Cognitivism, cognitive theory Books

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 SynopsisIntractability is a growing concern across the cognitive sciences: while many models of cognition can describe and predict human behavior in the lab, it remains unclear how these models can scale to situations of real-world complexity. Cognition and Intractability is the first book to provide an accessible introduction to computational complexity analysis and its application to questions of intractability in cognitive science. Covering both classical and parameterized complexity analysis, it introduces the mathematical concepts and proof techniques that can be used to test one''s intuition of (in)tractability. It also describes how these tools can be applied to cognitive modeling to deal with intractability, and its ramifications, in a systematic way. Aimed at students and researchers in philosophy, cognitive neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, and linguistics who want to build a firm understanding of intractability and its implications in their modeling work, it is an ideal resource for teaching or self-study.Trade Review'Computational complexity has long been the elephant in the room in cognitive science. Researchers, including myself, blithely propose models that, if taken literally, would imply the brain can solve computational problems that are known to be intractable. This excellent introduction to both the technical results and their cognitive relevance should alert students and researchers to these pressing questions.' Nick Chater, University of Warwick'Cognitive science and algorithms and complexity research are converging: mathematically speaking, there is a revolution in the cognitive models and tools available, while multivariate (parameterized) algorithmics are essential to understanding them. As our growing awareness of how natural systems algorithmically process information leads to intellectual flows in both directions, the insights in this book are highly useful to students and researchers in both fields.' Michael Fellows, University of Bergen, Norway'Current theories in cognitive science think of mental processes as computational, but they rarely provide rigorous analysis of the relevant computations. Cognition and Intractability applies computational complexity theory to the kinds of inference that are important for human thinking. The results are mathematically elegant, pedagogically helpful, and very useful for understanding the kinds of computational processes that minds use.' Paul Thagard, University of Waterloo, CanadaTable of ContentsPart I. Introduction: 1. Introduction; Part II. Concepts and Techniques: 2. Polynomial versus exponential time; 3. Polynomial-time reductions; 4. Classical complexity classes; 5. Fixed-parameter tractable time; 6. Parameterized reductions; 7. Parameterized complexity classes; Part III. Reflections and Elaborations: 8. Dealing with intractability; 9. Replies to common objections; Part IV. Applications: 10. Coherence as constraint satisfaction; 11. Analogy as structure mapping; 12. Communication as Bayesian inference.

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Book SynopsisThis book is written for students, scholars and anyone with an interest in embodied cognition – the claim that the human mind cannot be understood without regard for the actions and capacities of the body. It offers a novel way of combining psychology, neuroscience and anthropology to yield a unified theory.Trade Review'This great work, beautifully written, is a masterpiece that any scientist or layperson interested in what makes us human - brain, mind, sociality, culture - should read. The author integrates an embodied approach with a focus on the exchange of symbols in a material culture, setting the agenda for embodied cognitive (neuro)science in the future.' Anna Borghi, University of Bologna, Italy'Ellis skilfully navigates a plethora of research to formulate a way for symbolic accounts of the mind to incorporate recent advances in embodied cognition. By grounding a philosophical approach in empirical observations and scientific data, Bodies and Other Objects offers an exciting and revolutionary theory of mind.' Jonathan Silas, Middlesex University London'Timely, comprehensive, and provocative: a must-read for anybody interested in how the body shapes the mind.' Simone Schnall, University of Cambridge'Indeed, the book is a model of interdisciplinary synthesis and about as far from glib, silly psychology as it is possible to get.' Louise Barrett, BioScience'This book will challenge cherished philosophical positions. Not just commitment to representational cognition, but also prior conceptions of agency. As you read it you will begin to realise that perhaps the greatest challenge to our discipline is not the replication crisis, but instead a collective failure to inspect our core theoretical assumptions.' Tom Dickins, The PyschologistTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Reframing cognition; 2. Vision and action; 3. Tool use and tool incorporation; 4. Agency, objects and others; 5. Material cultures; 6. Language; 7. A synthesis: networks of human agents as physical symbol systems.

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Book SynopsisMetaphor theory has shifted from asking whether metaphor is ''conceptual'' or ''linguistic'' to debating whether it is ''embodied'' or ''discursive''. Although recent work in the social and cognitive sciences has yielded clear opportunities to resolve that dispute, the divide between discourse- and cognition-oriented approaches has remained. To unite the field, this book brings together leading metaphor researchers from a number of disciplines. It collects major arguments and presents a wide variety of empirical evidence, placing special emphasis on the embodiment and socio-cultural embeddedness of cognition, as well as the multi-modal and social-interactive nature of communication. It shows that metaphor theory can only profit from an approach that takes multiple perspectives into consideration and tries to account for findings yielded by multiple methodologies. By doing so, it works towards a dynamic, multi-dimensional, socio-cognitive model of metaphor that goes beyond what research traditions have separately achieved.Table of ContentsPreface and acknowledgements; 1. Embodiment and discourse Beate Hampe; Part I. Metaphor in Cognition: 2. Sources and targets in Primary Metaphor Theory Joseph E. Grady and Giorgio A. Ascoli; 3. The hierarchical structure of mental metaphors Daniel Casasanto; 4. Metaphorical directionality Yeshayahu Shen and Roy Porat; 5. Body-schema and body-image in metaphorical cognition Valentina Cuccio; 6. Primary metaphors are both cultural and embodied Bodo Winter and Teenie Matlock; Part II. More Than Metaphor: 7. Source actions ground metaphor via metonymy Irene Mittelberg and Gina Joue; 8. Metaphor and other cognitive operations in interaction Francisco J. Ruiz de Mendoza Ibañez; 9. On the role of embodied cognition in the understanding and use of metonymy Jeannette Littlemore; Part III. Metaphor in Discourse: 10. The cancer card Elena Semino and Zsófia Demjén; 11. Mappings and narrative in figurative communication Alice Deignan; 12. Contextual activation of story simulation in metaphor comprehension L. David Ritchie; 13. From image schema to metaphor in discourse Charles J. Forceville; 14. Doing metaphor Thomas W. Jensen; Part IV. Salient Metaphor: 15. Attention to metaphor Gerard J. Steen; 16. Waking Metaphors Cornelia Müller; Epilogue. The embodied and discourse views of metaphor Raymond W. Gibbs, Jr.

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Book SynopsisWhenever you get dressed, carry objects, write, draw, or gesture, you express knowledge about how to get things done with your hands. Ironically, that knowledge is often difficult to express. Typically you can't say what you know. Still, it would be enormously useful to identify the knowledge underlying manual control. The design of equipment and transportation systems might better anticipate the abilities and limitations of users, and methods of teaching and rehabilitating skills might improve. This book, the first on the cognitive psychology of manual control, uncovers the hidden knowledge that hands express. Organized around key topics in this emerging area, including the role of the will in manual control, illusions concerning hand position sense, and the coordination of manual actions with others, Knowing Hands explains the planning and control of manual actions in everyday life.Trade Review'Rosenbaum's argument that hand actions reflect tremendous knowledge is both compelling and important. Moreover, there may be no person better suited in either expertise or style to write such a book. It is clear, accessible, and often quite amusing. It reads as if it were being narrated with great enthusiasm.' Jeffrey B. Wagman, Illinois State University'What does the brain do? As noted in 1899, the brain controls action. Rosenbaum has elucidated this important idea through the study of manual control. The hands are a great window into the brain. Rosenbaum is a great storyteller, writer and cognitive scientist, par excellence. The book will serve as a great resource for the student and professor.' Howard N. Zelaznik, Purdue University, Indiana'I recommend Knowing Hands for those interested in the psychology of manual control or in more broad areas of cognition. It is a well-organized, easily comprehended, and fun read.' Christopher A. Was, PsychCRITICS'Rosenbaum's Knowing Hands provides a first-of-its-kind overview of the cognitive psychology of the planning and control of daily manual actions with hands … for those students and faculty who are interested in cognitive psychology, perception, artificial intelligence, and clinical Neuroscience.' CHOICETable of ContentsPreface ; 1. Introducing hands; 2. Building hands; 3. Energizing hands; 4. Willing hands; 5. Seeing hands; 6. Hearing hands; 7. Feeling hands; 8. Joining hands; 9. Extending hands; Notes; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisAnalysing language data systematically and looking closely at how people formulate their thoughts can reveal astonishing insights about the human mind. Without presupposing specific subject knowledge, this book gently introduces its readers to theoretical insights as well as practical principles for systematic linguistic analysis from a cognitive perspective. Drawing on Thora Tenbrink''s twenty years'' experience in both linguistics and cognitive science, this book offers theoretical guidance and practical advice for doing cognitive discourse analysis. It covers areas of analysis as diverse as attention, perspective, granularity, certainty, inference, transformation, communication, and cognitive strategies, using inspiring examples from many different projects. Simple techniques and tools are used to allow readers new to the subject easy ways to apply the methods, without the need for complex technologies, whilst the cross-disciplinary approach can be applied to a diverse range of reseTrade Review'This well-presented, well-organized research treatise on the delicate relationship between language and thought zeros in on how linguistic markers in discourse, both oral and written, offer a credible insight into the pathways of cognition … The book is excellent …' K. Liu, Choice'Tenbrink's extensive knowledge of the field and her ability to convey this in accessible terms makes the book an excellent contribution to the work on cognition, language and discourse, just as it can be used as an inspiration for further exploring particular areas of interest in the field.' Lise-Lotte Holmgreen, LaMiCus'… a substantial piece of work that will pave the way for further cognitively oriented discourse studies.' Andrej A. Kibrik, Voprosy JazykoznanijaTable of ContentsIntroduction; 1. Background and scope; 2. Language as a representation of thought; 3. Analysis resources; 4. Identifying cognitive orientation; 5. Identifying cognitive depth; 6. Identifying cognitive constructiveness; 7. Using language to convey thoughts; 8. CODA procedures; 9. Beyond CODA.

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Book SynopsisFigurative communication (the use of metaphor, metonymy, hyperbole and irony) provides economy of expression, clarity, persuasiveness, politeness, evaluation, and communication of emotions. However, it also increases the potential for misunderstanding in situations when people lack shared background knowledge. This book combines theoretical frameworks with empirical studies that measure the effectiveness of different approaches to the use of figurative language in advertisements, to show how to maximise the benefits of creative metaphor and metonymy in global advertising. It highlights how subtle differences in colour, layout, and combinations of different kinds of figurative language affect the reception and appreciation of creative advertising, shedding new light on the nature of figurative communication itself. With a balance between theory, experiments and practical case studies, this book is accessible for academics in linguistics and communication studies, as well as advertising and marketing professionals.Trade Review'This book provides an effective analysis of visual and language metaphors and their interaction, informed by astute application of cognitive science to a range of examples from advertising. Students and researchers in communication, linguistics, and cognitive linguistics as well as advertising researchers and practitioners will find the book interesting and informative. It is well-written and readable, and would be an excellent text for an advanced course in advertising, communication, or cognitive linguistics.' Professor L. David Ritchie, Department of Communication, Portland State UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Theoretical Perspectives: 1. The temple of heaven is not China; 2. Is it a bird or is it a chameleon?; 3. Welcome to the black supermarket; 4. I thought they were hairy breasts!; Part II. Empirical Studies: 5. Spiderman or devil horns?; 6. If it's red it must be sport; 7. Curry is yellow in Japan but orange in the US; 8. So real it's scary; 9. Cross-cultural and gender-based variation in the emotional impact and appreciation of marketing videos; 10. Having fun with his custard factory?; 11. What do we now know about the creative use of figurative communication in advertising?

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Book SynopsisConsciousness is a phenomenon that puzzled many thinkers of the past in disparate fields, including theology, literature, art and philosophy, and continues to be a hot topic of debate at present. However, in the last few decades, the change of paradigm brought by cognitive psychology and the emergence of new techniques, which allowed the in vivo study of the human brain, have made the investigation of consciousness a respectable field of scientific research. This book discusses social perspectives of consciousness, as well as provides current research on psychological approaches.

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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 SynopsisHow did human thought evolve into the highly complex process it is today? In the field of evolutionary cognitive archaeology, cognitive science and archaeology intersect to provide a more complete and grounded picture of the mind. With the combination of cognitive theories and archaeological evidence, this burgeoning field is only beginning to tap into the potential for a better understanding of the development of specific cognitive abilities.Cognitive Models in Palaeolithic Archaeology explores hominin cognitive development by applying formal cognitive models to analyze prehistoric remains from the entire range of the Palaeolithic, from the earliest stone tools 3.3 million years ago to artistic developments that emerged 50,000 years ago. Several different cognitive models are presented, including expert cognition, information processing, material engagement theory, embodied/extended cognition, neuroaesthetics, visual resonance theory, theory of mind, and neuronal recycling. By examiniTrade Review<"This is an area of great importance in understanding humanity, one of rapid development and one where new views of theory and practice are essential to continued progress. Thomas Wynn and Frederick L. Coolidge have put together a fascinating new collection that has real substance and is both topical and thought-provoking. It will be a 'must read' for a professional audience, and can provide a useful spine for teaching cognitive evolution modules. This book will certainly be seen as on the cutting edge of current thinking.> * John Gowlett, PhD, Professor of Archaeology, University of Liverpool *<"If mind is a process, we need to investigate the relationships among its parts. This book frames cognitive models into an evolutionary perspective, a necessary step to disclose those relationships. Knowledge is about questions, and this publication shows that cognitive archaeology is now looking for its own ones.> * Emiliano Bruner, PhD, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (España) *<"This offering from the standard bearers of cognitive archaeology will be a stimulating read, with both new ways of looking at the record and new ideas of when and where specific cognitive abilities are first manifested. I am particularly excited by the number of developments in cognition, including in expertise and Theory of Mind, that are suggested to occur within the Acheulean period.> * Ceri Shipton, PhD, Fellow in East African Archaeology, British Institute in Eastern Africa, Nairobi; McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge *Table of ContentsPreface 1. Evolutionary Cognitive Archaeology 2. The Expert Cognition Model in Human Evolutionary Studies 3. Towards a richer theoretical scaffolding for interpreting archaeological evidence concerning cognitive evolution 4. Material Engagement and the Embodied Mind 5. Materiality and Numerical Cognition: A Material Engagement Theory Perspective 6. Art without Symbolic Mind: Embodied Cognition and the Origins of Visual Artistic Behavior 7. Deciphering Patterns in the Archaeology of South Africa: The Neurovisual Resonance Theory 8. Accessing hominin cognition: language and social signaling in the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic 9. Bootstrapping Ordinal Thinking 10. Models, Puddings and the Puzzle Index

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Book SynopsisMagnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) provide complementary views to the neurodynamics of healthy and diseased human brains. Both methods are totally noninvasive and can track with millisecond temporal resolution spontaneous brain activity, evoked responses to various sensory stimuli, as well as signals associated with the performance of motor, cognitive and affective tasks.MEG records the magnetic fields, and EEG the potentials associated with the same neuronal currents, which however are differentially weighted due to the physical and physiological differences between the methods. MEG is rather selective to activity in the walls of cortical folds, whereas EEG senses currents from the cortex (and brain) more widely, making it harder to pinpoint the locations of the source currents in the brain. Another important difference between the methods is that skull and scalp dampen and smear EEG signals, but do not affect MEG. Hence, to fully understand brain function, Trade ReviewThis Primer fulfills a gap in the human neurophysiology literature where no book exists dealing with MEG and EEG in equal terms. This is important since both methodologies are, in essence, complementary and jointly can be used to answer specific scientific questions with respect to a variety of brain functions. Special attention is paid to comparisons of findings obtained using both MEG and EEG modalities, what can yield important new insights, particularly in the growing field of cognitive neuroscience. Written in an appealing style, this Primer embraces the whole field of human neurophysiology." -Fernando Lopes Da Silva, MD, PhD, Emeritus Professor, Center of Neuroscience, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Amsterdam, The NetherlandsTable of ContentsPREFACE PREAMBLE SECTION 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION MEG and EEG Setups Comparison of MEG and EEG Structure of this Primer CHAPTER 2: INSIGHTS INTO THE HUMAN BRAIN Overview of the Human Brain How to Obtain Information About Brain Function Timing in Human Behavior Functional Structure of the Human Cerebral Cortex Communication Between Brain Areas Thalamocortical Connections Intra-Brain Connectivity Electric Signaling in Neurons Membrane Potential Action Potentials Postsynaptic Potentials CHAPTER 3: BASIC PHYSICS AND PHYSIOLOGY OF MEG AND EEG An Overview of MEG and EEG Signal Generation Charges and Electric Current Ohm's and Kirchoff's Laws Relationship Between Current and Magnetic Field Superconductivity Inverse Problem Source Currents Primary Current Layers, Open Fields, and Closed Fields Intracortical Cancellation Volume Conduction Spherical Head Model Some General Points About Source Localization CHAPTER 4: AN OVERVIEW OF EEG AND MEG Historical Aspects Early EEG Recordings Early MEG Recordings Brain Rhythms Evoked and Event-Related Responses SECTION 2 CHAPTER 5: INSTRUMENTATION FOR MEG AND EEG EEG Instrumentation Electrodes EEG Amplifiers Differential Amplifiers, Common Mode Rejection, and Amplifier Input Impedances Standard Electrode Positions Effects of Reference Electrode on Potential Distribution Re-Referencing Relative to an Average Reference MEG Instrumentation Squids and Squid Electronics Flux Transformers and Their Configuration Shielding Other Means to Maintain a Noise-Free Environment Stimulators and Monitoring Devices Auditory Stimulators Visual Stimulators Somatosensory Stimulators Stimulators for Inducing Acute Pain Passive-Movement Stimulators (Proprioception Stimulation) Monitoring Devices Future Developments of EEG and MEG Instrumentation Developments in EEG Developments in MEG CHAPTER 6. PRACTICALITIES OF DATA COLLECTION General Principles of Good Experimentation Replicability Checks EEG Recordings: The Practice Electrodes, Skin Preparation, and Electrode-Impedance Measurement Post-Recording Infection Control MEG Recordings: The Practice Measurement of MEG Sensor and EEG Electrode Positions Locations of MEG Sensors and EEG Electrodes Electrical Safety CHAPTER 7: DATA ACQUISITION AND PREPROCESSING Filtering Data Sampling (Analog-To-Digital Conversion) CHAPTER 8: ARTIFACTS General Artifact-Removal Methods Blind Source Separation and Independent-Component Analysis Signal-Space Projection (SSP) and Temporal Signal-Space Separation Tsss (For MEG) Eye-Related Artifacts Generation and Recognition of Eye Movement and Eye Blink Artifacts Saccadic and Microsaccade Artifacts Electroretinogram and Magnetoretinogram Removal of Eye-Related Artifacts Muscle Artifacts Generation and Recognition Removal Cardiac Artifacts Generation and Recognition Removal Respiration-Related Artifacts Generation and Recognition Sweating Generation, Recognition, and Removal Non-Physiological Artifacts Power-Line Noise and its Removal Response-Box Artifacts EEG-Electrode and MEG-Sensor-Related Artifacts How to be Sure that the Signals come from the Brain CHAPTER 9: ANALYZING THE DATA General Data Inspection and Pre-Processing Signal Averaging of MEG/EEG Data Signal-To-Noise Considerations Segmentation Amplitude and Latency Measures Issues Related to Cross-Group Averaging and Assessment of Group Differences Topographic Maps of EEG and MEG Activity Whole-Head Statistical Analysis of EEG Data Analysis of Spontaneous Activity and Single-Trial Data General Evoked Versus Induced Activity MEG/EEG Signal Level and Power Event-Related Desynchronization and Synchronization, and Temporal Spectral Evolution Time-Frequency Analyses Phase Resetting and Models of Evoked Activity Coherence and Other Measures of Association Cross-Frequency Coupling Global Field Power, Dissimilarity, and Brain Microstates Source Modeling The Forward and Inverse Problems in MEG and EEG Head Models Single-Dipole Model and Model Validity Goodness-of-Fit and Confidence Limits of the Model Spatial Resolution Source Extent Multidipole Models, Distributed Models, and Beamformers Hypothesis Testing with Predetermined Source Locations Effect of Synchrony Changes in Orientation/Tilting Assessments of Effective Connectivity Common Pitfalls in Data Analysis and Interpretation Interpretation of MEG/EEG Data SECTION 3 CHAPTER 10: BRAIN RHYTHMS General Alpha Rhythm of the Posterior Cortex Mu Rhythm of the Sensorimotor Cortex Tau Rhythm in the Auditory Cortex Beta Rhythm Theta Rhythm Gamma Rhythms Delta-Band Activity and Ultra-Slow Oscillations Coupling Between Different Brain Rhythms Changes in Brain Rhythms During Sleep Effects of Anesthesia and Other Drugs on EEG/MEG CHAPTER 11: EVOKED AND EVENT-RELATED RESPONSES General An Initial Example Nomenclature of Evoked Responses and Brain Rhythms Effects of Interstimulus Interval and Stimulus Timing Effects of Other Stimulus Parameters CHAPTER 12: AUDITORY RESPONSES Aspects of Auditory Stimulation Auditory Brainstem Responses Middle-Latency Auditory-Evoked Responses Long-Latency Auditory Evoked Responses Auditory Steady-State Responses Frequency Tagging CHAPTER 13: VISUAL RESPONSES Visual Stimuli Transient Visual Responses Assessing the Ventral Visual Stream Assessing the Dorsal Visual Stream Steady-State Visual Responses CHAPTER 14: SOMATOSENSORY RESPONSES 304 Compound Action Potentials and Fields of Peripheral Nerves Responses from SI Cortex Responses from Posterior Parietal Cortex Responses from SII Cortex Somatosensory Steady-State Responses High-Frequency Oscillations (Hfos) in SI Pain and Nociceptive Responses CHAPTER 15: OTHER SENSORY RESPONSES & MULTISENSORY INTERACTIONS Visceral Responses Olfactory and Gustatory Responses Multisensory Interaction General Audiotactile Interaction: An MEG Case Study Multisensory Integration of Human Communication Multisensory Integration Reflected in Spontaneous MEG/EEG Activity CHAPTER 16: MOTOR FUNCTION Movement-Related Readiness Potentials and Fields Coherence Between Brain Activity and Movements/Muscles General Cortex-Muscle Coherence Corticokinematic Coherence Corticovocal Coherence CHAPTER 17: BRAIN SIGNALS RELATED TO CHANGE DETECTION General Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) Mismatch Negativity and Field (MMN, MMF) P300 Responses N400 Responses Error-Related Negativity (ERN) CHAPTER 18: THE SOCIAL BRAIN Theoretical Framework Responses to Emotions Depicted by Faces and Bodies Action Viewing and Mirroring Hyperscanning Verbal Communication CHAPTER 19: BRAIN DISORDERS General Remarks Epilepsy Preoperative Mapping Functional Identification of the Central Sulcus Anatomical Identification of the Central Sulcus Hemispheric Dominance for Speech and Language Stroke Critically Ill Patients Coma Brain Death CHAPTER 20: MEG/EEG IN THE STUDY OF BRAIN FUNCTION Advantages of MEG and EEG Disadvantages of MEG and EEG Combining MEG and EEG Combining MEG/EEG with MRI/fMRI EEG During Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation CHAPTER 21: LOOKING TO THE FUTURE Decoding of Brain States Travelling Light Data Governance Better Analysis of Behavior Modeling at Different Levels How Your MEG and EEG Work Can Make an Impact on Science Index

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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 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 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 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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Book SynopsisThis Handbook, the first specifically dedicated to the laboratory phonology approach, builds on the foundation of knowledge amassed in linguistics, speech research and allied disciplines. With the varied interdisciplinary contributions collected, the Handbook advances work in this vibrant field.Trade Reviewan excellent resource that provides short, yet not incomprehensive, introductions into laboratory phonology topics that will direct readers to the primary resources which underlie the contributions. * Molly Babel , Journal of Sociolinguistics *The Oxford Handbook of Laboratory Phonology aims to serve as a guide to the philosophy, workings and findings of the laboratory phonology approach. It achieves this goal by bringing together leaders in the field to provide state-of-the-art reviews of how laboratory phonology has influenced research in their specialist areas ... the breadth of coverage and the depth of knowledge are clear strengths of the book ... It is a good starting point for any researcher who needs an update on the specific research questions covered. * Phoebe M. S. Lin, Linguist List *A real strength of the handbook is its breadth of topics and its ability to weave a cohesive volume from such an interdisciplinary angle. * Journal of Sociolinguistics *Table of ContentsPART I: INTRODUCTION; PART II: NATURE AND TYPES OF VARIATION: THEIR INTERPRETATION WITHIN A LABORATORY PHONOLOGY PERSPECTIVE; PART III: MULTIDIMENSIONAL REPRESENTATIONS OF KNOWLEDGE OF SOUND STRUCTURE; PART IV: INTEGRATING DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES: INSIGHTS FROM PRODUCTION, PERCEPTION, AND ACQUISITION; PART V: METHODOLOGIES AND RESOURCES

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Book SynopsisTyler Burge presents a substantial, original study of what it is for individuals to represent the physical world with the most primitive sort of objectivity. By reflecting on the science of perception and related psychological and biological sciences, he gives an account of constitutive conditions for perceiving the physical world, and thus aims to locate origins of representational mind. Origins of Objectivity illuminates several long-standing, central issues in philosophy, and provides a wide-ranging account of relations between human and animal psychologies.Trade Reviewpenetrating. No serious researcher in these fields can afford not to read Origins. * Robert W. Lurz, Philosophical Psychology *Table of ContentsPreface ; PART I ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Basic Terminology: What the Questions Mean ; 3. Anti-Individualism ; PART II ; 4. Individual Representationalism in the Twentieth Century's First Half ; 5. Individual Representationalism after Mid-Century: Preliminaries ; 6. Neo-Kantian Individual Representationalism: Strawson and Evans ; 7. Language Interpretation and Individual Representationalism: Quine and Davidson ; PART III ; 8. Biological and Methodological Backgrounds ; 9. Origins ; 10. Origins of Some Representational Categories ; 11. Glimpses Forward

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Book SynopsisTyler Burge presents an original study of the most primitive ways in which individuals represent the physical world. By reflecting on the science of perception and related psychological and biological sciences, he gives an account of constitutive conditions for perceiving the physical world, and thus aims to locate origins of representational mind.Trade ReviewAs a history, Origins of Objectivity provides an illuminating position from which to view our most recent philosophical inheritance. As a philosophical account of the nature of perceptual representation, it offers an explanatorily rich, empirically grounded, comprehensive theory. As a method, it is an exemplar of the power of empirically informed philosophical inquiry. * Rebecca Copenhaver, Mind *the most important book in the philosophy of mind for several decades ... with its publication the subject ought to enter a new, more mature phase ... an immensely distinguished contribution to this fundamental topic in philosophy. * Christopher Peacocke, Times Literary Supplement *Origins of Objectivity is Tyler Burge's long-awaited first monograph. It is an absolutely terrific work, conceived and executed at a scale and level of ambition rarely seen in contemporary philosophy. The book's primary aim is to contribute a theory of perception; more broadly, however, it also delivers a subtle and nuanced query into the place of distinctively psychological capacities in the natural order. One can only hope that the book will come to shape discussions in the philosophy of mind and perception for years to come, not just in terms of its specific doctrines -- bold and persuasive as they are -- but also in terms of its methods. Burge's integration of insights from a vast range of empirical sciences with philosophical reflection stands out as a model for emulation. * Endre Begby, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews *a comprehensive, sophisticatedly argued, and empirically well-informed critique ... unquestionably an important and impressive work in the philosophy and psychology of perception. Its scope is large, its thesis novel and wideranging in import, and its critical assessments of competing theories insightful andTable of ContentsPreface ; PART I ; 1. Introduction ; 2. Basic Terminology: What the Questions Mean ; 3. Anti-Individualism ; PART II ; 4. Individual Representationalism in the Twentieth Century's First Half ; 5. Individual Representationalism after Mid-Century: Preliminaries ; 6. Neo-Kantian Individual Representationalism: Strawson and Evans ; 7. Language Interpretation and Individual Representationalism: Quine and Davidson ; PART III ; 8. Biological and Methodological Backgrounds ; 9. Origins ; 10. Origins of Some Representational Categories ; 11. Glimpses Forward

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Book SynopsisMuch of our behavior is guided by our understanding of events. We perceive events when we observe the world unfolding around us, participate in events when we act on the world, simulate events that we hear or read about, and use our knowledge of events to solve problems. In this book, Gabriel A. Radvansky and Jeffrey M. Zacks provide the first integrated framework for event cognition and attempt to synthesize the available psychological and neuroscience data surrounding it. This synthesis leads to new proposals about several traditional areas in psychology and neuroscience including perception, attention, language understanding, memory, and problem solving. Radvansky and Zacks have written this book with a diverse readership in mind. It is intended for a range of researchers working within cognitive science including psychology, neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, anthropology, and education. Readers curious about events more generally such as those working in literature, film Table of Contents1. The importance of events ; 2. Event model structure and processing ; 3. Event perception ; 4. Language ; 5. Film and video ; 6. Interactive events ; 7. Long-term memory ; 8. Autobiographical memory ; 9. Problem solving ; 10. Development ; 11. Event cognition ; References

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Book SynopsisIn its first two decades, much of cognitive science focused on such mental functions as memory, learning, symbolic thought, and language acquisition - the functions in which the human mind most closely resembles a computer. But humans are more than computers, and the cutting-edge research in cognitive science is increasingly focused on the more mysterious, creative aspects of the mind. The Way We Think is a landmark synthesis that exemplifies this new direction. The theory of conceptual blending is already widely known in labouratories throughout the world this book is its definitive statement. Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner argue that all learning and all thinking consist of blends of metaphors based on simple bodily experiences. These blends are then themselves blended together into an increasingly rich structure that makes up our mental functioning in modern society. A child''s entire development consists of learning and navigating these blends. The Way We Think shows how this bl

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