Insights Into Human Nature

What Psychological Science Tells Us About Being Human
1. Auflage 2027
ISBN: 978-1-041-36436-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 212 Seiten, Format (B × H): 174 mm x 246 mm

This comprehensive book takes readers on a journey from the fundamental principles of scientific explanation to the deepest questions about human consciousness and free will. It sets out a novel and distinctive approach to appreciating what psychological science can tell us about human nature.

Beginning with the basics of scientific methodology, it addresses crucial questions often overlooked in psychology curricula, such as what constitutes a scientific explanation, and how do we distinguish between laws, theories, and models? In doing so, it establishes a rigorous foundation for understanding how science works and how it can be applied to the study of mind. The book then delves into the specific methods psychologists use to investigate mental processes; from reaction time studies that reveal the speed of thought to computer models that simulate human cognition, it explores how researchers have developed ingenious ways to make the invisible workings of the mind apparent and measurable. Finally, it also considers comparative work, examining what evolutionary theory and animal studies can reveal about human uniqueness. Both cognitive abilities and sociality are examined and the question of whether we are truly altruistic is addressed. The book concludes with a defence of the view that humans are special in being characterised as mindful agents that adaptively exercise free will.

With coverage of a broad range of topics including computer modelling, human thinking and reasoning, pro-sociality, and AI, this book fills a critical gap by combining rigorous methodology with discussion of profound questions about what makes us human. It is essential reading for advanced students and researchers in cognitive science, psychology, and philosophy.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Quinlan, Philip

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Experimentelle Psychologie
• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Evolutionsbiologie
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Informatik Künstliche Intelligenz
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Kognitionspsychologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Moderne Philosophische Disziplinen Philosophie des Geistes, Neurophilosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Allgemeine Psychologie Sozialpsychologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface. Acknowledgement. Chapter 1 – Science and the nature of explanation. Chapter 2 – Psychological Explanation. Chapter 3 – Studying the mind scientifically. Chapter 4 – Computer modelling in psychology and in practice. Chapter 5 – The computational theory of the mind. Chapter 6 – Further issues and challenges. Chapter 7 – Human thinking and reasoning. Chapter 8 – Evolutionary theory and our place in the world. Chapter 9 – The concept of self. Chapter 10 – Just how nice are we? Chapter 11 – Human nature explained?

Über Autor(innen)

Philip Quinlan is a Professor in Experimental Psychology at The University of York. His PhD, untaken at Birkbeck College, The University of London, was awarded in 1988 and constituted an examination of 2-D shape recognition in humans and was heavily influenced by the work of David Marr on computational vision. His first faculty position was as a New Blood appointment at Birkbeck College in Cognitive Science (1988), and he then moved to Royal Hollow and New Bedford College as a lecturer in Experimental Psychology in 1989. In 1991 he joined the faculty of the Department of Psychology in York and has been there ever since. His teaching spans cognitive psychology, research methods and statistics, experimental philosophy and his research interests are in experimental cognitive psychology and computational modelling. He has written a monograph on connectionist models in psychology and a textbook on cognitive psychology.