Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of mind and intelligence, encompassing psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, linguistics, and anthropology. Paul Thagard's text is accessible and concise, requiring no prior knowledge in these fields. He systematically describes and evaluates key computational theories of mental representation, including logic, rules, concepts, analogies, images, and neural networks. Thagard addresses significant challenges to the computational-representational view of the mind, exploring emotions, consciousness, physical and social environments, dynamical systems, and mathematical knowledge. He notes the difficulty of teaching cognitive science due to the diverse competencies and backgrounds of students. This text resolves that challenge by making complex topics comprehensible across disciplines—logic for psychology students, algorithms for English students, and philosophical debates for computer science students. Each chapter includes helpful summaries, discussion questions, and further reading suggestions. This work is ideal for introductory courses in Cognitive Science and serves as a valuable supplement for courses in cognitive psychology, educational psychology, philosophy of mind, and artificial intelligence. A Bradford Book.