Catalog All books

Ann Premack, David Premack
The Baby, the Ape and Man
The issue of the differences and similarities between humans and their cousins the chimpanzees governs the definition of human identity. How can this difference be explained? By studying the learning process of chimpanzees and comparing it to that of children, Ann and David Premack were gradually able to discover a series of differences, none of which were radical but when put together showed a yawning gap between the two species. The results they obtained enabled them to reconstruct little by little the sum of the differences that make up human identity. Ann and David Premack are specialists in the study of primates.

Pierluigi Graziani, Daniela Eraldi-Gackiere
How to Stop Abusing Alcohol
Not only does alcohol abuse have serious consequences for physical and psychic health, it is also destructive of personal and social relationships. But putting an end to this form of drug abuse is particularly complex, because alcohol creates a dependence that is both physical and psychological, and because it is, in many cultures, closely linked to sociability. In trying to help alcohol abusers who wish to stop drinking, one is often confronted with resistance and denial. The authors, specialists in cognitive and behavioural therapies, describe methods that have been successfully used for many years in the treatment of alcohol abuse in a hospital setting. Pierluigi Graziani is a psychologist and lecturer on clinical psychology and psychopathologies at the University of Aix-Marseille-Ain, in Aix-en-Provence. Daniela Eraldi-Gackière is a psychologist.

Roger-Pol Droit
Recent News of Ordinary Objects
"Can you learn anything from ordinary objects the things you use in your daily life? The answer is: yes, more than you can imagine. During the course of one year, I assigned myself a sort of adventure: I kept a diary of my encounter with objects, and I suggest you do the same. Briefly, my goal was to try to find the words that are hidden inside objects, to discover the questions that lie at the heart of things. My journey took place in four stages: surprise, groping, panicking, feeling soothed. This experience, touched with humour and a hint of folly, also follows the itinerary of an unexpected spiritual journey," Roger-Pol Droit is a research fellow at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Arielle Adda, Hélène Catroux
The Gifted Child Reconciling Intelligence
Exceptionally gifted, gifted and intellectually precocious children make up as much as 5 % of any given age group. Yet they often seek failure, both at school and in their personal lives, because they suffer from being different from other children. This book is addressed to the parents and teachers of gifted children. Besides reviewing the current state of knowledge on the subject, it explains how such children can be taught to manage their potential and to overcome their excessive sensitivity and weaknesses. Arielle Adda is a psychologist. Hélène Catroux is an educational psychologist.

David Khayat
The Paths of Hope
The progress made in cancer research and the advances in therapeutics have become such that they open before us, without any doubt, marvellous paths towards hope. It is these paths that I suggest we discover together. David Khayat David Khayat is a professor at the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University and the head of the cancer team at the La Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital.

Marie-Frédérique Bacqué
Coping with Death
Marie-Frédérique Bacqué, a psychologist, is a lecturer at the University of Lille and the vice president of the Society of Thanatology.

Mouzayan Osseiran-Houbballah
The Child Soldier
The existence of thousands of child-soldiers is one of the scandals of our time. UNICEF has estimated their number in the world today at 300,000 a figure that has grown in recent years due to the increase in the number of civil wars. What happens to them when the fighting ceases? Why are they no longer visible in Beirut, or elsewhere? Why do so many of them end up in drug-detoxification centres? What does the future hold for these children who know nothing besides how to handle weapons? Mouzayan Osseiran-Houbballah is a psychologist.

Nicole Delattre, Daniel Widlöcher
Reviewing Psychoanalysis
The task that the authors, Nicole Delattre et Daniel Widlöcher, have set themselves in this book is to take stock of what is useful and reliable in psychoanalysis today. Daniel Widlöcher sets out his view of this unique discipline, and the great concepts that it brings together, in addition to observing its pioneers and different spheres. In particular, he outlines his vision of the future of psychoanalysis, which is presently enjoying a revival. A professor at the University Pierre et Marie Curie, Daniel Widlöcher has for many years headed the psychiatry department at the Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris. He is the president of the International Association of Psychoanalysis and is notably the author of Métapsychologie du sens, of Logiques de la dépression and of Nouvelles Cartes de la psychanalyse. Nicole Delattre is a professor of philosophy