Cognitive Books - Page 16

Behavior Analysis and Learning

W. David Pierce, Carl D. Cheney

List Price: $85.00 By: Lawrence Erlbaum Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $18.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Behavior Analysis and Learning is an essential textbook covering the basic principles in the field of behavior analysis and learned behaviors. Both active researchers, the authors are disciples of a coherent theory--experimental analysis of behavior--pioneered by B.F. Skinner. Using this theory as a base to explain human behavior, researchers must understand the interactions between an individual and his or her environment.

Expanding on concepts of the past editions, this book:
*is an advanced introductory text on operant conditioning from a very consistent Skinnerian perspective;
*covers a range of principles from basic respondent conditioning through applied behavior analysis into cultural design;
*treats the topic from a consistent world view of selectionism;
*elaborates on Darwinian components and biological connections with behavior; and
*expands most chapters with revised references and additional citations.

The material presented inthis book provides the reader with the best available foundation in behavior science. The discovery of functional relations between the organism and the environment constitute the objective foundation for this book. These functional relationships are described, and their application in accounting for old behavior and generating new behavior is illustrated. As such, this book is a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in psychology or other behavior-based disciplines.

Test Your I.Q. (4th ed)

Alfred W. Munzert

List Price: $6.95 By: Arco Pub Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

informative 2 out of 5 stars.
20 of 20 people found this review helpful.

This book begins with a timed self-scoring IQ test up to 165. Then follows an explanation of what IQ is, and what it means. Finally, it discusses giftedness, aptitude, and intelligence.

The book is easy to read, informative, and contemporary. However, the test is perhaps too easy for adult readers, as scores are only adjusted for ages up to 16. Therefore, if you are older than 16, perhaps the test will not be particularily challenging. So if you want to boost your ego, then buy this book. But I suggest that if you want to challenge your intellect, then save your money for another book of puzzles.

Editorial Review:

The new edition of the intriguing bestseller that has fascinated readers everywhereSince 1980, readers by the hundreds of thousands have been taking this unique self-scoring test to find out how smart they really are! Challenging, entertaining, and based on genuine scientific principles, this extraordinary guide is the ideal introduction to this ever-fascinating topic--and the perfect impulse buy for your customers. Contents include:- Full-length self-scoring I.Q test with explanatory answers- Explanation of right-brain versus left-brain thinking- Tips for raising one's own I.Q.- How to test your "computer I.Q."Alfred W. Munzert, Ph.D., is chancellor of Hawthorne University in Salt Lake City, Utah.

LOT 2: The Language of Thought Revisited

Jerry Fodor

Amazon Price: $30.36 List Price: $37.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Oxford University Press, USA Amazon Marketplace: 21 new & used starting at $26.41

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Editorial Review:

Jerry Fodor presents a new development of his famous Language of Thought hypothesis, which has since the 1970s been at the centre of interdisciplinary debate about how the mind works. Fodor defends and extends the groundbreaking idea that thinking is couched in a symbolic system realized in the brain. This idea is central to the representational theory of mind which Fodor has established as a key reference point in modern philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. The foundation stone of our present cognitive science is Turing's suggestion that cognitive processes are not associations but computations; and computation requires a language of thought.
So the latest on the Language of Thought hypothesis, from its progenitor, promises to be a landmark in the study of the mind. LOT 2 offers a more cogent presentation and a fuller explication of Fodor's distinctive account of the mind, with various intriguing new features. The central role of compositionality in the representational theory of mind is revealed: most of what we know about concepts follows from the compositionality of thoughts. Fodor shows the necessity of a referentialist account of the content of intentional states, and of an atomistic account of the individuation of concepts. Not least among the new developments is Fodor's identification and persecution of pragmatism as the leading source of error in the study of the mind today.
LOT 2 sees Fodor advance undaunted towards the ultimate goal of a theory of the cognitive mind, and in particular a theory of the intentionality of cognition. No one who works on the mind can ignore Fodor's views, expressed in the coruscating and provocative style which has delighted and disconcerted countless readers over the years.

Heuristics and Biases: The Psychology of Intuitive Judgment

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Of vast importance 5 out of 5 stars.
32 of 34 people found this review helpful.

This collection of articles has its origin in the work of one of the editors (Daniel Kahneman) and Amos Tversky (now deceased) in the 1970's. The first article in the book gives an introduction to this work and a brief historical survey. This work, along with current developments, is extremely important, for it sheds light on the differences (if any) between "intuitive judgment" and judgment that is based on more quantitative, mathematical, or algorithmic reasoning. If human judgment in uncertain environments is based on a limited number of simplifying heuristics, and not on extensive algorithmic processing, this would be very important for someone who is attempting to implement or simulate human reasoning in a machine. Economics, finance, and political decision-making are other areas that need a more accurate view of human judgment. Indeed, the "rational agent" assumption in classical economics, wherein the person makes choices by assessing the probability of each possible outcome and then assigning a utility to each, is considered to be fundamental, even axiomatic. It is therefore of great interest to examine challenges to this assumption.

In order to test the rational agent assumption, experiments must be conducted to test whether indeed the human assessment of likelihood and risk does indeed conform to the laws of probability. The data obtained in these experiments must then be judged as to whether it can be used to decide between the rational agent model and models of human judgment that are based on "intuition" (however vaguely or mystically this latter term is defined).

The authors of the first article in this book discuss some of the work on these questions, in particular the research that involved comparing expert clinical prediction with actuarial methods. The latter were found to perform better than the former. Even more interesting is that the clinician's assessments of their abilities were very far from what the record of success actually indicated. Some research has also indicated that intuitive judgments of likelihood do not correspond to what is obtained by Bayesian reasoning patterns.

These results, as the authors discuss, motivated performance models that were not based on the assumption of full rationality, but rather on what is called `bounded rationality.' The developers of this model felt that the processing limitations of the human brain dictated that humans must choose very limited heuristics when engaged in decision-making.

Also of great interest, and discussed in another article in the book, is the human ability to engage in affective forecasting. The latter involves the making of decisions based on the predictions of the emotional consequences of future events. The authors study the accuracy of affective forecasting and the accompanying notion of `durability bias.' The latter notion arises when individuals attempt to estimate how long particular feelings will last, and this estimation seems to be considerably longer than what actually occurs. The authors discuss some of the reasons for the durability bias in affective forecasting. One of these is ordinary misconstrual, where events are thought to be more powerful than what are actually realized, resulting in the overestimation of the duration of the affective responses to these events. Another regards the difficulty in forecasting affective reactions to events about which much is known. In addition, the authors point to "defensive pessimism" as to another of the reasons for inaccurate affective forecasting. This allows for mental preparation for the consequences of an event, and for positive feelings when the affective duration is smaller than what had been predicted. The main emphasis of the authors' article though is much more interesting than these explanations, for it involves the notion of a `psychological immune system.' Quoting the research of many psychologists, and arguing in analogy to the ordinary biological immune system, the authors view this system as one that protects the individual from an "overdose of gloom." Further, the functioning of the psychological immune system is optimized when it is not brought into the conscious focus of the individual. This `immune neglect' however has as a consequence the durability bias, in that if an individual fails to recognize her negative affect will decrease and be subjected to psychological mechanisms that assist greatly in this diminution, then she will tend to overestimate the time duration of her emotional reactions. The authors discuss empirical studies of durability bias in their article, and discuss some of the consequences of their studies. One of these concerns the possibility that humans could be mistaken about their own internal experiences. This is a very troubling possibility, but the authors give many references that purport to support it. This research shows that not only can people be completely mistaken about their feelings toward an object, but that their actual behaviors is better evidence of their internal states than what they report verbally.

Another interesting article in the book concerns the topic of automated choice heuristics. This area has arisen as a reaction to the idea that human choice can be predicted using theoretical models of optimal choice. Instead, one must identify the heuristics the people use to simplify their choices. These heuristics are used to restrict or compress the amount of information that is processed by the human brain and also to deal with the complexity in which this information is assimilated. There are many different theories of choice heuristics, and some of these are discussed in the article. Some of these theories involve heuristics that are "deliberate", i.e. involve the elimination of aspects and slower cognitive processes, and some involve heuristics that are "automatic" and judgmental, i.e. that arise from cognitive processes that are rapid and not controllable. Judgmental heuristics is also referred to as `System 1' heuristics in the article, whereas deliberate heuristics is referred to as `System 2' heuristics. The authors give a very interesting overview of automated choice heuristics, involving choices that are based on immediate affective evaluation, and choices that are using the option that is first thought of. All of these discussions, as are all the others in the book, are extremely important.

Editorial Review:

Judgment pervades human experience. Do I have a strong enough case to go to trial? Will the Fed change interest rates? Can I trust this person? This book examines how people answer such questions. How do people cope with the complexities of the world economy, the uncertain behavior of friends and adversaries, or their own changing tastes and personalities? When are people's judgments prone to bias, and what is responsible for their biases? This book compiles psychologists' best attempts to answer these important questions.

The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain (.)

Alice Weaver Flaherty

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

What underlies the human ability, desire, and even compulsion to write? Alice Flaherty first explores the brain state called hypergraphia - the overwhelming desire to write - and the science behind its antithesis, writer's block. As a leading neurologist at a major research hospital, Flaherty writes from the front lines of brain research. Her voice, driven and surprisingly original, has its roots in her own experiences of hypergraphia, triggered by a postpartum mood disorder. Both qualifications lend power to Flaherty's riveting connection between the biology of human longing and the drive to communicate.
The Midnight Disease charts exciting new territory concerning the roles of mind and body in the creative process. Flaherty - whose engagement with her patients and lifelong passion for literature enrich each page - argues for the importance of emotion in writing, illuminates the role that mood disorders play in the lives of many writers, and explores with profound insight the experience of being "visited by the muse." Her understanding of the role of the brain's temporal lobes and limbic system in the drive to write challenges the popular idea that creativity emerges solely from the right side of the brain. Finally, The Midnight Disease casts lights on the methods and madness of writers past and present, from Dostoevsky to Conrad, from Sylvia Plath to Stephen King.
The Midnight Disease brings the very latest brain science to bear on the most compelling questions surrounding human creativity.

The World of Perception (Routledge Classics)

M Merleau-Ponty

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Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

'In simple prose Merleau-Ponty touches on his principle themes. He speaks about the body and the world, the coexistence of space and things, the unfortunate optimism of science – and also the insidious stickiness of honey, and the mystery of anger.' - James Elkins

Maurice Merleau-Ponty was one of the most important thinkers of the post-war era. Central to his thought was the idea that human understanding comes from our bodily experience of the world that we perceive: a deceptively simple argument, perhaps, but one that he felt had to be made in the wake of attacks from contemporary science and the philosophy of Descartes on the reliability of human perception.

From this starting point, Merleau-Ponty presented these seven lectures on The World of Perception to French radio listeners in1948. Available in a paperback English translation for the first time in the Routledge Classics series to mark the centenary of Merleau-Ponty’s birth, this is a dazzling and accessible guide to a whole universe of experience, from the pursuit of scientific knowledge, through the psychic life of animals to the glories of the art of Paul Cézanne.

Trance: Formation of America

Cathy O'Brien, Mark Phillips

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Total reviews: 90 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

GREAT BOOK AND SHOCKING REVELATIONS 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This book is a must to purchase/have. You'll learn the dirty, disgusting and ways to make politics in America. These secrets will change your views on politics, politicians and we as a country and society.I highly recommend it

No one escapes the law of Karma.... 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

It took me two sittings to read this book. I started it and was so disturbed by its contents that I had to set it aside. After a few weeks, I went back to it and finished it. What is so tragic about this book is that what it contains is true. A rogue segment of our federal government at the highest levels rides roughshod over the Constitution, rapes children, and murders American citizens at will. There are too many government secret activities revealed in this book that are also discussed by other researchers to have been made up. It all fits together too well. And the sad truth is that these criminals {e.g. Bush and Cheney} are still in power and abusing their authority. This book is a great argument for the repeal of the National Security Act and the "Patriot" Act. Our leaders hide behind these laws to commit abominable crimes. The Executive Branch and Congress are a mutual blackmail society where individuals are kept in check, most likely by the CIA, by threatening exposure of misdeeds {pedophilia, murder, etc.}. The criminals at the highest levels of our federal government think that they are "above the law". However, what they don't realize or don't believe {since many of them are practicing Satanists} is that they cannot escape the law of Karma or God's laws. They will pay for their crimes eventually. Read this book. It contains terrible truths.

The Elements of Reasoning

Ronald Munson, Andrew Black

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Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Good, quick introduction to logic 4 out of 5 stars.
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.

Munson and Conway do a very fine job in this little text, introducing the subject matter of logic with enough detail to get you started. There are, of course, lots of textbooks out there that go into lots more detail. But this one is about right if you want to pick it up and cover the basics on your own. You learn what an argument is and how to recognize them and analyze them, what the basic types of arguments are (deductive and inductive) and how they differ and how to assess each type for its success as an inductive argument and for its validity as a deductive argument. There is coverage of basic propositional logic and proofs, and coverage of categorical syllogisms and Venn diagrams. There are chapters on fallacies (though I have a minor quibble with them on which fallacies to include in an intro text, the chapter does give a good overview), on probabilistic reasoning, on causal reasoning, and on writing logically.

I assign this one as a basic text in my introduction to logic course -- largely because I can't see the point of assigning a big textbook that will cost them $90 when this one covers what I need, and I can supplement it with other materials of my own choosing. One advantage you would get from some of the more expensive texts (e.g. Hurley or Copi's introductory textbooks) is access to a computer based program that can guide you through problems. Otherwise, in terms of coverage and clarity, this text works quite well.

Editorial Review:

Do you know how to analyze then destroy an argument? THE ELEMENTS OF REASONING reveals the basic elements of structuring arguments, and then shows you how to analyze any argument for its weak points. THE ELEMENTS OF REASONING is also a handy reference tool that you can easily use in the future, no matter what setting you're in. That way, you can refresh your understanding of the concepts of introductory logic and argument analysis without having to purchase another book. It helps you get a great grade; it helps you in the future. Pick up THE ELEMENTS OF REASONING today!

What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Series in Affective Science)

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

While we have known for centuries that facial expressions can reveal what people are thinking and feeling, it is only recently that the face has been studied scientifically for what it can tell us about internal states, social behavior, and psychopathology. Today's widely available, sophisticated measuring systems have allowed us to conduct a wealth of new research on facial behavior that has contributed enormously to our understanding of the relationship between facial expression and human psychology. The chapters in this volume present the state-of-the-art in this research. They address key topics and questions, such as the dynamic and morphological differences between voluntary and involuntary expressions, the relationship between what people show on their faces and what they say they feel, whether it is possible to use facial behavior to draw distinctions among psychiatric populations, and how far research on automating facial measurement has progressed. The book also includes follow-up commentary on all of the original research presented and a concluding integration and critique of all the contributions made by Paul Ekman. As an essential reference for all those working in the area of facial analysis and expression, this volume will be indispensable for a wide range of professionals and students in the fields of psychology, psychiatry, and behavioral medicine. Paul Ekman was a Professor of Psychology for 32 years in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco. He also served as chief psychologist in the U.S. Army, Fort Dix New Jersey from 1958-1960. His interests have focused on two separate, but related topics: He originally focused on 'nonverbal' behavior, and by the mid-60s concentrated on the expression and physiology of emotion. His other interest is interpersonal deception. His research program was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Science Foundation, and the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the DOD, loosely affiliated with UCSF. His many honors have included the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association in 1991, and an honorary doctor of humane letters from the University of Chicago in 1994. Dr. Ekman retired from UCSF in 2004. He currently serves as the chairman of the board of the Institute of Analytic Interviewing and continues to consult on research and training related to emotion and deception.

Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now

Jane B. Burka, Lenora M. Yuen

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Editorial Review:

Revised with essential updates and new material, the classic guide to understanding and controlling one of the most common behavioral problems. Based on their workshops and counselling experience, psychologists Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen offer a probing, sensitive, and at times humorous look at a problem that affects everyone to some degree."Procrastination" identifies the reasons we put off tasks - fears of failure, success, control, separation, and attachment - and their roots in our childhood and adult experiences. The authors offer a practical, tested programme to overcome procrastination by achieving set goals, managing time, enlisting support, and handling stress. Burka and Yuen even provide tips on living and working with the procrastinators you may know. Wise, effective, and easy to use, this new edition shows why for 25 years "Procrastination" has been an immediate must-have for anyone who puts things off until tomorrow.