New Shelves Publishing is proud to announce the international distribution of WordPlay: How Words Captivate, Illuminate, Intimidate, Inform and Imbue us with Intelligence. A new book by Dr. Glenn Bassett, WordPlay provides salient insight into the ways language is used to both shape and interpret the world around us. It is also a must read for writers, communications strategists, journalists, academicians or anyone fascinated with the power of language.

The latest book by Dr. Bassett, WordPlay explores the fund of social psychological research made available over the past century into psycholinguistics, and lays out the functions of language as the foundation for what is loosely known as mind.

Studies of language in primitive cultures by anthropological linguists demonstrate the existence of a basic set of words called semantic primes in every cultural setting. Language is extended and elaborated on the foundation of semantic primes to construct a mental map of the perceived phenomenal world. Once in place, a rich culture of language is passed on from each generation to the next by example. Words ultimately become so ubiquitous and necessary that they take on a reality all their own.

An imprint of Organization Diagnostics, WordPlay, also looks at how words shape and become the substance of the mind. This is knowledge of those habits of mind that can interfere with or improve straight, clear thinking.

Dr. Bassett is an author, Berkeley baccalaureate, Yale University Ph.D and Professor Emeritus. He specializes in Social Psychology with an emphasis on applied behavioral research. The author of eight books on management, WordPlay represents a return to his academic roots in Psychology and Social Psychology.

New Shelves is an international book distributor.

Recent Reviews Include:

“WORDPLAY reminds me of an Alfred Hitchcock production. At first Hitchcock develops the characters. I am not sure where he is going. Then, shortly into the movie, everything falls together and I am sucked in. In WORDPLAY Glenn Bassett develops the fundamentals. Then he introduces one story (example) after another to illustrate his points. I am sucked in, eagerly looking forward to the next story. Each story is so interesting and so well researched.” -Prof. William E. Greenspan