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Standing in the Spaces: Essays on Clinical Process, Trauma, and Dissociation
Philip M. Bromberg Manufacturer: The Analytic Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0881633569 |
Book Description
Customer Reviews:
Luminous and richly rewarding........2001-11-18
A treasure of clinical insight.......2001-11-07
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The Void: Inner Spaciousness and Ego Structure
A. H. Almaas Manufacturer: Shambhala ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0936713062 Release Date: 2000-09-05 |
Book Description
In this book Almaas brings together concepts and experiences drawn from contemporary object relations theory, Freudian-based ego psychology, case studies from his own spiritual practice, and teaching from the highest levels of Buddhist and other Eastern practices. He challenges us to look not only at the personality and the content of the mind, but also at the underlying nature of the mind itself.Customer Reviews:
Outdated presentation...........2007-08-19
For the seeker who is ready to get on with it........2005-09-14
Getting Specific.......2004-11-21
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Conceptual Spaces: The Geometry of Thought (Bradford Books)
Peter Gärdenfors Manufacturer: The MIT Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0262572192 |
Book Description
Within cognitive science, two approaches currently dominate the problem of modeling representations. The symbolic approach views cognition as computation involving symbolic manipulation. Connectionism, a special case of associationism, models associations using artificial neuron networks. Peter Gardenfors offers his theory of conceptual representations as a bridge between the symbolic and connectionist approaches.Customer Reviews:
Excellent and Enlightening.......2004-07-29
A little disappointing.......2004-07-10
This book gives an interesting approach to the problem of concept classification, but it does so only from a qualitative point of view. It is a good start in this regard, and readers will gain a lot of insight into the problems that it addresses. It does not however give any advice on how to implement its ideas into a real thinking machine. Mathematical concepts are brought in order to talk more meaningfully about spaces of concepts, but they are really restricted to metric spaces and not general enough to deal with the plethora of concepts that could present themselves in typical environments. The book should be considered more as a work in philosophy, so those interested in this field might enjoy the book more than those who were expecting a book more geared towards artificial intelligence and computer science. Those readers interested in automated theorem proving or automated mathematical discovery might find the discussion on geometric categorization models of interest, and will find an interesting application of Voronoi tessellations, namely that of accounting for the varying sizes of concepts in a categorization.
By far the most interesting chapter in the book is chapter 6, wherein the author gives a highly original discussion of inductive inference. The ability of human cognition to generalize from a limited number of observations is viewed (correctly) by the author as very impressive, but he is careful to note that inductive inference cannot be done free of side constraints. Quoting the philosopher J.S. Peirce and his evolutionary explanation of why induction is so effective, the author uses his theory of conceptual spaces to develop a theory of constraints for inductive inferences. The main notion in this theory is that of "projectability", which attempts to delineate the properties and concepts that are may be used in inductive inference. The author wants to arrive at a computational model of induction, and he offers interesting proposals for doing so, even if they lack immediate empirical justification.
Central to the problem of induction the author argues is how observations are to be represented. This has been neglected in the history of philosophy he says, and so he then proceeds to outline his ideas on how to represent observations, distinguishing three levels, namely the `symbolic', the `conceptual', and the `subconceptual.' At the symbolic level, observations are represented by describing them in a specified language. At the conceptual level, observations are characterized relative to a conceptual space. At this level induction is viewed as concept formation. At the subconceptual level observations are characterized by inputs from sensory receptors. Induction is then viewed as the attaining of connections between various inputs. The author views the processing taking place in artificial neural networks as an example of modeling at the subconceptual level.
The problem of induction is more complicated than is typically presented in the literature, the author argues. Inductive inference will look different depending on which approach to observations is taken. In his elaborations on the processes of induction, one of the key issues that arises is the how discovery takes place across different domains. The process of conceptualizing across different domains takes place, as expected, at the subconceptual and conceptual levels. The symbolic level is delegated to formulating laws.
An eye opener.......2003-08-12
Drawbacks of the book? The lack of conceptualization when it comes to dynamic concepts (treated very superficially). Also, the theory is deficient when modeling the functional aspects of concepts (a "sin" already recognized by the author).
But considering the pioneering character of this piece of art, these drawbacks are just compelling invitations for further research in the field.
A new model of thought.......2003-03-02
Gardenfors puts forward a a model to explain cognition that he calls "conceptual spaces." These conceptual spaces are at a level of abstraction in between the symbolic (used by AI types) and connectionist (Neural Nets). But what makes his conceptual spaces interesting and plausible is the position he takes that in this conceptual space, most reasoning is done by evaluating the analog of a distance between two aspects of a perception. Or, we find things to be similar if they are "geometrically" (measurably) closer on some limited number of dimensional scales.
This is easy to follow for things like colors, but he doesn't stop there. He goes on to describe how this explains a wide variety of perceptions, as well as how we form and reform categories and concepts, and shows how this informs semantics and the process of induction.
My only criticism is that some of the illustratios would have been more powerful in color.
Excellent! Conceptual Spaces make sense to me........2001-12-03
Your choice of qualitative measures deeply affects how you understand the world. 'Spose reality is an infinitely dimensional, then we have lots of choices for axes. We simplify and correlate by using all that coordinate transformation and axis projection stuff from 3D graphics! Heck Gardenfors even uses Delauney Triangulation (or polyhedralization).
Criterion P, page 71
A natural property is a convex region of a domain in a conceptual space.
Criterion C, page 105
A natural concept is represented as a set of regions in a number of domains together with an assignments of salience weights to the domains and information about how the regions in the different domains are correlated.
Concept Combination, page 122
The combination CD of two concepts C and D is determined by letting the regions for the domains of C, confined by D replace the values of the corresponding regions for D. (contrast class p. 119), for example the "stone lions" outside the NYC library.
Six Tenets of Cognitive Semantics, page 160
i) Meaning is a conceptual structure in a cognitive system (not truth conditions in possible worlds)
ii) Conceptual Structure are embodied (meaning is not independent of perception or of bodily experience).
iii) Semantic elements are constructed from geometrical or topological structures (not symbols that can be composed according to some system of rules).
iv) Cognitive models are primarily image-schematic (not propositional). Image-schemas are transformed by metaphoric and metonymic operations (which are treated as exceptional features on the traditional views).
v) Semantics is primary to syntax and partly determines it (syntax cannot be described independently of semantics).
vi) Concepts show prototype effects (instead of showing the Aristotelian paradigm based on necessary and sufficient conditions).
Process of Abstraction, page 191 - Start with a collection of things. Identify and quantify individual objects. The determine the clusters. Step three: abstract the clusters into dimensions. Simple!
I especially liked the notion that a metaphor is taking the spatial relationship of a cluster of concepts in one domain and using them in a new domain to help understand the new domain.
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Attention, Space and Action: Studies in Cognitive Neuroscience
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 0198524684 |
Book Description
To generate coherent behaviour, the brain needs to attend selectively to the many objects that are present in the environment, but this poses several questions. How does the brain know which objects 'belong together'? How does the information from different senses get combined? How does this help to plan and carry out actions? The subject of attentional mechanisms has a long history in cognitive psychology, as it is the key to making sense of the visual world. However, new developments in cognitive neuroscience, and greater understanding of how attention and action are integrated, have transformed the field. This book is the first to bring together leading researchers to discuss the convergence of experimental findings in the following areas: Visual selective attention Attention and perceptual integration Spatial representation and attention Visual attention and action Control of attention Attention, Space, and Action provides a unique combination of perspectives that will appeal to students and researchers from psychology, neuropsychology, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy.
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Center of the Cyclone: Looking into Inner Space
John C. Lilly Manufacturer: Ronin Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1579510388 |
Book Description
Customer Reviews:
Altered States Of Being.......2007-08-03
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Crossmodal Space and Crossmodal Attention
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0198524862 |
Book Description
Many organisms possess multiple sensory systems, such as vision, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. The possession of such multiple ways of sensing the world offers many benefits. These benefits arise not only because each modality can sense different aspects of the environment, but also because different senses can respond jointly to the same external object or event, thus enriching the overall experience - for example, looking at an individual while listening to them speak. However, combining information from different senses also poses many challenges for the nervous system. In recent years there has been dramatic progress in understanding how information from different sensory modalities gets integrated in order to construct useful representations of external space; and in how such multimodal representations constrain spatial attention. Such progress has involved numerous different disciplines, including neurophysiology, experimental psychology, neurological work with brain-damaged patients, neuroimaging studies, and computational modelling. This volume brings together the leading researchers from all these approaches, to present the first integrative overview of this central topic in cognitive neuroscience.
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Universals of Psychoanalysis in the Treatment of Psychotic and Borderline States: Factors of Space-Time and Language
Henri Rey Manufacturer: Free Association Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback ASIN: 1853433705 |
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The Space Between Us: Exploring the Dimensions of Human Relationships
Ruthellen Josselson Manufacturer: Sage Publications, Inc ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0761901264 Release Date: 1995-08-16 |
Book Description
"The best book on interpersonal relationships to appear in many years. Deeply insightful. Written with lucidity and grace." --Irvin D. Yalom, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, Stanford University School of Medicine "Rather than merely giving advice on how to improve a marriage or other romantic attachment, psychologist Ruthellen Josselson explores eight types of relationships, from the deeply intimate to the very casual. Although some people may be most adept at one type of interaction, all such relationships are important to our growth as caring human beings, she states. Each chapter closes with a short life history of a person interviewed by the author, with particular attention paid to how the type of relationship discussed shaped that person. Visual diagrams chart these men's and women's relationships throughout their lives. Additional chapters cover how the sexes differ in the way they relate to others and the various forms that love can take. Deep and insightful, this should prove important to professional therapists as well as to those seeking a better understanding of human nature." --Publishers Weekly "Ruthellen Josselson has written this informative and engaging book to examine the 'web of connections to others' within which people 'create their lives.' . . . Josselson writes well, using many visual and spatial images. At times her writing is poetic. . . . The Space Between Us is accessible and easy to follow, in part because of Josselson's effective use of illustrative material. The book provides a good introduction to relational concepts for students or a general audience. More sophisticated readers can use it as a review and will appreciate Josselson's synthesis, new ideas, and illustrations. . . . This book is a valuable contribution to the development of a theory of relatedness that can take its place alongside a theory of autonomy. As such, the book resonates with and offers a corrective to recent critiques of individualism in American culture and in the psychotherapeutic enterprise. Clinical social workers, with their longstanding interest in person-environment transactions, will find this a particularly desirable corrective. . . . Josselson's explication of the many dimensions of 'the space between us' enriches us all." --Carol R. Swenson in Families in Society "In spite of the academic orientation of the book, it is written with great simplicity and personal voice. Understanding why we need meaningful relationships and how we can develop and nurture these relationships is an extremely important issue that teachers can share with today's students." --Emogene Fox, review in FLEducator Adult relationships define us, yet they evade realistic definition. The Space Between Us goes beyond the usual study of problem relationships to present a positive view of the human connections that form our social existence. Integrating psychological theories with rich experience, Ruthellen Josselson examines the nature and types of these relationships and develops eight dimensions of relatedness ranging from the very casual to the deeply intimate. Personal interviews animate and visual diagrams chart specific types of relationships throughout the life span. Additional chapters contemplate how the sexes differ in communication styles and the various forms that love can take. Written with great simplicity and in an engaging style, yet grounded in theory and method, this volume will appeal to a broad readership, including academics in social psychology and relationship studies, counseling and mental health professionals, and anyone interested in understanding relationships in life-span and cultural perspective.Customer Reviews:
A once yearly read.......2007-09-13
Great Book.......2007-05-12
An under-recognized gem!.......2006-02-20
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The Cambridge Handbook of Visuospatial Thinking
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0521001730 |
Book Description
Visuospatial thinking encompasses a wide range of thinking processes concerning space, whether it be navigating across town, understanding multimedia displays, reading an architectural blueprint or a map. Understanding it and in particular, how people represent and process visual and spatial information, is relevant not only to cognitive psychology but also education, geography, architecture, medicine, design, computer science/artificial intelligence, semiotics and animal cognition. This book presents a broad overview of research that can be applied to basic theoretical and applied/naturalistic contexts.
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Transitional Objects and Potential Spaces: Literary Uses of D. W. Winnicott (Psychoanalysis and Culture)
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0231075731 |
Customer Reviews:
A "Good-Enough" Psychoanalytic Account of Aesthetics.......2001-07-07
Rudnytsky's Introduction begins by noting that Winnicott has been largely overlooked by literary scholars -- a neglect which is "all the more surprising since Independent object relations theory can claim to offer the first satisfactory psychoanalytic account of aesthetics." (p. xii) He then proceeds to provide a definition of that "aesthetics" utilizing three of Winnicott's best-known concepts: transitional objects, potential spaces, and the use of an object. Since the editor goes on to describe the particular contributions of each of the essays which follow (not all of which are as readily accessible as Winnicott's own writing), a careful reading of this Introduction will be amply rewarded.
The first section, "The Analytic Frame", begins with Winnicott's own reflections on "The Location of Cultural Experience" (from PLAYING & REALITY) and includes a particularly useful (to my areas of interest) essay by Christopher Bollas on "The Aesthetic Moment and the Search for Transformation." Part II, "Literary Objects", focuses on six interpretations of particular authors or works, and Part III concludes with four essays applying Winnicott to various "Cultural Fields" (including Brooke Hopkins' "Jesus and Object-Use"). At least two of the essays (by John Turner and Claire Kahane) critique Winnicott's theory for lack of attention to the social, economic, and political relations which shape subjectivity and perpetuate injustice, or the ways in which culture's prevailing symbolic network of representations are constructed according to the norms of a masculine subject. These more critical voices contribute to a well-balanced collection. Whether you've read a lot of Winnicott, or have only begun to study his theories, this book is well worth having and reading.
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