Our Minds, Our Selves: A Brief History of Psychology

Description

An original history of psychology told through the stories of its most important breakthroughs-and the men and women who made them In Our Minds, Our Selves, distinguished psychologist and writer Keith Oatley provides an engaging, original, and authoritative history of modern psychology told through the stories of its most important breakthroughs and the men and women who made them. The book traverses a fascinating terrain: conscious and unconscious knowledge, brain physiology, emotion, mental development, language, memory, mental illness, creativity, human cooperation, and much more. Biographical sketches illuminate the thinkers behind key insights: historical figures such as Darwin, Piaget, Skinner, and Turing; leading contemporaries such as Michael Tomasello and Tania Singer; and influential people from other fields, including Margaret Mead, Noam Chomsky, and Jane Goodall. Enhancing our understanding of ourselves and others, psychology holds the potential to create a better world. Our Minds, Our Selves tells the story of this most important of sciences in a new and appealing way.

Keith Oatley is professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto and a prize-winning novelist. His many nonfiction books include Such Stuff as Dreams and The Passionate Muse.

"Our Minds, Our Selves is an engaging overview of cognitive psychology and its intersections with numerous other disciplines, including philosophy, anthropology, history, sociology, and cultural studies. It covers a wide range of topics in an accessible way and should have a broad appeal."--Chris Chambers, author of The Seven Deadly Sins of Psychology "Our Minds, Our Selves transforms the history of the mind, touching on fields from neuroscience to the arts, and from moral philosophy to medicine. Along the way, be fascinated by mirror neurons, deep learning, how Google thinks with models, what changes personality, and what measuring the brain reveals. Keith Oatley brilliantly brings us into a new era in psychology--and we can never go back."--Jeannette Haviland-Jones, coauthor of The Hidden Genius of Emotion "Keith Oatley takes up the ambitious task of explaining the workings of the human mind. He succeeds admirably, drawing on his capacious knowledge of cognitive psychology to make a persuasive case for his claims. This is an excellent book--comprehensive, rich in content, and with many illuminating examples that make for enjoyable reading."--Aaron Ben-Ze'ev, author of The Subtlety of Emotions "Keith Oatley, a distinguished psychologist and prize-winning novelist, writes with concision and great brio in this wonderful introduction to psychology. The coverage of current research is just right, with simple and practical illustrations of a sort that only an expert can provide. It is a book that should attract smart school kids to study psychology--and help undergraduates find their way through the maze of modern cognitive science."--Philip Johnson-Laird, author of How We Reason "Organized around a series of engaging ideas, this might be the best introduction to the history of psychology I know."--Michael Tomasello, Duke University