Judgments Over Time

Time pervades every aspect of people's lives. We are all affected by remnants of our pasts, assessments of our presents, and forecasts of our futures. Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors over time inexorably intertwine and intermingle, determining varied reactions such as affect and emotions, as well as future behaviors. The purpose of this volume is to bring together the diverse theory and research of an outstanding group of scholars whose work relates to peoples judgements over time. To date, much theory and research on temporal variables within psychology has remained somewhat fragmented, isolated, and even provincial--researchers in particular domains are either unaware of or are paying little attention to each other's work. Integrating the theory and research into a single volume will bring about a greater awareness and appreciation of conceptual relations between seemingly disparate topics, define and promote the state of scientific knowledge in these areas, and set the agenda for future work. The volume presents the two main ways of looking at judgments over time: looking at how people's thoughts about the future and the past affect their present states, and looking at the interplay over time among people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Some years ago we, the editors of this volume, found out about each other's deeply rooted interest in the concept of time, the usage of time, and the effects of shortage of time on human thought and behavior. Since then we have fostered the idea of bringing together different perspectives in this area. We are now, there fore, very content that our idea has materialized in the present volume. There is both anecdotal and empirical evidence to suggest that time con straints may affect behavior. Managers and other professional decision makers frequently identify time pressure as a major constraint on their behavior (Isen berg, 1984). Chamberlain and Zika (1990) provide empirical support for this view, showing that complaints of insufficient time are the most frequently report ed everyday minor stressors or hassles for all groups of people except the elderly. Similarly, studies in occupational settings have identified time pressure as one of the central components of workload (Derrich, 1988; O'Donnel & Eggemeier, 1986).

Possible new breakthroughs in understanding the aging mind that can be used to benefit older people are now emerging from research. This volume identifies the key scientific advances and the opportunities they bring. For example, science has learned that among older adults who do not suffer from Alzheimer’s disease or other dementias, cognitive decline may depend less on loss of brain cells than on changes in the health of neurons and neural networks. Research on the processes that maintain neural health shows promise of revealing new ways to promote cognitive functioning in older people. Research is also showing how cognitive functioning depends on the conjunction of biology and culture. The ways older people adapt to changes in their nervous systems, and perhaps the changes themselves, are shaped by past life experiences, present living situations, changing motives, cultural expectations, and emerging technology, as well as by their physical health status and sensory-motor capabilities. Improved understanding of how physical and contextual factors interact can help explain why some cognitive functions are impaired in aging while others are spared and why cognitive capability is impaired in some older adults and spared in others. On the basis of these exciting findings, the report makes specific recommends that the U.S. government support three major new initiatives as the next steps for research.

Judgment and Decision Making is a refreshingly accessible text that explores the wide variety of ways people make judgments. An accessible examination of the wide variety of ways people make judgments Features up-to-date theoretical coverage, including perspectives from evolutionary psychology and neuroscience Covers dynamic decision making, everyday decision making, individual differences, group decision making, and the nature of mind and brain in relation to judgment and decision making Illustrates key concepts with boxed case studies and cartoons

The study of how the brain processes temporal information is becoming one of the most important topics in systems, cellular, computational, and cognitive neuroscience, as well as in the physiological bases of music and language. During the last and current decade, interval timing has been intensively studied in humans and animals using increasingly sophisticated methodological approaches. The present book will bring together the latest information gathered from this exciting area of research, putting special emphasis on the neural underpinnings of time processing in behaving human and non-human primates. Thus, Neurobiology of Interval Timing will integrate for the first time the current knowledge of both animal behavior and human cognition of the passage of time in different behavioral context, including the perception and production of time intervals, as well as rhythmic activities, using different experimental and theoretical frameworks. The book will the composed of chapters written by the leading experts in the fields of psychophysics, functional imaging, system neurophysiology, and musicology. This cutting-edge scientific work will integrate the current knowledge of the neurobiology of timing behavior putting in perspective the current hypothesis of how the brain quantifies the passage of time across a wide variety of critical behaviors.

Judgment, Decision-Making, and Embodied Choices introduces a new concept of embodied choices which take sensorimotor experiences into account when limited time and resources forces a person to make a quick decision. This book combines areas of cognitive psychology and movement science, presenting an integrative approach to understanding human functioning in everyday scenarios. This is the first book focusing on the role of the gut as a second brain, introducing the link to risky behavior. The book's author engages readers by providing real-life experiences and scenarios connecting theory to practice. Discusses the role of gut feelings and the brain-gut behavior connection Demonstrates that behavior influences decision and other people’s perceptions about mood or character Includes research on medical decisions and shopping decisions Illustrates how to train embodied choices

"This book provides an ideal resource for researchers and students in cognitive science and cognitive psychology, as well as an excellent source of information for those who train others in stressful occupations. It will greatly benefit those interested in political science and social policy, or anyone who has ever wondered about the psychological effects of stress."--BOOK JACKET.