• Edited by Denise C. Park, Norbert Schwarz

Published November 30 2008 by Psychology Press.

• Edited by Ram Frost, Jonathan Grainger, Manuel Carreiras

Ten years ago, a group of researchers investigating the processing of morphological information met in the south of France to discuss how morphology affects word recognition, perception and production from a cross-linguistic perspective. This special issue is the fourth volume to expose the results of this on-going research effort.

The volume begins with a comprehensive review of the nature of morphological priming, followed by a series of experimental papers that examine morphological processing in a variety of languages such as English, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Chinese, and Spanish. The parallel monitoring of morphological processing in reading, speech perception and production, using a wide array of experimental methods such as masked priming, long-term priming, the monitoring of eye movements, and the recording of electrophysiological activity, provides converging evidence regarding the nature of morphemic representations in the various languages.

The cross-linguistic perspective that characterizes the research effort of the present volume, as well as the previous ones, is used to investigate whether there are qualitative differences in the principles of lexical organization and lexical processing in different alphabetic orthographies that arise from qualitative differences in morphological structure.

Published November 30 2008 by Psychology Press.

• Edited by Christian Keysers, Luciano Fadiga

Mirror neurons are premotor neurons, originally discovered in the macaque brain , that discharge both during execution of goal-directed actions and during the observation of similar actions executed by another individual. They therefore ‘mirror’ others’ actions on the observer's motor repertoire. In the last decade an impressive amount of work has been devoted to the study of their properties and to investigate if they are present also in our species. Neuroimaging and electrophysiological techniques have shown that a mirror-neuron system does exist in the human brain as well. Among ‘mirror’ human areas, Broca’s area (the frontal area for speech production) is almost constantly activated by action observation. This suggests a possible evolutionary link between action understanding and verbal communication. In the most recent years, mirror-like phenomena have been demonstrated also for domains others than the pure motor one. Examples of that are the somatosensory and the emotional systems, possibly providing a neurophysiological basis to phenomena such as embodiment and empathy. This special issue collects some of the most representative works on the mirror-neuron system to give a panoramic view on current research and to stimulate new experiments in this exciting field.

Published November 30 2008 by Psychology Press.

Merit-based tests and contests have become popular methods for allocating rewards – from trophies to contracts, jobs to grants, admissions to licenses. With origins in jurisprudence, methods of rewarding merit seem fairer than those rewarding political or social connections, bribery, aggression, status, or wealth. Because of this, merit-based competitions are well-suited to the societal belief that people should be rewarded for what they know or do, and not for who they know or are; however, judging merit is rarely an easy task – it is prone to a variety of biases and errors. Small biases and errors, especially in large competitions, can make large differences in who or what is rewarded. It is important, then, to learn how to spot flaws in procedures for judging merit and to correct them when possible.

Based on over 20 years of theory and research in human judgment, decision making and social psychology, this unique book brings together for the first time what is known about the processes and problems of judging merit and their consequences. It also provides practical suggestions for increasing the fairness of merit-based competitions, and examines the future and limits of these competitions in society.

Published November 24 2008 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Edited by Wolfgang Schneider, Merry Bullock

Data generated from longitudinal studies paint a rich and varied picture of development and allow researchers to understand more deeply how context and experience interact with stable characteristics of the developing person over time. This book represents an overview, description, and summary of a landmark longitudinal study of approximately 200 children, from the ages 3 to 23. The Munich Longitudinal study on the Ontogenesis of Individual Competencies (LOGIC) traced developmental pathways in cognitive, social, and motor domains from preschool to young adulthood in a sample of children who grew up during the 1980s and 1990s in and around Munich, Germany. This valuable study has generated a tremendous amount of data that have been reported in more than 150 empirical articles. This book is the second volume to provide a comprehensive look at the developmental issues in these domains examined in the study. The first volume traced development from ages 3 to 12. This volume continues the story, integrating these early findings with results from the next two developmental phases – adolescence (measurements at ages 13 and 18) and young adulthood (measurements at age 23).

Each of the chapters provides a summary of the literature and answers the questions was development stable and was it possible to predict later variables from earlier ones. The topics covered include core variables reflecting basic cognitive and motor skills (intelligence, memory, motor skills), social-cognitive competencies (moral thinking, personality, self-concept), and school-related competencies (scientific reasoning, spelling, mathematics). Each author summarizes developmental trends within their specific domain, and addresses issues of individual development – its stability over time, and the extent to which earlier performance predicts later competencies. The size of the LOGIC sample allows comparison of subgroups and subgroup analyses, defined by early personality characteristics or educational track or adult socio-cognitive variables.

This book will appeal to advanced students and researchers in developmental, educational, personality, and cognitive psychology as well as researchers in education since several chapters focus on topics relevant for these scholars (i.e., literacy development, educational context, mathematical reasoning).

Published November 24 2008 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Aimed at those new to the subject, Fundamentals of Psychology is a clear and reader-friendly textbook that will help students explore and understand the essentials of psychology. This text offers a balanced and accurate representation of the discipline through a highly accessible synoptic approach, which seamlessly brings together all the various related topics. In particular, it gives sufficient emphasis to the place of cognitive psychology in the field and also includes substantial coverage of current research.

Fundamentals of Psychology combines an authoritative tone, a huge range of psychological material and an informal, analogy-rich style. The text expertly blends admirably up-to-date empirical research and real-life examples and applications, and is both readable and factually dense. The book introduces all the main approaches to psychology, including social, developmental, cognitive, biological, individual differences, and abnormal psychology, as well as psychological research methods. However, it also includes directions for more detailed and advanced study for the interested student.

Fundamentals of Psychology incorporates many helpful textbook features which will aid students and reinforce learning, such as:

• Key-term definitions
• Extremely clear end-of-chapter summaries
• Annotated further reading sections
• Evaluations of significant research findings
• Numerous illustrations presented in attractive full color.

This textbook is also accompanied by a comprehensive program of resources for both students and instructors, which is available free to qualifying adopters. The resources include a web-based Student Learning Program, as well as chapter-by-chapter lecture slides and an interactive chapter-by-chapter multiple-choice question test bank.

Combining exceptional content, abundant pedagogical features, and a lively full-color design, Fundamentals of Psychology is an essential resource for anyone new to the subject and more particularly those beginning undergraduate courses. The book will also be ideal for students studying psychology within education, nursing and other healthcare professions.

Published November 24 2008 by Psychology Press.

• Edited by Olivier Luminet, Antonietta Curci

We all have memories of highly emotional personal and public events that may have happened some years ago but which are felt as strongly as if they happened yesterday. We remember where they happened, the people who were with us, and seemingly irrelevant details such as the weather, particular sounds or specific clothes. Why do we remember these things? Is it because such events are so deeply emotional or so unexpected or because people talk about them so many times? Why are these "flashbulb memories" so vivid and lasting?

Flashbulb Memories: New Issues and New Perspectives explores these questions in the first book on flashbulb memories (FBMs) for more than a decade. It considers the many developments over the last 10 years, including new models of FBM formation, advances in statistical methods and neuroscience, and two key public events, the death of Princess Diana and the September 11th attacks in the US, which can help test FBM. The book examines the status of FBMs as "special" or "ordinary" memory formations, and the expert contributors represent a balance between those that favour each approach. It also investigates controversial topics of research such as:

• Are emotional, cognitive, or social factors highly relevant for the formation of FBMs?
• How can sociological, historical, and cultural issues help us to understand the process of FBMs?
• What are the differences between FBMs, memories for traumatic experiences, and highly vivid personal memories?
• How can we provide a valid and reliable measure for FBMs?

This book gathers together specialists in the field in order to make significant progress in this area of research which has remained divisive for the past 30 years. It will provide essential reading for researchers in FBM and also be of interest to those in related areas such as social psychology, cognitive psychology, cross-cultural psychology, sociology, political sciences and history as well as clinicians dealing with those who have strong FBMs after personal traumatic events.

Published November 19 2008 by Psychology Press.

Clinical neuropsychologists frequently evaluate individuals within a forensic context, and therefore must address questions regarding the possible presence of reduced effort, response bias and/or malingering. This volume offers a wide range of instructive real-world case examples involving the complex differential diagnosis where symptom exaggeration and/or malingering cloud the picture.

Written by expert forensic neuropsychologists, the scenarios described provide informed, empirically-based and scientifically-derived opinions on the topic. Issues related to malingering, such as response bias and insufficient effort, are discussed thoroughly with regard to a large number of clinical conditions and assessment instruments. Test data and non-test information are considered and integrated by the numerous experts.

Expert guidance for clinicians who must address the issue of malingering is provided in a straightforward and well-organized format. To date, there has not been a comparable collection of rich case material relevant to forensic practice in clinical neuropsychology.

Published November 03 2008 by Psychology Press.

• Edited by Louise S. Röska-Hardy, Eva M. Neumann-Held

Human language, cognition, and culture are unique; they are unparalleled in the animal kingdom. The claim that we can learn what makes us human by studying other animal species provokes vigorous reactions and many deny that comparative research can shed any light on the origins and character of human distinctive capacities. However, Learning from Animals? presents empirical research and an analysis of comparative approaches for an understanding of human uniqueness, arguing that we cannot know what capacities are uniquely human until we learn what other species can do.

This interdisciplinary volume explores the prospects and problems of comparative approaches for understanding modern humans’ abilities by presenting: (1) the latest findings and theoretical approaches in primatology, comparative psychology, linguistics, and philosophy; (2) methodological reflections on the prospects and challenges of understanding human capacities through comparative research strategies; and (3) discussions of conceptual and ethical issues.

This is the first book to address the issues raised by comparative research from such a diverse perspective. It will therefore be of great interest to students, researchers, and professionals in comparative psychology, linguistics, primatology, biology, and philosophy.

Published October 17 2008 by Psychology Press.

• Edited by John Colombo, Peggy McCardle, Lisa Freund

The behavioral and brain sciences are faced with important new challenges at the beginning of the new millennium. The enormous progress in cognitive neuroscience, and the importance of genetic factors and gene-environment interactions in shaping behavioral functions in early childhood, have both underscored the primacy of early experience and development on brain development and function.

The contributors to this volume discuss different paradigms and approaches in infant language and cognition, pushing the frontiers of research by innovatively combining methods, introducing new measures, and demonstrating the use of technologies and measurement approaches that can inform the study of word learning and categorization, gaze, attention, gesture, and physiological functions. The volume offers a blend of theories and empirical evidence to support, refute, or modify them. Most chapters examine the link between theory and methodology, and their appearance together in a single volume serves to inform and engage multiple disciplines, to engage everyone to think across disciplines and paradigms, to embrace the integration of creativity and science as the field continues to study in greater depth and with innovative measures and approaches, the infant pathways to language

This volume is derived from presentations and discussions from a workshop, sponsored jointly by the Merrill Advanced Studies Center, University of Kansas, and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, Maryland.

Published October 15 2008 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.