Reasoning and Thinking

This undergraduate textbook reviews psychological research in the major areasof reasoning and thinking deduction induction hypothesis testingprobability judgeme... » 

This undergraduate textbook reviews psychological research in the major areasof reasoning and thinking deduction induction hypothesis testingprobability judgement and decision making. It covers the major theoreticaldebates in each area and also devotes a chapter to one of the liveliest issuesin the field the question of human rationality. Central themes that recurthroughout the book include not only rationality but also the relation betweennormative theories such as logic probability theory and decision theory andhuman performance both in experiments and in the world outside the laboratory.No prior acquaintance with formal systems is assumed and everyday examples areused throughout to illustrate technical and theoretical points.The range of material covered is much wider than comparable texts which tendto focus primarily on either reasoning or thinking. This is also the firststudentlevel text to survey an important new theoretical perspective theinformationgain or rational analysis approach and to review the rationalitydebate from the standpoint of psychological research in a wide range of areas. «