Cognitive Science: An Introduction to the Science of the Mind

Description

The Third Edition of this popular and engaging text consolidates the interdisciplinary streams of cognitive science to present a unified narrative of cognitive science as a discipline in its own right. It teaches students to apply the techniques and theories of the cognitive scientist's 'toolkit' - the vast range of methods and tools that cognitive scientists use to study the mind. Thematically organized, Cognitive Science underscores the problems and solutions of cognitive science rather than more narrowly examining individually the subjects that contribute to it - psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, and so on. The generous use of examples, illustrations, and applications demonstrates how theory is applied to unlock the mysteries of the human mind. Drawing upon cutting-edge research, the text has been substantially revised, with new material on Bayesian approaches to the mind and on deep learning. An extensive on-line set of resources is available to aid instructors and students alike. Sample syllabi show how the text can support a variety of courses, making it a highly flexible teaching and learning resource at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Instructor and student resources available at https://www.bermudezcogsci.com/

Jose Luis Bermudez is Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Professor of Philosophy at Texas A & M University. He has been involved in teaching and research in cognitive science for over fifteen years, and is very much involved in bringing an interdisciplinary focus to cognitive science through involvement with conference organization and journals. His 100+ publications including the textbook Philosophy of Psychology: A Contemporary Introduction (2005) and a companion collection of readings, Philosophy of Psychology: Contemporary Readings (2006). He has authored the monographs The Paradox of Self-Consciousness (1998), Thinking without Words (2003), and Decision Theory and Rationality (2009) in addition to editing a number of collections including The Body and the Self (1995), Reason and Nature (2003), and Thought, Reference, and Experience (2005).

'A wonderful introduction to this highly interdisciplinary field - takes the reader from key elementary concepts to cutting edge research. Should help inspire a new generation of cognitive scientists.' Nick Chater, University of Warwick 'Bermudez is a master synthesizer and explainer. I've been using his textbook since it was first published, always to the delight of my students. This new edition is the best yet. It keeps the core parts of the earlier editions while clearly introducing the latest innovations, such as Bayesian modeling and deep learning.' Jacob Beck, York University, Toronto