Studies in Cognition – serie

Connectionist Models in Cognitive Psychology is a state-of-the-art review of neural network modelling in core areas of cognitive psychology including: memory and learning, language (written and spoken), cognitive development, cognitive control, attention and action. The chapters discuss neural network models in a clear and accessible style, with an emphasis on the relationship between the models and relevant experimental data drawn from experimental psychology, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. These lucid high-level contributions will serve as introductory articles for postgraduates and researchers whilst being of great use to undergraduates with an interest in the area of connectionist modelling.

Recent advances in techniques available to memory researchers have led to a rapid expansion in the field of cognitive neuroscience of memory. This book provides accessible coverage of four key areas of recent advance, including research on functional imaging, electrophysiological and lesion studies, and developments from the computational modelling approach.The first section reviews functional imaging studies in humans, with particular emphasis on how imaging methods have clarified the cortical areas involved in memory formation and retrieval. The second section describes electrophysiological and lesion research in monkeys, where lesion and disconnection studies are rapidly adding to our knowledge of both information processing and modulatory aspects of memory formation. In the third section, electrophysiological and lesion studies in rats are reviewed allowing for a detailed study of the role of novelty and exploration in memory formation. The final section reviews current research in computational modelling which has allowed the development of new theoretical and experimental approaches to the study of memory encoding and retrieval.This volume draws together the current developments in each field, allowing the synthesis of ideas and providing converging evidence from a range of sources. It will be a useful resource for both advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of psychology, as well as researchers in the field and anyone with an interest in cognitive neuroscience.

This important volume examines the phenomena of cognition from an adaptive perspective. Rather than adhering to the typical practice in cognitive psychology of trying to predict behavior from a model of cognitive mechanisms, this book develops a number of models that successfully predict behavior from the structure of the environment to which cognition is adapted. The methodology -- called rational analysis -- involves specifying the information-processing goals of the system, the structure of the environment, and the computational constraints on the system, allowing predictions about behavior to be made by determining what behavior would be optimal under these assumptions. The Adaptive Character of Thought applies this methodology in great detail to four cognitive phenomena: memory, categorization, causal inference, and problem solving.

Providing up-to-date and authoritative coverage of key topics in the new discipline of cognitive neuroscience, this book will be essential reading in cognitive psychology, neuropsychology and neurophysiology. Striking a balance between theoretical and empirical approaches to the question of how cognition is supported by the brain, it presents the major experimental methods employed by cognitive neuroscientists and covers a representative range of the subjects currently exciting interest in the field. The nine chapters of the book have been written by leading authorities in their fields. The individual chapters provide "state-of-the-art" reviews of their respective attempts to build bridges between domains of enquiry that, until quite recently, were largely independent of one another. The chapters include two describing the different methods that are now available for non-invasive measurement of human brain activity; another two that discuss various current theoretical approaches to the problem of how information is coded in the nervous system; and single contributions dealing with the neural mechanisms of long-term memory and of movement, the functional and neural architecture of working memory, the organization of language in the brain, and the relationship between perception and consciousness.Cognitive Neuroscience will appeal to advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in the relationship between the brain and higher mental functions, as well as to established researchers in cognitive neuroscience and related fields.

This text brings together an overview of recent research on concepts and knowledge that abstracts across a variety of specific fields of cognitive psychology. Readers will find data from many different areas, including developmental psychology, formal modelling, neuropsychology and connectionism.

This collection of essays, intended as a text for students, examines the different facets of research into attention. The book is divided into two sections: one deals with psychological research into such areas as visual search, dual-task interference and attentional bottleneck; the other deals with approaches to neural-network modelling and the effects of brain damage on attention.

Language Processing questions what happens when we process language - what mental operations occur during processing and how they are organised over time. The last decade has seen real advances in the study of language processing that have wide ranging implications for human cognition in general. Language Processing gives an account of these developments both as they relate to experimental studies of processing and as they relate to computational modelling of the processes. In addition to chapters covering core topics, such as lexical processing, syntactic parsing and the comprehension of discourse, special topics of recent interest are also included.

Language Processing questions what happens when we process language - what mental operations occur during processing and how they are organised over time. The last decade has seen real advances in the study of language processing that have wide ranging implications for human cognition in general. Language Processing gives an account of these developments both as they relate to experimental studies of processing and as they relate to computational modelling of the processes. In addition to chapters covering core topics, such as lexical processing, syntactic parsing and the comprehension of discourse, special topics of recent interest are also included.

This volume represents major research issues in language production today, presenting readers with a picture of the breadth of current research in the field. Contributors have focused on models of visual word processing, aphasic speech, object recognition and language production in children. Many chapters highlight the need for psychological models of language production to learn from theoretical linguistics in order to become better informed about the structure of language itself. Therefore, this volume also includes chapters written by linguists for psychologists which serve to remind us of the complexity of structure and process in the languages of the world.

This volume represents major research issues in language production today, presenting readers with a picture of the breadth of current research in the field. Contributors have focused on models of visual word processing, aphasic speech, object recognition and language production in children. Many chapters highlight the need for psychological models of language production to learn from theoretical linguistics in order to become better informed about the structure of language itself. Therefore, this volume also includes chapters written by linguists for psychologists which serve to remind us of the complexity of structure and process in the languages of the world.

This important volume examines the phenomena of cognition from an adaptive perspective. Rather than adhering to the typical practice in cognitive psychology of trying to predict behavior from a model of cognitive mechanisms, this book develops a number of models that successfully predict behavior from the structure of the environment to which cognition is adapted. The methodology -- called rational analysis -- involves specifying the information-processing goals of the system, the structure of the environment, and the computational constraints on the system, allowing predictions about behavior to be made by determining what behavior would be optimal under these assumptions. The Adaptive Character of Thought applies this methodology in great detail to four cognitive phenomena: memory, categorization, causal inference, and problem solving.

Connectionist Models in Cognitive Psychology is a state-of-the-art review of neural network modelling in core areas of cognitive psychology including: memory and learning, language (written and spoken), cognitive development, cognitive control, attention and action. The chapters discuss neural network models in a clear and accessible style, with an emphasis on the relationship between the models and relevant experimental data drawn from experimental psychology, neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. These lucid high-level contributions will serve as introductory articles for postgraduates and researchers whilst being of great use to undergraduates with an interest in the area of connectionist modelling.

Recent advances in techniques available to memory researchers have led to a rapid expansion in the field of cognitive neuroscience of memory. This book provides accessible coverage of four key areas of recent advance, including research on functional imaging, electrophysiological and lesion studies, and developments from the computational modelling approach.The first section reviews functional imaging studies in humans, with particular emphasis on how imaging methods have clarified the cortical areas involved in memory formation and retrieval. The second section describes electrophysiological and lesion research in monkeys, where lesion and disconnection studies are rapidly adding to our knowledge of both information processing and modulatory aspects of memory formation. In the third section, electrophysiological and lesion studies in rats are reviewed allowing for a detailed study of the role of novelty and exploration in memory formation. The final section reviews current research in computational modelling which has allowed the development of new theoretical and experimental approaches to the study of memory encoding and retrieval.This volume draws together the current developments in each field, allowing the synthesis of ideas and providing converging evidence from a range of sources. It will be a useful resource for both advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of psychology, as well as researchers in the field and anyone with an interest in cognitive neuroscience.

Cognitive Models of Memory provides an illuminating look at various modelling approaches to a whole range of aspects of human memory. This covers short-term memory through to the representation of conceptual knowledge, the representation of autobiographical memories, neurobiological accounts of human memory, and change in memory related to aging. All the authors deal with the relationship between form (i.e. connectionist and mathematical) models of human memory, with non-formal methods in more traditional verbal statements of theory. The strong theme running through the chapters is the relationship of models to empirical findings, and all the authors consider how models succeed and fail. A superb text for final-year undergraduates and postgraduates, providing the cutting edge in current research.Key Features:* Cohesive set of authoritative contributions from an international range of authors;* Very strong on the testing of models against empirical reality;* Comprehensive in scope, examining all types of memory.