"Theory of mind" is the phrase researchers use to refer to children's understanding of people as mental beings, who have beliefs, desires, emotions, and intentions, and whose actions and interactions can be interpreted and explained by taking account of these mental states. The gradual development of children's theory of mind, particularly during the early years, is by now well described in the research literature. What is lacking, however, is a decisive explanation of how children acquire this understanding. Recent research has shown strong relations between children's linguistic abilities and their theory of mind. Yet exactly what role these abilities play is controversial and uncertain. The purpose of this book is to provide a forum for the leading scholars in the field to explore thoroughly the role of language in the development of the theory of mind. This volume will appeal to students and researchers in developmental and cognitive psychology.

Knowledge ascriptions, such as 'Sam knows that Obama is president of the United States', play a central role in our cognitive and social lives. For example, they are closely related to epistemic assessments of action. As a result, knowledge ascriptions are a central topic of research in both philosophy and science. In this collection of new essays on knowledge ascriptions, world class philosophers offer novel approaches to this long standing topic. The contributions exemplify three recent approaches to knowledge ascriptions. First, a linguistic turn according to which linguistic phenomena and theory are an important resource for providing an adequate account of knowledge ascriptions. Second, a cognitive turn according to which empirical theories from, for example, cognitive psychology as well as experimental philosophy should be invoked in theorizing about knowledge ascriptions. Third, a social turn according to which the social functions of knowledge ascriptions to both individuals and groups are central to understanding knowledge ascriptions. In addition, since knowledge ascriptions have figured very prominently in discussions concerning philosophical methodology, many of the contributions address or exemplify various methodological approaches. The editors, Jessica Brown and Mikkel Gerken, provide a substantive introduction that gives an overview of the various approaches to this complex debate, their interconnections, and the wide-ranging methodological issues that they raise.

Parent’s Quick Start Guide to Dyslexia provides parents and caregivers with an immediate overview of dyslexia and steps they can take to support and encourage their child. Each chapter is packed with detailed and helpful information, covering identification, public schools versus private settings, and how (and when) to seek professional help. Summary and resource sections at the end of each chapter give quick guidance to busy readers. Topics include a wealth of research-backed activities, nurturing talent and creativity, motivating your child to read, and more. Offering straightforward, easy to understand, and evidence-based information, this book is a go-to resource for caregivers parenting a child with dyslexia.

In this, the first of two ground-breaking volumes on the nature of language in the light of the way it evolved, James Hurford looks at how the world first came to have a meaning in the minds of animals and how in humans this meaning eventually came to be expressed as language. He reviews a mass of evidence to show how close some animals, especially primates and more especially apes, are to the brink of human language. Apes may not talk to us but they construct rich cognitive representations of the world around them, and here, he shows, are the evolutionary seeds of abstract thought - the means of referring to objects, the memory of events, even elements of the propositional thinking philosophers have hitherto reserved for humans. What then, he asks, is the evolutionary path between the non-speaking minds of apes and our own speaking minds? Why don't apes communicate the richness of their thoughts to each other? Why do humans alone have a unique disposition to reveal their thoughts in complex detail? Professor Hurford searches a wide range of evidence for the answers to these central questions, including degrees of trust, the role of hormones, the ability to read minds, and the willingness to cooperate.
Expressing himself congenially in consistently colloquial language the author builds up a vivid picture of how mind, language, and meaning evolved over millions of years. His book is a landmark contribution to the understanding of linguistic and thinking processes, and the fullest account yet published of the evolution of language and communication.
"A wonderful read - lucid, informative, and entertaining, while at the same time never talking down to the reader by sacrificingargumentation for the sake of 'simplicity'. Likely to be heralded as the major publication dealing with language evolution to date. Frederick J. Newmeyer, University of Washington

Since its publication in 1949, D.O. Hebb's, The Organization of Behavior has been one of the most influential books in the fields of psychology and neuroscience. However, the original edition has been unavailable since 1966, ensuring that Hebb's comment that a classic normally means "cited but not read" is true in his case. This new edition rectifies a long-standing problem for behavioral neuroscientists--the inability to obtain one of the most cited publications in the field. The Organization of Behavior played a significant part in stimulating the investigation of the neural foundations of behavior and continues to be inspiring because it provides a general framework for relating behavior to synaptic organization through the dynamics of neural networks. D.O. Hebb was also the first to examine the mechanisms by which environment and experience can influence brain structure and function, and his ideas formed the basis for work on enriched environments as stimulants for behavioral development. References to Hebb, the Hebbian cell assembly, the Hebb synapse, and the Hebb rule increase each year. These forceful ideas of 1949 are now applied in engineering, robotics, and computer science, as well as neurophysiology, neuroscience, and psychology--a tribute to Hebb's foresight in developing a foundational neuropsychological theory of the organization of behavior.

This book adopts an interdisciplinary approach to investigate the development of mathematical reasoning in both children and adults and to show how understanding the learner's cognitive processes can help teachers develop better strategies to teach mathematics. This contributed volume departs from the interdisciplinary field of psychology of mathematics education and brings together contributions by researchers from different fields and disciplines, such as cognitive psychology, neuroscience and mathematics education. The chapters are presented in the light of the three instances that permeate the entire book: the learner, the teacher, and the teaching and learning process. Some of the chapters analyse the didactic challenges that teachers face in the classroom, such as how to interpret students' reasoning, the use of digital technologies, and their knowledge about mathematics. Other chapters examine students' opinions about mathematics, and others analyse the ways in which students solve situations that involve basic and complex mathematical concepts. The approaches adopted in the description and interpretation of the data obtained in the studies documented in this book point out the limits, the development, and the possibilities of students' thinking, and present didactic and cognitive perspectives to the learning scenarios in different school settings. Mathematical Reasoning of Children and Adults: Teaching and Learning from an Interdisciplinary Perspective will be a valuable resource for both mathematics teachers and researchers studying the development of mathematical reasoning in different fields, such as mathematics education, educational psychology, cognitive psychology, and developmental psychology.

Order affects the results you get: Different orders of presenting material can lead to qualitatively and quantitatively different learning outcomes. These differences occur in both natural and artificial learning systems. In Order to Learn shows how order effects are crucial in human learning, instructional design, machine learning, and both symbolic and connectionist cognitive models. Each chapter explains a different aspect of how the order in which material is presented can strongly influence what is learned by humans and theoretical models of learning in a variety of domains. In addition to data, models are provided that predict and describe order effects and analyze how and when they will occur. The introductory and concluding chapters compile suggestions for improving learning through better sequences of learning materials, including how to take advantage of order effects that encourage learning and how to avoid order effects that discourage learning. Each chapter also highlights questions that may inspire further research. Taken together, these chapters show how order effects in different areas can and do inform each other. In Order to Learn will be of interest to researchers and students in cognitive science, education, machine learning.

This book is the third in a three-volume set that celebrates the career and achievements of Cliff Goddard, a pioneer of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage approach in linguistics. This third volume explores the potential of Minimal English, a recent offshoot of the Natural Semantic Metalanguage, with special reference to its use in Language Teaching and Intercultural Communication. Often considered the most fully developed, comprehensive and practical approach to cross-linguistic and cross-cultural semantics, Natural Semantic Metalanguage is based on evidence that there is a small core of basic, universal meanings (semantic primes) that can be expressed in all languages. It has been used for linguistic and cultural analysis in such diverse fields as semantics, cross-cultural communication, language teaching, humour studies and applied linguistics, and has reached far beyond the boundaries of linguistics into ethnopsychology, anthropology, history, political science, the medical humanities and ethics.

This book shows connections between oral story listening and unique, enduring educational effects in and outside of the classroom. Using scientific studies and interviews, as well as personal observations from more than thirty years in schools and libraries, the authors examine learning outcomes from frequent story listening. Throughout the book, Schatt and Ryan illustrate that experiencing stories told entirely from memory transforms individuals and builds community, affecting areas such as reading comprehension, visualization, focus, flow states, empathy, attachment, and theory of mind.

Human learning is studied in a variety of ways. Motor learning is often studied separately from verbal learning. Studies may delve into anatomy vs function, may view behavioral outcomes or look discretely at the molecular and cellular level of learning. All have merit but they are dispersed across a wide literature and rarely are the findings integrated and synthesized in a meaningful way. Human Learning: Biology, Brain, and Neuroscience synthesizes findings across these levels and types of learning and memory investigation.
Divided into three sections, each section includes a discussion by the editors integrating themes and ideas that emerge across the chapters within each section. Section 1 discusses general topics in human learning and cognition research, including inhibition, short term and long term memory, verbal memory, memory disruption, and scheduling and learning. Section 2 discusses cognitive neuroscience aspects of human learning. Coverage here includes models, skill acquisition, declarative and non declarative memory, age effects on memory, and memory for emotional events. Section 3 focuses on human motor learning.
This book is suitable for cognitive neuroscientists, cognitive psychologists, kinesthesiologists, and graduate courses in learning.
* Synthesizes research from a variety of disciplines, levels, and content areas
* Provides section discussions on common findings between chapters
* Covers motor and verbal learning

This volume contains selected and edited papers from the 7th European Conference on Eye Movements (ECEM 7) held in Durham, UK on August 31-September 3 1993. The volume is organized as follows: - Invited Lectures, Pursuit and Co-Ordination, Saccade and Fixation Control, Oculomotor Physiology, Clinical and Medical Aspects of Eye Movements, Eye Movements and Cognition, Eye Movements and Language and finally, Displays and Applications

Inquiry is becoming more and more an area of interest for educators. This book attempts to explain why math inquiry makes sense, what pieces are required to do math inquiry effectively (the knowledge, skills and dispositions), and then provides a series of day-by-day lesson plans.

This work challenges the current reliance on "The Three R's" or Replacement, Reduction and Refinement which direct most animal research in the behavioral sciences. The author argues that these principles that were developed in the 1950's to guide the use of animals in research studies are outdated. He suggests that the notions of refinement and reduction are often ill-defined and can be useful only in cases where replacement is impossible.

The importance of facial expressions has led to a steadily growing body of empirical findings and theoretical analyses. Every decade has seen work that extends or challenges previous thinking on facial expression. The Science of Facial Expression provides an updated review of the current psychology of facial expression . This book summarizes current conclusions and conceptual frameworks from leading figures who have shaped the field in their various subfields, and will therefore be of interest to practitioners, students, and researchers of emotion in cognitive psychology, neuroscience, biology, anthropology, linguistics, affective computing, and homeland security. Organized in eleven thematic sections, The Science of Facial Expression offers a broad perspective of the "geography" of the science of facial expression. It reviews the scientific history of emotion perception and the evolutionary origins and functions of facial expression. It includes an updated compilation on the great debate around Basic Emotion Theory versus Behavioral Ecology and Psychological constructionism. The developmental psychology and social psychology of facial expressions is explored in the role of facial expressions in child development, social interactions, and culture. The book also covers appraisal theory, concepts, neural and behavioral processes, and lesser-known facial behaviors such as yawing, vocal crying, and vomiting. In addition, the book reflects that research on the "expression of emotion" is moving towards a significance of context in the production and interpretation of facial expression The authors expose various fundamental questions and controversies yet to be resolved, but in doing so, open many sources of inspiration to pursue in the scientific study of facial expression.

Computers have transformed how we think, discuss and learn-as individuals, in groups, within cultures and globally. However, social media are problematic, fostering flaming, culture wars and fake news. This volume presents an alternative paradigm for computer support of group thinking, collaborative learning and joint knowledge construction. This requires expanding concepts of cognition to collectivities, like collaborative groups of networked students. Theoretical Investigations explores the conditions for group cognition, supplying a philosophical foundation for new models of pedagogy and methods to analyze group interaction. Twenty-five self-contained investigations document progress in research on computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL)-both in Stahl's own research and during the first decade of the CSCL journal. The volume begins with two new reflections on the vision and theory that result from this research. Representing both ethnomethodological and social-constructivist research paradigms, the investigations within this volume comprise a selection of seminal and influential articles and critical commentaries that contribute to an understanding of concepts and themes central to the CSCL field. The book elaborates an innovative theory of group cognition and substantiates the pedagogical potential of CSCL. Theoretical Investigations: Philosophical Foundations of Group Cognition is essential as a graduate text for courses in educational theory, instructional design, learning and networked technologies. The investigations will also appeal to researchers and practitioners in those areas.

This book celebrates two triumphs in modern psychology: the successful development and application of a solid measure of general intelligence; and the personal courage and skills of the man who made this possible - Arthur R. Jensen from Berkeley University.
The volume traces the history of intelligence from the early 19th century approaches, to the most recent analyses of the hierarchical structure of cognitive abilities, and documents the transition from a hopelessly confused concept of intelligence to the development of an objective measure of psychometric g. The contributions illustrate the impressive power g has with respect to predicting educational achievement, getting an attractive job, or social stratification.
The book is divided into six parts as follows: Part I presents the most recent higher-stream analysis of cognitive abilities, Part II deals with biological aspects of g, such as research on brain imaging, glucose uptake, working memory, reaction time, inspection time, and other biological correlates, and concludes with the latest findings in g-related molecular genetics. Part III addresses demographic aspects of g, such as geographic-, race-, and sex-differences, and introduces differential psychological aspects as well. Part IV concentrates on the g nexus, and relates such highly diverse topics as sociology, genius, retardation, training, education, jobs, and crime to g. Part V contains chapters critical of research on g and its genetic relationship, and also presents a rejoinder. Part VI looks at one of the greatest contemporary psychologists, Professor Emeritus Arthur R. Jensen as teacher and mentor.

This book discusses the development of Edward Tolman's purposive behaviourism from the 1920s to the 1950s, highlighting the tension between his references to cognitive processes and the dominant behaviourist trends. It shows how Tolman incorporated concepts from European scholars, including Egon Brunswik and the Gestalt psychologists, to justify a more purposive form of behaviourism and how the theory evolved in response to the criticisms of his contemporaries. The manuscript also discusses Tolman's political activities, culminating in his role in the California loyalty oath controversy in the 1950s. Tolman was involved in a number of progressive causes during his lifetime, activities that drew the attention of both state legislators in California and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It treats Tolman's theoretical and political activities as emanating from the same source, a desire to understand the learning process in a scientific manner and to apply these concepts to improve the human condition.

How are causal judgements such as 'The ice on the road caused the traffic accident' connected with counterfactual judgements such as 'If there had not been any ice on the road, the traffic accident would not have happened'? This volume throws new light on this question by uniting, for the first time, psychological and philosophical approaches to causation and counterfactuals. Traditionally, philosophers have primarily been interested in connections between causal and counterfactual claims on the level of meaning or truth-conditions. More recently, however, they have also increasingly turned their attention to psychological connections between causal and counterfactual understanding or reasoning. At the same time, there has been a surge in interest in empirical work on causal and counterfactual cognition amongst developmental, cognitive, and social psychologists--much of it inspired by work in philosophy. In this volume, twelve original contributions from leading philosophers and psychologists explore in detail what bearing empirical findings might have on philosophical concerns about counterfactuals and causation, and how, in turn, work in philosophy might help clarify the issues at stake in empirical work on the cognitive underpinnings of, and relationships between, causal and counterfactual thought.

This book explores a range of theories used to explain the phenomenon of innovation and learning in individual thought, organizations, industries, and economies. The author draws on insights and perspectives from management and organization studies, economics, and cognitive science, bringing these together in a unifying framework for an analysis of innovation systems and the management of learning.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PHYSICS WORLD BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 'One of the deepest and most original thinkers of his generation of cognitive scientists. His startling argument has implications for philosophy, science, and how we understand the world around us' Steven Pinker 'Is reality virtual? It's a question made even more interesting by this book' Barbara Kiser, Nature Do we see the world as it truly is? In The Case Against Reality, pioneering cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman says no? we see what we need in order to survive. Our visual perceptions are not a window onto reality, Hoffman shows us, but instead are interfaces constructed by natural selection. The objects we see around us are not unlike the file icons on our computer desktops: while shaped like a small folder on our screens, the files themselves are made of a series of ones and zeros - too complex for most of us to understand. In a similar way, Hoffman argues, evolution has shaped our perceptions into simplistic illusions to help us navigate the world around us. Yet now these illusions can be manipulated by advertising and design. Drawing on thirty years of Hoffman's own influential research, as well as evolutionary biology, game theory, neuroscience, and philosophy, The Case Against Reality makes the mind-bending yet utterly convincing case that the world is nothing like what we see through our eyes.

People are captivated by observations of skilled human behavior in arenas such as sports, arts, and dance. Methods to advance the skills of novices have been created since the earliest days of humankind. Recent scientific progress in understanding learning processes have led Tomporowski to conclude that skilled behavior reflects a dynamic interaction among physiological structures of the body, cognitive processes of the mind, and the motivational processes of the human spirit. This multidisciplinary approach describes how skills are learned and performed, as well as why skills are critical to the survival of individuals and the cultures in which they live.

Skill learning is evaluated in the context of theories of life-span psychology and the notion that humans are confronted with a series of tasks as they develop, mature, and age. People's ability to meet and overcome challenges presented by these developmental tasks depends on requisite skills that are acquired over years of training. Success or failure can profoundly affect an individual's life path trajectory. The skills we learn at various periods across the life span play a role in how we view ourselves and our society in general.

Grounded in research, Vibrant Learning, focuses on language-rich, literacy-based, collaborative classrooms as the foundation for transforming content area learning. The authors emphasize three areas: (1) strategies to support student understanding of concepts, (2) ideas to encourage student engagement, and (3) creating a lively and respectful classroom environment to foster an integrative approach to learning. Knowledgeable teachers with a repertoire of effective instructional strategies make genuine learning possible. With that in mind, this book presents a solid theoretical background and a set of practical tools in each of its chapters, ranging from assessment, compression, vocabulary, motivation, to integration for the content area teacher.