Peter Herriot

This book provides a comprehensive social scientific perspective on a subject of immense contemporary significance, and should be of use both to unitversity students and also students of the contemporary world.

Global, Local and Personal

Religious Fundamentalism

First published in 1974, Attributes of Memory rejected the prevalent stress on the structure of memory. It suggests that the view of memory as a sequence of stores through which information passes is mistaken. Instead, the author emphasizes the coding process of memory by which the nominal stimulus, the stimulus as presented, is transformed into the functional stimulus, the stimulus as coded. Dr Herriot proposes that there are many different forms of coding, and that efficiency of recall or recognition performance is a function of the nature of coding employed. He suggests that the subject’s linguistic system is the most frequently employed linguistic device; that is, that the underlying attributes and rules of language are used automatically when material is verbal. Since the basic function of language is to communicate meaning, those forms of coding which are meaningful in nature are most effective in memory. The book cites a great deal of experimental evidence, including many studies of the time. As well as stating a point of view, it should be useful to undergraduate and postgraduate students as a review of the early literature, read in its historical context.

Attributes of Memory (Psychology Revivals)

Advanced textbook for students of psychology.

An Introduction to the Psychology of Language

Originally published in 1970, this was Peter Herriot’s first book. In this objective, critical evaluation of a rapidly expanding field, Professor Herriot examines language as skilled behaviour, generative linguistics and psychology, behaviourist approaches to meaning, language acquisition and impairment, and language and thought. He stresses throughout the necessity for empirical research and for experimental verification of hypotheses; he also feels that language behaviour should be analysed in a comprehensive form, placing emphasis not only on structural aspects but also on the importance of meaning and context to any account of language. Today it can be read and enjoyed in its historical context.

An Introduction to the Psychology of Language (PLE: Psycholinguistics)

Roy McConkey

Josephine M. Green

Originally published in 1973, this volume looks at the organisation of memory data in, what at the time was termed, ‘mental handicap’. The first part surveys recent work in this important area, giving a general account of experiments and findings. The second part reports a particular piece of research on memory in people with learning difficulties, then called ‘subnormal individuals’. Very much of its time, in terms of the terminology, this was an important book for anyone concerned with people with intellectual disabilities and for experimental psychologists involved with the processes of memory.

A Review and a Project in Subnormality

Organisation and Memory (PLE: Memory)

The attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon in the United States of September 11th, 2001 brought the phenomenon of religious fundamentalism to the world's attention.Sociological research has clearly demonstrated that fundamentalists are primarily reacting against modernity, and believe that they are fighting for the very survival of their faith against the secular enemy. But we understand very little about how and why people join fundamentalist movements and embrace a set of beliefs, values and norms of behaviour which are counter-cultural. This is essentially a question for social psychology, since it involves both social relations and individual selves. Drawing on a broad theoretical perspective, social identity theory, Peter Herriot addresses two key questions: why do fundamentalists identify themselves as an in-group fighting against various out-groups? And how do the psychological needs for self-esteem and meaning motivate them? Case studies of Mohammed Atta, the leader of the 9/11 hijackers, and of the current controversy in the Anglican Church about gay priests and bishops, demonstrate how fruitfully this theory can be applied to fundamentalist conflicts. It also offers psychologically sensible ways of managing such conflicts, rather than treating fundamentalists as an enemy to be defeated. Religious Fundamentalism and Social Identity is unique in applying social identity theory to fundamentalism, and rare in that it provides psychological (in addition to sociological) analyses of the phenomenon. It is a valuable resource for courses in social psychology which seek to demonstrate the applicability of social psychological theory to the real world.

Religious Fundamentalism and Social Identity

What can populism and fundamentalism possibly have in common? Peter Herriot argues that contrary to their apparent differences, these human phenomena are similar in two basic respects. First, they are both reactions against the complexities of the modern world in general, and its current crisis in particular. They propose instead a return to a mythical golden age, supposedly marked by purity and simplicity. Second, they both work in the same way psychologically. Using social identity theory, Herriot shows how both populism and fundamentalism create constant conflict by contrasting a virtuous ‘Us’ with a stereotypically evil ‘Them’. Contemporary case studies illustrate this process at work, and Herriot raises various issues as a basis for discussion, and concludes with hope.

Fighting Talk

Populism, Fundamentalism, and Identity

This book gives a personal insight into the hearts and minds of a fundamentalist Christian sect, the Open Brethren. Using Brethren magazine articles, obituaries, and testimonies, Peter Herriot argues that the Brethren constitute a perfect example of a fundamentalism. Their culture is entirely opposed to the beliefs, values, and norms of modernity. As a result, like other fundamentalisms they challenge modern Christianity and impede its efforts to engage with global society.

The Open Brethren: A Christian Sect in the Modern World

An up-to-date review of research and issues in the field of graduate recruitment. Relates the graduate self-concept, beliefs, and values to their wider view of the world of work and their role in it, providing a new approach in which graduate recruitment is seen as a social exchange between organization and applicant.

Peter Herriot

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