Reviews for Cognitive Processes (Basic Concepts in Psychology)

The average rating for Cognitive Processes (Basic Concepts in Psychology) based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-10-19 00:00:00 Jorge Romero Overall, Cognitive Psychology and Its Implication by John R. Anderson was an easy read. It made cognitive psychology understandable. The book neatly combines experimental cognitive psychology into mundane examples (e.g., the section that is titled implications). Among some of the examples cited, in the implications subsections are why it is difficult to drive and speak on a cell phone, how have advertisers used knowledge of cognitive psychology, and how the method of loci helps us recall. Nonetheless, there are also sections in which dense research studies are given to exemplify a specific concept. For example, strategic learning through physics examples. An individual that is not well versed or has been estranged from the study of physics for some time would have a difficult time understanding the general concept until the author puts the concept in simpler words at the end of the subsection (e.g., in italic). However, the variance in the examples give the reader a feel for how ubiquitous the subject of cognition is. Additionally, later chapters build on previous chapters. Thus, some working memory is needed in order to store operational definitions or the gist of the meaning of formal lexicons used in cognition to gain an understanding of the subject matter. The previously mentioned does not take from Anderson’s ability to write clearly and succinctly. As a blooming clinician, I appreciated topics that related to trauma and thought insertion as it relates to repressed memories. For example, the section on false memories and the brain which indicates that “the hippocampus responds to false memories with as high activation as responds to true memories and fails to discriminate between what was experienced and what was imagined” (p. 195). Also, the section on eyewitness testimony and the false-memory controversy explained how witnesses have a difficult time discriminating with what they saw and hear after something has occurred if the individual hear another bystander tell his/her story. Both of these sections have strong implications for clinicians working with individuals that suspect a traumatic past (e.g., physical or sexual abuse in childhood) and the need to be careful, as well as ethical, when asking clarifying questions. Thus, reading the section, rekindled ethical pondering about leading question such as, are you sure you do not have a history of abuse, most people that present with problems like your have a history of sexual and physical abuse, and the inappropriate use of such questions with clients. On the other hand, ethical issues, also arise from taking the opposite side of the repressed memory debate, as it can invalidate an individual’s experience of his/her traumatic past. This can further propel the cycle of victimization as the traumatized client is re-victimized by invalidation. Thus, a closer look calls for a balanced stance in the therapeutic setting in addressing issues of trauma. Another topic that I enjoyed in the book was discussion about insight, as many psychodynamic therapists prize their clients ability to have insight. Anderson indicates “a common misbelief about learning and problem solving is that there are magical moments of insight when everything falls into place and we suddenly see a solution…However, what really happens is that participants really let go of poor ways of solving problems” (p 237). This makes me think of the depressed or anxious client that ruminates over his/her problems. The act of rumination plays the role of deterrent in the improvement of his/her condition not just because the same theme is reoccurring in the clients thoughts but because of his/her inability to clear his/her mind and be able to see things from a different perspective. I would recommend this book for individuals interested in cognition and for clinicians, as it is helpful in bringing about discourse about varying topics in the therapeutic setting (e.g., why it is difficult to multi task when using the same part of a brain to accomplish differing tasks, why it is that adolescents will make bad decisions, and so forth).

Review # 2 was written on 2010-10-20 00:00:00 Finn Senturia This textbook by Anderson was a very easy read on cognitive psychology. The book starts slowly with the basic ideas of psychobiology (such as brain structure, neurons, etc.) and slowly progresses to the main concepts of cognitive psychology. For those that are unfamiliar with cognitive psychology, it is focused on understanding how our brain works. The book goes over subjects such as how our brain performs tasks such as: perception, attention, memory, problem solving, reasoning, and language comprehension. This book definitely covers all the basic topics that are currently relevant in cognitive psychology, and therefore it contains all the information that I expected from it. The layout of the book is really user friendly. Each chapter has a conclusion section, and offers “questions for thoughts” which are really useful in practically using the information that was covered in the chapter. One part of the book that I liked was the “implications” sections scattered throughout the text, which questions some of the basic tenets of cognitive psychology. The “implications” sections take the concepts, presented in the book, from the world of the theoretical into the world of the practical, such as “why do children make bad decisions” and “how convincing are 90% test results.” These sections are what makes the book more useful in real world situations, than other textbooks on the same subject. There were plenty of pictures and diagrams to help explain the concepts that the author discussed. My love of optical illusions and other brain puzzles was one of the main reasons why I fell in love with the field of psychology. I fondly remember looking through my psych 101 textbook to find all the puzzles and optical illusions, so I was extremely excited to see some of my favorite mind puzzles in the book. The puzzles help to show the reader some of the strange traits of our brains, which help to bring to life many of the concepts that are written in the book. So all the pictures, puzzles, and optical illusions are fun to read, and they definitely constitute my favorite parts of the book. As a clinician, this book is useful in helping to understand how the brain works, and may be useful to keep as a handy reference especially if you are working with a population where brain trauma may be likely. This textbook may also be useful for research purposes; however, despite the “implications” sections, it lacks any real practicality unless you are specifically using some of the more cognitive theories such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. With that said, I have to give this book an average score. It definitely had all the basics that I expected from a book on the subject; however it failed to offer little more. Although there was definitely some more theoretical thinking in this text than I remember in the textbooks I used for my cognitive psych class, there was still very little as far as any real philosophical thoughts by the author. This book stuck with the major objective and experimental aspects of cognitive psych, which is what I would expect from a textbook for undergraduates. For graduate students this book would offer up little more than a review for those that are unable to remember what they had learned in their previous cog psych classes.