The Psychology of Thinking
Reasoning, Decision-Making and Problem-Solving
- John Paul Minda - University of Western Ontario, Canada
How do we define thinking? Is it simply memory, perception and motor activity or perhaps something more complex such as reasoning and decision making? This book argues that thinking is an intricate mix of all these things and a very specific coordination of cognitive resources. Divided into three key sections, there are chapters on the organization of human thought, general reasoning and thinking and behavioural outcomes of thinking.
These three overarching themes provide a broad theoretical framework with which to explore wider issues in cognition and cognitive psychology and there are chapters on motivation and language plus a strong focus on problem solving, reasoning and decision making – all of which are central to a solid understanding of this field.
The book also explores the cognitive processes behind perception and memory, how we might differentiate expertise from skilled, competent performance and the interaction between language, culture and thought.
The Psychology of Thinking is an accessible, broad and integrative approach to a topic that rewards such treatment. Without getting bogged down, John Paul Minda explains how a variety of mental processes contribute to and shape human thinking.
The Psychology of Thinking offers students an excellent introduction to a number of important, fascinating topics with an insightful organization and integration. Minda engagingly presents the material to have both theoretical substance and practical appeal.
As a former CEO of Mercedes-Benz I always tried to foster and trigger ideas for innovations in employees - the business result showed that focusing on creativity in your workforce pays out. This book is very relevant for practitioners who lead people and need to tap their brains, which is the 'gold mine' for problem solving. I compliment J. P. Minda, since I think that his wish "for a single, comprehensive textbook on this topic" came true.
This is a well-written book and it is easy to comprehend. It discusses in a lucid manner, core concepts of cognitive psychology with a thinking-based approach and can serve as an excellent text for undergraduate students of cognitive psychology.
the book presents in a very concise, direct way how we think - and what drives our reasoning, decision making and problem solving
It explains all the basic processes in order to understand expertise development and expertise
Highly recommended book for the course
Too advanced for UG dissertation, will consider it for an indevelopment Consumer Behaviour module.
Fantastic text for supporting novice and experienced 'thinkers' within their criticality surrounding decision making etc.
This is an extremely interesting and readable book, but for my management students probably a bit too focused.
Excellent introduction into the psychology of thinking. I think that no other book that is this comprehensive and accessible is available on the market.
I will be recommending this text to my second-year degree, cognitive psychology students who will be studying memory, thinking and perception this semester. It provides thought provoking and challenging information that will stretch their understanding of the subject.
