my mind on books

Human Memory: A Constructivist View by Mary B. Howes and Geoffrey O’Shea (Academic Press, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk), (UK kindle ed.)

Book description from the publisher:

While memory research has recently focused on brain images and neurological underpinnings of transmitters, Human Memory: A Constructivist View assesses how our individual identity affects what we remember, why and how. This book brings memory back to the constructivist questions of how all the experiences of an individual, up to the point of new memory input, help to determine what that person pays attention to, how that information is interpreted, and how all that ultimately affects what goes into memory and how it is stored. This also affects what can be recalled later and what kind of memory distortions are likely to occur.

The authors describe constructionist theories of memory, what they predict, how this is borne out in research findings, presenting everyday life examples for better understanding of the material and interest. Intended for memory researchers and graduate level courses, this book is an excellent summary of human memory research from the constructivist perspective.

• Defines constructivist theory in memory research
• Assesses research findings relative to constructivist predictions
• Identifies how personal experience dictates attention, interpretation, and storage
• Integrates constructivist based findings with cognitive neuroscience

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Thinking Through the Imagination: Aesthetics in Human Cognition by John Kaag (Fordham University Press, 2014)

(amazon.co.uk)

Book description from the publisher:

Use your imagination! The demand is as important as it is confusing. What is the imagination? What is its value? Where does it come from? And where is it going in a time when even the obscene seems overdone and passé?

This book takes up these questions and argues for the centrality of imagination in human cognition. It traces the development of the imagination in Kant’s critical philosophy (particularly the Critique of Aesthetic Judgment) and claims that the insights of Kantian aesthetic theory, especially concerning the nature of creativity, common sense, and genius, influenced the development of nineteenth-century American philosophy.

The book identifies the central role of the imagination in the philosophy of Peirce, a role often overlooked in analytic treatments of his thought. The final chapters pursue the observation made by Kant and Peirce that imaginative genius is a type of natural gift (ingenium) and must in some way be continuous with the creative force of nature. It makes this final turn by way of contemporary studies of metaphor, embodied cognition, and cognitive neuroscience.

See also: Author’s webpage

Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts by Stanislas Dehaene (Viking, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk)

Book description from the publisher:

A breathtaking look at the new science that can track consciousness deep in the brain

How does our brain generate a conscious thought? And why does so much of our knowledge remain unconscious? Thanks to clever psychological and brain-imaging experiments, scientists are closer to cracking this mystery than ever before.

In this lively book, Stanislas Dehaene describes the pioneering work his lab and the labs of other cognitive neuroscientists worldwide have accomplished in defining, testing, and explaining the brain events behind a conscious state. We can now pin down the neurons that fire when a person reports becoming aware of a piece of information and understand the crucial role unconscious computations play in how we make decisions. The emerging theory enables a test of consciousness in animals, babies, and those with severe brain injuries.

A joyous exploration of the mind and its thrilling complexities, Consciousness and the Brain will excite anyone interested
in cutting-edge science and technology and the vast philosophical, personal, and ethical implications of finally quantifying
consciousness.

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Coming to Our Senses: Perceiving Complexity to Avoid Catastrophes by Viki McCabe (Oxford University Press, USA, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk), (UK kindle ed)

Book description from the publisher:

In this fascinating book cognitive scientist Viki McCabe argues that the catastrophes we now face–economic recessions, ecological devastation, and political paralysis–originate in our ignoring the world we perceive and acting on the theories we conceive. Using cutting-edge research and compelling true stories– the Wall Street banking fiasco, the submerging of New Orleans, and the escalation of global temperatures– McCabe argues that these problems originate in our relying on the wrong source for our information: the archives within our heads with their opinions and biases, instead of our subliminal perceptions of what is happening on the ground.

McCabe shows that while our “mind’s eye” “sees” a world made of separate, nameable parts, the earth actually operates as a coalition of complex working systems (from cells to cities to economies). Such systems cannot be understood in words, but require fractal-like configurations that our perceptual systems have evolved to parse and that reflect each system’s structure, characteristics, and functions. Thus, we comprehend systems as disparate as neural networks, river deltas, and economies not from their verbal descriptions, but by perceiving their branching structure. We recognize others as they walk from the figure eight that oscillates around their belly buttons. Form not only follows function, it doubles as information.

McCabe also documents how using this information saved the USS Missouri, a kidnapped child, and victims of the Asian tsunami. Thus, she counsels us to put our mentally manufactured theories aside and focus on our perceptions so that we can reconnect to reality, make more informed decisions, block hostile mental takeovers, and come back to our senses.

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It’s a Jungle in There: How Competition and Cooperation in the Brain Shape the Mind by David A. Rosenbaum (Oxford University Press, USA, 2014)

(kindle ed.), (amazon.co.uk), (UK kindle ed.)

Book description from the publisher:

The saying “It’s a jungle out there” refers to a competitive environment in which you’d better hone your skills if you hope to survive. And you’d better do what you can to keep a roof over your head, food in your belly, a leaf on your loins, and a mate who’ll help pass on your genes to the next generation of jungle Jims and Janes.
Distinguished professor and cognitive psychologist David Rosenbaum takes this metaphor of surviving in the wild and applies it to the competitive arena within the brain. He argues that the overarching theory of biology, Darwin’s theory, should be the overarching theory of cognitive psychology, the science of mental functioning. He explores this new and intriguing idea by showing how neural elements compete and cooperate in a kind of inner jungle, where only the fittest survive. Competition within your brain does as much to shape who you are as the physical and figurative competition you face externally.
Just as the jungle night seethes with noisy creatures beckoning their mates, issuing their warnings, and settling their arguments, you might have trouble falling asleep at night because the thoughts in your head are fighting for their chance at survival. Rosenbaum’s pursuit of this bold idea explains why we are shaped into who we are, for better or worse, because we are the hosts of inner battlefields.
Written in a light-hearted tone and with reference to hypothetical neural “creatures” making their way in a tough environment, Rosenbaum makes cognitive psychology and his theory easy to understand and exciting to ponder. Rather than rely on the series of disconnected phenomena and collection of curiosities that often constitute cognitive psychology, It’s a Jungle in There provides a fascinating way to place all cognitive phenomena under one flourishing tree.

See also: Author’s website