Cognition

by Mark H. Ashcraft

Providing a comprehensive, approachable treatment of current cognitive psychology, this fourth edition of a classic volume, formerly entitled Human Memory and Cognition, maintains the direct style that has proved so popular in the past. Neurocognitive evidence is integrated throughout, and the book balances empirical evidence, theory, and explanations of important points with sufficient detail so that readers learn not only cognitive psychology, but also how experiments are designed and interpreted and how theories are tested. Chapter topics include an introduction to cognitive psychology; the cognitive science approach; perception and pattern recognition; attention; short-term, working memory; learning and remembering; knowing; using knowledge in the real world; language; written and spoken language; decisions, judgments, and reasoning; and problem solving. For individuals interested in cognitive psychology and memory.

Genres: Psychology, Textbooks, Nonfiction, Brain, Science, Education

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Mark Henry Ashcraft is an American academic and the chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He received his PhD in cognitive psychology from the University of Kansas in 1975.

Mark Ashcraft investigates issues in mathematical cognition, asking questions such as "What do people know about numbers, arithmetic, and math?" and "How do we learn math?" His research examines the mental processes that people use to solve math problems, from answering basic facts (e. g., 2 + 3 = ?) to more complex problems that include procedures such as carrying or borrowing (e. g., 231 - 178 = ?). To examine the development of these skills and abilities, his research includes school-age children, adolescents, and adults. A second, related area of his research investigates how math skills and attitudes influence those mental processes. Specifically, he examines the influence of motivation, experience, and anxiety on math performance (e. g., Do math anxious individuals not learn as efficiently, or are their difficulties limited to performance situations?). In addition to these topics, another research interest of Dr. Ashcraft is in the area of federal regulation of human subjects research

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has excellent voice and explains things well. Shouldn't expect anything less from a book that teaches us about how we learn. However, halfway through the authors start making excuses about why the chapters have to be so long and the fact is they get really redundant. :p If it really was adequate and necessary, it wouldn't need to be explained away. Hopefully future editions will cull the unnecessary fat.

[Lyndon Goodacre · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a textbook, but for what I felt was one of the most important classes I'd ever taken, Cognitive Psychology. This would not be everyone's cup of tea, but the style is quite readable, even really pleasant!

[Niko Kurniawan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curently IM using this book as one of my textbook at college and to be honest i was not profound to read it. The material on this book is some usual topic on cognition such as perception, memory, decision making etc. But my problem with this book is its structure and writing. On some chapter, I couldnt grasp its structure at all. It feels like the writer is rambling with his knowledge on cognition. Let's take example on chapter learning and remembering. I couldnt understand the writers intention to put mnemonic out of nowhere in the beginning of the chapter. Structurally it seems illogical. The problem with structure brought problem with writing. Because i couldnt grasp where the beginning begin, the writing from each paragraph seems like new paragraph, new concept, new sub-chapter. I couldnt get where a topic start and where a topic end in a chapter

[CM · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for : SS5750 Perception & Cognition

Probably a tiny bit more chatty than I want but it's a fine textbook. Of course cognitive psychologists know the best on how to make learning more efficient for students.

[Bridget]

Read for Cognitive Psychology Fall 2021

[Jacob Bornheimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent introduction to cognitive psychology, albeit quite dry. I didn't really enjoy the professor for the class I took, so maybe that coloured mt view of this book. That being said I wouldn't have read this without the class. I didn't really finish much of this book so I'm marking it as abandoned. Sorry, Mr Ashcraft!

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a very good and handy book to have in my Cognitive Psychology class. It is easy to understand and interprets it into the real world scenarios which in turn brings the importance of why Cognitive Psychology is so crucial and important in learning and processing the information received every day! If you have to read this book, do not worry you are in good hands.

[Hana Bilqisthi · Rating 4 out of 5]

eventough it is text book for cognitive psychology class, i love this book :D it's interesting :D a fun way to tell a lot new information :D

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had to read this book for school and it wasn't as boring as most textbooks. I wouldn't go so far as to say I enjoyed it, but it was tolerable.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

a little dense.

[Wawa · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair, this was a textbook and I tend to be biased about these and by that I mean, I dislike them. But it was not that harsh as previous books that I have had to get through so all good.