to communicate more effectively in a variety of contexts, including interpersonal, rhetoric, group, business, education, health care, and organizational. This broad-based, highly engaging reader, compiled by the authors who defined the course, includes a balanced selection of articles--some commissioned solely for this text--that discusses the classic ideas that laid the groundwork for this field, as well as the latest research and ideas. Material is presented in such a way that you can read, understand, and then apply course concepts to your own life.

Social Psychology: Unraveling the Mystery

Douglas T. Kenrick, Steven L. Neuberg, Robert B. Cialdini

List Price: $93.00 By: Allyn & Bacon Amazon Marketplace: 29 new & used starting at $0.85

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Social Psychology: Unraveling the Mystery 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 10 people found this review helpful.

The most valuable benefits of adopting this book for my class was the unbelievable support from the publisher. A&B provided a study guide, a test bank, a huge package of transparencies, a powerpoint presentation CD...--all of this for free. I have been astonished by the sevice and free benfits I have gotten as the result of choosing this otherwise excellent book.

Let's hope the competition emulates this author and publisher.

Editorial Review:

This book offers a unique integrated approach to social behavior. Using a "goal directed" approach, the authors organize the book around a "Goal, Person, Situation" framework using a pair of unifying themes: --Social behavior is goal-directed. --Social behavior is a result of interactions between the person and the situation. By using these two simple organizing themes, the book presents the discipline as a coherent framework for understanding human conduct. Compelling mysteries, cutting-edge scholarship, lively writing, and the authors' reputations as both respected researchers and teachers, all come together to make this book an accessible and engaging read. For students of psychology, or anyone interested in learning more about social behavior.

Dominick:Mass Media Basics

Joseph R Dominick

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

It's a textbook... 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The book covered many concepts of the world of communications. I found the text to be rather slow, but I was able to continue to the end, not only for the course I bought it for, but because I am interested in the field. It is a college textbook, so the organization is a bit more formal and less reader friendly, but it has a great deal of interesting information.

Good Textbook for my College Class 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I was required to buy this book for my Journalism 1 class in college. It has a great online student center and the material covers a wide variety of topics. I thought this book was more interesting than most of the textbooks I have had to buy for school. It also comes with a CD-Rom that enhances the material.

Editorial Review:

Well-known for its balanced approach to media industries and professions, "Dynamics of Mass Communication" offers a lively, thorough, and objective introduction for mass communication majors and nonmajors alike. This new edition embraces the digital age with a free Student DVD that adds video and interactivity to the student's textbook experience, and brings students up-to-date on the latest developments in mass communication - from the emerging role of cell phones and iPods in the mass media mix to the growing impact of blogs on the practice of journalism.

Communication in Our Lives (Wadsworth Series in Communication Studies)

Julia T. Wood

List Price: $48.95 By: Wadsworth Publishing Company Amazon Marketplace: 12 new & used starting at $0.58

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Very interesting! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book makes comminication fun and interesting. I am using this book for a speech class, but I find that it is an interesting read outside of school. The writing is very clear and examples pertain to every day life.

wrong item sent 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 10 people found this review helpful.

I received a book that I didn't even order. The one I ordered is yellow and white ( 3th edition). THis isn't the one I ordered; therefore, I need a refund.I sent the book back and I know the seller received it on 8/19.

Editorial Review:

This text responds to current content and discipline issues by being rooted in communication scholarship and by addressing and integrating issues of social diversity. The book provides a theoretically unified and pragmatically oriented approach to human communication (i.e., a good balance of theory and skills); it consistently integrates issues of social diversity into both theoretical foundations and discussions of skills and particular communication contexts. The text provides students with an understanding of theory by showing them how they can apply communication to their own lives.

Crowds and Power

Elias Canetti

Amazon Price: $12.24 List Price: $18.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Farrar, Straus and Giroux Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $9.70

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

excellent 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 12 people found this review helpful.

It requires a deeply individual experience to understand 'Crowds and Power'. According to Canetti, The concept of crowd is ontologically prior to Man; a crowd is not just a bunch of people. In one of the most illuminating books ever written, Canetti takes one through two of the most important traits that have shaped Man's destiny on this planet - the formation of crowds and the facet of power. This is not a book about crowds. Its about Man. What emerges is no mere dry academic treatise, but an absolutely fascinating journey through topics such as the rain dances of the Pueblo Indians, the finger exercises of monkeys, and the hallucinations of alcoholics.

The kaliedoscopic journey for the reader includes a vast range of topics from Australian aborigines,pueblo indians, jivaro indians, etruscans to ants, monkeys, kangaroos to Islam, Christianity, Judaism. This is anthropology at its best. The study psychology of crowds in human history: crowd behaviour, crowd symbols, types of crowds, crowd mentalities; the individual vs the crowd, the crowd in contemporary history; there are anecdotes about everything from primitive tribal cultures, ancient African rulers, modern European history etc... For example, in describing the psychology of mass fear as it relates to its twin, the desire to out-survive others, he cites unexpected examples: burial customs in rural India in which a strenuous attempt is made to appease the spirit of the child if it dies a preventable death; the peculiar madness of Roman emperors; and the Viking warriors' tradition of piling up a mound of stones before going into battle.

Canetti defines crowd as a cumulation of small units into a large ensemble, causing it to become something entirely different from the units that make it up. He sees nature as the teacher that taught man to behave as a crowd, as a liquid. For example, for the Germans, it is the forest with its innumerable trees, standing vertically, that has inspired the German soul since time primordial in its aspiration to become a marching liquid. For the Arabs, it is the sand of the desert. For the Dutch, it is the threatening sea itself. For the Mongols, the horse.

Editorial Review:

Crowds and Power is a revolutionary work in which Elias Canetti finds a new way of looking at human history and psychology. Breathtaking in its range and erudition, it explores Shiite festivals and the English Civil war, the finger exercises of monkeys and the effects of inflation in Weimar Germany. In this study of the interplay of crowds, Canetti offers one of the most profound and startling portraits of the human condition.