How the Mind Explains Behavior
Subtitle: Folk Explanations, Meaning, and Social Interaction (Bradford Books)
Publisher: The MIT Press; MIT Press
Published: October 1, 2004
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 322
ISBN-13: 9780262134453
Subjects: Social Psychology; Psychology & Psychiatry / Cognitive Psychology; Psychology; Attribution (Social psychology; Attribution (Social psychology)
First sentence: Every day we are faced with human behavior that is puzzling and that we would like to understand.
Description: "In this monograph, Bertram Malle describes behavior explanations as having a dual nature - as being both cognitive and social acts - and proposes a comprehensive theoretical model that integrates the two aspects. When people try to understand puzzling human behavior, they construct behavior explanations, which are a fundamental tool of social cognition. But Malle argues, behavior explanations exist not only in the mind; they are also overt verbal actions used for social purposes. When people explain their own behavior or the behavior of others, they are using the explanation to manage a social interaction - by offering clarification, trying to save face, or casting blame. Malle's account makes clear why these two aspects of behavior explanation exist and why they are closely linked; along the way, he illustrates the sophisticated and subtle patterns of folk behavior explanations."--BOOK JACKET.