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.

Table of Contents:
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     Smith's 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 Bartlett’s 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       Chomsky's 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