The Psychology of Thinking. Reasoning, Decision-Making and Problem-Solving (Softcover)

Description

How do we define thinking? Is it simply memory, perception and motor activity or perhaps something more complex such as reasoning and decision making? This book argues that thinking is an intricate mix of all these things and a very specific coordination of cognitive resources. Divided into three key sections, there are chapters on the organization of human thought, general reasoning and thinking and behavioural outcomes of thinking.

These three overarching themes provide a broad theoretical framework with which to explore wider issues in cognition and cognitive psychology and there are chapters on motivation and language plus a strong focus on problem solving, reasoning and decision making – all of which are central to a solid understanding of this field.

The book also explores the cognitive processes behind perception and memory, how we might differentiate expertise from skilled, competent performance and the interaction between language, culture and thought.

Contents

SECTION I: THE ORGANIZATION OF HUMAN THOUGHT
Chapter 1. The Psychology of Thinking
Chapter 2. The Psychology of Similarity
Chapter 3. Knowledge and Memory
Chapter 4. Concepts and Categories
Chapter 5. Language and Thought

SECTION II: THINKING AND REASONING
Chapter 6. Inference and Induction
Chapter 7. Deductive Reasoning
Chapter 8. Context, Motivation and Mood

SECTION III: THINKING IN ACTION - DECISION MAKING, PROBLEM SOLVING, AND EXPERTISE
Chapter 9. Decision Making
Chapter 10. Problem Solving
Chapter 11. Expertise and Expert Thinking