Bridget Robinson-Riegler is Associate Professor of Psychology at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received her PhD. at Purdue University in 1994 (where she and Greg met), and has been at Augsburg since then, serving in both administrative and faculty roles. She teaches introductory psychology, cognitive psychology, and supervises experiential learning courses, giving her a particular interest in psychology's application to everyday life. She has been teaching cognitive psychology for the past 17 years. She has published research primarily in the area of memory, specifically bizarre imagery effects and prospective memory. At Augsburg, she is an active mentor of undergraduate research. Her current research interests include source monitoring, attention and autobiographical memory.

Greg Robinson-Riegler is a Professor of Psychology at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He received his PhD. at Purdue University in 1990, and has been at St. Thomas since then, serving in both administrative and faculty roles. He has taught courses in introductory psychology, memory, and cognitive psychology. By his math, he has taught cognition to over 1500 students. He also has extensive experience in interdisciplinary teaching, having offered seminars co-taught with colleagues in economics, philosophy, theology, and English. His published research is primarily in the area of memory, specifically the generation effect and implicit memory. His current research interests include autobiographical memory, effects of technology and multi-tasking on attention, and mindfulness. He is an active mentor of undergraduate researchers.

Table of Contents:  

Chapter 1—Cognitive Psychology: A Brief History and Introduction

What is Cognition?

      The Omnipresence of Cognitive Processing

      An Interdisciplinary Perspective

Psychology B.C. (Before Cognitive psychology)

      Psychophysics

      Structuralism: The Contents of Mental Experience

      Functionalism: The Functions of Mental Experience

      Behaviorism: The Rejection of Mental Experience

      Laying the Foundation for Cognitive Psychology

The Emergence of Cognitive Psychology

      S-R Explanations: Seriously wRong?

      Technological Influences

PSYCHOLOGY A.D. (After Decline of behaviorism)

Behaviorism Reconsidered

Information-Processing: A Computer Metaphor for Cognition

      Connectionism: A Brain Metaphor for Cognition

      The Brain: More than a Metaphor

Current Trends in the Study of Cognition

 Chapter 2—Perception and Consciousness: Basics of Information Intake

Basic Issues in Perception

      Sensation and Perception

      Bottom-Up and Top-Down Processing

The Basic Tasks of Visual Perception

      Perceptual Organizational Processes

Multisensory Interaction and Integration

      Synesthesia

      Comparing the Senses

      Perception and Action

Consciousness

      Varieties of Consciousness

      Disassociations of Consciousness

      Subliminal Perception

 Chapter 3—Mechanisms of Attention: Monitoring and Noticing Information

Attention: What is it?

      Attention: Basic Characteristics

      Pre-Attentive vs. Post-Attentive Processing

Visual Attention

      Types of Visual Attention

Limits in Visual Attention

Auditory Attention

Selective Attention

Divided Attention

Automatic Processing

The Stroop Effect

Characteristics of Automatic Processing

Accounts of Automaticity

Costs of Automaticity

Driving: A Case Study in Attention

Driving and Auditory Attention

Driving and Visual Attention

 Chapter 4 – Immediate Memory: The Control and Manipulation of Information

The Importance of Executive Attention

Immediate Memory: Basic Characteristics

      Limits in Duration

      Limits in Capacity

      Coding

Theoretical Frameworks for Immediate Memory

      The Modal Model

      The Working Memory Model

A Unitary View of Memory

Embedded-Process View

Something We All Can Agree On: Capacity Limits and Forgetting

Who’s the Boss? Problems in Executive Control

      Mind Wandering

      Ironic Processes of Control

      The Effects of Stress

      Improving Executive Function 

        Recognizing from the Bottom, Up and from the Top, Down

        Object Recognition

        Theories of Visual Object Recognition

        Non-Visual Recognition

Face Recognition

        Face Inversion

        Holistic Processing

        Is Face Recognition "Special"?

Individual Differences

        Self-Recognition

Retrieving Names of Faces: Person Recognition

Networks and Concepts: The Classification Database

        Semantic Networks

       Concepts and Categories

        Similarity-Based Categorization

Essentialist Approach: Concepts as Theories

 Chapter 6 – Basic Processes in Long-Term Memory: Encoding and Retrieving Information

Fundamental Issues and Distinctions

Types of Long-Term Memory

A Descriptive Framework: Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval

LTM: Modes of Access and Use

Encoding Processes in Explicit Long-term Remembering

Attention and Repetition

Rehearsal

Levels of Processing

Self-Reference

Fitness-Relevant Processing

Organization and Distinctiveness

Remembering Action

Transfer Appropriate Processing

Retrieval Processes in Long–Term Memory

Availability and Accessibility

Encoding Specificity

Aging and Retrieval

Memory and Consciousness

        Remembering and Knowing

Implicit Memory

 Chapter 7 – Autobiographical Memory: Recalling Important Events from Life

Everyday Memory

Neisser’s Challenge: Ecological Validity and Memory Research

Autobiographical Memory: Basic Issues and Methodology

      Memories vs. Facts

      Methods of Investigation

Recalling a Life: Developmental Aspects of Autobiographical Memory

      Childhood Amnesia

      The Reminiscence Bump

      Forgetting

Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

Encoding Specificity in Autobiographical Memory

Effective Cues for Autobiographical Memories

Models of Autobiographical Memory Retrieval

Involuntary Autobiographical Memories

Emotion and Autobiographical Remembering

Flashbulb Memories

Memory for Trauma

Mood and Autobiographical Remembering

Functions of Autobiographical Memory

Communicative Function

Emotional Function

Directive Function

 Chapter 8  —-Malleability in Memory: Processes of Forgetting, Editing, and Distortion

The Sins of Memory

Eyewitness Memory

Encoding and Storage I: Event-Related Factors

Encoding and Storage II: Post-Event Factors

Retrieval Factors

Illusory Memories

Simple Events

Complex Events

False Remembering: Theoretical Frameworks

The Recovered Memory Controversy

Memories for Traumatic Events: Forgotten, Then Recalled?

Remembering and Forgetting Trauma: Ordinary Forgetting and Special Mechanisms?

False Memories for Traumatic Events?

Answering the Question

 Chapter 9 – Language I: Basic Issues and Speech Processing

Language: Basic Principles

      Linguistics and Psycholinguistics

Words and Rules

      Design Features of Language

      Language in Nonhuman Animals

      Levels of Analysis

Phonology: The Sounds of Language

        Phones and Phonomes

Morphology: From Sounds to Words

        Producing (or "Morphing") the Spoken Word

        Perceiving the Spoken Word

Syntax and Semantics: From Words to Sentences

Transformational Grammar

Pragmatics: The Social Aspects of Language

Conversational Structure

Gender and Conversation

Putting it All Together: Language Production and Perception

Speech Production

Speech Perception

Motor Theory of Speech Perception

Auditory Theory of Speech Perception

A Re-Assessment: Kind of Special?

 Chapter 10 –Language II: Reading and Comprehending Text

Mechanical Aspects of Reading

Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes in Reading

Eye Movements

Word Recognition

Dyslexia

How Should Reading Be Taught?

Anglo-Centric Language Studies

Reading Myths

Sentence Level Processing

Sentence Parsing

Discourse Comprehension

Levels of Representation

Structure and Coherence

Discourse Memory and Representation

Memory for Discourse

Models of Discourse Comprehension

Metacomprehension

Speed Reading?

 Chapter 11 – Judgments and Decisions: Using Information to Make Choices

Fundamental Concepts

The Focus on Errors

Dual-Process Views

Reasoning

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Judgment

The Availability Heuristic

The Representative Heuristic

The Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic

Biased Evaluation of Our Judgments

Decision Making

Expected Utility: A Normative Approach

Prospect Theory: A Descriptive Approach

Emotions and Decision Making

Decisions Making: Biases or Adaptive Tools?

Improving Decision Making

 Chapter 12 – Problems and Goals: Using Information to Arrive at Solutions

What is a Problem?

Well-Defined and Ill-Defined Problems

Routine and Nonroutine Problems

Problem-Solving Research: Some Methodological Challenges

Approaches to the Study of Problem Solving

Behaviorism: Problem Solving as Associative Learning

Gestalt Psychology: Problem Solving as Insight

Cognitive Psychology: Problem Solving as Information Processing

Problem Representation

Rigidity in Problem Representation

Individual Differences in Problem Representation

Problem Solution

Algorithms

Heuristics

Experts: Masters of Representation and Solution

Expert Advantages

Expert Disadvantages: Costs of Expertise

Insight and Creativity

Insight

Creativity

References

Photo Credits

Name Index

Subject Index

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