Up to the 1960s, psychology was deeply under the influence of
behaviourism, which focused on stimuli and responses, and regarded
consideration of what may happen in the mind as unapproachable
scientifically. This began to change with the devising of methods
to try to tap into what was going on in the 'black box' of the
mind, and the development of 'cognitive psychology'. With the study
of patients who had suffered brain damage or injury to limited
parts of the brain, outlines of brain components and processes
began to take shape, and by the end of the 1970s, a new science,
cognitive neuroscience, was born. But it was with the development
of ways of accessing activation of the working brain using imaging
techniques such as PET and fMRI that cognitive neuroscience came
into its own, as a science cutting across psychology and
neuroscience, with strong connections to philosophy of mind.
Experiments involving subjects in scanners while doing various
tasks, thinking, problem solving, and remembering are shedding
light on the brain processes involved. The research is exciting and
new, and often makes media headlines. But there is much
misunderstanding about what brain imaging tells us, and the
interpretation of studies on cognition. In this Very Short
Introduction Richard Passingham, a distinguished cognitive
neuroscientist, gives a provocative and exciting account of the
nature and scope of this relatively new field, and the techniques
available to us, focusing on investigation of the human brain. He
explains what brain imaging shows, pointing out common
misconceptions, and gives a brief overview of the different aspects
of human cognition: perceiving, attending, remembering, reasoning,
deciding, and acting. Passingham concludes with a discussion of the
exciting advances that may lie ahead. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very
Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains
hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized
books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly.
Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas,
and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly
readable.
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