The Catalyzing Mind: Beyond Models of Causality (Annals of Theoretical Psychology Book 11)

How do we understand and explain phenomena in psychology? What does the concept of 'causality' mean when we discuss higher psychological functions and behavior? Is it possible to generate laws in a psychological and behavioral science?laws that go beyond statistical regularities, frequencies, and probabilities? An international group of authors compare and contrast the use of a causal model in psychology with a newer model the catalytic model. The Catalyzing Mind: Beyond Models of Causality proposes an approach to the qualitative nature of psychological phenomena that focuses on the psychological significance and meaning of conditions, contexts, and situations as well as their sign-mediating processes. Contributors develop, apply, and criticize the notion of a catalyzing mind in hopes of achieving conceptual clarity and rigor. Disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, semiotics and biosemiotics are used for an interdisciplinary approach to the book. Research topics such as history and national identity, immigration, and transitions to adulthood are all brought into a dialogue with the concept of the catalyzing mind. With a variety of disciplines, theoretical concepts, and research topics this book is a collective effort at an approach to move beyond models of causality for explaining and understanding psychological phenomena. Read more... Abstract: The Catalyzing Mind Read more... Front Matter....Pages i-xix Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Systematic Systemics: Causality, Catalysis, and Developmental Cybernetics....Pages 3-13 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Breaking the Arrows of Causality: The Idea of Catalysis in its Making....Pages 17-32 Cause and Catalyst: A Differentiation....Pages 33-70 Catalysis, Functional Explanations and Functionalism in Psychology....Pages 71-92 Front Matter....Pages 93-93 Semiotic Scaffolding: A Biosemiotic Link Between Sema and Soma....Pages 95-110 Catalysis and Scaffolding in Semiosis....Pages 111-121 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 A Systemic Approach to Cultural Diffusion and Reconstruction....Pages 125-147 Catalysis and Morphogenesis: The Contextual Semiotic Configuration of Form, Function, and Fields of Experience....Pages 149-163 Front Matter....Pages 165-165 Exploring the Role of Catalyzing Agents in the Transition to Adulthood: A Longitudinal Case Study with Brazilian Youth....Pages 167-189 Catalysts and Regulators of Psychological Change in the Context of Immigration Ruptures....Pages 191-207 Front Matter....Pages 209-209 Fostering National Identity, Hindering Historical Understanding....Pages 211-221 Beyond the Self and the Environment: The Psychological Horizon....Pages 223-237 Man’s Search for Extra-Ordinary Answers in Life: Silence as a Catalyst for Crisis-Solving....Pages 239-250 Semiotic Catalysts’ Activators: An Early Semiotic Mediation in the Construction of Personal Syntheses....Pages 251-268 Front Matter....Pages 269-269 A Structural Systemic Theory of Causality and Catalysis....Pages 271-292 Back Matter....Pages 293-303 How do we understand and explain phenomena in psychology? What does the concept of "causality" mean when we discuss higher psychological functions and behavior? Is it possible to generate "laws" in a psychological and behavioral science-laws that go beyond statistical regularities, frequencies, and probabilities? An international group of authors compare and contrast the use of a causal model in psychology with a newer model-the catalytic model. The Catalyzing Mind: Beyond Models of Causality proposes an approach to the qualitative nature of psychological phenomena that focuses on the psychological significance and meaning of conditions, contexts, and situations as well as their sign-mediating processes. Contributors develop, apply, and criticize the notion of a catalyzing mind in hopes of achieving conceptual clarity and rigor. Disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, semiotics and biosemiotics are used for an interdisciplinary approach to the book. Research topics such as history and national identity, immigration, and transitions to adulthood are all brought into a dialogue with the concept of the catalyzing mind. With a variety of disciplines, theoretical concepts, and research topics this book is a collective effort at an approach to move beyond models of causality for explaining and understanding psychological phenomena. (4e de couv.) "How do we understand and explain phenomena in psychology? What does the concept of "causality" mean when we discuss higher psychological functions and behavior? Is it possible to generate "laws" in a psychological and behavioral science--laws that go beyond statistical regularities, frequencies, and probabilities? An international group of authors compare and contrast the use of a causal model in psychology with a newer model--the catalytic model."--Page 4 of cover