The Nature of Reasoning

This 2004 book focuses on how people draw conclusions from information.

Jacqueline P. Leighton (Edited by), Robert J. Sternberg (Edited by)

9780521810906, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 3 November 2003

482 pages, 25 b/w illus. 12 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.87 kg

"This handy, one-volume compendium of current theory and research on the psychology of reasoning not only presents the state of the science of reasoning but also charts new directions. Covering everything from how to define reasoning... to the brain functions that subserve reasoning... the book's contributors...create a comprehensive account of what is known about reasoning in psychology and cognitive science. The editors and contributors are all well-known and highly regarded researchers in the field.... Highly recommended." Choice

We are bombarded with information - press releases, television news, internet websites, and office memos, just to name a few - on a daily basis. However, the important conclusions that may or need to be inferred from such information are typically not provided. We must draw the conclusions by ourselves. How do we draw these conclusions? This 2004 book addresses how we reason to reach sensible conclusions. The purpose of this book is to organise in one volume what is known about reasoning, such as its structural prerequisites, its mechanisms, its susceptibility to pragmatic influences, its pitfalls, and the bases for its development. Given that reasoning underlies so many of our intellectual activities - when we learn, criticise, analyse, judge, infer, evaluate, optimise, apply, discover, imagine, devise, and create - we stand to gain a great deal if we can learn to define, operate, apply, and nurture our reasoning.

1. Defining and describing reason
2. Reasoning and brain function
3. Working memory and reasoning
4. The role of prior belief in reasoning
5. Task understanding
6. Strategies and knowledge representation
7. Mental models and reasoning
8. Mental-logic theory: what it proposes and reasons to take this proposal seriously
9. Heuristics and reasoning: making deduction simple
10. Cognitive heuristics: reasoning the fast and frugal way
11. The assessment of logical reasoning
12. The development of deductive reasoning
13. The evolution of reasoning
14. Individual differences in thinking, reasoning, and decision making
15. Teaching reasoning
16. What do we know about the nature of reasoning?

Subject Areas: Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR]