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INSTITUTE
FOR THE STUDY
OF HUMAN
KNOWLEDGE
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| New ISHK series helps pre-teens gain confidence and self-awareness Physical changes, accelerated peer pressure, changes in expectations from teachers and parents — all these factors contribute to making the pre-teen years especially challenging and formative. Perhaps more than at any other time in life, an infusion of objective information about who we are, what makes us think and behave the way we do, can make a significant difference in how we meet life's challenges later on, as a teenager and as an adult. These are also the years when children are required to make a leap in their reading skills and habits. They are expected to become proficient at comprehending informational text, use higher-level thinking skills and develop life-long strategies for reading to learn. All About Me is a new series being developed for children ages 10-14 (grades 6-9). Under the editorial direction of Denise Nessel, Ph.D., Publications Director of the National Alliance for Effective Education, and with Robert Ornstein, Ph.D., as advising psychologist, the series will present the latest information from various branches of psychology in an engaging, relevant and practical way for children of this age group. Material selected by leading psychologists
will address such questions as:
• How does my mind work? How do we learn
and remember and how can we improve both functions? • How does my visual system work? When is what I “see” an illusion and how does this lead me to mistakes in judgment? • How do others affect me? How am I influenced and how do my attitudes develop and change? • Why do we sleep and dream? • What are the true components of my individuality; what makes me me? • How do I become confident? • Why is having good friends important? Why do I like certain people? Information kids
can use
First seven titles in the series: MY AMAZING BRAIN. A new edition of The Amazing Brain by Robert Ornstein, updated and rewritten for a younger audience ME AND MY FRIENDS. A look at how young people make friends, how they choose, value and are influenced by friends INFLUENCE. In a straightforward and entertaining way, this book will reveal the hidden tools and components of influence and offer practical ways to avoid getting “caught” by unwanted influences. STEREOTYPES. This book will present the definition and origin of stereotypes using examples familiar to this age group: e.g., all redheads have bad tempers; everyone who's good at sports is dumb in school; all rich kids are snobs. The book will explore how we are all victims of stereotyping, how stereotypes can be positive as well as negative, and how stereotyping affects the behavior of those who are stereotyped. Advising psychologist: Claude Steele, Stanford University. MY PERCEPTION. This book will show how we organize sensory information to provide a constant experience of the world. How is our world — what we see, hear, smell, taste — different from the world of animals? Using examples, puzzles, visual illusions and activities, the book will show how we look for patterns everywhere and find them, even when they are not there. The book will explore how we select information about color, taste and sound that is useful or relevant for our survival, and how what we perceive depends on our environment. How do people in different cultures perceive things differently, for example, how is our world different from the world of the Ituri Pygmy. MY MEMORY. Remembering and forgetting are strange and complex phenomena. Some things are impossible to forget, some memories too vague to be reliable. Our memories give meaning to our life, a sense of continuity between the past and the present. To live and function we must be able to remember who our friends are, where our home is, how to walk, how to speak English, even who we are. Psychologists are beginning to understand more about how memory works and how it fails to work, about things that are likely to improve our memory and things that are likely to degrade it. The exploration will help young readers begin to notice how their own and other people's memories work, understand why memory is powerful but not perfect, and develop strategies for improving it. MY FEELINGS. This book will explore the origin and evolution of feelings in our animal heritage and explain how they are a part of being truly human. Stories, illustrations and activities will enhance the text, making for an enjoyable reading experience. The main emotions will be explored and the “big picture” of emotional life sketched out to help readers make sense of their often confusing emotions. Cognitive and behavioral methods for getting a handle on the emotional self and the “monkey mind” will be described, along with an explanation of how those methods work. Empathy and the social aspect of emotional experience will be emphasized, along with the need to adopt a more conscious role in managing emotions. Future titles planned:
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