``I am a microsurgeon of the mind,'' announces the author, in this unusually engaging presentation of her theory about how psychotherapy alters the way the brain operates and thus how the mind works. Vaughan, a psychiatrist and NIMH research fellow at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, is a gifted explicator of scientific concepts. Here she draws on research in cognitive science, neurobiology, and developmental psychology to back up her theory about the effects of psychotherapy on the human brain. Vaughan proposes that a network of neurons in the cerebral cortex functions as a ``story synthesizer'' that shapes our approach to relationships in daily life, and that the connections between these neurons are rewired through intensive, psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy. Well-crafted descriptions of sessions with patients in her private practice provide the framework within which she develops her theory and describes the research that she believes substantiates it. Data about the neural pathways of sea slugs, anxiety in monkeys, and the neurobiology of infants alternate with passages revealing her thoughts about and interactions with her patients. Clear and precise when it needs to be, Vaughan's writing is informal without being chatty. She has the knack of seeming to converse directly with the reader, and she can turn a memorable phrase: ``For most people . . . medication changes how they feel, but psychotherapy is what changes what their lives are like.'' What she is doing here is fusing two positions in psychiatry—the biological approach, which explains mental disorders in terms of the brain and advocates medication to correct the disorder, and the psychological approach, which sees talk therapy as the answer. Whether her theory meets with the approval of her professional colleagues remains to be seen. Meanwhile, she has given the general reader a highly readable explanation of how one psychotherapist views her work. Especially interesting to those who have experienced psychotherapy or are considering it.
Pub Date: April 14, 1997
ISBN: 0-399-14229-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1997
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our...
A psychologist and Nobel Prize winner summarizes and synthesizes the recent decades of research on intuition and systematic thinking.
The author of several scholarly texts, Kahneman (Emeritus Psychology and Public Affairs/Princeton Univ.) now offers general readers not just the findings of psychological research but also a better understanding of how research questions arise and how scholars systematically frame and answer them. He begins with the distinction between System 1 and System 2 mental operations, the former referring to quick, automatic thought, the latter to more effortful, overt thinking. We rely heavily, writes, on System 1, resorting to the higher-energy System 2 only when we need or want to. Kahneman continually refers to System 2 as “lazy”: We don’t want to think rigorously about something. The author then explores the nuances of our two-system minds, showing how they perform in various situations. Psychological experiments have repeatedly revealed that our intuitions are generally wrong, that our assessments are based on biases and that our System 1 hates doubt and despises ambiguity. Kahneman largely avoids jargon; when he does use some (“heuristics,” for example), he argues that such terms really ought to join our everyday vocabulary. He reviews many fundamental concepts in psychology and statistics (regression to the mean, the narrative fallacy, the optimistic bias), showing how they relate to his overall concerns about how we think and why we make the decisions that we do. Some of the later chapters (dealing with risk-taking and statistics and probabilities) are denser than others (some readers may resent such demands on System 2!), but the passages that deal with the economic and political implications of the research are gripping.
Striking research showing the immense complexity of ordinary thought and revealing the identities of the gatekeepers in our minds.Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-27563-1
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Sept. 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
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These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.
A helpful guide to working effectively with people from other cultures.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of managers who conduct business internationally have little understanding about how culture is impacting their work,” writes Meyer, a professor at INSEAD, an international business school. Yet they face a wider array of work styles than ever before in dealing with clients, suppliers and colleagues from around the world. When is it best to speak or stay quiet? What is the role of the leader in the room? When working with foreign business people, failing to take cultural differences into account can lead to frustration, misunderstanding or worse. Based on research and her experiences teaching cross-cultural behaviors to executive students, the author examines a handful of key areas. Among others, they include communicating (Anglo-Saxons are explicit; Asians communicate implicitly, requiring listeners to read between the lines), developing a sense of trust (Brazilians do it over long lunches), and decision-making (Germans rely on consensus, Americans on one decider). In each area, the author provides a “culture map scale” that positions behaviors in more than 20 countries along a continuum, allowing readers to anticipate the preferences of individuals from a particular country: Do they like direct or indirect negative feedback? Are they rigid or flexible regarding deadlines? Do they favor verbal or written commitments? And so on. Meyer discusses managers who have faced perplexing situations, such as knowledgeable team members who fail to speak up in meetings or Indians who offer a puzzling half-shake, half-nod of the head. Cultural differences—not personality quirks—are the motivating factors behind many behavioral styles. Depending on our cultures, we understand the world in a particular way, find certain arguments persuasive or lacking merit, and consider some ways of making decisions or measuring time natural and others quite strange.
These are not hard and fast rules, but Meyer delivers important reading for those engaged in international business.Pub Date: May 27, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61039-250-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2014
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