Knowledge in a Nutshell: Cognitive Psychology: The complete guide to cognitive psychology including the theories of Francis Galton, Sigmund Freud and Ivan Pavlov

by Shona Saul

Cognitive psychology is at the heart of the human experience and helps explain why we perceive the world as we do. In this book, Shona Saul draws on the latest scientific research to present this hugely important subject in a new and exciting manner and brings the subject to life for the general reader.

Topics discussed
• Visual Perception
• Attention
• Memory and Learning
• Language
• Reasoning and Decision-Making

Filled with helpful diagrams and simple summaries, Knowledge in a Cognitive Psychology is perfect for the non-expert, taking the complexities of the science of the mind and making them easy to understand.

ABOUT THE The critically-acclaimed Knowledge in a Nutshell series provides accessible and engaging introductions to wide-ranging topics, written by experts in their fields.

Genres: Psychology

240 pages, Paperback

Published February 25, 2025

Reviews

[Michael David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book before my flight, which was opportune because the flight was significantly delayed. I actually wanted Critical Thinking for Dummies more, but that was more expensive. I was always interested in the psychology of critical thinking and decision making, which are both branches of cognitive psychology, so I simply picked this book up.

It's an excellent introduction into central topics in cognitive psychology, although I read through most of it. Its sixth chapter, Thinking, was an excellent introduction to Daniel Kahneman's theories about thinking and decision making, which makes this book deserve respect. I also loved how it affirmed that multitasking is a myth. Dual-tasking is possible especially if different senses are taken advantage of: one can easily walk while watching news, but proficiency in these tasks still require practice.

Overall, it's quite technical as an introduction, but an excellent eclaircissement of cognitive psychology.

[Matt Kelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonable introduction to the field. It covers a wide range of topics, and explains the basics about how we observe and understand the world around us. She explains that we can't consciously process everything we perceive, and that the brain has to develop short cuts to make sense of everything and make unconscious decisions about how to behave. It won't have anything new for anyone who's delved into the field, and it only takes a shallow look at the field, but as a primer, it's a good start.

The thing I found most irritating was that the illustrations felt like something you'd put on a Powerpoint presentation to liven up the text. So in a section talking about how the stressing different words in the phrase Murder, She Wrote changes the meaning, we have a picture of Angela Lansbury. At one point she explains that when climbing a hill, sometimes you have to go down to go up, then gives us a picture of a hill. In a section talking about memory, she gives an example of how you have to remember where to find items on a shelf when you're shopping, complete with a picture of a supermarket. They're almost all banal Shutterstock images, and they add nothing to the text.

[SundayAtDusk]

This book was not what I expected, and it's all my fault I didn't realize that when requesting an ARC. Cognitive therapy has always interested me and I was happy to find a book on it, because I have only read newspaper and magazine articles about it. The problem was I was erroneously expecting case studies and how such therapy helped individuals. This book doesn't concentrate on case studies, but is about the nuts and bolts of cognitive psychology--memory, thinking, perception, attention, etc. It also introduces some of the influential thinkers in the field.

I wish I had been assigned this type of book in a college class, because then I would have had to learn all in it to pass the course. It would have made me a much smarter person. Alas, my college years were many years ago, and I now only read what I really want to read. I'm afraid I didn't really want to read this entire book at the present time, even though it is easy to read and easy to understand.

(Note: I received a free e-ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.)

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was what I really enjoyed in college and I was so excited to see this little review. This is a short book, so obviously it doesn't have room to dive deeply into any particular area, but it seemed like every important topic was hit on. Anyone who is interested in this area will probably enjoy this. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.