Cognition and cognitive psychology Books

Book Synopsis1. Viola Spolin: Games as a Means towards Flow, Empathy, and Finding One's Truer Self 2. Del Close: Improvisational Time and the Multiple Draft Modeled Mind 3. Keith Johnstone: Spontaneity, Storytelling, Status and Masks, Trance, Altered States 4. The Improvising Mind: On Stage and in the LabTrade Review"I found this work to be fascinating and, as an improviser, intuitive and affirming (which is, ultimately, one of the conclusions of the book). While there are many books on improv and many books on the 'mind/thinking/consciousness/how-humans-learn' there aren't many that link these two areas of scholarship. This book fills that gap." - Jeanne Leep, Professor of Theatre Arts, Edgewood College, USA and author of Theatrical Improvisation: Short Form, Long Form, and Sketch-Based ImprovTable of Contents1. Viola Spolin: Games as a Means towards Flow, Empathy, and Finding One's Truer Self 2. Del Close: Improvisational Time and the Multiple Draft Modeled Mind 3. Keith Johnstone: Spontaneity, Storytelling, Status and Masks, Trance, Altered States 4. The Improvising Mind: On Stage and in the Lab

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Book SynopsisThe environment is part of everyone's life but there are difficulties in communicating complex environmental problems, such as climate change, to a lay audience. In this book Klöckner defines environmental communication, providing a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the issues involved in encouraging pro-environmental behaviour.Trade Review“This book will appeal to those who want a broad, academic, well-referenced foundation to environmental communication which is understandable to educated laypeople. … this book contains a wealth of actionable concepts and techniques. … The Psychology of Pro-Environmental Communication: Beyond Standard Information Strategies provides a valuable resource which environmental communicators may benefit from drawing on for insights and the stimulation of brainstorms.” (George M. Jacobs, Language & Ecology, ecolinguistics-association.org, 2017)“Multidisciplinary in nature, this book offers a comprehensive overview of theory and case studies. The parts of this book dedicated to accounting for the role of intraorganizational dynamics and innovation are arguably the most useful. These insights are applicable not only to environmental communication, but also organizational communication and management.” (Hyun Tae (Calvin) Kim, International Journal of Communication, Vol. 10, 2016)Table of ContentsPreface1. What is Environmental Communication and Why is it Important? 2. Potential and Limitations of Environmental Communication3. Understanding Communication - Insights from Theories of Communication4. Decision models - What Psychological Theories Teach Us about People's Behaviour5. Communication in Large Social Systems - How Information Spreads through Societies6. Traditional and New Media - About Amplification and Negation7. Target Group Segmentation - Why Knowing your Audience is Important8. An Overview of Communication-Based Intervention Techniques9. Promoting Pro-Environmental Behaviour in Groups and Organisations 10. Playing Good? - Environmental Communication through Games and Simulations11. Rock Festivals, Sport Events, Theatre - Some Out-of-the-Ordinary Means of Environmental Communication

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Book Synopsis1. A Sneak preview of the Journey Ahead2. A Disciplined Demolition Project3. You ' 're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat4. The Cogwheels of Culture5. The Mind ' 's New Tricks6. Prophets of Design Space7. The Brain ' 's Design Studio8. Flow Experiences: From Mystery to Mechanisms9. In Search of the Artificer Trade Review"Once again, Arne Dietrich proves that he is one of the brightest thinkers on the planet. With great insight, clarity and humor, How Creativity Happens In The Brain gives us a much needed breakdown of the neuroscientific hows and whys of creativity. This book is fantastic-a must read!" - Steven Kotler, a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and cofounder and director of research for the Flow Genome Project "In this brilliantly original book, Arne Dietrich ruthlessly demolishes all the nonsense about "left brains" and "divergent thinking," and sets out a bold new theory of creativity. Written with verve and panache, this is a must read for anyone interested in how brains generate new ideas." - Dylan Evans, author of Risk Intelligence and Placebo: Mind over Matter in Modern Medicine "For those of us getting claustrophobic in the super-heated sauna of pop-culture pontifications on creativity and how to maximize it in our lives, Arne Dietrich's new, groundbreaking book is a welcome, bracing plunge into the icy waters of clear thinking. Dietrich begins with a passionate, neurolingo free de-construction of the multiple theories of creativity prevailing today, including those held in the mostly lofty academic circles. This would be reason enough to make this an important book. But the author goes on to offer a new approach, one that takes seriously the thorough distribution of creativity in the brain and its multifaceted processes. His is an evolutionary paradigm, long familiar from other scholarly domains, with a variation-selection process at its core. Most simply stated: the brain produces (creative) mental models based on predictive processing, tests them, and selects. Dietrich's writing style is both accessible and leavened by a wonderfully wicked sense of humor. All in all, this makes for a great - and transformative - read." Gary Vikan, former Director of the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA 'This is a remarkable book, coming from the guy doing the best work on the brain and creativity. Dietrich describes the role of the brain in creativity and clearly identifies what can and cannot be said about the neural basis of creative thinking. He is so right in saying that hundreds of books offer methods and even "results" about creativity, but most of what is available is bunk. It is easy to be misled because many books are written by "brain experts," but most do not know the creativity research. Others are written by creativity experts, but they are not knowledgeable about the brain. This is the first book that draws from both fields, accurately separating the trustworthy from the unreliable. Dietrich identifies what appears to be the central process occurring in the brain that leads to creative behavior ("ideational combination"). He accomplishes a great deal, and yet does it while minimizing impenetrable neurolingo and cumbersome academese. If you are interested in reliable information about the brain and creativity, this book is for you.' - Mark Runco, Editor, Creativity Research JournalTable of Contents1. A Sneak preview of the Journey Ahead2. A Disciplined Demolition Project3. You ' 're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat4. The Cogwheels of Culture5. The Mind ' 's New Tricks6. Prophets of Design Space7. The Brain ' 's Design Studio8. Flow Experiences: From Mystery to Mechanisms9. In Search of the Artificer

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Book Synopsis An exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives to solve common decision-making problems and illuminate the workings of the human mind. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of the new and familiar is the most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they are not. Computers, like us, confront limited space and time, so computer scientists have been grappling with similar problems for decades. And the solutions they've found have much to teach us.In a dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths show how algorithms developed for computers also untangle very human questions. They explain how to have better hunches and when to leave things to chance, how to deal with overwhelming choices and how best to connect with others. From finding a spouse to finding a parking spot, from organizing one's inbox to peering in

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Book SynopsisA New York Times Notable Book of 2020A Bloomberg Best Non-Fiction Book of 2020A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2020A Human Behavior & Evolution Society Must-Read Popular Evolution Book of 2020A bold, epic account of how the co-evolution of psychology and culture created the peculiar Western mind that has profoundly shaped the modern world.Perhaps you are WEIRD: raised in a society that is Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. If so, you're rather psychologically peculiar.Unlike much of the world today, and most people who have ever lived, WEIRD people are highly individualistic, self-obsessed, control-oriented, nonconformist, and analytical. They focus on themselvestheir attributes, accomplishments, and aspirationsover their relationships and social roles. How did WEIRD populations become so psychologically distinct? What role did these psychological dif

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Riveting stories of the brain on the brink, from an acclaimed cognitive neurologist.Trade Review"Peskin writes...with a grace and humanity that recall Oliver Sacks. [She is] a dazzling stylist and a compassionate observer." -- Annie Murphy Paul - New York Times Book Review"Peskin provides the reader with an acute and evocative demonstration of the fragility and interchangeability of mental, emotional and behavioral states, and shows how they may be affected by the misbehavior of the molecules defining them." -- Adrian Woolfson - Wall Street Journal"Gripping accounts…scaffolded in clear explanations of their causes, and neuroscientific opportunities towards possible cures." -- Harvard Magazine"Sara Manning Peskin is remarkably skillful at breaking down complex neuroscience into easily digestible components and explaining the mysteries of the brain with profound elegance. Rarely has a writer been able to depict the devastating consequences of neurologic illness through such poignant patient stories. Like Oliver Sacks before her, she is sure to inspire a generation of future neurologists, neuroscientists, and students of the brain." -- Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, president of the American Academy of Neurology"Sara Manning Peskin’s elegant, empathic portrait of the vulnerable brain is both absolutely terrifying and wonderfully optimistic." -- Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind"Readable and well-researched… with added appeal for anyone with a loved one suffering from brain disease. Fascinating popular science." -- Kirkus"Neurologist Peskin debuts with an impressive account of the search for cures for a number of neurologic diseases including dementia and psychosis...There’s much to savor in this powerful survey." -- Publishers Weekly"Captivating and convincing…should bring hope and confidence to general readers as well as general practitioners, and to the millions living with neurodegenerative illness and their families. An exemplary work." -- Library Journal (starred review)

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Book SynopsisOne of the Next Big Idea Club's Favorite Nonfiction Books A Behavioral Scientist Notable Book of 2022 A legendary record producer–turned–brain scientist explains why you fall in love with music.Trade Review"This Is What It Sounds Like is a revelation. Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas offer extraordinary insights about music, emotion, and the brain, and they deliver them with great flair and flow. For all I thought I knew about these subjects, I learned a lot from this book—and was entertained at every turn, both by the ideas and the poetry of their expression. This instant classic should be read by anyone who has ever been moved by a piece of music—in other words, everyone." -- Dr. Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind"A deliciously nerdy resource for music lovers, and for anyone who thinks deeply about music and how it moves them. What Rogers and Ogas do with This Is What It Sounds Like is distill the science around music into an accessible and wonderous new level of understanding, of the elusive why of loving and living for music." -- Jessica Hopper, author of The First Collection of Criticism by a Living Female Rock Critic"Susan Rogers found her superpower in the music world not as a musician, but as a master listener. Rogers’ book is a gift to music listeners of all kinds—because in listening we hear not only the music, we hear the sonic signature of our own soul." -- Dan Charnas, author of Dilla Time: The Life and Afterlife of J Dilla, the Hip-Hop Producer Who Reinvented Rhythm"Susan is one of the smartest people in the world of music and this book will help you hear music more deeply and more thoughtfully. You can tell why Prince loved working with her." -- Touré, author of I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became an Icon"This is the book that scholars and fans of popular music across all disciplines have impatiently waited for. It is truly inspiring, the kind of book you fall in love with, that causes us to reflect over how and why records become a condition of the heart." -- Stan Hawkins, Professor of Musicology, University of Oslo"[A] pitch-perfect deep-dive into the power of music….Combining erudite analysis with plenty of soul, this will have music lovers rapt." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)"An intriguing look at how what enters our ears shapes our minds." -- Kirkus Reviews"It’s like two books in one: stories of some of our most beloved musicians, singers and songwriters, coupled with insights about how and why our brains decipher musical notes, melodies and lyrics in particular ways." -- BookPage (starred review)

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