Thinking and Reasoning Arena

Straight Choices

The Psychology of Decision Making

• By Benjamin R. Newell, David A. Lagnado and David R. Shanks.

Published April 2010

We all face a perplexing array of decisions every day. Straight Choices provides an integrative account of the psychology of decision making, in which clear connections are made between empirical results and how these results can help us to understand our uncertain world. Throughout the text,…
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Mathematical Reasoning

Patterns, Problems, Conjectures, and Proofs

• By Raymond Nickerson.

Published December 2009

The development of mathematical competence -- both by humans as a species over millennia and by individuals over their lifetimes -- is a fascinating aspect of human cognition. This book explores when and why the rudiments of mathematical capability first appeared among human beings, what its…
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Foundations for Tracing Intuition

Challenges and Methods

• Edited by Andreas Glöckner, and Cilia Witteman.

Published December 2009

The study of intuition and its relation to thoughtful reasoning is a burgeoning research topic in psychology and beyond. While the area has the potential to radically transform our conception of the mind and decision making, the procedures used for establishing empirical conclusions have often been…
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Cognitive Assessment

An Introduction to the Rule Space Method

• By Kikumi K. Tatsuoka.

Published May 2009

This book introduces a new methodology for the analysis of test results. Free from ambiguous interpretations, the results truly demonstrate an individual’s progress. The methodology is ideal for highlighting patterns derived from test scores used in evaluating progress. Dr. Tatsuoka introduces…
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Judging Merit

• By Warren Thorngate, Robyn M. Dawes and Margaret Foddy.

Published November 2008

Merit-based tests and contests have become popular methods for allocating rewards – from trophies to contracts, jobs to grants, admissions to licenses. With origins in jurisprudence, methods of rewarding merit seem fairer than those rewarding political or social connections, bribery, aggression,…
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Rationality and Social Responsibility

Essays in Honor of Robyn Mason Dawes

• Edited by Joachim I. Krueger.

Published April 2008

This volume brings together a diverse group of authors who have been associated with Robyn Dawes over the years. The breadth of topics covered reflects Dawes’s wide-ranging impact on psychological theory and empirical practice. The two themes of rationality and social responsibility are well…
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Aspects of Rationality

Reflections on What It Means To Be Rational and Whether We Are

• By Raymond S. Nickerson.

Published November 2007

What does it mean to be rational – to reason well and effectively? How does rationality, broadly conceived, relate to the knowledge one acquires, the beliefs one forms, the explanations one constructs or appropriates, the judgments and decisions one makes, the values one adopts? What is the…
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Cognition and Extended Rational Choice

• By Howard Margolis.

Published October 2007

One of the most exciting recent innovations in the social sciences has been the emergence of 'behaviour economics', which extends the notion of rational choice to allow for both motivation beyond self-interest and intuitions that cannot be reduced to the logic of a situation. This new book by…
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Intuition in Judgment and Decision Making

• Edited by Henning Plessner, Cornelia Betsch and Tilmann Betsch.

Published September 2007

The central goal of this volume is to bring the learning perspective into the discussion of intuition in judgment and decision making. The book gathers recent work on intuitive decision making that goes beyond the current dominant heuristic processing perspective. However, that does not mean that…
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Expertise Out of Context

Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Naturalistic Decision Making

• Edited by Robert R. Hoffman.

Published May 2007

Researchers have revealed that real expertise, while applied to well-defined tasks with highly circumscribed contexts, often stretches beyond its routine boundaries. For example, a medical doctor may be called upon to diagnose a rare disease or perform emergency surgery outside his or her area of…
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