Cognition

by Mark H. Ashcraft, Gabriel A. Radvansky

"The psychology of human memory and cognition deals with questions and ideas that are inherently interesting, such as how we think, reason, remember, and use language. Cognition, Fourth Edition is directed primarily toward undergraduate students at the junior and senior level. Using a first person narrative, posing direct questions to the reader, and balancing classic research with cutting edge topics, the author draws in the reader and conveys the excitement of the field." Cognition, Fourth Edition thoroughly covers the foundation areas in cognition. Reflecting the increasing use of new technologies to study memory and cognition, Ashcraft continues to integrate sections on neuroscience within individual chapter topics. A major section in the introductory chapters provides background information on neurons and the brain, so even students without formal coursework on the biological basis of cognition will be prepared for the cognitive neuroscience coverage in the text.

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

592 pages, Unbound

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.