Cognitive Psychology: Applying the Science of the Mind, Second Edition, intended primarily for the undergraduate cognitive psychology course, combines clear yet rigorous descriptions of key empirical findings and theoretical principles with frequent real-world examples, strong learning pedagogy, and a straightforward organization. Engagingly written, the text weaves five empirical threads - neuroscience, consciousness, individual differences, development, and culture - throughout the text to help students integrate the material. The text's organization offers an intuitive description of cognition that enhances student understanding by organizing chapters around the flow of a piece of information that enters the cognitive system.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents: Chapter 1--An Introduction to Cognition What is Cognition? The Omnipresence of Cognitive Processing An Interdisciplinary Perspective Psychology B.C. (Before Cognitive psychology) Psychophysics Structuralism: The Contents of Mental Experience Functionalism: The Functions of Mental Experience Behaviorism: The Rejection of Mental Experience Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong? Technological Influences PSYCHOLOGY A.D. (After Decline of behaviorism) Behaviorism Reconsidered Information-Processing: A Computer Metaphor for Cognition Connectionism: A Brain Metaphor for Cognition Alternative Approaches to Cognitive Psychology Research Themes Chapter 2--Research Methods in Cognition Descriptive Research Naturalistic Observation Case Studies Self-Report Experimental Research The Importance of the Computer What Happens in an Experiment? The Advantages and Disadvantages of an Experiment The Cognitive psychology Experiment How Can We See Thinking?: The Dependent Variable What Variables Influence Cognition?: The Independent Variable Confounding Variables Assigning Participants to Conditions The Factorial Design Analyzing and Presenting Results A Sample Experiment Cognitive Neuroscience: Investigating Mind and Brain An Overview of The Nervous System The Tools of Cognitive Neuroscience Chapter 3-Basics of Perception and Awareness Basic Issues in Perception Sensation and. Perception Bottom-Up and Top-Down Processing The Basic Tasks of Visual Perception Perceptual Organizational Processes Multisensory Interaction and Integration Synesthesia Comparing the Senses Perception and Action Consciousness Varieties of Consciousness Subliminal Perception Perceptual Processing and Attention Visual Attention Auditory Attention Chapter 4 - Attending to and Manipulating Information Selection and Division: The Strategic Nature of Attention Control of Selective Attention Dividing Attention Automaticity Characteristics of Automatic Processes Accounts of Automaticity Costs of Automaticity Processing in Immediate Memory The Information Processing Approach to Memory Short-Term Memory A Modular Approach to STM: Working Memory The Articulatory Loop The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad The Episodic Buffer Central Executive Working Memory and the Brain The Working Memory Model Re-Considered Chapter 5 - Identification and Classification Identification and Classifictation: An Overview Identifcation: Recognizing from the Bottom, Up and from the Top, Down Concepts and Categories: The Database for Recognition Object Recognition Effects of Orientation and Perspective Effects of Context Theories of Visual Object Recognition Non-Visual Recognition Recognizing Faces Face Inversion Configural Processing So, Is Face Recognition Special? Self-Recognition Concepts and Categories Types of Categories ("Categories" as a Category) Functions of Concepts Approaches to Concept Representation Chapter 6 - Encoding and Retrieval Processes in Long-Term Memory Fundamental Issues and Distinctions Short-Term Memory vs.Long-Term Memory Types of Long-Term Memory A Descriptive Framework: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval Encoding Processes in Explicit Long-term Remembering Attention and Repetition Rehearsal Remembering Actions Retrieval Processes in Long-Term Memory Availability and Accessibility Encoding Specificity Retrieval: An Effective Encoding Strategy? Encoding, Retrieval, and Hemispheric Asymmetry Memory and Consciousness Remembering and Knowing Implicit Memory Chapter 7 - Memory Distortions Sins of Memory Eyewitness Memory Encoding and Storage Factors Retrieval Factors Witness Factors An Applied Triumph Illusory Memories Simple Events Complex events A Constructive Memory Framework Social Influences and Constructive Remembering The Recovered Memory Controversy Can We Completely Forget and Recover Traumatic Events? Can False Memories for Traumatic Events be Created? What Constitutes Valid Evidence? The APA Working Group Chapter 8 -- Remembering the Past Everyday Memory Neisser's Challenge: Ecological Validity and Memory Research Autobiographical Memory: Basic Issues and Methodology Memories versus Facts Methods of Investigation The Autobiographical Memory Retention Function Childhood Amnesia The Reminiscence Bump Forgetting Factors Affecting Retrieval of Autobiographical Memories Encoding Specificity in Autobiographical Memory Retrieval Cues for Autobiographical Memory The Self-Memory System Involuntary Autobiographical Memories Emotion and Autobiographical Memory Flashbulb Memories Effects of Mood on Remembered Events Conclusion: Functions of Autobiographical Memory Communicative Function Emotional Function Directive Function Chapter 9 - Knowledge Representation and Retrieval Representing and Retrieving Words and Associates Word Representation and Retrieval: The Mental Lexicon Models of Word Recognition Words Connecting with Words: Semantic Networks Representing and Retrieving Everyday Knowledge Knowledge Learned Through Formal Instruction People's Names Songs Analog Representation The Study of Visual Imagery The Imagery Debate Chapter 10 -Language Language: Basic Principles Words and Rules Design Features of Language Is Language Modular? Levels of Analysis Speech and Spoken Word Recognition Phonology Morphology Reading and Visual Word Recognition Eye Movements Visual Word Recognition From Words to Sentences: Syntax and Semantics Transformational Grammar Sentence Parsing Language: Learned or Innate? Language Production Stages in Language Production Language in Non-Humans Language Training Projects What Makes Language Special? Chapter 11 - Problem Solving What is a Problem? Well-defined and Ill-defined Problems Routine and Non-routine Problems Problem-Solving Research: Some Methodological Challenges Approaches to the Study of Problem Solving Behaviorism: Problem Solving as Associative Learning Gestalt Psychology: Problem Solving as Insight Cognitive Psychology: Problem Solving as Information Processing Problem Representation Rigidity in Representation Stereotypes as a Threat to Problem Representation Problem Solution Algorithms Heuristics Experts: Masters of Representation and Solution Expert Advantages Expert Disadvantages: Costs of Expertise Insight and Creativity Insight Creativity Creativity, Insight, and the Brain Chapter 12 - Reasoning, Judgment, and Decision Making Complex Thinking: Reasoning, Judgment, and Decision Making The Focus on Errors Reasoning Deductive Reasoning Inductive Reasoning Judgment Basing Judgments on Memory: The Availability Heuristic Basing Judgments on Similarity: The Representativeness Heuristic Basing Judgments on Initial Estimates: The Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic Biased Evaluation of Our Judgments Decision-Making Expected Utility: A Normative Approach Prospect Theory: A Descriptive Approach References Name Index Subject Index