Author: Louise Cummings
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319150138
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
This book argues that in order to be truly effective, public health must embrace a group of reasoning strategies that have traditionally been characterized as informal fallacies. It will be demonstrated that these strategies can facilitate judgements about complex public health issues in contexts of uncertainty. The book explains how scientists and lay people routinely resort to the use of these strategies during consideration of public health problems. Although these strategies are not deductively valid, they are nevertheless rationally warranted procedures. Public health professionals must have a sound understanding of these cognitive strategies in order to engage the public and achieve their public health goals. The book draws upon public health issues as wide ranging as infectious diseases, food safety and the potential impact on human health of new technologies. It examines reasoning in the context of these issues within a large-scale, questionnaire-based survey of nearly 900 members of the public in the UK. In addition, several philosophical themes run throughout the book, including the nature of uncertainty, scientific knowledge and inquiry. The complexity of many public health problems demands an approach to reasoning that cannot be accommodated satisfactorily within a general thinking skills framework. This book shows that by developing an awareness of these reasoning strategies, scientists and members of the public can have a more productive engagement with public health problems.
Reasoning and Public Health: New Ways of Coping with Uncertainty
Author: Louise Cummings
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319150138
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
This book argues that in order to be truly effective, public health must embrace a group of reasoning strategies that have traditionally been characterized as informal fallacies. It will be demonstrated that these strategies can facilitate judgements about complex public health issues in contexts of uncertainty. The book explains how scientists and lay people routinely resort to the use of these strategies during consideration of public health problems. Although these strategies are not deductively valid, they are nevertheless rationally warranted procedures. Public health professionals must have a sound understanding of these cognitive strategies in order to engage the public and achieve their public health goals. The book draws upon public health issues as wide ranging as infectious diseases, food safety and the potential impact on human health of new technologies. It examines reasoning in the context of these issues within a large-scale, questionnaire-based survey of nearly 900 members of the public in the UK. In addition, several philosophical themes run throughout the book, including the nature of uncertainty, scientific knowledge and inquiry. The complexity of many public health problems demands an approach to reasoning that cannot be accommodated satisfactorily within a general thinking skills framework. This book shows that by developing an awareness of these reasoning strategies, scientists and members of the public can have a more productive engagement with public health problems.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319150138
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 252
Book Description
This book argues that in order to be truly effective, public health must embrace a group of reasoning strategies that have traditionally been characterized as informal fallacies. It will be demonstrated that these strategies can facilitate judgements about complex public health issues in contexts of uncertainty. The book explains how scientists and lay people routinely resort to the use of these strategies during consideration of public health problems. Although these strategies are not deductively valid, they are nevertheless rationally warranted procedures. Public health professionals must have a sound understanding of these cognitive strategies in order to engage the public and achieve their public health goals. The book draws upon public health issues as wide ranging as infectious diseases, food safety and the potential impact on human health of new technologies. It examines reasoning in the context of these issues within a large-scale, questionnaire-based survey of nearly 900 members of the public in the UK. In addition, several philosophical themes run throughout the book, including the nature of uncertainty, scientific knowledge and inquiry. The complexity of many public health problems demands an approach to reasoning that cannot be accommodated satisfactorily within a general thinking skills framework. This book shows that by developing an awareness of these reasoning strategies, scientists and members of the public can have a more productive engagement with public health problems.
Fallacies in Medicine and Health
Author: Louise Cummings
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030285138
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 303
Book Description
This textbook examines the ways in which arguments may be used and abused in medicine and health. The central claim is that a group of arguments known as the informal fallacies – including slippery slope arguments, fear appeal, and the argument from ignorance – undertake considerable work in medical and health contexts, and that they can in fact be rationally warranted ways of understanding complex topics, contrary to the views of many earlier philosophers and logicians. Modern medicine and healthcare require lay people to engage with increasingly complex decisions in areas such as immunization, lifestyle and dietary choices, and health screening. Many of the so-called fallacies of reasoning can also be viewed as cognitive heuristics or short-cuts which help individuals make decisions in these contexts. Using features such as learning objectives, case studies and end-of-unit questions, this textbook examines topical issues and debates in all areas of medicine and health, including antibiotic use and resistance, genetic engineering, euthanasia, addiction to prescription opioids, and the legalization of cannabis. It will be useful to students of critical thinking, reasoning, logic, argumentation, rhetoric, communication, health humanities, philosophy and linguistics.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030285138
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 303
Book Description
This textbook examines the ways in which arguments may be used and abused in medicine and health. The central claim is that a group of arguments known as the informal fallacies – including slippery slope arguments, fear appeal, and the argument from ignorance – undertake considerable work in medical and health contexts, and that they can in fact be rationally warranted ways of understanding complex topics, contrary to the views of many earlier philosophers and logicians. Modern medicine and healthcare require lay people to engage with increasingly complex decisions in areas such as immunization, lifestyle and dietary choices, and health screening. Many of the so-called fallacies of reasoning can also be viewed as cognitive heuristics or short-cuts which help individuals make decisions in these contexts. Using features such as learning objectives, case studies and end-of-unit questions, this textbook examines topical issues and debates in all areas of medicine and health, including antibiotic use and resistance, genetic engineering, euthanasia, addiction to prescription opioids, and the legalization of cannabis. It will be useful to students of critical thinking, reasoning, logic, argumentation, rhetoric, communication, health humanities, philosophy and linguistics.
International Journal of Language Studies (IJLS) volume 11(1)
Author: Mohammad Ali Salmani Nodoushan
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1387122266
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 157
Book Description
PAPERS : Public health reasoning: The contribution of pragmatics (Louise CUMMINGS, pp. 1-18); Indirectly reporting grammatical, lexical and morphological errors (Alessandro CAPONE, pp. 19-36); Exploring attitude and test-driven motivation towards English at Chinese universities (Junping HOU, Hanneke LOERTS & Marjolijn H. VERSPOOR, pp. 37-60); Toward a taxonomy of errors in Iranian EFL learners' basic-level writing (Mohammad Ali SALMANI NODOUSHAN, pp. 61-78); A structural move analysis of research article introduction sub-genre: A comparative study of native and Iranian writers in applied linguistics (Arezou PASHAPOUR, Farid GHAEMI & Mohammad HASHAMDAR, pp. 79-106); Teaching English pronunciation beyond intelligibility (Frans HERMANS & Peter SLOEP, pp. 107-124); Complexity and likely influence of teachers' and learners' beliefs about speaking practice: Effects on and implications for communicative approaches (Edgar Emmanuell GARCÍA-PONCE, Troy CRAWFORD, M. Martha LENGELING & Irasema MORA-PABLO, pp. 125-146)
Publisher: Lulu.com
ISBN: 1387122266
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 157
Book Description
PAPERS : Public health reasoning: The contribution of pragmatics (Louise CUMMINGS, pp. 1-18); Indirectly reporting grammatical, lexical and morphological errors (Alessandro CAPONE, pp. 19-36); Exploring attitude and test-driven motivation towards English at Chinese universities (Junping HOU, Hanneke LOERTS & Marjolijn H. VERSPOOR, pp. 37-60); Toward a taxonomy of errors in Iranian EFL learners' basic-level writing (Mohammad Ali SALMANI NODOUSHAN, pp. 61-78); A structural move analysis of research article introduction sub-genre: A comparative study of native and Iranian writers in applied linguistics (Arezou PASHAPOUR, Farid GHAEMI & Mohammad HASHAMDAR, pp. 79-106); Teaching English pronunciation beyond intelligibility (Frans HERMANS & Peter SLOEP, pp. 107-124); Complexity and likely influence of teachers' and learners' beliefs about speaking practice: Effects on and implications for communicative approaches (Edgar Emmanuell GARCÍA-PONCE, Troy CRAWFORD, M. Martha LENGELING & Irasema MORA-PABLO, pp. 125-146)
Scientific Reasoning and Argumentation
Author: Frank Fischer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351400428
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 358
Book Description
Competence in scientific reasoning is one of the most valued outcomes of secondary and higher education. However, there is a need for a deeper understanding of and further research into the roles of domain-general and domain-specific knowledge in such reasoning. This book explores the functions and limitations of domain-general conceptions of reasoning and argumentation, the substantial differences that exist between the disciplines, and the role of domain-specific knowledge and epistemologies. Featuring chapters and commentaries by widely cited experts in the learning sciences, educational psychology, science education, history education, and cognitive science, Scientific Reasoning and Argumentation presents new perspectives on a decades-long debate about the role of domain-specific knowledge and its contribution to the development of more general reasoning abilities.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351400428
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 358
Book Description
Competence in scientific reasoning is one of the most valued outcomes of secondary and higher education. However, there is a need for a deeper understanding of and further research into the roles of domain-general and domain-specific knowledge in such reasoning. This book explores the functions and limitations of domain-general conceptions of reasoning and argumentation, the substantial differences that exist between the disciplines, and the role of domain-specific knowledge and epistemologies. Featuring chapters and commentaries by widely cited experts in the learning sciences, educational psychology, science education, history education, and cognitive science, Scientific Reasoning and Argumentation presents new perspectives on a decades-long debate about the role of domain-specific knowledge and its contribution to the development of more general reasoning abilities.
The Handbook of Rationality
Author: Markus Knauff
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262045079
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 879
Book Description
The first reference on rationality that integrates accounts from psychology and philosophy, covering descriptive and normative theories from both disciplines. Both analytic philosophy and cognitive psychology have made dramatic advances in understanding rationality, but there has been little interaction between the disciplines. This volume offers the first integrated overview of the state of the art in the psychology and philosophy of rationality. Written by leading experts from both disciplines, The Handbook of Rationality covers the main normative and descriptive theories of rationality—how people ought to think, how they actually think, and why we often deviate from what we can call rational. It also offers insights from other fields such as artificial intelligence, economics, the social sciences, and cognitive neuroscience. The Handbook proposes a novel classification system for researchers in human rationality, and it creates new connections between rationality research in philosophy, psychology, and other disciplines. Following the basic distinction between theoretical and practical rationality, the book first considers the theoretical side, including normative and descriptive theories of logical, probabilistic, causal, and defeasible reasoning. It then turns to the practical side, discussing topics such as decision making, bounded rationality, game theory, deontic and legal reasoning, and the relation between rationality and morality. Finally, it covers topics that arise in both theoretical and practical rationality, including visual and spatial thinking, scientific rationality, how children learn to reason rationally, and the connection between intelligence and rationality.
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262045079
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 879
Book Description
The first reference on rationality that integrates accounts from psychology and philosophy, covering descriptive and normative theories from both disciplines. Both analytic philosophy and cognitive psychology have made dramatic advances in understanding rationality, but there has been little interaction between the disciplines. This volume offers the first integrated overview of the state of the art in the psychology and philosophy of rationality. Written by leading experts from both disciplines, The Handbook of Rationality covers the main normative and descriptive theories of rationality—how people ought to think, how they actually think, and why we often deviate from what we can call rational. It also offers insights from other fields such as artificial intelligence, economics, the social sciences, and cognitive neuroscience. The Handbook proposes a novel classification system for researchers in human rationality, and it creates new connections between rationality research in philosophy, psychology, and other disciplines. Following the basic distinction between theoretical and practical rationality, the book first considers the theoretical side, including normative and descriptive theories of logical, probabilistic, causal, and defeasible reasoning. It then turns to the practical side, discussing topics such as decision making, bounded rationality, game theory, deontic and legal reasoning, and the relation between rationality and morality. Finally, it covers topics that arise in both theoretical and practical rationality, including visual and spatial thinking, scientific rationality, how children learn to reason rationally, and the connection between intelligence and rationality.
ABC of Clinical Resilience
Author: Anna Frain
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119693438
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 98
Book Description
ABC of Clinical Resilience ABC of Clinical Resilience For the healthcare professional, clinical resilience is about reconnecting with those stirrings which first motivated us to spend a career in the service of others. It is about recovering and maintaining the ???joy of practice??? which nourishes and satisfies our curiosity about the uniqueness of every person in our care. Being a resilient practitioner is essential for our personal wellbeing and also for the safety of our patients, who depend on our ability to optimise our physical and cognitive performance. Yet many healthcare professionals report experiencing burnout. ABC of Clinical Resilience summarises current evidence on how cognitive performance and wellbeing of healthcare professionals are affected by the emotional context of providing care and the organisational culture of working environments. As well as considering impacts of individuals and teams, we also consider how resilience can be recovered for the benefit of everyone. Topics include: The emotional impact of working in healthcare Resilience and cognitive performance Practicing self-care The physiology of resilience Intelligent kindness Kindness in teams Resilience in practice Organisational kindness Teaching resilience Perfect for both novice and experienced healthcare professionals, including those working in mental health, ABC of Clinical Resilience will also earn a place in the libraries of professionals who treat healthcare workers and readers interested in the psychology and prevention of burnout, vicarious trauma, and moral injury. About the ABC series The ABC series has been designed to help you access information quickly and deliver the best patient care, and remains an essential reference tool for GPs, junior doctors, medical students and healthcare professionals. Now offering over 80 titles, this extensive series provides you with a quick and dependable reference on a range of topics in all the major specialties. The ABC series is the essential and dependable source of up-to-date information for all practitioners and students in primary healthcare. To receive automatic updates on books and journals in your specialty, join our email list. Sign up today at www.wiley.com/email
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119693438
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 98
Book Description
ABC of Clinical Resilience ABC of Clinical Resilience For the healthcare professional, clinical resilience is about reconnecting with those stirrings which first motivated us to spend a career in the service of others. It is about recovering and maintaining the ???joy of practice??? which nourishes and satisfies our curiosity about the uniqueness of every person in our care. Being a resilient practitioner is essential for our personal wellbeing and also for the safety of our patients, who depend on our ability to optimise our physical and cognitive performance. Yet many healthcare professionals report experiencing burnout. ABC of Clinical Resilience summarises current evidence on how cognitive performance and wellbeing of healthcare professionals are affected by the emotional context of providing care and the organisational culture of working environments. As well as considering impacts of individuals and teams, we also consider how resilience can be recovered for the benefit of everyone. Topics include: The emotional impact of working in healthcare Resilience and cognitive performance Practicing self-care The physiology of resilience Intelligent kindness Kindness in teams Resilience in practice Organisational kindness Teaching resilience Perfect for both novice and experienced healthcare professionals, including those working in mental health, ABC of Clinical Resilience will also earn a place in the libraries of professionals who treat healthcare workers and readers interested in the psychology and prevention of burnout, vicarious trauma, and moral injury. About the ABC series The ABC series has been designed to help you access information quickly and deliver the best patient care, and remains an essential reference tool for GPs, junior doctors, medical students and healthcare professionals. Now offering over 80 titles, this extensive series provides you with a quick and dependable reference on a range of topics in all the major specialties. The ABC series is the essential and dependable source of up-to-date information for all practitioners and students in primary healthcare. To receive automatic updates on books and journals in your specialty, join our email list. Sign up today at www.wiley.com/email
Encyclopedia of Environmental Health
Author:
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444639527
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 4896
Book Description
Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, Second Edition, Six Volume Set presents the newest release in this fundamental reference that updates and broadens the umbrella of environmental health, especially social and environmental health for its readers. There is ongoing revolution in governance, policies and intervention strategies aimed at evolving changes in health disparities, disease burden, trans-boundary transport and health hazards. This new edition reflects these realities, mapping new directions in the field that include how to minimize threats and develop new scientific paradigms that address emerging local, national and global environmental concerns. Represents a one-stop resource for scientifically reliable information on environmental health Fills a critical gap, with information on one of the most rapidly growing scientific fields of our time Provides comparative approaches to environmental health practice and research in different countries and regions of the world Covers issues behind specific questions and describes the best available scientific methods for environmental risk assessment
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0444639527
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 4896
Book Description
Encyclopedia of Environmental Health, Second Edition, Six Volume Set presents the newest release in this fundamental reference that updates and broadens the umbrella of environmental health, especially social and environmental health for its readers. There is ongoing revolution in governance, policies and intervention strategies aimed at evolving changes in health disparities, disease burden, trans-boundary transport and health hazards. This new edition reflects these realities, mapping new directions in the field that include how to minimize threats and develop new scientific paradigms that address emerging local, national and global environmental concerns. Represents a one-stop resource for scientifically reliable information on environmental health Fills a critical gap, with information on one of the most rapidly growing scientific fields of our time Provides comparative approaches to environmental health practice and research in different countries and regions of the world Covers issues behind specific questions and describes the best available scientific methods for environmental risk assessment
Rethinking the BSE Crisis
Author: Louise Cummings
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048195047
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
In 1986, the emergence of a novel brain disease in British cattle presented a unique challenge to scientists. How that challenge was addressed has been the subject of a public inquiry and numerous academic studies conducted to date. However, none of these investigations has sought to examine the reasoning of scientists during this critical period in the public health of the UK. Using concepts and techniques in informal logic, argumentation and fallacy theory, this study reconstructs and evaluates the reasoning of scientists in the ten-year period between 1986 and 1996. Specifically, a form of presumptive reasoning is described in which extensive use is made of arguments traditionally identified as informal fallacies. In the context of the adverse epistemic conditions that confronted scientists during the BSE epidemic, these arguments were anything but fallacious, serving instead to confer a number of epistemic gains upon scientific inquiry. This book argues for a closer integration of philosophy with public health science, an integration that is exemplified by the case of scientific reasoning during the BSE affair. It will therefore be of interest to advanced students, academics, researchers and professionals in the areas of public health science and epidemiology, as well as philosophical disciplines such as informal logic, argumentation and fallacy theory and epistemology.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048195047
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 248
Book Description
In 1986, the emergence of a novel brain disease in British cattle presented a unique challenge to scientists. How that challenge was addressed has been the subject of a public inquiry and numerous academic studies conducted to date. However, none of these investigations has sought to examine the reasoning of scientists during this critical period in the public health of the UK. Using concepts and techniques in informal logic, argumentation and fallacy theory, this study reconstructs and evaluates the reasoning of scientists in the ten-year period between 1986 and 1996. Specifically, a form of presumptive reasoning is described in which extensive use is made of arguments traditionally identified as informal fallacies. In the context of the adverse epistemic conditions that confronted scientists during the BSE epidemic, these arguments were anything but fallacious, serving instead to confer a number of epistemic gains upon scientific inquiry. This book argues for a closer integration of philosophy with public health science, an integration that is exemplified by the case of scientific reasoning during the BSE affair. It will therefore be of interest to advanced students, academics, researchers and professionals in the areas of public health science and epidemiology, as well as philosophical disciplines such as informal logic, argumentation and fallacy theory and epistemology.
Essential Skills for a Medical Teacher E-Book
Author: Ronald M Harden
Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
ISBN: 0702051209
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Essential Skills for a Medical Teacher is a new book that will serve as a perfect introduction for new teachers to the exciting opportunities facing them, whether they are working in undergraduate, postgraduate or continuing education. It will also be of considerable use to more experienced teachers to review and assess their own practice and gain a new perspective on how best to facilitate their students' or trainees' learning. The contents are based on the authors’ extensive experience of what works in medical education, whether in teaching and curriculum planning or in the organisation of faculty development courses in medical education at basic and advanced levels. About the authors Ronald M Harden is General Secretary for the Association of Medical Education in Europe, Editor of Medical Teacher, former Professor of Medical Education, Director of the Centre for Medical Education and Teaching Dean at the University of Dundee, UK and Professor of Medical Education at Al-Imam University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is internationally recognised for his commitment to developing new approaches to medical education, curriculum planning and to teaching and learning. His contributions to excellence in medical education have attracted numerous awards. Jennifer M Laidlaw is Former Assistant Director of the Education Development Unit of the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education and the University of Dundee, UK. She has planned, organised and lead courses on medical education both in Dundee and overseas. She has acted as a medical education consultant for the World Health Organisation, the British Council, medical schools and colleges. The text provides hints drawn from practical experience to help teachers create powerful learning opportunities for their students, providing readable guidelines and introducing new techniques that potentially could be adopted for use in any teaching programme. Throughout the book introduces some key basic principles that underpin the practical advice that is given and which will help to inform teaching practice. This book will assist readers to reflect on and analyse with colleagues the different ways that their work as a teacher or trainer can be approached and how their student or trainee's learning can be made more effective.
Publisher: Elsevier Health Sciences
ISBN: 0702051209
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 272
Book Description
Essential Skills for a Medical Teacher is a new book that will serve as a perfect introduction for new teachers to the exciting opportunities facing them, whether they are working in undergraduate, postgraduate or continuing education. It will also be of considerable use to more experienced teachers to review and assess their own practice and gain a new perspective on how best to facilitate their students' or trainees' learning. The contents are based on the authors’ extensive experience of what works in medical education, whether in teaching and curriculum planning or in the organisation of faculty development courses in medical education at basic and advanced levels. About the authors Ronald M Harden is General Secretary for the Association of Medical Education in Europe, Editor of Medical Teacher, former Professor of Medical Education, Director of the Centre for Medical Education and Teaching Dean at the University of Dundee, UK and Professor of Medical Education at Al-Imam University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He is internationally recognised for his commitment to developing new approaches to medical education, curriculum planning and to teaching and learning. His contributions to excellence in medical education have attracted numerous awards. Jennifer M Laidlaw is Former Assistant Director of the Education Development Unit of the Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education and the University of Dundee, UK. She has planned, organised and lead courses on medical education both in Dundee and overseas. She has acted as a medical education consultant for the World Health Organisation, the British Council, medical schools and colleges. The text provides hints drawn from practical experience to help teachers create powerful learning opportunities for their students, providing readable guidelines and introducing new techniques that potentially could be adopted for use in any teaching programme. Throughout the book introduces some key basic principles that underpin the practical advice that is given and which will help to inform teaching practice. This book will assist readers to reflect on and analyse with colleagues the different ways that their work as a teacher or trainer can be approached and how their student or trainee's learning can be made more effective.
Personal Assistants: Emerging Computational Technologies
Author: Angelo Costa
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319625306
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
This book provides an overview of the current research in the interdisciplinary area of personal assistants (PA) and cognitively inspired systems. It discusses the most relevant topics in this highly diversified domain, like reasoning, health, personalization, robotics, and ethical and social issues. Personal assistants (PA) are a relatively new concept directed at people with cognitive or physical disabilities, and is expanding to include complex platforms such as sensors, actuators, monitoring abilities and decision processes. Designed for a general audience, it is also of interest to undergraduates, graduates and researchers involved with intelligent systems, ambient intelligence or ambient assisted living. The content goes from an introduction of the field (aimed at undergraduates and a general readership) to specific and complex architectures (aimed at graduates and researchers).
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319625306
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
This book provides an overview of the current research in the interdisciplinary area of personal assistants (PA) and cognitively inspired systems. It discusses the most relevant topics in this highly diversified domain, like reasoning, health, personalization, robotics, and ethical and social issues. Personal assistants (PA) are a relatively new concept directed at people with cognitive or physical disabilities, and is expanding to include complex platforms such as sensors, actuators, monitoring abilities and decision processes. Designed for a general audience, it is also of interest to undergraduates, graduates and researchers involved with intelligent systems, ambient intelligence or ambient assisted living. The content goes from an introduction of the field (aimed at undergraduates and a general readership) to specific and complex architectures (aimed at graduates and researchers).