Cognition and reality: Principles and implications of cognitive psychology

by Ulric Neisser

Cognition and reality presents a systematic, ecologically oriented approach to the cognitive processes, which are treated as skilled and continuing interactions with the environment. Such topics as perception, attention, memory, speech, and introspection are considered in the light of everyday experience as well as experimental research. Contemporary theories of information processing and information pickup are reviewed and criticized, and a conceptual scheme is developed that deals not only with the acquisition of information but its effect on the perceiving individual. "Perception," writes Ulric Neisser, " is surely a matter of discovering what the environment is like and adapting to it." This new scheme has implications for many traditional problems not encompassed by other theories of cognition, including the perception of meaning, the development of individual identity, and the possibility of predicting or controlling human behavior. Readers need no previous training in psychology to understand this book, so it can be used as supplementary reading for courses in introductory psychology, cognition, human thinking, and the psychology of consciousness. --- from book's back cover

Genres: Psychology, Science, Nonfiction, Education, Research

230 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

Reviews

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/4 stars

[Muazzam Khamdamova]

Читала в рамках курса «Когнитивная психология». Были прочитаны 4 главы

[Andrew Macfarlane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucid writing from a lucid thinker. Neisser is regarded by many as making concrete the transition from behaviourism to cognitive psychology, and in this text (a follow up to 'Cognitive Psychology') he refines some of his previous ideas, gives an account of J Gibson's 'Direct Perception' theory, and lays out the issues he takes with it. From there he goes on to expound some of the puzzles of perception, and why there must be a preemptive mechanism involved (the schema; his terminology). Far from being a technical book on the workings of our visual system, or memory, much of beauty of this book lies in what it has to say about psychology in toto. From over generalization of results, to the near impossibility of knowing, let alone controlling our environment, much of what he has to say is still as relevant today as it would have been in 1976; if not more so. As a previous reviewer stated, the logic employed is often disarming.

A must read for anyone interested in the history of the field, by one of its brightest advocates.

[J M Falciani · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really short helpful look at some of the introductory concepts of cognition from a more psychological perspective. The way it helps you to think about some of the philosophical problems and structures about how the "complex" processes of the brain work are a good framework even without a lot of background or science knowledge. This is a good place to start if you want to learn and think about how the human brain senses, how it thinks, and how these basic frameworks can be used to understand complex referential or conceptual tasks like imagining, mapping, and language.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot like reading Einstein's "Special Relativity" in that the author has a way of explaining complex ideas in simple clear language with air-tight logic that will make you change the way you see yourself and the world.

[Mark Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introduction to perception and schema, very interesting and useful for considering the design of education courses.