This textbook provides a fresh perspective to the study of the various cognitive processes and their development through a balanced approach to the theories and their real-life relevance.

The author’s accessible writing style and the use of real-life examples engage the readers throughout. This book is unique in its coverage of the development of cognition from infancy through adolescence and includes chapters on individual differences and cross-cultural approaches to cognition.

The fifth edition has been updated to reflect the latest research findings in the field of cognitive psychology. The overall organization has been improved for easier use in semester courses.

Key Features

• Encourages engagement with the topics learnt through hands-on practice and reinforcement

• Aims at bridging the gap between laboratory research and real-life relevance of research findings

• Incorporates relevant work from the field of cognitive neuroscience throughout the text

• Includes a dedicated chapter on Gender and Individual Differences, along with recent work on learning styles

• Explores the key topics of Cognitive Development through Adolescence; Individual, Aging, and Gender Differences and Cognition in Cross-Cultural Perspective in respective chapters

Preface -- Cognitive psychology : history, methods, and paradigms -- The brain : an overview of structure and function -- Perception : recognizing patterns and objects -- Attention : deploying cognitive resources -- Working memory : forming and using new memory traces -- Retrieving memories from long-term storage -- Knowledge representation : storing and organizing information in long-term memory -- Visual imagery and spatial cognition -- Language -- Thinking and problem solving -- Reasoning and decision making -- Cognitive development through adolescence -- Individual differences in cognition -- Glossary -- Credits and sources -- References -- Index -- About the author.