Graham Davey

Excessive and distressing worrying is a problem that affects everyone at some point in their lives, but for some people this can become a lifelong affliction. Catastrophic worry can turn even imagined setbacks into a cascade of devastating events, leading to loss of sleep, lower self-confidence, poor decision making, and even health problems. In this guide, leading worry expert Graham Davey explains why we worry, and offers readers a clear path to stopping catastrophic worry so they can regain control and live a happier life.

Do you turn all your molehills into insurmountable mountains? This accessible and engaging book will guide you along the path to stop catastrophizing so that you can reclaim control, achieve your goals, and live a happier life.Is your worrying keeping you up all night, eroding your self-confidence, paralyzing your ability to make decisions, and harming your physical health? Excessive worrying is a problem that affects everyone at some point in their lives, but for some people it can become a lifelong affliction. Catastrophic worry can turn even imagined setbacks into a cascade of devastating events, impacting your sleep, self-confidence, decision making, problem solving, ability to cope, and overall health. So, how can you put an end to this worst-case habit?In this guide, leading worry expert Graham Davey explains the science of why we worry, and offers a clear path to stopping catastrophic worry so you can regain control and live a happier life. Focusing first on the psychological processes that contribute to catastrophizing, you’ll gain a solid, research-based understanding of where your worry comes from, with insight into how it can snowball. You’ll also learn how to assess your own level of catastrophic worrying, and find exercises that directly address those processes to help you establish healthy habits, manage your mood and anxiety, and make decisions with confidence.With these easy-to-follow tips and exercises for letting go of anxiety, lifting your mood, and managing your catastrophizing, you’ll learn how to live with uncertainty and embrace a life free of unnecessary worry.

Originally published in 1989, this title presents a view of adaptive behaviour which integrates both evolutionary and psychological perspectives on learning. The study of learning, and in particular conditioning, had evolved in isolation from the rest of the biological sciences, and until the late 1980s had largely ignored the fact that learning processes are adaptive functions subject to the pressures of evolutionary selection. This text is designed to give a thorough insight into contemporary views of learning mechanisms, at the same time incorporating an evolutionary perspective on the function and performance of learning. Graham Davey gives a detailed introduction to evolutionary approaches to behaviour and basic learning phenomena such as Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. He also provides a comparative introduction to both learning and performance aspects of conditioning. He covers ecological approaches to adaptive behaviour (e.g. foraging theory), specialized learning processes such as concept formation, spatial learning, and language learning.Innovative in its integration of ecological and evolutionary approaches with more traditional associative views of learning, the book introduces the reader to learning in a very wide variety of species other than the traditional laboratory rat and pigeon. It will be valuable to anyone with a general interest in animal behaviour, and also to those with a specific interest in learning, adaptive behaviour, and evolutionary approaches to behaviour.

Highly commended at the British Medical Association Book Awards 2019Are we living in an age of unprecedented anxiety, or has this always been a problem throughout history?We only need look around us to see anxieties: in the family home, the workplace, on social media, and especially in the news. It's true that everyone feels anxious at some time in their lives, but we're told we're all feeling more anxious than we've ever been before - and for longer than we've ever done before. It's even reported that anxiety is a modern epidemic significant enough to challenge the dominance of depression as the most common mental health problem.Much of this increase has been attributed to changes in lifestyles that have led to more stress and pressure being placed on people: from childhood, to adolescence, to adulthood. But that's a big claim. Going back over the generations, how anxious were people in 1968 or 1818? Are people just anxious all the time - regardless of what they do or when they lived? Is anxiety an inevitable consequence of simply being alive?Graham Davey addresses many important questions about the role of anxiety. What is it good for? What are the unique modern-day causes of our anxieties and stresses? What turns normal everyday anxiety into the disabling disorders that many of us experience - distressing and debilitating conditions such as phobias, social anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, pathological worrying and post-traumatic stress disorder? To truly conquer anxiety, we need to understand why it has established its prominent place in our modern world.

Originally published in 1989, this title presents a view of adaptive behaviour which integrates both evolutionary and psychological perspectives on learning. The study of learning, and in particular conditioning, had evolved in isolation from the rest of the biological sciences, and until the late 1980s had largely ignored the fact that learning processes are adaptive functions subject to the pressures of evolutionary selection. This text is designed to give a thorough insight into contemporary views of learning mechanisms, at the same time incorporating an evolutionary perspective on the function and performance of learning. Graham Davey gives a detailed introduction to evolutionary approaches to behaviour and basic learning phenomena such as Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. He also provides a comparative introduction to both learning and performance aspects of conditioning. He covers ecological approaches to adaptive behaviour (e.g. foraging theory), specialized learning processes such as concept formation, spatial learning, and language learning.Innovative in its integration of ecological and evolutionary approaches with more traditional associative views of learning, the book introduces the reader to learning in a very wide variety of species other than the traditional laboratory rat and pigeon. It will be valuable to anyone with a general interest in animal behaviour, and also to those with a specific interest in learning, adaptive behaviour, and evolutionary approaches to behaviour.

The new edition of Complete Psychology is the definitive undergraduate textbook. It not only fits exactly with the very latest BPS curriculum and offers integrated web support for students and lecturers, but it also includes guidance on study skills, research methods, statistics and careers. Complete Psychology provides excellent coverage of the major areas of study . Each chapter has been fully updated to reflect changes in the field and to include examples of psychology in applied settings, and further reading sections have been expanded. The companion website, www.completepsychology.co.uk, has also been fully revised and now contains chapter summaries, author pages, downloadable presentations, useful web links, multiple choice questions, essay questions and an electronic glossary. Written by an experienced and respected team of authors, this highly accessible, comprehensive text is illustrated in full colour, and quite simply covers everything students need for their first-year studies as well as being an invaluable reference and revision tool for second and third years.

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a disabling and distressing mental health problem. This accessible introduction examines OCD's causes, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, and is richly illustrated with case studies, making it engaging reading for anyone wishing to understand this complex mental health problem.

The new edition of Complete Psychology is the definitive undergraduate textbook. It not only fits exactly with the very latest BPS curriculum and offers integrated web support for students and lecturers, but it also includes guidance on study skills, research methods, statistics and careers. Complete Psychology provides excellent coverage of the major areas of study . Each chapter has been fully updated to reflect changes in the field and to include examples of psychology in applied settings, and further reading sections have been expanded. The companion website, www.completepsychology.co.uk, has also been fully revised and now contains chapter summaries, author pages, downloadable presentations, useful web links, multiple choice questions, essay questions and an electronic glossary. Written by an experienced and respected team of authors, this highly accessible, comprehensive text is illustrated in full colour, and quite simply covers everything students need for their first-year studies as well as being an invaluable reference and revision tool for second and third years.

Psychology is a fascinating subject which attracts much interest from both students and the general public. It covers the whole span of human activity from childhood development, to the study of the elusive concept of consciousness to disorders, such as those based around anxiety, mood and eating. The scientific study of psychology also requires an understanding of research methods and conceptual issues. The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Psychology addresses all these issues and more, and is a core reference for any student of psychology. It is authoritative and accessible, and covers the basic curriculum content of a degree course along with more specialised material in areas of widespread interest. This important reference book presents more than 1500 different entries grouped into 8 thematic topic areas, and on a range of levels from brief definitions to more substantial discussions which allow the reader to obtain a fuller grasp of important terms and concepts. For key issues, the explanation is supported with illustrations, tables and photographs, and relevant contemporary references are provided throughout to allow the reader to pursue more widely their particular interests. The book is comprehensively cross-referenced for ease of use.