A Functional Theory Of Cognition

A unified, general theory of functional cognition is presented in this book. Its generality appears in the titles of the 13 chapters listed below. Its unity appears in the effectiveness of the same methods and concepts across all of these areas. Generality and unity both stem from the foundation axiom of purposiveness. The axiom of purposiveness has been made effective through capability for functional measurement of values, which embody the goal-directed character of purposiveness. This measurement capability is based on the general cognitive algebra established in information integration theory. Functional theory can thus be made precise and effective near the level of everyday phenomenology. The book is written at a relatively simple level, directed at readers in every field of psychology. Among its characteristics are: * self-sufficient theory near the level of everyday phenomenology; * foundation on structure of the internal world; and * solid grounding in experimental analysis.

A unified, general theory of functional cognition is presented in this book. Its generality appears in the titles of the 13 chapters listed below. Its unity appears in the effectiveness of the same methods and concepts across all of these areas. Generality and unity both stem from the foundation axiom of purposiveness. The axiom of purposiveness has been made effective through capability for functional measurement of values, which embody the goal-directed character of purposiveness. This measurement capability is based on the general cognitive algebra established in information integration theory. Functional theory can thus be made precise and effective near the level of everyday phenomenology. The book is written at a relatively simple level, directed at readers in every field of psychology. Among its characteristics are: * self-sufficient theory near the level of everyday phenomenology; * foundation on structure of the internal world; and * solid grounding in experimental analysis.

Gualtiero Piccinini presents a systematic and rigorous philosophical defence of the computational theory of cognition. His view posits that cognition involves neural computation within multilevel neurocognitive mechanisms, and includes novel ideas about ontology, functions, neural representation, neural computation, and consciousness.

This eagerly awaited volume presents Anderson's cumulative progress in unified social psychology. The research is grounded in the three fundamental laws of information integration theory. Research shows these laws to apply to topics in social and personality psychology such as person cognition, attitudes, moral cognition, social development, group dynamics and self-cognition. This definitive work will broaden the appreciation of Anderson's unique treatment of psychological processes.

This text provides practical information, tools and resources for implementation of the Multicontext Approach (MC) in cognitive rehabilitation. The Multicontext approach is uniquely designed to promote and enhance cognitive strategy use, self-awareness and self-monitoring skills across everyday activities in a way that maximizes functional outcomes for people with cognitive impairments due to acquired brain injury and other health conditions. Assembled by a leading worldwide expert in cognitive rehabilitation, this is the first comprehensive volume that integrates Multicontext treatment principles, evidence and guidelines all in one place and provides "how to" information to guide clinical practice and research. Organized into 3 sections, the first part provides foundational knowledge and clinical examples of the impact of cognitive impairments on functional performance and includes tools for observing, analyzing, and interpreting cognitive performance within daily life activities. The second part provides in-depth coverage of the Multicontext approach including theoretical concepts, strategies to address different cognitive performance problems, and detailed guidelines for using a structured metacognitive framework, guided learning techniques, and structuring treatment activities along a transfer continuum to optimize generalization or carryover of learning. The final part of the book provides additional clinical scenarios and case examples to illustrate how the Multicontext approach can be tailored to meet individual needs across a wide range of clinical problems and settings as well as within interprofessional teams. This landmark publication is an essential resource for occupational therapy practitioners, students, clinical neuropsychologists, researchers, and other healthcare professionals who work within the field of cognitive rehabilitation in inpatient, outpatient or community-based settings. In a large-size format for easy photocopying, this invaluable book features an extensive appendix with a full of a range of learning exercises and reflective activities, summaries, observational tools, training guides, clinical examples, treatment forms and worksheets that can be reproduced for clinical practice to enable readers to carry out these methods with their clients. Purchasers obtain access to a Web page where they can download and print reproducible materials from appendices.

The plan for this volume emerged during the international Leipzig conference commemorating the centenary of the death of Gustav Fechner. The contributors suggested that while many features of modern psychological theory were anticipated by Fechner, many new theoretical approaches owe much more to him than often is realized. As such, they decided to honor Fechner by evaluating his own contribution to the founding of psychology and psychoanalysis, by deepening the foundations of psychological theories of consciousness, perception, and choice, and by using the analysis of time to create a new appreciation of constraints that bind mental processes together. Thus, this volume spans an extraordinary range of psychological topics, from hermeneutics to the time-quantum basis for mental processes, in a way that would both amaze and delight Fechner. Moreover, the international reach of his pioneering ideas can be seen from the current locations of the contributors. The span from Japan to the United States to Holland to Germany and to Israel provides a global measure of Fechner's scientific legacy.

The Functions of Language and Cognition provides a forum for articulating a functional approach to language and cognition. This book discusses the influence of structural approaches to language and thought. Organized into 10 chapters, this book begins with an overview of a comprehensive alternative treatment of cognitive and linguistic functioning from a social, functional perspective. This text then discusses some considerations for a theory of skills and of cognitive development in general. Other chapters focus on acquisition of perceptual concepts rather than logical, verbal, or mathematical concepts. This book examines as well each of the possible limits in terms of their potential effects on cognitive development and in terms of the evidence regarding their actual effects. The final chapter deals with the influence of personal standards and strategies on therapy outcomes. This book is a valuable resource for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in developmental psychology, clinical psychology, cognitive psychology, education, and rehabilitation.

The theory of information integration provides a unified, general approach to the three disciplines of cognitive, social, and developmental psychology. Each of these volumes illustrates how the concepts and methods of this experimentally-grounded theory may be productively applied to core problems in one of these three disciplines.