Positive Psychology

The field of positive psychology is a relatively recent addition to the research agenda of Indian psychologists. This chapter comprehensively examines the themes pursued in this field. It begins with an overview of the Indigenous Indian thought in terms of the insights it offers for positive psychology. Research studies on meanings and sources of happiness and interventions for the promotion of well-being are analysed. Key challenges to the growth of positive psychology are identified and a general framework for research is offered. In particular, attention is drawn towards the nature of research questions, scope for cultural contributions, nuances of research designs and expansion of the methodological repertoire. As the thoughts and intentions are coloured with the hues of emotions and get reflected in language, psychologists have to be sensitive to the linguistic diversity and nuances of verbal expressions across different regions of India.

Culture, Cognition, and Pedagogy

This chapter begins with identification of paradigmatic shifts in the discourse of cognitive psychology. A ‘person-in-context’ approach is advanced which assumes that culture is a constituent of mind and asserts that knowledge is constructed by the knower. These constructions begin as personal or idiosyncratic. As learners are social beings these constructions are socially shared. In the process, the diversity and incongruence between constructions and the pluralistic nature of knowledge are recognized. People function as a community and move towards a shared understanding. This is a significant ontogenetic process in the life of any learner. Therefore, this ontogeny needs to be reflected in the approaches to pedagogy. The chapter critically analyses current research in the field of cognition and pedagogy and highlights the future directions of research. Also, the implications of this research for the future of education are indicated.

Epithymetics

This chapter proposes an interdisciplinary field of studies called ‘epithymetics‘ (Latin, ‘pertaining to desire’). It is argued that the concept of desire may have especial relevance as India integrates today into a ‘world economy of desire’. India offers an ideal location for the initiation of such a field since analyses of desire, from Buddhism to Bollywood, have had an impressive pedigree on the subcontinent. The key features of desire as a social psychological construct are delineated. The triangular relationship between the thrills of consumerism, the excitements of the market, and desires both bodily and mental is analysed. Epithymetics may illuminate basic questions about the cognitive foundations of selfhood as it has evolved today in a fast-paced, Internet-guided ‘meme-world’. Studies in neuroscience may be exploited and cross-cultural studies, as well as the micro-analysis of qualitative data would be relevant to augment ‘desire studies’.

Applied Cognition

The chapter focuses on the applications of cognition in the real world encompassing both applied as well as applicable works, that is, the work that could be potentially applied someday to solve real world problems. Applied cognitive psychology emphasizes the applications of cognitive psychology in everyday life. Cognitive processes such as attention, perception, memory, cognitive styles, reasoning, and decision making are deployed in many settings. The research related to applied cognition in social systems has focussed on the complexities of humans working in various domains such as social functioning, education (especially neo-literacy), organizational behaviour, health, consumer behaviour and marketing, clinical setting, life span development, and environment. Cognitive theory is also being applied to the development of technologies which augment various cognitive processes such as memory, problem solving and attention. Finally, the major problems faced by researchers in this field are indicated.

Cognitive Science

Recent years have witnessed a rapid expansion of research in the field of cognitive science. It is fuelled by conceptual advances encompassing several disciplines. This chapter discusses the different approaches to understanding cognitive processes and presents an account of research from India following these approaches. The computational view of mind is presented in detail and the efforts undertaken to identity the neural mechanisms underlying cognition are highlighted. This is followed by discussions on the approaches that have gained steam either as alternatives or complementing the main stream approaches that include embodied and situated cognition approaches to study cognition. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the need for interdisciplinarity in research and discussing the recent efforts to utilize Indian philosophical concepts to study cognition and the need to promote more applied cognitive science.