Cognitive Books - Page 11

Searching For Memory: The Brain, The Mind, And The Past

Daniel L. Schacter

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Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Cognitive psychology of memory 4 out of 5 stars.
20 of 23 people found this review helpful.

this is the best review of the cognitive psychology of memory, by one of the leading experts in the field. I personally did not enjoy the artistic aspest of the book, but many say it was complementing. Now there are much better cognitive neuroscience books on memory -Kandel and Squires books, Steven Roses, among others- but as for the psychological aspects, this book stands above all others. At times it reads too much like a collection of case studies, but few would deny that lesion studies have contribuited a lot to an understanding of the brain/mind.
Most of the memory field is covered: recogntion vs. recall, implicit vs. explicit, episodic vs. procedural, short -long term, working memory, genral,emotional, semantic, etc..... but there is also a welcome and thorough discussion of false and recovered memories. In no other field can one see better the imediateimpact that cognitive psychology of memory has on legal and social issues. Schacter effectively explains everything we know about the phenomenon. As for the other themes, adequate and sufficient reviews are given. I personally would have liked a bit more of neuroscience, but it is a great read nontheless. There is also not much mention of the relationship between memory and other higher cognitive processes, like consciousness (a good place for speculation) or attention. But Schacter sticks to what is known, and does it well.
AS an introduction to any aspect of memory studies, few texts are better than this one. But I would tell anyone interested to also read other Schacter books, as well as more pure psychology and neurological texts on the subject. (see Seven Sins of Memory by the same author, Kandel and Squires Memory:from Minds to Molecules and Roses The Making of Memory among others).

Editorial Review:

Memory. There may be nothing more important to human beings than our ability to enshrine experience and recall it. While philosophers and poets have elevated memory to an almost mystical level, psychologists have struggled to demystify it. Now, according to Daniel Schacter, one of the most distinguished memory researchers, the mysteries of memory are finally yielding to dramatic, even revolutionary, scientific breakthroughs. Schacter explains how and why it may change our understanding of everything from false memory to Alzheimer’s disease, from recovered memory to amnesia with fascinating firsthand accounts of patients with striking—and sometimes bizarre—amnesias resulting from brain injury or psychological trauma.

From Neurons to Neighborhoods : The Science of Early Childhood Development

Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, Youth, and Families Board on Children, Committee on Integrating the Science of Early Childhood Development, National Research Council

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great resource! 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

An amazing breadth and depth of neuroscience and its implications for how we treat children. Must reading for anyone wishing to get beyond prejudice and rhetoric to the core of what needs to be done in public policy to protect and preserve childhood in modern America. Should be 5 stars, but now a little dated, although references are excellent and it's not hard to follow the themes into the most recent research.

Editorial Review:

Authoritative yet accessible, Neurons to Neighborhoods presents the newest evidence about early brain development and how children learn to speak, think, get along with others, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the surrounding context-family, child care, community-within which the child grows.

Are the early years a time of vulnerability or resilience? To what extent are our future prospects constrained by how well we navigate them? How can we get all children off to a good start in life? When should we worry? The committee provides a framework for approaching such vital questions and explores how scientists know what they know about childhood development.

This timely release will be important to all those who care about children and their families: policy makers, educators, researchers, program administrators, advocates, journalists, caregivers, and parents.

Sniffy the Virtual Rat Pro, Version 2.0 (with CD-ROM)

Tom Alloway, Greg Wilson, Jeff Graham

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Bring the theories of learning to life using SNIFFY, THE VIRTUAL RAT! Instructors praise Sniffy, a realistic digital rat in an operant chamber (Skinner Box), for his ability to give students hands-on experience in setting up and conducting experiments that demonstrate the phenomena of classical and operant conditioning. Users begin by training Sniffy to press a bar to obtain food. Then, they progress to more studies of more complex learning phenomena. Throughout each, a series of "Mind Windows" enables students to visualize how Sniffy's experiences in the chamber produce the psychological changes that their textbooks discuss in connection with learning. Available on a cross-platform CD-ROM, the Pro version of Sniffy includes 40 exercises that cover every major phenomena typically covered in a Psychology of Learning course. The CD-ROM comes with a Lab Manual that walks users through the steps necessary to set up classical and operant conditioning experiments that closely resemble the experiments discussed in learning texts. (Screen shots are included for both Macintosh and Windows users.) The manual also includes instructions on how to print or e-mail results, so that Sniffy can become part of students' homework assignments and term papers.

The Emotion Machine: Commonsense Thinking, Artificial Intelligence, and the Future of the Human Mind

Marvin Minsky

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Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

In this mind-expanding book, scientific pioneer Marvin Minsky continues his groundbreaking research, offering a fascinating new model for how our minds work. He argues persuasively that emotions, intuitions, and feelings are not distinct things, but different ways of thinking.

By examining these different forms of mind activity, Minsky says, we can explain why our thought sometimes takes the form of carefully reasoned analysis and at other times turns to emotion. He shows how our minds progress from simple, instinctive kinds of thought to more complex forms, such as consciousness or self-awareness. And he argues that because we tend to see our thinking as fragmented, we fail to appreciate what powerful thinkers we really are. Indeed, says Minsky, if thinking can be understood as the step-by-step process that it is, then we can build machines -- artificial intelligences -- that not only can assist with our thinking by thinking as we do but have the potential to be as conscious as we are.

Eloquently written, The Emotion Machine is an intriguing look into a future where more powerful artificial intelligences await.

Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment (Essentials of Psychological Assessment)

Dawn P. Flanagan, Samuel O. Ortiz

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Quickly acquire the knowledge and skills you need to confidently conduct Cross-Battery Assessment

The CHC (Cattell-Horn-Carroll)-based Cross-Battery approach is a time-efficient assessment method grounded solidly within contemporary psychometric theory and research. The CHC Cross-Battery Assessment systematically integrates tests from one of the major intelligence batteries (WISC-III, WAIS-III, WPPSI-R, DAS, K-ABC, KAIT, WJ-R/III, CAS, Leiter-R, and UNIT), with tests from other cognitive batteries or supplemental cognitive ability tests, enabling mental health professionals to expand their traditional assessments to include important abilities that are not measured by traditional test series. This new approach also includes guidelines for assessing the cognitive capabilities of culturally and linguistically diverse individuals.

Essentials of Cross-Battery Assessment includes widespread coverage of the key cognitive test batteries, expert assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the tests, valuable advice on clinical applications, and illustrative case reports. The book also includes practical interpretation worksheets and summary sheets for anyone who wants to learn how to conduct cross-battery assessment.

Like all the volumes in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series, this book is designed to help busy mental health practitioners quickly acquire the knowledge and skills they need to make optimal use of psychological assessment instruments. Each concise chapter features numerous callout boxes highlighting key concepts, bulleted points, and extensive illustrative material, as well as test questions that help you to gauge and reinforce your grasp of the information covered.

Other titles in the Essentials of Psychological Assessment series:

Essentials of WAIS-III Assessment

Essentials of CAS Assessment

Essentials of Forensic Psychological Assessment

Essentials of Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II Assessment

Essentials of WISC-III and WPPSI-R Assessment

Essentials of Millon Inventories Assessment

Essentials of WAIS-III Assessment

Essentials of CAS Assessment

Essentials of Forensic Psychological Assessment

Essentials of Bayley Scales of Infant Development-II Assessment

Essentials of WISC-III and WPPSI-R Assessment

Essentials of Millon Inventories Assessment

Cognitive Psychology: Mind and Brain (MySearchLab Series 15% off)

Edward E. Smith, Stephen M. Kosslyn

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Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

A step forward 5 out of 5 stars.
19 of 20 people found this review helpful.

Eighteen leading scientists, led by Smith and Kosslyn, have reconstructed the foundations of cognitive psychology in an innovative, current, readable, important, factually accurate textbook. First and foremost, they weave recent neuroscientific discoveries into the discussion, without abandoning a primary focus on cognitive psychology. Their sophisticated framework integrates mental and neural levels of analysis, without confusing mind and brain, or structure and function.

Until now, most cognitive psychology texts have tended to follow the organizational format of Broadbent's (1958) classic, Perception and Communication. Broadbent (1984) wrote, "Since those innocent days, the world has become more complex, so that it is difficult to point to a single summary of the same entire area... One widespread view, which I support, is that the framework of the 1958 book now requires shifting to a different kind of simplistic conceptual framework."

In the current text, the authors' framework for discussing memory is unorthodox. They include two chapters on long-term memory followed (not preceded!) by a chapter on working memory. Several unusual chapters include Executive Processes (Chapter 7), Emotions and Cognition (Chapter 8), and Motor Cognition and Mental Simulation (Chapter 11).

One great strength of this text is that it is well written. Kosslyn and others have a tendency to be very interesting in their other publications, so this may not be surprising. Moreover, this book seems to have benefited from aggressive editing for style and clarity. I'm betting that motivated undergraduate students will enjoy this book.

Another great strength of this text is in the selection of the authors who wrote it. They are experts in their respective fields, able to present the material simply and clearly without the loss of accuracy that can attend scientific writing for a general audience. Many of these authors are what you might call Rennaissance scholars, with a wide range of professional interests.

Here are the chapter contents, along with primary authors: (1) How the Brain Gives Rise to the Mind (Kosslyn), (2) Perception (Seiffert, Wolfe & Tong), (3) Attention (Behrmann & Geng), (4) Representation and Knowledge in Long-Term Memory (Barsalou), (5) Encoding and Retrieval from Long-Term Memory (Wagner), (6) Working Memory (Braver), (7) Executive Processes (Smith), (8) Emotion and Cognition (Phelps), (9) Decision Making (Hastie & Sanfey), (10) Problem Solving and Reasoning (Dunbar & Fugelsang), (11) Motor Cognition and Mental Simulation (Decety & Sommerville), and (12) Language (MacDonald).

The first chapter (Kosslyn) provides a little history (remarkably little), and then sets the tone for the rest of the book with sections on "Understanding the Mind: The Form Theories of Cognition", "The Cognitive Brain", and "Studying Cognition." Moreover, it presents a classic debate on (surprise, surprise) the nature of mental imagery. I suppose that it is not too surprising that the book begins by covering these sorts of topics. Even so, I think that this chapter, by THIS author, is very important. Kosslyn has, over the years, been exceptionally careful about how he makes inferences about the brain and mind (e.g., "carving a system at its joints"). Others at the cutting edge have not been so careful or insightful. The combination of meticulous thinking and cutting-edge enthusiasm make for some good stuff. I think the first chapter is a big plus. {Video resources featuring Kosslyn/mental imagery include the Discovering Psychology DVD and a free online Quicktime video from the Edge - Third Culture website. "What Shape are a German Shepherd's Ears?")

The second chapter (Seiffert, Wolfe & Tong) is a fine introduction to basic issues in perception. My sense is that the authors strove to be concise and clear, rather than to break new ground in the presentation of topics. The chapter provides a good survey of perception, which is not always the case with cognitive psychology textbooks. Wolfe just wrote/edited a remarkably good textbook on Sensation and Perception (Sinauer). I recommend that you take a look at the text and the textbook's (free, excellent) website.

My reaction to the third chapter on attention (Behrmann & Geng) was similar to my reaction to the second. Again, I recommend taking a look at Wolfe's Sensation and Perception textbook, as its chapter on visual attention covers many of the same topics and includes beautiful illustrations.

The eighth chapter (Phelps) was remarkable for its concise treatment of basic issues, as well as its up-to-date treatment of the cognitive neuroscience of emotions. (See Phelps on the Discovering Psychology DVD, by the way). I teach a graduate course on the Cognitive and Affective bases of Behavior at AIU, and I've been looking for something like this chapter. I suppose there may be other chapters in other books that accomplish similar things, but I haven't found them. I was surprised by some omissions, e.g., I looked for references to Izard (e.g., challenges to Ekman), Plutchik (circumplex model), and Damasio (emotions, brain, consciousness). But the chapter provides the intro to emotions and cognition that many cognitive psychologists need.

The ninth chapter (Hastie & Sanfey) provides an intro to basic JDM issues, including a comprehensible intro to prospect theory. (A good video - see Kahneman's Nobel Prize lecture, available online at the Nobel Prize website). The chapter seems to break new ground (for a cog psy text) when it focuses on the neural bases of judgement and decision making. (Hastie has done some remarkable work with juries, legal issues, and medical decision making; a little of this has found its way into the chapter). Compared to other chapters on the same topic, this one seems to de-emphasize the work of Tversky and Kahneman somewhat, in favor of contributions by other authors.

(I hope to write reviews of other chapters as time permits.)

The book seems to target upper division students and graduate students. It is too advanced for a lower division class. A good, basic text for lower division students is Reed's Cognitive Psyhology. I would describe Reed's text as a purist's introduction. It doesn't deviate from the classic study of cognition per se, so you won't find much cognitive neuroscience embedded in chapters. Rather, it tends to emphasize the applications of cognitive psychology.

I believe the Smith/Kosslyn book could be improved in a number of ways. First, there does not seem to be a student and instructor website for this text. These sorts of sites can be extremely helpful because they provide additional visual material, Powerpoint presentations, sample questions, and more. An unorthodox book like this one needs a website with supporting materials. Instructors will appreciate anything that makes transition to the new text easier. (If you are an instructor and would like to pool resources, please contact me. I might recommend purchasing Zimbardo's Discovering Psychology DVDs, as they feature some authors and topics that are covered in this book).

The book itself has some excellent illustrations. Even so, I tend to prefer books that have even more illustrations. A recent textbook on another topic by Wolfe et al. (Sensation and Perception, Sinauer) is my current gold standard, in part because there are excellent, colorful illustrations on nearly every page. In my own teaching, I find that texts that provide a constant stream of powerful images are the most popular with students. Could additional images be included at a course website, and then added to the text later, when new editions are released? Kosslyn, with all his knowledge of imagery and graph-making, could turbo-charge this text with artwork if so inclined.

There are some topics that were neglected in this book. One big area includes learning. As it stands, a few cognitive textbooks (e.g., Medin et al.) address learning. Others seem satisfied to relegate learning to the behaviorists, and their tired and true approaches ("tired" not "tried"). I think a chapter on learning, from a cognitivist's perspective, would be an excellent addition to this book. There is some discussion of classical, operant, and vicarious learning in the chapter on emotion, but nothing about learning per se. Additionally, there are only a few sentences on sensory memory. Sperling's classic study is mentioned in passing, but this and other important experiments were not described). I suppose that it is impossible to do everything.

The authors and publisher make a strong claim: "This book is the first to incorporate neuroscience seamlessly into the study of cognitive psychology." Perhaps. I would say that this book is "seamless" to the extent that it includes information about the brain in each chapter. There are other excellent Cognitive Psychology textbooks, and most of these include reasonable information about cognitive neuroscience. See, e.g., the texts of Sternberg, Reisberg, Anderson, Medin et al., or Goldstein. The selling point of the current text, IMHO, is that the current crop of authors are first-rate contributors to our understanding of cognition and the brain. And these authors have chosen to report sexy, new findings that are at the forefront of our field.

In summary, I am enthusiastic about using this book in my future Cognitive Psychology classes. This is the modern cognitive psychology textbook that needed to be written. The authors have focused on what they thought was most important for students rather than on what most other textbooks have done. They present fresh material in a new way without abandoning many essential, classic topics.

Editorial Review:

This book is the first to incorporate neuroscience seamlessly into the study of cognitive psychology. The study of cognition has progressed enormously over the past decade, but no currently available book summarizes and makes accessible the key findings and theories. This book takes a fresh look at the field, and presents it as it actually is today. By integrating findings about the brain into the usual fare for this topic, it provides the foundation for readers to study current research in the field. How the Brain Gives Rise to the Mind; Perception; Attention; Representation and Knowledge in Long-Term Memory; Encoding and Retrieval from Long-Term Memory; Working Memory; Executive Processes; Emotion and Cognition; Decision Making; Problem Solving and Reasoning; Planning and Motor Cognition; and Language. For those practicing in the field of cognitive psychology.

Solitude a Return to the Self

Anthony Storr

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This book will change your life 5 out of 5 stars.
21 of 21 people found this review helpful.

I have always been a solitary man, someone who likes to be alone, reading and writing, and who prefers solitude becasue I thrive in it. I've never had a ton of friends, and still don't, though I always had a few close ones. Some people say there is "something wrong" with me and that I need to get out more and be more social. Thing is, I don't find that satisfying. I find more satisfaction in solitude, reading and thinking and writing, than I do in "working the crowd." So prevalent were the voices of such critics that I often wondered if they were right; I also began to hate myself.

Mr. Storr's book, I'm glad to say, changed all that. Contrary to popular opinion, Mr. Storr says it's a sign of health if one can be alone for long periods of time; he also suggests that a person is deficient if he can't handle being alone and instead has to fill his life with friends, parties, lots of distractions, and the like.

The fact is, many great writers, philosophers, poets, musicians and artists were very solitary people with few or almost no deep, intimate personal relationships. The humanities would not be what they are had it not been for those solitary men and women who were alone a lot, people who were able to search deep into themselves and listen to what their souls were saying--in solitude. Large sections of Amazon.com, the college library, the fine art museum and symphony hall would not exist had it not been for the men and women in this book.

I can't recommend Mr. Storr's book enough. If you enjoy a solitary life and doubt that you are "normal" or "sane," or if people are always on your back about spending time alone or about how you don't have a lot of intimate friendships, you have nothing to fear: it's perfectly normal to want to be alone, especially if your gifts and talents demand that you be alone.

All in all, Solitude: A Return to the Self was a major discovery and I'm looking forward to reading it again. This book was a rare find. I can't remember a book having this much of an impact on me. If only Mr. Storr were alive so I could thank him for this fine book. Very highly recommended.

Editorial Review:

A provocative and highly articulate meditation on solitude, Anthony Storr explores the connection between solitude and the creative personality. From the great to the obscure, Storr examines the uses that all kinds of people make of solitude in times of bereavement and depression, in escaping from the pressures of daily life, in communing with a higher power through prayer, and in finding and expressing their deepest selves.

The Unschooled Mind: How Children Think And How Schools Should Teach

Howard Gardner

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Howard Gardner is a brilliant man!! 5 out of 5 stars.
73 of 77 people found this review helpful.

I read this book a few years ago as part of a course in my Master's degree program. I had some familiarity with Gardner's work, mainly the seven intelligences. However, until an educator has read this book, the educator can not apply the seven intelligences in the class room or teach effectively.

My dad once told me that I never learn anything until I break something. I was 16 and had just wrecked my first car. I never crashed again. This is the concept behind Gardner's book. We learn from our experiences. We learn by applying knowledge in real life situation. Knowledge is not necessarily power, but it is part of the equation. After teaching concepts in my class with follow-up assignments which were real life activities/experiences, I saw test results improve and student interest increase dramatically. Students only want to learn what is useful to them so teachers must show subject matter to be relavent to the student's lives. Gardner explains how a students mind can grow through these means.

This is a great read even if you are a parent who want to explore how your child learns. Highly recommended!

Editorial Review:

Merging cognitive science with educational agenda, Gardner shows how ill-suited our minds and natural patterns of learning are to current educational materials, practices, and institutions, and makes an eloquent case for restructuring our schools. This reissue includes a new introduction by the author.

The Society of Mind

Marvin Minsky

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Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Understanding how the mind works 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a very unusual book. 270 chapters of one page grouped under 30 headings. Minsky tries to figure out how the mind works, by splitting what it does in one page very interesting bits. The discipline of one subject per page is unusual but effective. The brain is recognised as enormously complicated, but not so complicated that nothing can be understood about it. In fact it can only be understood by understanding its many different bits. Minsky built the first "randomly wired neural network learning machine" the SMRAC Such a type of machine has some kind of intelligence and some learning capabilities. Marvin Minsky is one of the pioneers of "artificial intelligence". He found that to make these machines work intelligently it was useful to figure out how the brain solved the challenges of for example seeing in a useful way. To understand those brain processes Minsky delved into the workings of evolution.He found that you can learn a lot by figuring out how evolution in different steps increased brain capabilities. For example: why are we much more capable to remember faces of people rather than their names? Simply because vision is much older than language. Or why do people have strong egocentric tendencies? That is the result of a child having to learn how to survive. Why blind desire for prestige, money and sex? Our shared ancestry with chimpanzees etc
To me surprisingly the book contains many useful rules that can make you more effective. For example if you want to convince somebody it is better to use parallel than serial arguments. A serial argument is more vulnerable because if one link in the chain is weak you lose. Another example. "Virtually any problem will be easier to solve the more one learns about the context world in which that problem occurs". Finally "Whatever happens, where or when, we're prone to wonder who or what's responsible?" That is why people are uncomfortable inside and outside organisations if they cannot find out who is responsible.
An unusual and very stimulating book.

Do One Thing Different: And Other Uncommonly Sensible Solutions To Life's Persistent Problems

Bill O'hanlon

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Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Some helpful ideas stretched out to fill a book 3 out of 5 stars.
9 of 11 people found this review helpful.

After reading a bunch of novels in a row, I decided it was time for a non-fiction book. I'd had this one sitting on my shelf for a few years and figured I'd give it a try. The title had always appealed to me.

It was easy reading and had quite a few helpful ideas in it. Although the author applies the concept to many areas of life, the title really says it all: If you're experiencing a problem in your life, or if there's something wrong, don't keep doing the same things over and over and expect different results. "Do one thing different" and it will lead to other changes in your life that may or may not take care of the problem. If it does, great. Problem solved. If not, do another thing different and see what happens. Often, our repetitive, unconscious actions are responsible for a great deal of the difficulties in our lives, or so goes the theory.

That's the gist the theory, though its stretched out into a book. I found it somewhat repetitive after a while, though I like the concept and plan to apply it (in fact, already have to some success) whenever I notice some area of my life that could use some fixing up.

As a concept, I give it five stars; as a book, because it is watered down and stretched out in order to justify its price, I can only give it three stars. Still, the title idea is an interesting one...one I think anyone could benefit from at one point or another in their lives.

Editorial Review:

Think of a problem in your life. Now solve it. That's not as crazy as it sounds, once you try the quick, supportive methods in this book by one of the developers of brief solution-oriented therapy. Best of all, Bill O'Hanlon says, you already know how! Simply "changing the viewing" or "changing the doing" of the problem using ten "solution keys" will put you back in control of your emotions and your life--even single-handedly change your relationship. Useful (sometimes bizarre) true stories show the process in action:

How thoughts of a farmhouse kept the author from committing suicide

How getting naked stopped a couple's nasty arguments

How getting up on the wrong side of bed made a woman happy (for a while, anyway)

And much more