The Self and Perspective-Taking: Theory and Research from Contextual Behavioral Science and Applied Approaches

Description

Although the idea of "a sense of self" is widely used in psychology, the meaning of this phrase remains largely undefined. Self-recognition, self-esteem, and self-monitoring are important components of understanding one's self, but without ways of understanding and measuring the development of this sense of self, it's impossible for psychologists to conduct effective interventions and highly difficult for researchers to empirically investigate an individual's sense of self and other. In The Self and Perspective-Taking, Steven Hayes, Ruth Baer, and other leading researchers explain how humans develop a sense of self through language and perspective development or "perspective-taking". Perspective-taking refers to an individual's ability to imagine circumstances other than their own, think objectively, and remain flexible and nonjudgmental when faced with others' differences. The articles in this book explore behavioral, developmental, social, cognitive, and neurophysiological approaches to understanding the self and perspective-taking. Readers learn how to use relational frame theory (RFT) to grasp the development of self-understanding and discover how this knowledge can improve clinicians' ability to improve self-understanding in others, especially in those with autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

Louise McHugh, PhD, is a lecturer in the psychology department at Swansea University in Wales. Her research interests include acceptance and change therapies and the development and training of complex cognitive skills, including perspective taking. She lives in Swansea. Ian Stewart, PhD, is a faculty member in the department of psychology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. His research focuses on the analysis of language and cognition from a relational frame theory (RFT) perspective. His articles have been published in over forty international peer-reviewed journals and he is coauthor of The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy. Ian lives in Galway, Ireland.

"This book on recent advances in our understanding of the concept of the self exemplifies the saying that "there is nothing as practical as a good theory." The authors cover modern scientific findings and, more remarkably, manage to illustrate how these findings are relevant for psychological treatment. A must-read for anyone with an interest in the concept of the self, scientist and clinician alike!" --Niklas Toerneke MD, author of Learning RFT "In this authoritative volume, the world of self, identity, mindfulness, and emotional disturbances is infused with exciting new theories, methods, and results. The chapters illustrate how this mixture of science and application provides the potential for designing new therapies and improving the quality of people's lives." --Todd B. Kashdan, PhD, professor at George Mason University and author of Curious? and Designing Positive Psychology "Perhaps nothing is more important in psychology than the understanding of oneself as well as the ability to take the perspectives of others. This book offers a groundbreaking, cutting-edge, empirically-based contextual behavioral perspective on the self. For example, the authors show how perspective-taking is developed using basic science, going far beyond theory of mind and demonstrating how this knowledge can be directly applied to work with schoolchildren and in clinical settings. If you want a single book that includes both rigorous science and direct clinical applications on the self, look no further!" --JoAnne Dahl, PhD, associate professor in the department of psychology at the University of Uppsala, Sweden "This remarkable edited book offers a dense and tantalizing pragmatic analysis of the self and consciousness. It is one of the best contemporary evidence-based accounts of the nature of human consciousness that I have seen, period. A must-read for anyone curious about the human condition, especially readers interested in language and cognition, acceptance and mindfulness-based approaches, positive psychology, and newer third-generation behavior therapies." --John P. Forsyth, PhD, professor of psychology and director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program at the University at Albany, State University of New York