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Books > Social sciences > Psychology > Philosophy & theory of psychology > Cognitive theory
'The question for me is how can the human mind occur in the
physical universe. We now know that the world is governed by
physics. We now understand the way biology nestles comfortably
within that. The issue is how will the mind do that as well.'
Ward Edwards is well known as the father of behavioral decision
making. In his 1954 Psychological Bulletin paper on decision
making, he brought psychological ideas into what had been the
province of economists. His influence in this realm is so pervasive
that the Nobel committee was able to trace a direct path from
Edwards's work to Daniel Kahneman's 2002 Prize for prospect theory.
In a 1963 Psychological Review paper, Edwards brought Bayesian
statistics to the attention of psychologists, who have continued to
proliferate Bayesian ideas, underscoring the importance of the
perspective. In a 1962 IEEE paper, Edwards foresaw how the world of
intelligence gathering and analysis could by transformed by systems
in which humans provided (subjective) probabilities and machines
provided computational power. He also showed, in a 1986 book
written with Detlof von Winterfeldt, how multiattribute utility
analysis could help real-world decision makers generate
satisfactory solutions to complex problems.
This important contribution to the Minimalist Program offers a
comprehensive theory of locality and new insights into phrase
structure and syntactic cartography. It unifies central components
of the grammar and increases the symmetry in syntax. Its central
hypothesis has broad empirical application and at the same time
reinforces the central premise of minimalism that language is an
optimal system.
This book scrutinizes recent work in phonological theory from the
perspective of Chomskyan generative linguistics and argues that
progress in the field depends on taking seriously the idea that
phonology is best studied as a mental computational system derived
from an innate base, phonological Universal Grammar. Two simple
problems of phonological analysis provide a frame for a variety of
topics throughout the book. The competence-performance distinction
and markedness theory are both addressed in some detail, especially
with reference to phonological acquisition. Several aspects of
Optimality Theory, including the use of Output-Output
Correspondence, functionalist argumentation and dependence on
typological justification are critiqued. The authors draw on their
expertise in historical linguistics to argue that diachronic
evidence is often mis-used to bolster phonological arguments, and
they present a vision of the proper use of such evidence. Issues of
general interest for cognitive scientists, such as whether
categories are discrete and whether mental computation is
probabilistic are also addressed. The book ends with concrete
proposals to guide future phonological research.
This is the first exhaustive investigation of gradience in syntax,
conceived of as grammatical indeterminacy. It looks at gradience in
English word classes, phrases, clauses and constructions, and
examines how it may be defined and differentiated. Professor Aarts
addresses the tension between linguistic concepts and the
continuous phenomena they describe by testing and categorizing
grammatical vagueness and indeterminacy. He considers to what
extent gradience is a grammatical phenomenon or a by-product of
imperfect linguistic description, and makes a series of linked
proposals for its theoretical formalization.
Brain and behaviour are intrinsically linked. Animals demonstrate a huge and complex repertoire of behaviours, so how can specific behaviours be mapped onto the complicated neural circuits of the brain? Highlighting the extraordinary advances that have been made in the field of behavioural neuroscience over recent decades, this book examines how behaviours can be understood in terms of their neural mechanisms. Each chapter outlines the components of a particular behaviour, discussing laboratory techniques, the key brain structures involved, and the underpinning cellular and molecular mechanisms. Commins covers a range of topics including learning in a simple invertebrate, fear conditioning, taste aversion, sound localization, and echolocation in bats, as well as more complex behaviours, such as language development, spatial navigation and circadian rhythms. Demonstrating key processes through clear, step-by-step explanations and numerous illustrations, this will be valuable reading for students of zoology, animal behaviour, psychology, and neuroscience.
Psychology of Learning and Motivation, Volume 66, the latest release in this longstanding series publishes empirical and theoretical contributions in cognitive and experimental psychology, ranging from classical and instrumental conditioning, to complex learning and problem-solving. Each chapter thoughtfully integrates the writings of leading contributors who present and discuss significant bodies of research relevant to their discipline. Volume 66 includes chapters on such varied topics as prospective memory, metacognitive information processing, basic memory processes during reading, working memory capacity, attention, perception and memory, short-term memory, language processing, and causal reasoning.
WINNER OF THE 2014 BRAIN PRIZE From the acclaimed author of Reading in the Brain and How We Learn, a breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before. In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries. A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying consciousness.
An accessible introduction to the history, fundamental concepts, challenges, and controversies of the fMRI by one of the pioneers in the field. The discovery of functional MRI (fMRI) methodology in 1991 was a breakthrough in neuroscience research. This non-invasive, relatively high-speed, and high sensitivity method of mapping human brain activity enabled observation of subtle localized changes in blood flow associated with brain activity. Thousands of scientists around the world have not only embraced fMRI as a new and powerful method that complemented their ongoing studies but have also gone on to redirect their research around this revolutionary technique. This volume in the MIT Press Essential Knowledge series offers an accessible introduction to the history, fundamental concepts, challenges, and controversies of fMRI, written by one of the pioneers in the field. Peter Bandettini covers the essentials of fMRI, providing insight and perspective from his nearly three decades of research. He describes other brain imaging and assessment methods; the sources of fMRI contrasts; the basic methodology, from hardware to pulse sequences; brain activation experiment design strategies; and data and image processing. A unique, standalone chapter addresses major controversies in the field, outlining twenty-six challenges that have helped shape fMRI research. Finally, Bandettini lays out the four essential pillars of fMRI: technology, methodology, interpretation, and applications. The book can serve as a guide for the curious nonexpert and a reference for both veteran and novice fMRI scientists.
Hume? Yes, David Hume, that's who Jerry Fodor looks to for help in advancing our understanding of the mind. Fodor claims his Treatise of Human Nature as the foundational document of cognitive science: it launched the project of constructing an empirical psychology on the basis of a representational theory of mind. Going back to this work after more than 250 years we find that Hume is remarkably perceptive about the components and structure that a theory of mind requires. Careful study of the Treatise helps us to see what's amiss with much twentieth-century philosophy of mind, and to get on the right track. Hume says in the Treatise that his main project is to construct a theory of human nature and, in particular, a theory of the mind. Hume Variations examines his account of cognition and how it is grounded in his 'theory of ideas'. Fodor discusses such key topics as the distinction between 'simple' and 'complex' ideas, the thesis that an idea is some kind of picture, and the roles that 'association' and 'imagination' play in cognitive processes. He argues that the theory of ideas, as Hume develops it, is both historically and ideologically continuous with the representational theory of mind as it is now widely endorsed by cognitive scientists. This view of Hume is explicitly opposed to recent discussions by critics who hold that the theory of ideas is the Achilles heel of his philosophy and that he would surely have abandoned it if only he had read Wittgenstein carefully. You don't have to know much about Hume to enjoy this inventively argued, provocative, and stimulating defence of the representational theory of mind-which is looking increasingly hard to resist. LINES OF THOUGHT Philosophy books don't need to be hundreds of pages long to make a substantial contribution to the subject. This new series presents original works by leading philosophers at an affordable price and a readable length. Series Editors Peter Ludlow (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Scott Sturgeon (Birkbeck College, London)
Rationality: Contexts and Constraints is an interdisciplinary reappraisal of the nature of rationality. In method, it is pluralistic, drawing upon the analytic approaches of philosophy, linguistics, neuroscience, and more. These methods guide exploration of the intersection between traditional scholarship and cutting-edge philosophical or scientific research. In this way, the book contributes to development of a suitably revised, comprehensive understanding of rationality, one that befits the 21st century, one that is adequately informed by recent investigations of science, pathology, non-human thought, emotion, and even enigmatic Chinese texts that might previously have seemed to be expressions of irrationalism.
Learn how to make real, lasting changes in your life We all have bad habits - whether it's a weakness for junk food, a smartphone addiction or a lack of exercise. But change is hard. Forty percent of dieters quit within a week. Eighty percent of New Year's resolutions don't last beyond January. How can we kick bad habits - and stick with it? According to psychologist and behaviour researcher Dr Sean Young, the answer is to stop trying to change the person, and instead change the process. In Stick With It, Dr Young draws on his own research and that of other leading experts to explain how the mind often interferes with breaking bad habits, and how we can outsmart it, increasing the likelihood of lasting change by 200%. Packed with practical exercises and real-life case studies, Stick With It shows that it is possible to control spending, stick to a diet, exercise regularly and overcome problem behaviours - forever. 'Scientifically grounded and personally implementable. It's a winner' - Robert Cialdini, author of Influence and Pre-Suasion 'A must-read for anyone who's been unable to keep a New Year's resolution or failed at making a lasting change in any other area of their life or work. - Jonah Berger, author of Contagious Dr Sean Young is one of the world's leading experts in the field of habit-forming. He is an acclaiedpsychologist and the founder and Executive Director of the UCLA Center for Digital Behavior. His research involves the study of cutting-edge ways of using social media and mobile technologies to change and predict human behaviour.
A new field of collective intelligence has emerged in the last few years, prompted by a wave of digital technologies that make it possible for organizations and societies to think at large scale. This "bigger mind"--human and machine capabilities working together--has the potential to solve the great challenges of our time. So why do smart technologies not automatically lead to smart results? Gathering insights from diverse fields, including philosophy, computer science, and biology, Big Mind reveals how collective intelligence can guide corporations, governments, universities, and societies to make the most of human brains and digital technologies. Geoff Mulgan explores how collective intelligence has to be consciously organized and orchestrated in order to harness its powers. He looks at recent experiments mobilizing millions of people to solve problems, and at groundbreaking technology like Google Maps and Dove satellites. He also considers why organizations full of smart people and machines can make foolish mistakes--from investment banks losing billions to intelligence agencies misjudging geopolitical events--and shows how to avoid them. Highlighting differences between environments that stimulate intelligence and those that blunt it, Mulgan shows how human and machine intelligence could solve challenges in business, climate change, democracy, and public health. But for that to happen we'll need radically new professions, institutions, and ways of thinking. Informed by the latest work on data, web platforms, and artificial intelligence, Big Mind shows how collective intelligence could help us survive and thrive.
Philosophers since Aristotle have explored emotion, so the new emphasis on emotion in Anglo-American philosophy is the rediscovery of a discipline that is very old and has always been essential to the "love of wisdom." Today, it has become evident to most philosophers that emotions are ripe for philosophical analysis, a view supported by a considerable number of excellent publications. Emotions have now become mainstream. In this volume, I have tried to bring together some of the best Anglo-American philosophers now writing on the philosophy of emotion. I have solicited chapters from those philosophers who have already distinguished themselves in the field of emotion research and have interdisciplinary interests, particularly in the social sciences. It is impossible to study the emotions today without engaging with contemporary psychology and the neurosciences. Philosophy has always been (in its own mind, at least) "the queen of the sciences." Thus the essays included here should appeal to a broad spectrum of emotion researchers as well as philosophers interested or at least curious about their emotions. Topics include Emotions, Physiology, Intentionality, Emotion, Appraisal, and Cognition, Emotions and Feelings, Emotions, and Rationality, Emotions, Action, and Freedom, Emotion and Value, On Theories of Emotion. The contributors include Annette Baier, Aaron Ben-Zeev, Purushottama Bilimoria, Cheshire Calhoun, John Deigh, Ronald De Sousa, Jon Elster, Peter Goldie, Pat Greenspan, Paul Griffiths, Jerry Neu, Martha Nussbaum, Jesse Prinz, Jenefer Robinson, Amelie Rorty, Robert C. Solomon, Michael Stocker, ,
Humans, like other primates, are intensely social creatures. One of the major functions of our brains must be to enable us to be as skilful in social interactions as we are in our interactions with the physical world (e.g. recognising objects and grasping them). Furthermore, any differences between human brains and those of our nearest relatives, the great apes, are likely to be linked to our unique achievements in social interaction and communication rather than our motor or perceptual skills. Unique to humans is the ability to mentalise (or mind read), that is to perceive and communicate mental states, such as beliefs and desires. A key problem facing science is to uncover the biological mechanisms underlying our ability to read other minds and to show how these mechanisms evolved. To solve this problem we need to do experiments in which people (or animals) interact with one another rather than behaving in isolation. Such experiments are now being conducted in increasing numbers and many of the leading exponents of such experiments have contributed to this volume. 'The Neuroscience of Social Interactions' will be an important step in uncovering the biological mechanisms underlying social interactions - undoubtedly one of the major programmes for neuroscience in the 21st century.
Left-handedness has been connected to many different conditions, traits, and abilities. This is especially true for pathological syndromes, such as schizophrenia, along with learning disabilities and autism. The published research on handedness is vast and frequently contradictory, often raising more questions than providing answers. Questions such as: Is handedness genetic? Can handedness be changed? Are there consequences to training someone to switch handedness? Are there positive traits associated with left-handedness like creativity? Are there negative traits associated with left-handedness like trouble reading maps? Is it abnormal to do some things right-handed and other things left-handed? Are the brains of left-handers different from the brains of right-handers? Laterality: Exploring the Enigma of Left-Handedness examines the research conducted over the past 50 years with special emphasis on twenty-first century research on handedness and translates this literature into an accessible and readable form. Each chapter is based on a question or questions covering diverse topics such as genetic and biological origins of handedness, familial and hormonal influences on handedness, and the effects of a majority right-handed world on the behaviors of left-handers.
Music offers a unique opportunity to better understand the organization of the human brain. Like language, music exists in all human societies. Like language, music is a complex, rule-governed activity that seems specific to humans, and associated with a specific brain architecture. Yet unlike most other high-level functions of the human brain--and unlike language--music is a skil at which only a minority of people become proficient. The study of music as a major brain function has for some time been relatively neglected. Just recently, however, we have witnessed an explosion in research activities on music perception and performance that correlates in the human brain. This volume brings together an outstanding collection of international authorities--from the fields of music, neuroscience, psychology, and neurology--to describe the amazing advances being made in understanding the complex relationship between music and the brain.
The controversial science that claims to have revolutionised economics. For centuries, economics was dominated by the idea that we are rational individuals who optimise our own 'utility'. Then, in the 1970s, psychologists demonstrated that the reality is a lot messier. We don't really know what our utility is, and we care about people other than ourselves. We are susceptible to external nudges. And far from being perfectly rational we are prone to 'cognitive biases' with complex effects on decision-making, such as forgetting to prepare for retirement. David Orrell explores the findings from psychology and neuroscience that are shaking up economics - and that are being exploited by policy-makers and marketers alike, to shape everything from how we shop for food, to how we tackle societal happiness or climate change. Finally, he asks: is behavioural economics a scientific revolution, or just a scientific form of marketing?
Agency has two meanings in psychology and neuroscience. It can refer to one's capacity to affect the world and act in line with one's goals and desires-this is the objective aspect of agency. But agency can also refer to the subjective experience of controlling one's actions, or how it feels to achieve one's goals or affect the world. This subjective aspect is known as the sense of agency, and it is an important part of what makes us human. Interest in the sense of agency has exploded since the early 2000s, largely because scientists have learned that it can be studied objectively through analyses of human judgment, behavior, and the brain. This book brings together some of the world's leading researchers to give structure to this nascent but rapidly growing field. The contributors address questions such as: What role does agency play in the sense of self? Is agency based on predicting outcomes of actions? And what are the links between agency and motivation? Recent work on the sense of agency has been markedly interdisciplinary. The chapters collected here combine ideas and methods from fields as diverse as engineering, psychology, neurology, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind, making the book a valuable resource for any student or researcher interested in action, volition, and exploring how mind and brain are organized.
Current primate research has yielded stunning results that not only threaten our underlying assumptions about the cognitive and communicative abilities of nonhuman primates, but also bring into question what it means to be human. At the forefront of this research, Sue Savage-Rumbaugh recently has achieved a scientific breakthrough of impressive proportions. Her work with Kanzi, a laboratory-reared bonobo, has led to Kanzi's acquisition of linguistic and cognitive skills similar to those of a two and a half year-old human child. Apes, Language, and the Human Mind skillfully combines a fascinating narrative of the Kanzi research with incisive critical analysis of the research's broader linguistic, psychological, and anthropological implications. The first part of the book provides a detailed, personal account of Kanzi's infancy, youth, and upbringing, while the second part addresses the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological issues raised by the Kanzi research. The authors discuss the challenge to the foundations of modern cognitive science presented by the Kanzi research; the methods by which we represent and evaluate the abilities of both primates and humans; and the implications which ape language research has for the study of the evolution of human language. Sure to be controversial, this exciting new volume offers a radical revision of the sciences of language and mind, and will be important reading for all those working in the fields of primatology, anthropology, linguistics, philosophy of mind, and cognitive and developmental psychology.
This volume showcases cutting-edge scholarship from The Big
Questions in Free Will project, funded by a grant from the John
Templeton Foundation and directed by Alfred R. Mele. It explores
the subject of free will from the perspectives of neuroscience;
social, cognitive, and developmental psychology; and philosophy
(both traditional and experimental).
The role of the prefrontal cortex is one of the most topical and important areas of research in contemporary neuropsychology. This cortical region appears to be linked with executive processes affecting many diverse areas of cognitive function. Working memory, information processing, behavioural organization, attention, judgement, and the ability to cope with novel experiences are just some of the diverse processes it affects. This book brings together contributions from some of the world's leading researchers on the prefrontal cortex. They discuss the many recent theoretical and technical advances in the field - for example in our understanding of the neural architecture of the prefrontal cortex, in the development of comparable texts of cognition in humans and other primates, in our understanding of the relationships between neuronal activity and behaviour, and in the increasing use of functional neuroimaging to identify different levels of organization within the prefrontal cortex. These important developments make this an ideal time to address the many questions and debates that have arisen about the role and functional organization of this area of the brain. One of the first books to be written on the subject, The Prefrontal Cortex is a state-of-the-art account of our knowledge of this exciting subject. It will be welcomed by all researchers and students in neuro- and cognitive psychology, and neuroscience.
Through Our Eyes Only? is an immensely engaging exploration of one of the greatest remaining biological mysteries: the possibility of conscious experiences in non-human animals. Dawkins argues that the idea of consciousness in other species has now progressed from a vague possibility to a plausible, scientifically respectable view. Written in an accessible and entertaining style, this book aims to show how near -- and how far -- we are to understanding what goes on in the minds of other animals. 'Her approach ... is impeccable ... Her writing is highly accessible, lively and illustrative.' - Booklist on the hardback edition.
How do we define compassion? Is it an emotional state, a motivation, a dispositional trait, or a cultivated attitude? How does it compare to altruism and empathy? Chapters in this Handbook present critical scientific evidence about compassion in numerous conceptions. All of these approaches to thinking about compassion are valid and contribute importantly to understanding how we respond to others who are suffering. Covering multiple levels of our lives and self-concept, from the individual, to the group, to the organization and culture, The Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science gathers evidence and models of compassion that treat the subject of compassion science with careful scientific scrutiny and concern. It explores the motivators of compassion, the effect on physiology, the co-occurrence of wellbeing, and compassion training interventions. Sectioned by thematic approaches, it pulls together basic and clinical research ranging across neurobiological, developmental, evolutionary, social, clinical, and applied areas in psychology such as business and education. In this sense, it comprises one of the first multidisciplinary and systematic approaches to examining compassion from multiple perspectives and frames of reference. With contributions from well-established scholars as well as young rising stars in the field, this Handbook bridges a wide variety of diverse perspectives, research methodologies, and theory, and provides a foundation for this new and rapidly growing field. It should be of great value to the new generation of basic and applied researchers examining compassion, and serve as a catalyst for academic researchers and students to support and develop the modern world.
This book provides state-of-the-art coverage of research in
laboratory phonology, an interdisciplinary research perspective
which brings a wide range of experimental and analytic tools to
bear on the central questions of how knowledge of spoken language
is structured, learned, and used. The book presents works
illustrating how laboratory phonology is practiced and highlights
promising areas of current research. |
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