Cognitive Science: An Introduction [Paperback]

David Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 1996 | ISBN-10: 063119861X | ISBN-13: 978-0631198611 | Edition: 1

This new text introduces students to the concepts, methods and findings fundamental to the science of mind. It is the first genuine textbook introduction to cognitive science, and in presenting a comprehensive account of the discipline, it encourages critical thinking by presenting alternative views. The textbook grounds theoretical issues by reference to a concrete scenario throughout each chapter: a family conversing over breakfast. The opening chapters discuss the emergence and nature of cognitive science and core concept of the discipline, and introduce the topics of succeeding chapters in the context of the scenario. No single text can hope to cover the diversity and breadth of research and so succeeding chapters are exemplars of the discipline.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This new text introduces students to the concepts, methods and findings fundamental to the science of mind. It is the first genuine textbook introduction to cognitive science, and in presenting a comprehensive account of the discipline, it encourages critical thinking by presenting alternative views. Throughout the text students are introduced to case studies and particular points of contention in the field, and also invited to explore issues further through discussion and self-assessment questions. Chapters also include learning objectives, summaries and reading lists.

The textbook grounds theoretical issues by reference to a concrete scenario throughout each chapter: a family conversing over breakfast. The opening chapter discusses the emergence and nature of Cognitive Science and introduces the topics of succeeding chapters in the context of the scenario. The next two chapters describe work at the heart of the discipline: the nature of mental computation and the architecture of the mind. No single text can hope to cover the diversity and breadth of research and so succeeding chapters are exemplars of the discipline. A chapter on how we perceive objects and faces and one on how we speak and perceive speech is followed by a chapter on how we read. In each case the student is led through the computational questions. The following three chapters concern the nature of language and language use. The first focuses on the structure of sentences, the second on meaning and collaborative processes in conversation and the third on the question of how communicative competence develops. How we learn, remember and solve problems is the focus of the next two chapters and a variety of computational approaches are surveyed and considered. How we act in the world on the basis of our knowledge is considered in the final chapters.

About the Author

T. K. Oommen is a Professor at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, and Former President of the International Sociological Association.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 1 edition (May 8, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 063119861X
• ISBN-13: 978-0631198611
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,096,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This book is poorly written and poorly produced. Avoid., April 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Cognitive Science: An Introduction (Paperback)

David Green is a lecturer at University College London, where I study. He recommends his textbook - and only his textbook - for his cognitive science undergraduate course. If you're actually being taught by him, then this book may have its advantages - he tends to teach a lot of his lectures straight out of it. If you're studying cognitive psychology in any other context, though, I'd advise that you avoid this book.

It's poorly conceived and shoddily put together, giving only limited coverage of a complex and significant field. Major themes are left out or underdeveloped, and frequently important theoretical standpoints are glossed over without reference to key works. Green tends to put forward only the side of an argument which he agrees with - frequently completely failing to mention the alternatives. This, combined with only minimal guidelines for further reading, make it almost impossible to use this book as a resource guiding further study.

Ironically, considering that one of Green's specialities is in the cognitive processes of language and communication, this book is so badly written as to be almost incomprehensible. The language used is awkward, strung with non sequiturs, and frustratingly littered with unexplained and undefined jargon.
This is aggravated by weak general presentation. The book is entirely black-and-white, with few diagrams, and those that are present tending to be cramped and confused. The attempts to cross-reference material within the text also fails miserably.

The one positive thing I can say about this textbook is that it's relatively cheap. However, it's also of very little use. I'd strongly urge you to consider the alternatives - for example, Eysenck & Keane's 'Cognitive Psychology: a student's handbook' (I've been using the 1995 3rd edition), which covers most of the same information (and quite a lot which Green's book ignores), in much more detail and in a far more readable style.

5.0 out of 5 stars a good teaching text, January 15, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Cognitive Science: An Introduction (Paperback)

This is a good text for a course. Cognitive Science does have some intellectual unity, though it also includes work from a very large number of disciplines. This book manages to capture both some of the uniqueness of the discipline and its spread.