Cognitivism, cognitive theory Books

Book SynopsisThe groundbreaking exploration of the power of empathy by renowned child-psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry, coauthor, with Oprah Winfrey, of What Happened to You?“Empathy, and the ties that bind people into relationships, are key elements of happiness. Born for Love is truly fascinating.” — Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness ProjectFrom birth, when babies'' fingers instinctively cling to those of adults, their bodies and brains seek an intimate connection, a bond made possible by empathy—the ability to love and to share the feelings of others.In this provocative book, psychiatrist Bruce D. Perry and award-winning science journalist Maia Szalavitz interweave research and stories from Perry''s practice with cutting-edge scientific studies and historical examples to explain how empathy develops, why it is essential for our development into healthy adults, and how to raise kids with empathy while navigating threats from technological change and other forces in the modern world.Perry and Szalavitz show that compassion underlies the qualities that make society work—trust, altruism, collaboration, love, charity—and how difficulties related to empathy are key factors in social problems such as war, crime, racism, and mental illness. Even physical health, from infectious diseases to heart attacks, is deeply affected by our human connections to one another.As Born for Love reveals, recent changes in technology, child-rearing practices, education, and lifestyles are starting to rob children of necessary human contact and deep relationships—the essential foundation for empathy and a caring, healthy society. Sounding an important warning bell, Born for Love offers practical ideas for combating the negative influences of modern life and fostering positive social change to benefit us all. It reveals how and why the brain learns to bond with others—and is a stirring call to protect our children from new threats to their capacity to love.Trade Review"Empathy, and the ties that bind people into relationships, are key elements of happiness. Born for Love is truly fascinating." -- Gretchen Rubin, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project "Once in awhile a book changes the way I experience the world. This time it's Born For Love, by Bruce D. Perry and Maia Szalavitz. Their book explores how children learn to love-or not. No work of fiction is as compelling." -- Denver Post "An accessible and important work of popular science." -- BigThink.com "Strikingly original and thought-provoking, Born for Love explores the crucially important role empathy plays in all of our lives. It should be required reading for every parent, partner, and friend." -- Annie Murphy Paul, author of Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives

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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'A practical map for a flourishing life' (Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence)In this groundbreaking, heart-lifting and deeply useful book, Martin Seligman, internationally esteemed psychologist and the father of Positive Psychology, shows us that happiness can be learned and cultivated. Using many years of in-depth psychological research he lays out the 24 strengths and virtues unique to the human psyche and teaches you how to identify the ones you possess. By calling upon your signature strengths, you will not only develop natural buffers against misfortune and negative emotion, but also improve the world around you - at work, in love and in raising children - achieving new and sustainable contentment, joy and meaning.Trade ReviewA revolutionary perspective on psychology. Authentic Happiness is a beacon for human behaviour [and] speaks with a joyful voice about what it means to be alive -- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of FlowAt last, psychology gets serious about glee, fun and happiness. Martin Seligman has given us a gift - a practical map for the perennial quest for a flourishing life -- Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional IntelligenceA highly insightful and personal reflection on the nature of happiness, from one of the most creative and influential psychologists of our time -- Steven Pinker, author of The Better Angels of Our NatureAn amazing book! Absolutely full of practical wisdom and its authentic sources. What depth of understanding! Seligman affirms our power of choice with a perspective on old and new psychology I found compelling and fascinating. This book will help restore the Character Ethic -- Stephen R Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective PeopleSeligman takes the best, most recent science in psychology and applies it to our oldest, most basic human questions: How can we be happy? And how can we be good? His book is groundbreaking, heart-lifting, and most important, deeply useful. With pun intended, I'm optimistic about its success. -- Mary Pipher, author of Reviving OpheliaAn impressive achievement. This book will change how people view psychology and how all of us view ourselves. -- Howard Gardner, Harvard University, author of Multiple IntelligencesMartin Seligman is on a mission: to take the rich and suprising findings of a young field called Positive Psychology and use them to imporve the mental, moral and spiritual well-being of his readers. Being Positive Psychology's founder, as well as a vivid, inspiring writer, he is uniquely qualified for this job. Only one person could have written Authentic Happiness, but millions could benefit from it. -- Robert Wright, author of The Moral Animal

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Book SynopsisAS SEEN ON ARMCHAIR EXPERT WITH DAX SHEPARD AND IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEW YORK TIMES AND THE TIMES**A COSMOPOLITAN BEST NEW NON-FICTION BOOK TO ADD TO YOUR TBR IN 2023****A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ**Rediscover your ability to pay attention with this groundbreaking new approach from the definitive expert on distraction and multitasking' (Cal Newport).We spend an average of just 47 seconds on any screen before shifting our attention. It takes 25 minutes to bring our attention back to a task after an interruption. And we interrupt ourselves more than we''re interrupted by others.In Attention Span, psychologist Gloria Mark reveals these and more surprising results from her decades of research into how technology affects our attention. She shows how much of what we think we know is wrong, including insights such as: Why multitasking hurts rather than helps productivity How social media and modern entertainment amplify our short attention spans What drains our mental resources and Trade Review‘Solutions to the mania of modern life’ The Times ‘In focusing on practical strategies rather than silver-bullet or short-term solutions like “digital detoxes”, Attention Span is a valuable guide to how to balance work and well-being in a world increasingly dependent on tech.’ New Scientist ‘In Attention Span, Mark makes the case for a new, evidence-based approach to attention, one that works with our tech-riddled modern world and tendencies towards distraction, instead of trying to squeeze the genie back in the bottle.’ Guardian ‘Gloria Mark is the definitive expert on distraction and multitasking in our increasingly digital world. Her book is a must-read for anyone concerned about our diminishing attention span’ Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of A World Without Email and Deep Work ‘This book covers decades of Gloria Mark’s fascinating research journey into how the rise of computing has affected our personal lives: how we are overstressed, we multitask too much, we are constantly interrupted even by ourselves, and our attention spans have declined to an astonishing 47 seconds. If you are interested in your well-being and how to gain agency in this digital age then you need to read this book.’ Susan David, bestselling author of Emotional Agility ‘Gloria Mark's book is a thorough review of the impact interruptions have on our lives and mental health. Some interruptions are welcomed, deliberately self-created. Most, however, are not. All interruptions impact the focus of attention, and attention is a critically limiting aspect of human cognition. Don't be distracted by my review – go read the book. It is an important and valuable contribution to living in this world of interruptions.’ Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things

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Book SynopsisThe Oxford Handbook of DBT charts the development of DBT from its early inception to the current cutting edge state of knowledge about both the theoretical underpinnings of the treatment and its clinical application across a range of disorders and adaptations to new clinical groups.Trade ReviewI had a good understanding of DBT, yet the book increased my awareness of its theoretical frameworks. It has clearly improved my understanding of the wide application of DBT including my own clinical area of practice. * BMA reviewing panel, BMA Medical Book Awards 2019 *This volume is a rich resource for researchers, clinicians, and advanced students seeking an overview of DBT or specific resources related to a research topic or clinical issue. Essential for graduate students, researchers, and professionals. * Choice *Table of ContentsSection I: Introduction 1: Michaela A. Swales: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Development and Distinctive Feature Section II: Theoretical underpinnings of DBT 2: Inga Niedtfeld and Martin Bohus: Recent developments in understanding the bio in the biosocial theory of BPD in DBT 3: Jeremy L. Grove and Sheila E. Crowell: Invalidating Environments and the Development of Borderline Personality Disorder 4: Alex Chapman: Behavioural foundations of DBT: Applying behavioural principles to the challenge of suicidal behaviour and non-suicid 5: Randy Wolbert: Modifying Behaviour Therapy to meet the challenge of treating BPD: Incorporating Zen and mindfulness 6: Jennifer Sayrs and Marsha Linehan: Modifying behaviour therapy to meet the challenge of treating BPD: utilizing dialectics Section: III The Structure of Treatment 7: Henry Schmidt III and Joan Russo: The structure of DBT Programs 8: Jennifer Sayrs: Running an effective Consultation Team: Principles & Challenges 9: Colleen Cowperthwait, Kristin Wyatt, Caitlin Fang, and Andre Neasciu: Skills Training in DBT: Principles & Practicalities 10: Shireen L. Rizvi and Kristen M. Roman: Generalisation modalities: Taking the treatment out of the consulting room - using telephone, text and email 11: Michaela A. Swales and Christine Dunkley: Structuring the wider environment: Skills for DBT Team Leader Section: IV Clinical Applications of DBT 12: Shari Manning: Case Formulation in DBT: Developing a behavioural formulation 13: Sara Landes: Conducting effective behavioural and solution analyses 14: Christine Dunkley: Conceptual and practical issues in the application of emotion regulation in DBT 15: Lars Mehlum: DBT as a Suicide and Self-harm Treatment: Assessing & Treating suicidal behaviours 16: Alan Fruzzetti and Allison K. Ruork: Conceptual and practical issues in the application of Validation in DBT 17: Heidi Heard: Treating In-Session Clinical Behaviours 18: Maggie Stanton and Christine Dunkley: Teaching Mindfulness Skills in DBT 19: Alan Fruzzetti: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy with Parents, Couples and Families to Augment Stage 1 Outcomes Section: V Evidence for DBT 20: Erin Miga, Andrada D. Neacsiu, Anita Lungu, Heidi Heard & Linda Dimeff: Dialectical Behavior Therapy from 1991-2015: What do we know about clinical efficacy and research quality? 21: Carla Walton and Katherine Anne Comtois: Effectiveness of DBT in routine clinical practice 22: Roy Krawitz & Erin Miga: Financial cost-effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for borderline personality disorder (BPD) 23: Tali Boritz, Richard J. Zeifman, and Shelley F. McMain: Why does DBT work? Understanding processes of change in a complex treatment 24: Louise Brinton Clarke: A service user perspective on DBT Section VI: Adapting the treatment for new clinical populations 25: Jill Rathus, Alec Miller, and Lauren Bonavitacola: DBT with adolescents 26: Kelly Bhatnagar, Lucene Wisniewski and Caitlin Martin-Wagar: DBT for Eating Disorders: Adapting Programmatically and Strategically 27: Seth R. Axelrod: DBT for substance dependence 28: Andre Ivanoff and Phillip Marotta: DBT in Forensic settings 29: Emily Fox: DBT in in-patient and residential settings 30: Amanda Uliaszek, Carla Chugani, and Greg Williams: DBT in College Counselling Centres 31: Francheska Perepletchikova: DBT for pre-adolescent children 32: Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza, and James Mazz: DBT in Schools 33: Janet Feigenbaum: DBT for employment -related difficulties 34: Julie Brown: DBT for individuals with an intellectual disability 35: Melanie Harned and Sara C. Schmidt: DBT for PTSD - an integrative approach 36: Martin Bohus and Kathlen Priebe: DBT for PTSD - A treatment program for complex PTSD after childhood abuse Section: VII Implementation of DBT 37: Katherine Anne Comtois and Sara J. Landes: Implementing DBT: An implementation science perspective 38: Helen Best and Jim Lyngs: Implementation in public healthcare systems 39: Sarah Reynolds and Colleen Lang: Implementation in private practice 40: Daniel Flynn, Mary Kells, and Mary Joyce: Implementation in National Systems: The Case of Ireland 41: Anthony P. DuBose, Yevgeny Botanov, and André Ivanoff: International Implementation of dialectical behavior therapy: The challenge of training therapists across cultures Section VIII: Training in DBT 42: Anthony P. DuBose, Yevgeny Botanov, María V. Navarro Haro, and Marsha Linehan: Evidence-based training: The Intensive Training Model(TM) 43: Amy Gaglia: Supervision in DBT: Shaping therapists towards adherence Section VIII: In Conclusion 44: Michaela A. Swales: 1. Future Directions for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy: Theory, Development & Implementation

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Book SynopsisIn an original defense of armchair philosophy, Michael Strevens seeks to restore philosophy to its traditional position as an essential part of the quest for knowledge, by reshaping debates about the nature of philosophical thinking. His approach explores experimental philosophy’s methodological implications and the cognitive science of concepts.Trade ReviewThinking Off Your Feet is an outstanding book that will make a splash. It proposes an original defense of philosophical analysis and of its main tool, the method of cases. It is an impressive defense of armchair philosophy, as it is by and large currently practiced, and is also an important contribution to the cognitive science of concepts. Philosophers as well as psychologists will benefit tremendously from reading this book. -- Edouard Machery, University of PittsburghThis book is beautifully written, powerfully argued, and deeply informed on the psychology. Strevens’s combination of respect for science and for ‘armchair’ philosophy results in a framework for understanding philosophy as a seamless and essential part of the human quest for knowledge. -- Michael Bishop, Florida State University

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Book SynopsisBehavioural experiments are one of the central and most powerful methods of intervention in cognitive therapy. This is the first ever handbook of behavioural experiments. Containing examples of over 200 experiments, this book will be of enormous practical value for all those involved in cognitive behavioural therapy, as well as stimulating exploration in both its readers and their patients.Trade ReviewFor anyone new coming into CBT, this book provides a wealth of learning and practical advice along with tried and trusted behavioural experiments for all the most common thinking distortions across all the major presenting problems common in everyday practice. Behavioural experiments are one of the mainstays and most powerful methods of intervention in cognitive therapy, so a book devoted to this one subject is well overdue and more than welcome. * European Eating Disorders Review, Vol 15 *Books like this are few and far between. It works as an accessible introduction to the practice of contemporary CBT, an overview of the most useful cognitive models of psychological disorders, and a unique reference book for finding out practical instructions and creative inspirations. * Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapy, Vol 33 *This new text... will attract interest both as a very valuable addition to the teaching and training resources in cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT), and is the first book to emerge from the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre subsequent to the departure of Professors Clark and Salkovskis to London. The volume is produced by the group of research clinicians who carried out the clinical trials and research work in developing cognitive therapy for anxiety disorders at Oxford... Both the wealth of clinical experience within a research framework and their teaching expertise are evident from this publication... In total, the book represents a considerable achievement and a tribute to the extent of CBT expertise within Oxford and the ability of this extended team to work together within a coherent framework. * British Journal of Clinical Psychology *Each chapter follows a systematic structure, making the book extremely accessible for the busy clinician who will find it easy to use as a resource in the clinic... It becomes apparent that in the hands of the Oxford group, the behavioural experiment becomes a very flexible tool, applicable to more open-ended enquiry as well as precise disconfirmation of predictions and capable of having impact upon all levels of cognition from the specific to the most general and abstract... The book has a much more clinical feel than many other CBT texts: the balance between theory and practice is much more weighted towards the latter; there is more acknowledgement of difficulties and complexities presented by patients in real life and therefore the attitude conveyed shows more humility in the face of such difficulties, making frequent references to therapists' needs for supervision, and so forth, while still conveying enthusiasm and optimism. * British Journal of Clinical Psychology *This book offers an excellent practical guide in how to carry out effective behavioural experiments... I am glad that I will have [it] on my bookshelf and I foresee using it with profit for the rest of my professional career. If you have only a limited budget for professional books, I would certainly recommend this one as a useful one to own. * Clinical Psychology *An enjoyable and stimulating read with lots of useful insights. * The Psychologist *This book is easy to read with clearly structured chapters set out in a consistent format that will appeal to new and experienced therapists alike, and will be invaluable in both the practice of CT and the delivery of training in it. * BABCP Magazine *Table of ContentsForeword ; 1. Behavioural experiments: historical and conceptual underpinnings ; 2. Devising effective behavioural experiments ; 3. Panic disorder and agoraphobia ; 4. Health anxiety ; 5. Obsessive-compulsive disorder ; 6. Generalised anxiety disorder ; 7. Social anxiety ; 8. Specific phobias ; 9. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ; 10. Depression ; 11. Bipolar affective disorders ; 12. Psychotic symptoms ; 13. Eating disorders ; 14. Insomnia ; 15. Physical illness and disability ; 16. Acquired brain injury ; 17. Avoidance of affect ; 18. Self-injurious behaviour ; 19. Interpersonal difficulties ; 20. Low self-esteem ; 21. Behavioural experiments: at the crossroads

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Book SynopsisGroping around a familiar room in the dark, relearning to read after a brain injury, navigating a virtual landscape through an avatar: all are expressions of vicariance—when the brain substitutes one process or function for another. Alain Berthoz shows that this capacity allows humans to think creatively in an increasingly complex world.Trade ReviewIn The Vicarious Brain, Creator of Worlds, Alain Berthoz defines vicariance as the substitution of one process for another, when attempting to achieve a specific goal. The forms of vicariance, which are so well described by Berthoz, are a product of our brain’s capacity for learning and creative divergent thinking. This book allows us to better understand how the human brain provides us with the remarkable ability to improve our quality of life. -- Kenneth M. Heilman, University of Florida College of MedicineSeeing things from multiple points of view is a skill that not all possess. Critical periods occur during the development of the brain for biocular vision, maternal bonding, and many other brain functions. Is it possible, as Berthoz supposes, that there is a critical period for being able to simultaneously hold different perspectives? If so, the implications are profound. -- Terrence Sejnowski, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

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Book SynopsisThe author examines his alternative to Freudian psychoanalytic procedures, explains the procedure, contrasts it to coventional treatment, and describes individual cases of many different types in which it was successful.

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Book SynopsisPonders the nature of happiness and its place in philosophical thinking and writing throughout the ages. This title explores notions of happiness - from Greek philosophers to Desmond Tutu, Charles Darwin, Iris Murdoch, and the Dalai Lama - as well as the theories advanced by psychologists, economists, geneticists, and neuroscientists.Trade Review"'Sissela Bok makes sense of happiness for adults: what sort of happiness we can seek, and what lies beyond our grasp. The book illuminates 'the pursuit of happiness' in modern economics, psychiatry, and philosophy, but she addresses, in the end, any intelligent reader. Sissela Bok writes so clearly and directly that the reader is often caught up short, suddenly realizing that her arguments are always provocations to think more deeply. This is a wise book.' (Richard Sennett)"

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Book SynopsisIn Pocket Therapy for Emotional Balance, three clinical psychologists and authors of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook offer quick, evidence-based tips and tools for managing intense emotions in the moment. Using this handy, take-anywhere guide, readers will find freedom from overwhelming thoughts and feelings, find a sense of calm, and live a more balanced life.Bite-sized, evidence based tips and tools for managing intense emotions in the moment-from the authors of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook!Sometimes emotions can feel like a big, powerful tidal wave that will sweep you away. And the more you try to suppress or put a lid on these emotions, the more overwhelming they get. So, how can you feel better when difficult emotions threaten to wash over you?In this take-anywhere pocket guide, clinical psychologists and authors Matt McKay, Jeffrey Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley offer quick and simple strategies based in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to help you take charge of your emotions and start living the life you want. Using this handy little book, you'll find freedom from overwhelming thoughts and feelings, discover a sense of lasting calm, improve your relationships, and feel more at peace with the world and yourself.If you're looking for small, easy ways to manage your emotions on the go, put this compact guide in your coat pocket, your purse, on your nightstand, or anywhere for quick and soothing relief.

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Book SynopsisDespite American education's mania for standardized tests, testing misses what matters most about learning: the desire to learn in the first place. Susan Engel offers a highly readable exploration of what curiosity is, how it can be measured, how it develops in childhood, and how educators can put curiosity at the center of the classroom.

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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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Book SynopsisStress is not in your head, it’s in your body—this is the key to peak performance that Leah Lagos, PsyD, BCB, an internationally known expert in biofeedback and sport and performance psychology, wants us to know. In this book, she shares with readers for the first time the same program that she uses with top athletes, CEOs, business leaders—anyone who wants and needs to perform at their best. What makes her scientifically proven 10-week program unlike any other is that she recognizes the link between heart rhythms and stress to create specific, clinically tested exercises and breathing techniques that allow you to control your body’s physical response to stress. She pairs this training with cognitive-behavioral exercises to offer a two-tiered process for strengthening health and performance, enabling readers to respond more flexibly to stressful situations, let go of negative thoughts and emotions, and ultimately be more focused and confident under pre

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Book SynopsisVery Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Imagination: A Very Short Introduction explores imagination as a cognitive power and an essential dimension of human flourishing, demonstrating how imagination plays multiple roles in human cognition and shapes humanity in profound ways. Examining philosophical, evolutionary, and literary perspectives on imagination, the author shows how this facility, while potentially distorting, both frees us from immediate reality and enriches our sense of it, making possible our experience of a meaningful world. Long regarded by philosophers as an elusive and mysterious capacity of the human mind, imagination has been the subject of extraordinary ambivalence, described as both dangerous and divine, as merely peripheral to rationality and as essential to all thinking. Drawing on philosophy, aesthetics, literary and cognitive theory as well as the human sciences, this book engages the dramatic conceptual history of imagination together Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 1: What is imagination? 2: Imagination in human evolution 3: From divine madness to cognitive power 4: The productive and aesthetic imagination 5: The augmentation of reality 6: Creativity from invention to wonder References and further reading

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Book SynopsisFirst developed in 1955, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is the original form of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and one of the most successful psychotherapeutic techniques in the world. Its founder, world-renowned psychologist Albert Ellis, now offers an up-to-date description of the main principles and practices of this innovative and influential therapy.REBT emphasizes the importance of cognition in psychological disturbances. Its aim is to help patients recognize their irrational and destructive beliefs, feelings, and behaviors, and to restructure harmful philosophic and behavioral styles to achieve maximal levels of happiness and productivity. In this book Dr. Ellis points out the most recent revisions of the original therapy and examines the use of REBT in treating specific clinical problems. Among the topics considered are depression, stress management, addiction, marital problems, the use of hypnosis, disposable myths, and many other obstacles to mental health.This fascinating look at REBT by its internationally recognized creator will be of inestimable value to professionals and laypersons alike.

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Book SynopsisBandura''s theory of self-efficacy is one of the most important discoveries in modern psychology that has transformed how we understand human behaviour. Through years of research across different disciplines, we now know that our self-efficacy is a central concept in how we behave and is critical in determining the capacity that students have to shape their own lives. The belief that our behaviour can yield a positive result within a specific domain explains many experiences that teachers face in the classroom - why, in the face of good teaching, students still don''t attempt the work; why, in some lessons, students are seen to work harder than in others; why some students struggle to bounce back from failure and why student behaviour can still present a challenge. Dr Neil Gilbride CPsychol guides the reader in how we can take action to raise student self-efficacy and, subsequently, the agency that students feel in taking control of their lives and studies. Specifically, the bo

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Book SynopsisAS SEEN ON ARMCHAIR EXPERT WITH DAX SHEPARD AND IN THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, NEW YORK TIMES AND THE TIMES**A COSMOPOLITAN BEST NEW NON-FICTION BOOK TO ADD TO YOUR TBR IN 2023****A NEXT BIG IDEA CLUB MUST-READ**Rediscover your ability to pay attention with this groundbreaking new approach from the definitive expert on distraction and multitasking' (Cal Newport).We spend an average of just 47 seconds on any screen before shifting our attention. It takes 25 minutes to bring our attention back to a task after an interruption. And we interrupt ourselves more than we''re interrupted by others.In Attention Span, psychologist Gloria Mark reveals these and more surprising results from her decades of research into how technology affects our attention. She shows how much of what we think we know is wrong, including insights such as: Why multitasking hurts rather than helps productivity How social media and modern entertainment amplify our short attention spans What drains our mental resources and Trade Review‘Solutions to the mania of modern life’ The Times ‘In focusing on practical strategies rather than silver-bullet or short-term solutions like “digital detoxes”, Attention Span is a valuable guide to how to balance work and well-being in a world increasingly dependent on tech.’ New Scientist ‘In Attention Span, Mark makes the case for a new, evidence-based approach to attention, one that works with our tech-riddled modern world and tendencies towards distraction, instead of trying to squeeze the genie back in the bottle.’ Guardian ‘Gloria Mark is the definitive expert on distraction and multitasking in our increasingly digital world. Her book is a must-read for anyone concerned about our diminishing attention span’ Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of A World Without Email and Deep Work ‘This book covers decades of Gloria Mark’s fascinating research journey into how the rise of computing has affected our personal lives: how we are overstressed, we multitask too much, we are constantly interrupted even by ourselves, and our attention spans have declined to an astonishing 47 seconds. If you are interested in your well-being and how to gain agency in this digital age then you need to read this book.’ Susan David, bestselling author of Emotional Agility ‘Gloria Mark's book is a thorough review of the impact interruptions have on our lives and mental health. Some interruptions are welcomed, deliberately self-created. Most, however, are not. All interruptions impact the focus of attention, and attention is a critically limiting aspect of human cognition. Don't be distracted by my review – go read the book. It is an important and valuable contribution to living in this world of interruptions.’ Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things

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Book SynopsisIf you''re facing a dilemma -- whether it''s handling a relationship, living ethically, dealing with a career change, or finding meaning in life -- the world''s most important thinkers from centuries past will help guide you toward a solution compatible with your individual beliefs. From Kirkegaard''s thoughts on coping with death to the I Ching''s guidelines on adapting to change, Plato, Not Prozac! makes philosophy accessible and shows you how to use it to solve your everyday problems.Gone is the need for expensive therapists, medication, and lengthy analysis. Clearly organized by common problems to help you tailor Dr. Lou Marinoff''s advice to your own needs, this is an intelligent, effective, and persuasive prescription for self-healing therapy that is giving psychotherapy a run for its money.

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Book SynopsisA leading researcher in brain dysfunction and a Wall Street Journal science writer demonstrate that the human mind is an independent entity that can shape and control the physical brain.

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Book SynopsisJohn Bargh''s Before You Know It moves our understanding of the mysteries of human behaviour one giant step forward. A brilliant and convincing book.' Malcolm Gladwell, author of Blink and David and GoliathHow much of what we say, feel and do is under our conscious control? How much is not? And most crucial of all: if we understood how our unconscious worked if we knew why we do what we do could we finally, fundamentally, know ourselves?From checking a dating app to holding a cup of coffee or choosing who to vote for, our unconscious secretly governs everything we feel, think and do. In Before You Know It, Dr John Bargh the world's leading expert on the unconscious mind reveals the psychological forces that are at work behind the scenes as we go about our daily lives, and offers simple steps to improve your sleep, boost your memory and live better.Trade ReviewJohn Bargh's Before You Know It moves our understanding of the mysteries of human behaviour one giant step forward. A brilliant and convincing book. -- Malcolm Gladwell, author of 'Blink' and 'David and Goliath'Lucid, vivid, and entertaining; psychology reconceived through compelling and powerful storytelling. -- Gavin Francis, author of 'Adventures in Human Being' and 'Empire Antartica'This fascinating journey through the inner workings of the human mind reveals how our conscious thoughts and unconscious motives intertwine to shape who we are. An entertaining and intelligent book that will change the way you see yourself and the world around you. -- Jonah Berger, author of 'Contagious' and 'Invisible Influence'[A] sprightly book ... Daniel Kahneman referenced [Bargh] in the popular Thinking Fast and Slow ... A world-leading psychologist ... A useful textbook for anyone with a strong interest in the field. * Sunday Times *This book is a “must read” not only because it is about a fascinating topic – the nature of the unconscious mind – but because it is an engaging and accessible book by the scientist who did the groundbreaking research. Everyone should read it. -- Timothy D. Wilson

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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 SynopsisDefining the process of learning as an apprenticeship--a social activity that is mediated by parents and peers who support and challenge the child''s understanding and skills--Rogoff here explores the mental development of children. She draws from and expands on the work of Vygotsky in her examination of the dynamic relationship between thinking processes and the cultural context and gathers evidence from various areas--cognitive and developmental psychology, cultural psychology, anthropology, infancy studies, and communications research. By integrating available evidence and her own research, Rogoff provides a coherent and broadly based account of cognitive development in the sociocultural context.Written in a provocative and engaging style and supplemented by photographs and original drawings by the author, this book will be used by students as well as researchers in developmental, cognitive, and social psychology, and those in the related disciplines of communication, anthropology, and education.Trade Review'Iis a major contribution to the study of congitive development ... the best account of a sociocultural approach to cognitive development we have to date.'J. Wertsh, ScienceTable of ContentsPART I: The individual and the sociocultural context: Conceiving the relationship of the social world and the individual; The sociocultural context of cognitive activity; PART II: Processes of guided participation: Providing bridges from known to new; Structuring situations and transferring responsibility; Cultural universals and variations in guided participation; PART III: Cognitive development through interaction with adults and peers: Explanations for cognitive development through social interaction: Vygotsky and Piaget; Evidence of learning from guided participation with adults; Peer interaction and cognitive development; Shared thinking and guided participation.

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Book SynopsisThis book explores the interplay between physiological and psychological states in light of increasing evidence that they exert subtle, long-term influences not only on mood, but also perception, judgement, and cognitive processes in general; these, in turn, affect behaviour. Drawing on his own data from subjective assessments of mood and research by others, the author addresses questions such as what determines a person''s mood and its changes; what is the relationship between mood and sugar snacking, smoking, coffee drinking, late-night worry, depression, and insomnia; what effect do exercise, time of day, nutrition, and sleep have on mood. This book will be of interest to researchers in personality, clinical, and physiological psychology and to laypersons interested in the topic.Trade Review"This is a courageous and most welcome effort to establish the concept of mood as an important part of psychology. It reviews the literature exhaustively, and organizes it in terms of the writer's own long continued work in this area. He is not afraid to look at the biological as well as the introspective aspects of moods, and gives us an integrative model of moods and mood changes which will dominate research in the coming years." --H.J. Eysenck, University of London "Thayer brings together in his book all of the important perspectives on mood, as represented both in current research and in historically older concepts, such as arousal. In his review of the literature Thayer ranges wide, including--although the book is primarily about normal mood--references, to the mood/cognition experiments in abnormal psychology which themselves have done much to advance interest in the topic." --The Psychologist "Ideally, the publication of this book will not only alert more people to the existence of Thayer's intriguing theory, but it will also inspire both researchers who favor his model and those who oppose it to conduct more empirical work to support their ideas." --Contemporary Psychology "This is a courageous and most welcome effort to establish the concept of mood as an important part of psychology. It reviews the literature exhaustively, and organizes it in terms of the writer's own long continued work in this area. He is not afraid to look at the biological as well as the introspective aspects of moods, and gives us an integrative model of moods and mood changes which will dominate research in the coming years." --H.J. Eysenck, University of London "Thayer brings together in his book all of the important perspectives on mood, as represented both in current research and in historically older concepts, such as arousal. In his review of the literature Thayer ranges wide, including--although the book is primarily about normal mood--references, to the mood/cognition experiments in abnormal psychology which themselves have done much to advance interest in the topic." --The Psychologist "Ideally, the publication of this book will not only alert more people to the existence of Thayer's intriguing theory, but it will also inspire both researchers who favor his model and those who oppose it to conduct more empirical work to support their ideas." --Contemporary PsychologyTable of ContentsIntroduction; Modern perspectives on mood; Arousal: A basic element of mood and behaviour; Daily rhythms of subjective energy and other biopsychological cycles; Determinants of energetic and tense arousal, including cognitive-mood interactions; The natural interaction of energetic and tense moods: A multidimensional arousal model; Issues relating to formal and informal research on mood; Toward an understanding of nonpathological mood states: Evidence, speculations, and applications; Appendices; References.

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Book SynopsisSignal detection theory, as developed in electrical engineering and based on statistical decision theory, was first applied to human sensory discrimination about 40 years ago. The theory''s intent was to explain how humans discriminate and how we might use reliable measures to quantify this ability. An interesting finding of this work is that decisions are involved even in the simplest of discrimination tasks--say, determining whether or not a sound has been heard (a yes-no decision). Detection theory has been applied to a host of varied problems (for example, measuring the accuracy of diagnostic systems, survey research, reliability of lie detection tests) and extends far beyond the detection of signals. This book is a primer on signal detection theory, useful for both undergraduates and graduate students.Trade Review"This book contains the theoretical explications of the ways observers detect weak, uncertain, or ambiguous signals. It explains the math underlying the theory, and outlines its uses in measuring an observer's sensitivity. The book is intended to serve as an introductory text for undergraduate or graduate courses in sensation and perception, psychophysics, cognition, and quantitative methods; it may also be used as a reference for researchers. Wickens teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles."--SciTech Book News "This book contains the theoretical explications of the ways observers detect weak, uncertain, or ambiguous signals. It explains the math underlying the theory, and outlines its uses in measuring an observer's sensitivity. The book is intended to serve as an introductory text for undergraduate or graduate courses in sensation and perception, psychophysics, cognition, and quantitative methods; it may also be used as a reference for researchers. Wickens teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles."--SciTech Book NewsTable of Contents1. The signal-detection model ; 2. The equal-variance Gaussian model ; 3. Operating characteristics and the Gaussian model ; 4. Measures of detection performance ; 5. Confidence ratings ; 6. Forced-choice procedures ; 7. Discrimination and identification ; 8. Finite-state models ; 9. Likelihoods and likelihood ratios ; 10. Multidimensional stimuli ; 11. Statistical treatment ; A. A summary of probability theory ; References

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Book SynopsisLazarus offers a theory of emotion that is cognitive, motivational, and relational, a position he has pioneered over the last forty years. Clearly written and controversial, this book will appeal to both the student and professional researcher in personality, social, and clinical psychology, as well as in cognitive and development psychology. It is an ideal supplementary textbook in courses on psychology of adjustment and psychology of emotion and feeling.Trade Review"This volume is certainly the magnum opus of Lazarus' distinguished career. His landmark investigations and formulations of cognition, emotion, and motivation provide a much needed framework for social, abnormal, and clinical psychology. I have personally learned a great deal from reading this volume and recommend it to my colleagues." --Aaron T. Beck, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania "The book is a masterpiece. Novel and well-written, it contains the most thorough and thoughtful treatment of emotion presented by anyone anywhere. The concept of core relational themes is a major breakthrough in our understanding of the generation of affect. Especially important are the treatment of unconscious processes in emotion, and the discussion of the development of cognition-emotion relationships. The book is must reading for basic researcher and clinician alike." --Joseph J. Campos, Ph.D., Director of Institute of Human Development, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley "Another landmark work from the country's leading stress and coping researcher. Emotion and Adaptation is a must read by every emotion researcher. It will encourage some and irritate others, but all will find it thought-provoking." --Shelley E. Taylor, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles "Boldly original and insightful, this new comprehensive and controversial theory of emotion will challenge and inform the field. Beautifully written, this book is essential for students and scientists alike, for practitioners and researchers in fields as diverse as social, cognitive, developmental, personality and health psychology, as well as practitioners in psychology, psychiatry, and social work." --Paul Ekman, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of California, San Francisco "Lazarus' book sets forth compellingly the rich results and theoretical conclusions that come from a lifetime of research on emotion. The outlines of his 'cognitive-motivational-relational' theories are broad and sweeping, yet the detailed findings on which his views are based provide a stunning rationale for those views. It has been Lazarus' achievement to discern with remarkable acumen the interaction between cognition, motivation and cultural transactions in giving shape to our emotional lives. His espousal of concepts like appraisal and 'meaning-making' has changed the way psychologists look at emotion." --Jerome Bruner, Ph. D., Research Professor of Psychology, New York University "This latest contribution by one of our most seminal scholars addresses the formidable task of reintegrating emotion into our conceptualization of human adaptation. The results, in this volume, are remarkable. Emotion and Adaptation is both far ranging in scope and manifests the depth of Lazarus' scholarship. His reasoning is clear, the material well documented and appropriately illustrated. Equally impressive is the simplicity and even humor of his writing style. This is an edifying and important work. It will have a significant impact on our thinking." --Carl Eisdorfer, M.D., Ph.D., Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychology, University of Miami "Thoughtful, scholarly, provocative, with many theoretical and practical implications. A 'magnum opus' from the pen of a distinguished psychologist." --Donald Meichenbaum, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology, University of Waterloo "As someone who has studied the field of emotions for over 20 years, I believe that this is the best book on emotions yet published in the field of psychology. It is must reading for any professional interested in the topic." --Dr. Edwin A. Locke, University of Maryland "An outstanding contribution from one of the foremost authorities on the psychology of emotions. . . .The author deals deftly with the complex task of attempting to define, classify and measure emotions. . . .Highly recommended." --The Newsletter of the American Institute of Stress "All in all, Lazarus has something to say about cognition and emotion, says it lucidly and with warmth, and tips us off to where the focal research should be." --Contemporary Sociology "A masterful review of an extensive literature which achieves some degree of coherence in Lazarus' hands. . . .Should provide a stimulus to research for many years to come." --Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease "This is a must-have book for academic libraries." --Choice "Truly magnificent. Lazarus presents a very carefully reasoned, penetrating perspective of the emotional process. . . . thoroughly enjoyable and required reading not only for other research investigators but for the wider audience of health practitioners." --American Journal of Psychiatry "A privilege to read. Lazarus has consistently been both thorough and interesting in the psychological questions he has addressed. He has dealth with important issues. Reading this book is a little like uncorking a fine wine which was laid down some years ago." --The Psychologist "The scholarship and integrative thought represented in the volume are highly admirable. Even emotion researchers who are close followers of Lazarus' long and productiove career those who are significantly influenced by his work are likely to learn something new from his insightful treatment of the broad set of topics that he correctly considers as relevant to the domain of emotion. Lazarus is innovative and provocative in attemoting to make his theory relational. He is quite convincing in marshalling evidence and arguments. The book is a monumental and elegent piece of work. It is replete with astute observations and insights gained from a long and productive career of research and scholarship. I feel better informed for having read this book." --Contemporary Psychology "Addresses a broad readership interested in emotion. . . . illustrated with episodes taken from novels and with anecdotes presented in the narrative. . . . inspiring. . . . arouses great interest." --European Journal of Cognitive Psychology "Pleasant and easy reading. The theory is one of the major theories of emotion of this moment. The book as such is the currently richest, most extensive and most informative of discussions of the emotion domain. It is the mature fruit of a lifetime of reflection, worth reading for those who want an understanding of the cognitive approach to emotions." --Nico H. Frijda (University of Amsterdam), Cognition and Emotion "The unique combination of a comprehensive theory with detailed descriptions of specific phenomena makes these books extremely valuable for anyone interested in emotions. Not only the quality, but the scope of [the] book is immense . . . holds over 500 exciting pages which can be easily read by every intelligent reader. . . . a,png the very few books which make you wonder whether anyone should write another book on this issue. . . . original and brilliant. . . . masterpiece. . . should be read by everyone who wants to gain some understanding of emotions." --Aaron Ben-Ze'ev (University of Haifa), History of European IdeasTable of ContentsPart I: BACKGROUND: About emotion; Issues of research, classification and measurements; Part II: THE COGNITIVE-MOTIVATIONAL-RELATIONAL THEORY: The person-environment relationship: motivation and coping; Cognition and emotion; Issues of causality; Part III: INDIVIDUAL EMOTIONS: Goal incongruent (negative) emotions; Goal congruent (positive) and problematic emotions; Part IV: EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Individual development; Social influence; Part V: PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Emotions and health; Implications for research, assessment, treatment and disease prevention; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisHow can we account for the sudden appearance of such dazzling artists and scientists as Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin, or Einstein? How can we define such genius? What conditions or personality traits seem to produce exceptionally creative people? Is the association between genius and madness really just a myth? These and many other questions are brilliantly illuminated in The Origins of Genius. Dean Simonton convincingly argues that creativity can best be understood as a Darwinian process of variation and selection. The artist or scientist generates a wealth of ideas, and then subjects these ideas to aesthetic or scientific judgment, selecting only those that have the best chance to survive and reproduce. Indeed, the true test of genius is the ability to bequeath an impressive and influential body of work to future generations. Simonton draws on the latest research into creativity and explores such topics as the personality type of the genius, whether genius is genetic or produced by environment and education, the links between genius and mental illness (Darwin himself was emotionally and mentally unwell), the high incidence of childhood trauma, especially loss of a parent, amongst Nobel Prize winners, the importance of unconscious incubation in creative problem-solving, and much more. Simonton substantiates his theory by examining and quoting from the work of such eminent figures as Henri Poincare, W. H. Auden, Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Charles Darwin, Niels Bohr, and many others. For anyone intrigued by the spectacular feats of the human mind, The Origins of Genius offers a revolutionary new way of understanding the very nature of creativity.Trade Review"No scholar writing about genius and creativity has the breadth of knowledge of Dean Keith Simonton. His Darwinian perspective is provocative, intriguing, generative and important."--Howard Gardner, author of Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences"One of the most eminent reserachers of eminence has written a very readable, intellectually exciting book about creativity seen from a Darwinian perspective. Anyone interested in what makes some persons stand out and shine will find it fascinating." --Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience"Dean Keith Simonton is an undiputed pioneer in the scientific study of history. His latest book, ^iOrigins of Genius, supplies yet another original and enduring contribution to the understanding of the creative process. Inspired by Darwinian theory, Simonton has brought together a large body of research on creative genius, and given this research a sweeping new interpretation. Every book that Simonton has previously produced has been a gem, and his Origins of Genius is no exception." --Frank J. Sulloway, author of Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics and Creative Lives"In this book, Dean Keith Simonton brings Darwinian principles to the question of creativity and genius. He does so with resounding success.... Hans Eysenck called Dean Keith Simonton the successor to Sir Francis Galton. With the appearance of this book, we see that he is also one of the successors of Charles Darwin." --Colin Martindale, author of The Clockwork Muse: The Predictability of Artistic Change"A provocative story of how the limited human mind might produce work of astonishing brilliance and enduring value." --Teresa M. Amabile, Harvard Business School"This work is required reading for anyone wanting to understand the creative power of the human intellect, the power that Darwin himself tapped to change forever our understanding of the evolution of species and our own place in nature. Origins of Genius may well be instrumental in changing forever our understanding of the evolution of creative human thought." --Gary Cziko, Professor and AT&T Technology Fellow, University of Illinois"A fascinating treatise leavened with candid descriptions by Einstein, Nietzsche, Mozart, Darwin, Poe, Linus Pauling and many others of their own creative processes.... Likely to generate controversy but also has the potential to influence how we think about the human mind."--Publishers WeeklyTable of ContentsPreface ; 1. Genius and Darwin ; 2. Cognition: What is the Creative Process? ; 3. Variation: How do Creators Differ from the Rest of Us? ; 4. Development: Is the Genius Born or Made? ; 5. Products: By What Works Shall We Know Them? ; 6. Groups: Creative Times, Places and Peoples? ; 7. Darwinian Genius ; Notes ; References ; Index

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Book SynopsisSimple Heuristics That Make Us Smart invites readers to embark on a new journey into a land of rationality that differs from the familiar territory of cognitive science and economics. Traditional views of rationality tend to see decision makers as possessing superhuman powers of reason, limitless knowledge, and all of eternity in which to ponder choices. To understand decisions in the real world, we need a different, more psychologically plausible notion of rationality, and this book provides it. It is about fast and frugal heuristics--simple rules for making decisions when time is pressing and deep thought an unaffordable luxury. These heuristics can enable both living organisms and artificial systems to make smart choices, classifications, and predictions by employing bounded rationality. But when and how can such fast and frugal heuristics work? Can judgments based simply on one good reason be as accurate as those based on many reasons? Could less knowledge even lead to systematicaTrade Review"How do people cope in the real, complex world of confusing and overwhelming information and rapidly approaching deadlines? This important book starts a new quest for answers. Here, Gigerenzer, Todd, and their lively research group show that simple heuristics are powerful tools that do surprisingly well. The field of decision making will never be the same again."--Donald A. Norman, author of Things That Make Us Smart and The Invisible Computer"Gigerenzer & Todd's volume represents a major advance in our understanding of human reasoning, with many genuinely new ideas on how people think and an impressive body of data to back them up. Simple Heuristics is indispensable for cognitive psychologists, economists, and anyone else interested in reason and rationality."--Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works and Words and Rules"In the past few years, the theory of rational (sensible) human behavior has broken loose from the illusory and empirically unsupported notion that deciding rationally means maximizing expected utility. Research has learned to take seriously and study empirically how real human beings ... actually address the vast complexities of the world they inhabit. Simple Heuristics ... offers a fascinating introduction to this revolution in cognitive science, striking a great blow for sanity in the approach to human rationality."--Herbert A. Simon, Carnegie Mellon University, and Nobel Laureate in Economics"This book is a major contribution to the theory of bounded rationality. It illustrates that the surprising efficiency of fast and simple procedures is due to their fit with the structure of the environment in which they are used. The emphasis on this ecological rationality is an advance in a promising and already fruitful new direction of research."--Reinhard Selten, Professor of Economics at the University of Bonn, and Nobel Laureate in Economics"In recent years, and particularly in the culture wars, many people have written about rationality. These authors now provide a summary of this recent history, organized on the basis of different types of decision making. In each case, the authors summarize the literature so as to provide an implicit history. But the book is more fundamentally aimed at making rationality workable by showing 'the way that real people make the majority of their inferences and decisions.'"--Journal of the History of the Behavioral SciencesTable of ContentsI. THE RESEARCH AGENDA; II. IGNORANCE-BASED DECISION MAKING; III. ONE-REASON DECISION MAKING; IV. BEYOND CHOICE: MEMORY, ESTIMATION, AND CATEGORIZATION; V. SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE; VI. A LOOK AROUND, A LOOK BACK, A LOOK AHEAD

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Book SynopsisThis text addresses the central problem of music cognition. Equally important, the work offers an analysis of the relationship between the psychological organization of music and its internal structure.Trade ReviewWe have before us a summary of some 12 years of assiduous and intelligent work by one of the very best minds in cognitive science. I have followed Carol Krumhansl's research for years with enthusiasm; it is a joy to see it reported so well ... Go read this excellent book! * American Scientist *Table of Contents1. Objectives and Methods ; 2. Quantifying Tonal Hierarchies and Key Distances ; 3. Musical Correlates of Perceived Tonal Hierarchies ; 4. A Key-Finding Algorithm Based on Tonal Hierarchies ; 5. Perceived Relations Between Musical Tones ; 6. Perceptual Organization and Pitch Memory ; 7. Quantifying Harmonic Hierarchies and Key Distances ; 8. Perceived Harmonic Relations ; 9. Perceiving Multiple Keys: Modulation and Polytonality ; 10. Tonal Hierarchies in Atonal and Non-Western Tonal Music ; 11. Music Cognition: Theoretical and Empirical Generalizations

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Book SynopsisThis provocative book explains the origins and persistence of religious ideas on the basis of common structures and functions of human thought. The first general introduction to the new cognitive science of religion, Minds and Gods presents the major themes, theories, and thinkers involved in this revolutionary new approach to human religiosity. Arguing that we cannot understand what we think until we first understand how we think, the book pursues the evolutionary forces that molded the modern human mind and continue to shape our ideas and actions today. Todd Tremlin details many of the adapted features of the brain - illustrating their operation with examples of everyday human behavior - and shows how mental endowments inherited from our ancestral past lead people to naturally entertain religious ideas. Tremlin provides a clear and comprehensive account of the developing field of the cognitive science of religion. This accessible and engaging volume is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the religious mind.Trade Review...it is good, especially in a world endlessly troubled by religious differences, to have a new theoretical analysis suggesting that there are core religious beliefs that transcend our differences and that stem from universal featues of the human mind. * Ann Cale Kruger, Having Faith, Nature, *The volume is a very clear introduction to the work of the theorists of religion * Thomas Dixon, TLS *

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Book SynopsisA foremost scholar in comparative cognition--a discipline closely connected to behavioral biology, evolution, and cognitive neuroscience--author Sara J. Shettleworth delivers a focused treatment of the essentials in writing that is both lucid and captivating. Brief, yet brimming with detail, Fundamentals of Comparative Cognition conveys the richness and complexity of this diverse field while addressing two fundamental questions: What makes us uniquely human? and What do our minds share with other creatures?Table of ContentsSeries Introduction ; Preface ; Chapter 1. What Is Comparative Cognition About? ; "From Darwin to Behaviorism": A Little History ; Research in the Twenty-First Century: Tool-Using Crows ; How This Book Is Organized ; Chapter 2. Basic Processes ; Perception and Attention ; Memory ; Associative Learning ; Discrimination, Classification, and Concepts ; Chapter 3. Physical Cognition ; Spatial Cognition: How Do Animals Find Their Way Around? ; Two Timing Systems ; Numerical Cognition ; Putting It Together: Foraging and Planning ; Using Tools ; Chapter 4. Social Cognition ; Social Behavior: The Basics ; Social Learning ; Communication ; Chapter 5. Comparative Cognition and Human Uniqueness ; Different in Degree or Kind? ; Clues from Modularity and Development ; References ; Index

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Book Synopsis''The question for me is how can the human mind occur in the physical universe. We now know that the world is governed by physics. We now understand the way biology nestles comfortably within that. The issue is how will the mind do that as well.''--Alan Newell, December 4, 1991, Carnegie Mellon UniversityThe argument John Anderson gives in this book was inspired by the passage above, from the last lecture by one of the pioneers of cognitive science. Newell describes what, for him, is the pivotal question of scientific inquiry, and Anderson gives an answer that is emerging from the study of brain and behavior. Humans share the same basic cognitive architecture with all primates, but they have evolved abilities to exercise abstract control over cognition and process more complex relational patterns. The human cognitive architecture consists of a set of largely independent modules associated with different brain regions. In this book, Anderson discusses in detail how these various modules can combine to produce behaviors as varied as driving a car and solving an algebraic equation, but focuses principally on two of the modules: the declarative and procedural. The declarative module involves a memory system that, moment by moment, attempts to give each person the most appropriate possible window into his or her past. The procedural module involves a central system that strives to develop a set of productions that will enable the most adaptive response from any state of the modules. Newell argued that the answer to his question must take the form of a cognitive architecture, and Anderson organizes his answer around the ACT-R architecture, but broadens it by bringing in research from all areas of cognitive science, including how recent work in brain imaging maps onto the cogntive architecture.Trade ReviewIn this ground-breaking book, John Anderson brings together research on computational models of the mind and research on the operation of the brain. The book also provides the best description of the latest version of ACT, which is a significant extension in functionality and theory from its predecessors. The book is a must read for researchers and students in Cognitive Science. * John E. Laird, Professor, University of Michigan *In 2006 John Anderson received the world's major award in cognitive science, the Heineken Prize, for his groundbreaking theory on human cognition. His new book represents a courageous effort to further develop that theory; ambitious in its attempt to develop a coherent, general theory of human cognition of all of its physical, computational, and neuroscientific detail. It seems to me that the advanced tools of the present theory can, with great profit, be applied in meeting an ultimate challenge: explaining the role of language in human cognition. * Willem J.M. Levelt, Director Emeritus, Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics *The mission of cognitive neuroscience is (or at least should be) to connect cognition with neural function, to explain how gray matter gives rise to the psychology of thought. Where many people settle for a mere geography-an inventory of what happens where * Anderson aims for something much more ambitious: an understanding of how cognition happens at all. By combining trenchant psychological analysis with well-motivated neuroimaging, Anderson provides a new paradigm for addressing the core questions in cognitive neuroscience. An important step in the science of relating mind and brain.Gary Marcus, Professor of Psychology and Director, Infant Language Center, New York University *An eloquent, personal and closely argued book, that synthesizes decades of Anderson's ground-breaking work, integrates that work with the latest advances from brain imaging, and provides inspiration and direction for the future of cognitive science. This book puts cognitive architecture back at the heart of the subject, and provides a rich and coherent account of the computational machine that is the human brain. * Nick Chater, Professor of Cognitive and Decision Sciences, University College, London *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1 Cognitive Architecture ; 2 The Modular Organization of the Mind ; 3 Human Associative Memory ; 4 The Adaptive Control of Thought ; 5 What does it Take to be Human? Lessons from High-School Algebra ; 6 How Can the Human Mind Occur? ; Bibiliography

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Book SynopsisThe Cognitive Unconscious provides an overview of fifty years of research into unconscious cognition. Its focus is on the role that unconscious processes play in perception, cognition, personality, and social processes. The book brings together some of the leading minds in the field to both summarize past research findings and highlight potential research avenues for the future.Trade ReviewThis substantial collection of chapters examining what has been called by many names-the unconscious, the non-conscious, implicit memory, or tacit memory-will serve a number of different audiences...the text reads well, and is representative of modern views on the issues from researchers who have spent long and fruitful time in the field. * J. F. Heberle, CHOICE *Research on implicit learning and memory has played a pivotal role in modern psychology and neuroscience. The Cognitive Unconscious provides a comprehensive and engaging overview of the impressive progress that has been made during the past half-century. With contributions from leading experts, this authoritative volume is must reading for anyone interested in the implicit influences that shape the human mind and behavior. * Daniel L. Schacter, author of The Seven Sins of Memory Updated Edition *One of the great discoveries about the structure of cognition is the extent to which implicit (unconscious) processes determine what we see and how we learn. This engaging and wide-ranging collection of ably edited chapters describes the origin of this idea and shows how unconscious cognitive processes have proven to be ubiquitous and fundamental to mental life. * Larry Squire, coauthor of Memory: From Mind to Molecules *This book is a tour de force, a definitive guide for still mysterious topic of the cognitive unconscious. Reber and Allen organized an excellent collection of authors and writings at the forefront of this vibrant but oft-neglected topic, reaching out into areas including general neuro-physiology and biology. Chapters are written in informative style, accessible also to general readers. An absolute must for anybody interested in implicit learning and the cognitive unconscious. * František Baluška, Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, University of Bonn, Germany *Implicit learning is an exacting field in which experimental designs must be explicitly clever. The Cognitive Unconscious is a remarkable collaboration of renowned experts and a tour de force contribution to this field. Its insights transcend psychology, encompassing all disciplines that investigate cognitive awareness, the subconscious mind, and their adaptive role in evolution, extending from the primordial conscious cell forward. I highly recommend this absorbing, benchmark book. * William B. Miller, Jr., coauthor of Cellular-Molecular Mechanisms in Epigenetic Evolutionary Biology and The Singularity of Nature *This volume provides comprehensive coverage of a remarkable array of topics related to the cognitive unconscious. It is rare, in our increasingly fragmented academic environment, to integrate such a diverse range of approaches through a cohesive organizing theme. The personal notes throughout the volume offer an engaging first-hand perspective on the development and flowering of research on implicit learning and the cognitive unconscious. * Jenny Saffran, Rubenstein Professor of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison *This book is bursting with insights into what lies below the surface of our conscious minds. We may not be privy to the cognitive unconscious directly, but this fascinating underworld (what Kahneman called System 1) actually dictates much of what we do and who we are. * Ken Paller, Professor and James Padilla Chair in Arts & Sciences, Northwestern University *

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Book SynopsisRecreative Minds develops a philosophical theory of imagination that draws upon recent theories and results in psychology. Ideas about how we read the minds of others have put the concept of imagination firmly back on the agenda for philosophy and psychology. Currie and Ravenscroft present a theory of what they call imaginative projection; they show how it fits into a philosophically motivated picture of the mind and of mental states, and how it illuminates and is illuminated by recent developments in cognitive psychology. They argue that we need to recognize a category of desire-in-imagination, and that supposition and fantasy should be classed as forms of imagination. They accommodate some of the peculiarities of perceptual forms of imagining such as visual and motor imagery, and suggest that they are important for mind-reading. They argue for a novel view about the relations between imagination and pretence, and suggest that imagining can be, but need not be, the cause of pretendingTrade ReviewRecreative Minds is an insightful and wide-ranging discussion of the nature of imagination and its role in human cognition. Topics covered include the distinctions amongst different kinds of imagining (for example, between belief-like imaginings and perception-like imaginings), the mechanisms underlying visual and motor imagery, the role of emagination in mind-reading (that is, in mental-state attribution), the nature and developmental significance of childhood pretence, our emotional responses to literature and theatre, and explanations of autism and schizophrenia as (distinct) kinds of disorder of the imagination. Currie and Ravenscroft write clearly and engagingly throughout, and their careful dissection of many of the issues and arguments that they consider is quite masterful. The book deserves to be widely read by both philosophers and psychologists interested in any of the above topics. * Peter Carruthers, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *an excellent and wide-ranging discussion of the character and role of the imagination: read it and profit * Peter Carruthers, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *Table of Contents1. PROJECTIONS AND RECREATIONS ; 3. THE SIMULATION PROGRAM ; 6. IMPRACTICAL REASON ; 9. EMOTION AND THE FICTIONAL

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Book SynopsisThe Neuropsychology of Anxiety first appeared in 1982 as the first volume in the Oxford Psychology Series, and it quickly established itself as a classic work in the psychology and neuroscience literature. It presented an innovative, and at times controversial, theory of anxiety and the brain systems, especially the septo-hippocampal system, that subserve it.This completely updated and revised third edition provides a further updated theory of septo hippocampal function combined with an improved understanding of anxiety. The book includes a new chapter on prefrontal cortex integrating frontal and hippocampal views of anxiety, as well as an extensively modified chapter on personality providing a new basis for further developments of Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory. In addition, numerous figures have been fully updated and converted to colour to support the text. This book is essential for postgraduate students and researchers in experimental psychology and neuroscience, as well as for

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Book SynopsisLuciano Floridi presents a book that will set the agenda for the philosophy of information. PI is the philosophical field concerned with (1) the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics, utilisation, and sciences, and (2) the elaboration and application of information-theoretic and computational methodologies to philosophical problems. This book lays down, for the first time, the conceptual foundations for this new area of research. It does so systematically, by pursuing three goals. Its metatheoretical goal is to describe what the philosophy of information is, its problems, approaches, and methods. Its introductory goal is to help the reader to gain a better grasp of the complex and multifarious nature of the various concepts and phenomena related to information. Its analytic goal is to answer several key theoretical questions of great philosophical interest, arising from the investigation of semantic information.Trade ReviewThe impressive and exciting project that Floridi undertakes in his book is aimed at establishing the philosophy of information as a mature subdiscipline of philosophy, with its own method and research programme ... Floridi's book not only presents a comprehensive framework for the philosophy of information but also makes a strong case for its legitimacy as a mature subdiscipline of philosophy. The intellectual debates and new research that it has already stimulated testify to its importance as a significant contribution to the literature. * Hilmi Demir, Mind *the non-technical portions are understandable to everyone and provide plenty of food for thought. * Steven Harnad, Times Literary Supplement *This is a monumental work ... Floridi goes through much of contemporary philosophy, as seen through a lens fashioned from the concept of information ... The Philosophy of Information is a lovely source of ideas, and also a wonderful indication of how much there might be to gain for philosophy by looking at contemporary computer science. * Staffan Angere, Theoria *This is an ambitious book ... there is a great deal to admire in this book, including much to admire philosophically. For example, some of the material on epistemology, especially Ch. 13 but also some of his work on the definition of knowledge, is masterful ... this an intriguing, eye-opening work * Frederick Kroon, Journal of Applied Philosophy *Given the breadth and depth of coverage of all its topics, the careful organisation and structuring of concepts, and the relevance of its contents, The Philosophy of Information shall be deemed essential reading for philosophers and computer scientists alike, especially those interested in Artificial Intelligence. * Flavio Soares Correa da Silva, AISB Quarterly *Just around the beginning of the new millennium, Floridi began his important and influential program, and this book brings between two covers much of his previous work, and also augments, updates, and connects these publications ... Floridis book sets an ambitious agenda for the philosophy of information ... there is much of interest and value in this major book. * J. Michael Dunn, Metascience *The Philosophy of Information is clearly a work of great ambition, originality, and value. * Stephen Leach, Metapsychology *Very well written, and clearly presented. ... many authors have written about philosophy and information before, but no-one has set out to deal with it in such a thorough way. This is clearly a very important book, and I think it justifies the author's claim that it describes the first philosophical analysis of information in all its aspects. * David Bawden, Library and Information Research *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. What is the Philosophy of Information? ; 2. Open Problems in the Philosophy of Information ; 3. The Method of Levels of Abstraction ; 4. Semantic Information and the Veridicality Thesis ; 5. Outline of a Theory of Strongly Semantic Information ; 6. The Symbol Grounding Problem ; 7. Action-Based Semantics ; 8. Semantic Information and the Correctness Theory of Truth ; 9. The Logical Unsolvability of the Gettier Problem ; 10. The Logic of Being Informed ; 11. Understanding Epistemic Relevance ; 12. Semantic Information and the Network Theory of Account ; 13. Consciousness, Agents and the Knowledge Game ; 14. Against Digital Ontology ; 15. A Defence of Informational Structural Realism ; References

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Book SynopsisLuciano Floridi presents a book that will set the agenda for the philosophy of information. PI is the philosophical field concerned with (1) the critical investigation of the conceptual nature and basic principles of information, including its dynamics, utilisation, and sciences, and (2) the elaboration and application of information-theoretic and computational methodologies to philosophical problems. This book lays down, for the first time, the conceptual foundations for this new area of research. It does so systematically, by pursuing three goals. Its metatheoretical goal is to describe what the philosophy of information is, its problems, approaches, and methods. Its introductory goal is to help the reader to gain a better grasp of the complex and multifarious nature of the various concepts and phenomena related to information. Its analytic goal is to answer several key theoretical questions of great philosophical interest, arising from the investigation of semantic information.Trade ReviewThe impressive and exciting project that Floridi undertakes in his book is aimed at establishing the philosophy of information as a mature subdiscipline of philosophy, with its own method and research programme ... Floridi's book not only presents a comprehensive framework for the philosophy of information but also makes a strong case for its legitimacy as a mature subdiscipline of philosophy. The intellectual debates and new research that it has already stimulated testify to its importance as a significant contribution to the literature. * Hilmi Demir, Mind *The non-technical portions are understandable to everyone and provide plenty of food for thought. * Steven Harnad, Times Literary Supplement *This is a monumental work ... Floridi goes through much of contemporary philosophy, as seen through a lens fashioned from the concept of information ... The Philosophy of Information is a lovely source of ideas, and also a wonderful indication of how much there might be to gain for philosophy by looking at contemporary computer science. * Staffan Angere, Theoria *This is an ambitious book ... there is a great deal to admire in this book, including much to admire philosophically. For example, some of the material on epistemology, especially Ch. 13 but also some of his work on the definition of knowledge, is masterful ... this an intriguing, eye-opening work * Frederick Kroon, Journal of Applied Philosophy *Given the breadth and depth of coverage of all its topics, the careful organisation and structuring of concepts, and the relevance of its contents, The Philosophy of Information shall be deemed essential reading for philosophers and computer scientists alike, especially those interested in Artificial Intelligence. * Flavio Soares Correa da Silva, AISB Quarterly *Just around the beginning of the new millennium, Floridi began his important and influential program, and this book brings between two covers much of his previous work, and also augments, updates, and connects these publications ... Floridis book sets an ambitious agenda for the philosophy of information ... there is much of interest and value in this major book. * J. Michael Dunn, Metascience *The Philosophy of Information is clearly a work of great ambition, originality, and value. * Stephen Leach, Metapsychology *Very well written, and clearly presented. ... many authors have written about philosophy and information before, but no-one has set out to deal with it in such a thorough way. This is clearly a very important book, and I think it justifies the author's claim that it describes the first philosophical analysis of information in all its aspects. * David Bawden, Library and Information Research *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. What is the Philosophy of Information? ; 2. Open Problems in the Philosophy of Information ; 3. The Method of Levels of Abstraction ; 4. Semantic Information and the Veridicality Thesis ; 5. Outline of a Theory of Strongly Semantic Information ; 6. The Symbol Grounding Problem ; 7. Action-Based Semantics ; 8. Semantic Information and the Correctness Theory of Truth ; 9. The Logical Unsolvability of the Gettier Problem ; 10. The Logic of Being Informed ; 11. Understanding Epistemic Relevance ; 12. Semantic Information and the Network Theory of Account ; 13. Consciousness, Agents and the Knowledge Game ; 14. Against Digital Ontology ; 15. A Defence of Informational Structural Realism ; References

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Book SynopsisOne of the pioneers of the cognitive science of religion, adds insight to the interdisciplinary discussion in this provocatively titled work .... McCauley''s work is erudite, precise, well argued.-Library JournalThe battle between religion and science, competing methods of knowing ourselves and our world, has been raging for many centuries. Now scientists themselves are looking at cognitive foundations of religion--and arriving at some surprising conclusions. Over the course of the past two decades, scholars have employed insights gleaned from cognitive science, evolutionary biology, and related disciplines to illuminate the study of religion. In Why Religion is Natural and Science Is Not, Robert N. McCauley, one of the founding fathers of the cognitive science of religion, argues that our minds are better suited to religious belief than to scientific inquiry. Drawing on the latest research and illustrating his argument with commonsense examples, McCauley argues that religion has existTrade ReviewWhy Religion Is Natural and Science Is Not provides a powerful new paradigm to explore the relationship between science and religion. * Journal of Religion *Table of ContentsChapter One ; Natural Cognition ; Chapter Two ; Maturational Naturalness ; Chapter Three ; Unnatural Science ; Chapter Four ; Natural Religion ; Chapter Five ; Surprising Consequences ; References

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