This monograph is the written version of a series of talks delivered as recent MacEachran Lectures at the University of Alberta. The informal style of the lectures, and the inclusion of a relatively large number of figures, has been preserved in order to keep the monograph faithful to the concept of an individual attempting to integrate his own research into a reasonably coherent framework. Although the volume is very much a personal account of one individual's perspective, the studies reported are naturally a product of many collaborations as well as inspirations from colleagues. The...

There are few books devoted to the topic of brain plasticity and behavior. Most previous works that cover topics related to brain plasticity do not include extensive discussions of behavior. The first to try to address the relationship between recovery from brain damage and changes in the brain that might support the recovery, this volume includes studies of humans as well as laboratory species, particularly rats. The subject matter identifies a consistent correlation between specific changes in the brain and behavioral recovery, as well as various factors such as sex and experience that...

This volume provides a primarily non-technical summary of experimental and theoretical work conducted over the course of 35 years which resulted in a developmental framework capable of integrating causal influences at the genetic, neural, behavioural, and ecological levels of analysis. It describes solutions to the nature-nurture problem at both the empirical and theoretical levels.

Presented as a series of lectures, this important volume achieves four major goals: 1) It integrates the results of the author's research as applied to pattern perception -- reviewing current brain research and showing how several lines of inquiry have been converging to produce a paradigm shift in our understanding of the neural basis of figural perception. 2) It updates the holographic hypothesis of brain function in perception. 3) It emphasizes the fact that both distributed (holistic) and localized (structural) processes characterize brain function. 4) It portrays a neural systems...

The goal of this book is to persuade students of animal learning that cognitive theorizing is essential for an understanding of the phenomena revealed by conditioning experiments. The authors also hope to persuade the cognitive psychology community that conditioning phenomena offer such a strong empirical foundation for a rigorous brand of cognitive psychology that the study of animal learning should reclaim a more central place in the field of psychology.

Psychological research into human cognition and judgment reveals a wide range of biases and shortcomings. Whether we form impressions of other people, recall episodes from memory, report our attitudes in an opinion poll, or make important decisions, we often get it wrong. The errors made are not trivial and often seem to violate common sense and basic logic. A closer look at the underlying processes, however, suggests that many of the well known fallacies do not necessarily reflect inherent shortcomings of human judgment. Rather, they partially reflect that research participants bring the...