Cognitive Psychology, 1st edition
Published by Pearson (May 13, 2025) © 2025
  • Gabriel A Radvansky
  • Mark H. Ashcraft
  • Antonia Ypsilanti
  • Lambros Lazuras

Title overview

Cognitive Psychology provides an intuitive pathway through the core topics and concepts required by the British Psychological Society. The psychology of memory and cognition is fascinating, covering how we think, reason, remember, and use language. Balancing classic research with new, cutting edge topics, this is the introduction to Cognition.

Hallmark Features of this title

User-friendly structure

  • The topical organization of the text means that students can easily navigate an intuitive pathway through the core topics
  • With clear learning outcomes at the start of every chapter, key figures features highlighting the people who have shaped the discipline, definitions for important terminology, research boxes showing important discoveries, case studies and end of chapter summaries and questions to test your understanding

Relevant, real-life application of concepts

  • Spanning memory, decision making, problem solving, neural functions, senses, perception, attention, language, social cognition, emotions and research methods in human cognition.
  • Covers all of the British Psychological Society (BPS) content requirements

Coverage of important topics

  • The first cognitive psychology book with a chapter on Social Cognition
  • A designated chapter summarising the main research methods used in Cognitive Psychology

New to this Edition

  • A new textbook, drawing on the expertise of four expert authors, and focusing on showcasing the exciting new findings in the area of cognitive psychology
  • Focuses on the most up-to-date research and globally relevant and diverse examples to bring theory to life
  • Key figures features highlighting the people who have shaped the discipline
  • A Research Methods chapter summarising the main methods used in research and a separate section on the replication crisis and research ethics and integrity
  • In depth coverage of emotion, social cognition, empathy, theory of mind, social rejection and loneliness
  • A whole chapter on Social Cognition
  • Coverage of Neuropsychology and Neuroscience

Key features

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Table of contents

  • 1 Understanding Cognitive Psychology
  • 1.1 Thinking about thinking
  • 1.2 Memory and Cognition Defined
  • 1.3 An Introductory History of Cognitive Psychology
  • 1.4 Cognitive Psychology and Information Processing
  • 1.5 Measuring Information Processes
  • 1.6 The Standard Theory and Cognitive Science
  • 1.7 Themes of Human Cognition
  • 2 Neural Basis of Cognition
  • 2.1 The Brain and Cognition Together
  • 2.2 Basic Neural Functions
  • 2.3 Important Brain Structures and Function
  • 2.4 Cognitive Neuropsychology
  • 2.5 Connectionism
  • 3 Sensation and Perception
  • 3.1 Psychophysics
  • 3.2 Visual Sensation and Perception
  • 3.3 Pattern Recognition
  • 3.4 Top-Down Processing
  • 3.5 Object Recognition and Agnosia
  • 3.6 Auditory Sensation and Perception
  • 4 Attention
  • 4.1 Multiple Meanings of Attention
  • 4.2 Basic Input Attentional Processes
  • 4.3 Controlled, Voluntary Attention
  • 4.4 Attention as a Mental Resource
  • 5 Short-Term and Working Memory
  • 5.1 A Limited-Capacity Bottleneck
  • 5.2 Short-Term Memory Retrieval
  • 5.3 Working Memory
  • 5.4 Assessing Working Memory
  • 5.5 Working Memory and Cognition
  • 6 Learning and Remembering
  • 6.1 Preliminary Issues
  • 6.2 Storing Information in Episodic Memory
  • 6.3 Boosting Episodic Memory
  • 6.4 Context
  • 6.5 Facts and Situation Models
  • 6.6 Autobiographical Memories
  • 6.7 Memory for the Future
  • 6.8 Semantic Memory
  • 7 Memory and Forgetting
  • 7.1 The Seven Sins of Memory
  • 7.2 Forgetting Through Decay and Interference
  • 7.3 False Memories, Eyewitness Memory, and 'Forgotten Memories'
  • 7.4 Amnesia and Implicit Memory
  • 8 Language
  • 8.1 Linguistic Universals and Functions
  • 8.2 Phonology
  • 8.3 Syntax
  • 8.4 Lexical Factors
  • 8.5 Semantics
  • 8.6 Brain and Language
  • 9 Language Comprehension
  • 9.1 Conceptual and Rule Knowledge
  • 9.2 Reading
  • 9.3 Reference, Situation Models, and Events
  • 9.4 Conversation and Gesture
  • 10 Reasoning and Decision-making
  • 10.1 Formal Logic and Reasoning
  • 10.2 Decisions
  • 10.3 Classic Heuristics, Biases, and Fallacies
  • 10.4 Framing and Risky Decisions
  • 10.5 Adaptive Thinking and 'Fast and Frugal' Heuristics
  • 10.6 Other Explanations
  • 10.7 Limitations in Reasoning
  • 11 Problem-solving
  • 11.1 Studying Problem-solving
  • 11.2 Basics of Problem-solving
  • 11.3 Gestalt Psychology and Problem-solving
  • 11.4 Insight and Analogy
  • 11.5 Means–End Analysis
  • 11.6 Improving Your Problem-solving
  • 12 Social cognition
  • 12.1 The Neural Basis of Social Cognition
  • 12.2 Understanding the self
  • 12.3 Understanding Others: Mentalising and Empathising
  • 12.4 Responding to Adverse Social Signals
  • 13 Cognition and Emotion
  • 13.1 What Is Emotion?
  • 13.2 Emotion and Perception
  • 13.3 Emotion and Memory
  • 13.4 Emotion and Language
  • 13.5 Emotion and Decision Making
  • 14 Research Methods in Human Cognition
  • 14.1 Purpose of Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology
  • 14.2. Reaction-Time Based Tasks
  • 14.3 Visual search tasks
  • 14.4. Neurophysiological Methods
  • 14.5 Neuroimaging and Brain Stimulation Methods
  • 14.6 Research Integrity and Ethics

Author bios

Prof Lambros Lazuras is a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol, British Psychological Society) with expertise in social cognition and decision-making. His research is supported by prestigious funding bodies and spans mental health, substance misuse, and health-related behaviours. Lambros is a Professor and Director of Research at the School of Psychology, Sport Science, & Wellbeing at the University of Lincoln, UK.

Dr Antonia Ypsilanti is Associate Professor in Cognitive Psychology and Psychobiology at Sheffield Hallam University. She is a leading researcher in the field of loneliness with a focus on understanding how cognitive biases influence social connections and decision-making in clinical and non-clinical populations. Dr Ypsilanti is the co-Director of the Campaign to End Loneliness and a co-Leader of the Global Ageing Thematic Group of Cochrane Reviews.

Prof Gabriel Radvansky is Director of Graduate Studies at The University of Notre Dame, specialising in cognition, the brain and behaviours.

Prof Mark Ashcraft was an American academic and the chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

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