Seeing Reason

Image and Language in Learning to Think

Keith Stenning author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:22nd Aug '02

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Seeing Reason cover

'A picture is worth a thousand words' Or is it? What difference does it make whether information is presented using illustrations or language? 'Seeing Reason' is an interdisciplinary study of a central topic in cognitive science: how does the mind respond to different kinds of representation of the same information, especially when learning, reasoning, and communicating. It uses philosophical, logical, linguistic, psychological, and educational methods to explore this topic, reporting theories, observations, and arguments developed during several years' research. Though the focus is on fundamental cognitive theories of human capacities, the issues are closely related to intensely practical issues about the teaching and learning of reasoning and communication skills. Along the way it examines why the human mind has so evolved, the relationship between private language and public thought, and integrates cognitive and social accounts of communication. Written to be accessible to students and researchers within the fields of philosophy and psychology, this book shares new insights into how people process information, and how we use that information to reason, make decisions, and develop theories about the world in which we live.

In addressing the association between mental functioning and external representation, Seeing Reason should, I believe, be commended for its success not only in progressing a theoretical synthesis relating to the topic of reasoning and representation, but in simultaneously tackling head-on various complex issues relating to the learning of reasoning skills. It is rare to find contemporary analyses of human reasoning that attempt to cover both sides of the theory-practice divide, let alone that endeavour to build a bridge between them . . . Seeing Reason is erudite (with an appropriate smattering of wit) and is a good example of some of the best published work in contemporary cognitive science. It is the kind of book that should serve to inspire new researchers embarking on the study of deductive reasoning. * The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57A *

ISBN: 9780198507741

Dimensions: 234mm x 156mm x 17mm

Weight: 533g

308 pages