Ellen J. Langer

Ellen J. Langer, Harvard professor of psychology, determines that the mindless following of routine and other automatic behaviors lead to much error, pain and a predetermined course of life. In this thought-provoking book, her research has been "translated" for the lay reader. With anecdotes and metaphors, Langer explains how the mindless--as opposed to the mindful--develop mindsets of categories, associations, habits of thought born of repetition in childhood and throughout schooling. To be mindful, she notes, stressing process over outcome, allows free rein to intuition and creativity, and opens us to new information and perspectives. Langer discusses the negative impact of mindsets on business and social relations, showing special concern for the elderly, who often suffer from learned helplessness and lack of options. Encouraging the application of mindfulness to health, the author affirms that placebos and alternative, mind-based therapies can help patients and addicts move from unhealthy to healthy contexts.

Mindfulness

Scientifically riveting and practically empowering, "Counterclockwise" offers a bold new way to think about aging and lifelong health from the trailblazing social psychologist and author of the bestselling classic "Mindfulness."

Counterclockwise

In the years since it was first published, this influential book based on the highly innovative findings of social psychologist Dr. Ellen J. Langer and her team of researchers at Harvard made its mark for its unique concept of mindfulness, thoroughly adapted to contemporary life in the West. Langeŕ??s theory has been applied to a wide number of fields, including health, business, aging, prejudice, and learning. There is now a new psychological assessment based on her work (called the Langer Mindfulness Scale) as well as an institute in Mexico founded to apply the concepts of mindfulness to health and wellness. In her introduction to this 25th anniversary edition, Dr. Langer outlines some of these exciting applications and suggests those still to come.

Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health

Mindful Body

Presenting keen insights into and applications of a number of diverse skills and fascinating experiments--from investment analysis to CPR to playing a musical instrument--this original work transforms readers's outlooks on methods of effective, fun learning. Tour.

The Power of Mindful Learning

Charles Nathaniel Alexander

Professor Department of Psychology and Social Relations Ellen Langer

This volume brings together contributions from researchers who address crucial questions of developmental theory such as what are the highest stages of human development? Each chapter takes Piagetian theory as a point of departure and provides a more comprehensive vision of human development.

Perspectives on Adult Growth

Higher Stages of Human Development

Radical in its implications, this original and important work may change forever the views we hold about the nature of learning. In The Power of Mindful Learning, Ellen Langer uses her innovative theory of mindulness, introduced in her influential earlier book, to dramatically enhance the way we learn. In business, sports, laboratories, or at home, our learning is hobbled by certain antiquated and pervasive misconceptions. In this pithy, liberating, and delightful book she gives us a fresh, new view of learning in the broadest sense. Such familiar notions as delayed gratification, ”the basics”, or even ”right answers”, are all incapacitating myths which Langer explodes one by one. She replaces them with her concept of mindful or conditional learning which she demonstrates, with fascinating examples from her research, to be extraordinarily effective. Mindful learning takes place with an awareness of context and of the ever-changing nature of information. Learning without this awareness, as Langer shows convincingly, has severely limited uses and often sets on up for failure.With stunning applications to skills as diverse as paying attention, CPR, investment analysis, psychotherapy, or playing a musical instrument, The Power of Mindful Learning is for all who are curious and intellectually adventurous.

"This book is the culmination of research on mindlessness and mindfulness conducted by Dr. Langer over the past 35 years. Each of the one-liners in this book has been derived from this research and paired together with original artwork created over the past 17 years"--Amazon.com

The Art of Noticing

Ellen

Can we think ourselves younger? Top psychologist Ellen Langer presents a powerful and practical new approach to turning back the clock.

“All it takes to become an artist is to start doing art.” –from On Becoming an Artist On Becoming an Artist is loaded with good news. Backed by her landmark scientific work on mindfulness and artistic nature, bestselling author and Harvard psychologist Ellen J. Langer shows us that creativity is not a rare gift that only some special few are born with, but rather an integral part of everyone’s makeup. All of us can express our creative impulses– authentically and uniquely–and, in the process, enrich our lives. Why then do so many of us merely dream of someday painting, someday writing, someday making music? Why do we think the same old thoughts, harbor the same old prejudices, stay stuck in the same old mud? Who taught us to think “inside the box”? No one is more qualified to answer these questions than Dr. Langer, who has explored their every facet for years. She describes dozens of fascinating experiments–her own and those of her colleagues–that are designed to study mindfulness and its relation to human creativity, and she shares the profound implications of the results–for our well-being, health, and happiness. Langer reveals myriad insights, among them: We think we should already know what only firsthand experience can teach us. . . . In learning the ways that all roses are alike, we risk becoming blind to their differences. . . . If we are mindfully creative, the circumstances of the moment will tell us what to do. . . . Those of us who are less evaluatively inclined experience less guilt, less regret, less blame, and tend to like ourselves more. . . . Uncertainty gives us the freedom to discover meaning. . . . Finally, what we think we’re sure of may not even exist. With the skill of a gifted logician, Langer demonstrates exactly how we undervalue ourselves and undermine our creativity. By example, she persuades us to have faith in our creative works, not because someone else approves of them but because they’re a true expression of ourselves. Her high-spirited, challenging book sparkles with wit and intelligence and inspires in us an infectious enthusiasm for our creations, our world, and ourselves. It can be of lifelong value to everyone who reads it.

Reinventing Yourself Through Mindful Creativity

On Becoming an Artist

Carol S. Dweck

Personal Politics: the Psychology of Making it

Robert P. Abelson

Langer uses her orginal field research to show the impact of a person's sense of control on their mental and physical well being. The book begins by dealing with general issues, refining our concept of what a sense of control is, showing how it differs from power, choice, or ability to predict events. Chapters in the second section show how people lose and regain control in everyday life: asking a favour, taking precautions against burglary. The third section shows the effects that loss of control have on the elderly, and the benefits and adverse effects of treatments that increased their sense of control. 'This material can be strongly recommended to those who are involved in the management of the chronic sick, the elderly

The Psychology of Control

A psychologist explains how each individual can develop a rich creative life by identifying and eliminating the "rules" that govern creativity and prevent one from reaching one's goal to truly express oneself.

Amanda Ie

Christelle T. Ngnoumen

The Wiley Blackwell Handbook of Mindfulness brings together the latest multi-disciplinary research on mindfulness from a group of international scholars: Examines the origins and key theories of the two dominant Western approaches to mindfulness Compares, contrasts, and integrates insights from the social psychological and Eastern-derived perspectives Discusses the implications for mindfulness across a range of fields, including consciousness and cognition, education, creativity, leadership and organizational behavior, law, medical practice and therapy, well-being, and sports 2 Volumes

Ellen J. Langer

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