Cognition and cognitive psychology Books

Book SynopsisOne of the most influential books of the 21st century: the ground-breaking psychology classic - over 10 million copies sold - that changed the way we think about thinking''There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Thinking, Fast and Slow'' Financial Times''A lifetime''s worth of wisdom'' Steven D. Levitt, co-author of FreakonomicsWhy do we make the decisions we do? Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman revolutionised our understanding of human behaviour with Thinking, Fast and Slow. Distilling his life''s work, Kahneman showed that there are two ways we make choices: fast, intuitive thinking, and slow, rational thinking. His book reveals how our minds are tripped up by error, bias and prejudice (even when we think we are being logical) and gives practical techniques that enable us all to improve our decision-making. This profound exploration of the marvels and limitations of the human mind has had a lasting impact on how we see ourselves.''The godfather of behavioural science ... his steely analysis of the human mind and its many flaws remains perhaps the most useful guide to remaining sane and steady'' Sunday TimesTrade ReviewThe godfather of behavioural science . . . Kahneman's steely analysis of the human mind and its many flaws remains perhaps the most useful guide to remaining sane and steady -- Josh Glancy * The Sunday Times *There have been many good books on human rationality and irrationality, but only one masterpiece. That masterpiece is Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow.Kahneman, a winner of the Nobel Prize for economics, distils a lifetime of research into an encyclopedic coverage of both the surprising miracles and the equally surprising mistakes of our conscious and unconscious thinking. He achieves an even greater miracle by weaving his insights into an engaging narrative that is compulsively readable from beginning to end. My main problem in doing this review was preventing family members and friends from stealing my copy of the book to read it for themselves...this is one of the greatest and most engaging collections of insights into the human mind I have read -- William Easterly * Financial Times *Absorbing, intriguing...By making us aware of our minds' tricks, Kahneman hopes to inspire individuals and organisations to identify strategies to outwit them -- Jenni Russell * Sunday Times *Profound . . . As Copernicus removed the Earth from the centre of the universe and Darwin knocked humans off their biological perch, Mr. Kahneman has shown that we are not the paragons of reason we assume ourselves to be * The Economist *[Thinking, Fast and Slow] is wonderful, of course. To anyone with the slightest interest in the workings of his own mind, it is so rich and fascinating that any summary would seem absurd -- Michael Lewis * Vanity Fair *It is an astonishingly rich book: lucid, profound, full of intellectual surprises and self-help value. It is consistently entertaining and frequently touching, especially when Kahneman is recounting his collaboration with Tversky . . . So impressive is its vision of flawed human reason that the New York Times columnist David Brooks recently declared that Kahneman and Tversky's work 'will be remembered hundreds of years from now,' and that it is 'a crucial pivot point in the way we see ourselves.' They are, Brooks said, 'like the Lewis and Clark of the mind' . . . By the time I got to the end of Thinking, Fast and Slow, my skeptical frown had long since given way to a grin of intellectual satisfaction. Appraising the book by the peak-end rule, I overconfidently urge everyone to buy and read it. But for those who are merely interested in Kahenman's takeaway on the Malcolm Gladwell question it is this: If you've had 10,000 hours of training in a predictable, rapid-feedback environment-chess, firefighting, anesthesiology-then blink. In all other cases, think * The New York Times Book Review *[Kahneman's] disarmingly simple experiments have profoundly changed the way that we think about thinking . . . We like to see ourselves as a Promethean species, uniquely endowed with the gift of reason. But Mr. Kahneman's simple experiments reveal a very different mind, stuffed full of habits that, in most situations, lead us astray -- Jonah Lehrer * The Wall Street Journal *This is a landmark book in social thought, in the same league as The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith and The Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of 'The Black Swan'Daniel Kahneman is among the most influential psychologists in history and certainly the most important psychologist alive today...The appearance of Thinking, Fast and Slow is a major event -- Steven Pinker, author of * The Language Instinct *Daniel Kahneman is one of the most original and interesting thinkers of our time. There may be no other person on the planet who better understands how and why we make the choices we make. In this absolutely amazing book, he shares a lifetime's worth of wisdom presented in a manner that is simple and engaging, but nonetheless stunningly profound. This book is a must read for anyone with a curious mind -- Steven D. Levitt, co-author of 'Freakonomics'This book is a tour de force by an intellectual giant; it is readable, wise, and deep. Buy it fast. Read it slowly and repeatedly. It will change the way you think, on the job, about the world, and in your own life -- Richard Thaler, co-author of 'Nudge'[A] tour de force of psychological insight, research explication and compelling narrative that brings together in one volume the high points of Mr. Kahneman's notable contributions, over five decades, to the study of human judgment, decision-making and choice . . . Thanks to the elegance and force of his ideas, and the robustness of the evidence he offers for them, he has helped us to a new understanding of our divided minds-and our whole selves -- Christoper F. Chabris * The Wall Street Journal *Thinking, Fast and Slow is a masterpiece - a brilliant and engaging intellectual saga by one of the greatest psychologists and deepest thinkers of our time. Kahneman should be parking a Pulitzer next to his Nobel Prize -- Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, author of 'Stumbling on Happiness', host of the award-winning PBS television series 'This Emotional Life'A major intellectual event . . . The work of Kahneman and Tversky was a crucial pivot point in the way we see ourselves -- David Brooks * The New York Times *Kahneman provides a detailed, yet accessible, description of the psychological mechanisms involved in making decisions -- Jacek Debiec * Nature *This book is one of the few that must be counted as mandatory reading for anyone interested in the Internet, even though it doesn't claim to be about that. Before computer networking got cheap and ubiquitous, the sheer inefficiency of communication dampened the effects of the quirks of human psychology on macro scale events. No more. We must now confront how we really are in order to make sense of our world and not screw it up. Daniel Kahneman has discovered a path to make it possible -- Jaron Lanier, author of You Are Not a GadgetFor anyone interested in economics, cognitive science, psychology, and, in short, human behavior, this is the book of the year. Before Malcolm Gladwell and Freakonomics, there was Daniel Kahneman who invented the field of behavior economics, won a Nobel...and now explains how we think and make choices. Here's an easy choice: read this * The Daily Beast *I will never think about thinking quite the same. [Thinking, Fast and Slow] is a monumental achievement -- Roger Lowenstein * Bloomberg/Businessweek *A terrific unpicking of human rationality and irrationality - could hardly have been published at a better moment. Kahnemann is the godfather of behavioural economics, and this distillation of a lifetime's thinking about why we make bad decisions - about everything from money to love - is full of brilliant anecdote and wisdom. It is Kahnemann's belief that anyone who thinks they know exactly what is going on hasn't understood the question; as such it's the perfect gift for opinionated family members everywhere. -- Tim Adams * Observer Books of the Year *The book I most want to be given is Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I'm a speedy thinker myself, so am hoping to be endorsed in that practice. -- Sally Vickers * Observer Books of the Year *In this comprehensive presentation of a life's work, the world's most influential psychologist demonstrates that irrationality is in our bones, and we are not necessarily the worse for it -- 10 Best Books of 2011 * New York Times *Selected by the New York Times as one of the 100 Notable Books of 2011 * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLERA monumental, gripping book Outstanding' SUNDAY TIMESNoise may be the most important book I''ve read in more than a decade. A genuinely new idea soexceedingly important you will immediately put it into practice. A masterpiece'Angela Duckworth, author of GritAn absolutely brilliant investigation of a massive societal problem that has been hiding in plain sight'Steven Levitt, co-author of FreakonomicsFrom the world-leaders in strategic thinking and the multi-million copy bestselling authors of Thinking Fast and Slow and Nudge, the next big book to change the way you think. We like to think we make decisions based on good reasoning and that our doctors, judges, politicians, economic forecasters and employers do too. In this groundbreaking book, three world-leading behavioural scientists come together to assess the last great fault in our collective decision-making: noise.We all make bad judgements more than we think. Noise shows us what we can do to make bettTrade Review The Sunday Times bestseller (May 2021) ‘A tour de force of scholarship and clear writing’New York Times ‘This is a monumental, gripping book. It is also bracing … The three authors have transformed the way we think about the world. They have looked beneath and beyond the way we make decisions and organise our lives. A follow-up of sorts to Thinking, Fast and Slow, it is a further step down the road towards a more complex and realistic grasp of human affairs that is replacing the crude simplifications of the recent past. Outstanding’Sunday Times ‘As you’d expect from its authors, it is a rigorous approach to an important topic… There’s lots to surprise and entertain. Anyone who has found the literature on cognitive biases important will find this a valuable addition to their knowledge’ Danny Finkelstein, The Times ‘Noise is everywhere and is seriously disruptive. The authors have come up with a bold solution. The book is a satisfying journey through a big but not unsolvable problem, with plenty of fascinating case studies along the way. Humans are often bad at making decisions. But we can get better’Martha Gill, Evening Standard ‘The greatest source of ineffective policies are often not biases, corruption or ill-will, but three “I”: Intuition, Ignorance and Inertia. This book masterfully demonstrates why the three “I” are so pervasive, and what we can do to fight them. An essential, eye opening read’Esther Duflo, winner of a 2019 Nobel Prize ‘In Noise, the authors brilliantly apply their unique and novel insights into the flaws in human judgment to every sphere of human endeavour… Noise is a masterful achievement and a landmark in the field of psychology’Philip E. Tetlock, co-author of Superforecasting ‘An electrifying exploration of the human mind, this book will permanently change the way we think about the scale and scope of bias’David Lammy

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating and useful'', Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of The Code Breaker and Leonardo da Vinci''Upbeat'', The Wall Street JournalRacking your brain? Drawing a blank? Maybe it's not such a bad thingUntil recently, it was largely believed that forgetting served no purpose. Besides causing slight frustration, the odd slip of the mind was thought of as an inevitable but harmless defect in the brain's functionality.But new research in psychology, neurobiology, and computer science tells a different story. Forgetting is not a failure of our minds, nor is it a benign glitch it is, in fact, good for us, and is a required function for our minds to work best. As annoying as a lapse can be, it's precisely this that opens up our minds to making better decisions, experiencing joy, and flourishing artistically.Through case studies, personal anecdotes, and scientific explanations, Professor Scott A. Small challenges the conventional wisdom that memory retention is always beneficial. He provides a comprehensive look at the benefits that forgetting can bring to our cognitive and creative abilities, emotional well-being, and even our wider societal health.So the next time you forget where you left your keys, remember that a little forgetting does a lot of good.

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Book SynopsisBBC R4 Book of the WeekBrilliant' GuardianFascinating and often delightful' The TimesWhat if intelligent life on Earth evolved not once, but twice? The octopus is the closest we will come to meeting an intelligent alien. What can we learn from the encounter?In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a distinguished philosopher of science and a skilled scuba diver, tells a bold new story of how nature became aware of itself a story that largely occurs in the ocean, where animals first appeared.Tracking the mind's fitful development from unruly clumps of seaborne cells to the first evolved nervous systems in ancient relatives of jellyfish, he explores the incredible evolutionary journey of the cephalopods, which began as inconspicuous molluscs who would later abandon their shells to rise above the ocean floor, searching for prey and acquiring the greater intelligence needed to do so a journey completely independent from the route that mammals and birds would later take.But what kind of intelligence do cephalopods possess? How did the octopus, a solitary creature with little social life, become so smart? What is it like to have eight tentacles that are so packed with neurons that they virtually think for themselves'? By tracing the question of inner life back to its roots and comparing human beings with our most remarkable animal relatives, Godfrey-Smith casts crucial new light on the octopus mind and on our own.Trade ReviewPraise for Other Minds: ‘Entrancing and profound’ Financial Times ‘A superb, coruscating book’ Literary Review ‘Startlingly incisive … refreshing guidance’ New York Times ‘The beauty of Godfrey-Smith’s book lies in the clarity of his writing; his empathy, if you will. He takes us through those early stirrings in the seas of deep time, from bacteria that sense light and can taste, to cnidarian jellyfish, the first organisms to exhibit nervous systems, which he describes wonderfully.’ Philip Hoare, Guardian ‘Fascinating and often delightful … This book ingeniously blends philosophy and science to trace the epic journey from single-celled organisms of 3.8 billion years ago to the awakening and development of cephalopod consciousness.’ The Times ‘As poignant as anything you will read this year’ Mail on Sunday ‘In Other Minds, Peter Godfrey-Smith, a philosopher, skilfully combines science, philosophy and his experiences of swimming among these tentacled beasts to illuminate the origin and nature of consciousness.’ The Economist ‘A delight on so many levels’ Dive magazine ‘To investigate these astonishing animals with such empathy and rigour is achievement enough. To do so while casting light on the birth and nature of consciousness, as Peter Godfrey-Smith does here, is captivating.’ China Miéville, author of Kraken ‘I love this book, its masterful blend of natural history, philosophy, and wonder … It’s a captivating story, and Peter Godfrey-Smith brings it alive in vivid, elegant prose … A must-read for anyone interested in the evolution of the mind – ours and the very other, but equally sentient, minds of the cephalopods.’ Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds

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Book SynopsisSchwartz also shows how our obsession with choice encourages us to seek that which makes us feel worse.By synthesizing current research in the social sciences, Schwartz makes the counter intuitive case that eliminating choices can greatly reduce the stress, anxiety, and busyness of our lives.Trade Review"Brilliant... The case Schwartz makes... is compelling, the implications disturbing... An insightful book." -- Christian Science Monitor "An insightful study that winningly argues its subtitle." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "Schwartz lays out a convincing argument... [He] is a crisp, engaging writer with an excellent sense of pace." -- Austin American-Statesman "Schwartz offers helpful suggestions of how we can manage our world of overwhelming choices." -- St. Petersburg Times "Wonderfully readable." -- Washington Post "Schwartz has plenty of insightful things to say about the perils of everyday life." -- Booklist "With its clever analysis, buttressed by sage New Yorker cartoons, The Paradox of Choice is persuasive." -- BusinessWeek

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Book SynopsisLearn how to end the self-destructive behaviours that stop you from living your best life with this breakthrough programme. Do you … Put the needs of others above your own? Start to panic when someone you love leaves — or threatens to? Often feel anxious about natural disasters, losing all your money, or getting seriously ill? Find that no matter how successful you are, you still feel unhappy, unfulfilled, or undeserving? Unsatisfactory relationships, an irrational lack of self-esteem, feelings of being unfulfilled — these are all problems that can be solved by changing the types of messages that people internalise. These self-defeating behaviour patterns are called ‘lifetraps’, and Reinventing Your Life shows you how to stop the cycle that keeps you from attaining happiness. Two of America’s leading psychologists, Jeffrey E. Young, PhD, and Janet S. Klosko, PhD, draw on the breakthrough principles of cognitive therapy to help you recognise and change negative thought patterns, without the aid of drugs or long-term traditional therapy. They describe eleven of the most common lifetraps, provide a diagnostic test for each, and offer step-by-step suggestions to help you break free of the traps. Thousands of men and women have seen the immediate and long-term results of the extraordinary programme outlined in this clear, compassionate, liberating book. Its innovative approach to solving ongoing emotional problems will help you create a more fulfilling, productive life.Trade Review‘Several of the most painful petards upon which people become hoisted during an unhappy childhood are neatly dispatched here by two cognitive therapists, who attack 11 common ‘lifetraps’ — destructive patterns that underlie a variety of emotional problems. Young and Klosko ably demonstrate how to deal with issues of abandonment, dependence, trust, social rejection, emotional deprivation, failure and vulnerability. They provide meaningful case histories, perceptive descriptions, diagnostic tests and a variety of nugget-sized, easily understood lists detailing the causes, danger signs and effects of negative impulses and actions, as well as ways to short-circuit them.’ * Publishers Weekly *‘Using illustrations from case studies, the authors describe each lifetrap, discuss its origins in childhood experience, and provide a questionnaire for self-assessment. They then offer a program for change using techniques ranging from experiential (getting in touch with your inner child) to cognitive (writing a ‘case’ against your lifetrap) and behavioural (identifying specific behaviours to be changed).’ * Library Journal *

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Book Synopsis'How Emotions Are Made did what all great books do. It took a subject I thought I understood and turned my understanding upside down' - Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point.When you feel anxious, angry, happy, or surprised, what's really going on inside of you? Many scientists believe that emotions come from a specific part of the brain, triggered by the world around us. The thrill of seeing an old friend, the fear of losing someone we love – each of these sensations seems to arise automatically and uncontrollably from within us, finding expression on our faces and in our behaviour, carrying us away with the experience.This understanding of emotion has been around since Plato. But what if it is wrong? In How Emotions Are Made, pioneering psychologist and neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett draws on the latest scientific evidence to reveal that our common-sense ideas about emotions are dramatically, even dangerously, out of date – and that we have been paying the price. Emotions aren't universally pre-programmed in our brains and bodies; rather they are psychological experiences that each of us constructs based on our unique personal history, physiology and environment.This new view of emotions has serious implications: when judges issue lesser sentences for crimes of passion, when police officers fire at threatening suspects, or when doctors choose between one diagnosis and another, they're all, in some way, relying on the ancient assumption that emotions are hardwired into our brains and bodies. Revising that conception of emotion isn't just good science, Barrett shows; it's vital to our well-being and the health of society itself.Trade ReviewHow Emotions Are Made did what all great books do. It took a subject I thought I understood and turned my understanding upside down. -- Malcolm GladwellThe definitive field guide to feelings and the neuroscience behind them. -- Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of GritA brilliant and original book on the science of emotion, by the deepest thinker about this topic since Darwin -- Daniel Gilbert, author of the bestseller Stumbling on HappinessMeticulous, well-researched, and deeply thought out . . . For anyone who has struggled to reconcile brain and heart, this book will be a treasure; it explains the science without short-changing the humanism of its topic. -- Andrew Solomon, bestselling author of Far from the Tree and The Noonday DemonRadical and fascinating ... How Emotions are Made defends a bold new vision of the most central aspects of human nature. -- Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy and How Pleasure WorksEvery lawyer and judge doing serious criminal trials should read this book. -- Baroness Helena Kennedy QC House of Lords, U.K.Barrett's figurative selfie of the brain is brilliant. * Booklist *A provocative, insightful, and engaging analysis ... You won't think about emotions in the same way after you read this important book. -- Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of MemoryThe implications of Lisa Barrett’s work (which ‘only’ challenges two-thousand-year-old assumptions about the brain) are nothing short of stunning. Even more stunning is how extraordinarily well she succeeds. -- Nancy Gertner, Senior Lecturer on Law, Harvard Law School, and former U.S. federal judge for the United States District Court of MassachusettsThis is a provocative, accessible, important book. -- Robert Sapolsky, author of Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers and A Primate's MemoirLisa Feldman Barrett illuminates the fascinating new science of our emotions. -- Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & SexLisa Barrett masterfully integrates discoveries from affective science, neuroscience, social psychology, and philosophy to make sense of the many instances of emotion that you experience and witness each day. -- Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positivity and Love 2.0Fascinating . . . a thought-provoking journey into emotion science * The Wall Street Journal *Lisa Barrett writes with great clarity about how your emotions are not merely about what you're born with, but also about how your brain pieces your feelings together, and how you can contribute to the process. She tells a compelling story. -- Joseph Le Doux, author of Anxious and Synaptic SelfFascinating . . . a thought-provoking journey into emotion science * The Wall Street Journal *Table of ContentsIntroduction - i: Introduction: The Two Thousand Year Old Assumption Chapter - 1: The Search For Emotion's ''Fingerprints'' Chapter - 2: Emotions Are Constructed Chapter - 3: The Myth of Universal Emotions Chapter - 4: The Origin of Feeling Chapter - 5: Concepts, Goals, and Words Chapter - 6: How the Brain Makes Emotions Chapter - 7: Emotions As A Social Reality Chapter - 8: A New View of Human Nature Chapter - 9: Mastering Your Emotions Chapter - 10: Emotions and Illness Chapter - 11: Emotion and the Law Chapter - 12: Is a Growling Dog Angry? Chapter - 13: From Brain to Mind: The New Frontier Acknowledgements - ii: Acknowledgments Section - iii: Appendix A: Brain Basics Section - iv: Appendix B: Supplement for Chapter 2 Section - v: Appendix C: Supplement for Chapter 3 Section - vi: Appendix D: Evidence for the Concept Cascade Section - vii: Bibliography Section - viii: Notes Section - ix: Illustration Credits Index - x: Index

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Book Synopsis Winner of the Pulitzer PrizeA metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of 'maps' or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence. Gödel, Escher, Bach is a wonderful exploration of fascinating ideas at the heart of cognitive science: meaning, reduction, recursion, and much more.

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Book Synopsis'Absorbing, mind-enlarging, studded with insights ... This could have significant real-world results' Sunday Times Humanity's greatest feat is our incredible ability to learn. Even in their first year, infants acquire language, visual and social knowledge at a rate that surpasses the best supercomputers. But how, exactly, do our brains learn? In How We Learn, leading neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene delves into the psychological, neuronal, synaptic and molecular mechanisms of learning. Drawing on case studies of children who learned despite huge difficulty and trauma, he explains why youth is such a sensitive period, during which brain plasticity is maximal, but also assures us that our abilities continue into adulthood. We can all enhance our learning and memory at any age and 'learn to learn' by taking maximal advantage of the four pillars of the brain's learning algorithm: attention, active engagement, error feedback and consolidation. The human braiTrade ReviewThis is an absorbing, mind-enlarging book, studded with insights ... Could have significant real-world results. -- James McConnachie * Sunday Times *An entertaining survey of how science from brain scans to psychological tests is helping inspire pedagogy. Dehaene challenges many tropes [and] describes much of his own pioneering work ... Well translated from the French with some touching references to his upbringing, from the cult film La Jetée to the writing of Daniel Pennac. -- Andrew Jack * Financial Times *An expert overview of learning ... Dehaene's fourth insightful exploration of neuroscience will pay dividends for attentive readers. * Kirkus *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"The Mind-Gut Connection presents the incredibly humbling reality that our very perception and interpretation of the world around us is virtually dictated by the microbes living within us. This book redefines what it means to be healthy and eloquently provides the means to manifest that goal." -- David Perlmutter, MD, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Grain Brain and Brain Maker "Drawing on his vast experience as a practicing gastroenterologist, Dr. Mayer writes about the connections that our brains have with our guts, especially with the microbes that make the gut their home. Describing a rapidly advancing realm of knowledge, this thoughtful guide provides practical advice to improve health." -- Martin J. Blaser, MD, author of Missing Microbes "Dr. Emeran Mayer elucidates the intricate biochemical dialogue that occurs between the brain, digestive tract, and trillions of bacteria residing in the gut. He dubs this form of communication 'microbe-speak' and speculates on its implications for social behavior, decision making, emotional wellbeing, and maybe mental health." -- Booklist "After a long period of neglect the enteric nervous system has been recognized as the 'second brain'. Dr. Emeran Mayer, a true expert of this topic, has now written the best lay-public guide yet to this spectacular part of ourselves. Recommended reading." -- Antonio Demasio, author of Descartes' Error, The Feeling of What Happens, and The Self Comes to Mind "I have known Emeran Mayer for years and have learned to pay attention to what he says and writes. The Mind-Gut Connection is a delight. Both scholarly and fun to read, I highly recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about how the mind and gut communicate." -- Michael D. Gershon, MD, author of The Second Brain "Microbiome research is revolutionizing our understanding of the human body and the brain. In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer provides authoritative insight into this rapidly expanding field. Synthesizing recent research with patient stories and personal anecdotes, he offers practical, evidence-based recommendations to keep the dialogue between the brain, the gut, and its microbes flowing smoothly." -- Rob Knight, PhD, author of Follow Your Gut and director of the Center for Microbiome Innovation, UC San Diego "The Mind-Gut Connection is a revolutionary new holistic view of what keeps us healthy, ranging from the food choices we make to the ways we can train our mind, with the ultimate goal of attaining optimal health. " -- Kenneth R. Pelletier, PhD, MD, Clincal Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health, University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) "Microbiome research is revolutionizing our understanding of the human body and the brain. In The Mind-Gut Connection, Dr. Emeran Mayer provides authoritative insight into this rapidly expanding field. Synthesizing recent research with patient stories and personal anecdotes, he offers practical, evidence-based recommendations to keep the dialogue between the brain, the gut, and its microbes flowing smoothly." -- SELF online

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Book Synopsis'Laurence Alison is one of my academic heroes. He does what every writer longs to do. He makes the difficult clear - without losing his rigour.' Malcolm Gladwell'They are quietly revolutionising the study and practice of interrogation... Their findings are changing the way law enforcement and security agencies approach the delicate and vital task of gathering human intelligence.' GuardianGet what you want from even the most difficult charactersAll of us have to deal with difficult people. Whether we're asking our neighbour to move a fence or our boss for a pay rise, we can struggle to avoid arguments and get what we want.Laurence and Emily Alison are world leaders in forensic psychology, and they specialise in the most difficult interactions imaginable: criminal interrogations. They advise and train the police, security agencies, the FBI and the CIA on how to deal with extremely dangerous suspects when the stakes are high. After 30 years' work - and unprecedented access to 2,000 hours of terrorist interrogations - they have developed a ground-breaking model of interpersonal communication. This deceptively simple approach to handling any encounter works as well for teenagers as it does for terrorists. Now it's time to share it with the world.Rapport reveals that every interaction follows four styles: Control (the lion), Capitulate (the mouse), Confront (the Tyrannosaur) and Co-operate (the monkey). As soon as you understand these styles and your own goals you can shape any conversation at will. And you'll be closer to the real secret: how to create instant rapport.Trade ReviewLaurence Alison is one of my academic heroes. He does what every writer longs to do. He makes the difficult clear – without losing his rigour. -- Malcolm GladwellThey are quietly revolutionising the study and practice of interrogation… Their findings are changing the way law enforcement and security agencies approach the delicate and vital task of gathering human intelligence. -- Guardian

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book Synopsis* A selection of debates discussing central issues in cognitive science. * The debates are written by renowned experts in the field. * The debates cover the middle ground as well as the extremes * Addresses topics such as the amount of innate knowledge, bounded rationality and the role of perception in action.Trade Review"Contemporary Debates in Cognitive Science is an excellent introduction to debates in the philosophy of cognitive science. Many of this volume's 18 previously unpublished papers also provide overviews of recent work by the authors, so this would also be a good choice for those who would like to keep up with the latest thinking of many leaders in the field." Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "This is a remarkable volume. It’s an excellent text for upper division courses, and it also makes important original contributions to research on a number of “hot” topics in cognitive science." Stephen Stich, Rutgers University" "This is an impressive collection of papers by a very strong group of philosophers. Students of philosophy and cognitive science will find that this book afffords a valuable introduction to a range of problems that are both basic and important. Experts will find that the papers make new and significant contributions to living debates. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the nature of mind and in the prospects for scientific understanding of its nature." Alva Noë, University of Caifornia, BerkeleyTable of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Notes on Contributors viii Preface xiii Just How Modular Is the Mind? 1 1 The Case for Massively Modular Models of Mind 3 Peter Carruthers 2 Is the Mind Really Modular? 22Jesse J. Prinz 3 Is the Human Mind Massively Modular? 37 Richard Samuels How Much Knowledge of Language Is Innate? 57 4 Irrational Nativist Exuberance 59 Barbara C. Scholz and Geoffrey K. Pullum 5 The Case for Linguistic Nativism 81 Robert J. Matthews 6 On the Innateness of Language 97James McGilvray Has Cognitive Science Shown That Human Beings Are Cognitively Bounded, Or Irrational? 113 7 Bounded and Rational 115Gerd Gigerenzer 8 Bounded Rationality and the Enlightenment Picture of Cognitive Virtue 134 David Matheson Are Rules and Representations Necessary To Explain Systematicity? 145 9 Cognition Needs Syntax but not Rules 147 Terence Horgan and John Tienson 10 Phenomena and Mechanisms: Putting the Symbolic, Connectionist, and Dynamical Systems Debate in Broader Perspective 159Adele Abrahamsen and William Bechtel Can Consciousness and Qualia Be Reduced? 187 11 Consciousness and Qualia Can Be Reduced 189William G. Lycan 12 Consciousness and Qualia Cannot Be Reduced 202Brie Gertler Does Cognitive Science Need External Content at All? 217 13 Locating Meaning in the Mind (Where It Belongs) 219Ray Jackendoff 14 The Intentional Inexistence of Language – But Not Cars 237 Georges Rey Is the Aim of Perception to Provide Accurate Representations? 257 15 Is the Aim of Perception to Provide Accurate Representations? 259 Kirk Ludwig 16 Is the Aim of Perception to Provide Accurate Representations? A Case for the “No” Side 275Christopher Viger Can Mental States, Knowledge in Particular, Be Divided Into a Narrow Component and a Broad Component? 289 17 Can Cognition be Factorized into Internal and External Components? 291 Timothy Williamson 18 The Internal and External Components of Cognition 307 Ralph Wedgwood Index 326

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Book SynopsisShona Saul has been teaching psychology for more than 30 years at both the undergraduate and school level. She holds a PhD in Psychology, is a chartered psychologist and an associate fellow of the British Psychological Society.

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'The authors ... are generous with their tips for a successful interrogation' The Sunday TimesIdentify the signsAsk the right questionsGet to the truthSpy the Lie is a fascinating study of deception and a comprehensive lesson in how to identify and combat it.Featuring case studies based on the authors' real-life experiences in the field - involving 'turned' assets, KGB moles and criminal government officials - it reveals the methodology developed and used by the CIA to detect deception in the realms of counterterrorism and criminal investigation, and shows you how you can apply these techniques in your daily life.Whether hiring a new employee, investing money, knowing whether your boss is being straight with you, or finding out what your kids have been up to, this ingenious book will enable you to identify deceptive behavior in all its forms, and show you the techniques that will help you reach the truth.

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Book Synopsis'A world-class tune-up for your brain' – Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of DriveWhy do we think we’re better prepared for job interviews than we are? Why does no one act on climate change? Why do we over think when something bad happens to us? In this clear guide, Professor Woo-kyoung Ahn gives clear and practical steps to actually change our thinking.Renowned psychologist Professor Woo-kyoung Ahn devised a course at Yale called 'Thinking' to help students examine the biases that cause people so many problems in their daily lives. It quickly became one of the university’s most popular courses. Now, for the first time, she presents key insights from her years of teaching and research.It’s well known that our minds are tripped up by error, cognitive bias and prejudice. But knowing that isn’t enough: the thinking problems still exist.The natural follow-up to Daniel Kahneman&rsq

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Book SynopsisA simple and accessible exploration of the best-selling author of Letting Go and Power vs. Force, David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D. most famous work, The Map of Consciousness, that will help you to experience healing and transcendence. World-renowned author, psychiatrist, clinician, spiritual teacher, and researcher of consciousness David R. Hawkins shares that we are all born with an energetic frequency within the vast field of consciousness. And with The Map of Consciousness, we can truly understand the total spectrum of human emotions and consciousness. Using a unique muscle-testing method, Dr. David R. Hawkins conducted more than 250,000 calibrations during 20 years of research to define a range of values, attitudes, and emotions that correspond to levels of consciousness. This range of values-along with a logarithmic scale of 1 to 1,000-became the Map of Consciousness, which Dr. David R. Hawkins first wrote about in his best-selling book, Power vs. Force. With the Map, Dr. David R. Hawkins laid out the entire spectrum of consciousness, from the lower levels of Shame, Guilt, Apathy, Fear, Anger, and Pride; to Courage, Acceptance, and Reason; all the way up to the more expanded levels of Love, Ecstasy, Peace, and Enlightenment. These "higher" energy fields are a carrier wave of immense life energy. An essential primer on the late Dr. David R. Hawkins's teachings on human consciousness and their associated energy fields, The Map of Consciousness Explained offers an introduction and deeper understanding of the Map, with visual charts and practical applications to help you heal, recover, and evolve to higher levels of consciousness and energy. This enlightening book transcends the boundaries of conventional wisdom, integrating the realms of psychology, philosophy, and spirituality in a powerful exploration of human consciousness and human potential to help you be more effective in every area of your life.Some highlights include:– A thoughtful fusion of psychology, philosophy, and spirituality.– A comprehensive interpretation of the law of attraction and its intrinsic link with consciousness and personal evolution. – A scientifically grounded guide to harness the power of positive thinking and its practical applications.– An insightful perspective on the 'power vs force' dynamic, offering fresh insights into personal and professional relationships.– An enriching collection of practical exercises and affirmations designed to awaken and energize your consciousness.Dr. David R. Hawkins has a remarkable ability to simplify complex concepts. Whether you're in search of motivational books for women, leadership books for aspiring entrepreneurs, or behavior books to comprehend the nuances of human interaction, this book can revolutionize how you perceive and interact with the world, inspiring profound transformation and positive change."That which weakens life energy is to be avoided: shame, guilt, confusion, fear, hatred, pride, hopelessness, and falsehood. That which uplifts life is to be realized: truth, courage, acceptance, reason, love, beauty, joy, and peace." –David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.Whether you're a scholar, a personal growth enthusiast, or simply on a path of self-discovery, this book will help you live with more awareness and lead a more conscious and fulfilling life.

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Book SynopsisWinner of British Psychological Society Best Book Prize (Popular Science) 2023Nature's Top 10 Books of 2023A Financial Times Book of the Year 2023?A Waterstones Book of the Year for Politics 2023Fake news. Alternative facts. Conspiracy theories. Misinformation is one of the defining problems of our age, and despite what we may think, we are all susceptible. So how and why does misinformation spread? And, more importantly, what can we do about it? Sander van der Linden, a Cambridge University professor and leading expert, takes us through the psychology of conspiratorial thinking and equips us with the tools needed to help stop the spread of misinformation once and for all.''Authoritative'' Financial Times''Encouraging'' The TimesA fascinating case for counteracting the misinformation virus through psychological inoculation' ObserverA must-read for those of us interested in resisting the spread of disinformation' Psychology Today''If you want to know why people believe fake news and howTrade Review'Authoritative' Financial Times 'Encouraging' The Times ‘A fascinating case for counteracting the misinformation virus through psychological inoculation’ Observer ‘Foolproof proves an overview that is authoritative, comprehensive and chatty. You won’t find a better survey of what is now a vast interdisciplinary landscape and that alone is a great service.’ Tim Harford, FT ‘An insightful and forensic examination of why our brains entertain disinformation – and the remedies that can protect us all from its real-world harm. For everyone who messages me asking how they can speak to someone who has fallen victim to online conspiracies – this is the book for you!’ Marianna Spring ‘Powerfully analyses why everyone is susceptible, how falsehoods spread, and how to “prebunk” misinformation and “inoculate” ourselves and others against it’ Nature ‘A fascinating, in-depth investigation into the complex landscape of misinformation from someone who has spent his career trying to combat fake news. You will never look at your social media feeds in the same way again’ Angela Saini, author of Inferior and Superior ‘a must-read for those of us interested in resisting the spread of disinformation’ Psychology Today ‘This brilliant book vividly illuminates the challenges of countering misinformation, showing how human psychology can make us vulnerable to manipulation and conspiracy theories. Van der Linden’s analysis would be utterly depressing, were he not to provide a set of powerful evidence-based 'antigens' designed to protect us from false claims. They have never been more needed’ Professor David Spiegelhalter ‘Sander van der Linden is one of the world’s leading experts on combating misinformation, and Foolproof is the ultimate handbook for navigating – and fighting back against – the tsunami that threatens to drown us in bullshit’ Jay Van Bavel, author of The Power of Us

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Book Synopsis‘Everything about [this] book, which combines a healthy dose of lucid neuroscience with a dash of sensitive personal narrative, delights ... a beautifully balanced piece of popular-science writing’ Boyd Tonkin, Independent 'For people interested in language, this is a must. You'll find yourself focusing on words in new ways. Read it slowly - it will take time to sink in.’William Leith, Sunday Telegraph 'An inspiring celebration of the science of reading.’ P.D. Smith, Guardian 'We were never born to read', says Maryanne Wolf. 'No specific genes ever dictated reading's development. Human beings invented reading only a few thousand years ago. And with this invention, we changed the very organisation of our brain, which in turn expanded the ways we were able to think, which altered the intellectual evolution of our species.' In "Proust and the Squid", Maryanne Wolf explores our brains' near-miraculous ability to arrange and re-arrange themselves in response to external circumstances. She examines how this 'open architecture', the elasticity of our brains, helps and hinders humans in their attempts to learn to read, and to process the written language. She also investigates what happens to people whose brains make it difficult to acquire these skills, such as those with dyslexia. Wolf, a world expert on the reading brain, brings both a personal passion and deft style to this, the story of the reading brain. It is a pop science masterpiece on a subject that anyone who loves reading will be sure to find fascinating.Trade Review‘Everything about her book, which combines a healthy dose of lucid neuroscience with a dash of sensitive personal narrative, delights ... a beautifully balanced piece of popular-science writing’ -- Boyd Tonkin, Independent‘Wolf’s alarm about the spread of semi-literacy among the young is obviously justified, and her book provokes thought about it as only reading can.’ -- John Carey, Sunday Times‘There's a lot of difficult material in here. But it's worth the effort. I kept wanting to read more about how written language changed history, and more about the invention of the alphabet. This is a tribute to Wolf, who could not possibly cram everything in here. For people interested in language, this is a must. You'll find yourself focusing on words in new ways. Read it slowly - it will take time to sink in.’ -- William Leith, Sunday Telegraph‘’Proust and the Squid’ is an inspiring celebration of the science of reading.’ -- P.D. Smith, Guardian‘Wolf is excellent on reading as a supreme accomplishment too often taken for granted precisely because of the achievement of automaticity.’ -- Literary Review‘This is a paean of praise for, and a rewarding exploration of, the creative reciprocities between writing, reading and thinking, it is especially good on dyslexia.’ -- Times'An entertaining, comprehensive, delightfully clear account of how our brain allowed us to become word magicians. A splendid achievement!' -- Alberto Manguel, author of ‘A History of Reading’'Child development Professor Wolf maintains the tone of a curious, erudite friend as she synthesises cutting-edge interdisciplinary research - psychology and archaeology, linguistics and education, history and neuroscience - in a pathbreaking look at the reading brain.' -- Publishers Weekly, Books of the Year‘As booksellers, we don't need to be convinced of the importance of reading, but Maryanne Wolf's sage book goes far beyond what even we imagined. Wolf ... is not content to discuss the cultural significance of reading; she asserts with convincing evidence that this activity has radically changed the very organization of the human brain.' -- Barnes and Noble'Wolf displays extraordinary passion and perceptiveness concerning the reading brain, its miraculous achievements and tragic dysfunctions.' -- Bookforum‘What a timely, passionate meditation on the miracle of reading! Wolf's words provide the very pleasure she describes: we feel the precious excitement that is contact with another mind and are duly illuminated, provoked, steadied, and renewed.' -- Gish Jen‘Wolf’s learned but light-footed work is excavating – with a zest that blends authority and accessibility – the deep mystery of why and how we can read at all.’ -- Boyd Tonkin, Independent‘Her book is a remarkable excavation of something we take largely for granted, and throws up plenty of thought-provoking ideas along the way.’ -- Sunday Times‘A brilliant book about how human beings learned to read and write. There’s a superb explanation of the conditions that cause dyslexia – which Wolf points out, wouldn’t have conferred an evolutionary disadvantage until very recently, and might even have been beneficial to some people.’ -- William Leith, The Spectator

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Book Synopsis''Anyone who wants to get better at anything should read Peak.'' Fortune Do you want to stand out at work, improve your athletic or musical performance, or help your child achieve academic goals? Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak distils three decades of myth-shattering research into a powerful learning strategy that is fundamentally different from the way people traditionally think about acquiring new abilities. Ericsson''s revolutionary methods will show you how to improve at almost any skill that matters to you, and that you don''t have to be a genius to achieve extraordinary things. ''Remarkable...who among us doesn''t want to learn how to get better at life?'' Stephen J. Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics ''This book...could truly change the world'' Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with EinsteinTrade ReviewMost “important” books aren’t much fun to read. Most fun books aren’t very important. But with Peak, Anders Ericsson (with great work from Robert Pool) has hit the daily double. After all, who among us doesn’t want to learn how to get better at life? A remarkable distillation of a remarkable lifetime of work -- Stephen J. Dubner, bestselling author of FREAKONOMICSOffer[s] an optimistic anti-determinism that ought to influence how people educate children, manage employees and spend their time. * The Economist *This book is a breakthrough, a lyrical, powerful, science-based narrative that actually shows us how to get better (much better) at the things we care about. -- Seth Godin, author of LINCHPINThe science of excellence can be divided into two eras: before Ericsson and after Ericsson. His groundbreaking work, captured in this brilliantly useful book, provides us with a blueprint for achieving the most important and life-changing work a person can achieve: to become a little bit better each day. -- Daniel Coyle, bestselling author of THE TALENT CODEEricsson's research has revolutionized how we think about human achievement. He has found that what separates the best of us from the rest is not innate talent but simply the right kind of training and practice. If everyone would take the lessons of this book to heart, it could truly change the world. -- Joshua Foer, bestselling author of MOONWALKING WITH EINSTEIN

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Book Synopsis''Be prepared to be amazed'' GuardianCan anyone get a perfect memory?Joshua Foer used to be like most of us, forgetting phone numbers and mislaying keys. Then he learnt the art of memory training, and a year later found himself in the finals of the US Memory Championship. He also discovered a truth we often forget: that, even in an age of technology, memory is the key to everything we are.In Moonwalking with Einstein he takes us on an astonishing journey through the mind, from ancient ''memory palace'' techniques to neuroscience, from the man who can recall nine thousand books to another who constantly forgets who he is. In doing so, Foer shows how we can all improve our memories.''Captivating ... engaging ... smart and funny'' The New York Times''Delightful ... uplifting ... it shows that our minds can do extraordinary things'' Wall Street Journal''Great fun ... a book worth remembering'' Trade ReviewI'd never thought much about whether I could improve my memory, but I now think I could after reading Joshua Foer's book ... It's absolutely phenomenal, one of the most interesting books I've read this summer -- Bill GatesA marvelous overview of one of the most essential aspects of what makes us human - our memory ... Witty and engaging -- Dan ArielyMemory...makes us who we are...passionate and deeply engrossing ...The more we challenge ourselves, the greater our capacity. It's a fact that every teacher, parent and student would do well to learn. The lesson is unforgettable. * Washington Post *Captivating ... Engaging ... Mr. Foer writes in these pages with fresh enthusiasm. His narrative is smart and funny -- Michiko Kakutani * New York Times *[D]elightful...empathetic, thought-provoking and...memorable. -- Elizabeth Pisani * Prospect *Riotous -- Alexandra Horowitz * New York Times *[An] endearingly geeky world...witty and revelatory...[The] journey certainly demonstrates how much memory matters...Apart from anything else, filling up our mental storehouses in the right way can make life feel longer. -- Oliver Burkeman * Guardian *In this marvelous book, Joshua Foer invents a new genre of non-fiction. This is a work of science journalism wrapped around an adventure story, a bildungsroman fused to a vivid investigation of human memory. If you want to understand how we remember, and how we can all learn to remember better, then read this book -- Jonah LehrerOne year, Joshua Foer is covering the US Memory Championships as a freelance journalist, the next he returns as a competitor - and wins it...How he pulled off this extraordinary feat forms the spine of this crisply entertaining book. -- Matt Rudd * Sunday Times *Combines erudite analysis, historical context, a mind-bending adventure and extremely suggestive sex - some of it involving Foer's grandmother. -- Tony Allen-Mills * Sunday Times *A labyrinthine personal journey that explains how our author ended up in the finals of the US Memory Championship - a compelling story arc from sceptical journalist to dedicated participant. I can't remember when I last found a science book so intriguing. -- David Profumo * Literary Review *[A] charming book...interwoven with informed exposition about the psychological science of memory. -- Professor Larry R Squire * Nature *A fascinating, engaging and very well-written book. -- Dallas Campbell * Science Focus *Addictive and fascinating...extraordinary. [Foer] attended the US Memory Championship as a journalist and returned the next year as a competitor and won...It is Foer's gifts as a teacher and a storyteller that make this book essential reading. -- Leo Robson * Scottish Sunday Express *Take, for example, the emergence of Downing Street as a salon for intellectuals from around the world, and not only economists and political scientists. Under David Cameron-or, more accurately, Steve Hilton, the prime minister's most influential adviser-the thinkers invited to hold court there often have little to say about policy per se. Joshua Foer, a young American who has written an acclaimed book about how memory works, was a recent guest. Mr Hilton's rationale is that governments have more to learn from fields of research that investigate how humans behave, such as neuroscience and social psychology, than from conventional technocrats. There is now a policy team devoted to "behaviourial insight" in the Cabinet Office. * Bagehot, The Economist *Foer's book is great fun and hugely readable, not least because the author is a likeable sort of Everyman-science nerd whom we want to become a memory champion. Always fascinating and frequently mind-boggling, Moonwalking with Einstein is a book worth remembering. -- Mark Turner * The Independent *

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Book Synopsis''This book does an excellent job at providing an overview of each of the important areas of psychology (memory, perception, mental health, etc.). If you''ve not studied psychology before, this book is perfect as an introduction.'' Amazon 5 star reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐''Great read, nicely structured and keeps the reader engaged without getting bogged down into too much detail - love it.'' Amazon 5 star reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Are you looking for a simple, jargon-free introduction to psychology?Are you a student who wants to build your knowledge and boost your grades? Psychology: A Complete Introduction is designed to give you everything you need to succeed, all in one place.Written by Dr Sandi Mann, Senior Lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, the book uses a structure that mirrors the way Psychology is taught on

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Book SynopsisDrawing on cognitive psychology and other fields, Make It Stick offers techniques for becoming more productive learners, and cautions against study habits and practice routines that turn out to be counterproductive. The book speaks to students, teachers, trainers, athletes, and all those interested in lifelong learning and self-improvement.Trade ReviewIf you want to read a lively and engaging book on the science of learning, this is a must… Make It Stick benefits greatly from its use of stories about people who have achieved mastery of complex knowledge and skills. Over the course of the book, the authors weave together stories from an array of learners—surgeons, pilots, gardeners, and school and university students—to illustrate their arguments about how successful learning takes place… This is a rich and resonant book and a pleasurable read that will leave you pondering the processes through which you, and your students, acquire new knowledge and skills. -- Hazel Christie * Times Higher Education *Many educators are interested in making use of recent findings about the human brain and how we learn… Make It Stick [is] the single best work I have encountered on the subject. Anyone with an interest in teaching or learning will benefit from reading this book, which not only presents thoroughly grounded research but does so in an eminently readable way that is accessible even to students. -- James M. Lang * Chronicle of Higher Education *For a deeper dig into the science of learning, make sure to pick up Make It Stick. It’s an illuminating read. -- Drake Baer * Business Insider *A highly engaging and accessible text that neatly provides the reader with both a thorough grounding in the empirical and theoretical work on durable learning, while also offering specific, actionable recommendations for immediate implementation. -- Kathryn E. Frazier * Currents in Teaching and Learning *Aimed primarily at students, parents, and teachers, Make It Stick also offers practical advice for learners of all ages, at all stages of life… With its credible challenge to conventional wisdom, Make It Stick does point the way forward, with a very real prospect of tangible and enduring benefits. -- Glenn C. Altschuler * Psychology Today *Presents a compelling case for why we are attracted to the wrong strategies for learning and teaching—and what we can do to remedy our approaches… In clear language, Make It Stick explains the science underlying how people learn. But the authors don’t simply recite the research; they show readers how it is applied in real-life learning scenarios, with engaging stories of real people in academic, professional, and sports environments… The learning strategies proposed in this book can be implemented immediately, at no cost, and to great effect… Make It Stick will help you become a much more productive learner. -- Stephanie Castellano * TD Magazine *If I could, I would assign all professors charged with teaching undergraduates one book: Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning… It lays out what we know about the science of learning in clear, accessible prose. Every educator—and parent, and student, and professional—ought to have it on their own personal syllabus. -- Annie Murphy Paul * The Brilliant blog *This is a quite remarkable book. It describes important research findings with startling implications for how we can improve our own learning, teaching, and coaching. Even more, it shows us how more positive attitudes toward our own abilities—and the willingness to tackle the hard stuff—enables us to achieve our goals. The compelling stories bring the ideas out of the lab and into the real world. -- Robert Bjork, University of California, Los AngelesLearning is essential and life-long. Yet as these authors argue convincingly, people often use exactly the wrong strategies and don't appreciate the ones that work. We’ve learned a lot in the last decade about applying cognitive science to real-world learning, and this book combines everyday examples with clear explanations of the research. It’s easy to read—and should be easy to learn from, too! -- Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory

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Book Synopsis'Beautifully written and researched.' - Isabella Tree, author of WildingThe physical world is infinitely complex, yet most of us are able to find our way around it. We can walk through unfamiliar streets while maintaining a sense of direction, take shortcuts along paths we have never used and remember for many years places we have visited only once. These are remarkable achievements.In Wayfinding, Michael Bond explores how we do it: how our brains make the ‘cognitive maps’ that keep us orientated, even in places that we don’t know. He considers how we relate to places, and asks how our understanding of the world around us affects our psychology and behaviour.The way we think about physical space has been crucial to our evolution: the ability to navigate over large distances in prehistoric times gave Homo sapiens an advantage over the rest of the human family. Children are instinctive explorers, developing a spatial understanding as they roam. And yet today few of us make use of the wayfaring skills that we inherited from our nomadic ancestors. Most of us have little idea what we may be losing.Bond seeks an answer to the question of why some of us are so much better at finding our way than others. He also tackles the controversial subject of sex differences in navigation, and finally tries to understand why being lost can be such a devastating psychological experience.For readers of writers as different as Robert Macfarlane and Oliver Sacks, Wayfinding is a book that can change our sense of ourselves.'A fascinating excursion into the very nature of exploration. Absorbing stuff.' – explorer Benedict AllenTrade ReviewFascinating . . . Bond offers stories of phenomenal feats of navigation . . . Ultimately, “we are spatial beings” and Wayfinding skilfully and at times movingly makes the case for how deeply that is true. * Sunday Times *In this fascinating book about our gift for what Michael Bond calls wayfinding, he makes a compelling case that our ancient abilities to get from A to B aren’t just a matter of geography. * New Statesman *Michael Bond’s fascinating, incisive account of how the human brain evolved to keep us orientated throws up intriguing questions about how we live today . . . Beautifully written and researched; I hugely enjoyed this book. -- Isabella Tree, author of WildingTo understand anything, we first need to put it in some sort of order. A sense of direction is essential to the development of intelligence. Does this mean our world of automated travel and route-dictating apps is making us stupid? Michael Bond investigates in Wayfinding. * New Scientist *One of the most fascinating books I have read for a long while, not least because of how it opens up so many other subjects. * Scotsman *I hope this book will inspire people to explore and experiment with [their navigational] abilities, for if they do, they will be in for a wonderful surprise. -- Robin Knox-JohnstonAn excellently researched popular science book which explains how people — including experienced travellers — get lost, and why some individuals have superior navigational skills than others. * Spectator *A fascinating excursion into the very nature of exploration. Absorbing stuff. -- Benedict Allen

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Book Synopsis''Mesmerizing'' TimeAn art expert instantly spots a fake. A cop decides whether to shoot. A psychologist accurately predicts a couple''s future in minutes. This book is about those moments when we ''know'' something without knowing why. It shows that honing your instincts could change the way you think about thinking forever. ''Trust my snap judgement, buy this book: you''ll be delighted'' David Brooks, The New York Times''Fiendishly clever'' Evening Standard''Provocative, fascinating, radical'' Fergal Byrne, Financial TimesTrade ReviewTrust my snap judgement, buy this book: you'll be delighted * The New York Times *Compelling, fiendishly clever * Evening Standard *Superb . . . this wonderful book should be compulsory reading * New Statesman *Provocative, fascinating, radical * Financial Times *Pacey and beguiling * Independent *Blink might just change your life * Esquire *Astonishing ... Blink really does make you rethink the way you think * Daily Mail *Blink might just change your life * Esquire *

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Book SynopsisFrom the former director of GCHQ, learn the methodology used by the British intelligence agencies to reach judgments, establish the right level of confidence and act decisively. Intelligence officers discern the truth. They gather information - often contradictory or incomplete - and, with it, they build the most accurate possible image of the world. With the stakes at their absolute highest, they must then decide what to do. In everyday life, you are faced with contradictory, incomplete information, too. Reading the news on social media, figuring out the next step in your career, or trying to discover if gossip about a friend is legitimate, you are building an image of the world and making decisions about it. Looking through the eyes of one of Britain''s most senior ex-intelligence officers, Professor Sir David Omand, How Spies Think shows how the big decisions in your life will be easier to make when you apply the same frameworks used by British intelligence. Full of revealing examples from his storied career, including key briefings with Prime Ministers from Thatcher to Blair, and conflicts from the Falklands to Afghanistan, Professor Omand arms us with the tools to sort fact from fiction, and shows us how to use real intelligence every day.

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Book SynopsisAn exciting new science-driven guide to protecting your mind from decline.''Fascinating'' Daily MailThroughout our lives, we are always looking for ways to keep our mind sharp and effortlessly productive. In this book, globetrotting neurosurgeon Dr Sanjay Gupta offers insights from top scientists all over the world, whose cutting edge research can help you heighten and protect brain function and maintain cognitive health at any age. Keep Sharp debunks common myths about ageing and cognitive decline, explores whether there''s a ''best'' diet or exercise regimen for the brain, and explains whether it''s healthier to play video games that test memory and processing speed, or to engage in more social interaction. Discover what we can learn from ''super-brained'' people who are in their eighties and nineties but showing no signs of slowing down - and whether there arTrade ReviewDr. Sanjay Gupta has the unique ability to translate the latest scientific research into accessible language we can all understand. His knowledge, perspective, and practical strategies make Keep Sharp an essential and comprehensive guide for people of any age concerned about their memory and cognitive health. * Gary Small, MD, Director, UCLA Longevity Center, and author of The Small Guide to Alzheimer’s Disease *A must-read owner's manual for anyone with a brain. * Arianna Huffington *Dr Gupta is brilliant at busting myths, allaying fears, and giving us the solutions we need to keep sharp throughout our lives. * Dr Dean Ornish, founder and president, Preventive Medicine Research Institute *I wish Keep Sharp existed when I was helping take care of my father as he suffered from Alzheimer's. * Maria Shriver, founder, The Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement *Keep Sharp will change how you think about your brain, how you care for it, and how you support its full potential. * Dr David b. Agus, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Illness *Dr Sanjay Gupta brilliantly crafts an actionable plan we can all follow. I feel sharper already. * Dr Mehmet Oz, host, The Dr. Oz Show *This is the book all of us need, young and old! * Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Steve Jobs *Keep Sharp looks at the lessons we can learn from so-called 'super brained' people in their 80s and 90s while debunking some common myths about ageing and cognitive decline * Eastern Daily Press *Offers many surprising suggestions. . . not only will this book give you a better idea of how your brain works, it will help it to work better too * Daily Express *

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Book Synopsis'Highly accessible, content-rich and eminently readable . . . Fascinating and informative . . . popular science at its best.' - The Observer'Subtly radical . . . It presents a revelatory model of consciousness that will be completely new to most readers' - The Guardian 'Best Reads For Summer'Have you ever wondered why you have a brain? Let renowned neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett, bestselling author of How Emotions Are Made, demystify that big grey blob between your ears . . .In seven short chapters (plus a brief history of how brains evolved), this slim, entertaining, and accessible book reveals mind-expanding lessons from the front lines of neuroscience research. You’ll learn where brains came from, how they’re structured (and why it matters), and how yours works in tandem with other brains to create everything you experience. Along the way, you’ll also learn to dismiss popular myths such as the idea of a 'lizard brain' and the alleged battle between thoughts and emotions, or even between nature and nurture, to determine your behaviour.Sure to intrigue casual readers and scientific veterans alike, Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain is full of surprises, humour, and important implications for human nature - a gift of a book about our most complex and crucial organ.Trade ReviewBeautiful writing and sublime insights that will blow your mind like a string of firecrackers. If you want a rundown of the brain and its magic, start here. -- David Eagleman, New York Times bestselling author of IncognitoSeven and a Half Lessons About the Brain reads like a novel – and its main character is all of us. In fresh and lively prose, Barrett provides deep insight into what brains are for, how they operate and are programmed, how they create the 'reality' we experience, and how they ultimately produce our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Read this book! It will make you smarter about yourself, and your species. -- Leonard Mlodinow, New York Times bestselling author of The Drunkard's WalkA smart and delightfully breezy look at the things most of us think we know about the brain, but don't. -- Daniel Gilbert, New York Times bestselling author of Stumbling on Happiness

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Book SynopsisLet go of the struggle and obsess less. With this unique guide, you’ll find the tools you need to get unstuck from obsessive thoughts, overcome fears, feel more grounded, and live a life that truly reflects your values.Pure obsessional obsessive-compulsive disorder, or “Pure O” OCD, is a subtype of OCD that is characterized by intrusive thoughts, images, or urges without any visible symptoms. These “hidden compulsions” can include constant reassurance seeking, obsessive regret or worry, and may involve avoidance, excessive preparation, and thought rituals. They can also cloud your judgement, causing you to make decisions based on fears and compulsions instead of your values. But trying to stop or change these fearful thoughts only leads to more anxiety and fear. So, how do you break this obsessive cycle?Grounded in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and written by a renowned ACT and anxiety expert, “Pure O” OCD explains the cognitive fusion underlying your obsessive thoughts, and how it can lead to social anxiety, not feeling good enough, panics and phobias, and even other disorders—all of which then reinforce the fusion in an unhelpful, positive feedback loop. Using the five skills in this book—labeling, letting go, mindfulness, purpose, and acceptance—you’ll learn how to finally break free of the struggle, worrying, and avoidance that keep you stuck.With practice, you’ll find that you can counter your anxiety and obsessive thoughts with your own, values-based narrative, and learn how to better accept your thoughts and feelings, so that you can proceed freely and purposefully toward a life that reflects what matters most to you.

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Book Synopsis'With captivating storytelling and cutting-edge science, neuroscientist Daniel Yon explores the power and the perils of the brain's internal models, offering a provocative look at the hidden forces shaping our thoughts, beliefs, and even our sanity. Prepare to question everything you thought you knew' Daniel Z. Lieberman, author of The Molecule of More'This book will profoundly change the way you consider your own mind' Lewis Dartnell, bestselling author of The Knowledge, Origins and Being Human'You will not a find a more up-to-date or more compelling account of how a mind emerges from the brain' Chris Frith, Emeritus Professor of Neuropsychology at University College London'An engaging, informative, and genuinely entertaining guide to the many weird ways in which our brains create the world we live in' Dean Burnett, author of The Idiot BrainHow does your brain decide what it's seeing, from the physical world to other people? For decades, scientists have tried to understand how our brains work, not realising that the answer lies much closer to home than it seems. The latest research in neuroscience and psychology suggests that the brain is doing the same thing that the scientists are: using past experiences to build theories of how the world works, and using these models to predict and make sense of it. Through this process, your brain constructs the reality that you live in. In this book Daniel Yon takes the research one step further, uncovering how your brain colours your perception of the world, the judgements you make about other people and the beliefs you form about yourself. With transformative applications for how we engage with other communities and approach mental illness, A Trick of The Mind will revolutionise the way you think.

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Book SynopsisThis unique and brilliant book is a history of human knowledge. Before the invention of printing, a trained memory was of vital importance. Based on a technique of impressing 'places' and 'images' on the mind, the ancient Greeks created an elaborate memory system which in turn was inherited by the Romans and passed into the European tradition, to be revived, in occult form, during the Renaissance. Frances Yates sheds light on Dante’s Divine Comedy, the form of the Shakespearian theatre and the history of ancient architecture; The Art of Memory is an invaluable contribution to aesthetics and psychology, and to the history of philosophy, of science and of literature.Trade ReviewFrances Yates is that rare thing, a truly thrilling scholar -- Michael Ratcliffe * The Times *One of those quite remarkable and unclassifiable books on the history of knowledge which suddenly makes sense of three or four issues in terms of one commanding metaphor -- Jonathan Miller * Observer *

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsIntroduction 1 Part 1: Introducing the Nervous System 5 Chapter 1: A Quick Trip through the Nervous System 7 Chapter 2: All about the Brain and Spinal Cord 23 Chapter 3: Understanding How Neurons Work 51 Part 2: Translating the Internal and External Worlds through Your Senses 69 Chapter 4: Feeling Your Way: The Skin Senses 71 Chapter 5: Looking at Vision 87 Chapter 6: Sounding Off: The Auditory System 109 Chapter 7: Odors and Taste 127 Part 3: Moving Right Along: Motor Systems 143 Chapter 8: Movement Basics 145 Chapter 9: Coordinating Things More: The Spinal Cord and Pathways 159 Chapter 10: Planning and Executing Actions 173 Chapter 11: Unconscious Actions with Big Implications 191 Part 4: Intelligence: The Thinking Brain and Consciousness 211 Chapter 12: Understanding Intelligence, Consciousness, and Emotions 213 Chapter 13: How the Brain Processes Thoughts 239 Chapter 14: The Executive Brain 259 Chapter 15: Learning and Memory 275 Chapter 16: Developing and Modifying Brain Circuits: Plasticity 299 Chapter 17: Neural Dysfunctions, Mental Illness, and Drugs That Affect the Brain 325 Part 5: The Part of Tens 339 Chapter 18: Ten (or So) Crucial Brain Structures 341 Chapter 19: Ten Tricks of Neurons That Make Them Do What They Do 349 Chapter 20: Ten Promising Treatments for the Future 357 Glossary 367 Index 383

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Book SynopsisCan we reach the psychotic subject in their delusion? Psychopathological theorists often try to find a way to characterise this subject's inner predicament so that their opaque utterances and actions will now rationally hang together. In this pathbreaking work, philosopher and clinical psychologist Richard G. T. Gipps demonstrates how such efforts at rational retrieval actually result in us setting our face against the psychotic subject in their distress. Bringing together patient memoir, psychopathological observation and philosophical thought, Gipps offers a profound alternative. On the one hand he shows how, by appreciating just why we can't locate rational order within psychotic thought, we can better understand what it is to suffer delusion and psychosis. On the other, he recovers for us the value of such expressive, motivational and symbolic forms of understanding as only become available once we've been turned away at reason's door. In such ways Gipps not only solves the psychTrade Review'What is it for a mind to become ill?' In On Madness, Richard Gipps takes us on a richly textured philosophical and psychological journey showing, in a Wittgensteinian spirit, how delusion, as other psychopathological concepts, have their meaning only 'in the stream of life'. A work of philosophical psychopathology which, in resisting the temptation of definition remains firmly grounded in understanding. * Danièle Moyal-Sharrock, President of the British Wittgenstein Society, Professor of Philosophy, University of Hertfordshire, UK *Gipps’s is a deeply necessary work, because it is the first book of philosophy to take seriously that madness and delusion defy positive definition. For the ground required in order to predicate of the non-sane the kinds of things we can normally take for granted is missing. The desire to say of someone who is suffering the severest forms of strangeness that she thinks such-and-such is typically, Gipps wisely warns us, dangerously over-reaching, running the risk, if doggedly pursued, of being itself a madness of method. This brilliant book retrieves the disturbing, disturbed, difficult reality of psychoses from beneath the layers of motivated metaphysical scientism that have accreted over them. Moreover, Gipps shows how the very failures of the various forms of scientism themselves often take us as close as we can get to understanding the non-sane. * Rupert Read, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of East Anglia, UK *In this fascinating meditation, grounded in the thought of Wittgenstein, Richard Gipps argues that an adequate understanding of madness must first recognize the limits, perhaps even the impossibility, of any such understanding. Psychosis for Gipps is like the God of “negative theology”: indescribable and unknowable, approachable only through negation. His subtle critique of psychiatric and psychological concepts nevertheless illuminates many mysteries that are typically obscured by standard forms of explanation and description. * Louis Sass, Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology, Rutgers University, USA *Richard Gipps has produced a remarkable book that forces us to reconsider the rather easy definitions of madness that we are so easily drawn into, often quite unwittingly. Delusions are not just false beliefs in the house of reason, which might be corrected or easily translated, for reason itself is functioning here in a different way. Gipps has the advantage of being both a clinician and very talented philosopher with a deep understanding of Wittgenstein. This book will appeal both to psychiatrists and psychoanalysts who have an interest in philosophy and to philosophers who will see how examining madness brings fresh new ways of thinking into knowledge, reason and epistemology more generally. * David Bell, Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, Former President British Psychoanalytic Society, UK *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Introduction 1. Mental Illness 2. Delusion’s Rational Irretrievability 3. Reality Contact 4. A World of One’s Own 5. The Divided Self 6. Self and Other 7. Hallucination 8. Disordered Thought 9. Psychotic Symbolization 10. The Politics of Insanity Ascription Notes References Index

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Book Synopsis''Sarma''s book may be the most important work on education written this century'' - SkepticAs the head of Open Learning at MIT, Sanjay Sarma has a daunting job description: to fling open the doors of the MIT experience for the benefit of the wider world. But if you''re going to undertake such an ambitious project, you must first ask: How exactly does learning work? What conditions are most conducive? Are our traditional classroom methods - lecture, homework, test, repeat - actually effective? And if not, which techniques are?Grasp takes readers across multiple frontiers, from fundamental neuroscience to cognitive psychology and beyond, as it explores the future of learning. For instance: Scientists are studying the role of forgetting, exposing it not as a simple failure of memory but a critical weapon in our learning arsenal New developments in neuroimaging are helping us understand how reading works in the brain. It''s bTrade Review'Sarma's book may be the most important work on education written this century' - Skeptic'Compelling... Delightful as well as convincing in its plea that educators place learning over winnowing and access over exclusivity' - Kirkus'Grasp is an absolute pleasure to read ... An important contribution to the literature on learning science and higher education change ... Grasp can provide the foundations of what learning-science-informed teaching might look like, with some fantastic real-world examples' - Inside Higher Ed'A remarkable book, both lively and scholarly. I strongly recommend it for anyone interested in the history of ideas about learning and who is interested in improving teaching and learning' - Henry L. Roediger, III, co-author of Make it Stick'An amazing book... The authors provide an overview of the neural and cognitive processes that support learning...They make a convincing case that students have an amazing capacity to learn' - Robert A. Bjork, Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology, UCLA

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Book SynopsisEssentials of Hypnosis, Second Edition provides a warm and rich introduction to the fascinating field of hypnosis by one of its leading experts. Readers may be surprised to discover that some of the most important methods in modern integrative health care have a foundation in hypnosis, and that modern neuroscience is regularly learning new things about brain functioning from brain scanning studies of hypnotized individuals. The emphasis in Essentials of Hypnosis, Second Edition is on the use of hypnosis as an effective tool of treatment. Thus, readers will enjoy and benefit from the wealth of clinical insights and helpful hints Dr. Yapko offers for the skilled use of hypnotic principles and methods. The essentials of this dynamic field are well captured in this practical volume.Trade Review"Learning the fundamentals of modern clinical hypnosis is as simple as reading this update to a classic text. Michael Yapko has a gifted ability to comprehensively present building blocks that will edify the novice and serve as important reminders for the experienced practitioner. Essentials of Hypnosis Second Edition is an essential primer of essential concepts. Dr. Yapko has done a great service by providing new, modern understandings in this new edition." -- Jeffrey K. Zeig, PhD, The Milton H. Erickson Foundation"Only Michael Yapko could integrate all the complex facets of the world of hypnosis so completely in one volume. His knowledge is evident in every sentence, accurately selected with incisive precision and mindful creativity. This is a book every expert should have on his or her desk for quick and insightful reference and inspiration." -- Consuelo C. Casula,, President of the European Society of Hypnosis"Yapko is hypnosis. His accumulated knowledge, research, insights and experience are distilled in Essentials of Hypnosis: one easily readable and essentially practical volume. Curious or convinced, you owe it to you - and your clients - to read and apply this entrancing clinical wisdom." --George Burns, Adjunct Professor of Psychology, Cairnmillar Institute, Melbourne, Australia; Author, 101 Healing Stories and Happiness, Healing, Enhancement"Michael Yapko is among a handful of the best writers and clinical practitioners of hypnosis in the world. With this volume he has somehow surpassed his series of previous books on hypnosis to provide his ultimate work to date. Based on strong theory and science, this remarkable achievement provides page after page of remarkable, practical, and deeply insightful advice about how to apply hypnosis clinically. Yapko's writing is so compelling and easy to read, it might be easy to overlook that this work will be one of the most influential and innovative that has been produced on teaching even the most experienced clinicians to use this approach with their patients." -- David R Patterson, PhD, ABPP; Author, Clinical Hypnosis for Pain Control"Whether beginning to learn Hypnosis or continuing and reviewing, refreshing and renewing, learning the essentials from Michael Yapko enriches and informs like no other. This volume not only continues to provide essential critical and foundational concepts and a framework with which to grow, but also provides ongoing nurturance with wise and thoughtful responses to old and new questions that arise while we help people help themselves." --Daniel P. Kohen, MD., FAAP, FASCH, ABMH, Co-Director, National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute; Director, Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, Professor, Departments of Pediatrics and Family Medicine & Community Health, University of Minnesota (Retired)"Michael Yapko’s latest contribution to the hypnosis field succeeds as another "must have" for one’s resource library. This perfect primer distills Hypnosis to the exquisitely crisp essentials, without compromising any relevant topic. Easy-to-read and clear explanations offer all the basics for the novice. The numerous practical applications will also appeal to seasoned clinicians seeking to refresh or add additional approaches and strategies to their work with their clients. This revised guide is a great companion to his comprehensive text, Trancework." --Pamela Kaiser, PhD, CPNP, Former Associate Clinical Professor, Pediatrics, University of California, San Francisco, Medical School; Co-Founder and Co-Director, National Pediatric Hypnosis Training Institute"Dr. Yapko's second edition is an important addition to every clinician's bookshelf! Dr. Yapko reduces challenging concepts to their essential elements, inviting curiosity and reducing hypnosis to its essential elements. I heartily recommend this text for any medical or mental health clinician with an interest in hypnosis." --Dan Handel, MD, Chief, Palliative Medicine, Denver Health Medical CenterTable of ContentsSECTION ONE: Developing Your Perspective About Hypnosis 1. Discovering Hypnosis and Why Its Value Keeps Growing 2. Hypnosis Can Be Used in Many Different Contexts 3. The Myths about Hypnosis and Why Common Sense Matters 4. Models of Hypnosis: How You Think About Hypnosis Determines How You’ll Use It 5. The Brain, the Mind, and the Body in Hypnosis 6. The Gift of Being Responsive to Hypnosis 7. The Changes in Your Experience During Hypnosis 8. Conditions for Conducting Hypnosis Sessions SECTION TWO: Putting Hypnosis to Work 9. Structuring Suggestions 10. Helpful Hints for Constructing Hypnosis Sessions 11. Strategies of Hypnotic Induction and Deepening 12. Hypnotic Phenomena: Eliciting and Utilizing Hypnotic Resources 13. Designing and Delivering Goal-Oriented Hypnotic Interventions 14. Hypnotic Patterns Commonly Employed in Treating Common Problems 15. Sample Hypnosis Session Transcripts for Common Problems 16. Clinical Hypnosis and Managing Pain 17. Utilizing Hypnosis with Children and Adolescents 18. Re-thinking "Resistance" to Hypnosis, Potential Hypnotic Hazards and Ethical Guidelines

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Book Synopsis'The most influential thinker, in my life, has been the psychologist Richard Nisbett. He basically gave me my view of the world.'-Malcolm Gladwell"One of the world's leading thinkers" Daily TelegraphWhen Richard Nisbett showed an animated underwater scene to his American students, they zeroed in on a big fish swimming among smaller fish. Japanese subjects, on the other hand, made observations about the background environment...and the different "seeings" are a clue to profound underlying cognitive differences between Westerners and East Asians. As Professor Nisbett shows in The Geography of Thought people actually think - and even see - the world differently, because of differing ecologies, social structures, philosophies, and educational systems that date back to ancient Greece and China, and that have survived into the modern world. As a result, East Asian thought is "holistic" - drawn to the perceptual field as a whole, and to relations among objects and events within that field. By comparison to Western modes of reasoning, East Asian thought relies far less on categories, or on formal logic; it is fundamentally dialectic, seeking a "middle way" between opposing thoughts. By contrast, Westerners focus on salient objects or people, use attributes to assign them to categories, and apply rules of formal logic to understand their behaviour.Trade ReviewThe most influential thinker, in my life, has been the psychologist Richard Nisbett. He basically gave me my view of the world. -- Malcolm Gladwell[A] landmark book. The Geography of Thought shows that understanding of how individuals in eastern cultures think is not just nice, but necessary, if we wish to solve the problems we confront in the world today. We ignore the lessons of this book at our peril. -- Robert J. Sternberg, president of the American Psychological AssociationWesterners and Easterners see the world differently. Nisbett hopes that his work will change the way the cultures view each other. * New Scientist *Geography of Thought compares people from East Asia (Korea, China and Japan) with Westerners (from Europe, the British commonwealth and North America). Westerners typically see categories where Asians typically see relationships. Such differences in thinking can trip up business and political relationships * Wall Street Journal *A psychology professor dares to compare how Asians and Americans think. The upshot of Nisbett's research is that differences are real. They might not always be for the better, but they matter. * Forbes *The man whose ideas led to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink and to Nudge * The Times *Nisbett's results indicate fundamental differences in the ways Westerners and East Asians view the word. -- Kate Volpe, Association for Psychological ScienceThe fascinating cultural reason why Westerners and East Asians have polar opposite understandings of truth * Business Insider *One of the world's leading thinkers * Daily Telegraph *

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Book Synopsis''Heady, exhilarating, often astonishing'' New York Times ''Iridescently original, deeply disorientating and yet somehow radically hopeful ... worth reading and rereading'' Brian Eno ''Be prepared to re-evaluate your relationship with the amazing life forms with whom we share the planet. Fascinating, innovative and thought provoking: I thoroughly recommend Ways of Being'' Dr Jane Goodall, DBERecent years have seen rapid advances in ''artificial'' intelligence, which increasingly appears to be something stranger than we ever imagined. At the same time, we are becoming more aware of the other intelligences which have been with us all along, unrecognized. These other beings are the animals, plants, and natural systems that surround us, and are slowly revealing their complexity and knowledge - just as the new technologies we''ve built are threatening to cause their extinction, and ours.In Ways of Being, writer and artist James Bridle considers the fascinating, uncanny and multiple ways of existing on earth. What can we learn from these other forms of intelligence and personhood, and how can we change our societies to live more equitably with one another and the non-human world? From Greek oracles to octopuses, forests to satellites, Bridle tells a radical new story about ecology, technology and intelligence. We must, they argue, expand our definition of these terms to build a meaningful and free relationship with the non-human, one based on solidarity and cognitive diversity. We have so much to learn, and many worlds to gain.Trade ReviewBridle's writing weaves cultural threads that aren't usually seen together, and the resulting tapestry is iridescently original, deeply disorientating and yet somehow radically hopeful. The only futures that are viable will probably feel like that. This is a pretty amazing book, worth reading and rereading. -- Brian EnoJames Bridle is an artist who is fascinated by technology - creating a homemade self-driving car to understand how AIs "think", for example - and I loved their book, Ways of Being, which looks at artificial and animal intelligence, and how those challenge our assumptions about the world. Come for the slime mould replicating the Tokyo subway system, stay for the non-binary computer that used water to model the British economy. -- Helen Lewis * New Statesman Books of the Year *Heady and often astonishing ... the scope of Bridle's curiosity and comprehension is immense ... there is something hopeful and even heartening in their faith that our current disastrous course might be shifted not only by new policies and technologies but also - and more fundamentally - by the power of new ideas. -- Stefan Merrill Block * New York Times *If you plan on reading James Bridle's Ways of Being - and I cannot recommend highly enough that you do - you might consider forming a support group first. The ideas in this book are so big, so fascinating and yes, so foreign, you are going to need people to talk to about them ... Bridle has created a new way of thinking about our world, about being ... read this important book. Read it twice. Talk about it. Tell everyone you know. -- Brenna Maloney * Washington Post *It was so interesting that I luxuriated in every word. The conversation unfolding in these pages is fundamentally important and I would recommend it to absolutely everyone who wants to really think and reimagine a future that remains ours to make. I was left with a feeling that James Bridle hasn't so much written a book, as a manifesto for a new Green Enlightenment ... it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. -- Sir Tim SmitIn making clear the patience, imagination and humility required to better know and protect other forms of intelligence on Earth, Bridle has made an admirable contribution to the dawning interspecies age. * The Economist *Bridle is a clear, artful writer and a sweeping thinker ... [A] hopeful book, almost an antidote. It imagines technology not as something separate and menacing, but as part of a grand unfolding - an 'efflorescence', to use Bridle's word - along an evolutionary continuum of human and 'more-than-human' ways of being in the world. -- Peter Christie * Post Magazine *Bridle enlarges our definition of what 'intelligence' can be ... This book is an expansive guide, helping us turn our gaze outwards as we look for answers to the challenges of our time. The answers are out there, Bridle says, but Western science and imagination are only just beginning to take them seriously. Ways of Being is an absorbing, existential and ultimately hopeful book. -- Elizabeth Wainwright * Geographical *We must rethink what it means to be intelligent in a spirit of collaboration with non-humans ... What makes Bridle's book new and interesting is its insistence that AI, rightly used, can help in this project ... It may not be intelligence as we know it, but it is human, all too human. -- Stuart Jeffries * The Spectator *James Bridle encourages you to widen the boundaries of your understanding, to contemplate the innate intelligence that animates the life force of octopuses and honeybees as well as apes and elephants. We humans are not alone in having a sense of community, a sense of fun, a sense of wonder and awe at the beauty of nature. Be prepared to re-evaluate your relationship with the amazing life forms with whom we share the planet. Fascinating, innovative and thought provoking I thoroughly recommend Ways of Being. -- Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, Founder of the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of PeaceFrom what are we alienated? Some kind of godlike being, transcending the physical world? The truth is exactly the opposite ... Alienation means thinking humans are special and different. James Bridle's wonderful book will make you feel and think the power of knowing how like all other lifeforms we are. There is nothing more important. -- Timothy MortonJames Bridle's brilliant Ways of Being shows we can only face the challenges of the 21st century if we go beyond the fear of pooling knowledge: Bridle shows the importance of listening to one another and our surroundings, and of creating new forms of community. -- Hans Ulrich Obrist

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Book SynopsisA radical reinterpretation of how your mind works - and why it could change your life ''An astonishing achievement. Nick Chater has blown my mind'' Tim Harford''A total assault on all lingering psychiatric and psychoanalytic notions of mental depths ... Light the touchpaper and stand well back'' New ScientistWe all like to think we have a hidden inner life. Most of us assume that our beliefs and desires arise from the murky depths of our minds, and, if only we could work out how to access this mysterious world, we could truly understand ourselves. For more than a century, psychologists and psychiatrists have struggled to discover what lies below our mental surface.In The Mind Is Flat, pre-eminent behavioural scientist Nick Chater reveals that this entire enterprise is utterly misguided. Drawing on startling new research in neuroscience, behavioural psychology and perception, he shows that we have no hiddenTrade ReviewAn astonishing achievement. Nick Chater has blown my mind - as well as assuring me that my brain just doesn't work the way I think it does. I haven't been able to stop talking about the ideas in this book -- Tim Harford * author of Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy and The Undercover Economist *A superb exposition of scientific findings -- Steven Poole * Guardian *It's a triumph in itself that Chater has written a book about cognition that is as gripping as a thriller. In fact, I would go even further. If you can measure a book by how often you find yourself bringing it up in conversation, then The Mind is Flat is one of the best I've ever read . . .Brilliant . . . beautifully written . . . you'll be able to bored your relatives rigid with your new theories of cognition over the Christmas turkey -- Thomas W. Hodgkinson * The Spectator *This is a remarkable book. Every other book about the mind will tell you either why we're so dumb, or why we're so smart. Chater offers a single elegant theory to explain both: why our minds so often let us down and confound us, at the same time that they far surpass our current attempts to build intelligence in machines -- Josh Tenenbaum, Professor of Cognitive Science and Computation at MITThe mind may be flat but this book is a fascinating, rounded and radical approach to understanding how we think and act. The implications for understanding human decision making are profound. Everyone who enjoyed Thinking, Fast and Slow must read this book -- Gus O'Donnell, former Cabinet Secretary and Chair of the Behavioural Insights Team Advisory BoardA total assault on all lingering psychiatric and psychoanalytic notions of mental depths to be plumbed. For Chater, surface is everything ... Light the touchpaper and stand well back -- 'The ideas driving 2018' * New Scientist *Launched with what may be the most engaging prologue of any work of nonfiction, the reader of The Mind is Flat is taken on a fascinating intellectual journey. Chater first compels us to leave behind widely-accepted views about the depth of the mind, abandoning the cherished idea that thinking is rooted in the depths of unconscious thought. But far from depriving the life of the mind of its charm, magic or meaning, Chater introduces us to a new appreciation of the brain's remarkable propensity and capacity to make sense of experience. While the mind may indeed be flat in the sense it is devoid of unconscious ruminations, reading this book leaves us with a much deeper, transformed, understanding of our own thoughts and feelings and of how we perceive the definitively non-flat world in which we live -- George Loewenstein * author of Exotic Preferences: Behavioral Economics and Human Motivation *

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Book SynopsisWorld-renowned neuroscientist Beau Lotto reveals the truths of human perception and devises a cognitive toolkit for how to succeed in a world of uncertainty.Perception is the foundation of human experience, but few of us understand how our own perception works. By revealing the startling truths about the brain and perception, Beau Lotto shows that the next big innovation is not a new technology: it is a new way of seeing.In his first major book, Beau Lotto draws on over a decade of pioneering research to show how our brains play tricks on us. With an innovative combination of case studies and optical- and perception-illusion exercises, DEVIATE will revolutionise the way you see the world. With this new understanding of how the brain works and its perceptive trickery, we can apply these insights to every aspect of life and work. DEVIATE is not just an engaging look into the neuroscience of thought, behaviour and creativity: it is a call to action, enlisting rTrade Review'If someone else told me that reality is something we create in our heads - I'd up my medication. This brilliantly written book shows us that this is actually the road to liberation. We have the ability to change our internal landscapes. Making our lives a masterpiece rather than a "been there done that" cliche' -- Ruby Wax OBE'Beau Lotto's Deviate is the beginning of a conversation - with yourself. Based on my years working at Pixar and with Tibetan Buddhist meditation masters, Beau is on exactly the right track for using neuroscience to understand the mechanisms that keep us stuck and the power of paying attention to the mind. And he does it with an infectious enthusiasm that cannot help but draw the reader into this engaging material' -- Lawrence Levy, former CFO and board member of Pixar Animation Studios'In Deviate, Beau Lotto's remarkable research into human perception is crystallised into a series of astute explanations of how we experience reality...Lotto's ingenious account of the brain's perceptive evolution arrives at an extraordinary proposition of how we can go beyond our current ways of seeing. Following Olafur Eliasson's words that "what we have in common is that we are different", Deviate unravels the bind to our human history in order to foresee a radically different future for a reconfigured, individual perception. It is a brilliant book!' -- Hans Ulrich Obrist, Director of the Serpentine Gallery, London'Beau Lotto is the ideal writer for a popular book about the neuroscience of perception. He has already proved himself to be an immensely engaging and daring populariser of science. Above all, he is a well-established neuroscientist who really knows what he is talking about. In this book he will convince you that our every-day experience of seeing is far more mysterious and exciting than it seems' -- Professor Christopher D. Frith, Professor of Neuroscience at UCL'In a brilliant and skilful way Beau Lotto pulls the rug from under our naive view of reality...we discover how our conventional way of seeing, of perceiving reality, is incomplete and illusory...in doing so, he opens the curtain to a new beginning, a new beginning of seeing past our individual interpretation of reality, to recognize that others may surely have a different interpretation. In daring us to deviate Lotto encourages us to discover that compassion has a root that can be revealed through scientific insights' -- Peter Baumann, Founder of Tangerine Dream'Beau Lotto shows better than anyone else how dependent we are upon our own limited sensory perceptions of the world. The radical thesis that he presents in Deviate reveals to us that reality is relative, and that we, ultimately, are capable of changing our world through changing our perception of it' -- Oafur Eliason, leading artist'What if we all tried harder to be misunderstood? And what if we could embrace and channel our own misunderstanding of the world around us? Beau Lotto's Deviate honours the messy, imperfect genius of human perception as the most valuable resource for creative progress. Lotto is teaching us something so loudly fundamental to our existence, it seems almost impossible that we've missed it: "You're the only one seeing what you see..." - and that's the catalyst of your most innovative and compelling work' -- Ross Martin, Executive Vice-President, Marketing Strategy and Engagement at Viacom'Lotto, a brilliant neuroscientist, explains why our perceptual hardwiring makes it difficult for us to live with uncertainty, a condition necessary for us to become more empathetic, creative, and successful...His insights help us understand just why leading change and innovation is so challenging and how great leaders ask great questions. Deviate shows us how to re-engineer our brains to be more effective in leading our organizations and in living our lives' -- Linda Hill, Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School'Beau Lotto has delivered a fresh, provocative, stimulating, revealing, neuro-inspired, entertaining text on that most fugitive of subjects - reality. He explores the fact that the only certainty about certainty is its uncertainty and questions what questions we should be asking to enable human and social progress in a world becoming ever more cybernetic' -- Professor Ian Ritchie, CBE RA RIBA, Director of Ian Ritchie Architects'Beau Lotto weaves a fascinating saga about how we shape reality to our survival needs by altering our perceptions. And when we deviate from our "way of seeing", we invent. So he engages us with a host of philosophical ideas and brain-changing experiences to explore why we see what we see and how we create. This book is beautifully written - giving us a truly novel, playful and sophisticated window into the nature of human perception and innovation that is highly relevant for thinking about how to create a successful relationship' -- Dr Helen Fisher, Biological Anthropologist'As a neuroscientist and a specialist in vision Beau Lotto opens up the subject of just how is it possible to actually see and understand anything in the world when it seems that meanings are always constructed somehow separately form the reality of what we see. This is done with immense clarity and ease, something perhaps he has learned in working with school children and bees. It is directly relevant to anyone involved in shaping our world, designers, engineers and architects, because he very gently and persuasively readjusts our way of seeing things and this must surely affect what we will design' -- Professor Alan Penn, Professor in Architectural and Urban Computing, Dean of the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, UCL'When I was studying Visual and Environmental Studies at Harvard in the late sixties and early seventies, a required course was Rudolf Arnheim's based on his book Art and Visual Perception: A Psychology of the Creative Eye. This book and his lectures introduced me to the fact that perception is an active process with the mind combining what it expects to see with the visual information coming from our eyes. His guiding principles came from Gestalt Psychology and the mind's desire to "complete" the picture. Beau Lotto's book, Deviate, has been able to extend and further explain the journey of understanding which Rudolf Arnheim began. Combining both evolutionary imperatives with modern imaging of the brain, Deviate helps us understand perception as the key to an individual's survival. It is written with humour, clarity, and delight. I highly recommend it' -- Jeremiah Harrison, lead guitarist, Talking Heads'It's time to deviate! Citizens of the world seem stuck in their paths and are losing perception of what's there to enjoy as the mundane trap us in our tracks and routines. Beau Lotto teases our sense of adventure by suggesting we romp through our perceptions and break out of the framework. Deviate will give you a sense of yourself, whether you're a misfit or wish you were one!' -- Marian Goodell, co-founder and CEO of Burning Man

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Book SynopsisA pioneering neuroscientist reveals how brain science can transform how we think about leadership, team-building, decision-making, innovation, marketing, and more. Leadership is a set of abilities with which a lucky few are born. They're the natural relationship builders, master negotiators and persuaders, and agile and strategic thinkers. The good news for the rest of us is that those abilities can be developed. In The Leader's Brain: Enhance Your Leadership, Build Stronger Teams, Make Better Decisions, and Inspire Greater Innovation with Neuroscience, Wharton Neuroscience Initiative director Michael Platt explains how. Over two decades as a professor and practitioner in neuroscience, psychology, and marketing, Platt's pioneering research has deepened our understanding of how key areas of the brain work—and how that understanding can be applied in business settings. Neuroscience is providing answers to many of leadership's most vexing challenges. In The Leader's Brain, Platt explains: Why two managers, when presented with the same set of information, make very different decisions;Why some companies (Apple) build strong social and emotional connections with their customers and others do not (Samsung); How some of the most significant events in sports history, like the "Miracle on Ice," contain insights for how to build a team; Why even some of the most visionary business leaders can make disastrous decisions, and how to fix that. The Leader's Brain relates findings like these, and many more, to help enhance leadership in an ever-shifting world entering a "new normal." In this fast-reading and engaging guide, you'll gain actionable insights you can put into practice as a leader. You will also learn what's going on in your team's brains when they are working in sync with one another, how you can tweak your message delivery to make sure others hear you, how to encourage greater creativity and innovation, and much more.Trade Review"If you're looking for an expert who can help you understand how the flourishing field of neuroscience can boost your business, Michael Platt is that person. His book, The Leader's Brain, is a must-read for anyone who is looking to use the latest brain science to improve their leadership, and it is a must-use guide for those leaders tasked with building a better future." * Murali Doraiswamy, Professor, Duke University; Former Chair, World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Brain Research *"Every leader should read The Leader's Brain for insight on how to apply the trusted principles of neuroscience to their business. If you are a leader, this book should not only be on your bookshelf—it should be an everyday manual." * Scott Prince, Founder/Executive Chairman, Merchant Wealth Partners *"The Leader's Brain is not only a must-read—it is a must-use for anyone who wants to lead others to a better future that is backed by data-driven, scientific approaches. Its vivid examples, such as how different sports settings can serve as neuroscience 'petri dishes,' offer invaluable, actionable tools for leaders." * Joy Seppala, CEO, Sisu Capital *"Leadership has often been more of an art than a science, but Michael Platt's work is allowing us to better understand the brain so that we can be more deliberate in how we lead. Michael's insights are revolutionary for those who want to understand how they can set the conditions for team success and enhance the impact on those they lead. While there are countless books with authors providing their theories on leadership, Michael has highlighted the actual science behind great leadership and great teams." * Josh Gibson, Director of Learning and Development, Cleveland Indians *"I finally have the instruction manual I've wanted for leading a company . . . . So many of the real challenges I face as a leader are explained through the lens of neuroscience, allowing me a deeper understanding of what is actually happening in those moments . . . . If you are a leader, drop everything and read this book. (That's what I did.)" * Geoff DiMasi, Co-Founder and Chief Partnerships Officer, Apostrophe Technologies *"Leaders who seek continuous improvement and optimization will find a wellspring of both innovative and practical advice here . . . . The Leader's Brain offers a rare window into the neurobiological levers for performance, that when activated effectively, can be the difference between leadership effectiveness or derailment, organizational success or demise." * Jonathan Kirschner, CEO, AIIR Consulting *"The Leader's Brain is a practical and entertaining leadership handbook grounded on robust brain research and compelling business cases. Michael Platt elegantly combines management and neuroscience to help executives literally rewire their brain to lead more effectively." * Jean-Marc Laouchez, President, Korn Ferry Institute *"Wharton Professor Michael Platt analyzes how to establish and maintain successful individual leadership and corporate actions. Living in a time of public protests, not privately voiced complaints, against the exercise of authority, this book is a quickly read and timely must-read." * Carlos M. de la Cruz, Sr., Chairman, CC1 Companies *"If you want to drive change in large organizations, this is a must-read." * Per Hugander, Head of Leadership and Organizational development, SEB *"As a reader, I felt like I was being granted access to the next major ridge line of the study of leadership . . . . The Leader's Brain is a roadmap for leaders who wish to use pioneering research and science to push toward peak performance and growth." * C. Brian Ferguson, Founder + CEO, Arena Labs *"This compact book is an impressive feat. It distills frontier neuroscience—especially how our social brain works—into advice for leaders at all levels that is both surprising and immediately actionable." * Colin F. Camerer, Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics, California Institute of Technology; Wharton Neuroscience Initiative Fellow *"The Leader's Brain walks the reader through our collective understanding of the science of leadership and decision-making. A must-read for any business leader looking to sharpen their focus." * Gavan J. Fitzsimons, Edward S. & Rose K. Donnell Professor of Marketing and Psychology, Duke University *

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Book SynopsisEvery human is born with multifarious potential. Why, then, do parents, schools and employers insist that we restrict our many talents and interests; that we 'specialise' in just one? We've been sold a myth, that to 'specialise' is the only way to pursue truth, identity, or even a livelihood. Yet specialisation is nothing but an outdated system that fosters ignorance, exploitation and disillusionment and thwarts creativity, opportunity and progress. Following a series of exchanges with the world's greatest historians, futurists, philosophers and scientists, Waqas Ahmed has weaved together a narrative of history and a vision for the future that seeks to disrupt this prevailing system of unwarranted hyper-specialisation.' In The Polymath, Waqas shows us that there is another way of thinking and being. Through an approach that is both philosophical and practical, he sets out a cognitive journey towards reclaiming your innate polymathic state. Going further, he proposes nothing less than a cultural revolution in our education and professional structures, whereby everyone is encouraged to express themselves in multiple ways and fulfil their many-sided potential. Not only does this enhance individual fulfilment, but in doing so, facilitates a conscious and creative society that is both highly motivated and well equipped to address the complexity of 21st century challenges.Trade ReviewAn erudite, masterful and entertaining study by a great writer and thinker… essential reading for the coming decade - Daniel Levitin, Neuroscientist, Musician and Bestselling Author of The Organised Mind I am too stunned to comment on this book… I am transformed and transcended; I will never be the same - Story Musgrave, NASA astronaut and 'World's top-ranked Renaissance Man' This revolutionary book has filled one of the great voids in the history of knowledge - Nasser D. Khalili, Scholar, Philanthropist and Founder of the Khalili Collections Erudite and most enlightening - an indispensable addition to every educational institution worldwide - Ashok Jahnavi Prasad, the world's most academically qualified intellectual Vastly educational…refreshingly inspirational - Edward de Bono, Bestselling Author of Six Thinking Hats andcoiner of ‘Lateral Thinking’Table of ContentsPrologue ix Preface xiii 1. Introduction 1 2. A Timeless People 7 3. Shapers of Our World 27 4. The Cult of Specialisation 87 5. Reconditioning the Mind 115 6. An Alternative System 199 7. Twenty-First-Century Polymaths 245 8. Owners of Our Future 281 Polymathy through Time and Space 285 Select Bibliography 295 About the Author 299 Acknowledgments 301 Index 303

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Book SynopsisNeuropsychology: The Brain and Relational Approaches provides a clinically oriented introduction to neuropsychology through a relational lens. Covering historical and theoretical foundations, neuropsychological function and dysfunction, and clinical practice, this text is an essential resource for understanding and treating brain injury. Its emphasis on a relational approach to neuropsychology also helps students understand the profound impact of social and environmental factors on brain function and recovery. With fascinating real-life case studies of patients throughout, this text is ideal for students taking neuropsychology modules in psychology and related fields.R. Stephen Walsh is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University.Lorraine Crawley is a Senior Clinical Psychologist/Clinical Coordinator with the University of Limerick Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme.Neil Dagnall is a Professor in Applied Cognitive Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University.Donal G. Fortune is a Full Professor and the Chair of Clinical Psychology at the University of Limerick.

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Book SynopsisThe first major account of terminal lucidity: the remarkable return of clarity and cognition at the end of life. Terminal lucidity is a relatively common but poorly understood phenomenon. Near the end of life, many people including those who have suffered brain injuries or strokes, or have been silenced by mental illness or deep dementia experience what seems a miraculous return. They regain their clarity and energy, are able to talk with families and caregivers, recall their lives, and often appear to be aware of their nearing death. In this remarkable book, cognitive scientist and Director of the Viktor Frankl Institute Dr Alexander Batthyány offers the first major account of terminal lucidity, utilising hundreds of case studies and his research in the related field of near-death studies to explore the mind, the body, the nature of consciousness, and what the living can learn from those who are crossing the border from life to death. Astonishing, authoritative, and deeply moving, Threshold opens a doorway into one of life's and death's most provocative mysteries.

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Book SynopsisThis engaging and cutting-edge text provides an accessible introduction to the complex methods and concepts of social neuroscience, with examples from contemporary research and a blend of different pedagogical features helping students to engage with the material, including essay questions, summary and key points, further reading suggestions, and links to online resources.Social neuroscience is a rapidly growing field which explains, using neural mechanisms, our ability to recognize, understand, and interact with others. Concepts such as trust, revenge, empathy, prejudice, and identity are now being explored and unraveled by neuroscientists. The third edition of this ground-breaking text has been thoroughly revised and expanded to reflect the growing volume of evidence and theories in the field. Notable additions include a greater emphasis on genetic influences, hormonal influences, and more detail on methods such as fNIRS, multivariate pattern analysis, and heart-based psychTrade Review'This book is an essential guide for students or anyone else interested in understanding our social brain. It covers the key topics of social neuroscience as well as its methods and history. Social neuroscience is growing exponentially and the third edition of this book covers foundational research and emerging trends in this field. I am sure it will inform and inspire the next generation of social neuroscientists and enlighten anyone with an interest in this topic. With a book like this, the future of social neuroscience is looking bright.'Pascal Molenberghs, Associate Professor at the Institute for Social Neuroscience in Melbourne, Australia'With each new edition, The Students' Guide to Social Neuroscience becomes even more of the definitive text on the field. I wouldn’t teach this class with any other textbook.'Matthew D. Lieberman, Director, UCLA Social Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, USA'This is so far the best book that covers various methods and broad and exciting topics of social neuroscience. It tells both the origins and recent development of this field. I believe that this book will inspire readers [...] and will be extremely helpful for students who aim to have both quick overview and deep understanding of what and how social neuroscience investigates.'Professor Shihui Han, Peking University, ChinaTable of Contents1. Introduction to social neuroscience. 2. The methods of social neuroscience. 3. Evolutionary origins of social intelligence and culture. 4. Emotion and Motivation. 5. Reading faces and bodies. 6. Understanding others. 7. Interacting with others. 8. Relationships. 9. Groups and Identity. 10. Morality and Antisocial Behavior. 11. Developmental Social Neuroscience. 12. References.

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Book SynopsisAdult humans have impressive pieces of cognitive equipment, but in Cecilia Heyes's view these cognitive gadgets are not programmed in the genes. They are constructed over the course of childhood through social interaction. From birth, our malleable minds learn from our culture-soaked human environment not only what to think but how to think it.Trade ReviewThis is an important book and likely the most thoughtful of the year in the social sciences… Highly recommended, it is likely to prove one of the most thought-provoking books of the year. -- Tyler Cowen * Marginal Revolution *With this volume, [Heyes] stakes out a bold, authoritative position in the multidisciplinary literature on cultural evolution and human uniqueness…Highly recommended to anyone willing to have their assumptions challenged. -- Carl Brusse * Quarterly Review of Biology *An essential addition to the literature on human uniqueness…Brilliantly challenges many of the core assumptions of contemporary evolutionary psychology in a way that is insightful, cohesive, detailed, and carefully written. This is perhaps one of the best and most comprehensive views of human cognitive evolution advanced in the recent years. -- Ivan Gonzalez‐Cabrera * History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences *Fascinating. * Choice *Cecilia Heyes presents a new hypothesis to explain the one feature that distinguishes Homo sapiens from all other species: the mind. Through lucid, compelling writing, this masterly exegesis proposes that the key features of the human mind, termed ‘cognitive gadgets,’ are the products of cultural rather than genetic evolution. It will stimulate its readers to think deeply, as Heyes has done, about what it means to be human. -- Lord John Krebs, University of OxfordCognitive Gadgets is a book written with a strong conviction, boldly taking on deeply entrenched views on topics such as the genetic basis of language and imitation. It will be a very positive contribution to long-held debates about the nature of being human. -- Steven Mithen, author of The Singing Neanderthals: The Origins of Music, Language, Mind, and BodyHuman minds are strange and powerful, but how did they become that way? Cecilia Heyes argues that culture is the prime mover, upgrading the mind by installing a cascade of ‘gadgets’—non-genetic innovations that enable imitation, mind-reading, episodic memory, and more. Cognitive Gadgets is an elegant, compelling, and groundbreaking work that should be read by anyone interested in what we are and how we came to be. -- Andy Clark, University of EdinburghCognitive Gadgets is a terrific book. Heyes makes a very surprising claim, arguing that human cognitive capacities—language, technical and causal intelligence, and the capacity to understand others—are not built by natural selection, but are instead cultural adaptations, installed by social learning. It is a richly informed, beautifully clear, and lucidly argued case. -- Kim Sterelny, Australian National UniversityEvolutionary psychology has been plagued by theories that are interesting but not testable, and theories that are testable but not interesting. In her exposition of cognitive gadgets, Heyes escapes from this trap. By emphasizing specific mechanisms, she makes precise predictions about what makes human cognition unique, and demonstrates that human culture is not just about accumulating knowledge—it also enables each of us to learn how to think. -- Chris Frith, University College LondonHow much of what is distinctively human depends on our biological (genetic) evolution and how much is culturally influenced or learned? This book will make you think about this old question anew and wonder if you have drawn the lines between these two kinds of inheritance in the right places. -- Mary Jane West-Eberhard, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

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