For undergraduate level courses in Cognition and Theories of Learning. The psychology of human memory and cognition is fascinating, dealing with questions and ideas that are inherently interesting, such as how we think, reason, remember, and use language. 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. Reflecting the increasing use of new technologies to study memory and cognition, Ashcraft and the new co-author, Gabriel Radvansky, continue to integrate sections on neurosciences within individual chapter topics.
1. Cognitive Psychology : An Introduction Thinking About Thinking Memory and Cognition Defined An Introductory History of Cognitive Psychology Anticipations of Psychology Early Psychology Behaviorism and Neobehaviorism Dissatifaction with Behaviorism: The Winds of Change Cognitive Psychology and Information Processing The New Direction The Assumptions of Cognitive Psychology 2. The Cognitive Science Approach Guiding Principles Themes Measuring Information Processes Getting Started Time and Accuracy Measures Guiding Analogies The Information-Processing Approach The Standard Theory A Process Model The Strict Information Processing Approach Some Difficulties The Modern Cognitive Approach: Cognitive Science Updating the Standard Theory Fixing the Narrowness Neurocognition: The Brain and Cognition Together Basic Neurology Brain Anatomy Principles of Functioning Split Brain Research and Lateralization Methods of Investigation Neural Net Models: Connectionism 3. Perception and Pattern Recognition Visual Perception Gathering Visual Information Visual Sensory Memory The Early parts of a Fixation A Summary for Visual Sensory Memory Trans-saccadic Memory Pattern Recognition: Written Language Gestalt Grouping Principles The Template Approach Visual Feature Detection Beyond Features: Conceptually Driven Pattern Recognition Connectionist Modeling Object Recognition and Agnosia Recognition by Components Agnosia Implications for Cognitive Science Auditory Perception Auditory Sensory Memory Auditory Pattern Recognition 4. Attention Multiple Meaning of Attention Basics of Attention Basic Input Attentional Processes Alertness and Arousal Orienting Response and Attention Capture Spotlight Attention and Visual Search Contrasting Input and Controlled Attention Hemineglect: An Attention Deficit Controlled, Voluntary Attention Selective Attention and the Cocktail Party Effect Selection Models Attention as a Mental Resource Automatic and Conscious Processing Theories A Synthesis for Attention and Automaticity Disadvantages of Automaticity 5. Short-Term Working Memory Short-Term Memory: A Limited Capacity Bottleneck The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two Forgetting from Short-Term Memory Short-Term Memory Retrieval Serial Position Effects Short-Term Memory Scanning: The Sternberg Task Working Memory The Components of Working Memory The Central Executive The Phonological Loop The Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad The Episodic Buffer Assessing Working Memory The Dual Task Method Working Memory Span The Role of Working Memory in Cognition Working Memory and Attention Working Memory and Long-Term Memory Working Memory and Reasoning Sometimes Small Working Memory Spans are Better 6. Learning and Remembering Preliminary Issues Mnemonic Devices The Ebbinghaus Tradition of Memory Research Metamemory Storing Information in Episodic Memory Rehearsal Frequency of Rehearsal Two Kinds of Rehearsal Depth of Processing Challenges to Depth of Processing Generation and Enactment Organization in Storage Imagery Emotion and Survival Value Context and Encoding Specificity Retrieving Episodic Information Decay Interference Retrieval Failure Retrieval Cues Amnesia and Implicit Memory Dissociation of Episodic and Semantic Memory Anterograde Amnesia Implicit and Explicit Memory 7. Knowing Semantic Memory The Collins and Quillian ( and Loftus) Model Smiths Feature Comparison Model Empirical Tests of Semantic Memory Models Semantic Relatedness Priming in Semantic Memory Nuts and Bolts of Priming Tasks Empirical Demonstrations of Priming Priming in Other Tasks Automatic and Controlled Priming Priming Is an Implicit Process Schemata and Scripts Bartletts Research Schemata Scripts Evidence of Scripts < Context, Connectionism, and the Brain Connectionism Connectionism and the Brain 8. Using Knowledge in the Real World The Seven Sins of Memory Facts About the World The Nature of Propositions Rules for Deriving Propositions Are Propositions Real? Situation Models and Embodied Cognition Levels of Representation Remembering Facts Metamemory Source Monitoring Prospective Memory Knowing What You Know False Memories, Eyewitness Memory. and "Forgotten Memories" False Memories Integration Leading Questions and Memory Distortion The Misinformation Effect Source Misattribution and Misinformation Acceptance Stronger Memory Distortion Effects Repressed and Recovered Memories Autobiographical Memories The Bahrick Work Phenomena of Autobiographical Memory The Irony of Memory 9. Language Linguistic Universals and Functions Defining Language Language Universals Animal Communication Levels of Analysis, a Critical Distinction, and the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Phonology: The Sounds of Language Sounds in Isolation Combining Phonemes into Words Embodiment in Speech Perception Speech Perception and Context A Final Puzzle Syntax: The Ordering of Words and Phrases Chomskys Transformational Grammar Limitations of the Transformational Grammar Approach The Cognitive Role of Syntax Lexical and Semantic Factors: The Meaning in Language Morphemes The Lexical Representation Case Grammar Interaction of Syntax and Semantics Evidence for the Semantic Grammar Approaches Brain and Language Language in the Intact Brain Aphasia Generalizing from Aphasia 10. Comprehension: Written and Spoken Language Getting Started: An Overview Conceptual and Rule Knowledge Traditional Comprehension Research Online Comprehension Tasks Metacomprehension Comprehension as Mental Structure Building Levels of Comprehension Reading Gaze Duration Basic Online Reading Effects A Model of Reading Summary Reference, Situation Models, and Events Reference Situation Models Events Conversation and Gesture The Structure of Conversations Cognitive Conversational Characteristics Empirical Effects in Conversation Gesture 11. Decisions, Judgments, and Reasoning Formal Logic and Reasoning Syllogisms Conditional Reasoning: If P Then Q Hypothesis Testing Decisions Decisions About Physical Differences Decisions About Symbolic Differences Decisions About Geographic Distances Decisions and Reasoning Under Uncertainty Algorithms and Heuristics Heuristics, Biases, and Fallacies The Representativeness Heuristic The Availability Heuristics The Simulation Heuristics The Undoing Heuristics: Counterfactual Reasoning Adaptive Thinking and " Fast, Frugal" Heuristics The Ongoing Debate Limitations in Reasoning Limited Domain Knowledge Limitations in Processing Resources Appendix: Algorithms for Coin Tosses and Hospital Births Coin Tosses Hospital Births 12. Problem Solving The Status of Problem-Solving Area Gestalt Psychology and Problem Solving Early Gestalt Research Difficulties in Problem Solving Insight and Analogy Insight Analogy Neurocognition in Analogy and Insight Basics of Problem Solving Characteristics of Problem Solving A Vocabulary of Problem Solving Means-End Analysis: A Fundamental Heuristic The Basics of Means-End Analysis The Tower of Hanoi General Problem Solver Improving Your Problem Solving Increase Your Domain Knowledge Automate Some Components of the Problem-Solving Solution Follow a Systematic Plan Draw Inferences Develop Subgoals Work Backward Search for Contradictions Search for Relations Among Problems Find a Different Problem Representation Stay Calm If All Else Fails, Try Practice Glossary References Photo Credits Name Index Subjet Index